"Wh- what the hell is that thing?!"

"I don't know, but there's no way I'm sticking around here any longer!"

The remnants of Lonato's army reacted with appropriate horror upon witnessing the grotesque transformation of their lord into a fearsome beast. Unfortunately for them, the rally of panicked cries made as the defeated faction began to flee from the battlefield only served to attract the attention of their former master, who proceeded to turn around and demolish the nearest group of soldiers it could find with a destructive blast of dark energy.

"Lonato… what is happening to you…?" Ashe questioned, utterly frozen in place as he watched his adoptive father turn on the very people he was supposed to serve.

"Now's not the time to think about that, Ashe. Right now, you've gotta get as far away from that thing as possible!" Claude suddenly warned, briefly startling the silver haired boy by seizing hold of his right arm.

"I don't know how else to put this, but… your father is long gone, Ashe." Bernadetta reluctantly added as she forcefully pulled the boy away from the ensuing rampage.

"What? No… there must still be some way to save him, right?" Ashe desperately asked, unable to free himself from the tight grasp of his fellow students.

"I doubt there's anything we can do to save him at this point..." Claude grimly noted, a regretful look forming in his eyes as he continued to gaze upon Lonato's mindless rampage.

"So… these are the consequences of allowing a Hero's Relic to fall into the wrong hands." Dimitri briefly averted his gaze from the roaring monster before tightening his grip on his spear with a newly formed expression of steely determination. "This has gone too far. I fear all we can do now is put an end to his misery."

"I couldn't have said it better myself, Your Highness." Catherine readily agreed with the prince's assessment as she defiantly stepped forth to point her signature Thunderbrand towards Lonato's raging new form. The remaining Knights of Seiros stood alongside her, all prepared to lead a charge on the beast at a moment's notice. "Professor, the knights and I will set out first to attract the beast's attention. With any luck, we should be able to completely surround it with the aid of the students."

"Understood." Byleth firmly nodded as he turned to face the mass of students that had gathered around him. "I'll want all of you to spread out and keep out of the beast's reach as much as possible. As Lonato's soldiers have unwittingly demonstrated, this creature is more than capable of attacking entire groups at once."

"Ugh, how did any of this happen…?" Bernadetta internally panicked, paying little attention to her professor's instructions. "Is that… group of Slitherers on to me? There's no way I could have done anything to attract their attention!"

"We really should come up with a better name for those snakes… preferably one that rolls off the tongue more easily." Sothis pondered aloud. "But alas, now is not the time to let our minds linger on such thoughts."

"But none of this ever happened the first time, right? I should know! I didn't originally join the Golden Deer until they set out to take back that creepy lance from Sylvain's brother!"

"I'm afraid these drastic changes to familiar events may be a side effect of our journey through time. No matter how minor your actions may be, even the slightest change to the past can create ripples with a profound effect on the flow of time going forward."

"So… you're telling me this is all my fault?! Did Ashe's father turn into a bloodthirsty monster because of me?!"

"You should not beat yourself over the head due to circumstances out of your control. Now look, while you were busy moping, the battle has already begun without you!"

True to the Goddess's word, the Knights of Seiros were mounting a charge on Lonato as they spoke. Though the monster's back was turned, it could still sense the approach of the men looking to turn their blades on it. With a wide sweep of its lizard-like tail, the hulking beast quickly turned to face its attackers, sending a handful of unlucky knights flying off into the air in the process.

As Catherine herself drew near to slash at the beast with her mighty Hero's Relic, the knight's archers let lose a volley of arrows in Lonato's direction. The attack did little to bother the beast, as the arrows harmlessly bounced right off its stony skin, but they did distract it long enough for Catherine to land two vertical slices across its face.

Though Thunderbrand had managed to elicit a clear roar of the pain from the beast, Lonato fiercely struck back with a mighty downward swing of his claws. The blonde knight barely managed to leap away from the attack at the last second, but the beast had still managed to land a heavy blow across the side of her chest regardless, leaving a triad of charred scars across her armor as a result. Not yet satisfied, the beast further pressed its assault, forcing Catherine to retreat further back to prevent the risk of more serious injuries.

