Day 23 of the Great Tree Moon
Left foot thirty degrees, swing high, force them back. Advance with a right step and feint your overhead swing, then drive the head forward to knock them off balance. Edelgard had her steps ingrained into her brain, but it didn't account for Santaniel snapping his axe in half… On purpose at least.He raised his right arm and stopped her feint dead in its tracks. A false blade kissed the pale skin of her neck and she stiffened. This was an eerily similar situation to a fight they had back at his home. When she was the Flame Emperor with a mask to hide herself.
Santaniel stared forward into her soul, his eyes had always been studious. He never left a rock unturned with someone's facial features, their soul couldn't hide, their thoughts couldn't hide, nor could their feelings. Even with her untrained eye, she could tell what he was thinking.
She leaned up as he leaned down and they met in the center of the moonlight. Quick and sweet, and the tension left both their bodies. When Santaniel pulled away, she reached for his hand, and this time, he didn't recoil. He didn't pull away. Instead… He smiled. "C'mon, you need some water. You look faint."
"If it's about my blush, you should look at yourself in the mirror." Santaniel smiled sheepishly, "Mm, touchè Princess." Santaniel pulled her back in, and they wandered into the shadows of the training grounds.
--
Day 24 of the Great Tree Moon
"Morning." Santaniel mumbled something in response, some type of greeting. "Hangover..?" Santaniel sat up, dark rings around his eyes, the frill of his jacket up, "Nah. Stayed up late training. Passed out in the training grounds on a bench and woke up when the sun rose."
"Ah, need some water?" Santaniel nodded, stretching his arms above his head, then cracking his back with an audible pop. "Yeah, I'll get it though. I'll get us some coffee and we can head to our war meeting, wanna get that over with." Felix nodded and strode over to the ration line. Smelled like eggs and sausage, Bernadetta would have been here already.
She was probably in her room now enjoying some type of sweet. "Sir? Your rations are getting cold." Felix apologized quickly, grabbing both trays and efficiently attempted to get over to their table. Until he caught wind of Dorothea teasing Edelgard about… Something. He listened a bit more, "...You could have worn something a little less obvious! You look like you're dressed for Winter. So who was it with-"
"Felix, mate, food went cold. Give it to me." The half breed took the trays and summoned two small flames, putting the metal plates on one hand each. "You ok?"
"Yeah, you said you were at the training grounds last night where you fell asleep right?" Santaniel nodded as he set the plates down, "Yeah. Me and Raph worked on legs and after he left I worked on my chest and arms."
"Ok, since when do you workout with your jacket?" Santaniel raised an eyebrow, "I normally do when we're here, I just don't wear it during duals. Don't want it ripped, y'know?" Maybe he was overthinking this.
"SANTI!" The half breed perked his eyebrow over at Dorothea, who was about to be strangled by Edelgard. Not a good look for royalty. "Uh..? Yes? Do you need something Dori?"
"You guys-" Edelgard's hand shot out faster than he could see, and Dorothea became a mumbling mess. "I'm just going to pretend that didn't happen, and then eat my breakfast. See you two at the war meeting."
Felix immediately nudged the half breed at the table once their breakfast was reheated. "Yes?" Felix nodded back at the two women behind them, one seeming to go clinically insane. "Me and Edelgard fell asleep at the training grounds together-" Dorothea rushed over and pulled down the frill of his jacket and exposed three purple marks on the right side of his neck, at least that Felix could see.
"Y'all didn't see anything. Got it?" The venom seeping into his voice rivaled the basilisk from the school year. "Got it."
"Hehe, you two owe me dessert-" Santaniel flashed a glare at her and she immediately shut it down, "Good. Like I said, see you at the war meeting later. Otherwise I'm letting everyone know about Dorothea's damn screaming with Petra at midnight and Felix's daily 'tea time' with Bernie. She is loud, man."
"You play dirty."
"You started it."
--
"Ok, everyone here?" Santaniel scanned the room and nodded, "Yeah. Believe so, uh, only Hephaestus isn't here. He had a stomach ache though, so I'll take some notes for him."
"Alright. Thank you Santaniel, now, we have to talk about our march on Talitean. Xavien and Felix, I believe you two have discussed the terrain and have devised a plan for an ambush?" Xavien stood and cleared his throat, "Yes, we have. We believe if we launch an attack from our left, we can bash through their defensive lines. If we split them like so, and then we can surround and devour the Kingdom army in bite-sized pieces."
