This is something I'm sure a lot of people will have wanted to see for a while. Oh, and another minion cameo.
Chapter 28 – Catharsis (Horsebow Moon)
Dorothea let out a short sigh as she watched Bernadetta pick out another stuffy from Anna's shop. This one was a weird-looking turtle with a bright green shell with a white underside, a yellow head and limbs and, weirdly enough, green boots of the same color as its shell. Still, Bernadetta found it cute, so who was Dorothea to argue?
The diva was here with the recluse to take her mind off things. Following the mission at Conand Tower, the students had been tasked with helping to find Flayn, Seteth's little sister, who had gone missing. Seteth was in a terrible state over his sister's disappearance, and he was certain someone had abducted her. Worse, there had been more rumors about mysterious kidnappings in town at night, with all the victims being young women. So far, no witnesses had come forth with concrete proof, so a suspect hadn't been found yet.
Of course, it was the middle of the day, so Dorothea doubted any kidnappers would be around, but it brought back unpleasant memories of Enbarr's streets.
"Thanks a bunch, Bernie," said Anna as she received her payment for the turtle stuffy. "Have a nice day!"
"Thanks so much, Anna!" Bernadetta said cheerfully as she dashed back to Dorothea.
Snapped out of her reverie, Dorothea asked, "So, that one, huh? Kinda funny looking, if you ask me."
"Oh, come on, Dorothea, it's cute! Look at those big eyes and that sturdy shell. I bet nothing would ever ruin this little guy's day."
"Uh huh…"
As the two walked out of Anna's shop, Bernadetta then asked, "Is something wrong?"
"It's just… I really hope Flayn is okay. I'm sure you've heard all of the rumors."
This made Bernadetta quiver in fear, so Dorothea immediately put on a smile to calm the girl down.
"But I'm sure the Knights will find her soon," Dorothea said reassuringly. "Come on, let's get this little guy back to your room."
Bernadetta let out a short giggle as the two made their way down the streets of town. Few of the townsfolk were around, having been scared by the rumors, but there were still enough that the streets were filled with chatter.
But as the two made their way around another corner, Dorothea noticed something.
"Huh, that's odd…" said Dorothea.
"What? What's odd?" asked Bernadetta.
"Is it just me or have we not seen any guards or knights for the past few blocks?"
Bernadetta made a short pause and then said, "N-Now that you mention it…"
Seconds later, a pair of men rounded the corner in front of the two girls some distance away. Dorothea immediately noticed that they both had blades strapped to their belts and were dressed in the same colors.
Then, Bernadetta made a short yelp of terror.
"Bern, what is it?" asked Dorothea.
"I… I recognize those men. They're in service to House Varley."
Dorothea felt a chill down her spine at these words. These men did not appear to be up to anything civil, and their eyes were squarely on the two girls. And with no guards around to witness them, it was all too clear to Dorothea what was going on.
Dorothea grabbed Bernadetta by the wrist and said, "Come on, this way!"
Bernadetta stifled a yelp as Dorothea pulled her in the opposite direction of the approaching men, and the two broke into a run. But just as they were about to reach the end of the block, they saw two more men of similar garbs dash out of hiding. Dorothea immediately turned and the pair dashed around a corner. The singer looked back and saw the men had now started running after them, confirming her fears.
Dorothea looked ahead to watch where she was going and made a loud gasp as two more House Varley goons tried to cut them off. She immediately made another turn as the townsfolk watched the chase in confusion. Dorothea knew she had to try and lose these men.
The pair made several more turns as they ran through the streets, and soon they found themselves back on the same block as Anna's shop. And then Dorothea was forced to skid to a halt as she made another loud gasp in fear. Two more House Varley goons were right in front of them. She whipped around to try and run back, but her heart sank as she saw the other men had caught up to them, and within seconds the pair had been surrounded. And to her dismay, there was no one else around to help them.
Dorothea scowled as she released Bernadetta's arm, allowing the purple-haired girl to cower behind the diva.
"W-W-What are you all doing here?" Bernadetta stammered. "Leave us alone!"
"That, my dear, is out of the question," said a pompous man's sneering voice.
Dorothea and Bernadetta whipped around to a nearby alleyway as a gaunt man strolled out of the shadows. The lean, wiry man was dressed in extravagant Imperial finery that showed his obsession with wealth. His eyes were a light gray, the same color as Bernadetta's, though his hair was jet black, as was his thin curvy mustache. He held a finely crafted crossbow in his right hand, a weapon that was normally disdained in Fódlan.
Dorothea briefly glanced at Bernadetta to see she had a look of absolute horror across her face. It took only a second for Dorothea to realize who the man was.
"F-F-F-Father!" Bernadetta squeaked. "W-W-What are you doing here?"
