12/26 Ethereal Moon (night)
"First of all, I must apologize for what had just happened, I didn´t expect that a group of students and a Professor would come to a place like this" Yuri said as they followed him through the tunnels.
"The fault is all mine. I made the wrong assumptions"
The path they were following was leading them into the deepest parts under the monastery. Looking at the walls of the tunnel she could quickly realize that their surroundings must have been built hundreds of years ago.
"Could it be that we are approaching the origins of the monastery? In that case…"
"Hilda, I beg you that you can forgive me! If your brother realizes that we were fighting he is going to punch me to death!" her thoughts were interrupted by Balthus, which was almost yelling.
"That would be quite a lesson, don´t you think? I´m feeling nice today so I won´t tell anything, but you should be careful, especially when there are frail ladies involved. By the way, what are you doing here?"
"Well…I´m basically broke so I don´t have another place to go" Balthus said scratching his head. "If the nobles I owe money know that I´m here…"
"Money is the real force that moves our world, isn´t it" Claude said next to her. "However, I don´t really understand how a place like this could exist without the Church finding out about it"
"Claude is right. What is the purpose of this place? And why were you expecting an attack from the surface?"
"Abyss is a place where those who have lost everything can find some peace. We have old people, orphans and those who have ran away from their places of origin due to persecutions. The Church is tolerant about our existence and we are free to rule ourselves to an extent"
"You mean that they basically ignore us, Constance" Hapi said with an annoyed expression. "The Church does nothing about the situation in the Abyss. There are some rumors that the incursions from the surface have been committed by them, but I highly doubt that they are the real perpetrators"
"In that case who is to blame?"
"We don´t really know, but these last months had been quite troublesome. Soldiers had been entering and leaving the lower ground of the monastery and we have suffered some attacks too. Some have witnessed a person wielding a giant scythe in some of the passages, although there aren´t any reports of direct attacks" Yuri said, looking at them.
"A giant scythe? That must be the Death Knight" Dimitri said, clenching his fists. "In that case the Professor wasn´t completely wrong"
"They could be more than one group operating here, Dimitri, we shouldn´t deny all possibilities"
"I must admit that I didn´t expect students coming to this place, but from all of them the fact that the leaders of the different houses had come to pay us a visit is really interesting" Yuri laughed.
"You are really informed about everything that happens at the surface"
"It is my duty after all, Claude. The people living down there are my responsibility. We already know that you aren´t a menace to us, but those who had been attacking us from time to time could strike again at any time"
"In that case we´ll lend you strength" Dimitri nodded. "What do you think Professor?"
"I agree with you, Dimitri. We´ll help you investigate on this matter and I will hold all responsibilities of these events. I will talk with Rhea after all of this"
"Then I´m sure we won´t be expelled any time soon, Teach. Just try to smile when you apologize. I´m sure that the archbishop will be sympathetic enough with you. I bet my dinner on it"
"Even if he hasn´t spent much time with the archbishop he has already realized that she is strangely fond of him" she thought as she looked at him. "That smile truly hides a lot. I wonder how much he knows"
"Are you so confident that you will share the bread with us?" Balthus laughed.
"We are friends, right? The battle was just a little misunderstanding"
"Well, since you will be helping us, I don´t mind if we share some provisions, but be prepare to battle at any time. We don´t know when our enemy will appear, but we will have to be prepared even if they strike against us in the middle of the night"
"You don´t have to worry, we will defeat those enemies and if we can catch some of them alive, we may find out why they had been entering this place" she said. Apart from Balthus, the leaders of the Abyss appeared to be of their age, but the fact that all of them had taken refuge in the Abyss made her suspect of the reasons why they were hiding there. As she analyzed them with a look, the girl called Constance caught her attention. "Her accent is clearly from the Empire. I wonder why she is hiding here too" In the Empire wasn´t strange that minor noble houses appeared and disappeared from time to time, but she had the feeling that she wasn´t part of such houses.
….
"Well, welcome to our home, I guess" Yuri said as a small village appeared in front of them. Planks had been employed to create different paths, although it was clear that the quality of such elements was questionable.
"How many of you live here?" her Professor asked, looking at his surroundings.
