A/N: I have some great news! The medical issue that I had mentioned in the last two chapters has finally be resolved and I can happily say that I don't have thyroid cancer. Because of that I hope I will be able to get out the next few chapters a bit quicker (I won't make any promises because school is being a jerk).
Happy Veterans Day! For my American readers. Thank you everyone who served!
Blue Sea Moon 1180:
Twenty-sixth of the Blue Sea Moon:
The Rite of Rebirth was finally upon them. From what Byleth had been told it was supposed to be a day of joyous celebration to celebrate the return of the goddess but instead everyone was on edge, and none so more than Byleth herself. She wasn't worried about the attack; a known ambush was easy to plan for, and yet something she couldn't explain was stirring deep within her. She spent much of the day dwelling on that feeling until she realized that it wasn't her that was feeling it but Sothis, and the said girl had been lost to her thoughts all day.
None of the faculty had listened to her theory about the archbishop not being the target and not even Claude could convince Professor Hanneman, so that just left the Blue Lions to handle it. When she had told the lions about what she perceived to be the real target of the attack, she had expected for none of them to believe her and yet they all agreed instantly, and didn't even show the slightest shred of doubt. She wasn't sure if she was deserving of such loyalty from them, but she vowed she wouldn't let them down.
The Holy Mausoleum was what Claude had concluded to be their target and so the Blue Lions hid near the entrance, waiting for the intruders. She couldn't understand why the possible assassins would attack the mausoleum instead almost any other place in Garreg Mach. Even Claude's explanation that there was a possibility that the mausoleum held incredible riches couldn't help her understand, as she still saw it as too much of a risk to take. There was also the issue that she believed that it was wrong to desecrate the dead and was even feeling wrong about trespassing, despite the fact that she would be doing so to protect the place.
She didn't have much time to worry about it because it didn't take long for the assassins to show up by teleporting at the mausoleum's entrance. She forgot to breathe as soon as she laid eyes upon the intruders. Holding her sword's hilt in a death grip, she stared at the invaders that wore all too familiar masks. Ashe's recent death flashed before her eyes and her body began to shake as she struggled to breathe.
There was a light touch on her shoulder and with a sudden snap of her head she locked eyes with the person who dared to touch her, Dimitri. "Byleth?" he said her name so quietly, but it helped to reminded her of where she was and what she was doing. Concerned blue eyes stared into hers and it helped to calm her.
Once in a more stable state of mind, her graze drifted over to the hand that was still on her shoulder. She reached out to grab it and hold it, but she dropped her hand with a small shake of her head. She wasn't going to get her hopes up with him anymore. He called for her softly again, but she still didn't respond.
Her gaze returned to the entrance and discovered that the masked people were already inside. A mixture of her name and title were called out and she slowly got onto her feet before turning to look at her students. The three that didn't really understand the threat of the invaders, looked at her with expectations and eagerness while the others looked at her with concern.
Now that the masked assailants were involved, she wasn't sure if her students could handle the mission anymore. At that thought a little snort escaped her when she realized that she had been okay with sending them to face possible assassins. Her students might have had fought in a war, but did she really think they were ready for battle? Did she actually believe that or was the church brainwashing her into believing that? Neither answer settled well with her.
When Dimitri approached her, she settled her gaze on him. He looked at her with concern but also with a look that made her think that she was all that mattered to him…it was a look he used to look at her with. A dull ache throbbed in her chest and she was no longer able to meet his gaze.
He leaned closer to her and she was acutely aware of his proximity. Ever since the night he had rejected her, he had started to be physically closer to her and yet he remained so distant. She hated it. It was like he was mocking her. He was so close and yet so far.
"I will protect you," he whispered so only that she could hear. Her gaze returned to him and his eyes showed that he was telling the truth. The urge to laugh welled up within her because she was sure if she reached out to him, he would just push her away again.
Saying absolutely nothing to him, she walked past him to face the rest of her students. Briefly she wondered what sort of expression he was making before she shoved that thought away. Now was not the time to be thinking about such things; beside she wasted enough thoughts on him already.
She looked at the rest of her students with uncertainty. While most of them looked at her with concern only Dimitri, Felix, and Ashe truly had any understanding of what those masked people were capable of. She couldn't put her friends and students in such dangers again.
"All of you are to fall back and alert the knights," she said, and the immediate response was a mixture of surprise and complaints. "These people are far too much of a threat for you to handle."
"So, we are just supposed to let them get away?" Felix asked with his familiar sharp tone. She pressed her lips into a thin line, she had hoped he would have understood. Following his questions were agreements and complaints from the other students but a small shake of her head silenced them.
"I will act as a distraction until the knights arrive." Gasps rang out among her students.
"I will not let you face them alone!" Dimitri said with a strong, commanding voice that she was all but helpless to give him her full attention too. He stood strong and proud as he looked down at her with a fire in his eyes. It was the first time ever that she actually saw him as the prince he was, a future leader of an entire nation. In her shock, her voice was lost.
