Byleth awoke with a start, her head pounding and body aching. What appeared to be a midday sun shone thin in the winter sky and stung her eyes despite it's weakness. Trying to recall exactly what had happened only made the throbbing in her head more pronounced and as she tried to roll over every muscle screamed in protest. She felt like she'd gone one too many rounds with Catherine at the training grounds.

Powering through the soreness, she hauled herself up to sit on a large rock within arms reach. When she plopped down to sit, she had to take several moments to catch her breath, leaned over her knees. Still squinting against the sunlight, she raised her head to look around. As far as she could see there was flat land covered in thin grass. Patches of snow remained in between sparse bushes and reedy plants which bent in the almost constant wind. For all accounts, she was alone in the middle of a Faerghusean plain but how had she come here?

Her hands and clothing were caked in mud and the ground where she'd been looked like the grass had been torn up. A closer examination of her nails found both mud and grass beneath. Her clothing was wet, presumably from the snow that had melted beneath her. Why would she have been laying in the snow and digging in the mud with her fingers?

Like a bolt of lightning, the memory crashed into her. The agony of the warp and colliding with the ground with the force of a sprint into a wall. Where was her horse? Where was Dimitri and Felix and Sylvain? Where was her horse? Panic sparked in her gut as she realized what might have happened to them and she jumped to her feet. The world around her shook and the ground shifted beneath her feet. She threw her arms out to steady herself and realized that it wasn't the earth shaking, it was her vision from having stood too quickly.

Despite her staggering, she tried to call out for them. Her voice croaked and her throat felt coated in glass when she swallowed. She did remember screaming but how long had she been at it? Gradually her balance returned so she could stand more upright instead of wobbling around like a newborn foal.

"Dimitri!" Her voice was a little stronger this time. "Sylvain!" She took a few unsteady steps forward, determined to start moving even if her knees felt like jelly. "Felix! Answer if you can hear me!"

There was no answer. As the bitter wind whistled past her it must have carried her voice with it. She was coated in sweat and her clothing had absorbed a fair amount of water from the ground which gave the wind unrestrained access to nip at her skin. With a shiver, Byleth clutched her cloak around her tighty while she thought about her next move. The sky had become overcast, making it difficult to tell where the sun was in the sky. She would have to pick a direction, any direction, and start walking. Goddess willing, she would find them or someone to help.

Every few paces she would stop to call out and wait with bated breath for a reply. When none came, the knots in her stomach drew tighter. They could be anywhere and likely not together. In fact, they might not have left Castle Gautier. Or worse.

She'd read stories of unsuccessful warps and the results were never pleasant. With a shake of her head, she pushed the grisly story of a small miscalculation that materialized someone in the middle of a solid wall out of her mind. Worrying wouldn't serve her right now.

As she huddled under her cloak, trudging against the wind, Byleth failed to notice as the fog had thickened around her. Not until she'd started up an obvious incline did she notice it at all and when she did, she could barely see further than a yard or two. She had no idea where she was going before but now she was pressing on without seeing where she was going either. Nevertheless, her spirits lifted to have found a foothill. Any sort of high ground in weather like this was a boon.

Up she went and when the incline leveled off she tried to find her bearings. At the crest of the foothill, she tried to get her bearings. Her hope at finding them by sight sank. The fog had spread to fill the entire plain. With her hands cupping her mouth, she sucked in as much breath as she could and called again.

"Dimitri! Felix! Sylvain!"

Nothing but the wind replied. Her imagination began to pick up where her determination left off, filling her thoughts with all the horrendous things that could have happened to them. She stared hard into the fog, hoping for some moment to catch her eye. More than once she thought she saw something or someone but as she waited, nothing emerged.

"Just because they aren't at the first foothill doesn't mean they're in danger," she thought, bolstering herself to go on. But as she started making her way back down the slope, the fog seemed thicker somehow. Had it been like this a moment ago? Squinting did very little to help. She even waved her hand in front of her face to try to clear it to no avail. This was fog after all, not smoke.