"I believe Ingrid and Dedue will be in the forefront and Ashe and Sylvain behind the boar to protect him. We can take out all four guards and attack him all at once, the key is to prevent us from simply trickling in. We believe that Rhea may try and ambush us from this forest, but other than that, we believe we have a full advantage."
Hubert nodded approvingly, and Santaniel leaned forward, his elbows touching his knees. "I think I should be the one to fight Dedue. I'm the only one who can simultaneously avoid and take a hit from him, while also being able to cut his armor like butter. I have my magic too."
Arti eyed him from the left, but kept silent. "Me and Bernadetta will silently take out Ashe. He's the only one I have no attachment to, I hate to say it, but I may hesitate with the others." Bernadetta scooted back in her chair a marginal amount, Santaniel could tell she was uncomfortable with the idea.
"I'll kill the red head kid, have a bounty on his ass anyways. He always pissed me off at the Academy too with his sleeping around." Xavien had a smug look on his face, already thinking of the reward. "Take Arti with you, I trust you, but the 'kid' has a Relic... Maybe Raphael too. Mari, do you mind if Arti borrows Blutgang?" The blue haired woman shook her head, "Not at all. I'll be sitting in the backline healing anyway."
"That leaves Ingrid and Dimitri, along with possibly Rhea herself. Edelgard, I have the most faith in you to take on Dimitri one on one. Byleth, Lysithea, I think you should take on Rhea if she shows. You two work so well together it may be effortless." Both nodded grimly, but Edelgard seemed hesitant. "El, you won't face him alone for long. Wear him down before we crush him. That leaves Ingrid however, and she's very talented in the air."
A severely drunk Hephaestus walked through the door and yawned loudly, "I'll take a bitch out of the air. Hubert and Ferdinand are helping though." Santaniel groaned into his hands and Dorothea snickered nearby. "Alright, the meeting is adjourned. I wish you all luck in preparing yourselves."
Santaniel sighed and stood, "Remember, send 'em to hell, and fight like hell."
--
Day 29 of the Great Tree Moon
Bottom Left Ambush
The rhythm of rain never soothed his nerves. The Holy Twins hung from his hip, and the thick armor weighed him down. He had been given control of three battalions, and two commanders. Lorenz trotted up to him on a horse, both wearing the heaviest armor the former Alliance could supply him, "Captain Blessing! We have eyes on the enemy! They're coming from twelve sharp, shall we engage?"
"No. We wait until I give the signal, prepare yourselves! This won't be our final battle, but they shall meet their ends! We fight for the Empire, but more importantly…"
"THE FUTURE!"
--
Bottom Right, Main Forces
Edelgard sighed as her troops stood at the ready, "Are we ready, My Teacher?" Byleth silently nodded in his old mercenary attire, his face grim as he undoubtedly remembered each student from the Blue Lions in nothing but good light. However, there could be no hesitation today.
"Hubert, prepare yourself and Hephaestus for when Ingrid leads her charges. I want you to take those pegasi out of the sky no matter what. Have your archers primed to fire no matter what."
"As you wish, your majesty." Aymr glew hungrily on her back, her muscles tensing as the grumbling of horse hoofs grew in the distance. Lysithea prodded her side, whispering into her ear, "Santaniel told me to give you a message. He wants you to shoot a Fire into the air if you need help, no matter what state he's in, he'll assist you."
"I'll make sure to thank him." Lysithea sighed, "I'll try my best to keep the Professor safe. Good luck Edelgard."
"You too, Lysithea." She reached out and ruffled her hair, "We'll make it out, together."
--
Top Left
Arti stretched out on his demonic hawk, he had named him Stali, but was more so worried about how he'd react in a fight. This was his first fight under Arti's control, so long as he didn't buck the mage, they'd be fine. Blutgang hummed on his back, no doubt frothing at its hypothetical mouth for blood.
"Hey Arti, wanna make a bet?" Arti sighed, "Sure. What ya got?" Xavien smiled down at him from his tree, "We kill Sylvain before Santaniel does Dedue in."
"I'll take that bet. Five hundred?"
"Deal."
--
Main Forces
"Your Majesty, we are ready." Edelgard breathed deep, then began the speech she had rehearsed thousands upon thousands of times. "We charge into battle with a singular goal in mind. That is to win. We push with every last inch of our body until they falter and we walk our path."