His gaze took on a softer look as she once again became his sole focus. It was the look that she was most familiar with and felt most at ease with. With a gentle touch he held her hand and ran his fingers over her knuckles.
Her gaze settled on their intertwined hands until he spoke again, "If we all work together, we shall defeat them." She stared into his eyes for a long moment, finding herself wanting to believe him. She didn't want to face them alone, but she didn't want those people to hurt any more of the people she cared about.
She opened her mouth to speak but before she could say anything someone else spoke first. "You can trust us Professor!" Annette said so cheerfully and confidently. It was clear that the young mage wanted to alleviate some of Byleth's fears but seeing such innocent only brought the older woman more doubt; she didn't want to see such innocent ripped away at the hands of those vile people again.
Looking at Annette had only strengthened Byleth's resolve but she didn't have the chance to voice her thoughts as Sothis spoke to her first; it was the first time the mysterious girl spoke that day. "I understand your fears," Sothis said and Byleth pressed her lips together. "Believe me, I do not want to get your precious students involved but I do not believe we have the luxury of time." A lump began to form in Byleth's throat. "I do not know what is waiting for us in that mausoleum but whatever it is I strongly believe that we cannot allow those people to get their hands on it."
Keeping her face devoid of emotions, the professor looked at her students. She really didn't want them involved but she couldn't ignore the desperation in Sothis' voice. With gritted teeth, she accepted the situation.
Swallowing a sigh, she once again looked at her students. "The people we will be facing will be nothing like you have ever faced before," she said and was glad that her tone remained neutral. "They will be skilled, and they will not fight with honor." As she spoke, she found her resolve weakening.
"Believe in your students," Sothis said, "you have trained them well." Byleth wanted to snort at Sothis but refrained from doing so. She had only been training them for a few months. They were not ready for this or any of the stuff that they had already faced. "You should give them and yourself more credit." Byleth had no response to that.
"You shall have my power as well. I shall not let anyone of them die tonight." That brought some comfort. "And now with that new bow of yours, we will be able to protect them with ease." Briefly Byleth glanced at the steel bow, strapped to her back, the reason she had bought it and why she was taking lessons with Shamir was to protect her students, but she wasn't sure how useful it would be in fighting indoors.
"By, we are ready for this," Sylvain said, and his voice broke her out of her train of thought. When she looked at him there was a confident look to his eyes, that was normally missing in these types of situations. Normally, she would like to see such a thing but, in that moment, it only brought more concern. "We will not let those dastards win!" A small cheer followed his declaration.
The hand that Dimitri still held was given a small squeeze and her gaze returned to him. "Believe in us," he said so softly that she felt like she could no longer refuse.
She finally let out a sigh as she went back to looking at everyone. "Form groups of three and no one is allowed to get too far from your party." The lions gave a little cheer in agreement and she couldn't help but wonder if they truly understood what they were about to face.
It didn't take long for groups to form and she was surprised as well as pleased to see that they had put some thought into their groups, instead of just pairing up with their friends, which she wouldn't have had any problems with if they had done so. Sylvain, Ingrid, and Annette were one group, and another was made up of Dedue, Ashe, and Mercedes; though it was only at Dimitri's insistence that Dedue protect Ashe and Mercedes. The most shocking group was willingly formed from Felix when he joined Byleth and Dimitri. The swordsman said nothing but Byleth understood his concern and it brought a tiny smile to her face.
The little confidence she had gained nearly vanished when she neared the mausoleum's entrance. She wasn't sure even if she did had knights with her that she would have felt more comfortable heading into that battle. All she knew at that moment was that she really wanted her father, but he had been too busy guarding the archbishop.
Swallowing her fear, she marched forward and her students followed. Inside the mausoleum was incredibly massive; and she absentmindedly wondered what was bigger, the mausoleum or the Reception Hall. For a very brief moment almost everyone forgot about the battle, they were about to enter, because they were too busy gawking at all the ancient works and architect before them.
Once she set a proper foot into the mausoleum, her entire body felt electrified. An ancient magic permeated the air, which wouldn't have been too surprising but what bothered her was that that the magic felt incredibly familiar. It was a familiarity that brought Sothis some comfort but Byleth didn't want to learn any more about it.
In a desperate attempt to pull her attention away from that fear she focused on her original one. As her eyes skimmed the area, she discovered to her dismay that the enemy had separated themselves, which meant that she wouldn't be able to stay as close to everyone as she would have liked. The urge to run and get everyone far away from there was strong but against her better judgement she ignored it and pressed on.
It wasn't long after them entering did the enemy finally noticed them. Shouts echoed in the chamber as everyone took their positions. Dedue's group was handling the left side while Sylvain's group took the right. That just left the suspiciously empty middle to Byleth's group.
Her instincts told her to avoid the middle, but logic was convincing her to go forward. It was empty because there was nothing there for the enemy to look at or plunder. The invaders had successfully pulled nearly the entire church's attention away from the mausoleum so there was no need for them to be extra cautious of covering all their sides. Those arguments seemed to make logical sense and yet her instincts were telling her otherwise.