The ground leveled out beneath her feet signaling that she was at the base of the foothill. She would have to walk carefully in this. A broken ankle wouldn't do any of them any good. Despite her fear pressing her to rush headlong into the thick grey expanse, she inched forward with painstaking care.

It was slow going until her foot struck something hard and big. Whatever it was was substantial enough that it stopped her foot rather than rolling with it as she walked. It felt like a rock. Kneeling down and groping ahead she found it and her stomach dropped along with her hopes.

Just to be certain, she leaned forward to check the ground on the other side of the rock and sure enough, there was the dip in the ground where she'd been laying and the lines of torn grass and mud made by her fingers. She had gotten turned around somehow and wound up right where she started.

A frustrated sound burst out of her. How could she stay calm when everything around her was strange and the urgency of finding her students, no former students, kept her pulse racing. She needed better visibility if she wanted to make any progress. If only she had a torch. Perhaps she could manage a fire spell in lieu of a torch.

Eyes shut in concentration, she mumbled the words of the incantation. It was easier to say aloud than try to focus clearly on the words in her mind alone. The elements began to gather in the palm of her hand, tingling pleasantly as they did. A simple adjustment should allow the ball of fire to hover above her hand instead of rocketing away.

Soon the soft glow of the fireball warmed her face and a satisfied grin perked the corner of her mouth when she opened her eyes to find the light fixed above the palm of her hand. But her victory was short lived as she realized the light did very little to penetrate the fog further than a few paces away from her. She couldn't delay any longer to adjust the spell, there were people counting on her.

Using the rock as a marker, she turned and trudged back toward the foothill with a renewed confidence in her path. At the top, she wasted no time in going down the other side and when the ground leveled out, the little flicker of hope in her chest strengthened until her foot struck something hard.

She knew what it was even before she was ready to admit it to herself. Kneeling down, she found the same rock and beyond it the same scene of rendered mud and torn blades of grass. Keeping anger and frustration at bay was difficult but paramount. It was normal to be disoriented in the fog under regular circumstances but she had been confused from the start in unfamiliar terrain. Walking in circles was inconvenient, frightening even, but completely normal.

It was time to try something different. Rather than risk doing the same thing she'd already done twice, she stepped up on top of the rock and raised her hand bearing the flame aloft. If others were wandering in the fog, maybe they would see the light and come to her. She called each name again as loud as she could but even her voice felt suppressed by dismal murk.

A distinct rustle behind her drew her attention. With a jerk of her head, she turned to look behind her but there was nothing to see except the haze that surrounded her on all sides. She shifted nervously, recalling that Faerghus was known for its bears and called out each name hesitantly. Even as she squinted, straining to see beyond her orb of light, there was not further sound or movement that she could detect.

Just as she began to consider leaving her rock, she heard another sound like a sigh or a moan from someone she couldn't see. It was so clear and distinctively human that she expected to see someone appear, stumbling out of the gloom at any moment but nothing came. The hairs on her arm began to rise beneath her doublet making her skin prickle with an unnerving sense of being watched. She was growing weary of this feeling, the ever present foreboding hovering over her head like an axe. This had been such a constant feeling that her patience for it was becoming threadbare.

A few days prior, she might have shrunk into herself but now, she jumped off the rock defiantly. With the fire spell brandished high like a torch, she gripped her sword hilt with her free hand.

"Who's there?" Perhaps for the first time since this had begun, she sounded as angry as she felt. "Show yourself immediately."

The wind shifted suddenly and as it whipped her cloak she could have sworn someone or something had brushed past her, just beyond her periphery. She had spent enough time dismissing her instincts. Settling into a defensive stance, she drew her sword. The feel of the leather bound hilt in her hand strengthened her resolve and with a command worthy of the Blade- Breaker's daughter she called out again.

"Come out. I've had enough of this."

Again the thing in the fog rushed past her, distinguishing itself from a simple gust of wind. This time the sound of a high childish laugh followed it. Byleth widened her stance, digging the balls of her feet into the ground, ready to spring in either direction but she could not pin down what to spring at. Then she spotted it, a shadowy figure in the fog. She couldn't make out any discerning features but she knew without a doubt that there was someone there. Turning to face them, she leveled her sword.