"More than what you would expect" Yuri said as he whistled. As he did so, all kind of people, including children, started to appear from different tunnels and hidden rooms. For each man or woman capable of fighting there were two that were unable to do so.
"They are in a weak situation and they are even weaker after our fight" she thought
"Yuri! We were waiting for you! Who are these people?" asked one of the soldiers.
"Don´t worry, they have promised they will help us. I need some of you to take care of the fallen. Are the remaining forces in their positions?"
"They are as you have ordered us to do so"
"Very well" Yuri said as he looked to the rest of them. "We don´t know when the next attack is going to happen so we have to be careful. We have some rooms to spare for all of you, although I´m afraid that at least one of you will have to sleep in the rubble since one of our spared rooms is in a poor state"
"In that case I will take that room" Byleth said.
"I will accompany you in that case" It was evident that Byleth was exhausted and it was impossible that he had already recovered from his injuries so leaving him alone wasn´t an option.
"Oh, you really have quite a confidence, Edelgard" Claude laughed.
"Are you sure, Lady Edelgard? In my room there is plenty of space to spare and I would like to discuss a matter regarding my identity"
"Constance, since when our room has turned into your room? The mere thought that you have forgotten about me almost made me sigh"
"Don´t do it here, Hapi!" Balthus said in a worried tone. "Two per room will make the deal, seems ok to me. Hilda, you can use Yuri´s room until he returns. I want you tell me everything about my old friend. I wonder how he is doing now"
"You really admire him, don´t you?" Hilda laughed. "It almost feels as if we were kids again"
"In that case how about you spend the night with me, Dimitri?" Claude said with a teasing smile.
"You really are a troublesome man, Claude. I´m unable to be so easygoing like you. I wish I could be like you from time to time"
"Are you saying that you envy me? I feel honored" Claude laughed.
"I will be sleeping then" Linhardt yawned. "I hope that no one comes so I can rest at peace"
"I will go with you" Ashe said, following him.
"Remember that this isn´t a school trip" Yuri sighed. "Professor, I leave the security of this place to you until my return. Don´t betray my trust"
"I will do my best"
"In that case see you later. Be prepared to fight at any time"
As he said so, everyone headed to their assigned rooms. When Byleth opened the door before them, she realized why Yuri had said that their room was in a poor state. Debris was scattered across all of the room as well as broken furniture. The only elements that were sturdy enough were the walls, the floor and the ceiling.
"I guess that he didn´t exaggerate when he told us"
"Do you regret accompanying me?"
"Not at all, my Teacher. Even if the environment around is uncomfortable we must make the best of it" she gently smiled to him, although instead of his usual patting he simply nodded at her. The room was small, although there was enough space to sit in front of each other. She sat as he saw him putting the Sword of the Creator in one of the corners of the room, the faint gleaming of the sword allowing them to see each other faces.
"I used to sleep in rough terrain since I was young. My father once…" he suddenly stopped as he touched his head. "I´m sorry Edelgard"
"What are you sorry about?"
"I thought that I knew how much pain you had to endure, yet I was a fool. Now I realize how it feels to lose someone you hold dear. This pain is menacing to overcome me. He died…he died in my arms Edelgard and I was unable to save him and then when I thought I found them I fought against the wrong ones, taking part into a meaningless fight" Byleth said looking to one of the corners, tears unwillingly leaving his face.
His words and tears were more painful to watch that the events that had happened near the chapel. She didn´t want to see him like that, yet she didn´t know what to do.
"It is clear that you loved him. However, you can´t allow them to have the final victory. Losing someone is painful, but we have to continue our paths. I won´t cry with you since your pain is something that is deeply rooted inside you, but I can offer you one thing" she said as he looked at him in the eye, the eyes she had grown fond of. "When the time comes, I will be there for you. When you stand up once again, I will give everything I have to fight alongside you. I have the opinion that only going forward we can really honor those who have left us, otherwise their sacrifices would be in vain" she said as she offered her hand to him.
"Your words are harsh, but there is truth in what you say" he said as he cherished her hand with his own, making her heart tremble. "I´m responsible of all of you and I promised him I will take care of all of you from now on. Don´t worry, Edelgard, I will mourn his death, but I won´t be secluded in the past. I promise you that I will continue my path"
"I know that my words are cold, but these words were able to save me in my darkest times. I´m sorry this is the only thing I can do" She knew that she was considered cold by some people, but that was the way she was and she could do nothing to change the past that had turned herself into such person.
