"The day has come. Our objective is to finish off all the bandits taking refuge in the valley. We must leave no one alive, orders from the archbishop. There is only an entrance so they will fight to the bitter end, let them come at us until we have weakened their front lines. Edelgard, Caspar, Ferdinand and Petra with me. Linhardt you will stay in the middle of the formation. Hubert, Dorothea and Bernadetta the rearguard is yours. Understood?"
"Yes Professor!" everyone shouted.
The enemy scouts have already alerted their forces. Archers and thieves carrying swords and axes were the main forces of the enemy.
"Byleth, for the upcoming battle I can let you the power to return back in time but beware that there are limits to it. Use it wisely". Said Sothis
"Thanks, I will try to avoid using it" Byteth redirected his gaze to everyone. "Keep the position and don´t dare to disobey my command!"
The enemy thieves were charging against them. Everyone was standing still waiting his orders, when they were about to come to them he shouted "Fire!"
The air was suddenly filled by magic, dark magic and arrows. The charging thieves were in flames or in a panicked state.
"Now charge!"
His objective was a brigand, who was trying to keep his distance from his burning comrades. He charged at him, but his movement was too predictable allowing Byleth to quickly disarm him.
"Please no…!" but he couldn´t finished his sentence, his chest pierced by his sword.
As life left him, Byleth switched to his next target, an archer hiding in the bushes that was trying to hit Ferdinand. In a close encounter the enemy had no chance. Piercing his neck he took the fallen enemy bow and arrows, it may be useful in the future. He repositioned himself to see the landscape of the battle. Ferdinand was exchanging blows with another thief, his armor bruised but no visibly injured. Edelgard was making a quick job of his enemies and Caspar was in a berserk like state.
The mages were advancing positions when suddenly one of the fallen enemies got up and backstabbed Linhardt. Byleth rushed to him while Hubert casted his magic against the thief, killing him.
"Hubert healing! Linhardt, stay with me!" but he already realized that it was too late, his hands covered in his student´s blood.
"I´m sorry Professor but I´m too sleepy to continue…"
"I need to change the outcome!" he thought and as he thought it he was standing in the bushes alongside the archer´s corpse.
Running as fast as he could he arrived to the bridge when the apparently dead thief was getting up. He blocked the attack and cut off his hand. As he was screaming he pushed him over the bridge to his death.
"Thank you Professor, that was close" Linhardt´s face was completely pale.
"Hubert, Dorothea, Bernadetta make sure that they stay dead!"
"It will be a pleasure" Hubert chuckled
Byleth rushed again to the frontline, there were two ways to arrive, his students were next to the left path, but the enemy´s reinforcements were taking positions at the front.
"They are going to surround them" he thought.
"Come back they are too many of them!"
But it was too late, Edelgard, Ferdinand and Petra hearing his command backed down, but Caspar was too close to the frontline. He had no other choice but to use again Sothis´s powers.
Having mere seconds to avoid the outcome he rushed to Caspar´s position.
"Push forward we have to break their lines or we are done!"
They charged. Byleth was taking every enemy he could, feeling a familiar itching on his right hand, but they were too many. Dozens of bandits were completing a circle against them. And then he saw it. One of the archers was about to take a shot a point blank range against Edelgard.
"No!"
And then it activated again, his mysterious crest.
With an unnatural strength Byleth rushed to Edelgard´s position releasing death on everyone. Arms, limbs even full bodies couldn´t stop him.
"A demon! Shoot him down!"
He felt the impacts but not the pain. The enemy was panicking, but he showed no hesitation. And then the landscape of the battle changed.
He wasn´t in the valley, but in a city engulfed in flames. He was witnessing the slaughtering of his brethren. The enemy soldiers noticed him and immediately charged at him but as quick as they came they died. A green haired man and a girl came to his place.
"Cichol, Cethleann! I´m glad to see you well!"
"There are too many of them Seiros! We must leave the city!"
"I refused, I have to save her!"
"Seiros…" Cethleann´s face covered in tears.
"It breaks my heart to say it, but she is gone, staying here any longer will kill us all"
"It can´t be! Who?!"
"Me"
The voice came from a white bearded man. He was covered in green blood and he was carrying a golden sword covered in green blood"
"How dare you to….!"
"Professor?"
He came back at his senses. It was Edelgard. Without thinking it twice he embraced her
"I´m glad to see you alive"
"My teacher… I´m sorry to have worried you like that. But first we have to take care of your injuries."
Then he noticed the arrows. He was hit at least 5 times. Without a second thought he started picking them one by one.