"Stop toying with me. Show yourself."

The figure swayed where it stood. It said nothing and made no move to advance or run away. It just stayed obscured in the fog and watched her. Even though she couldn't see it's face, she knew it was watching her. The hairs on the back of her neck stood erect but she refused to look away even as her blood chilled in her veins.

Her breath rumbled in her ears, louder than the wind as she waited, poised and ready to strike at the slightest movement. Why didn't it move? Why wouldn't it speak? Why was it just looking at her? These questions grew louder and louder inside her until she could stand it no longer. Fear and frustration collided to explode in a battle hardened shout as she launched herself into the fog swiping the tip of her sword up. If they were close enough, she'd catch them with the tip, if not, the downward slask that followed would take them at the neck and shoulder.

With no more resistance than the air, the over zealous lunge of her attack carried her stumbling forward. Byleth caught her balance quickly and turned, shoulders hunched in anticipation of a hit from behind. Wild eyes darted back and forth, searching for the thing that had dodged her attack.

"Where are you?" she bellowed.

Her control, already fractured, was dangerously close to shattering all together. When she felt the fabric of her cloak pull back, she spun around, leading with the ball of fire in her hand followed by a swift downward cut of her blade. With no resistance to meet her attack, she staggered as her balance faltered.

That laugh sounded again, this time further into the fog. Every warning inside of her, cautioning her against being led into the murk winked out with her fire spell as she gripped the hilt of her sword with both hands and raised it to shoulder height. Moving fast as a bolt of lightning, Byleth leapt forward, using the momentum of her jump to bring what would have been a brutal slash down on her opponent. Again she struck nothing and again the laughter cackled from further within the fog. She pursued blindly, provoked by the taunting laugh and plucks at her clothing.

Eventually she lost count of the times she dove headlong into the haze. When at last she settled into a defensive stance to catch her breath, she realized that not only had been lured further into the murk but that her opponent was wearing her out. Left with little to work with after the warp, her body screamed at her to rest but her eyes, wide and wild, continued searching for her opponent.

Her breath remained so heavy that she could no longer form words and gulped at the air, nothing but the whistle of the wind remained. Reason began to return to her and she realized that she'd been baited away from the single landmark she recognized and worked to exhaustion. She had no idea where the rock was or which direction she'd come. Byleth cursed under her breath. How could she have made such an amature mistake? Again, she'd been made a fool of by something she couldn't even see.

Another figure appeared, materializing through the fog just beyond the reach of her weapon. It swayed from side to side as she stared and the growl that came out of her sounded more like an animal than human.

"I'm not afraid!" she shouted though she had regained enough of her good sense through exhaustion not to leap after it again.

The timbre of it's laugh sent renewed chills racing down her spine. It laughed like something inhuman and unhinged. It pierced her ears and set her teeth on edge. As the laughter continued the first figure was joined by a second and then a third. The trio swayed from side to side watching her and laughing. They were joined by a fourth and a fifth. Before she could blink, she realized that been surrounded by countless shadowy bodies and there was nowhere to go.

Her stomach leapt into her throat as she shifted her stance and adjusted her grip. At any moment, she expected them to fall on her like a wave on the sand and she would not surrender without a fight. Just when the tension inside of her had knotted so tightly that she could snap at any moment, the sound of laughter shifted. One or two of the shadowy figures doubled over, their heads wagging as they began to cry.

The first soft cries spread like a wildfire, the sounds taken up by the multitude of shadows surrounding her. Where there had been mad laughter before, a keening, sorrowful sound took its place. Comprised of many voices, their suffering and sadness filled the plain. She could hear them distinctively and all at once. This made no sense. How could she hear so many voices all at once, crying, weeping as though they'd lost everything they had ever loved.