"I know that you have already suffered in the past, but I hope that the future is different. You are strong, Edelgard. You have proved it to me since the first time we met. I must say that I´m proud of you" he said, the ghost of a faint smile appearing on his face. "I hope that you can be happy once again"
"I will do my best" she said, although a shadow of doubt appeared inside her. She wondered how he will react if he knew she had been with those who had already committed such hateful crimes.
"Try to take some rest. We have to be prepared in case that they need our aid"
"The same could be said about you, my Teacher. The Abyss a place under the very same monastery, yet ignored by almost everyone. If this is such a secret place, how did people from the outside world find out about its existence? According to them only the Church knows about it"
"They might have an informant in the Church, but right know we can only speculate about it" he said as he used his cloak to cover part of his body.
A bit relieved after talking with him she closed her eyes, although the mysterious surrounding the place where they were staying were lingering in his mind.
….
"Ey, you two. Time to get up"
As she opened her eyes, she could see Yuri with a torch in his hand.
"A big group is coming; we have to make sure that they don´t arrive to this place. My scouts are leading them to a wider area to the west. If we don´t defeat them I don´t know what is going to happen to this village"
"Don´t worry, I will keep my word and I will fight alongside you" Byleth said as he stood up, offering his hand to her.
Outside their room the rest of the students were already awaked, although Linhardt was carried by Ashe, which was unsure about what to do with him.
"If their forces are superior to us, we will have to use the advantage of this terrain to its fullest" she said as she took her silver axe.
"I agree with Edelgard, this place is just asking for an ambush" Claude said with a mischievous smile. "If we can´t win by brute force let our little tricks overcome them"
"An ambush…It could work" Yuri said looking at them. "Follow me, there is no time to lose"
The tunnel they were following was incredibly narrow and multiple secondary tunnels departed from it, but Yuri appeared to know his way. It didn´t take them too much time until they appeared into a wider area, statues of the four saints of the Church in front of them.
"This place…I´ve seen it before" her Professor said as he prepared his weapon. Instead of the Sword of the Creator he unsheathed a silver sword.
"It is said that it was the first church to be built in this area. Above us is the current cathedral" Yuri explained. "Enough of the history talk. This will be the place where we will make our stand"
"There are many entrances to this place, they could appear from any of the tunnels. Put out the torches. We can take them down before they even realize where we are"
"Teach, that is a pretty good idea. You really think like a strategist and not like a typical knight"
"By the way you are saying it, it sounds like a critique against knighthood" Dimitri sighed. "I will listen to your command, Professor. My lance is ready"
"We will divide in three groups. Claude, Hilda and Balthus to the left. Dimitri, Ashe and Yuri to the right. I will cover this area with Edelgard and Constance. Linhardt and Hapi, stay in the middle so you can support the other areas in case of need"
"We have just met and you are already giving us orders" Balthus laughed. "Very well, Professor. I will make sure that they get a good beating"
"This will be the opportunity to show everyone my talent as a magician. This will be the founding stone that will mark my rebirth"
"Hapi doesn´t want to fight, but if I can stay in the middle then I´m good"
"I know we´ve had our differences, but this is the opportunity to show otherwise. I´m counting on all of you" Yuri said as he unsheathed his sword.
They didn´t have to wait too long as the first enemies started to appear. Without the light of the torches of the room they were easily spotted by them as they started to appear from the northeast.
"Dammit! Where are these filthy rats? We have lost them, we have to…" he couldn´t finish what he was saying as Byleth casted a fire spell that engulfed him in flames.
"Fire at will, now!"
Spells and arrows started to fly in the room as the enemy forces realized they were under attack; the light of the torches and the fire spells the only source of light.
She approached one of the enemies. As she grew closer to him, he tried to smash her head with the mace he was wielding, but his movements were sluggish and his armor couldn´t handle her counterattack. Next to her she could see her Professor, his sword stopping the attacks from two sword masters.