"Annette, Lysithea!" Byleth immediately ordered, prompting a pair of silent nods from the two mages as they stepped forth to focus their magical energy on the beast's backside. In a flash, two spheres of fire and darkness rocketed towards the monster at full speed, creating a sizeable multi-colored explosion on impact.

The transformed Lonato let out another roar and retaliated with a dark blast of its own. Thinking quickly, Dedue stepped out in front of the two mages, brandishing a massive shield that handily nullified the ball of energy before it could harm its intended targets. Shortly afterward, Dimitri and Hilda emerged from both sides of their defensive classmate, briefly arching their bodies back before throwing forth a javelin and a throwing axe with all their might.

Their weapons hit their mark with perfect accuracy, embedding themselves deep within the beast's shoulders. Not wanting to let up on the assault, Bernadetta and the many other archers present fired a large volley of arrows into the air, all of which managed to land cleanly on the monster's back, yet for all the class's efforts, this only resulted in the beast shooting an enraged glare at the lot of them

Letting out an even louder roar than before, the demonic creature swept away another batch of knights with its tail and made a mad charge directly for Byleth and his students.

"Agh, you've got to be kidding me! That barely did anything to him!"

"Never mind that, look at his forehead!" Sothis interrupted her companion's internal panic to point out an eerie red orb jutting out of Lonato's forehead. Though distant, Bernadetta could also make out a faint XVI symbol etched right onto the orb.

"Well… that sure looks important."

As the violet haired archer pondered over her next move, Byleth and Felix quickly rushed over to Lysithea and Annette's sides, placing their blades in the mage's hands for them to be imbued with the elements of darkness and wind. Under the cover of a rain of javelins from the various lance wielders of their respective classes and a large boulder courtesy of Raphael, the pair of swordsmen deftly rushed forth to meet Lonato's charge head on.

"Hey, Claude… are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Bernadetta approached her fellow archer with another plan hatched in her mind.

"Oh, you bet. I'd have to be blind as a bat to miss such an obvious weak spot." the Golden Deer leader firmly nodded as he turned to Marianne.

"Right, er… Mercedes? Could you help me out too?"

"I'd be quite glad to. Please, hand me an arrow for a moment." the holy woman happily obliged, eagerly extending her hand to aid in her ally's efforts.

All the while, Byleth and Felix were making good headway in fending off the Demonic Beast, taking advantage of their greater agility to nimbly weave around the creature's swipes and strike back with their elementally imbued blades at every opportunity.

With Lonato distracted by the two swordsmen, Claude and Bernadetta were given the perfect opportunity to strike at the exposed gemstone on its forehead. In a grand display of acrobatics, the two archers flipped into the air one after another to fire a pair of holy arrows directly into the beast's forehead.

The maneuver elicited a grand roar of pain from the transformed monster, having dealt far more damage than any of the group's previous attacks. Being so close to death only served to further enrage the beast, which proceeded to form a javelin of stone in its mouth and spit it in the direction of Bernadetta, who narrowly rolled out of the way as the spike violently impaled the ground she once stood on.

Panic flared in the archer's silver eyes as the enormous monster mounted a desperate charge right for her. Instinctively, she made an effort to get out of the way, only for a mighty stomp from the beast to shake the earth beneath her feet, knocking the girl off balance before she could escape.

"Oh crap, oh crap, of crap!" Bernadetta immediately cowered in fear and raised her hands to her face in a last ditch attempt to defend herself from the oncoming charge. All she could do now was brace for the heavy impact that was sure to follow…

But the only thing that came instead was a familiar flash of colors weaving through her eyes. The next time she opened her eyes, the timid archer breathed a sigh of relief to find herself back on her feet completely unharmed.

"Did you honestly forget you could do that again?" Sothis reprimanded her companion for her brief moment of faltering.

"Eh, sorry, I kind of fell back into old habits at the last second there… and I don't think I was the one that turned back the clock this time…" Bernadetta sheepishly admitted, turning her gaze back to the Demonic Beast to find her professor perched atop its head with his shadowy blade firmly implanted in the Crest Stone on its forehead. Further surrounding the beast were Sylvain and Dimitri, who had managed to fully impale it on both sides with their lances.

