The air was filled by ashes and the scent of burnt bodies, even the sky above them was of a crimson color as they approached the hive of their sworn enemy.

"It has been 7 harsh years, but the time to end the monstrosity that has been consuming this world starts now" he thought as his troops approached the esplanade before the cave where the remaining enemy armies remained.

"My general, we will need a few moments before we can launch the next pillar of light" said one of his bodyguards.

"Good, this will be the time when we will use all the strength of humanity. The sacred land of Fódlan won´t face such menace, anymore" He thought as he readied his own sword, which released purple sparks as he readied it. After the fall of the City of Sunlight there had been civil wars all across the land, but no one would have thought that those creatures would start attacking them like a swarm. During all these years they had killed millions of them, yet they still had the number advantage over them. All over the world the land had been scorched by their own weaponry and devoured by the black sea. Their prophets had told them that the advent of the black calamity was over them and even he had to admit that the menace to their race was real after countless battles against them. However, they had been slowly retaking lands as they advanced to their garrison where decades ago a meteor had impacted.

"So, we have finally have arrived to the gates of hell itself" he said as he looked at the mountain before them. He could see countless caves, but their objective was the biggest one.

"Thanks to your leadership we are here" said with a shy smile his young squire named Solon. Even though he wasn´t the strongest combatant, his magic talent and knowledge of technology had allowed them to defeat countless beasts.

"The ancient gods are on our side. Today is the day we send to the abyss the doom of men!" he shouted to their troops. "Seven years had already passed since true dark engulfed the capital of humankind and since them we have been facing countless demons capable of assimilating human forms, but this is the day when we will rip their wings off and we will fester on their corpses as repayment for all the suffering that they have caused to this planet. Destroy the usurpers and free the Earth of their poison!" he shouted as he showed to all of them his sword, crafted from one of the fallen beasts' horns, a true union between technology and the unknown. Hearing their troops roaring his name, made him smile. "Comrades, survive and we will see each other at the celebration!" he then looked at his squire. "Battle formations, now!"

"Prepare battle formations!"

The air was suddenly filled by the sound of thousands of horns as their troops prepared their weapons. They were the elite of humankind. The most capable fighters of all around the world, their disputes set apart until they defeated the true menace of humankind. As he thought about it, an emerald light came from the caves. Their enemy was preparing for battle too as the first beasts started to leave their last fortress.

"Shoot them down!" he ordered as a first wave of missiles impacted against the first round of enemies. Some of them fell to the ground and some others directly exploded, their green blood expanding through the air. In front of them a horde of beasts was already rushing to their position. As he readied his sword, he looked at his squire, which was violently trembling.

"If you want to leave, you are free to do so"

"Never! I´m in the place where I want to be, I have nowhere to go too…" Solon said as he prepared to attack too.

The first of the beasts was opening its jaws to shallow them, but he avoided it in the last moment as he cut through flesh and bone. He didn´t have time to finish him off as one of the creatures attacked him from behind. Its attacker had chosen to fight him mimicking a human body, green eyes and green hair, which infuriated him greatly. The attacks of the beast were powerful, but its strength couldn´t compare to his fury. Parrying one of its attacks he took the chance to slice one of its arms off and as the beast started to agonize, he threw it to the ground.

"Die scum" he said as he crushed its skull and brain with his iron boot. He didn´t have too much time to look at its corpse before the next combatant arrive.

….

Hours had passed since the beginning of the battle and corpses of enemies and allies were scattered around them. Even though they have used one pillar of light after another on its hive, beasts were still leaving the area, its corpses scattered around them.

"Master Thales, there are too many of them, we are getting surrounded" Solon said as he casted a potent spell against one of the beasts, making it explode from the inside.

It was true, unknowingly, the unholy beasts were starting to surround them. If the battle continued like that, they would be annihilated by them. "No, this isn´t going to be my final battle, the future of humankind depends on me" he thought as he killed another winged beast, but the situation was getting worse. If this was going to be their end, he had to make sure to end definitely the threat that was lingering on the entire world to allow humanity the opportunity to retake what they have lost.

