11/20 Red wolf moon
"The Professor and Edel are getting along too well" Kronya said to him, her usual form revealed.
"Is the Flame Emperor planning to ally with him?" he asked. He was certain that the Professor was the result of the experimentation from their ancient enemy, yet he was unsure how to get rid of him without compromising their security.
"Most likely" Solon said. "She hates us, but she knows she will have to cooperate with us to achieve her own objectives. However, if she can convince the Fallen Star to join their cause…"
"We cannot allow something like that to happen"
"Shall I kill him then, Thales?"
"That would be a stupid act. Even if you were somehow able to kill him that doesn´t mean that you could destroy the Fallen Star. Don´t act unless being told so Kronya. As long as he is under the protection of the archbishop we can do nothing about him"
"In that case we should avoid at all costs that they join forces. We have to make sure that they kill each other or our plans will be doomed." Solon said.
Hearing his words he recalled the information he had been telling him all these months.
"The Professor and the Blade Breaker came from Remire if I am not mistaken. If your information is correct they appeared to be too fond of the village"
"You are right about that Thales"
"In that case we can use that on our benefit. I think we have a place to develop our experiment"
"The Remire village would certainly be an interesting place to test the capabilities of the samples we have obtained."
"The Remire village? Isn´t that place extremely close to the monastery? The Church will certainly come to stop us" Kronya said.
"That´s our purpose, Kronya, but since you are too thick I will explain it to you. We want to avoid that the Fallen Star and the Flame Emperor joining forces. The Flame Emperor is a defective weapon, since it has a will of its own, but it's our best asset to bring to an end the power of our ancient enemy. Just killing him won´t assure us that the Fallen Star doesn´t reappear again. I need time to figure out how it was implanted into its current host to make sure it dies once for all. Until them we have to avoid at all costs they cooperate. Luckily I still have that Death Knight with me. Feel free to use it for your experimentation in Remire, Solon"
"It would certainly help us. I can´t wait to start our experiment with our new test subjects. Should I apply it to the children too?"
"Experiment with everyone. We could see interesting results in underdeveloped humans. Besides, the more fury they feel the better for us. Humans are expendable creatures, normally more useful dead than alive."
"What should I do Thales? I´m always away from all the fun" Kronya complained.
"Don´t worry, your time is approaching. Pretend that you are ill to avoid going to Remire. I need you to search for potential test subjects for another experiment I have prepared. With the power of the crest stones we have been creating we will be the only victors of the war that is approaching"
"The end of the current world order approaches" Solon smiled.
"And when they have outlived their usefulness we will get rid of all of them, Flame Emperor included" he smiled. "Start with the experiments immediately. I will head to the monastery to resolve another matter. If everyone complies our time in the shadows will be over soon"
…..
11/23 Red wolf moon
The sky was completely grey as Byleth walked through the monastery. Noticing Marianne, he approached her. He saw her taking care of the small animals of the monastery.
"Good morning Marianne"
"Oh, good morning Professor"
"You are always taking care of the animals"
"I´m sorry. I won´t disturb you with my presence"
"I wasn´t criticizing you" He had noticed that Marianne had no confidence in herself, but he knew that in the rights circumstances she was able to overcome it. "I really appreciate what you are doing. I just wanted to congratulate you for your birthday" he said as he handed to her a floral adornment"
"Oh, you really remembered it. Thank you, I appreciate it" she said a bit embarrassed. "Now, if you forgive me I will go to pray"
"What do you pray for?"
"I just give my gratitude to the Goddess and beg for her protection, only that. Now if you forgive me"
"From time to time you could talk"
The moment he said it she remained silent as if the mere thought of talking required of all her strength.
"I´m sorry. I just don´t know what to talk about. I don´t really enjoy talking to people. Since I was young I´ve barely had contact with other people"
"Why?"
"I…it´s just my personality"
"Don´t push yourself too hard then" he said, although he suspected there was something more to it.
"Sorry for taking your time. Goodbye" she said as she hurriedly walked away from him.
With nothing more to do he decided to enter the main building of the monastery to visit his father. He didn´t have to search for too long as he found his father on the first floor.