Besides being empty of people the middle was also empty of structures, which meant her group would be easy targets for mages or archers. It wasn't a problem for her but when she was responsible for others, then she was reluctant to rush in. Despite that the middle also provided her with the best opportunity to join either side group, in the off chance that they needed assistance. That reason alone was making her consider to just go down the middle, but she couldn't have Dimitri or Felix following her and she knew if she asked them to join another group they would refuse to follow that order.
Her decision was made for her when an impatient Felix rushed ahead of her. A curse slipped through her lips as she raced after him with Dimitri a few steps behind. Just as she was about to reach the swordsman and pull him back a sinister magic filled the air.
Time seemed to have slowed for her as she watched in horror as a knight completely covered in armor as dark as night, riding upon a horse of a similar color, suddenly appeared right before Felix. The young man had no time to react before the knight's scythe cut through the air and body of the swordsman with a sickening ease. Unable to react or even process what just happened, all Byleth could do was helplessly stand there watching as her dear friend's body fell.
Screams filled the air but none of them were from her. She wasn't even vaguely aware of Dimitri's rushing past her, screaming at the top of his lungs or how he had held his lance ready to kill. Nothing could break through the empty shell that her mind became as she stared at the separated corpse that was of her precious friend.
It took a powerful slap from Sothis to bring Byleth back to her senses, but even then, it was only slightly. She didn't acknowledge the mysterious girl as she frantically looked around but all she saw was a familiar darkness that once brought comfort but that time it only brought more dread. When the scenery did not change again, she dropped to her knees and released the scream that had been trapped within.
In a tight grip she pulled at her hair as Felix's death played before her mind. Her body rocked back and forth as the tears she wanted to shed refused to fall. With one finally scream she collapsed against the ground.
She didn't react when Sothis stood before her nor did she react when her name was called. In that strange world, where time didn't seemingly exist, she continued to lay upon the ground unmoving. None of Sothis' sweet words or assurances could reach the poor woman.
Finally having enough, Sothis used her magic to force Byleth onto her feet. The former mercenary my have been looking at the mystifying girl but she wasn't really. With another slap Sothis finally got Byleth to focus on her.
"Are you going to continue being despondent?" Sothis asked with a sharp edge to her voice before a smirk wormed its way onto her features. "Or are you finally ready to save that brat?" Byleth's eyes widen as she stared at the strange girl finally remembering her powers. "You are lucky to have my power. Now…," with a snap of Sothis' fingers, Byleth found herself back at in her chase to catch Felix. "Save that friend of yours."
It didn't feel real at all. Even though she was fully aware of Sothis' incredible power, it all felt like a horrible nightmare; one she never wanted to experience again. She stared at Felix's back and a wave of relief nearly had her relaxing her body to the point that she almost came to a stop.
"Byleth!" Sothis' warning shout brought back all of Byleth's horror. With the new spike of adrenaline in her system, she was able to rush past him and just in time for the knight to appear. Even fully prepared for the attack and all the adrenaline pumping through her veins, she still wasn't strong enough to block the attack completely. In order to protect Felix, she deliberately fell on him to push him away from the attack but in return the scythe dug deep into her left arm.
With a roll she managed to successfully maneuver both her and Felix away from the danger. Dimitri and Felix screamed out her name, but she didn't acknowledge them in the slightest as the mysterious knight commanded her full attention. Dark magic swirled around the knight and his weapon but that didn't bother her; no, it was the intense bloodlust he radiated that had the hair on the back of her neck standing on edge.
Many of the people with masks that she fought against had wanted to kill her but none of them had such a strong bloodlust as the knight did. What bothered her more was his lack of hatred towards her. She didn't sense a ferocious glare or feel the weight of an extreme anger when their blades clashed. It seemed like that man wanted to kill her just for the sake of killing her and that unnerved her greatly.
The knight sat straight upon his horse, hardly moving and she took the opportunity to position herself better to block Dimitri and Felix for him. She could feel the knight's gaze focus entirely on her and a shiver ran down her spine. Gritting her teeth, she tried to ignore how clammy her hands had gotten or the slight trembling in them.
"To be able to block an attack you were not expecting," the knight started to say with a distorted voice, "you are truly an incredible opponent, but I should have expected no less." The unexpected praise did not sit well with her, but she did well to hide her discomfort. "I shall enjoy killing you." She could feel Dimitri tense up at the knight's declaration, but she chose to ignore him as there was little, she could do about it at that moment.
Swallowing away her discomfort, she gripped her sword and made a horrible discovery. In her attempt to spare Felix from being wounded she might have paid too high of a price. She could still move and grip with her left arm, but it was severely weakened to the point she wasn't sure if she would be able to block any of the knight's attacks.
A feeling bubbled deep within her that she refused to acknowledge. She was sure if she gave even the slightest attention to it, she would lose. And yet when she looked at the unmoving knight the feeling grew.
"Byleth," Dimitri called. Despite her attempts to remain calm she nearly jumped out of her skin, but she managed to hide it well. Hearing Dimitri's voice, she was instantly reminded of not just him but also of Felix and the battles that were being engaged all around them. Gritting her teeth that feeling started to bubble over, threatening to engulf her entire being. "What shall we do?" Dimitri's question managed to help her keep that feeling at bay a little longer.