Their suffering clung to her, burrowed into her mind until she was sure it was her own. Stunned, Byleth touched her cheek and found it wet with tears. The realization that she could drown in this mire of infinite sadness buzzed in her limbs like a warning. She had to do something. Gritting her teeth, she tightened her grip on her sword until her knuckles cracked.

"Stop it." Somehow the words came out through her locked jaw.

But they did not. Their despair rose to a feverish pitch, some raising their faces skyward to wail while others remained bent under the weight of their mourning until she couldn't hear her own thoughts. She would go mad if she stayed here. She would lose herself to this communion of loss if she didn't do something.

Summoning the strength of will she had left, Byleth let out a gut wrenching scream that drowned out everything else in her ears as she threw herself toward the circle, sword raised high. Just as she flexed to hammer the blade downward her arms stopped, caught by something solid that wrapped around her wrists. She recoiled with a startled grunt and would have fallen back if the grip hadn't been made of stone.

With a growl and a violent jerk back, she struggled to free herself from the indiscernible thing that held her. Fear crashed through her in waves, carrying a surge of strength throughout her limbs but twist and pull as she might she couldn't free herself. When that didn't work she lunged forward, taking advantage of her opponent's pull to throw them off balance. It worked. Whatever held her stumbled back and her raised knee took them just below the ribs but somehow, they did not loosen their grip on her wrists.

The urgent call of survival dulled her hearing so that the call of her name bounced harmlessly away like hail on a boulder. Following the momentum she had created, Byleth tumbled forward to land on top of her attacker as they fell.

At last, something solid!

That thing was someone and their grip on her wrists tightened as she struggled, until her sword was knocked out of her hands. Now weaponless and restrained, the survival instinct that had saved her countless times as a mercenary took charge. She would survive at all costs. Twisting her shoulders aside, she drew their hands away and drove her forehead down with ruthless force. She connected with a crunch and a pained cry erupted from whatever was beneath her. Still, it did not let go.

Then something grabbed her by the waist and she twisted trying to reach around but her wrists were held fast. Memories of being grasped and lifted by phantom hands that stung and bit like ice took hold and fear ignited in her belly.

"No!"

She squeezed her eyes shut for fear of what she would see and thrashed violently in the hands of her captors. But their grip, like the night before was unearthly strong and she knew that at any moment they would begin to carry her to some unseen gateway where something awaited her in the dark.

"Byleth!"

She heard her name that time and slowly recognition dawned on her. That voice was familiar and had called her name several times over. She froze in her writhing, breath ragged from her effort.

"Byleth!"

"Are you okay Dimitri?"

"Don't let go of her, she's crazed!"

It was Sylvain, Felix and Dimitri. Her eyes popped open and below her, holding her wrists like his life depended on it was Dimitri. Blood gushed from his nose and ran thick down the side of his face. She could see him clearly in the light of a midday sun and as her eyes rolled to the side she found that the fog had dissipated. If it had ever been there at all.

Sylvain had a hold of her around the waist and was straining to hold her up. He must have been trying to separate them but Diitri hadn't dared to let go of her wrists. Any relief she might have felt at finding them in one piece was smothered in the bone deep exhaustion that swept through her.

"Let go of me," she said weakly but neither of them loosened their hold on her.

"Let me go! I'm not going to attack you."

Hesitantly, Dimitri released her wrists and she wriggled out of Sylvain's grip, dropping unceremoniously onto the ground. She pushed herself up and strode several heated paces away from them, working to expel the adrenaline in her limbs. The world shrouded in mist and inhabited by shadows was nowhere to be seen. The only traces of what had occurred lay in the grooves and kicked up earth she had made during her attacks.

Turning back to face them, she found Sylvain crouched beside Dimitri who was splayed back to the ground. Felix sat on the rock she'd stood on before. His leg was bound at the knee and stretched out straight in front of him. Seemed he was doing his best not to wince each time he shifted.

"Professor. What's going on?" Sylvain was looking at her with a wariness that she didn't like.