"Good morning father"
"Morning Byleth. I was looking for you"
"Has something happened?" he asked as he saw Jeralt worried face.
"There is something strange happening in Remire"
"Something strange?"
"Reports had come from merchants travelling nearby about unrest inside the village, yet we don´t have reports of new groups of bandits in the area. Some of them say that it must be a disease. Shamir has been near the village. She will tell us more about it"
He accompanied his father to the upper levels of the main building of the monastery. They searched for her and found Shamir talking with Manuela.
"Are you sure it isn´t a species of plague or something like that?"
"I can´t be completely certain about it, but the symptoms of the disease appear to be extremely strange. Some of them appear to be extremely aggressive, others can barely move and they eventually pass out. No ordinary illness could do something like that"
"What is happening in Remire then?" his father asked as he entered the room accompanied by him.
"Hello Jeralt, Byleth" Manuela greeted them. "I was talking with Shamir about the worrying reports coming from Remire. I highly doubt this is an ordinary illness. I suspect that it may be related to the use of magic, the darkest branch of it. I wanted to search about it in the library, but according to the personal working there Tomas is on a trip to Ordelia territory and as the librarian of the main library his knowledge would have been of great help to speed up the process of searching for more information, but I guess I wasn´t lucky enough"
"I have sent some soldiers to make sure that the situation doesn´t spread to other villages, but I think we should check the situation by ourselves as soon as possible" continued Shamir. "I was about to talk with Seteth about it"
"Let us accompany you them" Jeralt said. "My son and I are in good terms with the village. If we can lend a hand we would be happy about it"
"I agree"
"In that case I will tell Seteth about it" Shamir nodded, she then looked at him. "You should tell your students, we may need to leave this place soon" she said as she left.
"I will accompany all of you them. I can use my magic knowledge to help. Besides, Byleth helped me when I was attacked by the Death Knight. It is my duty to return that favor" she said winking an eye to him. "We may even have an opportunity to be just the two of us. What do you think?"
"I´m happy"
"If you say so" she said with a teasing smile.
"Sorry Manuela, but we will be leaving now"
"I will be preparing my things just in case we leave anytime soon"
Leaving the place accompanied by his father they headed to the stables.
"We should talk with the knights that had been around Remire. We may find something new about it. If you have any free time you should…"
He couldn´t hear the rest of his words as an intense pain in his chest made him fell to the ground.
"Byleth! Are you ok?!"
"I´ve just passed out"
"If you are feeling ill, you should return to the infirmary. You are the type that is hiding its own suffering when there are people around"
"Don´t worry father. It was just a moment"
"If you say so. I would take plenty of rest if I were you. Don´t push yourself too hard" he said rubbing his hair before leaving.
"What had just happened? I´m completely dizzy" Sothis complained inside his head.
"I don´t know either" The pain had come from his chest, but as he touched it he didn´t find something particularly strange. "I haven´t been using the Sword of the Creator recently so I doubt it is related to what had just happened"
"It may be just a sign of exhaustion. Take a good rest to about it happens again. Oh, my head, it hurts"
"Take care too, Sothis" he said as he headed to the canteen in search of his students.
…
"The circumstances are dreadful. I suspect they are doing one of their experimentations"
"If you know it don´t say it aloud" she said in an angered tone. It was obvious they were up to something. "It must be related to the experiments they were having on the child of the Goddess. I wonder what their purpose is".
"I suspect we will head in a short while to that place, although I am not looking forward it. Knowing them they may have a nasty surprise awaiting us"
"I know, besides, the imperial succession must be prepared too"
"About that everything is approaching smoothly. We should be quiet, someone is approaching" Hubert said, noticing someone approaching them.
"Hello Edelgard, Hubert. Have you heard about the events happening in Remire?"
"We have heard it from the knights. It is the same village where our paths crossed. The fact that a tragedy is unfolding upon it saddens me"
"It´s not the only event that has recalled my attention" commented Hubert next to her. "The raid to obtain Seiros´s bones, the Death Knight, the kidnapping of Flayn and our first contact with the Flame Emperor. You could draw a line between all of these events"
"Do you think that all of these events are related, my Teacher?" she said looking at him
Byleth remained silent for a while.