Only for a brief moment did she dare to take her eyes off of the knight to quickly glance behind her. Sylvain's group was doing fine, and it seemed like they didn't need any help. Her gaze returned to the knight and was relieved as well as bit uncomfortable by his lack of movement. Passed him lied Dedue's group but there was nothing she could do about that and so she hoped that they would be fine.
She waited a second longer before answer, just to watch the unmoving knight some more. "You and Felix will join Sylvain's group," she said while never taking her eyes off the threat.
"What?!" Felix shouted and tried to get past her, but she didn't allow it, and lightly jabbed the hilt of her sword into his stomach to stop him. Hunched over slightly he gave her a warning growl that she didn't acknowledge.
"Byleth, you will not face that man alone," Dimitri said. He used his authoritative tone again and in any other situation she would have listened to him but not that time. He might be a prince and someone she would one day follow, but in that battle he wasn't the leader she was; and there was no way in the Enteral Flame was she going to allow that knight to hurt him or Felix again.
"You will do as I say," she said in a tone that matched Dimitri's as she kept her eyes locked on the knight. It was a tone that she wasn't even aware that she could make. "You two will only get in my way."
"You always do this shit!" Felix suddenly shouted, and she jumped slightly because of it. Still keeping most of her attention on the knight she slightly turned to look at him and discovered that he was glaring at her but not in his normal way nor was it one directed fully with anger. With a snap of his head he turned his attention to the knight while gripping his sword tightly. "You always try to handle everything on your own. You never ask for our help!"
With a battle cry he rushed forward. He didn't waiver when his friends shouted for him nor when the knight commented on how foolish he was. With a nimbleness that she had been training him for, he was able to avoid the first swing of the knight's scythe but was unable to get close enough to land a blow thanks to the horse's unnatural reflexes.
"Enough," the knight said, and Felix stopped in his tracks. "I do not want to fight someone as weak as you."
Before the Fraldarius man could shout a retort, the knight raised a hand in order to cast a fire spell. Her heart dropped upon the discovery that their opponent was also skilled in magic, though in hindsight she realized she should have expected that. She didn't hesitate to quickly throw herself before Felix and the spell, much to her friends' grievances. Comfort washed over her when she discovered that the spell was not strong enough to overcome her necklace's enchantment, but that comfort was short lived.
As soon as the fire spell was dissipated the knight was on the offensive and was swinging his scythe at her. In a desperate attempt to get Felix away from the strike, she tackled him to the ground and felt the tip of the blade slash across her back. She tried to keep her expression blank, but she knew that Felix saw through it.
The swordsman didn't have a chance to call out her name before the scythe was being slammed down on them. She wasn't given a chance to react before Felix took charged and rolled the both of them out of the way. The little stunt had managed to get them closer to Dedue's group, but Dimitri was left alone on the other side of the knight.
Ignoring Felix's call for her she got onto her feet and turned to face the knight. Her back throbbed and she was losing strength in her left arm fast but despite all of that she never showed it. Nothing about the knight revealed anything about him and she hated it. Fighting anyone was so much more difficult when she couldn't get a read on them.
"Felix," she said his name once he was on his feet. "Go join Dedue's group." The stubborn boy's complaint was drowned out by a loud groan from Dedue followed by shouts of the man's name. She hated not being able to check on Dedue but she chose to believe that Ashe and Mercedes would be able to handle it.
"They need you." Even without looking at Felix she could feel his hesitation. "Canna, believe in me."
She heard him quietly grumble under his breath, but he said nothing. It wasn't long after that that she could hear him running away from her and she smiled at that. "You better win!" he shouted. "Do you hear me?! I will not forgive you if you lose!" She didn't turn to look at him but she did give him a firm nod, which might have been enough for him as he didn't say anything else after that.
Once she was sure he had joined Dedue's group, she locked eyes with Dimitri. It was clear to her that he wasn't going to leave easily. She nudged her head in the direction of Sylvain's group, but he didn't budge. Despite being in a difficult position it did please her that he wasn't going to abandon her, and she hoped that it would carry over to when they were no longer in battle.
"Aster," she called, and she saw him flinch a little but chose to ignore it. "I will be fine." She could see him tense up, but he didn't say anything. "You have seen how strong I am." But he had also seen her being reckless, so she wasn't so sure if that was a good argument.
He looked away from her and she struggled to keep her expression neutral. It a was a few more seconds before he looked back at her and there was a new, stronger look in his eyes. He didn't say anything, he didn't have too, the look said everything that was needed. With a firm nod he left to join Sylvain's group and she felt a great weight leave her with his departure. She had no intentions to lose before but she most certainly wasn't going to lose now.
"Finally, the distractions are gone," the knight said as he swung his scythe around him as if he was warming up. He had waited patiently for her to deal with Felix and Dimitri and she had no idea why, as that time would have been the perfect opportunity to attack. His bloodlust told her that he wanted to kill her and yet he didn't act. He was a terrifying mystery.