"Solon, order to launch Eschaton" he said as he took an opening to approach him.

"Eschaton? It is too powerful it could mean the annihilation of…" he was saying, but he was interrupted as he slapped him.

"If we do nothing, this world is doomed, we are the shield of humanity and this shield is starting to crack. The survivors will understand and forgive us. It is doing it or accepting our fate" he urged him as a monster landed a few meters from them and roared at them. "Give the command, now!" he shouted as he rushed to his new combatant, before they intercepted Solon.

The beast tried to kill him with one of its beams, but he was quickly approaching him. Even though he had sustained several burns across his whole body, his sword arm was still capable of crushing them.

"Why do you resist?" roared the beast as it tried to crush him with its body.

"This isn´t your world, you are trying to usurp it!"

"Your kind is the responsible of its suffering because of the javelins of light!"

"How presumptuous from the creatures responsible of the black waves" he said as he avoided another attack, counterattacking with the brilliant light of his sword. "Only the creatures of darkness fear the light and this will be the place where you will suffer its judgement!"

The beast was about to attack with another beam when a red star appeared in the sky, the moment it appeared on the sky the beast immediately paralyzed. With a roar the beast flew and headed to the crimson star, accompanied by the rest of them. His breath stopped when he saw the number of beasts that were still inside the mountain and how all of them headed to face the new menace.

As the seconds passed, his heart started to beat faster. He felt a bit of regret for sentencing all of his forces to a certain death, but if they could annihilate their enemy with it, then it was worth it. The red star was approaching increasingly faster. The beasts were using all their attacks against it, but their ultimate weapon was made to resist all kind of damage. And then suddenly the sky turned completely red. The cloud of enemies surrounding the red star disintegrated or fell to the ground as the moths that come too close to the light. The light was so brilliant that it was painful to see as it slowly came closer and closer. The hive of their enemy was releasing all their forces but no matter what they did they couldn´t defeat the undying light above them.

"The fury of the Gods is unstoppable" he thought when the ground around him violently trembled, making him fall. When he got up again, he could see how the hive in front of him collapsed, releasing an intense green light which flew directly into the crimson light.

"A fell star raising to the heavens once again" he murmured as green clashed with red, originating a cataclysmic explosion which sent him to the ground once again, before everything around him grew black…

When he opened his eyes, he found himself covered in mist. At first, he was confused until the pain of his body made him come back to his senses.

"A dream from the past, when humankind was still at its apex. We have lost so much since then" he thought. But they weren´t the only ones that were diminished since then. Only shards remained of the Fell star, but they couldn´t allow it to return once again. "Perhaps the answer lies there" he thought before his mind grew dizzier as he closed his eyes once again.

1/5 Guardian Moon

"How much time are you planning to spend sleeping? You idiot"

When he opened his eyes, he was in front of the throne room and above him, he could see Sothis, looking at him extremely angry.

"Sothis, long time no see you"

"That´s the only thing you can say? If we weren´t able to talk it´s all your fault. The moment you abused the divine pulses you isolated me from you, no matter how many times I shouted you weren´t unable to hear my voice. I told you and you dared to defy me"

"My father…"

"Even if he was your father you have to know your limits! Don´t you understand? You could have died there. Sometimes we can´t change the outcome of our future. Sometimes we must endure it because there is no other way left"

"I´m sorry" he knew that he had acted emotionally back them, but he knew that he had abused her trust. "I promise you that I won´t abuse the divine pulses anymore"

"Words can change as fast as the wind. Promise that even if that means the death of one of your students you won´t abuse its power"

Saying the following words proved to be difficult. "I promise, but before it I will do everything I can to avoid such outcome"

"You really are fond of them, don´t you?" Sothis sighed. "I can´t really blame you since they are so cute. Well, friends are supposed to argue from time to time, right? You suffered and I suffered, but there is no point about having resentment about it"

"I´m glad to see you too, Sothis" he smiled.

"You should open your eyes again. I´m sure that there are people worried about your wellbeing"

…

When he opened his eyes, he needed a bit of time before its eyes got used to the clarity.

