Testament of Dawn

by Naryfiel Lilith

It should have been a simple year, a year like any other, but a chance encounter leads Byleth and her twin, Azrael, on a path neither ever expected to be on. A path that led to bonds stronger than fate itself. A path that would lead to a war of ideals. Fodlan's night of chaos and war ends with the dawning light, but will fate or bonds decide who bears witness? (3H Novelization)

7. Chapter 6) Shadows

Chapter 6) Shadows

---

We made it. We made it through the first battle. Not without trouble, even more than the students remember. Or 'remember', rather. Their souls still did, and brought those erased times back in their dreams. Through careful questions, I discovered that those who 'died' didn't remember the events of that particular timeline. Only those who were still alive when I froze time 'remembered' what I had erased.

Azrael views it as simply another tool that lets me know my students. Who is reckless, who is protective, etc. Me? I view it as a way to erase mistakes, but mistakes like that shouldn't happen in the first place. Bad enough that I see them traumatized and dead, but for them to still remember even after I erased it? It shakes me. I need to be better. I have to be. I am the worst choice for this job, but since my students are stuck with me, I have to give them my absolute best. I have to.

---

["So, you weave the flowers into a crown and gift them to those you love and appreciate?"] Sothis was utterly fascinated by the garland I wove in my room during the morning quiet. ["I think it's lovely. Why white roses in particular, though?"]

"Well, many use it as a way of showing romantic love, Sothis, and white roses are associated with new beginnings and everlasting love," I explained, carefully tucking the stems back. I wanted this to be as perfect as possible, after all. "They can also symbolize eternal loyalty."

["I see, I see."] Sothis hovered next to me, watching me weave with rapt attention. ["But the garlands are for all forms of love, not merely romantic."]

"That's right." Though, if I recalled, most my age didn't bother making any for friends and family. Only potential lovers. But the older tradition was to show affection to all those you cared for, and I liked that much better. Besides, when I was younger, and less certain of my ability to convey emotions, I had used it as a way of showing Dad how much I adored him. Now, it was our little family tradition. "An intricate crown often conveys a great deal of affection compared to a simpler one."

["Well, that and the skill to actually make it intricate."] Too true. It had taken me years of practice to be able to make one like this. ["Is that stem there supposed to be out?"]

"Just for now. It'll be the final one I weave in, to close the garland and keep it together."

["Oooooohhhh…."]

It didn't take me long to finish the garland from there. I was an old hand at this, after all. As soon as I was finished, I doublechecked that everything held and then left my room to head to Dad's office. Er… the captain's office. Which apparently wasn't Dad, even though he still was the only one I ever saw working in there. And he had his stuff there. And he had people calling him 'captain'. I had no idea what was going on there, and decided to not think on it too hard. Or try to, at least. Either way, I headed there and had hoped I could talk to him about a few things that were bothering me. Namely, how someone actually led a large group of people? I'd made so many mistakes with the bandits and even though I was fairly certain Dad's way of intimidating people into listening wouldn't work with me, I knew he'd have advice.

"Oh, Byleth!" Sadly, though, Dad wasn't alone in the office. Alois was also there and while I wouldn't mind more advice, the way the two had been hunched over the desk before Alois noticed me suggested they were working. "What a pleasure!" Alois greeted, just as loud as always. Dad rubbed his ear, trying to not to sigh. Probably hard, since Alois had boomed directly into said ear.

"Need something, kiddo?" Dad asked, ignoring whatever ringing remained. Though he smiled, I saw there was some strain in it. Whatever they were going over… it bothered him. And I didn't know what it was, but I did see what looked to be a list of names. Victims? "I would've thought you'd be curled up with a book since you have some free days."

"Well, most of it can wait," I replied. I didn't want to bother him with my own issues if there was something going on. And clearly, something was. "However, there is one thing that simply cannot wait." I walked over to the desk and presented him the garland. "I just finished."

"It's barely the start of the month!" Not sure why that mattered. I always made sure to make his as soon as I could. For one thing, I wanted to use the best roses I could find and that was easier when it was earlier in the month. "You went with an intricate pattern this year." Still, just as he always did, Dad smiled and placed it on his head to wear proudly. "Everything okay?"

"As far as I know." I smiled faintly at him and he studied my expression for a long moment before nodding, accepting what I said. "I'll let you get back to work. I love you."

"Love you too, kiddo." Dad stepped around the desk to give me a hug, and he brushed a kiss over my hair. "Love you too."

I really did make sure to leave quickly. I had a feeling it was better that I didn't overhear whatever they were talking about. So, I closed the door, lingered only a moment, and headed down the hall to the staircase. Of course, when I turned the corner, I barely checked the urge to sigh and facepalm at just how badly my students were hiding. Seriously, we needed lessons in this if they were going to do it so many times. As it was, they just stared awkwardly at me, pretending to still be hidden, while I looked right at them. And, to my surprise, it was a good majority of them! The only ones I couldn't see were Bernadetta, Dimitri, Linhardt, Hubert, and Dedue. Well, Ashe and Petra had been hard to see at first, but their fellows' complete inability gave them away before long.

"...I suppose we must look ridiculous," Edelgard muttered, stepping out of the group to give up on the startlingly bad attempt. She smoothed out her shirt as if it could wipe away the memory of what I saw. "I must apologize. Someone…" She looked pointedly at Sylvain and Claude, who both shrugged and grinned without a single trace of repentance. Since they were in the very front of the blob, I had a feeling they were the instigators of this. "Saw you walking with a garland and we all got curious about who you would be giving it to."

"I make one for Dad and one for Azrael every year," I explained, crossing my arms and trying to decide what I felt about this. I suppose it must've been rather startling that I would be so bold to declare romantic interest in someone when I was… well… me. And as I had told Sothis, most of those my age didn't make garlands for anyone but potential lovers. "Dad is always the first one, though."

"That's right… the older tradition is to give garlands to all your loved ones…" Hard to say who among my students looked more sheepish, but they were certainly giving each other serious competition. "I didn't get to see much of it, but from what I saw, your garland was very beautiful. Intricate, yet subtle."

"You think so?" I wasn't sure it was as grand as that. But Dad liked it, and that was what mattered most to me. "I've been giving them garlands since I was little, and I suppose I'm fairly good with my hands." For a split-second, I thought I saw Edelgard's eyes widen and she might have even blushed. But Felix suddenly shoved Sylvain face-down onto the floor, for some reason, while Ingrid facepalmed and shoved a giggling Dorothea, and that promptly distracted me. "...Is everything okay?"

"They're just being… well, being themselves, I suppose." Edelgard coughed to clear her throat, probably embarrassed by their antics. "Still, I really can't help but be amazed by the garland. Truthfully, I haven't made one in a long while. So long that I'm not sure if I can even remember how."

"Well, if you'd like, I can show you." Since it was still early in the month, there were plenty of white roses about to use. And I had practice teaching this sort of thing. "Though, I suppose you'd prefer not to have lessons during a free-"

"N-No, I'd love to!" Okay, that time, Edelgard definitely blushed. It was faint, but there. "If you're fine with that, that is." Why would she be blushing, though? Did she think wanting lessons was embarrassing or something?

"Oh, Edie, you're so cute~!" Dorothea teased, slinking up behind like a cat and hugging Edelgard. Edelgard simply frowned a little at her, almost pouting. "Still, if no one minds, I'd like to get in on that lesson? I've actually never made a flower crown, though I've always wanted to."

"I would be liking lessons as well, though I am most confused by this tradition?" Petra added, stepping up as well. I noticed she didn't have her hair in a braid today, but a ponytail. "Why are crowns of flowers being gifted to those close to the heart?"

"Not sure how it started, actually. But it's been a tradition for… a while?" She was right. If I recalled Dad's stories correctly, the tradition actually predated the War of Heroes. "Typically, it's to potential lovers, but like our professor and Edie said, traditionally, you gave them to those important to you."

"I think I have some understanding." Despite that, though, Petra smiled sadly. "It is a blemish that I cannot be giving one to my grandfather, though. I have disbelief that crowns of flowers would survive a journey so long." True, but we could-

"I could make a bookmark for you," Azrael noted, sneaking up on me to give me a hug. I'd been distracted by my students, but he soothed me before I jumped. My students, of course, were startled, but he didn't care about that. "I was giving a report to Rhea and saw you all hiding badly on my way in." He raised a brow at my students, who were now back to sheepish. "Seriously, it's insulting how bad most of you are at it. Ask for lessons or something before you try again."

"Am I to be included in that group?" Petra asked, tilting her head curiously. She smiled when Azrael shook his head. "Good, I had great fear that I had been losing… had lost some of my ability for lack of practice."

"Nah, you and tree cub-" It certainly said something that I knew exactly which one of the cubs he was talking about with just that and could 'send' him it just as quickly. "No, wait, Ashe. Ashe is his name. Anyway, you two were good." And Petra preened at that. "But if you want, you can pick a flower or make something, and I'll turn it into a bookmark for you. That'll survive a trip better."

"Marks for books?"

"Yeah, like this." Azrael produced one of the ones he made from the Zanado flowers from his pocket. A quick peek showed he'd managed to hide a small book there. That didn't surprise me one bit. "It's nothing fancy, but you can include a letter or something with it to explain the tradition here in Fodlan. Does Brigid have something like it?"

"Mmm… There is not a moon for a thing, but in Brigid, there is a day of devotion which is similar, perhaps?"

"You can tell us about it while we gather the flowers for the crown," I offered, mostly to keep things moving. Otherwise, we were all going to block the hallway forever. "If you want to. Does anyone else want to learn, actually?"

The answer ended up being all my girls, so it was a group hike to the woods, with Azrael accompanying us part of the way because he had to go on patrol again. And somehow along the way, Bernadetta joined us. Wasn't quite sure when or how, except it had involved Ingrid and given how Bernadetta skittered away from Ingrid, I wasn't exactly sure it had involved bonds of friendship. However, since she stuck close to Petra and Dorothea, and didn't run off into the woods while we gathered flowers, I decided to simply watch and make sure everything was okay. Particularly when all of us gathered in my room for lessons. That also included tea and sweets somehow.

"You're doing well," I murmured, helping Dorothea. She hadn't been joking when she said she had never made one before, and she easily had the most trouble with weaving the flowers. But she was eager to learn and just as good of a student as always. "Just remember to keep your grip light." I moved to Petra next, smiling slightly as she actually used a needle and thread to string some petals together into a little ring (or 'crown') for the bookmark. "I'm sure that'll be lovely. Make sure you give it to Azrael. You can talk designs." Petra grinned broadly at me, eager at the thought, and I then moved to the corner, where Bernadetta and Marianne were both hiding. "You two okay?" Both were quick to nod. "Good…"

"Professor, are you going to be flitting to all of us like a bee?" Leonie teased. I was surprised she wanted to make a garland, and… honestly, even more surprised by the teasing. "I know it's a lesson, but your feet have to be hurting at this point."

"I've been on my feet for longer periods." Still, I did sit down beside her, watching her weave the flowers together. "Here, you skipped a stem."

"Ugh, drat." She sulked while I quickly fixed the problem. "It's hard keeping track." That it was. I had so many problems when I first started, even after watching the village girls for hours. "I wonder…" She hesitated before glancing at me almost sheepishly. "You think Captain Jeralt will mind getting one from me?"

"He'd love it." I answered with no hesitations at all. Leonie smiled in what I thought might be relief. "Though, if this is for him, you need to make it a little larger."

"Oh, it's not for him to wear or anything." Really? That confused me a little, since I always made mine for them to wear. Was that common? "I just… I just want to show my appreciation." Well, if she was certain, then I wouldn't press. "...Drat, I skipped one again, didn't I?"

"You're trying to move too quickly. Take your time. It's not like the flowers are going to grow legs and run off."

Leonie needed help a couple more times, because she was just too eager to finish and kept missing things, but eventually, she made herself slow down enough to not skipping stems and I walked around the room helping everyone again. Lysithea had a similar problem to Leonie in that she tried to push herself too quickly, which was compounded by how she tried to do more than what she could actually hold. Thankfully, she didn't have to start all over again like I had to when I made that particular mistake years ago, but it did take a couple of gentle scoldings to actually get her to listen and take her time. Mercedes had somehow managed to 'loop' her garland into a 'flower eight', which we couldn't figure out even after taking it apart for her to do again. Ingrid's first completed attempt fell apart quickly because she had woven too loosely… all common mistakes, really. I'd done all of them many times over the years.

"I just realized I have no idea who I'm going to give this garland to," Hilda joked at one point, laughing about it even. She probably was the best of everyone when it came to making the garlands, and I remembered her mentioning to Dorothea that she made accessories. "What about the rest of you? Do you know?"

"Mmm… well, I think I'll give mine to His Highness," Annette answered after a moment of thought. I noticed that she was taking her time and concentrating so hard on her weaving that she actually sat stiffly. Not even sweets could get her to relax. "He's the first one I can think of, at least."

"Oh?" Hilda suddenly grinned. "My, my… does our sweet Annette have a crush on our resident prince charming?"

"What? No way! He's like a big brother to me!" Annette immediately sulked, though she relented a little as everyone else laughed. "Well, sort of, at least."

"Sort of?"

"I've never met him before coming here, but my father… well, he's been a knight for the Kingdom since Prince Dimitri's grandfather's time." A long serving retainer then, huh? "He served as a teacher to His Highness, so I grew up with stories about him. And since my father was so fond of him, it really felt like… I don't know… like hearing stories of a close relative who had to live away?" She shrugged, smiling a little sheepishly. "A little weird, sure, but it's just always felt right to me." And, you know, it certainly did explain why she was always quick to hug him.

"Ah, right, Sir Gustave was of House Dominic," Ingrid murmured, smiling faintly. There was something sad about it, though. "I should've made that connection sooner, but I mostly knew him as a distant figure and… well…"

"It's been three or four years since you've seen him," Annette supplied. She still wore a smile, but there was definitely something strained about it now. Mercedes looked worriedly at her, and Ingrid only seemed sadder. Three or four years ago… that was the Tragedy of Duscar. Had he died during it? "Anyway, who are you giving yours to, Ingrid? Do you know?"

"Hmm… truthfully, I'm trying to figure that out. I figured it would be His Highness, Felix, or Sylvain. They're my childhood friends and we've known each other for most of our lives." She grinned. "If you're giving one to His Highness though, Annette, then perhaps I should give one to either Felix or Sylvain."

"Oh, don't give one to Sylvain," Dorothea scoffed, freeing up a hand to wave the notion away. She then went right back to weaving. "He's probably going to get a lot anyway. Maybe give it to Felix? Give him some petals if he's going to act all thorny."

"Thorny?" Edelgard repeated. She grimaced when she made a mistake at weaving her flowers, again, but I came over to help before anyone really noticed. "I take it you attempted to have a conversation and was rebuffed?"

"That's certainly one way to put it." Dorothea scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Talked at me like I was a stray cat when I invited him for a treat." She frowned when Ingrid opened her mouth, likely to apologize. "Nope. If I want an apology, I'll force it out of him. I already have a plan for revenge anyway." Oh dear…

"And knowing you, you won't share what it is." Did Dorothea get revenge on people a lot or something? Was this something I needed to be wary of? "So, instead, why not share who you're giving your garland to? If you know, I mean."

"Ah, Manuela, actually." Dorothea's demeanor softened immediately. "She was my senior in the opera, my teacher actually, and… truthfully, she's the one who brought me into that world. And no matter how old I'll get, I'll always be grateful to her for that. She saved me, after all."

"Really?" Edelgard waited for a moment, likely to see if Dorothea would share more. But Dorothea kept quiet, save for humming a song. "Does anyone else know who they'll give theirs to?"

"Well, I think I'll give mine to Dedue, actually," Mercedes revealed easily. Quite a few of the girls gave her surprised looks. "You see; he's agreed to tell me more about Duscar and its gods. I asked after he made a comment about how Fodlan's goddess accepts many kinds of prayers. So, I thought it would be a nice way to thank him." It was… also possibly going to lead to some sort of outburst, considering how much Ingrid suddenly bristled, but...

"I wonder if he'd be willing to tell me about them as well," I mused, cutting off that potential argument. Dimitri had mentioned Ingrid's grief had turned to anger, and that was understandable, but I also knew that I wouldn't be able to keep my tongue if she went on a rant. "Petra has been teaching me about Brigid, and its language."

"Really?"

"Yes, and our professor is picking up on the language most quick!" Petra eagerly confirmed, and praised. I had to smile a little, pleased. "Though, I must be admitting it is most amusing watching you be confused by the written word."

"I'm sure it is," I gently teased, going along with the joke. The different alphabet still took some getting used to, but it was fun. Sothis adored the lessons as well. "I am impressed you take so easily to Fodlan's written word, considering it is so different."

"W-well, it has taken a lot of practicing…" Petra flushed from the praise. And that blush turned even darker when Dorothea poked her cheek. "So… um…"

"I have to admit that I'm a bit worried about Marianne and Bernadetta," Hilda noted, changing the subject for Petra's sake. Though Petra smiled in thanks, I frowned a little in worry. I didn't see anything off when I checked the corner, but… "I think between the two of them, there's been fifty apologies."

"Fifty-three, actually," Lysithea corrected, frowning as she tried to finish off her garland. I moved next to her and help her tuck in the last stem. That part was always tricky. "Well, that I've heard since I started counting. I got curious."

"Wait, seriously?" Hilda laughed, bright and cheerful, and that sparked the rest into laughter as well. And confusion from Bernadetta and Marianne. "Anyway, to go back to what started this round of conversation… well, how about those of us who haven't decided just split our garlands about the boys in our cohort?"

Everyone agreed with her without much hesitation, though there was a problem of numbers. After all, there were more boys than girls (barely) and Dorothea and Leonie wanted to give theirs to someone not in the cohort at all. But I quickly made garlands to even things out, and they sorted out who would get what on their own. It made me smile, truthfully. I hoped it was a sign that they were becoming friends.

---

Why was leadership so difficult to study? I had been skimming through this book for most of the afternoon, and I was no closer to… well, anything. Now, granted, it was probably stupid in the first place to try and learn something definitively social from a book, but it wasn't as if I had a lot of options. Each time I tried to talk to Dad, he was busy with something and I didn't want to bother him…

"Byleth." And to make matters better, Seteth had just walked into the courtyard where I was attempting to study. "A moment?" he asked, in a tone that implied he wasn't actually going to listen to a refusal.

So, I swallowed my annoyance and replied, "yes?"

"It has been brought to my attention that certain individuals have been making advances at Flayn." Advances? Like… how? Romantic? Violent? She hadn't mentioned either to me during our teas. "Have you witnessed such behavior?"