Edelgard´s face was shocked and her face grew pale when she saw the mark on his hand.
"My teacher, how do you have?" she said while gently touching his right hand.
"Professor, that was impressive!" said an impressed Caspar.
"Indeed, taking by himself 30 enemies. I cannot open my eyes"
"You have to be strong Linhardt. The strong survive and the weak perish"
"I know Petra but I can´t blame him. These stains will take an eternity to leave" complained a pale Dorothea.
"They are dead, they are dead…" a rigid Bernadetta was muttering.
"Don´t worry Bernie, it´s all over, right Professor?"
"Yes" he said while taking another arrow.
"Linhardt! The Professor is injured, use your magic!"
"Yes… You are covered in blood! I can´t…"
"Man up Linhardt" Caspar shouted
"Ok, ok" said Linhardt as he approached his place.
"It cannot be… your injuries are just superficial, how can it…" then he looked at his right hand, that Edelgard was holding tightly. "Can it be the power of your crest?"
"It doesn't matter if it is, if I can use it to protect all of you then I will use it".
"Professor…thanks" Dorothea said, seemingly moved by his words.
"Impressive words Professor, but you shouldn´t abuse this kind of power, it may have drawbacks, if you don´t mind you should go to see Hanneman" continued Linhardt.
"By the way, where is Hubert?" asked Caspar
"I´m here and with me the leader of this group of bandits or what is left of him" he chuckled
Their leader was coughing blood and marks of magic could be seen around his body. When Byleth approached him he panicked.
"You are the monster who slaughtered my gang! Are you going to kill me too right?" He looked to the rest of them. "Filthy nobles, you should all die, scum!"
"A person with no moral shouldn´t be the one to give judgment so lightly" said Edelgard while approaching. "You will pay for your crimes now"
"I will see you in hell!" using his remaining strength he tried to stab her in the stomach, but was blocked effortlessly by Edelgard, who crushed his foe´s chest with her axe.
"I shouldn´t have listened to that idiot…" he said as his dying breath.
"Who?" Byleth thought.
"This place is stained in red we should leave before it gets dark" said an exhausted Ferdinand.
"I have to agree with you on that matter, the corpses may attract unwanted visitors to this place"
"Hubert is right, all of you return to the bridge. I will come with you in a moment"
As they returned the way they came Byleth looked at his surroundings. He was surrounded by ruins of a seemingly extinct civilization, yet his thoughts returned to the vision of a city engulfed with flames. "Was it an illusion?"
"I think that you saw the past" Sothis voice emerged from the depths of his head. "A past to which I feel strong emotions, yet I can´t remember why. This place brings me joy and sadness, but the reasons are unknown".
"I feel the same but I haven´t been here and it appeared when my crest activated"
"That crest of yours is stronger that the rest, but you should control it. That kind of strength on a mortal body will undoubtedly affect it. It seems that it manifests when you or someone you care about it´s in great danger, but you shouldn´t rely on it, it may fail you"
"I will train harder to avoid it and thank you, without you Linhardt and Caspar would have died"
"You are welcome, but don´t rely on my powers, there is a limit to what I can do and if I reach my limit there is no other way but to accept the reality of the outcome".
"I will keep that in mind"
"Very well then" she smiled "You should return, they are waiting for you"
And without looking back again Byleth returned to the place where his students were waiting.
….
The return to the monastery was made in complete silence. His students were exhausted and the scenes of the battlefield had left quite an impression on them, mainly on Dorothea, Linhardt and Bernadetta.
It was already dark when they arrived to the monastery, after half a journey of travelling on fresh horses, courtesy of the knight´s of Seiros.
When they arrived to the gates of the Monastery Byleth congratulated his students.
"You have done a great job. I know that many of you have experienced the hardships of a real battle for the first time but don´t think to hard about it. For today take a bath and rest. Tomorrow we won´t have any classes".
"Thank you Professor, I´m looking forward the next battle!"
"Seriously Caspar? At least I can rest tomorrow. I appreciate it Professor" said Linhardt.
"Professor, you should take a bath too. Your precious hair and clothes are soaked in blood. You really look like a demon" said a worried Dorothea
"I will, but first I must inform the archbishop about the results of the task. Good night to all of you"
Everyone headed to the baths, although Edelgard´s gaze lingered slightly longer on him before following the rest of the students.
He headed towards the great hall where the archbishop held her meetings. Rhea was accompanied by Seteth, who was surprised by Byleth´s appearance.
"It seems that you defended your students faithfully Professor" Rhea smiled, not looking especially shocked by his appearance.