"It seems some fates are doomed to be repeated after all…"

With a final, weak cry of pain, the beast struggled to lift its head into the air for a brief moment before collapsing to the ground with a resounding thud. Immediately afterward, its body surrounded itself with a swirling mass of dark fog, which shortly dissipated to reveal the battered, nigh unrecognizable body of Lonato in its place. To his side were the shattered remains of his Crest Stone and the Lance of Ruin that triggered his unholy transformation.

With the corpse of his old guardian out in the open, all Ashe could do now was offer a silent prayer for his adoptive father as a steady stream of tears began to fall from the boy's eyes.


"Professor… do you not think there could have been a better way to settle this?"

"I'll admit this whole debacle left a bad taste in my mouth too, Dimitri, but it just couldn't be helped. He was too far gone for us to do anything." Claude bluntly replied to his fellow house leader's sorrowful musings.

"If we had not stopped Lonato's rampage here, more lives surely would have been lost in the process." Byleth's expression remained stern as ever remained as he grimly reminded the students before him.

"I truly understand the necessity of our actions, but…" Dimitri found himself at a brief loss for his words as his gaze wandered to the ground. "We weren't just killing a rogue lord out there, but civilians as well! Those whose lives we all swore to protect!"

"That's just the sort of thing that happens in war, Dimitri, whether we like it or not."

"How could you say such a thing so casually, Bernadetta?! Those people were only acting out of loyalty to their master… Lonato himself was acting for a cause he believed to be just… none of them deserved any of this!" Dimitri snapped at the violet haired girl's seemingly cold statement.

"Do you think I don't know that?!" Bernadetta snapped back in return, barely resisting the urge to lose herself in her own memories. "No matter how hard you try, there will always be people you just can't save!"

"Alright, that's enough, you two!" Ashe swiftly stepped in to relieve the situation's tension before it could escalate any further. "Neither of you are at fault for anything that's happened today!"

"I'm sorry… I spoke out of line for a moment there." Dimitri sorrowfully bowed his head to the silver haired boy in remorse.

"Yeah, so did I… I know this has to be much harder on you than anyone else." Bernadetta readily corrected herself out of sympathy alongside the prince.

"Honestly, I just can't help wondering how any of this happened in the first place." Claude placed a hand to his chin in careful thought. "How could such a minor lord like Lonato have possibly gotten away with the theft of a Hero's Relic?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. I'm supposed to be responsible for the upkeep of that old thing, and even I have no idea how this happened." Sylvain reluctantly admitted with a shrug of thinly veiled frustration.

"And the lance itself completely shattered when the battle was finally over… is this a common occurrence with the Hero's Relics?" Byleth curiously asked, his limited knowledge of the subject clearly apparent as Catherine joined in on the conversation with a look of concern painted across her face.

"It's definitely not normal, I'll tell you that much. I've already sent a carrier pigeon to House Gautier in search of answers. With any luck, we should know the full story before the day is up." the blonde knight informed, her expression growing more serious as she held up her hand to reveal an eerie jet black envelope. "More importantly, I've come bearing some grim news. Lord Lonato was carrying this letter on his corpse… it contains a detailed plan for the assassination of Lady Rhea."

The knight's stunning announcement elicited a number of shocked gasps from everyone present, with the exception of Bernadetta, who was more transfixed by a peculiar sight on the envelope itself.

"What is that strange wax seal on the letter…? It appears to be a sigil of a serpent devouring its own tail…"

"Beats me. I've never seen anything like it in my life." Claude admitted in confusion, though he did begin to show just as much interest in the strange logo the moment it caught his eye.

"Regardless, this is clearly a sign of a greater conspiracy at hand." Catherine firmly concluded as she stashed the envelope out of sight.

"No, this… this can't be right at all!" Ashe loudly spoke up. The boy's silver eyes were wide with shock as his entire body began to nervously fidget every which way. "I… I have to go check on my brother and sister!" he loudly announced, his voice filled with a heavy tone of dread before abruptly darting off into the distance at full speed."