"Not that I am aware of, nor has she told me of anything."

"And what of Azrael?"

"Azrael?" What in the…? "Azrael thinks she's adorable, but in the same way kittens are adorable. He's not romantically interested in anyone?" Sure, there had been a few in the past Azrael admitted were attractive. I had as well. But neither of us ever acted on such attractions, for obvious reasons. "Why would you think that?"

"Just a comment Catherine made." He crossed his arms, and frowned at me. Like he was trying to decide if I was lying or not. Personally, I was a little confused why it was his business at all. "You're certain?"

"Absolutely." It wasn't like Azrael would be able to hide such feelings from me, just as I couldn't hide from him. "He does make an effort to be polite to her, though. I imagine the show of tactfulness is such a shock that people immediately assume there has to be a romantic reason for it."

"Ah." He frowned for a second longer before sighing. "Good… I was worried. I mean no offense, but Azrael's normal lack of tact is…" I seriously wondered just what Azrael had said to make Seteth so wary and exasperated. Azrael himself had no idea anymore. "I interrupted you, didn't I? What are you reading?"

"I… it's…" How was I supposed to explain? It was simply another arrow in his quiver for how idiotic my appointment was. But still… "I'm attempting to better my ability to lead?"

"From a book?" Yes, yes, the ridiculousness of it all was already clear, thank you. "And from what I have heard, you led very well, particularly for your first true outing as a leader."

"I'm starting to wonder if people flatter me in hopes of getting in Rhea's good graces."

"What mistakes were made, then?" To my surprise, Seteth actually sat down on the bench next to me. "Or what close calls were there?" Then again, he was devoted to the students' safety…

"I don't even know where to begin…" Well, it wasn't like he couldn't hate me more. I think.

So, I told him. I left out the parts where I rewound time, of course. That would be beyond belief. But I did talk about everything else, even going into how I hated how traumatized they were. Which was stupid, of course, and selfish of me. They'd made their own choices, and I was just their professor. But I couldn't help but worry anyway.

Seteth listened to me calmly, asking questions every so often for clarification. Then… well, he gave me advice. Things to help with keeping everyone organized, how to group everyone, how to utilize the formations I learned from Dad… it was surprising how much he knew, really. And it didn't feel… false or theoretical. The advice had weight to them, much like Dad's own advice did. Experience. What exactly had he'd done, prior to coming here? It wasn't my business, of course, but I had to admit to being curious nonetheless.

"Seteth!" Of course, the impromptu lesson ended abruptly when Hanneman stormed into courtyard where we were. "I'm sorry, but I simply must vent at someone!" he 'explained'. It made little sense to me.

"Let me guess," Seteth replied. Whatever Hanneman meant, Seteth's dry and resigned tone hinted this was common. "Manuela again?"

"Her slovenly behavior!" Hanneman took it as permission to continue and began flailing as he complained. "Just now, she dropped a sandwich on the floor, picked it up, and kept eating it! When she saw my shock, she shrugged and said 'three second rule'!" Seteth simply nodded, leaning forward to at least fake listening. "I would think that as a physician, she of all would know that supposed rule is bollocks!"

"The floors of the dining hall are cleaned regularly, so it's not as if that is the worst thing she could've done," I murmured, more thinking aloud than anything. But I couldn't quite bite my tongue, given what I've seen in the past. "I mean… considering how many in poverty must rummage through garbage to find some scrap of food…"

"Er… well, yes, I suppose…" Hanneman mumbled, looking away awkwardly. I bit back a sigh and scolded myself for acting like Azrael right then. People were allowed to simply vent, after all. It was much better than for them to internalize the frustrations and let it continuously dig into their hearts. "Still, she should be setting an example for the students! And, again, she is a physician!" Well, at least he went right back to venting. "If she's doing something so blatantly unhealthy and unhygienic, then how are people supposed to trust that she knows what she's doing?"

"What is really bothering you, Hanneman?" Seteth prompted, moving things along. He definitely had done this before, which was good, since I was clearly bad at it. "The sandwich would've been a last straw sort of deal, not what primarily aggravated you."

"She borrowed a book from me last week, and returned it with stains of unknown origin on the cover!" Hanneman began flailing again, and I… well, part of me was curious about the stains. The rest was aghast at a book being treated in such a way. "And several of the pages were either folded or torn!" Who tortured a book like that? Well, Manuela, obviously, but…!

"...Why in the world did you let her borrow anything of yours?" That was also a good question. I was a little more focused on making many mental notes to never let Manuela borrow any of my books, but it was a good question. "That in of itself was a recipe for disaster, given your stark differences."

"It was a book on local plants that she wanted to cross-reference, because one of the students in her cohort is allergic to the most common ingredients in vulneraries." That would definitely be an issue, then. Vulneraries formed the bulk of non-magical wound care, after all, and an allergy meant there would be difficulties using it at all. Both for their own injuries and in applying it to others. She must've been researching alternatives. Which reminded me. I should add that to the list of lessons, especially for my healer trio. "Somehow, this show of responsibility made me think she'd actually be responsible for the book, but clearly that's beyond her!"

"I see." Seteth closed his eyes for a noticeable time. Like he was counting to ten. "What brought you out and about anyway? Last I saw, you were neck-deep in your research."

"Well, truthfully, I was looking for Byleth here." All at once, Hanneman focused on me. "I wished to talk to you about your crest." Ah. Joy. "There is no need to be on guard. I promise no harm. After all, you're a very valuable speci-" He coughed, swallowing a word. Seteth facepalmed at it. I closed my book finally and began plotting an escape. "That is, valuable colleague." Yep. Sure. Wish Azrael wasn't on duty as I'd love his reaction right now. "After all, your crest is unknown. While not the first time we've had a lost crest show up at the monastery, yours seems to escape detection completely! So, I set about attempting to find out your past." He what.

"Did you have more luck than me?" Seteth's tone was tired and dry, hinting to a long search. I tensed, feeling annoyed and a little ill. "All I found were rumors of the mercenary jobs."

"Right, you do background checks on everyone as part of your duties." That just felt wrong to me. Besides, how were they able to find anything comprehensive? Given the states of the countries, I wouldn't be surprised if it was easy to falsify important papers. Pretty sure there was a market for it, actually. "Sadly, I failed to find much more than what you said. The Ashen Demon who annihilates armies with the flames of hell itself and an expression as impartial as the goddess's… that's more or less what I heard from them." First time I'd heard the goddess part, but I certainly heard the other part. Many, many, many times. "I thought about asking those of Remire, but then I figured it would be better to try and learn of her parents and their lineage. I thought it might give me a clue."

"Right, because you're more focused on the crests." Seteth sighed. I still felt terribly uncomfortable and really wanted to leave. Now would be a great time for a convenient excuse. Or Azrael. "However, I doubt you found anything on Jeralt or Fiona."

"All I found was that Jeralt was a soldier of the Kingdom Army who was recruited by Lady Rhea herself. Everything else about him is considered classified, due to his job as Captain of the Knights of Seiros." Ignoring how that just made it obvious he was involved in shady things with the Church, Dad wanted his past private, damn it. "Fiona was an orphan and lived her entire life here at the monastery. Impossible to trace anything."

"Perhaps that's a sign you should leave people's pasts alone?" I 'suggested', frowning slightly. It didn't help that I still didn't understand why anyone would research something like crests. I could at least reason out Seteth's as 'trying to keep the monastery safe'. I wasn't sure if it was actually a useful thing, because forgeries and people being good at acting and covering their tracks, but I could determine a reason. "Though I doubt you'll find anything more about me anyway."

"It really is intriguing how difficult your family is to pin down," Hanneman mused. I had a feeling he completely missed my displeasure, and I wished I knew a better way to convey that. But I honestly didn't, without actually saying so. Perhaps I should? It might make things awkward, though. Probably better for me to simply escape. "I suppose the next step would be to ask your blood and see if it's more forthcoming." ...Yeah, time to go.

"Hanneman, why not first have her conjure up her crest before you go for bodily fluids?" Seteth groaned, facepalming again. The resignation in his tone implied this sort of thing happened a lot. "You don't even have a full picture of it, right?"

"Oh, yes, that is quite true!"

["And I'm beginning to wonder if Rhea asked you to join as a professor because those supposed background checks don't work at all."] Sothis was delightfully sarcastic and did wonders to soothe my fraying nerves. ["Well, they have their good points, I suppose. Bad these quirks of theirs are simply beyond belief."] She had a point there. ["Oh, they're still talking at you."] I didn't want to talk anymore.

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention," I whispered anyway. Because of course I did. "What was it?"

"I was just asking if you knew how to conjure your crest?" Hanneman asked. Considering that I hadn't even known I had one until I got here, I shook my head and did my best to not let my exhaustion through. Barely a few minutes, and already I was tired of such talk. What would life have been like if I'd known about my crest earlier? "Okay, then hold your hand out in front of you." I did as he asked, absently noting how Seteth's gaze sharpened. "Focus on the flicker of power deep within yourself." What flicker? I didn't have anything like that. "Many find it easier to do so when they listen to their heartbeat." Mine was impossibly slow, but I supposed breath worked well enough? I was already regretting this. "Let the warmth of the power flow through you and gather into your palm." This all sounded like a bunch of bullshit to be honest.

But at this point, the easiest way to get him to leave me be was to cooperate, so I did my best to stop mentally snarking and do as he said. Sothis had to help me, but eventually, my crest manifested above my palm, just as I had seen Edelgard and Claude do before. Though, mine was different. It glowed far more brightly, for one thing. For another, it wasn't a single color. Instead, it shimmered with both purple and gold light. But that wasn't the strangest thing about it. The strangest thing was… was that I knew this symbol. I had seen it before. Sothis wore it on her clothes, and it had been in the center of the magic circle when she first turned back time.

["You're right. It is."] Sothis's voice was quiet in my head. Contemplative. ["Perhaps I have the crest as well? And we are linked because of it? I do not know why I would be linked to anyone, but that might play a role in why you were the one chosen."] Perhaps… I supposed that meant I was Sothis's descendant? ["Or, at least, descended from someone in my family? There is great power lying within blood. It is the power of life itself. Though, that doesn't mean one's blood should define who they are as a person, nor does shared blood give someone the excuse to act like an abusive bastard."] Right… that was true.

"Ah, Seteth, I must thank you for that wonderful idea!" Hanneman gushed, startling me. It took me a second to realize he'd been sketching my crest. I hadn't even noticed him take out paper and… whatever he used to draw. Charcoal? "Yes, I have definitely seen this before, though I'll have to hunt for it. I can't put a name to it. Quite a bother, really." Still, Hanneman smiled kindly at me. "Thank you, Byleth. I'll try to not pester you, though I'll admit I can get… overzealous. They really are fascinating to me."

"Okay," I mumbled. What else could I say to that? Particularly when Seteth was frowning heavily at me for reasons I had no idea about.

Instead, I escaped as soon as I reasonably could and returned to my room where I was determined to remain for the rest of the day. I had work to do.

---

"Ugh…" For some reason, while I was reworking lesson plans and training, my vision began swimming. At first, I thought I might be experiencing a backlash from Azrael, but a quick sense proved he was actually asleep. Which… confused me because surely it wasn't that late, right? I'd barely gotten anything done…

Shaking my head, I tried to just keep on working, but my vision just wouldn't clear up. So, I pushed myself up to go splash water on my face. Or tried to. I ended up collapsing though, and I wondered just what was wrong with me. Sothis was decidedly unhelpful in figuring it out, mostly because she was grumbling under her breath. Something about me being 'stupidy hyper-focused'...? What was she going on about? Sure, she'd been trying to nag me about something for a while, but I ignored her, so...

"Professor!" ...And in the middle of the confusion, and dizziness, Dimitri came into my room and helped me sit on my bed. Because of course he'd see me in such a poor state again. This was the second… no, the third time. This was the third time. "I apologize for bursting in, but I heard you fall…" he explained, helping to steady me. "You missed dinner, so I was coming to check on you." Dinner? I'd missed…?

"Oh, so that's why I'm dizzy," I mumbled, not quite all present. I couldn't believe I'd gotten so little done, and I knew I'd need to hide this from Dad. He'd fret so badly if he knew I almost fainted again. "I should have a snack or something on my desk…"

"Professor?" Dimitri frowned, probably wondering what I was talking about. He stopped me from getting up, though. "You really shouldn't move! In fact, I should get Professor Manuela and…"

"There's no need. I just need something to eat." I supposed I should be glad I didn't outright faint this time. "Then I can go back to work."

"..." Dimitri continued frowning, but did go to my desk and find some of the treats I kept for unexpected tea times. After handing them to me, though, he pointedly blocked my path back to my desk, and purposely moved to stay in the way when I tried to go around him anyway. "I think you need to take a break, Professor."

"I'm fine." In fact, my vision stopped swimming not long after I devoured… whatever treat that had been. Wasn't actually sure, and now that I thought about it, it could've been old and stale. Not the worst thing I'd ever eaten, mind. "I simply didn't realize the time."

"Professor." Okay, now Dimitri was scowling slightly. What did I do? "You know… Edelgard, Claude, and I were discussing it earlier, but you rarely leave your room unless someone or something drags you out. Whenever someone comes to visit, you're always in the middle of work."

"There's quite a lot." I shrugged, not sure what to say. "Many of you wanted to change your current training after the bandits." Flying and riding lessons in particular had become 'popular', especially among my students who had 'survived' most of the timelines I erased.

"Perhaps. Actually, more than perhaps. But…" Dimitri frowned. "Professor, I told you this before, but I would like it if we could share our joy with you. I know that is a wish all of us in the cohort share. It is a little hard to do that when you disappear into work, though."

"...I haven't met such weird strangers in a long while." Didn't mean to say that aloud… I was clearly out of it...

"Strangers?" To my surprise, Dimitri actually looked a little hurt by the word. "I… well, I suppose calling us 'friends' would be asking too much, but I would think we were more of acquaintances or comrades than strangers."

"I… suppose?" Why was he hurt? I hated that I hurt him, but I didn't know how to apologize. Which was even worse. "I'm not sure I'd know. I don't think I've ever stayed so long in one place before." Well, except for Remire, of course.

"You haven't?"

"Nope." I shrugged again, just… confused. I was confused and still a little lightheaded. And I had work to do. But trying to fix what I'd done was the more immediate problem, so I had to try. "Mercenaries never stay long in one place. We're there for the job and little more. People are always eager for us to move on, so that they don't have a reminder of the pain that led to the job in the first place."

"But…" Dimitri stepped back to lean against my desk. "Even as a child?"

"Of course. Dad was a mercenary. Azrael and I traveled with him." Not even sure why I was explaining this, but I hoped it would help heal the hurt I'd caused… "Azrael and I have always been strange, so people were eager to see us leave too." I was a monster, an inhuman child, and Azrael was my twin.

"You… never had friends, growing up?"

"I had Azrael." I shrugged, drawing one knee to my chest to wrap my arms around my leg. The distraught expression he had… it made me fidgety. And talking about this made me remember the beatings, the thrown rocks, the mud, the spiteful words… "But the children of mercenaries are seen as a nuisance, just as much as mercenaries are." And people felt just as entitled to them when there were problems… "It sounds like I'm whining, doesn't it? I'm sorry." Ugh… why could I never be professional? I was his professor, damn it.

"No, it doesn't sound like you're whining." Dimitri still looked distraught. "It does sound… lonely, though."

"It's impossible to be lonely when you and your twin can sense each other no matter where you are." I smiled slightly, a little glad that… that I'd accidentally told him about that bond. It made things easier to explain. "When we were very little, we were basically in each other's heads half of the time. Well, we still are, but we're much more individual than we were."

"I see…" Strangely, he studied me for a long moment. Trying to see something. I wasn't sure what, but I did do my best to hold his gaze so that he had a chance at it. Then, after that moment, he reached out to take both of my hands in his and gently tugged me up. "Come on, Professor." And just as gently led me to the door. "We should get you something to eat."

"Dimitri, you just said dinner was-"

"You mean to tell me that one pastry is going to be enough for you?" He smirked and I had to look away, embarrassed. Because… er… he was right. Also, that had been a pastry? Definitely stale, then. "Please, Professor, let us help. Are you not the one who keeps telling us that it is only by communicating that we can find the best path?" He… that…

"You're supposed to do as I say, not as I do?" I couldn't look at him at all. This was just too pathetic. How incompent I must look for-

["OH, ENOUGH OF THAT!"] Sothis's yell was so 'loud' that I actually stumbled a bit. Dimitri caught me and asked if I was all right, but I couldn't really hear or answer him. ["Honestly, what am I to do with you? If you're not drowning in someone else's pain, you're drowning in your own self-hatred."] I… that… um… ["Well, I know part of it is habit. The mind will travel the path most traveled just as much as anything else. And as much as I'd love to be able to snap my fingers and magically change that, I can't. I wish I could, but no one has that power. But I will not let your own shadows blind you. Or, rather, I'm going to poke holes in the shadows until you can see through them yourself."] What in creation was she going on about? ["He's worried. He knows better than most of the class how much you hide, and now you're hiding even more."] But why would… strangers never… ["Why is it that you're perfectly okay with worrying about strangers, but when it's reversed, you jump cliffs of illogic in order to get around it? No, don't actually answer. Look, you already know that you don't have to understand something to know it's reality. Just apply that for now, will you? Quickly too, because now he's really worried."]

"If you're this unresponsive, I should get you to the infirmary." Sothis was right. Dimitri looked somewhere between 'frantic' and 'panicked'. "Sorry, Professor, but I-" he started, already picking me up. Instinctively, I flailed and broke out of the hold. And nearly fell. "Ah, I'm sorry. Here, I-"

"No, I should apologize," I mumbled. After a second, I leaned on him. He stiffened, startled, but relaxed just as quickly. "I just… was very dizzy. I feared I might be ill if I tried speaking." It wasn't quite a lie? Well, it was, but I was also lightheaded.

"Is that so?" He carefully supported me, half-holding me even. It was… surprising how warm he was. "Then we should-"

"I should be fine after eating. The last time I was this dizzy was because I'd skipped a meal. Well, this dizzy and it not being after a battle." I sighed. This really was ridiculous. But with Sothis bearing her will on me, I really… "If I'm still dizzy after food, then we'll go to the infirmary. But can… do you mind helping me there? To the dining hall, I mean."

"Of course not." His smile was kind, though I still felt horrible, putting him out like this. But lightheaded and weak as I was, there was no way I was making it to the dining hall on my own. And Azrael was still asleep. "I'd be glad to."