She turned to face her army, "We fight for Adrestia, we fight for our history, we fight for our future! Give yourself to the fight and witness the Empire crush those who stand in the way of our progress! Now, charge!"
Thunderous footsteps approached and left like a stampede. 'Some of you will meet your death. Some of you shall spill more blood than you agreed to. But all of you shall be remembered as heroes. Now we shall go forth, and fight for not only our lives, but the ones behind. Good luck my friends.'
--
Bottom Left
"Captain, our forces are engaging. The battalions are ready at your command." Santaniel tossed Sturmrufer from hand to hand, the metal heating in his hand. "Charge." Lorenz led the units into battle as he stayed behind, his eyes locked on one man in particular. "I'm sorry my friend. I do what I must." He tapped the end of Sturmrufer into the ground and the ball of flame fell from the sky.
"You all die in vain…" Once the flaring orb hit the ground, he started his descent to the battle field. His wings opened and the wind picked up, "Good luck." He tucked into a dive with Leistrung at the ready, he flew past his troops and slammed into a poor man with his spiked boots. He stomped once and the squirming stopped, and the massacre began.
"Santaniel?" Leistrung slammed into Dedue and sent the man flying with the blade embedded deep into his armor, just a dent though. "If you wish to live, lay down your weapons. Otherwise you die here in vain." Nobody stood down, instead readying their weapons. "Then you might as well be out of the way."
Blood spilled like an ocean, one after the other they came forth and were slain like mere beasts. As his troops slammed against theirs, there was a shift in the battle, just one man had taken on one of their highest ranking battalions like they were nothing.
Then tragedy struck, Dedue got back up and made his presence known. He swung his Devil's Axe for Santaniel's head and ducked at just the last moment. Lorenz slammed into Dedue on his horse, but was promptly grabbed by the throat and slammed to the ground. Santaniel turned his head as Lorenz lost his, his stomach turning at the sight. "FOR HIS MAJESTY!"
Santaniel lurched as Dedue's gauntlet cracked a rib, he landed on his feet and the Holy Twins came off his hip. He looked up, a grin on his face, "Sorry man, but my path is clear. It's straight over the Kingdom."
"I apologize Santaniel, but you won't get by me." Santaniel ducked a swing and drove his left Holy Twin into Dedue's chest. "When did I say I'd go by?" Leistrung fell loose and the half breed scooped it up, "I said… IT'S THROUGH YOU!" His Crest of Ernest burned to life and he swung down in an arc, "SHATTER!" Dedue's arm came off, then a leg. The man fell to the ground without a sound. His blood pooled in the mud as the rest of his comrades fell as well.
With a final salute, Santaniel turned his back on the man. It was nearly his final mistake.
--
Top Left
Xavien groaned as Sylvain's troops lagged behind. The man must've either not been paying attention, or was purposefully waiting for ambushes. Either way, he was dying here today. Na 'Apala clinked together as he struck them against each other, "C'mon… I need to get him out of the way."
"Are you that dead set on winning a bet?" Xavien shook his head, "Goddess no. I wanna live rather than be right, but I also need this bounty by today." They both watched as Meteor crushed a chunk of the Kingdom Army, "Guess Santaniel will do him in first." Xavien sighed and kept sharpening the venin daggers, "Fuck it. Let's engage. The main forces are engaging, he's so far behind that we'll crush them.
"Alright. Units! At arms! We will take the Gautier house off the maps today, now CHARGE!" Their units came rumbling from the foliage and into the fray, their war cries startling the enemy forces. Xavien grabbed onto Stali's leg and Arti had him take off. In just a few moments, it sounded like cannons going off.
Their flight was short lived. Stali was taken out of the air swiftly, cannon fire breaking bones and cleanly taking his head off. "Arti?! What now?!"
"Tuck into a ball!" Xavien rolled up and met the earth with a hard thud, his chest hurt, but he didn't break anything. "Arti? Ya good?" The mage next to him nodded, "Yes. I'll summon Abraxa-" The boney staff of a Relic slammed into Arti's skull. Xavien rolled and scrambled to a fighting stance about as quickly as he could. He ducked a swipe and caught a kick from a familiar red headed whore. "Damn asshole."
"Hi Javier. You know, I'm happy Artimist was the first one I could knock out. I'll be having some fun with her after we win this." Xavien hadn't reacted so violently since some asshole tried to kidnap Santaniel. A dagger wound up in Sylvain's sternum and Xavien palmed his forehead violently. He had to have given the punk whiplash.