Licking her lips, she took a deep breath though it shook in her chest as she did. Dimitri pushed himself up. Leaning back on his hand, he raked his other sleeve across a bloodied nose. A tough to her own forehead found it wet and as she feared it was blood from where she had collided with him.

"I don't know." Her mind spun as she struggled to explain to them what had happened without sounding as crazy as she felt.

This drew an exaggerated huff from Felix who folded his arms across his chest. Somehow he managed to look disgruntled even when sitting on a low rock.

"There was a fog," she started still holding her distance from them. "I couldn't find you after the warp and there was a thick fog. I couldn't see through it. And then there were," she paused again trying to find the right word for them. "... figures in the mist, watching me. They looked like people and they were crying." Just recalling the sound made her break out into fresh goosebumps. "You didn't see any of that, did you?"

The expression on their faces was enough to confirm.

Dimitri got to his feet and approached her slowly, much like you would a skittish horse. There was great concern evident on his face beneath the streak of red beneath his nose and fading along his cheek bone. He took a gentle hold of her shoulders when he was near enough and she did not resist. It was comforting to feel his solid warm hands on her even under such strange circumstances. He searched her eyes for a moment. Was he deciding if she could hear the truth?

He shook his head. A gentle no. Her knees shook and she wondered again what was wrong with her. Was she insane already or spiraling that way? Was this the impact of the abyss? As if he could hear her thoughts aloud, his face shifted into a soft reassuring smile. "This will be okay. I'm here by your side and I'm not going anywhere."

She nodded and lowered her eyes unable to keep them steady on his. Whatever unnamed emotion was roiling in her stomach was too painful to pin down and so she swallowed it and turned her attention back toward the others. She moved to step out of his grasp and he released her resignedly to trail behind her.

"I'm sorry." The statement was plain and direct. There was no sense in belaboring how bad she felt or how foolish she must have seemed. Sylvain nodded, equallably relieved not to discuss it further and Felix huffed his acceptance.

"What happened to you all after the warp?" the asked, turning to address the three of them at once. She listened intently as each shared similar experiences, blinding pain followed by confusion and disorientation. As they talked, a comforting sense of familiarity settled in her chest. Perhaps much of her disease came from trying to fill a noblewoman's shoes when she still felt more like their professor than anything else.

While Sylvain and Dimitri had landed relatively unscathed, Felix had not been so lucky. When he materialized, he had landed on a sharp rock that had broken his shin. Somehow, the three of them were close enough that they found each other quickly and Felix did not have long to wait for help. Though it irked him to no end needing assistance in the first place.

Their horses were another matter. Blinded as they were in preparation for the warp, it came as no surprise that only two of the four had been recovered. One was still missing and the other had run into a muddy bog and was unable to be saved.

Once reunited, they had begun to search for her and it wasn't long before they heard her screams. Having left Felix to lean on Sylvain's shoulder, Dimitri found her first.

"There was no fog and no figures, that I could see. Your sword was drawn and you had fire in your hand. I had no idea what you were facing but it was evident from your stance that you were in danger."

"Or thought you were in danger," Felix added.

Dimitri shot him a sidelong glare before continuing. "I wasn't fast enough to catch you before you turned and rushed me."

"I'm sorry," she said for what felt like the hundredth time.

"You didn't see me," he said reassuring her. "Your eyes weren't fixed on me, they were fixed on something behind me or through me. I don't believe for a minute that you intended to attack me."

"You gave him a run for it though," Sylvain added with a laugh. "It was nearly impossible to pull you off of him."

Byleth nodded. She did feel reassured. It was fortunate that all he had to show for it was a bloody nose.

No one knew exactly what had happened at the warp point but they had all heard and felt a rumbling that closely resembled an earthquake. Speculation aside, it was difficult to believe that the spell had gone awry on it's own. There was no reason to suspect sabotage or fowl play. A spell of that magnitude would have taken many casters and close proximity which seemed unlikely.

"I think it's obvious," Dimitri said with his chin in his hand and his gaze focused on the ground as he thought. When he realized that everyone was looking at him, he shifted self consciously. He'd said something out loud that should have remained a secret.