It was slow going. For one thing, there really wasn't a straight path to the dining hall from my room and, for another, we had to be careful to avoid any stairs for my own sake. Now, granted, it would've been faster if I'd just let him carry me, but I didn't want to put him out further. And besides, only Dad and Azrael had ever carried me before, really. I didn't… I couldn't put so much trust in a stranger, even if that stranger was my student. Last time I'd done that, I'd ended up thrown into a lake during winter. Dad had been so frantic...

Still, Dimitri didn't complain about helping me, and got me to the dining hall before I became completely dizzy again. Had a bit of a shock when we arrived, though, because… well, for some reason, Ashe was there, practicing his cooking. And he didn't mind serving me some to make up for the missed dinner.

"I really can't believe how much you can fit into your stomach," Ashe noted, watching me devour everything he set down in front of me. I wasn't sure why he was cooking at this late of an hour, but I certainly enjoyed the food he had made! "Um… so, is it good?" Since my mouth was full, I nodded, finishing off another plate and grabbing another. "Oh, that's a relief! Your expression hasn't changed at all, and I was practicing a recipe Dedue taught me. With some extra spices, since Mercedes wants to learn how to make more spicy dishes. I wasn't sure if they worked or not."

"Considering how quickly she's eating, Ashe, I think you succeeded," Dimitri gently teased, sipping his tea. Though Ashe had offered him his own plate, he'd gently refused. Still, he'd insisted on staying with me, probably to make sure my dizziness really did disappear with food, so he sat across from me at the table. "Well, the quickness and number of plates."

"I-I just wanted to make sure, Your Highness." Ashe sulked, just a little. "Dedue really knows a lot about cooking, though. I'm really glad he doesn't mind teaching me. He's not nearly as intimidating as he looks."

"He looks intimidating?" Dimitri seemed genuinely confused by that. "Because he is from Duscar?"

"Because he's huge!" Ashe gestured grandly to emphasize the words. "I think he's the tallest of our cohort, and he's broad! And he's naturally stoic, unlike Raphael who walks around with a grin on his face! And he's quiet! He even moves silently!"

"You move without sound at all, Ashe."

"Well, yes, but I'm maybe a tenth Dedue's size." Ashe wasn't that small, but food took priority over reassurances. "But he's very patient and gentle, once you actually talk to him. Which… you already know, of course, Your Highness, but… oh!" I wondered briefly at why he'd stopped, but a quick look showed Edelgard and Linhardt had walked in, with Edelgard notably more irate than Linhardt. "Princess Edelgard, Linhardt, what brings you two to the dining hall so late?"

"I was lecturing Linhardt on his laziness and discovered he forgot to eat," Edelgard grumbled, scowling. Linhardt just yawned in response. "Again."

"If I wanted to deal with an overbearing mother, I'd be at home, not here," Linhardt answered blithely. Edelgard immediately sputtered. "Honestly, everything has to be just your way, and everyone who doesn't conform just gets yelled at."

"I am simply trying to make sure you do not waste your-"

"Right, right, not waste my talent so that it can be put to 'good use'. Which of course means 'good for the Empire'. Which means good for you." Linhardt rolled his eyes. Edelgard outright glared. "It's really none of your business what I do or don't do. It's not like you trust me or anything, or consider me a friend. Just a potential asset."

"That is not-"

"That is not something to be discussed at this moment, when you are tired and hungry," I interrupted firmly. I had no idea what exactly sparked this, nor did I have any idea how authoritative I appeared considering I'd been stuffing my face. But I did do my best nonetheless. "Linhardt, sit down and eat something. What caused you to skip a meal anyway?"

"Hmm? Oh, I was just doing some crest research and lost track of time," Linhardt answered. He blinked a couple of times, like he'd been startled by something, before sitting down. Almost immediately, Ashe set a plate of food down in front of him. "I've been cross-referencing a few essays and I can't help but wonder if the origin of the crests are different than what the Church says."

"Oh, I have little doubts about that." Something I should say in the stronghold of the Church? Probably not. "Still, don't forget that you don't have Azrael's strange luck of somehow not getting stabbed due to brutal honesty and rambling thoughts."

"That is peculiar." Linhardt hummed a bit in thought as he absently ate. I looked worriedly at Edelgard, and saw Dimitri was serving her some tea, no doubt to help her calm down. I was certain Edelgard was just worried about Linhardt, but it was clear they had to talk before they could make any sort of headway in recovering after that. "I wonder if it has something to do with his Crest? Wait, no, probably not. Unless it's a property of it being a Major Crest and not a Minor?" That wasn't something I wanted to talk about right now… my nerves were still a little raw from dealing with Hanneman earlier, and...

And Claude and Hilda both rushed past the open door to the dining hall.

"Did anyone else see those two?" Ashe asked after a moment. All the rest of us could do was nod, really, frozen by the strange sight. "I wonder if something happened?" There wasn't anyone screaming, yet, but… "I think… Your Highness, please excuse me, but I think I'm going to follow."

"I'll come as well, Ashe," Dimitri answered, already standing. So was Edelgard. I stood as well as soon as I finished my last plate. "Hopefully, it's something minor like them running from Lorenz after a prank."

"Is that really a minor thing?"

"In comparison to what else it could be? Yes."

"Linhardt, you're coming too," Edelgard ordered, lifting Linhardt out of his chair with one hand. Linhardt immediately, and wordlessly, whined. "Just in case we need a healer."

"Our professor is capable of healing," Linhardt pointed out grumpily. Despite the words, he didn't actually fight Edelgard when she pulled him towards the door. "And I'm sure she's coming with you."

"You're coming."

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am."

Dimitri kept close to me as the five of us left, just in case. But the food had re-energized me; aside from a bit of lingering weakness, I was fine. So, we all did our best to follow the 'trail', which wasn't much of a trail at all. Just some bits of flattened grass and some very confused staff who obviously wondered why so many students were out and about at such a late hour. But it was enough.

"Claude? What in the world is going on?" Dimitri asked when we finally caught up to the two fawns. Mostly because Claude and Hilda had stopped at the entrance of… of a very suspicious passage. "We saw you running."

"Whoa, hey, other people are awake," Claude 'replied', not answering the question at all. Instead, he did a quick count. "So, two eaglets, two cubs, two fawns, and Teach. Aren't we breaking curfew?"

"Curfew is still a couple hours from now. Trust me; Sylvain adores waltzing just along the edge of it."

"Oh. Huh. Well then." Claude nodded to the tunnel. "Anyway, we were running because Hilda and I saw a suspicious person and went chasing." Of course they did. Well, of course Claude did. I was surprised Hilda put the effort in. "Well, more like suspicious person scared Marianne and we saw them after checking on her." Never mind, I was no longer surprised. "We lost the trail here."

"Here?" Dimitri peered down the tunnel, frowning. "I suppose it does look like a passage, but are you sure?"

"Unless both Hilda and I were sleepwalking and sharing the same dream, then yes, I'm certain." Claude rolled his eyes. "Lies have to be believable, you know?"

"You seem the type to take refuge in audacity."

"Why, thank you, prince charming~!"

"Personally, I believe his story, and I honestly cannot believe I said that," Edelgard murmured. She easily ignored Claude's playfully hurt look. "However, I remember my father telling me stories of the countless passages that snake their way underneath Garreg Mach. This could be one of them." She paused for a moment before smiling slightly at the others. "Shall we investigate?"

"Excuse me, but why are we investigating?" I asked my students. Not a single one heard me. Or, at least, indicated they had. Instead, all of them headed down the tunnel without a backwards glance, even Linhardt who I thought would protest. "I don't even…"

["Your menagerie is considerably lacking in common sense."] Sothis 'appeared' next to me, floating at my side and looking as exasperated as I felt. ["Well, you technically have two choices. One is to go after them, and the other is to get backup."]

"I love how you used 'technically' there." Because, of course, there was only one choice I was comfortable with: following them. Though getting backup would probably be the smarter decision. "Why must we jump into trouble? Do we not have enough going on in our lives?"

There was nothing for it, though. I had to do what I could. I closed my eyes to open my senses to Azrael, 'jolting' him awake to let him know where I was heading. Once I was sure he knew, I headed down the tunnel after my students. And hoped that somehow, this wouldn't be a mountain of trouble.

---

It was surprising how deep underground we walked. And walked. And walked. It was easy to lose track of time while it was so dark and quiet. Had it been minutes since we first entered? Hours? Days? Hard to be sure, really. Especially because of the dark. I hated the dark. Azrael had to 'send' reassurances while he did his best to find the tunnel we'd use to follow me down. It was hard for him, though. It wasn't like our sensing ability magically tracked our movements or anything, just… where we were in relation to each other. At one point, in fact, he'd been directly above us. That had sure been interesting to sense.

Regardless, though, it felt like we were just walking into the heart of the earth itself, which wouldn't be a good thing for… a lot of reasons. Dad had told Azrael and me stories about the molten rock that served as the earth's blood, and going to the 'heart' where all that 'blood' no doubt circulated? It just seemed like a bad idea. Especially with the dark. I hated the dark. I hated, hated the dark. At one point, I sparked a little ball of flame in my hand just so that we could have some sort of light. It didn't do much more than take the edge off my fear, but it did let me notice something. While most of the group seemed fine, Edelgard… did her best to appear so, but the way she curled into herself and twitched at every movement hinted she very much wasn't.

"Edelgard?" I whispered, stepping to her side. She nearly jumped and covered her mouth to keep from screaming. "I'm sorry. I should've taken more precautions to avoid scaring you."

"No, you're fine, Professor," she mumbled, doing her best to smile confidently. But the smile just looked broken to me. "I'm fine." I remained silent, simply waiting, and she squirmed. "I… I simply dislike being underground." She spoke slowly and hesitantly, like the words were wriggling out around something. "I didn't think we would be this far under."

"I see." I studied her as much as I could in the faint light. Between how pale she was and the shadows, she almost looked like a skeleton. She was definitely as rigid as one. "Perhaps we could hold hands, then?" I offered my free hand to her and she stared back like she had no idea what to make of the offer. "I find it comforting personally, though if you're more comfortable not being touched…"

"It… depends." Hesitantly, she took my hand and, after a moment, clutched it tightly. "Do you get scared, Professor?"

"Of course." I squeezed her hand reassuringly and decided that… well, maybe she'd feel better if she knew a fear of mine. "I loathe the dark, personally. That's why I called the fire."

"Really?" Just as I hoped, she relaxed a little, though she still clung to me. "That's… well, I suppose unexpected."

"I have to keep a candle burning when I go to sleep, and when I was smaller, I couldn't sleep at all unless I had Dad or Azrael with me. In that order." Dad was preferable, but if he'd been out on a job… "I tend to be quieter about it than Azrael when it comes to needles, though."

"Needles?"

"He can't even watch someone sew. One flash of a needle, and he's on the other side of the village in three seconds." Perhaps I shouldn't tell her that, but I knew Azrael wouldn't mind. Most days, even he found some humor in it. "Regardless, it might be hard to believe or remember, but you are safe with us. Even if you are in danger, I will be here to hold your hand."

"...Thank you, Professor." She tightened her grip on my hand even more, to the point that it was almost painful. But I didn't let her know. "I appreciate it."

So, we continued on, all of us continuing to walk down the dark tunnels. Far past the point we really should've turned back because we cleary weren't finding anyone or anything. But they kept on going, and I refused to leave them. I was tempted a few times, though. Selfishly because of the dark and, less selfishly, because I worried about Edelgard. It felt like with each step she got worse and worse, though she did her best to hide it. But it showed in how tightly she continued holding my hand.

"So, is it just me or has anyone else noticed that this place is weird?" Linhardt asked eventually. He yawned and rubbed at his eyes before nodding to the area around us. "We're very far underground, without any deviations that are easily seen, and there's no dust. I think."

"No, I think you're right," Ashe murmured, looking around as well. I noticed he paid particular close attention to the ceiling. "Based on the smell, there's no mold, no dust… it's honestly cleaner than some of the halls in the cathedral."

"Oh, so I hadn't imagined the mold above the statues of the Four Saints?"

"Nope. I've been wondering if I should tell anyone."

"Seteth, if only so that we can watch him have a heart attack."

"I was thinking Sylvain, actually. You wouldn't guess it, but he's very persnickety about keeping places clean." He was?

"He is?" Linhardt stared at Ashe for a moment. "Given all the people he beds? I mean; sometimes he has two or three part-"

"Ignoring all of that and how Linhardt would know in the first place…" Edelgard drawled, cutting off that potentially awkward conversation. Poor Dimitri facepalmed, though, blushing red from mortification on behalf of his friend. "Actually, no, how would you know that, Linhardt? You're on the first floor."

"Ferdinand was complaining about how improper it is for a son of nobility," Linhardt answered easily. Dimitri groaned and covered his face with both of his hands. Claude sympathetically patted him on the back. Hilda snickered. "I think Felix was yelling at him about it as well."

"I suppose Ferdinand's insistence on challenging me kept him from complaining about it to me." Edelgard, amusingly, blushed a faint pink. "Anyway, though, I do have to agree that this is more than a simple passageway." She ran the fingers of her free hand along the stone wall, confirming the lack of dust. "I would even go so far as to say this level of cleanliness suggests human habitation."

"But that would mean people are living underneath the monastery, right?" Hilda asked, frowning and tilting her head. A second later, though, she gasped. "Oh, wait! My brother told me about something like that! Something about homes beneath the ground, a spiraling city nested in the tunnels and filled with super-shady people. They even had a name for it… something super intimidating…" Hilda frowned, trying to remember. It bought time for Dimitri to stop blushing. "Maybe it was 'Abyss'?" Why would anyone call a place like this an abyss, though? Sure, we were pretty deep underground, but… "You know; like that section of hell talked about in the Church? The bottomless pits where the damned endlessly fall while their life flashes by as a reminder of their sins?" Wow. Subtle.

"That's two points for the pink haired girl!" A booming voice, almost as loud as Alois, announced the arrival of someone, as did the sudden flare of torches to properly light up the area. Didn't quite expect that someone to step out from the wall, but it wasn't the first time I'd seen hidden doors masked as the general surroundings. "I welcome you to Abyss!" the stranger greeted, purposely blocking our path. His entrance was so loud and grand that I almost missed the blonde girl slip out from the same hidden door. "Curious students of the Academy, what brings you to our humble abode?"

"Our business is none of your concern," Edelgard immediately retorted. Letting go of my hand, she and Dimitri moved in front of the others protectively, despite the fact that none of us had weapons. Granted, the loud one didn't wear weapons either, but the stained bandages wrapped around his fists hinted he might be a brawler. Not exactly my preferred way of fighting, but I had magic to balance the odds. So did Linhardt. "We were merely following someone suspicious." Why say 'none of your concern' and then answer anyway? Not that, of course, it wasn't their concern. If what Hilda said was true, then we'd technically trespassed into their home. "Nothing more."

"Ha! Your words may fool a fool, but not us!" the blonde laughed, stepping up now. My students stiffened, surprised by her appearance. I just focused on the slip of movement a short distance away, hinting to the arrival of others. Two, based on the shadows, but I could be mistaken. "You are here by orders of the Church, yes? To eliminate we inhabitants of Abyss!" If that were the case, we would've already been done by now. People weren't typically fireproof, after all. "I, Constance von Nuvelle, have divined your purpose!" Ignoring how she 'divined' nothing, why announce her name? Particularly the name of a house that was abandoned and annihilated five years ago when Dagda and Brigid invaded? It had to be fake.

"Meh, even if you didn't, I'm up for a fight!" the loud one laughed. I wasn't sure which one of us had the bigger headache at the moment: me or Sothis. But Sothis was definitely unamused by all of this. "A brawl is on the menu and I'm ready to feast!"

"Yeah, sorry, but we just ate," Claude replied instantly. He frowned for some reason. "Though, you look… familiar. Have we met?"

"No way, pal." Again, loud one laughed. He and Alois might get along. "You'd definitely remember a specimen like me."

"True. I'd definitely remember this sharp twinge of annoyance." Claude leaned forward and poked Dimitri and Edelgard. "I recommend a strategic retreat. Any protests?"

"Aw, are you turning back already?" And then there was a third person, a very beautiful guy who… wore clothing similar to Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude. Complete with the cape. "But you'll make me sad if you leave so soon," he mocked, as playful as a cat after prey. I studied his clothing again, then focused on the other two making a fuss and the redhead now hiding in the shadows behind them. There were definitely similarities to the Academy's uniforms. More so Pretty boy and Blonde girl than the other two. "Now why would you wanna do that?"

"Huh. Flawless example of a surprise attack," Claude noted lightly. He actually seemed impressed. I, however, was rapidly becoming exasperated and annoyed. Which unfortunately bled over to Azrael, and I sensed him pick up his own pace. He was definitely in the same tunnels, which was just freaking… "Still, we kind of didn't know where we were, so…"

"Ah, some lost kids stumbling in the dark, then?" Pretty boy bowed with a flourish and a smirk, keeping eye contact the whole time. I noticed he was the only one openly armed, wearing a sword at his waist. "Then you really should stay a while! Would be a shame to not have a bit of fun after coming all this way, yes?" Since when were fights fun? I really didn't understand that mentality…

"Hey, wait, the capes…" Loud one began, surprisingly soft. He frowned for a moment before chuckling and focusing completely on Claude. "Well, well… you must be Claude, then. The brand-new-heir to House Riegan."

"Who, me?" Claude immediately replied, feigning innocence. I really had a headache now because this was clearly the time to be silent and leave, not attempt to talk or charm or scheme. "Well, I am called 'Claude', yes, but that's quite the dashing name, isn't it? Too dashing for new moms to resist, so it's a pretty popular name." Especially with something so blatantly false. "It's even a popular choice for fake names, or so I'm told! Just a good, all-purpose moniker, really." Claude, please, be quiet.

"Right…" Loud one raised a brow. "Except there's only one Claude enrolled in the academy currently."

"...How do you even know that?"

"I don't! But, hey, you kind of gave yourself away right there." And this was why silence was preferable at times. "Besides, the cape means you're a house leader, meaning you're the highest ranked of the Golden Deer of this year. So if you weren't of House Riegan, then it would've been on the Gloucester kid, who has purple hair." And why you really should never assume you were the smartest one in the room, or the only one capable of fixing things. Or that your schemes always would work. "I gotta say that was an interesting attempt to deflect, though." He grinned and rolled his shoulders to loosen them up. "Well, looks like my luck is finally turning around for the good! So, here's a choice for ya! Either line up for the beating of a lifetime or let us lock you up like the good little boys and girls you no doubt are."