The knight would continue to prove to be a great, horrifying enigma, as he raised his hand high into the air to cast Physic on her. Her eyes widened in terror as her wounds began to heal. To not only be able to bypass her resistance but also to be able to heal such serious wounds from a distance required a great deal of magic, Did the knight have such a vast pool of magic to call upon? A crest? Both? She stared at the knight, unsure if she wanted answers or not.
"I want to face you at your best," the knight said as he brought his hand down. "Only then will it truly be an exciting battle to the death."
She didn't have time to dwell on his words before he was charging at her. Even if the mausoleum had been massive, she still had expected it to be difficult to maneuver a horse inside and yet he showed to have no problems. Once the knight was close enough, she understood why, his horse was more of a magical abomination than a living creature; if it had ever been alive to begin with.
Thanks to her father Byleth was very experienced with facing horsemen with long reach weapons and yet the knight's scythe had been a tricky weapon to deal with. A lance or spear was relatively easy to dodge for her since it usually had a smaller point of impact, but the scythe had a much wider blade that made it difficult to dodge. It didn't help that that there was a magic surrounding the weapon that helped to distort the length and shape of it.
Her lungs burned as she twirled around in the open middle. The speed of the horse had her constantly on edge and moving while the scythe had kept her from getting too close to damage either the beast or its rider. To make the whole battle even more frustrating the knight had a high resistance to magic and wouldn't allow her the time to prepare a proper spell. It was only a matter of time before her adrenaline ran out and her exhaustion got the better of her.
The longer the battle dragged on the more delighted the knight seemed to become as he would sing words of praise for her, as well as talk about how much he would enjoy killing her. By that point in the fight, she would have known everything she needed to know about her opponent, but the knight continued to remain a frustrating mystery. Without even being able to discover a hint of a weakness, she had started to develop doubts about being able to win that fight.
After rolling away from another wide slash, she had a brief moment to catch her breath. All at once it felt like a massive weight was threatening to crush her and her arms felt like lead. Bitterly she stared at the knight. Thanks to his armor, she was unable to tell if he was in the same boat, but since he sat upon a horse she doubted that he was anywhere near as tired as her, or if he was even the least bit tired at all.
Gritting her teeth, she gripped her sword in a death grip Normal tactics were getting her nowhere and yet to deviate away from them would almost certainly lead to a death sentence. But if she didn't do something different than she was almost guaranteed to die by the knight's hand sooner or later.
The strange horse flared its nose at her almost as if it were mocking her. She needed to be faster and yet she would never be able to outrun a horse, let alone a magically enhanced one. As she stared at the horse a memory of a crazy stunt, she did during the battle at Zanado flashed in her mind. A smirk danced on her lips as she came up with a strategy, she was sure everyone would call her mad for and Sothis would probably scream at her afterwards, if it succeeds, but at that moment she figured it was her best shot.
Once again, the knight ordered his horse to charge at her but unlike all the other times she didn't move. Planting herself squarely in her spot she brought her sword closer to her side and waited. Right when she was in striking distance of the scythe, she finally acted.
Leaping forward she created a small blast of fire at her feet which propelled her at a speed neither one of them were expecting. She slammed her sword against the knight's chest, though it lacked some power thanks to the unsteadiness she found herself in from the unexpected speed. While she wasn't able to break through the knight's armor, she did at least succeed in knocking him off of his horse.
Her fall was far from graceful and she painfully landed on her left shoulder. Ignoring the pain, she watched in delight as the sinister horse vanish, not caring as to why it did so, so long as it was gone. Her delight didn't last very long because despite the devastating blow, the knight seemed unphased as he quickly got onto his feet.
"You truly are a worthy opponent to kill," the knight said with an uncomfortable glee.
Pressing her lips together she chose to ignore the discomfort his tone caused. Now on a more even playing field a new batch of adrenaline coursed through her veins. Her sword that once felt incredibly heavy, now felt as light as a feather.
With her newfound strength, she held tight to her sword. The two stared at each other as if waiting for some kind of signal to start round two. The air was heavy but neither of them seemed to be bothered by it at all.
As if the signal was given, they both rushed forward at the same time only for a sudden scream to echo in the chamber and it brought Byleth to halt. Throwing all concern aside she took her eyes off her quickly advancing opponent to look behind her, where the scream came from. Her eyes widen upon discovering of Dimitri ramming his lance through a man with a look of pure rage on his face while Sylvain was huddled on the floor cradling a bloody Ingrid in his arms.
Her breathing came to hasty end as she took in the scene before her. Her sword slipped through her fingers and clanged loudly on the floor. The scream she wanted to release was trapped in her throat. She took a small step forward, but it felt like a massive weight was holding her down and preventing her from taking another step.
A slap to her face, helped her to awaken to the fact that time was frozen. She looked at Sothis and the mysterious girl wore a complicated expression. The former mercenary looked away from the girl to look back at the limp Ingrid in Sylvain's arms.