"Don't you dare speak about him in that manner." Xavien's ears perked and he lurched to the left as a man swung a sword at his neck. A woman with gauntlets had her throat slit along with a man getting his neck snapped from a kick. "You can only last so long Javier."
"Don't fucking call him that!" A blonde giant had appeared behind Sylvain with a war hammer primed to strike. Lightning flashed as he was slammed into the mud like a stake, his head busted entirely open. Dead as Arti's birth name.
--
Bottom Right
Hephaestus yawned atop his beast, he wasn't worried. The Kingdom was always feared up close, but they were nothing from afar. They didn't even bring anyone from the school of magic, they were begging to get bombarded. Pegasi soared in the sky, and Hephaestus was about to roast them all.
"Hephaestus, please at least look ready."
"Who said I wasn't?" A blinding white blur rocketed past him and as he put his hand to his cheek, he pulled it away and stared at the crimson staining his hand. Hephaestus stood on his beast's back, the Scythe of Sariel in one hand, his Relic on his back. "Keep your eyes to the sky and yell if you see them, Hubert."
"I do not take orders from you, Von Trinity."
"Eh, you might as well be useful at least." An orange light came rocketing toward him, and he caught the spear in the curved blade of his scythe. He threw down as hard as he could and pinned the Galatea heir to the ground. "Hey Hubert?"
"Yes?" Hephaestus tapped his beast's head, and it stepped slightly to the left. There was a faint scream, then nothing. "I'm going to go get a drink, go ahead and assist Edelgard. If the other's win as smoothly as this, we will have no issues."
A booming roar shook the plains.
--
Bottom Left
Santaniel never knew what it was like to fly sideways. He knew now. Unfortunately it was straight into the ground via a grotesque beast formerly known as his friend. Santaniel sat up slowly, his armor falling apart at the seams. It was meant to do that when he transformed, not when he took such a blunt force to ribs.
"Ok… I'm just gonna give myself permission to transform. Just this one-" Santaniel touched his neck and his eyes became the size of dinner plates. "Ah shit."
"Captain! What should we do?" Santaniel looked up at the colossal beast, his breath was catching in his chest. He couldn't breathe. Now was not the time for a panic attack. "Ok, find my amulet. Now. Have the rest of the troops retreat, am I understood?"
"Y-yes sir! Everyone! Fall back!" His men fled without a second thought. Good. Lurching to the side, he avoided a monsterous hand, throwing his axe towards the eye. He pulled it back after it connected with the exposed organ and he flicked the sapphire blood off the blade.
"Find it yet lieutenant?" He turned around and gagged. His last soldier had been reduced to a stain on the soil, in a last ditch attempt, he had tossed the amulet just a few feet away. Santaniel grinned, he had to bear it. "Fine then you scaly monstrosity. Let's fuckin' tango."
Been a while since he summoned thorns. The tendrils shot forward and wrapped themselves around the thick arms of the beast. It wasn't Dedue. Dedue died when he swallowed that Crest shard. The monster screamed in pain, he had felt that pain after he transformed for the first time too.
Wings sprouted from his back and talons replaced his hand; soon, he was nearly ten feet taller than the beast. With a paralyzing glare, it tried to wrend flesh from Santaniel's arms. It succeeded. The half breed sneared, gale winds picking up around them, and talons locked in place.
With an updraft, Santaniel managed to pick the ugly thing up, and with a last gaze at the bleeding face… He dove to the earth. When he landed, cheers went up around him, and with his final breath as a dragon, he let out a loud victorious roar.
As he shrunk back down, he gathered his weapons. Then, promptly laid down in the mud. You know, like all war veterans do after dispatching a monstrosity. His left arm ached and bled from where it tore at him, his chest wasn't much prettier. He closed his eyes and wondered why it was suddenly brighter.
'Wait… Fire…? Fire.'
--
Main Forces
"There you are, Edelgard. Have you come to finally be relieved of your wicked skull?" Edelgard sighed, the man in front of her wasn't right in the head. Though, she wasn't all there too. "You are blind to what has gone beneath your nose the entire time. Had you been open to simply speaking to me, you may have had the wool pulled from your eyes instead of over them."