"Er… well, shit." Claude sighed and smiled apologetically. He had to quickly raise his hands in a placating gesture when he saw everyone, even sleepy Linhardt and sweet Ashe, was glaring at him. "Okay, I know. I have no clue what is going on the same as the rest of you, but it seems we're in a fight and it's completely and totally my fault."

"...What do you mean we have to fight?" I asked, pointing behind us. The tunnels were still there, after all. "There's no reason to linger. The person you saw was probably just someone snatching some fresh vegetables from the greenhouse or something. That's not a crime and, if it is, there are many others who are guilty of it, so I doubt the Church can prosecute them all."

"While I have no doubts that is true, Professor…" Edelgard began, nodding to the four. Well, three. I wasn't sure they'd noticed the redhead, actually. "I am certain they do not intend for us to simply leave? So, perhaps we should… somehow… prepare for this?"

"Based on stances and posture, the two girls are likely typical casters." The redhead continued to hide in the back, but I had enough light to see her. "The large one is likely a grappler, though the lack of a ranged weapon hints he might have magic as a backup." Or he was an idiot who charged first and thought tenth. "Pretty boy might wear a sword, but he keeps his hand near his arms, suggesting knives up the sleeve."

"...Two girls?" Edelgard frowned, did a quick count, and then looked back to me. I noticed my other students do much of the same. "There's… wait, you named four."

"There's a redhead in the shadows in the back there." I pointed to her for emphasis, and I thought I caught some surprise on Pretty Boy's face before Redhead stepped up to join the other three. "She slipped out when the pretty one was talking, much like how the blonde stepped out of the hidden door in the wall while loudmouth was purposely being loud. Multiple distractions, and probably kept the redhead in hiding to launch an ambush once the weapons came out." That, in fact, would've been a good surprise tactic. Not the three just appearing to taunt.

"I see." Edelgard frown deepened. "Still, I fail to see why turning our backs is a good idea?"

"Hmm? Oh, sorry. The ramble simply meant…" I moved my hand in front of me to conjure a wall of fire between us and them. "That all we have to worry about is the two girls, except I doubt they know how to adjust their aim for the air distortion the heat causes." Most mages didn't. A trained archer would, though. I should probably bump that lesson up for my archers, actually. "So, let's head back up, shall we?"

"How in the world did you do this?!" the blonde girl snapped. I didn't bother replying and, instead, just began ushering my students towards the stairs. Or trying to, at least. I felt like I might have more luck herding some cats. All of my students were trying to process things and not moving their feet while doing it. "There was no spell pattern or anything!" No, there wasn't, but that didn't matter to me. What mattered was that I could sense Azrael near and-

"What the hell are people doing down here?" And I had wanted to leave before he arrived, but no such luck. My twin was always quick when he wanted to be. "Why is there a fire wall?" he asked, tilting his head curiously. I… tried to think of distracting things to mask what happened, but as usual, it didn't work. There was the exasperation from earlier, and he could sense the residual nerves. "You didn't threaten my sister's students, did you?" He frowned and brought a hand up. The wind stirred and I had to leave my students' side to instead poke him to try and keep him from attacking. "Hey, why are you stopping me? If they threatened you and yours, then let me just rip them open with some wind and be done with it."

"Excuse me?!" Blonde girl glared at us through the flames. The other three were attempting to try and figure out what just happened, and I didn't blame them. "Wind magic can't do that! It slices, yes, but the control needed to rip is not-"

"Not with spell patterns, no. But the wind itself contains a lot of raw power. It's just normally very patient, content with simply grinding mountains into dust." Azrael smirked now. The winds picked up further. The redhead's eyes widened. "With a little bit of prodding-" Which I did, poking him in the side again. "Seriously? Let me just-"

"If you're going to bluff, you should at least make it believable!"

"Uh… Coco, maybe cool your annoyance a little and open your senses?" the redhead suggested dryly, the first words she'd said. Her eyes were still wide. "That power is no bluff."

"Why bother with bluffing?" Azrael retorted, frowning slightly in confusion. I knew it was because he'd never cared enough to bother with it before. "Anyway, since you threatened my-" Since Azrael refused to take the hint, I seized him by the collar to drag him back down the tunnel. "Whoa, hey! Seriously, it won't take me long!"

"Azrael, we technically trespassed in their home, and thus, I would like to simply leave them to their lives while we live ours," I replied, a little harshly. This was just ridiculous. He wasn't normally this insistent when I told him 'no', and we were all just… this was not how I expected my night to go. At all. "They do not wish to engage in conversation, and I see no point in fighting. Let's please leave before my flames burn out?" And maybe tell Dad about this? If there was something going on, getting someone competent on the job seemed like the best tactic. Also getting Azrael away from here while he was in a particularly murdery mood seemed like a good idea.

"Okay, this night just got weird," Pretty boy deadpanned, pinching the bridge of his nose. After a moment, he sighed and waved at the other three to tell them to stand down. Then he stepped forward, closer to the flames. "That amount of heat from nothing… without a spell pattern…" He frowned for a moment before sighing again. "Well, the strange magic shows you could be a threat, but you're just trying to leave. Well, your leader is, at least." …Since I was the only one trying to get everyone to leave, that meant he was referring to me, but since when was I the 'leader'? "Makes your talk of not being a threat hold some weight. If you wanted to hurt us, you would've already done so."

"I think that logic could've been applied five minutes ago, since I doubt anyone who truly wishes harm would just stand around talking."

"Oh, you never know. Could be that you're trying to get deeper into the Abyss for a treasure or something. But somehow, I've a feeling the wind person there would just waltz on through over our corpses." Well, he wasn't wrong. Especially since Azrael was still grumpy. "Shall we start this all again? Perhaps with us also explaining why we're on edge?" Why in the creation would I want to do that? Yes, it would be polite, but since we were the rude ones who trespassed, I figured politeness wasn't something we needed to worry about. "How does that sound?" It sounded… actually, it sounded like he wanted to use us for something.

"Fine by me," the redhead commented. She shrugged and rubbed her eye sleepily before leaning on the blonde. The blonde immediately leaned back and stroked the redhead's hair, even as she scowled at the fire. And Azrael. Mostly Azrael. But maybe me as well? "I'd really like to avoid hurting anyone today. I mean… if I need to, I will, but I'm not sure I want to mess with someone who breaks the laws of magic like I do." That was… uh…

"It only appears that way because it doesn't follow the rules you're used to," Azrael sighed. After a moment, he relaxed finally and the air became noticeably lighter. "It's like expecting a cat to show affection the same way a dog does. Or expecting a faith spell to act like a reason." He looked at everyone, including my students, drolly. He definitely was grumpy. "So. Introductions, is it?"

"Why yes," Pretty boy confirmed. Because this was a totally normal thing to do after… whatever the hell just happened. "Now, we know the one with the yellow cape is Claude von Riegan. And if we go by the capes for the others, then you must be Princess Edelgard and Prince Dimitri, yes?" Pretty boy smiled slightly, with a edge of mockery to it. "That's about… oh, half your group, so I suppose I should be polite and introduce myself before asking for more." He bowed deeply and elegantly. "You may call me Yuri."

"Wait, Yuri…?" Ashe murmured, frowning. "I feel like I should know that name."

"Really? Well, I suppose it's a popular name…" Yuri frowned as well for a moment before smiling. A genuine smile, surprisingly. "Wait, I know you. You're Ashe, the one Lord Lonato adopted, aren't you? Well, one of them, at least."

"I am, yes. Lonato adopted me, and my two younger siblings." Ashe snapped his fingers then and smiled back warmly. "That's right! You're Lord Rowe's adopted son! Wow, your family must be worried sick!"

"Unfortunately, my adoption was little more than a mutually beneficial arrangement. Not something of genuine kindness like Lord Lonato's." Yuri rolled his eyes. "And now, I think I'd rather lose a limb than return there." Well, that was a little… "Ugh… great, now I feel like I kicked a puppy." Ashe's sad-worried face did give that impression, yes. "The only one in that house that cared for me at all was the Gray Lion. It really wasn't like you and Lord Lonato."

"I… well, I hear you? I can't say I see or understand, exactly?" Ashe frowned a little more before sighing and shaking his head. "I'm sorry."

"Seriously, how do you keep up the puppy thing?" Yuri sighed, and his smile became decidedly bitter. "But, truly, I'm much happier here. I can assure you of that." At that, Ashe tentatively smiled. "There we go… I feel much less guilty now." Yuri grinned before gesturing to the blond girl. "I'm sure Constance already introduced herself, of course." Wait, that hadn't been a fake name? Really? "She's most proud of her lineage and… Constance, please, we're attempting to introduce everyone in a timely fashion." Constance scowled at him and he simply smirked in return before nodding to the redhead. "This is Hapi. Please don't make puns off her name."

"Yeah, only I'm allowed to do that," Hapi immediately joked. She had a kind smile, though she was quick to drop it. "But like Yuri-bird said, I'm Hapi. And the last one is B. Er… Balthus. Wow, it's weird saying his full name." If she normally went with a nickname, then I supposed it was.

"Balthus… Balthus…" Hilda whispered under her breath, for some reason. She repeated it a few more times and then all of a sudden, her eyes widened. "Wait a…! Baltie?!" You had to be kidding me. She knew him? "What the hell?!" That was my reaction. And Sothis's. And, well, everyone else's as well. Azrael's was to just laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. Sure, you could write off the vague connection Yuri and Ashe had as simple coincidence, but Hilda apparently had a nickname for this one.

"Huh? How do you…?" Balthus began. "Wait, pink hair and that voice…" Balthus stared for a long moment before laughing as well. "Well, I'll be damned. It's little Hilda herself!" And he had one for her. Kind of. This was bizarre.

"Yes, it is!" Hilda glared, hands on her hips. "But this isn't the time for pleasantries. Goddess, do you have any idea at how Holst will react to this? You threatened me!"

"Ahaha… ha…" Balthus immediately paled at that. "Please don't tell him?"

"Hmm…" Hilda thought hard for a long moment before sighing heavily. "Well, I suppose. Since it's you and I like you. But just this once."

"Whew… Thanks! I owe you."

"Uh… why was that a concern?" Hapi asked, frowning a little. She nudged his side to make sure she had his attention. "Isn't Holst your best friend, B?"

"Yeah, but that wouldn't stop him from killing me if he found out I threatened Hilda," Balthus answered without the slightest bit of hesitation. He even shuddered at the thought. "Or the rest of us, for that matter. And, trust me, we'd all be dead faster than we could blink."

"Is Holst really that strong?"

"When we were at the Academy, the older knights commented that Holst was as strong as the Blade Breaker himself." As strong as Dad? Hmm… I supposed my vague memories did agree with that, somewhat. "So, yeah. He's really that strong."

"Oh. Lovely."

"Hey, Byleth," Azrael suddenly began, poking my shoulder. I tilted my head towards him to show I was listening, mostly since I wasn't sure he'd sense it. I was just relieved he'd finally calmed down. "Who's Holst?"

"The general in charge of the Locket," I answered. I wondered if that would be enough, and tried to think of another thing that might help. ...Well, another thing that wasn't potentially embarrassing. "Checked on each of his soldiers personally?"

"Oh, the noble with the sister-complex." Azrael casually hugged me from behind and rested his chin on my shoulder. I tried to not sigh since, while that was true, I hadn't exactly wanted to say that in front of his sister. "Yeah, he got mad because an enemy almost broke the earring his sister made him, so I think he'd slaughter you into pieces for threatening her."

"Uh… two things," Hilda began, holding up two fingers. She then brought down one. "You know my brother?"

"We've done a few jobs at the Locket, and for the villages around the Locket," I explained, almost shrugging. Azrael's weight made that hard. "So, we talked once or twice. He's one of the few noble employers who doesn't use proxies, and who treated hired mercenaries with the same respect he gave his soldiers. So, he made a bit of an impression." Now that I thought about it, he was one of the few employers who never had to deal with Azrael's razor sharp honesty. "I doubt he'd remember either of us, though." Except vaguely as the 'Bloodstained Angel' and 'Ashen Demon'. Maybe.

"Oh." Hilda blinked a few times, like the thought was confusing to her. "Second thing, then. That's the first thing that came to mind when talking about Holst? Really?"

"He practically danced about his office when a letter from you arrived," Azrael deadpanned. I made sure to 'press' all my exasperation at him. Sadly, Sothis's own laughter no doubt mitigated it, since I knew he could 'hear' her. "So, yes, that's one of the first things. Should it not be?"

"Most would comment on his warrior prowess or something," Hilda mumbled, looking away sheepishly. She then glared at Claude, who was desperately and poorly muffling snickers. He actually had to use Dimitri's shoulder to even make a dent in the sound. "Or how smart he is?"

"Why be impressed with someone who can fight and kill well? Particularly a warrior? It's like praising someone for breathing. If he wasn't good, he'd be dead."

"And I think we're due for a subject change?" Claude wheezed, still trying to get his breathing back in order. He yelped when Edelgard thumped his back to help. "Ow! I like my spine where it is, thank you!" He made a face before nodding to Balthus. "So, what did you mean by you being lucky?"

"Hmm? Oh, that," Balthus sighed. He shrugged, though, and adjusted the… the chain he was wearing for some reason. Actually, all four of them wore chains. Why? "One of the people I owe money to is Count Gloucester and he said he'd forgive the debt if I dug up dirt on you. Nothing big."

"Ah, so a selfish motive for the fight, then!"

"Nah, a fight is just the best way to get to know someone. Common sense, that."

"If that's common, I'm glad I'm weird," I muttered, not able to bite my tongue in time. I thought Claude shot me a weird look, but I wasn't sure. "Regardless, I suppose we should finish the introductions." To be polite and all. This was all weird and ridiculous. "The one with green hair over there is Linhardt." Linhardt helpfully waved, studying our four newcomers closely. "I'm Byleth Mikayla Eisner. I'm their professor."

"And I'm her elder twin, Azrael Kimaris Eisner," Azrael introduced. He even waved, though he didn't get off of me. "I'm a Knight of Seiros, technically and under-" I reached up to cover his mouth. No one needed to hear about how we'd been conscripted. "Mmph."

"Since it hasn't come up yet, I feel I should apologize for invading your home." Best to simply keep the conversation moving. "As Edelgard said earlier, we simply were following a suspicious person."

"More like…" Azrael briefly forgot that I was still covering his mouth, so he reached up to move it before trying again. "More like your students decided to go wandering into a random tunnel despite all the dangers of following someone into unknown territory…" My students actually squirmed and looked sheepish at that, particularly Claude and Hilda. "You followed them because you were worried, and I followed you because unknown territory and the dark sucks." ...Well, yes, but I hadn't planned on accusing anyone while attempting to apologize. That seemed almost counter-productive. "So, why did you jump straight into threatening my sister's precious students?"

"You're quite quick to assume we made threats first," Yuri noted. Hard to say if he was attempting to mock or not. "What makes you think we're the aggressors? Don't get me wrong, of course. We were. But you walked in later."

"Because if you'd bothered with a speck of diplomacy, I wouldn't have walked in on a firewall," Azrael instantly deadpanned. The true answer was a combination of that and what he sensed from me, but only Dimitri would've had any idea about that. "Byleth would've still been trying for the diplomacy and, at worst, just thrown a fire-bolt by one of your faces. The wall meant that she didn't think diplomacy was on the table, but the fact that you're not charcoal means you hadn't actually attacked yet."

"...Huh. I wasn't expecting such a concise answer. I'd planned on teasing you on some vague 'I know my sister' explanation." Yuri had to blink a few times to process that turn of events. I had a feeling nothing about this night went as he'd expected, actually. I knew the feeling. "I suppose that's a good enough lead-in to what's been going on here, though. But first..." Yuri paused, studying us, before nodding down the hall. "Why don't we go sit somewhere? Standing around talking as we are is boring and a strain on the feet."

"You must have rocks in your nerves if-mmph!" Azrael 'sent' his annoyance at me when I covered his mouth again. "Mmph!"

"I think a change of scenery is just what we all will need," I instead agreed. Was it stupid? Yeah, more than a little. But I just had to glance at the three lords' faces and see their interest to know just why Yuri had even suggested it. They wouldn't leave without learning the reason, and the rest of us wouldn't leave them. "But keep to open paths so that we know how to leave. You won't succeed in getting us lost, of course." Not when Azrael had the wind to help him navigate. "However, it will be a show of good faith."

What in creation did we walk into?

---

The four led us easily through the tunnel, and down a side path we might've missed due to the way the shadows covered the entrance. From there, we actually went down a couple flights of stairs, until it opened up to… well, a bustling market. At least, that's what it resembled. It was noticeably more ragged than the one above ground, and the sellers were noticeably more tired. But their smiles were still bright and eager, and there were still children darting about to play. People singing, people gossiping… it might be rundown, but that honestly just highlighted the joyful parts more. Even if there was something sad about how tired everything looked. But there wasn't really time to study the area for long. Yuri and the others quickly and easily led us into one of the buildings along the edges of what might've served as the 'main street', near what looked and smelled like a tavern. There, everyone sat at a rickety table on chairs of various levels of balance, and Constance began brewing us some tea with a noticeably chipped and cracked tea set.

"Well, I suppose we should just get right to the point of things," Balthus began once Constance began passing teacups and setting out some food. "Someone is targeting Abyss." He frowned, however, at the teacup Constance gave him before leaning back in his chair to try and snag her. She easily dodged him. "Constance, can't I get some ale?"

"We're trying to fix the bad first impression, not make second one," Yuri refused for Constance. He sipped his tea, careful to hold the teacup with both hands. The handle had broken off long enough ago that the edges were worn smooth. "Regardless, it's been going on for weeks now, almost daily occurrences. First few claimed to have simply gotten lost before turning around to try and stab us." That explained why they'd been quick to jump to threats, then.

"You made a specific mention of the church, though," Edelgard murmured, nursing her own tea. She ended up with one of the few completely intact teacups, so she looked rather proper, especially given the scenery. "I'm assuming they know of this place?"

"Of course. Abyss is the home of those who shun the light of day for whatever reason. Some are here by choice, some were thrown down here by the church, and still others stumbled here because they had nowhere else to go." Yuri set his teacup on the table. "No idea where the tunnels came from. For all we know, they always existed. Still, the church normally tolerates us with a simple deal. Abyssians don't mess with the surface; surface doesn't mess with Abyss. Mostly."

"Mostly?"

"Well, there's many among the church that wish to purge this 'filthy' city."