"So you are finally awaked" greeted him a familiar voice. When his eyes got used to the light, he could see Edelgard sitting next to him, a gentle smile on her voice. He was about to say something when he felt surrounded by two arms, a soft cushion covering his face.

"It´s been a long time since we last met, although I´m glad that Eddie and Linhardt could find you"

"Dorothea, don´t you consider what you are doing highly inappropriate?" asked Edelgard as her face grew redder.

"It´s just normal, it´s been a while since we last met, or perhaps are you jealous?" Dorothea giggled as she released him from her embrace.

"How could I be?" she said, although she took a quick glimpse to Dorothea´s and her own before sighing. "As you can see everyone was worried about you, my Teacher"

"Not me, I was sure that you would get through everything, it would be too troublesome if you didn´t" Linhardt yawned. "I really envy you, Professor. You have spent all these days sleeping while I had to stand this guy over here"

"I have a name, you know!" Caspar shouted. "I´ve heard that you had an incredible battle down there. It´s a pity that I wasn´t invited there. I´ve heard from Linhardt that there was a guy that punched as hard as me!"

"I wasn´t invited either, I just was forced by her" Linhardt said looking at Edelgard. "At least I got a greater insight of the monastery so I guess that I can´t complain about it"

"I´ve heard that there was a monster in the cathedral. Definitely, there isn´t a safe place except for my room. I beg you Professor to leave me at my room until I graduate"

"Come on, Bernie, that would be such a waste of someone as cute as you" Dorothea smiled as Bernadetta shily smiled.

"The Professor is strong so I wasn´t afraid at all. Learning from a warrior like you is the best" Petra smiled.

"Obviously I was worried too. I wish I could have lent a hand, but unfortunately everything happened too fast. However, there was no day I wasn´t thinking about you, Professor" Ferdinand said with a gentle smile on his face.

"I missed that guy too" Sothis whispered, making him smile.

"What a heartwarming scene. It seems that you have been busy lately. How unexpected" a known voice chuckled next to the entrance. It was Hubert, who was still wearing his riding boots.

"He has been running some errands for me at the Empire" Edelgard said, quickly understanding the situation.

"I´m glad to see you too, Hubert" He nodded at him.

"I guess that with everyone reunited it is an opportunity to celebrate!"

"I pass"

"Come on, Linhardt!"

"Oh, it seems that Teach is already awaked, come in! Morning Teach, I brought you something to eat" Claude greeted him as he brought him a few pieces of fruits. He was accompanied by the rest of the Golden Deer students, although Leonie avoided to look at him, as she approached to one of the windows.

"I would have brought you some meat, but Claude insisted on bringing this. You won´t be getting stronger like that" Raphael laughed.

"Don´t worry, Raphael, I appreciate it"

"Thank Goddess for your protection" Marianne whispered.

"I´ve seen the marks of your battle at the cathedral. That must have been an impressive show of force but if you don´t recover your energy you won´t be able to training us again so I made this" Lysithea said as she offered him a bag full of sweets.

"Thank you, Lysithea you are really skillful and your sweets taste delicious"

"That´s because I always do my best" Lysithea proudly smiled. "Ignatz, you need to tie your shoes. I will help you so stay still"

"I can do it on my own" the shy Ignatz muttered, but he couldn´t do anything about it.

"You made me work too much there, Professor, you should treat me more carefully. I´m a frail flower after all"

"When I heard about your disappearance, I searched for you through the entire monastery. Your conversational skills during teatimes had increased dramatically. I don´t wish to brag about it, but…"

"Lorenz, let him rest or you are going to kill him of boredom" Claude laughed.

"Professor! You are finally awaked" Dimitri said as he entered the room, behind him started to enter the Blue Lions students too.

"And here I thought we would have some peace. You are too popular for your own good, my Teacher" Edelgard sighed.

"It is only natural that we worry about him. I told them about our fights in the Abyss"

"Such number of powerful enemies, it is a pity that everything has ended"

"Felix, you surely only think about battling enemies, right? I´m also a warrior, although of a different battlefield"

"Womanizer…"

"That´s harsh"

"He is right, though"

"Don´t side with him, Ingrid! We are all friends, right? Besides, we aren´t here to talk this kind of things"

"As you can see, some things don´t change at all, Professor" Dimitri smiled as he observed the chatting of his students.