"I appreciate your diligence, but you are allowed to change your clothing if it´s needed. I don´t want Flayn to see you in such state."
"I apologize"
"You will be rewarded by your efforts, but I´m afraid that I have bad news to tell you. Lord Lonato, a noble from the Holy Kingdom, has risen in arms against the Holy Church. Such defiance shall not be left unpunished. You will assist the soldiers of the Church who will go to suffocate the rebellion. That will be your task for the next month. I command you to return here tomorrow morning to have a meeting with the leader of the expedition".
"Should I take my students with me? They are physically and mentally exhausted from today´s battle"
Rhea smiled "I appreciate your worries from the bottom of my heart, but your students as the future rulers of Fódlan shall learn to not oppose the Holy Church. Those who pull out their weapons against the Church are acting against the Goddess itself. Such behavior cannot be taken lightly".
"Why is he opposing the Church?" a mere Lord couldn´t possibly oppose the might of the Church. It was a battle already lost.
Rhea´s expression darkened "I´m afraid that he holds a grudge against the Church as a consequence of the execution of his son due to his involvement in the Tragedy of Duscur. We will speak more about the matter tomorrow. For now keep your training as usual. I have high expectations of you".
"Understood"
As Byleth left the room he was covered in doubts. A rebellion without hope, the Tragedy of Duscur, the necessity of punishment of those who oppose the mighty Church. There were a lot of elements that he didn´t understand. "I guess that I must investigate about them, but I first I should see Hanneman" he thought.
Byleth headed to his office and he knocked the door. When Hanneman opened the door he couldn´t hide his surprise.
"P-Professor Byleth, what happened to you?"
"Don´t worry, it´s not my blood, I wanted to talk to you about my crest"
"Is this related to your crest? Take a seat. I´m still investigating about it, but I haven´t arrived to a conclusion of my satisfaction. Oh, if you don´t mind I will prepare some coffee. I´m sure we will need to be fully awaked."
Byleth explained the events of the battle while sipping his cup.
"So when your crest activated you gained an impressive strength and the wounds were quickly regenerated? That sounds almost impossible to me. Normally a crest will grant only one quality, for example a bigger strength or magic power. However, in this case, it´s granting you two especially useful skills. They may correlate to each other. A strength far superior to a human body will eventually consume it, but it´s regeneration may reduce the negative consequences. Can you manifest your crest by yourself?"
Byleth extended his hand as he had seen other students do but nothing happened. Hanneman nodded.
"It seems that you cannot control your crest. In a relaxed scenario most crest bearers students can manifest their own crests, but when they are subjected to stressful situations, for example a battle, they can´t use the power of their crest at its finest. In your case it seems the other way around. Only when you are in a dire situation your crest reacts, but I wouldn´t rely on it, your crest seems particularly independent from your body. It is better to trust your own skills than a power that may not arrive. Besides, I´m not sure if there are no consequences to its activation. Have you sensed something different after it activated?"
Byleth was about to tell him about his vision, but Sothis interrupted him "It would be wiser to be quiet about it. He may think you are growing mad."
"Nothing particularly relevant" he lied.
"Oh I see" Hanneman looked disappointed. "Anyway, if you feel any changes on your body don´t hesitate to come to my place." He looked to the clock. "Oh it´s already three o´clock and you are still covered in blood! I thank you sincerely for coming here, but you must be tired. Clean your body and your mind and take a rest."
"Thank you Hanneman"
….
The monastery was completely silent as one should expect. Byleth was meditating in the baths about the events of the day. His thoughts continuously returned to the vision of the past he had. He wasn´t him, the green haired people referred to him as Seiros, but he couldn´t understand how it was related to him. "A past I didn´t live it´s coming to me"
"It doesn´t matter how many times you think about it, the result will be the same. We don´t have enough information to understand the whole picture, but I´m sure about one thing; that place holds sweet and sad memories, yet I can´t understand why".
"You are right; we still have a lot to learn. Now close your eyes."
"You idiot! You don´t need to say it. What kind of lady do you think I am?"
"I know, I was just joking?"
"Joking? Interesting. Your expression remains the same, but it seems that your emotions are awakening too. I´m happy to hear that, but please don´t make that kind of joke again".
"Understood"
He headed towards his room. The surroundings pitch black. When he entered his room he suddenly felt exhausted, even he had his limits.
"At least I saved everyone" he thought, the faces of his students coming to his mind, Edelgard´s face lasting a bit longer before he surrendered himself to the world of dreams.
As most people should know Byleth not only bears the Crest of flames but it also has the blood of Seiros. Those two elements will be important for the story. Let´s leave it like that for now.