"So, we're all on edge and jumped the arrow," Hapi said. At least, I thought she did. It was a little hard to understand her with whatever food she'd shoved into her mouth. She was the only one eating. "Sorry… this place is our home. Like Yuri-bird said, we're all here for one reason or another, but the people here welcomed us. And most… well, most don't know how to fight. We do, though."

"Thus, we vowed to protect Abyss with all that we are," Constance declared, sitting down finally. Her patterns of speech reminded me of Ferdinand. Pompous, but well-meaning. "None of us can abide that for some foul reason, someone seeks to further oppress those who could only seek solace here."

"So, here we are, the Ashen Wolves," Balthus continued explaining. He ignored his tea, and ignored Constance's little glares with practiced ease. "You can call us an 'Unofficial' House of the Officer's Academy or something. That's how it tends to get explained. Mostly, we wear uniforms like you all to make it easier to find us, particularly with the flashy silver garb. We're the protectors of the Abyss. Which didn't exactly help with jumping the arrow, as Hapi said."

"We truly do apologize…" Though the words sounded sincere, Constance's tiny frown almost made her tone accusatory. "It was truly unbelievable that someone might come down to Abyss out of mere curiosity." But we came down here because-

"Constance, they came down because they saw someone suspicious. Well, the students did. The other two just followed out of worry." Balthus shrugged and suddenly stood. His teacup remained completely untouched. "Anyway, I need to go back to helping Grandma Lisbeth. Why don't you all wander Abyss a bit while you're here? See what we're protecting and all. That honestly might work better for fixing first impressions than us trying to talk."

"You just want to show off to Ely again, since she's taking care of her grandmother for the day."

"Oh, please, I don't need an excuse for that."

He left, though the rest of us remained for a bit. A little bit of banter, finishing up our tea… that sort of thing. Once our cups were drained, though, almost everyone scattered. My students wanted to explore, Azrael was curious, and Hapi and Yuri (should I call them 'pups'?) wanted to check in on their people. Only Edelgard and Constance remained, having a little more tea to finish off the pot. Well, I lingered too, but that was just because Edelgard still looked wan by my eyes.

"I cannot believe you are truly here, Princess Edelgard," Constance was saying, smiling brightly. Edelgard's own smile was simply polite in return. "I should have known it was you by your regal air, but your hair confused me. I had heard it turned white from the terrible illness you endured, but I didn't think it true!"

"It was a trying time, yes," Edelgard murmured. I might've been imagining it, but I thought she looked a little stiff. "Still, I never would've imagined you were alive, Constance. I had heard you alone of your family hadn't been counted among the dead, but…"

"Yes, I was truly lucky. But let us not sour our reunion with such sad talk!" Constance giggled, determined to be delighted. "Is the tea okay? I picked it because I remembered you like citrus teas, and well, I had to pick something…"

"You needn't worry, Constance. I assure you that I would not have a second cup if I didn't like it."

I decided then that I wasn't really needed and left so that they could converse without any eavesdroppers. Not that I was entirely sure where to go, mind. Wandering about just talking to people wasn't… exactly something I did. It took all I had to not flinch from the suspicious looks the Abyssians were giving me either. Alone in a crowd of strangers, with people who distrusted me… such things never ended well. There were surprisingly few rocks for people to throw, but I had no doubts about their ability to scream and throw punches. I didn't… want to hear them scream. I didn't want to be beaten. I… was nauseous and I couldn't… I couldn't talk to people. And there really wasn't a point of wandering to 'look at what the pups were trying to protect'. It was obvious at a single glance. So, I stuck to the edges, the shadows. Desperate to keep away from strangers' gazes. Desperate to find someone I knew. Like Azrael. Azrael would be nice, but he was distracted by something. Smithing, I thought I sensed. Regardless, the distraction meant he didn't sense my own unease and could not come to my rescue.

"Baltie!" Thankfully, I heard Hilda before I actually became ill, and I followed the voice to see her talking to Balthus near a rickety shelter. "Baltie, how did you even end up down here?" Hilda demanded, sulking up at him. Balthus tried to ignore her, since he was moving things, but he didn't last long. Hilda had a devastating sulk. "Do you have any idea how worried Holst has been? I mean… I'm sure whatever happened was your own fault, but still!"

"Yeah… well…" Balthus hedged, not looking at her. She continued pouting, though, and eventually he sighed. "Well, I just have more bounty hunters after me than I have hair on my head." He set a large box of… something on top of another stack of boxes. What all was he moving? I had no idea. "So, I needed to lay low. The people of Abyss were willing to take me in."

"Seriously?" Hilda sighed. "That's awful… and I feel like I need to apologize to the people here on your behalf."

"Hey now… if you go apologizing, Holst will have my head!"

"Good, maybe you can apologize to him for making him fret!"

That started some bickering, so I moved on again, feeling a little steadier. My nerves were still raw, but I didn't feel quite as ill now. At the least, I could walk in the open instead of skirting the edges. Sothis's constant reassurance helped with that, enough that when I saw Dimitri watching a group of children playing, I almost called out. But Yuri slinked up to him first, and I shied away instinctively. I didn't want to bother….

"So, what do you think of our little town, your highness?" Yuri asked Dimitri. Despite the friendly smile, there was definitely a challenge to his posture. Wondered why he'd focused on Dimitri for that. "I'm ever so curious to hear."

"Hmm? Ah, well…" Dimitri began. He paused when a ball bumped into his leg and he crouched down to pick it up and toss it back to the children. They cheered and thanked him before returning to their game, and Dimitri smiled. "I like it."

"Oh?"

"Do not get me wrong. I am saddened that such a place feels necessary. That there are those so oppressed that they must seek sanctuary below the ground to find any semblance of peace… it is yet another sign of the troubles Fodlan faces." Dimitri stood again and smiled at Yuri, like he hadn't noticed the challenge at all. "Still, I cannot help but find it incredible that even with that, they have found such peace. They were able to find sanctuary. In that sense, I find it wonderful."

"So, you're not fond that it's required, but you're glad that it's here since it is needed." Yuri frowned before chuckling. "Well, there will always be a darker side to things. That's just how the world is. Shadows and light are intertwined, after all."

"Perhaps, but even if that is true, that doesn't mean we can simply let things be." Dimitri shook his head. "Now, do you have any other questions or do I get to hear my score for your test?"

"Ah, you did notice. Wasn't sure for a moment." Yuri relaxed. "Truthfully, I'm from Faerghus, and there's rumors about you, but not much else. You've been kept under lock and key for the past four years."

"Yes, my uncle insisted on it." Dimitri looked away, uncomfortable. "I'm glad he let me come to the Academy, though. I hope to broaden my limited worldview, in order to better understand what sort of reforms I'll need to push forward."

"...Do you practice being so serious or does it come naturally?" Yuri chuckled and looped his arm around Dimitri's. "Well, come along and I'll show you the tavern. You need to loosen up."

"I've been to taverns before. I often have to drag Sylvain from them."

"Like I said, you really need to loosen up. Relax a little. Maybe read, since the library is near the tavern for whatever reason." Library? They had a library down here?

I almost spoke up, but I decided against it and, instead, waited for the duo to leave before cautiously approaching the children and asking about the library. They frowned at me warily, but one of them gave me directions and I thanked them before leaving, doing my best to neither run nor skip. It was hard because… well, books. Books were wonderful. And when I actually arrived at the library, I discovered it was huge. Far larger than I ever would've expected. It was so large that I honestly didn't realize there were other people here until Linhardt called out to me.

"Professor, look at this library!" Linhardt gushed, staring at the rows of books with sparkling eyes. Next to him, Claude was already pulling a few off the shelf to peruse. "It's incredible! Completely different from the one up above and their selection…!" He picked a book at random and flipped through it. "Forgeries, banned books… legends, spells, heresies… I could live my whole life here and never be bored!"

"Just be careful, Linny," Hapi warned, leaning against the railing. A quick look over it showed… nothing but empty space. "Some of the books here get tossed because they're inaccurate to the point of ridiculous. All of them are of dubious origin, so you might want to take everything with skepticism."

"Right, right…" And Linhardt was fully absorbed in his book at not paying the slightest bit of attention at all.

"Well, don't say I didn't warn you." Hapi shrugged before looking at me. "Oh, hey, try to stick to the main area, okay? You can imagine how most like their privacy. Think of this area here as like… a town square or something."

"That's what I thought when I walked through," I murmured. Though most of my attention was on the books, I had to wonder… "I'm still confused why they're down here, though."

"Oh?" Hapi asked, tilting her head curiously. Her eyes were narrowed, though, wary. "Why?"

"Considering the people I've been hired by in the past, and the people I've killed? I was a mercenary, after all. You're not exactly seeing bandits diving down here, or merchants who increase the prices of their wares during emergencies when people have few options. And I haven't seen nobles who squeeze every bronze coin out of their people or…" I needed to shut up. "Well, maybe they are down here and I just haven't seen them. No one can see everything, after all."

"...Huh." Hapi frowned, but it seemed more thoughtful than the earlier wariness. "You haven't been here in the monastery long, have you?"

"A month and a half, I believe?" Why bring that up? Had I missed something? I probably had.

"That explains it. You and Azrael. He's a Knight, but he's not anywhere near as self-righteous as they are. Well, except that Alois fellow. He's nice."

"You know Alois?"

"Yeah, he's one of the knights that brought me here. Told me 'hilarious' jokes." She rolled her eyes and I had to smile slightly. Alois's jokes were… of varying quality. "But he knew I was scared and supported me. Only one to protest when the Church threw me down here." The Church did what now? "You know him?"

"He was my dad's squire. And, from what he says, my dad actually raised him." He was the reason I had things from Mom. For that alone, I liked him. But his cheer did make him endearing as well. "He's loud, but strangely kind. Loyal to a point that I almost find it ridiculous."

"Really? Interesting." She smiled a little, but remained wary. "Not going to ask why they threw me down here?"

"If you want an ear, I would be glad to listen. But your past is your business. I do not necessarily need to know it in order to learn the person you are now."

"...You're weird." This time, she smiled warmly. "I like that, though. I hope the Church doesn't change you."

Hapi left then, which was probably a good thing since… I didn't know what to make of what she said. Not change, huh? Never heard a stranger say that to me before. That was… weird. Weird enough that I decided to ignore the books to go find Azrael. At this point, I wanted a hug. So, I left the library and opened my senses to see where he was now. To my surprise, based on what I sensed, Azrael was… somewhere off the main street, demonstrating his magic fo Constance for some reason. Well, I gleaned from his thoughts that she'd demanded it, and Azrael didn't mind humoring her, but it was still odd. Plus, that made me worry for Edelgard. It was probably nosy and overbearing, but I couldn't help but worry, given her earlier fear…

["Hold up a moment…"] Sothis's quiet whisper was strangely absent, so I made sure to duck off the street before waiting for her to continue. ["Mmm… it's hard to explain, but I sense something a little further down the way? An echo from the earth…"] That was… a strange phrase. ["It is, sadly, the best that I can come up with. I know you fret over Edelgard, but might we see what it is?"] I saw no reason to refuse. I could look for Edelgard along the way. ["True. Thank you. I do not know why, but it makes my heart ache..."]

Slowly, I walked, listening to Sothis's directions on just where to go. A couple of times, we stopped because Sothis wasn't sure where the echo 'bounced' from, but I didn't mind. I minded more how sad she was, and how she seemed to get sadder the closer we got to where the echo originated from. She did her best to not let it 'bleed over' and affect my mood, but I couldn't help but be sad that she was sad. Much like how I'd get sad when Azrael or Dad were upset. She was 'family', after all. Though, I ended up being sad for different reasons once we found the source of the 'echo'. There, tucked against the remains of a building's roof before it caved in, were some children curled up with threadbare blankets. Almost all of them were flushed and sweating from fevers. A few of them coughed deep, hacking coughs… ones that threatened to tear their throats from the force. A couple actually started vomiting because of how hard they were coughing.

Immediately, I went to them and used my magic to do what I could. I knew I couldn't truly fix any of this. Faith magic might be able to tend to illnesses, but mine couldn't. I could only treat the symptoms and bolster their flagging stamina to buy them a little more time. Give them a couple of days where their throats didn't burn so much, or their stomachs didn't rebel against whatever they tried to eat. I wished I could do more, though. A couple of them… I wasn't sure they'd live that much longer, even with the little bit of time I gave. Their life was just so…

"Life-giving flames…" I whispered as I tended to one of the worst ones, a young girl who was as thin as a skeleton and who burned with a fever as intense as a wildfire. "Heed me…" Her lifeforce was nothing but a flicker to my magic, so weak that I wasn't certain Faith magic would take to her at all. But through my invocation, I could burn a little more energy, a little more power, and use it as a spark to coax the flicker into something that burned. In theory, at least. I wasn't sure how well it would work. Whatever illness she had… it had ripped through her. Still, if I could ease her pain even a little… that was worth it to me. I hoped…

"Mama…" she mewled at one point, around the time I let the invocation go and stopped using my magic. Any more wouldn't help her, sadly, and all I was accomplishing was burning myself out. "Mama…" I had no idea where her mom was, so all I could do was stroke her sweat-matted hair as she curled up in my lap to doze.

"Huh. So, this is where you are." Yuri walked up then, carefully navigating around the ill children and checking them one by one. Only when he'd seen to all of them did he return his attention to me. "What did you do?" he asked. It wasn't quite an accusation, but skirted the edge. "They've been ill for the past few days, but they… seem to be better."

"'Seem' is accurate," I countered, still stroking the girl's hair. She mumbled something in her sleep and squirmed closer to me. Even through my shirt, her fever burned, but I held still. If this little bit gave her comfort, then I would freely and gladly give it. "I treated their symptoms to ease their pain and make them more comfortable, but they need medicine. All I did was buy them time."

"More time is good. Medicine is always difficult to secure down here. And the less we say about the costs, the better." He leaned against the wall closest to where I was, and watched the girl in my lap, smiling softly yet sadly. I kept quiet, simply letting her sleep. I didn't want to move and wake her unless I had to. "A noble became infatuated with her mother and demanded she'd be his mistress." Why was he saying that? Why tell me this? It wasn't my business. "Her mother refused, so the noble slaughtered her family and kidnapped her. Melissa managed to escape, but she made the mistake of trying to report the crime. So, the noble in question knows she's alive, and a witness. Abyss is the only place safe for her."

"Given all that, I'd guess they were either an Alliance or Imperial noble." I wouldn't rule out a Kingdom noble, of course. But you heard more rumors about that sort of thing in Leicester and Adrestia. Leicester because of their insistence on 'freedom' and Adrestia because of their entitled arrogance. The Kingdom's self-righteousness didn't normally cover things like this. Only killings.

"Good guess. Alliance, Gloucester territory, to be specific. Minor lord there. Balthus found and rescued her. Ended up getting another bounty on his head for it, but he doesn't care."

"So, he leaves here?" Best to just focus on that. I still didn't see why he brought it up at all.

"Oh, despite what we say, all of us head up every once in a while. Though we're outcasts, humans sadly require at least a little bit of sunlight to keep from going completely mad." Yuri chuckled, shaking his head at a joke only he knew. "Though, Balthus tends to leave to deal with whatever bounty hunters are after him. He does that, puts on a little show, and none of them come down here to cause trouble."

"I see." And now to wait for the reason why he came over in the first place.

"You're not the chatty sort, are you?" Yuri, however, seemed more than happy to take his time with whatever it was. "Anyway, you and your brother are the twins that are the hot topic of the gossips, aren't you? Wouldn't have expected you make your way down here, but the last name gives you away."

"I wouldn't think the two of us were all that interesting."

"I beg to differ!" He sounded so amused by it all. "Children of the famous Blade Breaker, mercenaries spoken of with fear and reverence, and everyone here in the monastery swore up and down that you'd been dead for twenty years. But instead, you make a glorious return via saving the lives of the future rulers of Fodlan." That was one hell of a coincidence, truthfully. "Not to mention how there hasn't been a whisper about the three of you in all this time, not even in the shadows." That was something I had absolutely nothing to do with. "So, the gossips are all a-flutter over speculation and rumors."

"I still think there are more interesting topics."

"Well, I wish they'd brought up the odd magic you two have. Would've caught me less off-guard." That wasn't my fault. "Though, given that lovely introduction we had, I'm surprised your brother is tolerating Constance and her poking and prodding. Once she's started researching, she doesn't think of anything else for days on end, and being the focus of such single-mindedness isn't exactly fun."

"He is protective of me and mine, but if you're not a threat, then Azrael rarely cares." If anything, based on what I sensed, he was amused by Constance's attempt to research his magic. "I should apologize for him, though. He's not normally that insistent once I've asked him to stop." It really was strange. I wondered if it was because it had barely been a week since the bandits and he knew well how much that battle haunted me...

"If that's how he is to people who threaten you, I'd hate to see what he does to people who want to date you." ...Why would those two things have anything to do with each other?

"I think you're connecting two things that don't have a connection." I glanced up at him, tired of the runaround. "Is there something you need?"

"Wow, straight to the point, huh? And here I was going to try and chat a little more." Well, it was obvious he wanted something. Why else would he have even bothered explaining himself or anything? "You and your twin have atypical magic." There was a calculated gleam in his eye. Since that told me already what he wanted, I simply shut my eyes and continued stroking the girl's hair while she dozed in my lap. "The person you all followed was one of my scouts, someone I sent up to see if our attackers are on the way. And, sadly, another one just returned to inform me that is the case."

"You want my assistance."

"You catch on quick." He waited to continue for some reason, so I opened my eyes to look at him. Surprisingly, there was no more calculation… no, that wasn't right. It was still there. The calculation was still there. But it was tempered with genuine kindness and resolve. Protectiveness, even. "I already have a trap more or less set for them, but if you and yours are willing to assist, then that'll lessen the chances of them coming after the rest. And buy more time for evacuations if things go south."

"I see." I gathered the girl up in my arms and stood slowly to not jostle her. She mumbled in protest, but thankfully kept on snoozing. "Where should I take her?"

"That will be this way." He made no move to move, though. Just watching me. "So, will you help?"

"Azrael and I will help, yes." I couldn't just walk away, knowing there were civilians in the line of fire, and Azrael would agree because I did. "You'll have to plead your case to the others, though."

"Somehow, I doubt that'll be hard." He smirked, but I thought there was something genuine in it anyway. Genuine what, I wasn't sure. But genuine. "Anyway, this way. We have the ill in a separate place from the non-ill folk. More secure, since they can't run as fast. Can you help me carry the others?"

"Of course."

Sothis was already laughing at the trouble I'd gotten myself knee-deep in. At least one of us found amusement in all this.