"Accept my gratitude for protecting your Highness" Dedue said slightly bowing before him.

"You know that you can just call me Dimitri" he sighed.

"Mercie and I prepared a drink that will certainly booster your recovery. You must try it!" Annette said offering him a drink of a navy-blue color.

Surrounding by all of them he couldn´t avoid feeling extremely happy.

"Thank you, all of you, because of you I´m able to be myself"

"What is this fuss?" Seteth said appearing in front of the room. "Lady Rhea has been clear that visits should be limited in numbers yet everyone is here"

"We kind of found the gate opened, Sir" Claude said.

"That isn´t a proper excuse" Seteth sighed. "I´m glad to see you awaked, Professor, but now it isn´t the time to overspend your energy. You should rest again, before…."

"BYLETHHHH!"

Before he could do anything about it, he was being surrounded by strong arms.

"I´m glad to see you again. After all that has happened. I promise I won´t fail you! From now on you can count on me for everything"

"Alois, if you keep embracing him like that you are going to snap his neck. You are knight of Seiros, behave like one" Seteth sighed.

"What are you saying, dear brother? You were worried about his wellbeing too, right?"

"Flayn! Since when you have been here? And you shouldn´t say such things aloud. He is our benefactor after all, so it was only natural that I felt worried about his wellbeing" he said a bit flustered. "Anyway, you should all evacuate this room, immediately. Don´t worry, your Professor will shortly teach all of you once again"

1/7

"Please mighty creator, let our loyal friend met the light once again besides you" The archbishop said as her voice was accompanied by the chorus of the Church. The stained-glass windows had been quickly replaced, although the floor and some of the columns were a silent witness of what had happened there. Her Professor was next to the likes of Seteth in a place of high honor. Although Jeralt has already been buried, the Archbishop had insisted in having a mass in his honor.

"Feeling pain is only natural in the world we live in, but the Goddess is fair and judges us fairly. Jeralt served the Church with high loyalty and his legacy will remain ad eternum"

"In a place ruled with fairness there shouldn´t be a Church like this" she silently thought as she recited the prayers, the ones she had learnt what appeared to be a lifetime ago. Looking at her surroundings it was easy to realize who were sincerely religious and those who weren´t. Compared to the likes of Marianne and Mercedes she could see people like Lorenz or Sylvain. "Perhaps I´m similar to them, pretending to be something I´m not" she thought, although there was a time she firmly believed in the Goddess. However those times died along with her innocence the moment she was experimented on her flesh and no one came to her aid.

"In times of pain and sorrow allow us to bath in your love, merciful Goddess, creator of all things"

From the distance she wasn´t able to see Byleth´s face, but she was relieved to see him better since the day he opened his eyes again. She hadn´t heard about them since the events at the old chapel, but she was sure that it was a matter of time they would strike again.

"You can go in peace under the Goddess protection" Rhea finally said as the mass finally ended. The moment it ended Hubert silently approached her and gave her a written message. "It seems that the time for vengeance will be earlier than expected, so they want to meet now, uh?" she thought as she left the cathedral behind her.

….

After the mass had ended, he headed to his father´s room. He didn´t have any particular reason, he just wanted to be alone for a bit. As he entered the room, he couldn´t avoid feeling melancholy as he took a look to the armor and shields of the walls.

"It´s only natural to feel sad about it" Sothis said as she observed the room as well. His father´s former room appeared to haven´t been used for days, a small layer of dust already on his desk. As he cleaned its surface his attention was caught by a small book, which appeared to be old. When he looked to the letters written on it, he realized it was his father´s diary.

"How about you give it a look? I have the feeling that he wouldn´t mind. You are his son, after all" Sothis asked as she looked at the cover.