"What's obvious?" Felix asked suspiciously.

Byleth met Dimitri's gaze and nodded.

By the time they had finished the telling, culminating in Byleth's rescue by Father Hobbs, Sylvain and Felix both looked like they'd taken a direct hit from a ballista.

Sylvain whistled low. "I guess that explains why we couldn't open that door."

"I believe the abyss, or whatever we choose to call it, is alive or houses something alive." Dimitri continued. "Either way, it must feed on sanity. She seems to be the only one to escape with that intact, so whatever it is must be intent on claiming it."

Felix shifted, wincing as his leg moved. The pain did nothing but fuel his irritation. "Why not? Nothing else seems to be making sense right now so why not a sentient darkness hunting down it's victim's sanity?"

"If you have a better theory, I'd love to hear it." The sarcasm embedded in Dimitri's tone was not lost on Felix who opened his mouth to retort.

"Regardless," she interrupted them. "We need to figure out where we are and which direction to ride. We are expected at Fhirdiad and we don't have time to waste."

"That's where you're in luck, your majesty." Sylvain stretched his arms over head looking very much like a cat. "Don't forget we grew up here. We're not as lost as you think."

"He's right, beloved. Of course losing two horses will slow us down a bit. But if we leave soon we should reach the gates of Fhirdiad just after sunset."

Felix would have to ride behind Sylvain and her behind Dimitri. As much as he complained about it, there was not another way with his leg as it was. Before they could depart, his leg would need better support. Byleth crafted a makeshift splint with some thin wispy trees. It wasn't the best but it would have to do. No matter how they arranged him on the horse, this would not be a comfortable ride.

By the time she was satisfied with their arrangement, she found that she had fallen entirely into the role of their professor and caretaker even though they were no longer her students. Byleth turned to join Dimitri on what had been Felix's horse. He reigned it in as it stamped anxiously at the ground and offered her his hand.

He lifted her effortlessly and she settled in behind him. Just as they readied to depart, a faint rumbling sounded like thunder in the distance. Each of them turned to look back toward the northern territories. The sky was clear. Not a single cloud had gathered.

"Strange…" Dimitri mused.

As they all looked on, the earth beneath the horse's hooves trembled. It was nothing compared to the sound and furious shaking from that morning but the movement was unmistakable. Like a ripple in a pond, this was surely the outer rings of a much greater disturbance.

There was no need for further discussion. She took hold of his hips as best she could manage through his cloak and they were off. The thick fur that lined his cloak tickled her face but after a while she found herself nestling into it, warm from the whipping wind. The faintest twinge of guilt peaked in her stomach at taking comfort during a time like this but it wasn't enough to deprive herself of it.

With her cheek pressed to Dimitri's back, she watched the pair of border lords riding alongside them. Felix gritted his teeth determined not to show how painful this pace was for him and Sylvain was grimly focused on maintaining Dimitri's pace. They both looked unusually old to her, suddenly at odds with how she remembered them just the night before when they bickered about late night training.

A strange feeling, like a painful sadness gnawed at her stomach as she looked on. She wondered why she should feel so sad watching them like this. It felt as though she hadn't merely forgotten the years since the battle at Garrag Mach but that she had missed them entirely, that they had grown and lived without her knowing, which was ridiculous.

Even if she hadn't been involved directly in their lives, she should have some recollection of them. Maybe this explained why she'd been advised to care for them but not get too attached. After all, her time with them would end after a single year and it was unlikely that she would play a substantial role in their lives after their time at the academy.

Knowing this and explaining away the burning nameless feeling in her stomach was another entirely. It was similar to what she'd felt when her father had died. Similar, but not the same. Like so many other feelings, maybe grief had different forms?

She tightened her arms around Dimitri and buried her face in the fur at his back. He must have felt her because a moment later his gloved hand pressed down on her own to give her a comforting squeeze before returning to the reigns. With a sigh that did little to lighten the feeling in her chest, she let her thoughts drift with the wind as it whipped past them as they rode.