---

As expected, my students agreed easily. Mostly. Linhardt had to be dragged out of the library and he complained the entire time until Edelgard threatened to make him have etiquette lessons with Ferdinand. That shut Linhardt up quick. I'd have to remember that. As it was, though, I simply made sure my students picked adequate weapons from the bits and pieces the Abyssians kept around to defend themselves, as well as whatever medicines they had down here. It… wasn't a lot. And honestly, I wasn't sure how much I trusted these weapons to hold up during a battle. But they were what we had, so...

"Why do I have to go?" Hapi complained, hopping over a hole in the floor. The rest of us just stepped around it and continued following Yuri to… wherever he was leading us. No one seemed to have a clue, save him. I had a feeling Yuri wasn't exactly fond of explaining things to people. "No matter what we do, we're all going to die in the end anyway."

"Sure, but if we do nothing, then we'll die a whole lot sooner," Yuri answered easily. With a smile even. Hapi just scowled. "I assume everything is camouflaged?"

"Yeah, yeah…"

"Our decoys shall prevent those scoundrels from finding our living quarters!" Constance declared loftily. I wondered if she was capable of talking in other way. "But, Yuri, do note that I am the bait on your hook. If we fail, I shall be left dangling in the wind. Still, it must be done, so-!"

"Boss, there's a door up ahead," Balthus interrupted. He easily ignored Constance's glare. "Is that where we're going?"

"It is," Yuri confirmed. And, after a few more steps, we walked through a broken doorway into a massive and empty room. And I meant massive. "Welcome to whatever this place used to be."

"An underground arena?" Balthus laughed. The sound echoed in a way that kept it loud, but strangely not harsh. This place was clearly designed so that one person could speak and be heard anywhere. "You sure know some interesting places, boss!"

"One of the scavengers told me about it, and I thought it might be useful, so I've been slowly cleaning up. Well, the entrance, at least. The room itself was strangely untouched."

"Why, this place is magnificent!" Constance gushed, spinning around to take it all in. She practically bounced from giddiness. "It is just large enough to contain my glory!" She giggled and spread her arms out wide. "Glorious! I shall not hold back here!"

"It is rather nice," Hapi agreed. She smiled as she also looked around. "I wonder if I could sigh here."

"Now that is a thought…"

"Sigh?" Azrael repeated. He poked me, but I just shrugged and focused on making sure my students were prepared. I would've liked more vulneraries and antidotes, but… "What does sighing have to do with anything?"

"When Hapi sighs, monsters appear," Balthus explained. If not for the serious look, I would've thought he was pulling our legs. "No, I'm not kidding."

"That's… an interesting invocation." Azrael frowned a little, thinking. I wasn't sure if her sighing was like the invocations Azrael and I used, but I supposed if you thought of it like that, then… "I mean… what makes the sighs different from normal breathing? Or panting, if its the force that sparks the reaction?" It wasn't like ours made much sense either. They were ultimately a string of words. Though, at least the words were unique sounds?

"Not a clue, but it's just sighs! We tested it out. Research and all."

"More like you wanted to punch something, B," Hapi countered. Her continued smile, however, made the words teasing. "I can't control the monsters when they come, though. I'm just good at dealing with them, and they find me especially tasty compared to others so I make good bait."

"And that all means that there is going to be absolutely no sighing, please," Yuri gently refused. Hapi made a face at him. "Look, if someone wants to eat you, they have to at least take you to dinner first." This time, Hapi mimed a punch at him which Yuri 'ducked' under with practiced ease. "And Constance, be glorious in moderation. This place is so large that if it buckles, all of Abyss will fall with it. The whole point in luring the mercenaries here is to prevent damage."

"Good point. Coco, nothing too flashy, okay? We don't want to make more trouble for Elfie, again." Who was 'Elfie'?

"I am well aware of our aim!" Constance snapped back. She stomped her foot, almost like a child with a tantrum. "Do not mock me!"

"We're not mocking," Balthus reassured, patting her on the back. He then quickly ducked behind Yuri. "We just don't trust you to show restraint!"

"Balthus!"

"My pardon, but there was a name you mentioned," Ashe hesitantly said, interrupting the argument. Or whatever it was. "Elfie?"

"That's Hapi's name for Aelfric, a big wig in the church," Balthus explained, adjusting his wrappings. They looked soiled; he really should get new ones. I didn't want to think about the infection he was risking. "He's also a friend of Abyss, though, fighting to get resources for us. Opposition in the church makes it difficult, but he does what he can and, thus, we do what we can. Protecting Abyss."

"I see…" Ashe smiled. "Well, we're here to help! However we can, that is."

"Well, you're reliable, huh?" Hapi noted. Hard to tell if she was being sarcastic or not. "We'd better go running, so you all get prepared, okay?"

And the pups left. All four of them. Leaving the rest of us to stand around in this 'glorious' arena… the more I looked at it, the more I hated it. It was too open. If we moved quickly, we might be able to trap enemies on the staircases, but that would give them a height advantage, and there was no other place to funnel enemies. The center area was raised and we might be able to arrange things there, but we had to hope the enemy had no one with a Meteor spell, or the ability to coordinate their mages together for a Resonance. If they did, we would be in a world of trouble, particularly since we only had Linhardt, Azrael, and myself for healers. Well, that I knew of. The pups didn't exactly share what all they knew; I only had my earlier guesses.

Urgh… I hated waiting. I hated that time just before a fight, when you knew everything was about to fall apart. I never could breathe, then. I could only think and analyze and imagine all the ways everything could go wrong, with the knowledge that I'd never be able to account for everything. Of course, it seemed to just be another thing wrong with me. Because Azrael (and Dad) were always calm or even a little bored during this time, and none of my students showed anything but the same.

"Hey, Dimitri?" Claude asked at some point to break the silence. When Dimitri didn't immediately answer, he nudged his shoulder with his bow. "Dimitri?" This time, Dimitri nodded to let him know he was listening, but otherwise kept to his task: inspecting his lance. "Is Ingrid always so… persnickety about behavior?" Persnickety?

"I take it you have been subjected to one of her lectures?" Dimitri asked in return, apparently not surprised in the least.

"She got on to me about yawning. Yawning." Claude rolled his eyes. "Seriously, she needs to lighten up."

"While I can say that she's always been a stickler for propriety and whatnot, she… did get worse after everything in Duscar." He looked up briefly to smile, but it was pained. "I apologize on her behalf, since I'm sure she showed no signs of it."

"Nope. I know Felix is the prickly one of your group, but she sure was pointed with the lectures. Gave Raphael hell recently about his eating habits. Which… admittedly are messy and Raphael took it all with his usual good humor, but still. You'd think she was some cranky old grandma with how much she was nagging." Claude made a face. "Not sure if she means well, or if she's just-"

"Again, I apologize on her behalf." Dimitri frowned at something on his lance, but made no comment about it. "I shall tell Raphael as well, and try to remind Ingrid that there are other, politer ways to express worry or… whatever she was trying to show. Do you know of anyone else I should apologize to?"

"Bernadetta," Edelgard immediately supplied. She looked distinctly annoyed, and even scowled at Dimitri. "I only found out recently, but apparently, she kicked down Bernadetta's door to get her to come to training." ...She did what now? "She fixed the door afterwards, but the fact remains…!"

"...So that's why she was looking for a hammer a few days ago," Dimitri murmured, bringing his lance down to his side. In contrast to Edelgard's scowl, he simply looked apologetic. "I am afraid that one likely has to do with a… different part of what all happened after Duscar. Though it is no excuse, of course. With that said, I do not know if I will be able to apologize to Bernadetta herself."

"And why is that?"

"You mean besides how she tenses and runs like a scared rabbit whenever anyone approaches her?" He smiled ruefully. "I'm not sure scaring her out of her wits is conductive to giving an apology."

"...Fair point." Edelgard grimaced, and she glared at Linhardt when he snickered. Not sure why he snickered, of course. "Sorry, I just… it took me a bit to get Bernadetta to tell me why she was nervier than usual around Ingrid, and when I learned…"

"No matter one's intentions and no matter one's reasons, one's actions must be held accountable for how they affect their victims." Dimitri shook his head and sighed. "Anything else?"

"Haven't heard anything besides what Claude said," Hilda answered. She yawned, and stretched, nearly dropping her axe in the process. "I mean… she glares at Dedue and all whenever you're not looking, but I haven't heard anything." Dimitri only smiled sadly at that, and I remembered what he said about how she'd turned to anger to deal with her grief. "So, nope, all good here. What about you, Ashe?"

"W-well, she yelled at Sylvain in the dining hall recently about his flirtations?" Ashe stammered. He squirmed, clearly uncomfortable. That Dimitri sighed showed he wasn't at all surprised. "But no, not really? Well, I mean… I think she scolded Felix about skipping a tactics seminar or… maybe making a commotion at one? Not sure." Seminars… those were extra 'classes' some held for the students. Optional things. I never did one since I had my hands full with just my usual work. "We normally just talk about stories of knights and the like." He sullenly looked at everyone then. "But why did this turn into a 'be annoyed at Ingrid' conversation?"

"Claude brought it up, so let's just call it his fault." Hilda easily ignored Claude's protesting squawk. "They're taking a while. I hope they're okay. Baltie's too stupid to die, of course, but I'm worried about the others."

"You know that just means they're going to show up now, right?"

"You think so?" A loud, echoing yell down one of the corridors 'answered' her. "Oh, damn it."

"I warned you."

"I do hope you all finished your preparations before complaining about Ingrid?" Azrael asked with a grin. He was bouncy; I was nauseous. "Now then, Byleth, where do you need me?"

"Hey, you know, someone else might have a plan," Linhardt pointed out. The yelling was getting closer. "Yuri seems to have something in mind."

"Yuri also decided that luring people into a large open area with minimal to no traps was a good idea instead of having us hide in the shadows and pick off the mercenaries one by one using the Abyss's secret passages." ...Now that Azrael brought that up, it did seem like a strange choice. Especially considering how they confronted us earlier. If you were funneling an army, then I supposed the open space was good for that, but surely there weren't that many coming, right? "Or, you know, just seal them off in some hideaway room and let them starve to death. Or suffocate. Whichever comes first." He shrugged. I tried to not be sick at the mental image. "So, I'm going to do what I always do and listen to my amazing twin. If he had a plan and wanted us to play along, he needs to make sure she knows first."

"I'm guessing that the reason why you recognized Lord Holst's sister-complex is because you have one of your own?"

"Again, he danced about his office after getting a letter from her." Azrael shrugged. Poor Hilda blushed in embarrassment and facepalmed at the reminder. And almost dropped her axe. "I'm not sure why you think there's something strange about me wanting to listen to her strategies, though. As far as any of us know, those pups are going to lure their enemies here with us as bait and then activate a trap that kills us all."

"That's a bit morbid."

"Is it still morbid when it's a pretty common tactic nobles use for the mercenaries they hire?"

"Azrael, please don't bring that up," I sighed, focused more on the yelling. They were far too close for us to be so relaxed… particularly when this would only be the second battle my students had fought together. "Weapons at the ready." I glanced at Azrael and he nodded as soon as he caught my thought. He knew what he had to do. "Fight defensively and conserve your energy. We do not know our enemy or their numbers." And that was about all I had time to say before Balthus led the first group of enemies into the arena.

"Huh, looks like I'm back first," Balthus noted, skidding to a stop not far from us. He then turned a grinned at his pursuers, who were looking more than a little confused now. "It'll be a shame to mar this beautiful place with a bunch of fresh corpses, but…" Balthus shrugged and punched the closest one in the throat. They crumpled, desperately trying to breathe, but the blow had collapsed their windpipe. "Here goes…!"

"Balthus, I'd like you to come here, please." I looked over everything impassively, while Azrael darted along the side to do what I'd asked. "Now."

"Uh… sure?" Balthus frowned in confusion, but surprisingly did do as I asked. A good thing too since Azrael threw the wind a half-second later to rend and slam the enemy. None died, of course, since it was far too broad. But the blood and blows disoriented them enough for Azrael to dart forward and kill the closest few. "The hell?!"

"That's what Azrael wanted to do to you four earlier." Should I have said that? Probably not, actually. But there wasn't time to think on that, as Sothis was keen to remind me. "Careful of your footing, everyone. Blood makes things slippery." The remaining enemies that had pursued Balthus were getting over their shock… "Balthus, tell me what you specialize in while we fight."

"You must've been in a lot of battles to not show a shred of emotion." Balthus sounded impressed, and I was tempted to snap at it. The blood, the death… just this little bit was enough to nearly make me vomit. And I dreaded to think of just how my strikes would feel with the battered and worn sword I held. "But the all-mighty King of Grappling won't let himself be shown up so easily!" The what? The… you know what; never mind. I didn't care. We were in the middle of a battle anyway.

Still, it turned out that Balthus calling himself the 'King of Grappling', for whatever reason, was an accurate description of his fighting. He was, first and foremost, a brawler. He jumped into the fray without a care to punch people to death, and then jumped back out to look for his next prey. He would lock down enemies with choke holds, and joint-locks to allow others easier kills. He'd throw enemies into arrows or my flames. He'd takedown others to buy my students a second of breathing room, if he didn't arrange to just kill the enemy on the ground first. All typical for brawlers, really.

The only thing that could be considered 'unusual' was that Balthus knew Faith magic, or rather, he knew the Heal spell. Wouldn't call him the strongest healer by any means, but it was enough to close injuries and keep people from bleeding out, which was all too important on the battlefield. Particularly since we only had one dedicated healer. Azrael and I were more warriors than healers, after all. We killed more easily than we healed. So, the additional healing lessened the strain on Linhardt.

However, there was something I noticed very quickly, and it was something I wasn't… entirely sure what to do with. Linhardt… he didn't use any offensive spells. At all. Even when he was in danger. During the fight with the bandits, he had instinctively used magic to protect himself, but during this battle, he… didn't use any at all. He didn't even use Nosferatu, a Faith offensive spell that I knew he knew. It was… I didn't know. I didn't know how to address it. All I could think to do was assign Ashe to guard him, because there was no time. There was no time to talk or anything. For one thing, his avoidance of offensive spells could've simply been because he was focused on being a healer only. For another, we'd barely defeated the ones Balthus brought before Yuri appeared with his own set of enemies!

"Well, well, looks like the party started without us," Yuri joked with a vicious grin when he arrived. Instead of outright stopping as Balthus had, Yuri flipped backwards to land behind his closest pursuer. He landed with all the grace of a cat and quickly unsheathed his blade to skewer said pursuer. "Be careful on who you choose to follow." Yuri laughed as he easily dodged an attack and countered with a sword through the throat. "But I suppose it's a little late for that, huh?"

"Yo, Boss, save the fancy tricks and fall back to Byleth," Balthus suggested, while also twisting an enemy's arm behind their back. It left them open for Hilda to decapitate them. "She's the one giving orders!" Under protest. Maybe not voiced protests, but protests nonetheless. Still, a smaller group was so much easier to keep track of than a large cohort. "Whoa!" A particularly quick mage managed to burn Balthus's arm, but he laughed through the pain, and laughed more when Claude killed the mage with an arrow through the eye. "Thanks for the save there, Claude!"

"Orders, huh?" Yuri extracted himself from his group of enemies with startling ease, and landed in front of me. "Well, I suppose I don't mind serving such a fine lady." He smirked, but I kept most of my attention on the surroundings. There were… a lot of enemies. Why were there so many? If Yuri had the numbers prior to all of this, he could've warned us. "So, what do you need of me? I have a particular set of-"

"Do you have the ability to use magic?" I asked, thinking quickly. Looking amused, Yuri nodded. "Healing?" Another nod. "Good, switch with Ashe. Constance and Hapi have yet to return, so I'd like to thin the enemy's ranks before they do." And that meant covering fire more than a quick blade. At least, with these numbers. I think. Ugh… I wanted Dad. There was too much blood and rot. I was going to gag soon… "Ashe will explain his job."

Yuri quipped something. I was sure he did. But the clanging of metal on metal and the screams of the pained and dying started echoing too harshly in my ears for me to properly hear, since all of my attention was going to the battle, to my students, to the pups fighting alongside us, and to keeping myself from becoming a sitting target. And observing Yuri to see how he fought. It was quickly apparent that he was skilled, though. Not the strongest in physical might or magic, perhaps, but he was deadly fast, capable of darting in quick for crippling blows and pulling back before he was ever in any real danger. Most uniquely, however, was his use of the Silence spell. Few learned that particular Faith spell (mostly because few Faith magic users learned any offensive spells other than Nosferatu), but the ability to temporarily prevent a person from drawing on their magic ability was certainly a tactical boon.

While observing, an enemy darted in close to me, but I parried and retaliated. My second strike slid along the bone of their arm, dragging the skin up, and ended up snapping the blade in their arm. While they screamed in pain, I stabbed them in the throat with the shattered remains of my sword before stealing their lance to finish the job. I ended up keeping the lance. Good weight and in better condition than the weapons we had taken from Abyss. I didn't want my weapon breaking in someone again. It always led to slow deaths, and while killing was killing, I still… wanted to try to at least make the deaths quick. And considering the number of enemies, there was no guarantee I'd be able to steal a weapon in time if my next one broke. Especially when Constance and Hapi returned at the same time, though Hapi didn't bring quite as much trouble with her. Yet. Constance made up for it, given the number that were following her.

"My, my, but it appears we've reached the climax of the show," Constance declared dramatically before whirling to face her pursuers. I wondered if she thought this was an opera or something. "I fear you'll not find it so easy to escape the darkest depths of Garreg Mach!" Constance laughed and launched a brutal fire spell. Though at first it appeared she missed, the resulting flames caused enough confusion that Hapi was able to pick them off easily. "My thanks!"

"Yeah, yeah, these guys are a pain in the neck," Hapi groaned. She casted another spell to take out a couple more, and I noticed it wasn't elemental. It was the same kind of magic Hubert and Lysithea used. "Yuri-bird, mine were slower than I thought, so they're behind. Think I left enough of a trail, though." So, there were even more. Freaking hell, why were there so many? And seriously, a trap would be a much more efficient and safer way to deal with them than what we were doing… though I supposed drawing attention did keep them away from the Abyssians… maybe.

"I've no doubt they'll follow along like children after the piper," Yuri reassured, even sparing a moment to smile at Hapi. Before casually slitting an enemy's throat and leaving them to gurgle and drown in their blood before bleeding out. "Tactical is being taken care of by Byleth."

"That so?" Hapi picked her way over to me, with a frowning Constance trailing behind. "Not like you to let someone else take over. Whatever." She waved when she was right in front of me, for whatever reason. "I'm here, and so is Coco. Where do you need us?"