"I don´t think they are related"
"Really? Unexpected, but I have the same opinion" she said internally relieved by her Teacher´s response. "The events may appear to be connected by a single line, but I suspect that the thoughts and intentions of different people are intertwined with it. Thinking only in simplistic terms like enemies and allies won´t allow us to capture things accurately"
"You may be right. I need you to search the rest of the students. I´m not sure when are we leaving but my Father and I have asked Shamir to take part in the next expedition to Remire. Be alert in case we have to leave immediately"
"Ey Teach. In that case let me accompany you" Claude said approaching them accompanied by Dimitri. "Remire was the place where we all met so it wouldn´t be fair if we don´t help them now that they need us the most. You can count with the rest of the Golden Deer students too. I´m sure they will be pleased to lend a hand"
"I want to take part into it too." Dimitri said. "I couldn´t forgive something like that happening to innocent villagers. If this is the result of dark mages I will hunt them down. I won´t allow another tragedy to unfold" The looks on his eyes were darker than usual, his gaze completely serious.
"I´m counting with all you, but in case that you aren´t prepared I won´t be waiting for you. We will meet at the entrance of the monastery in case that we leave today"
"It looks like we will be leaving together. Don´t worry Teach I will be doing my part"
"I will do the same as well" Dimitri said as he left.
After the three house leaders and Hubert left Byleth headed to his room to prepare his own equipment. As he entered the room he looked to the box that contained the Sword of the Creator.
"Are you going to use it? You know what happened the last time you made use of it. I wouldn´t do it if I were you. Besides, there weren´t any reports about giant beasts wandering around the village. If they were some monsters we would have already known about it"
"You are right" he said as he picked an especially sturdy silver sword as his weapon of choice. With everything prepared he didn´t have much to do except wait for the signal that they were leaving the monastery. He decided to head to the main entrance of the monastery to buy more supply items in case they needed them in their next expedition.
The main hall was emptier than usual, with most students in their rooms preparing their equipment. He was heading to the main entrance when he saw Dimitri talking with a medium aged man.
"Oh, Hello Professor" Dimitri greeted him as he approached him.
"So this is the famous Professor I have been hearing about. Nice to meet you. I am Volkhard von Arundel, current regent of the Adrestian Empire"
The middle age man had brown hair and purple eyes that remembered him of Edelgard. The moment he heard his full name he recalled the conversation he had with Hubert a few days ago. "She was even betrayed by her own uncle"
"Nice to meet you" he said shaking his hand, although he was angered by the man in front of him.
"I didn´t expect to see you here uncle, since you stopped funding the Church years ago"
"My economic situation was in a difficult spot so I had to stop the funding of the Church. I assure you there is no other reason for that. I will be leaving shortly. I have already done what I wanted to. It is a pleasure to have been able to finally meet you Professor. I hope that one day our paths will cross again"
"Aren´t you going to greet Edelgard?"
"In other occasion. Don´t worry, I am in good terms with her. Farewell to both of you" he said without looking back.
"Did you call him uncle?"
"I did. We aren´t linked by blood, but her sister was married to my father. Her sister is the mother of Edelgard, so her bonds with her are even stronger, although I feel he has changed as time has passed." He said as if he were thinking aloud his inner thoughts. "I see that you are already prepared for battle, as expected from you. I hope that we don´t have to deal with a dire outcome. I don´t want to resort to violence against defenseless civilians"
"Me neither, but we have to be prepared for every outcome"
"That is easier said than done, but I believe in your words, Professor. I will meet with my classmates, no matter the time we will be right here when you give us the signal. I will do whatever I can to stop another tragedy" Dimitri said as he started to leave.
"Dimitri"
"Yes Professor?"
"We will save the village"
"I´m counting on you, Professor" he said, although his eyes still had clouds of darkness.
"The little Princess and the serious Prince´s bonds are really interesting. And now we have finally met the biological uncle of the little Princess. I don´t know why, but I have the feeling that the relationships in that family are overly complicated" Sothis said inside his head.