"Byleth…," Sothis said in the weakest tone the woman had ever heard from the girl before. "A death must happen at that point of time."
With a snap of her head, Sothis now commanded all of Byleth's attention. What little strength the adrenaline brought was quickly draining away from the exhausted warrior. She tried to reach out for the girl, but her arm didn't make it very far before falling back to her side. The voice she was desperately searching for was nowhere to be found and even if she did find it all her thoughts and words eluded her.
"You will only have one chance," Sothis spoke up again and Byleth hung onto every word. "You must kill the masked man before he kills your friend."
The professor's gaze drifted away from Sothis to stare at the frozen image of her friends. They were too far away from her for her to reach them in time and she wouldn't be able to cast a spell in that time either. Her heart sank as she couldn't figure out how she could cover that distance in her short amount of time.
"You trained for this," Sothis' voice brought Byleth's attention back to her. The powerful girl nudged her head at Byleth, reminding the woman of the bow on her back. She stared at the weapon, seeking a small assurance that it really was there. The reminder of the weapon didn't bring her peace; she was far from confident in being able to rely on it in such a critical situation.
"Just as you asked for your friends to believe in you, you should also believe in yourself." Byleth's sights returned to Sothis, who was now smiling. "I believe in you."
Before Byleth could say anything, she found herself back in her standoff with the knight, sword held tight in her hands, once again. A strong wave of dizziness assaulted her, and she had to slice her hand on her blade to ground herself a little. With a clear head she could see the knight getting ready to charge at her, but she didn't care.
She wasted no time on the knight as she spun on her heels to search for her target. Ingrid was fighting off a mage while the others were too busy with their own opponents to notice a lone swordsman charging at the distracted girl from behind. Gritting her teeth, Byleth ready her bow as she carefully eyed the swordsman.
A new wave of dizziness threatened her, and she dug the arrow's head into the open wound on her hand. With a now blood-soaked arrow, she didn't squander what little time she had left, and she pulled back the string of her bow, ignoring the throbbing in her shoulder. She felt her confidence starting wane when she thought about how she only had one shot, until Sothis repeated her words of encouragement and Byleth let the arrow fly.
She nearly dropped to her knees in relief when she saw the arrow strike its target and the man collapsed. The brief commotion grabbed Ingrid's attention, after she killed off her foe, and she looked behind her. Byleth gave her friend a smile, while horror distorted her friend's face when she looked at the older woman.
"Byleth!" Ingrid screamed at the top of her lungs, while she desperately pointed to behind the professor.
A little slow to respond, Byleth turned around just in time see the scythe about to separate her head from her body. With wide eyes she stared at the blade that had cut a bit into her neck and would have done so much more if Sothis hadn't stopped time. Slowly she looked away from the black blade to look at Sothis, who seemed to be in a similar state of mind as her.
"Byleth," Sothis quietly whispered. "You cannot die. If you die…I will not be able to reverse time."
Byleth wanted to ask why, but deep within she already knew the answer. It was a fact that she was trying to desperately ignore since her first meeting with the archbishop. Wordlessly she just nodded her head in understanding.
The pull of time was a feeling Byleth was sure she would never get used too. She found herself back at the point right before she fired her arrow. She wasn't too comfortable with releasing the arrow without making sure her aim was perfect, but she had little choice at that point and so she chose to believe in Sothis judgement.
Not missing a beat, she spun around as soon as the arrow was away from her and was ready to use her bow to catch the scythe or at least that was what she wanted to do. She was barely able to turn around before her vision turned white and the dizziness, she had been fighting off, came back with vengeance. Luck had been on her side at least as she managed to save her neck when she stumbled back but the blade still cut across her upper chest.
Staying on her feet was impossible as her body was racked with a terrible cough. Blood splattered the floor not from her open wound but from all her coughing. Her senses were dulled as the world spun around her and she could barely make out the faint sound of someone screaming out her name, but who it was, was a complete mystery to her.
"What is wrong?" asked the knight but it sounded like he was talking into a pillow. She tried to settle her gaze on him, but it was too blurry and caused her head to throb, so she stopped.
She had expected to have a strong reaction to rewinding time a third times, but this reaction was far greater than the last time. She didn't know why and if Sothis was trying to explain it she couldn't hear it. To save her life she rewound time, only for that very act to possibly cost her, her life; she would have found it funny if her thoughts had been clear enough.
"It is a shame." The knight's voice brought her attention back to him. As she stared at him, her vision began to clear a little, and she was able to make out him raising his scythe.
She tried to get onto her feet to dodge but she found it to be almost hopeless with the lack of strength in her legs. Eventually she was able to stand but knew it would be impossible to dodge. Bitterly, she accepted her fate until someone pulled her back, just in time to avoid the attack.
"Get your shit together By!" Felix screamed into her ear and that was enough to break through the haze. She couldn't die there. She was the only one capable of defeating the knight. She had to protect everyone!
She was unsure if it was the reminder or the jolt Felix provided that helped her to recover a bit and if she was honest, she didn't really care. She was still far from perfect as she still felt weak but at the very least the dizziness and blurred vision were gone. Ready to finish the fight; she broke away from Felix to stand straight and strong.