"Ashe, wait!" Dimitri called out to his fellow classmate to little avail. He had already managed to sprint out of earshot by the time the prince managed to put his words together.

"We'd better follow after him. I'm getting a really bad feeling about all of this…" Byleth grimly commented, to which everyone present silently agreed. Bernadetta couldn't help but feel a pit in her stomach shortly afterward. Both she and the professor sincerely hoped that the worries creeping up on their minds were simply the products of their imaginations, but there was inevitably only one way to truly settle their fears.


The group's frantic chase for Ashe came to a sudden halt when the boy in question let out an ear piercing scream of utter despair that could surely be heard for miles on end. Even more worrying was the faint, yet familiar scent of smoke that began to invade their nostrils. With their sense of urgency at an all-time high, they all darted out of a sea of trees to find Ashe overlooking his hometown on an empty clearing. Much to the mutual horror of everybody present, the village below them was engulfed in a raging inferno.

Dimitri in particular let out a stunned grunt the moment he laid eyes on the burning village, clutching his head in pain as if fighting back a repressed memory.

"Hey, Dimitri…" Bernadetta quietly called out to the Blue Lion's leader. "Are you okay…?"

"Ah, yes… Please, pay me no mind. There are more important matters to deal with at the moment." Dimitri softly rebuked the girl's concerns as he slowly walked forward to get a clearer view of the carnage unfolding below.

"What… the hell… is this…?" Monica suddenly spoke up, her face taking up a more serious expression than usual. Though Bernadetta could hardly believe the sight of it, the redhead even seemed to be fighting back a single tear as she slowly turned to Catherine with a look of burning contempt. "So this was your plan all along, wasn't it?"

"What are you even talking about?!" the blonde knight responded to the sudden accusation with utter bewilderment.

"Don't even think about playing dumb with me! You should know exactly what Rhea sent the rest of the Black Eagles to do!"

"What…?" Dimitri's head shot up at the very mention of the Black Eagles. "What do they all have to do with this?!" the prince shouted as he suddenly rushed forth to grab Catherine by the shoulders, peering into her eyes with a furious glare.

"Don't do anything you'll regret, Your Highness." the blonde knight sternly warned, returning Dimitri's furious look with a glare of her own that silently convinced the prince to loosen his grasp on her. "The Black Eagles were only meant to peacefully capture the officials of the Western Church. They shouldn't be anywhere near the village! Lady Rhea would have informed me otherwise!"

"Lady Rhea would have informed me otherwise." Monica parroted the knight's words with a heavily condescending tone. "You church types are all the same. Can't you think for yourself for once?"

"Why don't you try saying that again to my face?"

"Calm down, all of you!" Byleth's order cut through the building tension like a hot knife through butter. "Regardless of who may have started this fire, now is not the time to jump to conclusions. We should all focus our efforts on searching for survivors."

"Yes… you're quite right, Professor. I apologize for my behavior." Dimitri responded with a solemn bow of remorse. "There will yet be time to pinpoint the true perpetrators of this atrocity. And when we inevitably find them, they will be made to face the same suffering they've brought upon this innocent village. We'll sever their limbs, and crush their wicked skulls!" the prince loudly warned, seemingly unaware of the great number of concerned stares being directed towards him.

"And so the boar finally shows his true colors…" Felix dryly commented, placing a hand to his forehead in affirmation.

"Come on, Bernie! We've got some work to do!" Monica announced amidst the ensuing silence, seizing hold of the timid girl's wrist without warning and dragging her along the path to the village in a sudden haste.

"Wai- would you just slow down for a minute?! If I trip, you're going down right with me!" Bernadetta vainly pleaded as Monica continued to lead her down into the fiery hamlet.

"You heard your professor, right? We don't have much time to waste!"

"What's gotten you so worked up lately?! I've never seen you this upset before!"

"Yeah, well contrary to popular belief, I've got a heart too, you know?" Monica heartily joked before she finally came to a stop at the entrance to the village. "…You really should watch your back around the Knights of Seiros, Bernie." the redhead suddenly warned, her back still turned to the girl in question. "They don't take too kindly to people like us."