"It must be because the fights of power between the nobility and the fact that they are the future rulers of two different nations"
"The smiley guy doesn´t give me the same feelings, but I guess it could be because he isn´t completely sincere. I have realized that family is something very important to humans. I think I had a family once, but I can´t barely remember, yet I feel sad when I think about it. I wonder why"
"A family" he thought. The only family he had all this time was his father, or so he thought. He was starting to think about their students as a natural extension of the world he had known until know"
"Sothis"
"Yes Byleth?"
"If you want to I can be your family"
"What are you saying all of a sudden Byleth?" Sothis said, slightly embarrassed. "I guess that since we are always together you can consider it as that. You have grown more sentimental as time has passed Byleth. I´m happy to see how you are changing for the better. Let´s make sure that your dear students don´t get into trouble"
"Don´t worry, I will make sure to protect all of them" he said as he bought provisions for their upcoming expedition. His surroundings were full of activity, with knights entering and leaving the monastery.
"That will cost you 1500 gold units"
"Thank you Anna" he said as he handed the money to the red haired saleswoman.
"You are one of my most frequent customer." She said with a smile. "I´ve heard worrying reports coming from Remire. I hope that everything is ok."
"We will be heading there shortly"
"In that case I wish you the best of lucks. Without security trade can´t prosper. I hope that everything ends in nothing. If you find anything relevant during your trips give it to me. I will reward you accordingly"
"Understood"
"It´s always a pleasure doing trades with you, Byleth" she smiled to him as the next customer approached to her store.
After leaving her behind he headed to the stables where he saw his father talking with one of the knights.
"Hello again son, prepare the students. We are leaving now. If we hurry we could arrive to the village before the sun sets, we have to do our best for their sake"
"We won´t fail them, understood father"
"I will go to tell Manuela about it"
It didn´t take too long to have all of his students waiting at the entrance of the monastery.
"I hope the villagers are alright" said an especially worried Dorothea.
"We will make sure they stay safe" assured her Edelgard.
"Where is Monica?" he asked, noticing that the red haired girl wasn´t among them.
"She is inside her room. She says she is ill so she won´t be taking part in our expedition to Remire" Edelgard answered, although by the look of her eyes she appeared to doubt Monica´s excuse.
"We have a few hours of travel ahead. You can talk, but it´s better to leave now" Shamir said, already wearing her battle outfit.
"You are right, everyone, let´s leave already" he ordered.
Their flying units were checking their surroundings as their main forces were advancing through the well maintained roads of the Church. His father and Shamir had brought some soldiers of the Church, which were meant to replace the soldiers that acted as a firewall in the surroundings of the village.
"Only a few months ago we casually met at the same village that we are heading now. Time passes really quickly." Claude said, riding next to him.
"In both cases the situation was really dire, but no matter the obstacle we will overcome them. If the suffering of the people of Remire is due to the acts of evil men they must be brought to justice" Dimitri said.
Most of the students of the Blue Lions agreed with Dimitri´s words, but he noticed that Felix wasn´t particularly impressed by his leader´s words.
"Byleth, come over here" his father said.
As he approached him he saw that Shamir was riding next to him.
"How are your students doing?"
"Some of them appeared to be ok, but I´m sure that all of them are worried by the reports coming from the village"
"Me too. This year is really a strange one. The rebellion of Lord Lonato, the assault to the Holy Tomb, the kidnapping of Flayn. I know that the Church has many enemies, but I didn´t expect so many problems to appear at the same time"
"No matter where you go you are going to meet with problems, but the situation is turning increasingly unstable in Fódlan. The last time I remember such level of instability was when the Dagda and Brigid invation happened" Shamir said.
"That was a really intense battle. The Empire hired us to increase their forces against their invasion"
"If you had ever met me I would have been known as the woman that took down the Blade Breaker" Shamir said with a smile on her usually serious face.
Hearing her response Jeralt laughed.
"I didn´t expect less coming from you Shamir. I know that in Dagda all of you are well trained. It was an extremely difficult war"
"If you came from Dagda why did you stay in Fódlan" he asked.