The answer was, of course, bombardment and cover via offensive spells, since Linhardt wasn't casting any for whatever reason. Constance was… both good and bad at that. Good, because I felt like Lysithea was the only person I'd seen with greater magical power. Bad because she was nowhere near as skilled as Lysithea at using it. I wasn't sure if she just couldn't control it well, or her propensity towards dramatics led her to not caring. But it was a good thing we had fewer numbers as the number of times she missed the enemy would've been detrimental otherwise. She was also noticeably slower with her casting as well, which was bad because she didn't wield a weapon to protect herself if an enemy got close. Still, her magical power was almost enough to make up for that, and she still provided enough of a distraction to keep the enemies rattled.

Hapi had less magical power than Constance, but her speed was easily better and she was definitely more skilled. The unique spells also gave her an edge, particularly since a few of them had an 'extended range' compared to what you'd expect. Additionally, I noticed that her spells just had… well, unique effects? At the least, I swore a few of them were slower after she hit them, assuming she didn't kill them with the spell, and that made it easier for the others to clear the area. Not that it really mattered, though. Well, it did, but it didn't. Mostly because Hapi's former pursuers arrived to fill the room again before we were even done with dealing with the ones already here!

"More visitors already?" Constance scoffed. She smirked and gestured grandly, almost slinging blood about. "Allow us to offer you a premature burial."

"You know that means that you'll bury them alive, right?" Linhardt asked, healing her arm up. He ducked behind her when an enemy darted close, but Constance dealt with them easily with a fireball to the face. "I hope you don't plan on blasting the ceiling."

"Of course I'm not!" She glared at Linhardt, but then both had to hit the blood-slick floor to avoid getting hit by an enemy spell barrage. The blood splattered them… there was so much blood… so many people...

"The hell? How many did they send this time?" Balthus groaned as even more joined in. His knuckles were bloodied and bruised, but he settled into a stance like there was nothing wrong at all. "I like a good fight as much as the next guy, but I'm getting sick of these fools."

"If you're getting sick, imagine how the rest of us feel," Hilda grumbled, scowling at him. It was surprisingly effective given that one of her pigtails had fallen out. "Ugh, and the sauna is still broken too. I seriously need a steaming."

"The sauna broke? Who the hell managed that?"

"The knights." Hilda took a step to fix her stance, but promptly slipped. Balthus caught her. "I hate all of this. Who even has enough money to hire this many people anyway?!"

"Oh, no, seems fairly normal for a noble hiring mercenaries," Azrael commented, cutting down another foe with deceptive ease to take over guarding Constance and Linhardt. As typical, he was saturated with blood and, also as typical, he was stealing fallen weapons and discarding them in people's bodies and leaving their corpses in his wake. Only I knew how tired he actually was, and how much his muscles burned and ached. "Maybe a little less, actually."

"It's always impossible to tell when you're joking or not," Ashe complained from nearby. I didn't have the heart to tell him that Azrael wasn't joking. Nor did I have the thought when I noticed his fingers were bleeding, and that he was almost out of arrows. A quick look showed Claude trying to recover (or steal) some while Edelgard guarded him. "Always. So, which is it?"

"Give me your hand." Azrael snatched Ashe's hand before Ashe could adjust to the very abrupt change of conversation and healed up the worst of the bleeding. "You're an archer. You have to take better care of your hands."

"Oh… er… right…" Ashe blinked slowly, still trying to process things. "Um… thank-"

"Yuri! Behind you!" I wasn't sure who shouted, but it sure as hell caught everyone's attention. And it was clear why the shouter… well, shouted. Yuri was pinned down with a wounded leg while guarding Dimitri's back and Dimitri was just far away that he couldn't help (without risking himself). I lunged forward to try to help, while Sothis watched in the back of my head calmly, ready to reverse time if that was what it took to keep them safe.

"I will not allow it." However, it turned out to not be needed. Before the mercenaries reached the two, flames erupted from beneath them, scorching their skin and peeling it back from the heat while they screamed. "Yuri, are you all right?" The caster was a man who looked around Dad's age, and who wore a bishop's robes. "Ah, I am relieved that I came in time to assist," he continued, rushing over to check Yuri over himself. The bodies of the mercenary twitched at their feet, but otherwise didn't move. "I apologize for being so late."

"No, no, it is serendipitous that you have come to our aid!" Constance reassured, rushing over. She stopped herself just before she ran into the two, but whoever the caster was reached over to hug her. "I thought you would not be back for a while longer?"

"That was originally the plan, but I heard… ah, we can get back to that in a moment. Is anyone injured?" The caster helped Yuri stand and steadied Linhardt when Linhardt nearly fell in his rush to come over. "Ah, poor child… you've overextended healing everyone." I had worried it would come to that. "Here, let me take over the healing."

"Aelfric, thank you." Constance took over keeping Yuri upright while Aelfric healed. Dimitri supported Linhardt as Linhardt tried desperately not to just… collapse. "Though, he's not been our only healer."

"Oh?"

"He has been the primary healer," I corrected, joining the group. The others did the same and I tried to think of how to best get ourselves organized to deal with the remaining mercenaries. We were all exhausted. "Azrael and I are more warriors who can heal than true healers." The caster (Aelfric?) stiffened at that for some reason, but I had no idea why. Especially since it was the truth. A monster like me was only truly good for killing. Azrael just happened to be good at it. "So…" I turned to face the closest mercenaries, holding my stolen lance loosely while I appraised them impassively. Though, strangely, they… well, they actually took a step back. "Hmm?"

"Uh… wait a moment…" one of the mercenaries began shakily. "Dark hair, dark armor, expression of stone, the ashes of the dead clinging to her…" ...Ah. Well, this was going to be awkward. "Oh no. No, no, and no." They scrambled back so fast that they fell and even dropped their weapon. I could feel my students' confusion. "No way! I am not being paid enough for this!"

"The hell are you talking about?!" another mercenary snapped, dragging the first one up by the collar. Azrael casually came to stand beside me, careful to not lean. "...Wait, hold on… dark hair, dark armor, drenched in the blood of his kills…" They paled and pointed shakily at Azrael and me. "A-ah… no, you two are…!" Without another word, they began running away, with the first one close behind. "Run for your damned lives, you fools! These Abyssians have the Bloodstained Angel and Ashen Demon on their side!"

"So, should we have brought that up sooner?" Azrael asked as the remaining mercenaries screamed in fright and escaped. A few frowned skeptically, either that we were here or that our reputation truly called for such a reaction, but they joined the rest when they actually looked at Azrael and me. "So, birdie-"

"Yuri, Azrael," I went ahead and corrected. I tried to not sigh at the sight of people running away. Azrael was terribly amused, Sothis was exasperated, but I just felt sick from all of this. So much blood and death… "Yuri."

"Yuri. Sorry, I'm terrible with names. Anyway, you cool with having them run or do you want to kill them anyway?"

"I'd like the capture them for information, though I do wish I'd known they were scared of you long before all this," Yuri deadpanned. He looked unamused by the sudden change of events, and I couldn't blame him. If I had thought about it sooner, could we have avoid all this? "Or at least known you two were the infamous Twins of War."

"Twins of War?" Azrael repeated. Didn't blame him as I hadn't heard that one before either. "I kind of like that one. Matches what a lot of them call Dad."

"Yes, the God of War who fights alongside his twins, the Bloodstained Angel and Ashen Demon. If you secure their blades, then you're guaranteed victory. Or so the rumors go, at least." That was an exaggeration if I ever heard one. "Well, whatever. I'll send some people to go capture someone. I can at least use the fear for interrogation purposes."

"Yuri-bird, save the villain talk for later," Hapi teased, jumping on the caster for a hug. He laughed in return and hugged her back. "Elfie! Welcome home!"

"Yeah, glad you're home, Aelfric!" Balthus added, joining the little group of pups around the newcomer. He grinned broadly and laughed. With no enemies nearby, the laugh echoed strangely among the corpses and blood. Too much… my head hurt. "And excellent timing! We were getting a little worn, believe it or not."

"And since B is the one saying that, you can't even begin to imagine how exhausted the rest of us are."

"My poor flock… I must apologize…" the newcomer murmured, gently stroking Hapi's hair. I thought it was a weird way to refer to people, as did Sothis. 'Flock' implied something like sheep or birds, for one thing. "And I must apologize to you all as well." He turned his attention to the rest of us, smiling rather sadly as he bowed. "Still, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Aelfric, caretaker of the Abyss."

"We heard a little bit about you earlier," Claude noted. He grunted when Hilda all but fell on him, but otherwise kept upright so that she could lean on him. "So, you're in charge of this place."

"Indeed. I'm sure you've learned by now of Abyss's unique situation." Aelfric shook his head and sighed. "It is a mix of inhabitants who for one reason or another cannot live a peaceful life on the surface. Dagdans and Almyrans who are unjustly persecuted, for instance." I might've imagined it, but I thought Claude's eyes widened at that one. "The poor and ill, who are forced down here. The tales are as numerous as the people. I believe it is my sacred duty to provide a place for them to rest."

"Right…" Claude looked skeptical. "And pushing the poor and ill to live in a sunless crypt helps them… how?"

"Well, they can at least walk around without thinking they're going to get kicked by a noble or stabbed over a piece of bread," Azrael immediately countered. Though his tone was dry, I knew he was mostly just thinking aloud. "Seems like they can actually get some decent meals too. Non-moldy and rotted meals, at least? Clean water. Though, the place can be a lot better. Their ale is even worse than what's on the surface and that is saying something." I poked his side to stop him from rambling further. "Aha… I'm babbling, whoops."

"No, no, it is fine, and I'm pleased you noticed some of the small improvements, though I agree with Lord Claude in that there is still much to do for my flock…" Aelfric murmured. He seemed a little absent, though, just staring at Azrael and me. "My goodness… could you two truly be Azrael and Byleth?" We nodded and he smiled fondly yet sadly. "I'm sure you two must be tired of hearing this, but you look so much like your mother. It's uncanny, really."

"Huh? You knew Mom?"

"I had that honor, yes." His smile simply became warm and after a moment, I thought it seemed familiar. Sothis still had to help me, though.

"Actually, were you at Mom and Dad's wedding?" I asked, tilting my head curiously. Thanks to Sothis's prompting, I remembered there was a man who looked like him in quite a few of the pictures. "Rhea showed us some pictures recently."

"They must've been well-drawn indeed if you were able to guess," Aelfric joked, chuckling. There was something sad to it, though. Then again, most people remembered Mom with bittersweet feelings. "Either that or I haven't actually aged nearly as much as I thought I had."

"So, you were?"

"Indeed, I was. I actually helped with the planning, truthfully." He did? He had to have been close to either Mom or Dad then. "Ah, perhaps with you two here, I might have better luck convincing Her Grace that the Abyss still serves a vital purpose. In recent years, she and many others have grown to view Abyss as a nuisance…"

"Yuri mentioned people wanting to purge the place." Sadly, it didn't surprise me. You heard about such things everywhere. I'd heard of entire slums just razed to the ground to 'rid the city of filth'. "I'm not really sure Azrael and I can make any sort of difference."

"Well, you call her without a title, so maybe just use that clear affection?" Hapi suggested, shrugging. She wrapped her arm around Yuri's, and he pulled her into a brief hug. "I doubt it'll actually change things. The church has always been about helping the helpless when it suits them. But if they're going to be manipulative, why not use the same tactics?"

"I think I've rubbed off a little too much on you, Hapi," Yuri joked. Personally, I felt uncomfortable with the idea. Azrael didn't really care either way, as per usual. But, then again, he had used that affection already to come help me, and I had… suggested using it myself for selfish reasons… "Anyway, though, we're all a right mess, aren't we?" As was the room. I could smell the rot setting in amidst the other smells of the corpses. While it made sense, I did wish corpses could somehow just… not lose control of their bowels once life left them. It just added to the lack of any sort of dignity and to how horrible killing was… "And the hour has to be late at this point. Would you all like to spend the night down here?"

"...Actually, we might want to make a quick trip back up to the surface," Dimitri mumbled. Both he and Edelgard looked pale for some reason. "Dedue has to be panicking right now." Ah. Right. He definitely would.

"I dare not think of what's going through Hubert's head at the moment…" Edelgard murmured, grimacing. Remembering the threat he gave me, I could only nod. "Best we clear confusion before your enemies take advantage of the situation? We thankfully have a few days off, but…"

"If you're concerned about information leaks, you're more than welcome to have someone follow us." Surprised he offered that so readily. "But… I need to at least reassure Dedue that I'm okay. And probably a few others?" Given how much I knew Sylvain worried? Yeah, he did.

"I'll lead you to a way up," Aelfric offered. Gently, he began nudging everyone out of the bloodied arena. Only Yuri lingered back, though I decided to stay with him. Azrael almost did, but went along after a quick look from me. He'd handle surface things for us. "But first, let me check your injuries, please."

"Dedue, huh?" Yuri murmured once the others were out of earshot. He glanced at me with a raised brow. "His nanny? Jailer?"

"Dedue is Dimitri's vassal and friend," I explained, softly yet firmly. I didn't want Yuri to get the wrong idea about him. "He is also a survivor of Duscar, so he has lost everything once." And given how devoted he was to Dimitri, losing him might shatter what remained. A thought Sothis agreed with. "His childhood friends will also worry, though some will show it more openly than others."

"Ah, that does make sense." Yuri nodded, thoughtful now. "And Hubert?"

"Hubert is Edelgard's vassal and takes his duties very seriously."

"Ah, right, the Vestra. I've heard rumors about him for years." Yuri's smirk hinted they weren't exactly 'nice' rumors, but he didn't elaborate. Instead, he stretched his arms above his head, wincing a little. "Ugh… I really do need a bath. And I'd rather not have more surfacers down here if we can help it. Everyone is already nervous."

"I'm sure that can be conveyed." Now, whether or not people listened, I had no idea. But at the least, it could be brought up. "Regardless, where can one wash up down here?"

"Oh? Not heading up?"

"I see no reason to for the moment. Azrael will get whatever I might need." Including my perfumes. The smell of blood had already burrowed deep into my skin… "But unlike Linhardt, I have not yet exhausted my healing ability, so I can assist. I'm sure there are a few injuries among the Abyssians by now. Crowding people into confined spaces always leads to something."

"Particularly when they're rambunctious." He studied me for a long second before nodding. "I shall happily take up that offer, though, and even escort you."

"Good, that should help your people feel more reassured." I was a stranger, after all.

"Quite true." He smiled slowly, and it was difficult to tell if it was genuine or not. "So, this way, milady." Why in creation would he call me that?

Shrugging, I decided to ignore it and began to follow him. However, I got a very cold feeling suddenly and I turned to see just what might've caused that feeling. It took me a second, but eventually, I noticed something in the farthest corner, all but hidden by the shadows. Someone wearing dark armor and a horned helmet, watching me with glowing red eyes while holding a wicked scythe that seemed to swallow the shadows. As I stared at… whatever it was… it seemed to nod before disappearing, as if it faded away…

["What was that?"] I had no idea, Sothis, and I wasn't sure I wanted to know. ["Hurry and catch up with the bird fellow. I don't want you by yourself right now."]

It was easy to agree to that, and I ran to catch up, not looking back once. I could hope it was just one of those weird things I'd seen when I was a child, but...

---

I kept an eye out the entire night, but I didn't see that strange sight again and forced it from my mind to focus on tending to the people around me. Azrael kept watch too as soon as I informed him of what happened, but not even the wind picked anything up. Clearly just… a weird thing like what I'd seen when I was very little. Nothing more. And there was enough to deal with besides those things anyway. So, Azrael and I spent the night down in Abyss and assisted with early morning activities. Around the time we finished, Edelgard, Claude, Dimitri, Linhardt, Ashe, and Hilda all returned. Just them, though. I had no idea how they kept the rest of my menagerie from coming down as well, but I wouldn't ask questions.

Besides, once they were down to help out, the Abyssians chased Azrael and me off to go relax since we'd been working since the early hours of the morning. I thought about protesting, but Azrael reminded me of the library, so we bolted there to read. We even made sure to climb a couple of the ladders and perch on them just to keep from being disturbed. So, of course, we were disturbed. Sort of. Aelfric came in after a while, but he didn't say anything. He just kind of… stood there. Watching Azrael and me read the books we managed to snag. Well, the ones that had their pages still. Some of them, like the 'naughtier' books, had most of their contents removed. Azrael and I playfully debated what some of them might've been about, like the one about 'Saint Cethleann's Love Garland' or something, while pretending to not notice Aelfric's continued staring. Which became more and more awkward as time passed.

"Did you need something?" Finally, Azrael could take it no more and actually addressed him, making sure to be as dry and irritated as possible. "You've been standing there like a scarecrow or a stalker," he continued, bringing his book down to actually look at Aelfric. "So?"

"Hmm? Ah!" It actually took Aelfric a moment to react, but when he did, he coughed and looked away, embarrassed. "My deepest apologies," he mumbled, smiling sheepishly. "I was just remembering… well, your mother often had her nose in a book."

"Dad told us she liked reading, as did Miriam in town." Azrael tilted his head curiously, and I set my own book down to actually pay attention. "You knew Mom well, right?"

"She was my cherished friend, yes. We were both raised here in the monastery, so we grew up together." Ah, so a childhood friend, then? "She was always very kind, and very wise."

"I see." Azrael tilted his head towards me, and I 'sent' back that I'd noticed the odd tone too. He spoke of her with reverence. Different from Dad's glowing warmth. "You happen to know Dad too?"

"I did, though he wasn't much different than he was now. His knights would do anything for him, if he only asked." That was a weird sentence. I wasn't sure why it felt weird, but it did. Maybe it was because he used the same reverent tone for Dad? "He was quite the hero to everyone in the monastery, from the bright-eyed youngsters he'd help teach to the senior nuns and monks. I was no exception, of course. His stories in particular… telling tales from a century ago as if he had lived them himself, not to mention his wide repertoire of folktales and what they meant to the people… he was, and is, without peer." Yep, definitely reverence there. Which felt weird. "When I learned that Jeralt and Sitri were to be married, I was quite surprised. Ecstatic, of course, for he could always bring out her brightest smiles. But surprised."

"...Sitri?"

"Ah, forgive me. I slipped to using that name." He smiled kindly, though sadly. "Fiona Sitri Eisner. I would often call her 'Sitri', though." Oh, so he even had a special name for her. Must've been a dear friend to Mom, then. So, why did he speak of her so… distantly? I didn't like it. It made her seem so far away...