"Do you really think you will succeed? I will show you how wrong you are!" Constance shouted as a potent bolting spell left her hands wreaking havoc among the enemy lines.
"Enemies from other passage!" Claude shouted.
"I leave it to you, Claude, keep the pressure!"
"It has been a long time since I had a good fight, let me introduce myself!" Balthus shouted as he punched one of the soldiers to the ground.
"You are such a brute, Balthie" Hilda sighed as she defeated another enemy with her axe.
"Why are there so many of them here?" she wondered as she defeated another enemy. She doubted there were just trying to kill the inhabitants of the Abyss. "If we want to know what is going on, we have to capture some of them" As she asked herself those questions more enemies started to appear from one of the other passages.
"More enemies? You must be kidding, I don´t have enough healing magic to take care of all of you" Hapi said, her and Linhardt covered in a green cloud of healing magic.
"So troublesome and so tiring"
"Edelgard, behind you!" Byleth shouted as he stopped a magic attack aimed at her.
"Thank you, allow me to reciprocate" she smiled as she defeated another enemy. Fighting back to back they repelled the attacks aimed at them as their shadows were casted against the walls by the magic explosions and fires surrounding them.
"There are too many of them" Byleth muttered as he stopped another attack. All the students were fighting against the intruders, but their side was the one where most of the enemy forces were arriving.
"Edelgard, throw me with your axe to one of the statues"
"Understood" using her strength she sent him flying. As she did so she could see how he was charging magic in his hands.
"Constance, retire from that place!" she shouted as a giant explosion happened, a few seconds latter the base of the statue of one of the four saints started to crumble, crushing a large number of their enemies under it.
"Wow Teach, that was impressive. That must be what we consider a divine punishment. Not so sure the poor saint would be pleased, though" Claude laughed as he prepared his bow to attack.
"That was quite a show of magic, I must admit that I am impressed by it" said a surprised Constance witnessing the destruction in front of her.
"He is quite a force to reckon. You must be from the Empire"
"I am. My name is Constance von Nuvelle and I will show to you that the legacy of my house has been left intact" she said as she released another potent spell from her hands.
"House Nuvelle" she thought. House Nuvelle had an important position within the Empire, but the events of the Dagda-Brigid war had caused an irreparable damage to the noble House.
"We will talk later, for now we have to keep fighting"
"Of course, Lady Edelgard" she quickly bowed before she continued to fight.
…..
"This was unexpected. Nobody told us we´ll meet with such an opposition down here. We had been deceived!" cried one of the soldiers.
"How ironic that you are the one crying when you were planning to slaughter innocent civilians" Yuri scorned him. "I must admit that I´m surprised to have faced such number of enemies. Why using such brute force to destroy the Abyss?"
"This place is home to those who had lost everything, it wouldn´t be strange if someone knew about this location and tried to finish what they started"
"You may be right, Hapi. In that case, why have you come to this place? Who gave the order to assault?"
"We didn´t plan to attack a village. We only needed to find a treasure"
"A treasure?" she wondered looking at them. "What kind of treasure could be hidden here? Could it be a relic?"
"Are you telling me that you were searching for something like that in a place like this? This place has nothing to offer the likes of you. Who gave the order?"
"I don´t know…"
"You must be kidding; how can a bunch of mercenaries enter this place without knowing the person that is employing them. That´s nonsense. Balthus, persuade him"
"Stop! I´m telling the truth. Please don´t kill me!" the mercenary cried after being punched by Balthus a couple of times.
"Yuri, they may be telling the truth. This one is about to piss his pants"
"Even in that case we can´t let them roam around this place as they please. We will have to imprison…" Suddenly one of the mercenaries ran to Yuri´s position with a hidden dagger.
"Go to hell, bastard!"
The dagger was about to hit him when a magic explosion engulfed the soldier in green flames, reducing him to ashes.
"Are you ok, Yuri?" asked a medium aged man, wearing cardinal´s clothes.
"I didn´t expect you here, but thanks"
"Long time no see you! Have you come to check on us again? We are already grownups, but I appreciate the visit" Balthus laughed.
The cardinal was about to speak when his eyes suddenly froze on her Professor.