"Silence!" Dimitri brandished his Relic and pointed the lance's sharpened tip towards her neck. "I'll hang your head from the gates of Enbarr!" He rushed her, and she got her Umbral shield up to make the blow glancing. She swiped a wide arc with Aymr, missing Dimitri by a margin when he followed up with a jab that cut through her armor.
It nicked her, but nothing fatal. Dimitri began his assault again, opening two wide gashes in her plated armor. She shoved him back with her shield, then drove Aymr into his stomach, throwing him across the stoney plateau. She sprinted to catch him and follow up, but he was already up and launching his counter.
She tried to stop, but Dimitri took advantage of her momentum on the slick surface. With a low swing, he cut deep into her upper leg. She screamed and collapsed to her other knee, Dimitri kicking her square in the chest, then placed his boot on her throat. "Goodbye, El."
As the world darkened, she looked to the sky and fired a single orb of Fire. It made Dimitri wince away, just for a moment, and it bursted mid air. It lit up the sky. 'Please…'
Dimitri returned and scoffed, "A pitiful, weak attempt. I commend your effort El, but this is the end."
"Don't speak… Until you've absolutely won." A gale wind picked up and a half breed Nabatean slammed into the King.
--
Meanwhile...
"Hello… Professor. You truly were a disappointment. Though I guess you did take after your mother." Byleth ground his teeth and wielded the Sword of the Creator, dawning the Fretters of Dromi he had borrowed from Yuri. Lysithea at his back with Thyrus humming with energy.
"I see you still have that experiment latching to you like a leech. No matter. I'll just rip your Crest from your chest like Nemesis did to my mother so long ago." She brandished a strange sword, a rigid blade gleaming with a silver light. She advanced on the two, Lysithea throwing Miasma from behind him.
Rhea cut through them like paper, they split and flew past her, blowing up as they impacted the ground. "You'll need more than that pitiful display, child."
Byleth advanced and felt his arm grow in tension as the Fretters gripped his forearms. He felt lighter, faster… He felt dangerous. He slammed his blade against her's, the Crest of Flames bursting to life in front of him. He dipped low and drove his shoulder into her stomach, he borrowed that from Santaniel.
"Byleth! Use Bolganone!" The mint haired man lunged back and felt his hands come to a broil. "Bolganone!"
"Hades!" Rhea flew from her feet, and disappeared into a purple wisp. "Are you ok Byleth?"
"That's the first time you called me by my name." Lysithea blushed and pushed a rock around with her foot, suddenly becoming very interested in it. "Yes, I suppose it was." She couldn't stop the smile from leaking into her voice. Byleth finally decided on his feelings for his… Friend?
--
The King and the Beast tumbled down the steps and to the muddy expanse of land below the shrine. "Why do you fight the Church, Santaniel? Rhea is your family! You belong with her, Seteth, Flayn!"
The half breed shrugged his jacket off and tossed it to the ground. "My words will bounce off that thick skull just like at the academy. They aren't my family, Dimitri. My family is my brothers and my former classmates, you were once a part of that."
Santaniel brandished his axes, and beckoned Dimitri toward him. "Though, I guess families break just as easily as your head did the day of the tragedy. Bring it on."
"I guess Rhea was right. You are nothing more than a beast." He wouldn't stand for this. Santaniel railed into Dimitri, shoulder first, he followed through and slammed him into the dirt. Dimitri kicked him off and Santaniel scrambled to his feet. 'I'm still feeding off adrenaline. I can keep rolling. Nine weeks.'
He ducked as Arendbhar nearly took his head off. He wrapped his silver hand around the lance and sent as large a shock through it as he could. Dimitri recoiled, but hung on and smacked Santaniel upside the head with the flat side.
The half breed stumbled, and his breath caught in his chest. His legs slackened as he held on to the pole of the Relic impaling him. His vision went blurry and his left arm felt weakened beyond belief. "Lay to rest Santaniel. May I see you in the afterlife."
"I… Refuse…" He ground his teeth together, and took every last store of adrenaline left in the Twins. "You did get one thing right Dimitri, I am a beast. One that fights its hardest with life on the line!" With his silver arm, he reached behind and gripped the blade, and snapped it off the pole. He slid forward and slashed across Dimtri's eyes, bringing forth a crimson tide that blinded them both.
Santaniel laid there. He didn't kill him, but he didn't need to… He just had to rest now. No matter what, he sure as hell had no regrets left. Not after this month.