"Seeing to a family matter, my daughter," sneered Count Varley. "Seize them!"
Dorothea whipped her head around to see four of the House Varley goons rush up to them and, before she could act, two of them grabbed her by her slender arms.
"H-Hey! Let go of me!" Dorothea snapped. "Don't touch me, you– AAAHH!"
One of the men roughly forced Dorothea's left arm behind her back and pressed on it. The singer then made another yelp of pain as the second goon kicked her in the back of her right leg, forcing Dorothea to the ground on her knees. Meanwhile, the other two men had grabbed Bernadetta by the arms and had hoisted her off her feet even as she struggled for dear life, dropping her new stuffy. The men all laughed at seeing the two utterly helpless before them.
Count Varley strolled up to the girls as he said, "You cannot imagine my disappointment in you, Bernadetta. When I heard two weeks ago of how you had begun to associate with the commoners here, I knew I would need to put you in your place."
"W-Wait, what?" Bernadetta said in shock. "H-Have you been s-spying on me?!"
"Indeed, I have, as is my right." Turning to Dorothea, Count Varley then said, "My men told me much about how you have been socializing with this whore."
Count Varley's choice of words brought a look of both shock and rage to Dorothea's face.
"W-What did you just call me?!" Dorothea spat. "Did you just–"
Dorothea was cut off as Count Varley struck her cheek with the back of his hand.
"Be silent, you peasant scum!" Count Varley snapped. Then, turning back to Bernadetta, he said, "I thought the lesson I taught you with that pretty boy would have been enough, but it seems you are in need of a reminder of your place, and theirs!"
"No! Please, Father, don't hurt her!" Bernadetta cried. "Dorothea's been so nice to me! Please! You can't!"
Ignoring her daughter's protests, Count Varley turned to one of his subordinates and said, "I've heard this one is considered a singer. Silence this songbird's voice, permanently."
The subordinate made a loud chuckle as he drew a knife, while one of the men holding Dorothea grabbed her long locks of hair and pulled her head back. Dorothea yelped again as she was forced to expose her neck. Her eyes widened with terror at what was about to happen.
"Y-You won't get away with this!" Dorothea hissed. "When the guards find out, they'll–"
"They will do nothing," interrupted Count Varley. "The bribes I've made will see to that. You will be simply another disappearance to join in with the unscrupulous rumors that seem to be circulating this dreadful town."
"Father, please!" Bernadetta pleaded again. "Do whatever you want to me, but please, don't hurt her! Father, I'm begging you! PLEASE!"
Bernadetta then made a loud cry as Count Varley struck her.
"You will be silent, Bernadetta, as you watch my men punish this whore as she so richly deserves!"
Bernadetta's eyes began to flood with tears as the knife moved ever closer to Dorothea's throat. The knife-bearing goon made a loud chortle as he prepared to cut open the singer's neck.
And as the blade neared her, Dorothea found herself flooded by the same terrible sensation she had felt when she had fallen from Conand Tower: fear. Pure, absolute terror of her impending demise and being powerless to stop it.
Dorothea was about to try and scream when, to everyone's shock, the knife-bearing goon made a loud, frantic series of yelps as a bolt of lightning struck him from behind. As he was electrocuted, the goon's knife fell from his hand, and then he dropped to the ground, twitching violently.
As Count Varley and his men recoiled at what had just happened, a familiar woman's voice shouted, "Hey, skinny!"
Livid, Count Varley spun around as he hissed, "Who dares to–"
Another bolt of lightning flew through the air and struck down a second of Count Varley's men.
"Yeah, I'm talking to you, jerk!" shouted Anna as she held a strange wavy blade, one made from a yellow metal that crackled with electricity. "Tell your goons to get their hands off my customers!"
"A-Anna!" Bernadetta shrieked, terrified that another of her friends had gotten involved.
"You think you can order ME around, you swine?" said Count Varley. "Do you know who I am?!"
"One of the Empire's top five worst nobles. Yeah, I know all about you, Count Varley. And I'm only telling you this one more time: Leave them alone!"
Snarling in absolute fury, Count Varley raised a hand toward Anna and shouted, "Get her!"
As he said this, Dorothea made another painful yelp as the goon holding her to the ground shoved hard, forcing her to the ground before kicking her hard in the side. Dorothea shrieked as she curled her arms around her torso, certain the blow would leave a bruise.
The House Varley goons then drew their swords and rushed toward Anna, though two remained to keep Bernadetta held up. The first goon roared as he made a horizontal swing at Anna, but the merchant surprised him by backflipping over the strike. Upon landing, Anna rushed forward and jabbed the tip of her blade into the man's chest, only enough to pierce the skin. The man let out a long, jolted cry of pain as the blade electrocuted him. A second goon then approached, but Anna swiftly pulled her blade out of the first one's chest and delivered a kick that sent him crashing into the second one.