"Thanks Goodness you are here. I had the feeling you were here the moment we were alerted from your disappearance"
"I didn´t expect to see you here, Aelfric"
"Wait, do you know him? This is quite strange"
"Our paths have crossed a couple of times, that´s all. My heartfelt condolences to you, Byleth. The events of this terrific day shall never be forgotten. I will do all I can to advert such situation"
"How can he advert something like that?" she wondered as she analyzed the person in front of them. The man called Aelfric was clearly a high ranked member of the Church, but the fact that he was completely alone made her suspect that he had come on his own.
"I am sure that you will have many questions, but this is not the place to discuss such serious matters"
"Aelfric is right, let´s return. There is no point staying here anymore"
…..
"I see, so you are in charge of the Abyss" he asked as they approached the village.
"I am responsible of the wellbeing of the inhabitants of the Abyss, but as my responsibilities multiplied, I have relied more on the four of them. The Church acknowledges it and hasn´t opposed my help here for years"
"To be fair more than acknowledging the Church simply ignores us" Hapi added.
"I must admit that the Church isn´t perfect, but I can´t really blame it. I am pleased to see that the village had been left intact despite all the strange events surrounding the monastery"
"Those who dare to enter this place are just asking to get a good beating. However, I don´t get why the mercenaries were trying to enter this place. They were talking about a treasure"
"I am not completely certain about this, but they could be referring to the Chalice of Beginnings"
"A Chalice? Such efforts just to drink some win?" Claude said.
"This story is one that has been restricted to those with a high position within the Church. According to the legend, Saint Seiros and her four disciples created the Chalice to bring the dead to live again. It is an artifact with the blessing of the Goddess herself"
"Bringing someone back to live" she thought. She doubted that something like that could be possible, although she understood how the possibility of doing something like that could be tempting enough. "Her disciples? Do you mean the four saints?" Edelgard asked.
"Her disciples are named the four apostles. They were followers of Seiros and achieved great things during their lifetimes. Unfortunately, their legacy had been lost and we don´t know much about them. However, it is clear that they are different to the four saints"
"That sounds almost like a fairytale" Claude said.
"Even if the Chalice is incapable of bringing back the dead, there is no doubt that it is a powerful device. It would be unwise to leave it unprotected. The scarce information about it says that the Chalice is protected by the Chasm of Bound, although the location of such a place is unknown"
"Well, at least we can suspect that is hidden within the Abyss. In that case we should make sure that they don´t find them"
"Yuri, I understand that you want to protect the inhabitants of the Abyss, but going on your own would be too risky"
"Don´t worry, I will accompany him to make sure that he stays out of danger" Byleth nodded next to her.
"Your words are really trustworthy, but I beg you to have some rest in case that you plan to explore the inner areas of the Abyss. We don´t know what could be hiding in the shadows" he smiled to him. "Since you are here, I have a request for you. Could you be the Professor of all of them? They can be troublesome from time to time, but I am confident they could learn a lot from you"
"Wait, this guy, our Professor? He looks even younger than me" said a surprised Balthus.
"He had shown to be a capable fighter. Even if his technique doesn´t fit my style I´m not completely opposed to learning from him"
"I´m with Constance. Even if you work for the Church you don´t look evil. Hapi wouldn´t mind having a Professor like you"
Yuri sighed, before looking at Byleth.
"Are you ok with something like that?"
"I don´t mind" he nodded.
"In that case I leave them to you. I´m afraid that I must return to the surface for a short while. The Church forces are already searching for you, but if we can end all of this quickly, we will solve this matter before the situation gets worse. Take some rest. In a few hours dawn will come and it will be easier to explore in case you do so"
"Good job everyone. Let´s take a rest before we continue our exploration" Byleth said in a neutral tone. "And thank you, I really appreciate that you were worried about me. I won´t forget it" as he said so a small smile formed on his face, which relieved her more than their victory.
"Don´t worry Teach. That´s why we are here"
"Claude is right. This is our opportunity to reciprocate everything you have done to us" Dimitri smiled.
"My Teacher, I will keep true to my words" she said as he looked at her.
"Less talking and more resting. More than a group of students and a professor you look like a bunch of friends" Yuri sighed.
"Anyway, take some rest before we continue" Byleth said as he headed to their temporal room, marking the end of a day filled with unusual events.