Well, she was, of course. Unreachable completely, because she was dead. Dead and buried. I'd never be able to do something as simple as hold her hand. But still, I liked the stories Dad told of her. Glowing, warm, but real. A person who had loved Dad, loved Azrael, loved me. A woman who died because of us…

"Was there a reason you were looking for us?" I asked, mostly to keep from dwelling on that. It hurt to know I had caused such pain to someone I loved so dearly, but it was a pain I was used to. I'd grown up with it, after all. "Or did you just happen to come by?"

"No, I was looking for you two, truthfully. I wanted to ask…" Aelfric began. Strangely, though, he trailed off and hesitated. "Well, this is no doubt unwanted worrying, but I cannot help but fret anyway. Are you two truly okay?"

"...With what?" Last night's fight or something?

"With your current circumstances? Few bring it up, but the suddenness of both of your appointments was… atypical." ...Okay, how to answer that? Because bluntness was a bad idea and even Azrael knew that. "You also traveled quite a bit with Jeralt prior to coming here and now you are here. Do you feel caged? Stifled?" Seriously, how to answer this?

"It's... weird to stay in one place for so long, but it's not like I'm doing anything different," Azrael finally answered. For once, he was actually picking his words with care. Probably because Aelfric had been a friend of Mom's. "I'm still getting paid to kill people. The only difference is that it's a little more regular than a lump sum."

"Right, you two were mercenaries…" Aelfric frowned, still visibly worried. "It seems odd to me. You two would've been mercenaries since a very young age. I can't really see Jeralt letting you be anywhere near a battlefield."

"Oh, well, Dad didn't exactly get a choice. Some folk decided the weird kids of the random mercenary were up for hire too, so they dragged us out of the inn we were staying in, shoved some weapons and armor at us, and threw us onto the field." Azrael said the words lightly, but the memory made me so sick that I couldn't even feign annoyance at him for the bluntness. "I don't think Dad even knew we'd been in the fight until long after it ended. He tried to keep us away from battle after that, but we made a bit of a reputation for ourselves in that first fight, so people felt entitled to our blades." Azrael shrugged, less bothered than I was. "After a few times of nobles kidnapping us to force us to fight, we just became mercenaries so that we had some actual say."

"That is…" Aelfric closed his eyes, like he was warding away tears. "It must've broken Jeralt's heart, and I dare not think of how Sitri would've reacted." Well, he was right on Dad. It was one of his biggest regrets, especially with me. "To go through such trauma at a young age…"

"Eh, we're fine." Azrael smiled reassuringly, but Aelfric didn't look reassured at all. I wondered if he could see how fake it was. "We had Dad. Dad, each other, and Remire." Well, eventually on Remire. But those three aspects were Azrael's whole world, and mine. "Besides, it was fun watching Dad verbally flay some of those nobles."

"I'm surprised he didn't use his sword, but I suppose he thought the lecture would be more humiliating to them." Aelfric sighed, shaking his head. After a moment, though, he smiled. "I am sorry for being such a worrywart. But it is my sincere hope that the two of you will live long and full lives, lives filled with happiness and strong bonds. I know it was what Sitri wished for you as well. She worried so much on whether or not she would be a good mother to you two, but she looked forward to it more than anything." And then we killed her. Good job, us. "If you need anything, please do not hesitate to ask."

Thankfully for my nerves, someone called Aelfric away then and he left us to go tend to it. Once he was out of sight, I let myself curl into myself, hugging myself tightly as I shivered. Sothis 'hugged' me with all her might to reassure me, but I still felt sick. Those vague memories… the terror and confusion… the smell… the sounds… the screams… I...

"Sorry…" Azrael mumbled. It was all he said, but his shame practically flooded me. He had spoken without thinking, as he usually did. And, like typical, it had hurt someone. This time, though, it was me. "I felt like he was accusing Dad and…" And done his normal thing of leaping to the defense with an offense. "I'll mark your place." Because I needed to walk around and remind myself that I was here and not in the past. And he knew it.

He had to help me climb down from the ladders. I was too shaky to safely do so on my own. I might've fallen even with his help, if not for Sothis's flood of comforting reassurance. It was surprising how much that grounded me already, even if I was still nauseous. With her help, I was actually able to walk instead of curling up in a ball in the corner. My steps were slow, but they were steady enough. Steady enough that when I saw Linhardt sitting by the shelves closest to the door, I went to check on him. But he was too far in his own thoughts to notice my approach at all.

"Ugh… it's on the tip of my tongue…!" he grumbled, scowling as he poked at the shelves. It was the first time I'd seen him scowl at all. "Four Apostles… Four Apostles… gah, aggravating how close yet far I am from remembering something!" The four what now? "I feel like one is… the name of a fruit?" ...Time to simply walk away. I wasn't steady enough to make sense of that.

Stepping into the main area of Abyss didn't… quite help matters. Though, surprisingly, the Abyssians were quick to tell me just what was wrong. Namely, there was an unknown visitor. Or, well, unknown to some. The younger and newer Abyssians didn't know who it was and were wary, since he'd apparently arrived on his own, but the older Abyssians (particularly the ones who had lived here for a while) simply looked and acted like they saw a ghost. It didn't make much sense… at least until I looked into it and discovered the visitor was Dad. Even if it had been a month, month and a half, since we had arrived at the Monastery, I supposed it still would come as a shock that Dad really was here after twenty years of being thought dead. And given that he'd been the captain here, it made even more sense that he'd know about Abyss.

"Dad, what are you doing here?" I asked, joining him in the center market area. Though I tried to hide my unease, he noticed instantly and pulled me into a hug. Smiling slightly, I tucked my head under his chin so that I could listen to his heartbeat. I almost sighed in relief on hearing the sound…. Thump, thump, thump… so long as I heard it, everything would be okay. I knew that. "Azrael said he told you what happened, but I thought you had a mission?"

"My current mission doesn't involve a lot of traveling, just a lot of investigation," Dad explained softly. The Abyssians around us began walking away, apparently reassured. "So, I figured I'd come down and see about these mercenaries." Dad stroked my hair, even as he turned his attention to someone else. "Still, I didn't mean to cause such a ruckus. Sorry, Aelfric."

"No, no, you needn't apologize, Jeralt," Aelfric reassured. When I looked up, I saw he was smiling warmly and even brightly. When had he arrived? "I'm sorry I wasn't here to greet you. I was discussing things with Constance and… I might be babbling, actually." Somehow, his smile became even warmer. "I am… so happy to see you again, Jeralt."

"Yeah, it's been a long while, hasn't it?" Dad murmured. He smiled faintly, but I saw the bits of pain and regret there. "And you're a full bishop now, huh? Man, I feel old."

"And yet, you look like you haven't aged a day!" Aelfric laughed, almost like it was a joke or something. Dad's simple shrug implied he'd heard that a lot. I wondered if it was more or less than the number of times I had heard 'you are your mother's mirror image!'. "But I was just telling your twins about you and Sitri. Er…" He coughed, like he was embarrassed. "Fiona."

"Since when did you switch? You've called her 'Sitri' ever since you two were toddling about and could barely talk." Ah, so not just her childhood friend, but her… "That was your privilege, as her first and dearest friend. Death doesn't rescind that, you know." Her first friend. That made it even stranger that he talked of her with such reverence.

"Well, I did briefly confuse your twins when I called her that." Aelfric frowned a little, just confused. "You didn't tell them her middle name?"

"Huh. I suppose I didn't." Dad became thoughtful. "The twins never asked. They wanted to know things like 'what kind of flowers did she like?' and 'did she really try to hide five kittens in her room?'."

"I remember those kittens. Lady Rhea was most cross with her over it." Aelfric chuckled at the memory. "Ah, but the thought of stories reminds me. Do you mind telling some to the children here? I've been teaching them about the wolves who guard the Blue Sea Star, but I think you'd tell the story far better."

"That's assuming I remember it." Still, Dad smiled. "The wolves with ashen fur because of the flames that shroud their fangs and claws, right?" Oh? I wondered if that's where the 'Ashen Wolves' got their name?

"Yes." Aelfric smiled back, looking a little pleading. Dad sighed gustily, but nodded. "Thank you, truly. Here, I'll go gather them."

"Look, I doubt… and he's gone." Dad wasn't kidding. If a person could simultaneously skip and run, then Aelfric managed it. "Meant for this to be just a quick little trip for initial information gathering, but I suppose I owe Aelfric a thing or three." Dad grimaced slightly, and I wondered if Aelfric had been on his mind when he escaped with Azrael and me. Just as Alois had. "So, kiddo, what happened?"

"Azrael should've told you already?" I replied, frowning slightly. Did he leave out anything? Oh, wait. "Did he explain why he kept on being murdery after I told him not to?"

"You've been losing sleep because of the bandits, and it's not like you get a lot of sleep anyway." So, that had been the reason then. "But I meant here."

"Ah." Of course he'd meant… wow, I was stupid. "Just remembering things, Dad. A conversation led to bad memories. But I'll be okay." I mean… I had Sothis and I had him. I wouldn't say I was perfectly fine, but I was certainly better. "Promise."

"You sure?" Dad frowned, studying me closely. But, after a second, he nodded. "Well, you do look better, so I'll let it go. But you still haven't told me what you wanted to talk about when you gave me the garland." That's… right, I hadn't.

"When things are a bit calmer? Or at least until we figure out what's going on down here."

"We should have a picnic, the three of us." Oh, that would be amazing! "I'll get it arranged."

"I can't wait." I smiled a little and Dad ruffled my hair. "But you best go be a storyteller lest you face the disappointed frowns of many children."

"Yikes, that's a fate I'd rather avoid right there." Dad chuckled. "Where's Azrael?"

"There's a library."

"So, buried in books. I'll check in with him later." And I would do my best to hide that Dad was here so that Azrael was suitably surprised. It would be my payback. "I'll see you later, Byleth. Love you."

"Love you too, Dad."

I waved when he walked away, just in time to almost get tackled by some children eager for stories. I had to hide my smile, but it was wonderful to see him laughing even as he tried to disentangle himself from their grabbing hands. It was even more wonderful to see some of the onlookers laugh as well, fully relaxed now that they saw how much Aelfric liked Dad. Not all were laughing, of course. Some were still wary; others weren't paying attention. To my surprise, Claude was one of the ones not paying attention, since it seemed like something he'd try to take note of. But when I walked over to see if anything was wrong, I discovered he was deep in conversation with Yuri, and it was difficult to say if they were enjoying themselves or not.

"So, the next emperor, king, and sovereign duke all tied up in the same cohort," Yuri observed with a little smile. "Why, all you're missing is a bow or three to pretty it up." He chuckled, almost looking amused. "Must be exhausting trying to suss out each other's intentions."

"Nah, we get along great! We… ah… kind of have to, you know?" Claude dismissed with a shrug. But his gaze was sharp, determined to not give. "We can't have a petty squabble turn into an all-out war, after all. For one thing, I think Teach might give us detention."

"Now that's a terrifying thought."

"Look, you haven't seen her angry. I've seen her lose her temper a bit and let me tell you, it's a glorious sight." Claude grinned, and I blanked for two seconds before remembering when I lectured Lorenz. I'd tried to forget about that… "Besides, you don't have to have some fancy-smancy title to go scheming. Right, Yuri?"

"Cheeky. And off base." Still, Yuri looked like he was having fun, particularly when he caught sight of me eavesdropping nearby. "What about you, milady? Do you think I'm plotting nefarious deeds?"

"You're plotting something, that's for certain," I answered before I could think twice. Seeing Dad had been good for settling my stomach, but I was still nervy. And I felt like I was watching two people duel it out, not having a conversation, which made my nerves worse.

Thankfully, though, Yuri just laughed. "Brutally honest, huh?" he teased, smiling broadly. "I love it!" Well, he and Azrael would get along if that was true. "Still, that's a bit much. I do what I need to get by, nothing more."

"You and those you consider yours." Maybe that was off-base, but I remembered how gently he'd looked at that ill girl that had fallen asleep in my lap. Combined with the recent comparison to Azrael… well, it wasn't hard to come up with another.

"You think so, huh?" Yuri smiled mysteriously before shrugging. "Well, think what you will of me. But the others… they have their quirks and troubles, but they're nothing if not trustworthy. I can promise that, and I rarely promise anything."

"My, my, a show of humility and deflection while propping up your friends, huh?" Claude replied, grinning as well. I decided that I should probably just leave and began walking away. Because somehow, I felt like this was more of a competition than anything else. "Gotta say that I don't hate this side of you." Yep, definitely leaving now.

Instead, I walked through the market, startled when a few called out to me. Greetings, asking for a bit of help… simple things, but startling because strangers didn't usually even acknowledge me if they weren't throwing things at me. It was unnerving, really, so I was glad to escape and head towards the back part of Abyss, near a bridge over some water. I was even more glad to see there were some children playing there, and somehow, it wasn't surprising to see Ashe among them. It just… suited him.

"Oh, Professor!" Ashe smiled warmly at me when he noticed I was there, and quietly left the children to head for me. Though he was delayed by their whines and whimpers. "Sorry! I'll be right back!" he promised, barely dodging their grasping hands. Still, it was an impressive show of nimbleness since he didn't fall. "Walking around?"

"Yes, I am," I said, since it wasn't a lie. Besides, the children caught my attention. "Seems like they're fond of you."

"Well, they're around the same age as my own little brother and sister, so I know a few things to keep them occupied?" Ashe blushed from the faint praise. "It felt natural, since I kind of feel like I'm back at Castle Gaspard."

"That's your home, isn't it?"

"Yeah." He paused a briefly second before sputtering and flailing. "I mean; it's not like Castle Gaspard is underground or anything! It's a prosperous area, thanks to Lonato, and he's been… um…" I had to hide my faint smile and he just sighed gustily. "I just mean… everyone here seems to love Aelfric. They lit right up when they saw him, and everyone is eager to share gossip with him. It reminded me of Lonato. Actually, Aelfric in general just… reminds me of Lonato."

"That's your adoptive father, right?"

"Yep! He's the very model of chivalry! I hope one day to be just like him! He is my goal, after all."

"...But you can't?" I frowned a little, confused. "You can only be you, Ashe?"

"I… well, yes, but still, I want to emulate him." Ashe tilted his head, also confused. Which was good because last time something like this came up with one of my students, I definitely scalded some nerves. "Do you not want to be like your father? Or mother?"

"I can't. I'm me." Dad had never wanted Azrael and me to be like him. To be stuck in his shadow. He wanted us to be ourselves. "And Mom is kind of dead, so it's hard to be like her. I'm told we have quite a few similarities, though." But still, I couldn't be 'like' her. She was herself, and I was me. Our similarities were connections that I cherished, but those were simply a part of me. If I had to say I was like anyone but myself… I would say I was like both Mom and Dad. A mix of both.

"Oh. Er…" Ashe coughed, looking away sheepishly. "I'm sorry…"

"Why be sorry? You didn't kill her." Azrael and I did. "She died giving birth to Azrael and me, so I never knew her. I have stories, though. And most of the monastery telling me how much I look like her."

"Still…" He really did look guilty. So guilty that I felt bad for mentioning it. "Let's see… ah, I think I know a different way to explain!" Thankfully, he was kind enough to go back to the original subject. "Basically, I want to be a knight that acts as Lonato does. Someone who is kind, just, and fair. Someone who will look at a street rat who broke into his home and see the scared child tucked deep inside." He smiled softly and proudly. "I want to grow into someone like that. I have to find my own way there, of course. And I'll likely have to do my own take with it and all. But still, that's the sort of adult I want to be. It's just easier to say that I want to be like Lonato."

"Ah." So, I was overthinking it then. Sothis snickered in the back of my head, having already figured that out. "I see. I misinterpreted." I nodded, smiling faintly again. "As a mercenary, I saw many who were trapped in their parents' shadows. More often than not, they just got themselves killed trying to live up to the legacy, so to speak. And Dad never wanted Azrael and I to feel trapped like that. Not with him. He's our dad. His job as a parent is to guide us. Not cage us."

"And that's what you were worried about." He grinned, pleased. So pleased that he almost bounced on his feet. "I get it now."

"This is exactly why I keep encouraging you all to talk with one another, by the way." It was impossible to know what people thought unless you actively talked through it. No one could read minds. ...Well, no one save Azrael and me, but we could only read each other. "We appeared to be talking of the same thing, but we truly weren't."

"Right!" Ashe beamed. "So… oh, Constance, hello!" I turned to see Constance approaching us quickly. More quickly than I'd ever seen her walk, actually. "Is everything all right?"

"Yes, now that I've finally located the two of you," she haughtily declared. She snatched us both by the arm and dragged us down a staircase to some hall with no people. And maybe some mold, based on the smell. "Now, come! It is time for us to venture into the deep, deep underground! The chalice of legend awaits!"

...What in creation did I miss?

---

Author's notes: So, I did originally plan on doing Cindered Shadows in one chapter, but the length was getting a little much, sooo… yeah… sorry? How many chapters will it be? ...The current plan is two, but we'll see how much the second part runs away from me? (To give some perspective, this above is half of what was planned. Half.) But anyway, here we go diving in! Yes, it's MUCH earlier than what the game and data implies (which is during Chapter 6), but you can recruit the pups starting from Chapter 2 if you've completed the Side Story and I want them incorporated ASAP in order to better integrate them, so here we are.

Clarification for what the menagerie 'remembers' via example! Ingrid, for instance, 'remembers' the rocks falling and Sylvain protecting her, but Sylvain doesn't because he was 'dead' when Byleth rewound time. Basically, none of them remember their erased 'deaths' because… yeah.

So, why does Azrael initially call Ashe 'tree cub'? The Ash tree, of course. Also showing off conjuring crests because you don't really see that utilized much and I thought it might be a good way to 'confirm' things. The scene with Seteth also shows off Authority Lessons, since the Garland Moon is when you can first have Byleth get 'lessons' from faculty to build support points and skill points. Of course, it's Manuela who gives the quest, but Byleth would be more worried about her leadership lessons than anything (and Seteth and Jeralt are the only two who give those lessons). Seteth's dialogue about asking about people flirting with Flayn and Hanneman ranting about Manuela comes from monastery dialogue.

Lots of supports mentioned here! While Hanneman's C support with Byleth is more or less shown, quite a few are hinted at. Annette-Dimitri C, Dorothea-Felix C, Mercedes-Dedue C, Ashe-Dedue C, Mercedes-Ashe C, and Ingrid's C supports with… uh… Claude, Sylvain, Felix, Bernadetta, Raphael, and Ashe. Plus Edelgard and Linhardt's little argument takes nods from their C and B support.