"People like us…?" Bernadetta wondered aloud, utterly perplexed by Monica's newest shift in demeanor. "What are you even getting at, Moni-" she began to ask, only for her query to be cut short by the terrified scream of what sounded like a young child coming from further into the village.

Left with no choice but to put their conversation on hold, the two students proceeded to dart off into the town in search of desperate the cry for help. Another pit formed in Bernadetta's stomach as she ran through the desolate streets, sweating profusely and making an active effort to avoid breathing in the smoke that filled the air. It was like the hill at Gronder Field all over again, but on a much worse scale.

Everywhere she looked, the lilac haired archer found scores of crumbling buildings, piles of overturned wagons, and the occasional charred corpse buried underneath large piles of soot. With the ruined state of her surroundings in mind, it was abundantly clear that this blaze was a deliberate attack from an unknown party, and though she had an idea of the perpetrator's identity deep down, Bernadetta still hoped that her suspicions would be proven wrong.

It wasn't long before the pair finally caught up to the source of the scream they heard, as they happened upon a mortified young boy who had been backed into a corner by a mysterious soldier clad in armor hued with a mix of jet black and crimson. Having instantly recognized the soldier as a servant of the Flame Emperor, Bernadetta didn't hesitate to fire an arrow from her crossbow into the man's back before he could lay a finger on the boy, an attack that Monica followed up by personally closing in to a jam a dagger up through the back of the soldier's helmet. Too pained to let out even the slightest whimper, the man let out an unintelligible sputter of blood as he collapsed to the ground, grasping his throat with abject horror.

"Hey, er… everything's going to be alright now." Bernadetta nervously reached out her hand to the young boy, who briefly hesitated before shakily taking the archer up on her offer of kindness.

"Wh- where's my mom and dad?" the boy tearfully asked as he was slowly helped back onto his feet.

"I can't say we've seen any sight of them on our way here. For all we know, they're probably de-"

"Monica!" Bernadetta harshly reprimanded the redhead before she could finish her sentence. "Why don't you start by telling us your name?"

"I- it's Kyle." the boy softly answered.

"Alright then, Kyle…" Bernadetta started, taking great care to choose her next words carefully to avoid upsetting the child. "And do you think you can tell us what you were up to before we found you here?"

"O- okay… I was just asleep in my bed when my mom woke me up and yelled at me to get out of the house right away…" Kyle quietly recalled, glancing over to a road to the east before continuing. "She just picked me up, dropped me outside my window, and told me to run as fast as I can. I wanted to ask what was wrong, but then I heard a loud scream and got scared… and then this scary soldier saw me and started chasing me down the street."

An intense feeling of dread washed over Bernadetta as she immediately came to the conclusion that the boy's parents were already long dead.

"So your house is just down this way, right?" Monica curiously asked as she began to walk down the road in question. "Well, come on, we can go check on your folks together."

"Monica, I'm not sure that's such a good-"

"Yes, please! I'm getting really worried about them!" Kyle eagerly darted off in Monica's direction, much to the ignoration of Bernadetta's protests.

"Agh, Kyle! Could you at least keep close to us on the way there?! There could still be soldiers waiting for you!" Bernadetta frantically warned as she rushed off to chase after the boy alongside Monica.

It only took a short sprint for the trio to arrive at Kyle's home, and while the building had actually managed to remain relatively intact amidst the blaze, it seemed to have been left in an even worse condition than those around it, almost as if it had been specifically targeted for some specific purpose. It was a grim sight to be sure, and Bernadetta shuddered to think what she might find within as she took a single step through the front door.

"Hey, uh, why don't you keep watch for us outside, Kyle? Just yell if you see anyone heading this way, alright?"

"O- okay, I can do that…"

For once, Monica remained silent, instead adopting a more downcast expression as she patiently waited for her purple haired companion to begin her investigation. As suspected, the interior of the home looked like it had been ransacked by thieves. The flames that burned through the home had long been put out, and in their place, a veritable mess of ruined belongings laid scattered across the premises.

Perhaps the most horrifying discovery came from the back end of the home, where Bernadetta came face to face with a pair of mutilated corpses sprawled across the charred wooden floor. Much to the archer's surprise, these unfortunate victims weren't even regular humans. With pale white skin and pools of spilled blood the color of pen ink, it was clear as day that this deceased couple was of Agarthan descent.