The knight's helmet covered his entire face, but she could sense his smile and she ignored the discomfort it caused. Felix tried to stand next to her ready to help fight, but she wouldn't allow it. All his complaints died when she got into her stance. Even with her rejuvenation, she knew she wouldn't be able to last much longer. She had to put all her strength and hope into her next strike.
She didn't wait for the knight to start and went on the offensive first, much to Felix's complaints and worries. All throughout her fight with the knight, his weapon had bothered her and because of that it had clouded her judgement. Now with a clearer head she was able to realize that such a cumbersome weapon left the knight with few ways of attacking and she could work with that.
The knight didn't move and just waited for her to come and that was perfectly fine for her. Once she was in striking distance, he swung his scythe wide, which she was expecting. Refusing to lose any of her momentum she slid under the scythe and quickly got up as soon as she was in the clear.
Betting everything on her one strike she put everything she had into it. Upon impact with the Knight's chest, she felt her crest activate and the extra power knocked the knight off his feet. She wished he had the strength to act upon the extra opening her crest had given but it was taking all she had to not collapse right then and there.
A groan escaped the knight as he got onto his feet and dread filled her. A noticeable dent tarnished the pristineness of the knight's armor. She was sure her attack had to have some kind of impact on the dangerous man and yet he seemed to be acting the same.
Weakly she gripped her sword but knew she wouldn't be able to repeat what she had done. "You are indeed an exquisite warrior," the knight said with the same eerier calm he spoke all throughout their fight. She had hoped to hear some raspiness in his voice but there was nothing and so she hoped that it was all because of whatever magic that was distorting his voice.
"It is truly maddening. I want nothing more than to fight you to the death, but a las I cannot fall here." She scoffed at his remark. "I am the Death Knight, and we shall meet again." He began to fade away in a teleportation spell. "And when we do, I will kill you then. I will be looking forward to it." And with his final words he vanished leaving no trace of him behind.
"Dammit!" a voice screamed from the back of the mausoleum. "How could the Death Knight just flee like that?!"
Slowly her gaze drifted towards the source of the voice. Standing in the back of the mausoleum was a man wearing a long mask that covered his face and white robes. He looked like every other masked person that had attacked her and she was sure she wouldn't be able to tell him apart from all her other would be assassins if they had lined up before her. The only noticeable thing about him was that he stood away from the others fighting, which meant he had to be the leader. So, based off her past experiences he would either be incredibly strong or incredibly weak; she long since learned that there was no in between when it came to that group's leaders.
Her exhaustion finally caught up to her and she was about to collapse if Felix hadn't rushed over to her and grabbed her arm to help her stand. His grip wasn't the most comfortable and he was hardly supporting her weight, but she was too tired to really care. Her gaze drifted towards her sword that she was barely holding on to and noticed a deep crack had formed in the middle of the blade. It was such a large crack that she knew it would be pointless to try and fix it and she if she wasn't so tired, she would be annoyed at the unneeded expense.
"Byleth!" Sothis' scream echoed in the exhausted warriors mind and she flinched a little because of it. "You must not let that man get ahold of what is in that coffin!"
With a groan Byleth looked back at the leader to see him rushing towards the coffin that sat upon an altar. Another groan escaped her when she realized that she would be the only one to stop him as Dimitri's group was finishing off their remaining foes and Dedue's group was taking a small break to treat wounds. Felix seemed to be okay enough to be able to head off alone but she didn't feel comfortable with sending him to face the leader alone, nor did she feel confident enough to protect him incase the leader turned out to be powerful. Felix complained loudly when she broke away from him and he complained even more when she ordered him to return to his group, but he surprisingly obeyed.
Eager to end it quickly she rushed forward before anything else could happen. The masked man yelled out a curse before trying to blast her with a fire ball. Apart of her knew that she needed to be more concerned about the spell, given how the Death Knight was able to get passed her resistance, but she was unable to muster up the energy to care. At least the spell turned out to be to unable to get past her resistance and her bull rush forward remained unhindered.
Another curse left the masked man's lip as he was barely able throw up a magic shield just in time to block her strike. Her fragile sword broke upon impact and the blade flew back cutting into her check in the process. The gleeful laugh from the man was short lived as it stopped when she quickly abandoned the broke weapon and grabbed her dagger instead.
Taunts and threats soon spilled from his lips, but they didn't last long either. A crack on his shield had quickly silenced him. She nearly thanked the man when he dropped his shield as she was losing the strength to keep up her assault. Despite her extreme exhaustion she stood tall over the man that was starting to tremble.
Slowly he stumbled away from her and she wished that he would just surrender so that she wouldn't have to do anything else. Her wished wasn't granted because when he bumped into the coffin it accidentally opened. She wasn't given the chance to dwell on why such a heavy coffin lid would open so easily as Sothis' distressed yell had disrupted her thoughts. She was too slow to act and the man was able to reach inside, only causing Sothis' to panic more.