"I can´t believe she is gone. Rhea has told me that she begged her to save the child even if that meant her own death. The child really has her eyes, but he doesn´t smile. Rhea says that I shouldn´t worry, but since when it is normal for a child to be so silent. I don´t know what to do…"

"The baby is still heavily protected, but I was able to sneak into his room. He breaths normally and is alive and I can feel his pulse, yet I can´t hear his heartbeat. I´ve never heard about something like this. What has happened to my child? No matter how many questions I have in my head I can´t get a proper answer"

"I´ve made the decision to leave this place. Despite all these years I find myself now distrusting Rhea. Her, who she was so close to me. The room of my son is heavily guarded. Something must be done…"

"Using last night fire, I´ve decided to fake my own son´s death. Rhea isn´t her usual self. She is even scary, but there is no turning back. I´ve decided to leave this place and return to my old mercenary days. I hope my son gets better as time passes…"

As he finished reading his father´s diary entries, he couldn´t avoid feeling shocked by the revelations. "Am I really human?" he wondered as he touched his chest. "What happened to me twenty-one years ago and why were they keeping a close watch on me?" He had many questions, but he knew that asking them directly wouldn´t grant him any answers, at least according to what his father had said.

"So this is what really happened to you…I wonder if that´s the reason why our fates see intertwined" As Sothis was talking a small ring fell from a hidden cover of the diary. Picking it up her realized it was the ring his father had used to marry her mother.

"How about you keep it? Perhaps one day you will have the opportunity to use it…Someone is coming!"

He had just hidden the ring in his pocket when the door opened again. It was Seteth.

"I´ve had the feeling you were here. I´m sorry for your loss, but I´m relieved to see you standing on your own" Seteth´s tone was the same, but his expression was more sympathetic than usual. "Losing our dear ones is painful. The pain will always remain with you, but that doesn´t mean that continuing living is not worth it. Jeralt´s possessions are yours now. I just came to this place to tell you so" he said as he took a quick glimpse to the diary on the desk.

"Thank you, I will be leaving now" he said as he excused himself and left the room, although he felt Seteth´s eyes from behind. As he decided to head to the surroundings of the monastery, he didn´t notice a particular green-eyed student, hiding behind one of the armors of the aisle.

…

The sky was already turning a crimson red, when he spotted Dimitri, hiding behind a group of bushes.

"Dimitri, what are you…" but he was interrupted by a quick look of him as he silently told him to approach. As he took a place next to him, he was shocked to see what he was observing.

…

"Why isn´t him here?" she asked with a mechanical voice.

"Master Thales has more important duties to attend"

"Uh? So he must really be agonizing" she thought. Even though all the pain they had caused she was at least relieved to know that he was paying the price. "Hopefully he will die a painfully death" she thought. "What a pity, why are you still here, despite the crimes you have committed?" she asked.

"Crimes? Your hands are as red as ours. You will act when we tell you to do so, until then…"

"Solon! Watch out!" Monica cried when a lance came from one of the bushes. Solon was able to avoid it by the skin of his teeth, when she looked at their attackers, she was shocked to see not only Dimitri, but also Byleth.

"Don´t dare to escape!" Dimitri shouted as he approached, but all of them were getting covered in purple mist.

…

"Curse them, they escaped" Dimitri furiously said as he looked at his surroundings.

"Solon, Monica and the Flame Emperor. What are they up to?" he wondered as he felt fury traverse through his veins. They needed to catch them, but they were too slow.

"We will find them, Dimitri, I promise" he said, but Dimitri seemed to be focused on something else entirely as he toyed with a dagger between his hands. "Has something happened?"

"Oh, sorry Professor, not really, I was just thinking to myself" he said as he put the dagger to one of the sides of his armor. "I will be alert from now on, in case I see something I will immediately tell you. The fact that they were so close is unnerving to me"

"You are right, we must keep a close watch from now on. This situation is far from over"

…..

She finally caught her breath when she entered her room. "That was too close" she thought. Being caught off guard she had lost her dagger, but there wasn´t time to lament over it now. "They are definitely up to something now, if we could get rid of them soon … the problem is where and when they plan to make a move" she wondered as she checked a map of the surroundings of the monastery.