"This might come as a bit of a surprise to you, huh?" Monica's voice suddenly asked from behind, startling Bernadetta right out of her boots.

"Can you not... especially in a place like this?" the timid archer asked in exasperation as she hunched over to catch her lost breath. "…If these are the boy's parents then is Kyle-"

"Yep. You really hit the nail on the head there, Bernie." Monica quietly affirmed, her face obscured by shadows as she began to make her way out of the scene of the murder. "Do me a favor and don't let anyone else know about this, alright? You've already seen the results for yourself, after all."

"Right… I'll make sure this stays between us…" Bernadetta readily agreed, and her mind began racing with thoughts as she followed Monica out of the house.

"How peculiar… by all appearances, those two did not seem to be associated with the other Agarthans we know…"

"Yeah… they were just living out normal lives here without bothering anyone, and I'm sure there must have been others just like them elsewhere… I can't even begin to imagine why Edelgard would order an attack like this…"

"That's assuming Edelgard was even involved in this tragedy to begin with… I fear there is still far too much we do not know about this yet…"

Whatever the truth behind this tragedy was, Bernadetta's thoughts were cut short by a distraught Kyle, who loudly yelled for the two girls to meet him outside. They immediately caught wind of a skirmish on the edge of a nearby street the moment they set foot outside. Out of the corner of her eye, Bernadetta recognized an enraged Dimitri, spear in hand as he squared off against a small legion of hostile soldiers all by himself. And from the looks of the corpses scattered around the prince's feet, he was winning handily.

"Th- this guy's inhuman…!" one of the soldiers fearfully commented upon watching the prince yank his signature spear out of the chest of one of his unfortunate victims.

"Don't make me laugh. You bastards have all lost the right to call yourselves human the moment you decided to slaughter the innocents of this village." Dimitri coldly spat, pointing an accusatory finger at the frightened soldiers with a look of pure malice spread across his face.

It was a sight that eerily reminded Bernadetta of the prince's unhinged mental state during the war.

"Don't worry about the blondie, Kyle. He's one of the good guys." Monica casually comforted the child, softly running one hand through his hair as she brandished a dagger with the other.

"You know, I don't think Dimitri really needs our help…"

"Hey, suit yourself. That just leaves more fun for Dimitri and me!" the redhead gleefully shouted as she rushed in to join the prince's already one sided massacre.

"Did you find my mom and dad in there?" Kyle curiously asked, lightly tugging on Bernadetta's skirt to get her attention.

"Oh, uh… no, we didn't find anyone in there." Bernadetta lied through her teeth, hoping to spare the poor boy from the grizzly scene she had just borne witness to.

"Why don't we trying checking on Castle Gaspard? I've always been told to head there if there was ever an emergency. It should be just over that hill on the far end of town!"

"Sounds like a plan. Just try to stay behind me until we get there, Kyle. There's no telling what might be waiting for us when we arrive…"

"Aw you're worrying too much! Castle Gaspard is like an invincible fortress! There's no they'll let any bad guys through!"

"I hope you're right about that…"


She never thought she'd even think this, but for once in her life, Bernadetta was glad to have a pair of spears pointed at her face by two on edge guards. Much to the girl's relief, Castle Gaspard had managed to remain standing amidst all the chaos in the town, and not a single imperial could be found anywhere near the premises.

"Hold it right there, stranger! What is your business here?" one of the guards questioned in a loud booming voice, his eyes frantically wandering all across the horizon in search of any signs of an oncoming attack.

"At ease, soldiers. She's with my class." Byleth's voice called out from behind, assuaging the guard's fears enough for them to lower their defenses for the tiny girl before them. "I was wondering where Monica dragged you off to this time, Bernadetta... and who's that behind you?" the teal haired professor peered over his student's shoulder to find Kyle clinging onto the girl's uniform like a stray kitten.

"Ah, well, Professor, this is Kyle. He's a… survivor from the attack on the village."

"So I see. It seems there's been no shortage of refugees at the castle today."

"Just how bad has the situation gotten around here…?"