The man let out a triumphant laugh but like all his other actions it quickly came to an end. "A sword?" he asked in a defeated tone when he pulled out the strangest looking sword she had ever seen in her life.
Everything seemed to have come to a sudden stop when Byleth laid her eyes on the sword and she was unable to look away, even if she wanted too. She knew her heart didn't beat but it felt like it was rampaging in her chest, trying to burst free. The world melted away and all that was left was her and that sword.
"Stay back!" The man's voice brought her back to reality and it offended her a little. Defensively he pointed the sword at her, but it would have been clear to anyone that he had never held a sword in his life before. It didn't matter, she needed that sword and if he couldn't properly hold onto it the better for her.
All of the man's attempts to sound intimidating fell on deaf ears as she closed the short distance. A pathetic scream escaped the man as he tried to swing at her, but it was easy to block with just her dagger. With a solid punch to the man's windpipe, he dropped the sword and stumbled away gasping for air.
Now that she was close to the freed sword, her emotions began to conflict. The sword was calling to her or was it calling to Sothis instead? The fact that she couldn't really tell had terrified her. While the desire to grab hold of the sword was immense so was the fear of grabbing it. She felt like if she grabbed it then that was it, she wouldn't be able to go back. Her fingers hovered over the sword, the weight of that moment weighing so heavily down upon her that she forgot how to breathe.
Shouts fille the air and when she looked up, she discovered a massive fire ball being flung at her and thanks to her instincts, she knew that she shouldn't chance her resistance against that spell. Without thinking she grabbed the sword and cut through the gigantic fire ball as if it were nothing. Everyone went silent and the remains of the spell vanished.
The thundering in her chest came to an end and a strong warmth was taking its place. slowly she turned to look at the strange sword in her hands. The weapon glowed brightly in her grip, almost like it was happy. It felt like a missing piece had been returned to her, or did it return to Sothis? So many questions swirled in her mind but they only thing she knew for sure was that she had done it. Hers and that sword's fate were now tied together.
She glared bitterly at the weapon. She didn't want it and she didn't want whatever fate the sword brought with it. She didn't care what Sothis wanted. She just wanted the chance to choose. To make her own choices. Something she only just realized she rarely got to do in her life.
Her glare soon turned towards the man, who flinched under it. She gripped the sword in a strong grip when she thought about how he forced her to make that decision. Gritting her teeth, she prepared to strike the man down, not in a means of self-defense, not for the sack of a mission, or to even protect anyone, but out of pure anger. It would be the first time in her entire life that she would do such a thing and she didn't care.
Crying out she pulled back the sword over her head in order to bring it down with all her might and finish off the man, but it didn't go as planned. As soon as she snapped her wrist back, the roof above her began to collapse and she was barely able to get out of the way in time. She stared at the hole in the roof for a moment, then at the rumble, and finally at the sword which was now extended in a whip like fashion.
"Dammit!" she screamed as she tossed the unwanted weapon away. She rushed the masked man, who was still trying to comprehend what just happened. Putting all her anger into one single punch, she punched the man in the face as hard as she could, and she didn't care that his mask cut into her hand. She received a small satisfaction when she felt her crest activate upon impact.
Breathing heavily, she stared at the man, unsure if he was alive or unconscious and she didn't care to find out. While the punch helped her deal with some of her anger, she was still very much enraged. Sharply turning on her heels she glared at the sword, whose glow had vanished.
Reluctantly, she made her way over to the sword. The rest of the world and battles had still remained forgotten to her as she stood over the weapon. Even though she knew it was too late, she still didn't want to touch it, but understood that she had little choice on that matter anymore.
Angerly, she bent over to pick up the sword and as soon as she touched the sword the warmth in her chest turned into burning sensation that engulfed her. Screaming out in pain, she dropped to her knees as she felt like there was a raging fire burning within her. Desperately she pulled at her torn tunic as if it could elevate some of the heat.
A cool touch on her shoulder, momentarily pulled her attention away from the pain to look at the person, Dimitri. "It burns," she said so weakly and he held so gently. The coolness of his touch could not sooth the raging inferno that she felt like she was trapped in. He looked so terrified and she wanted to comfort him, but the pain prevented her from even thinking of how to do so. Unable to do anything, as everything just became too much for her, she collapsed against him and it wasn't long after that that everything went dark.
A/N: With that massive stress gone, I want to say that I really want to be able to get back on track with a proper schedule, but this quarter has just been terrible. Maybe with midterms done it will get a little nicer, so we will just have to way and see.
I have a question for you guys. What do you think Rhea and Seteth did in the Goddess Tower during the Rite of Rebirth? Doing a ritual of some kind would be kind of pointless since we know all of Rhea's attempts before hand have failed. Do they just spend the night chatting? I'm not going to add such a scene in my story, I just got really curious while writing this chapter.
Head cannon Notes:
I know Jeritza doesn't learn Physic but because there was no way that Byleth was going to let him touch her, I had him know it for the sake of this story.
Crest of Lamine and other crest that don't use up a spell, greatly reduce the cost of magic for spells, when they activate.
Stay safe and Healthy!