"That´s a good question Byleth. After the war I had nowhere to go and Rhea took good care of me. I don´t believe any talks about the Church and the Goddess but I work for them as repayment for Rhea´s help. Besides, as a knight of Seiros I´m free to punch some fancy nobles faces from time to time so I guess it isn´t a bad job at all. You could say that the Church is a good business partner"
"That´s really the only good part about it" Jeralt laughed. "Although we shouldn´t talk aloud about it. Most of my son´s students are nobles after all"
"Don´t worry Jeralt, I have the same opinion than you" Claude said, which appeared to have heard all their conversation.
"I must disagree with such comment. I must admit that some nobles have done terrible things, but most of them aren´t like that. Don´t you think the same Ferdinand?"
"I couldn´t agree more with you, Lorenz. We will proof that when we protect those villagers. I won´t let nothing bad happen to them!"
"That´s not a matter of being a noble or not." Ashe said as he looked at him. "Professor, I will do my best too."
"I´m counting on you"
Looking at the chattering of his students his father sighed.
"They are so different to each other, yet they look so alike when they are together. I couldn´t tell the difference of a commoner and noble between them. But they are a bunch of kids. Sometimes I wonder why we are sending them to battles and things like that"
"You have taken me to the battlefield since I was child"
"I know that I´m not the father of the year, but there wasn´t another option with you. Travelling around Fódlan you had to be prepared to face every possible danger"
"I´m not blaming you. I´ve never regretted the time we have shared together in the battlefield or in our travels"
"Those are quite the words son" Jeralt said smiling, touching his shoulder.
…..
The talks between his students grew scarce as they approached their objective. He had called back his scouts since they have already entered the perimeter set by the Church around the village. Edelgard was riding her mount next to him.
"These forests are the ones we crossed that night when we were running away from that group of bandits. I didn´t expect to meet someone like you there. It feels like yesterday, yet several months have passed since then"
"I´m glad I was able to meet you there. I regret nothing"
"Me too" she said with a faint smile.
"Teach don´t forget me, I was there too remember?"
"The Professor wouldn´t forget about someone like you Claude. By the way why are you always calling him Teach?"
"Not a particular reason. I just think it really suits him"
"I´m glad that I was able to meet all of you" he said.
"The first time we met I thought you weren´t that expressive Teach. You have changed a lot"
"He may have changed but you haven´t changed a bit Claude"
"Don´t be too harsh on me Imperial Princess. You are not that solemn anymore, it must be thanks to Teach. You too Dimitri. Now both of your presences are bearable"
"I´m not sure if I should be complimented or offended by your words Claude" Dimitri sighed.
"Teach, your father is calling you" Claude said looking at the top of a hill a few meters ahead of their main column.
Leaving his students behind, he reunited with his father at the top of the hill.
Shamir, Jeralt and Manuela were talking with one of the knights that were part of the perimeter of security around the village.
"Any new findings?" he asked.
"We haven´t seen any signs of violence." the soldier informed. "In fact, we haven´t seen any sign of activity since noon as if the villagers were secluding themselves at their homes."
"That sounds really strange" Manuela commented with a pensive glare. "Have you seen any signs of recent cases of deceases?"
"Nothing for now, at least nothing that we can see from our positions"
"If this were a disease we would have heard cases of it in other villages since Remire is the main road to several merchant routes, but we haven´t heard anything about it"
"Let´s hope for the best" his father said. "We should approach the village just in case. They may be hiding from something or someone. We have to make sure they are safe."
"Sir Jeralt!" one of the Church soldiers approached them breathing heavily.
"What happened?"
"Multiple fires are appearing around the village. The villagers have suddenly left their houses they appear to be fighting each other!"
"What the hell? It almost sounds like they were waiting for us to come" he then looked at him. "Summon your students, we have to stop this now!"
After telling them the situation of the village the students accompanied him to the village where Shamir and Jeralt where already waiting. By the look of their faces he knew that they weren´t pleased at all by what they were seeing.
The moment he saw the situation of the village a rage he had never felt before crossed through all his body.
"I will never forgive the perpetrators of this crime" he promised to himself as he watched the unfolding tragedy, his hand searching his sword.