"To be frank, it's worse than anything I've ever seen, but it will be easier to show you directly." Byleth grimly stated as he offered a welcoming hand to the girl to follow him inside.

To say that the interior of the castle was overflowing with survivors from the village would be something of an understatement. Even with all the people that Lonato had taken along with him as soldiers on his big crusade, the castle's entrance hall was still packed to the brim with panicked survivors visibly worrying or in many cases grieving over the status of the loved ones they'd left behind.

Off in one distant corner, Bernadetta caught wind of a small wing of the room repurposed for housing the wounded, where Mercedes and Marianne were hard at work treating an ever growing number of critically injured patients. All the while, a handful of other students from both classes were up and about aiding the guards and refugees in any way they can.

"Ah, Professor! Bernadetta!" Ashe's voice called out to the pair, his demeanor having lifted since Bernadetta last saw him as the silver haired boy rushed forth to greet them directly. "And little Kyle, I'm so glad you made it out okay!"

"Wow, is that you, Ashe? I haven't seen you in forever! Have you seen my mom and dad around here?" the small child happily responded, his voice filled with a slight tinge of hope as he expectantly looked past Ashe for any trace of his parents.

"No, I'm afraid they haven't shown up here at all. I can't help but fear the worst for them." Ashe shamefully admitted with his head hung down low.

"Well… what about your little siblings, Ashe? Are they doing alright?" Bernadetta quickly asked in a hasty effort to change the subject at hand.

"There's no need to worry about those two. Frightened as they may be, they're both safe and sound within the walls of Castle Gaspard." Ashe confidently responded, a strong hint of relief had washed over his voice as he proceeded to recount the events leading up to the attack on the village.

"All things considered, my biggest concern now is finding a place to stay for all the surviving villagers who lost their homes in the fire. I'm afraid we can't simply keep them all in the castle forever, especially after all our crops and supplies were ransacked in the attack…" Ashe worried aloud as he put a hand to his chin in deep thought.

"Well… why don't we let them stay at the monastery for a while?" Bernadetta immediately offered a solution. "I'm sure the church has more than enough housing and supplies to accommodate everyone."

"Well now, that sounds like a brilliant idea, Bernadetta. I'm sure Lady Rhea would be happy to take in those in need." Byleth readily agreed with his student's suggestion.

"Indeed it is! I should begin making preparations right away, if you'll excuse me." Ashe's eyes lit up like candlelight as he hastily bade his farewells and sprinted off into the castle in the blink of an eye.

"Wow, that's awfully generous of you guys to give us all a new home on such short notice!" Kyle enthusiastically chimed in as he took hold of Bernadetta's hands and began jumping up and down in excitement.

"Ah, you know, I only really brought up the idea. It's the church that will be taking care of you guys more than anything." the lavender haired student raised a hand to her neck in embarrassment as Byleth looked upon the scene with a faint look of amusement on his face.

"This is a rather touching sentiment and all, but I believe you might be forgetting something vitally important."

"Er, what do you mean, Sothis?"

"We may not know how many there are exactly, but do you truly believe my daughter will take well to the idea of having a secret group of Agarthans living right under her nose?"

"Ack!" the moment of realization hit Bernadetta like a sack of bricks. "I, er… didn't really think about that… is it too late to go back on this choice or-"

"No, I believe the refugees would have been offered a chance to stay at the monastery sooner or later regardless of your interference. It seems the best course of action from this point will be to keep the true nature of their heritage a secret from everybody."

"Yeah, sure…" Bernadetta was mentally sweating bullets at the implications of this sudden shift in the tides of destiny. "What's the worst that could happen? It's not like we could all get publically executed to serve as an example to any would be Agarthan sympathizers if the secret ever comes out or anything... At this rate, I'll have to spend the rest of my life on the run from the church when they inevitably find me out!"

"You may as well start begging to be hanged if your mind just automatically wanders to the worst case scenario like that…" Sothis sighed in exasperation at the overly detailed nature of her companion's fervent fantasies. All things considered, the Goddess was fully aware of the irony of acting against the very church dedicated to her worship... but was it truly a sin to care for those who had done no wrong?