Snarling, Count Varley shouted, "What are you waiting for? KILL HER!"
Stepping over his fellows, the third goon made a quick swing at Anna, but she parried the blow and riposted, delivering a trio of shallow slashes to the man's chest before following up with a fourth swing that sent him to the ground in a bloody yet still-living heap. The fourth and second goons then attacked simultaneously, forcing Anna to jump back.
As the goons readied another attack, Anna let out a smirk as she said, "Cha-Ching!"
She thrust out her arms as she said this, her left hand with its palm flat against the blade of her sword, channeling Mana into her weapon. Just as the goons were about to reach her, the sword released a surge of lightning that zapped them both, blasting them away as they howled in pain.
But as Anna finished her attack, her smirk vanished as she saw Count Varley aiming his crossbow right at her. Rising to her feet as she clutched her side, Dorothea looked to see Count Varley about to shoot Anna and knew she wouldn't be in time to stop him.
Count Varley let out a loud yelp as, suddenly, the whip-like blade of the Sword of the Creator lashed the crossbow in two.
Anna and Count Varley looked over to see Byleth as she retracted her sword. Seconds later, Jeralt and six members of the Knights of Seiros came out from around the corner.
"Throw down your weapons and let go of the girl," Jeralt said commandingly.
After a moment of uneasy silence, the two remaining House Varley goons slowly set Bernadetta down and held their hands up in surrender as the others groaned in pain on the ground. Bernadetta scurried away as they did.
Count Varley, on the other hand, wasn't so eager to give up. With a loud growl, he broke into a run. But he barely made it two steps before Dorothea's long, curvy leg swept at his ankle and tripped him, sending him crashing to the ground. The count immediately attempted to scramble to his feet, but Dorothea stepped on his back, forcing him back down.
"You know what I hate more than cruel nobles like you?" Dorothea hissed maliciously. "Being called a whore by cruel, dirty, cowardly nobles LIKE YOU!"
As she shouted her last words, Dorothea raised her right leg and, before anyone could protest, stomped down hard on Count Varley's right arm. A loud bone-breaking snap accompanied Count Varley's howl of pain as Dorothea's kick broke the noble's arm. Bernadetta let out a loud squeal of fear as Count Varley continued to cry out in agony.
Taking a deep breath, Dorothea stepped off Count Varley's back, allowing Jeralt and the town guards to haul him and his goons away.
"That… that felt good," Dorothea gasped in satisfaction.
Biting his lip from pain, Count Varley shouted, "You'll pay for this, you whore! I will make you pay! I'll–"
A blow to the head from Jeralt silenced Count Varley, knocking the noble unconscious.
"That's enough out of you, Count," remarked Jeralt.
As Jeralt and Count Varley left their sight, Byleth walked up to Dorothea and asked, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm alright," Dorothea answered. "Thanks to Anna, anyway." Turning to the merchant, she then said, "Where'd you learn to fight like that?"
Strapping her unique sword to her belt, Anna said, "Heh, years and years of traveling, Dorothea." Then, turning to Byleth, she added, "Thanks for the help, By."
"No problem."
Then, the group heard Bernadetta let out a terrified groan. They turned to her as she said, "Oh, this is terrible! Just terrible! I'm done for! Oh, just your luck, Bernie!"
"Bern, you're fine," said Dorothea. "We're all fine. Calm down."
"No, it's not fine! Now if I ever go back home, Father's gonna kill me! AAAHHH, my life is over!"
"Then don't go back!"
To everyone's surprise, Anna said this as she strode up to Bernadetta and placed her hands on the quivering girl's shoulders.
"Don't ever go back to that jerk! You've got friends here who'd be more than happy to look after you, right?"
Bernadetta stopped sobbing for a moment as she looked over at Dorothea and Byleth, both who nodded to Anna's words.
"Bern, we'd be more than happy to let you stay with us," said Dorothea. "You don't have to do anything your father tells you, okay?"
"Yeah, what she said!" added Anna. Anna then released her grip on Bernadetta and turned around as she murmured, "I never did with my parents."
"Anna?" Byleth asked curiously.
"It's nothing. Anyhow, I gotta get the blood off my Levin Sword. See you all later."
With that, Anna went back to her shop, leaving the others puzzled at her words.
That must've been real cathartic for you guys, huh? If only we could kick Count Varley's ass in-game.
If you need a mental image of my version of Count Varley, think of an FE expy of Waluigi, but without any of the likability.
This ended up being longer than I thought it'd be. I'm trying to avoid making super-long chapters so that they can be released in a timely fashion, but this one almost ended up at my self-imposed limit.