I think you're gonna need some tissues for this one. I know I did. *sniff*
Chapter 89 – The Cause of Sorrow, Part 2 (Ethereal Moon)
Edelgard froze up in the moment she saw one of the Demonic Beasts blast Byleth and Dorothea with its fiery breath, sending the two careening to the ground. The two barely had any time to recover before the beast rushed toward Byleth and prepared to crush the teacher in its toothless maw.
"PROFESSOR!" shouted Edelgard.
The Demonic Beast's attack was halted when a javelin pierced into the side of its head. The monster screeched loudly as it shook its head wildly before another javelin struck near the end of its snout.
"Get away from her!" shouted Jeralt as he readied another javelin.
This shout ended up getting the Demonic Beast's attention, for it whirled around and readied another blast of fiery breath to attack the Blade Breaker. Undeterred, Jeralt readied his third javelin and, after taking careful aim, threw it straight and true into the red gemstone on the beast's head, shattering the gem like glass.
The Demonic Beast shrieked as its head lurched back, releasing its fiery breath skyward and nearly hitting Constance, who let out a subdued gasp as she pulled out of the way. The monster immediately slumped over as its body began to crumble, leaving behind the body of another second-year student.
Edelgard let out a sigh of relief upon seeing Byleth and Dorothea were alright.
Dismounting from his horse, Jeralt knelt beside Byleth as he said, "You alright?"
"I… I'm fine," said Byleth as she got to her feet. "Thank you, father."
"Do you think you can keep going? Don't push yourself too hard."
Byleth's response was to tighten her grip on the Sword of the Creator, causing the blade to flare red with power.
"Don't count us out yet," Dorothea said as she got back up.
Jeralt couldn't help but give a smile to his daughter and her star pupil.
…
As Lysithea and Hapi blasted another Demonic Beast with their respective Seraphim spells, Anna had to slide under the beast's tail as it flailed about. Without missing a beat, the redhead continued her run toward the old chapel as the Demonic Beast fell to the ground behind her and withered away. Claude and Petra were quick to follow her, though Ashe had broken off and was now trying to help deal with one of the two that remained.
There was a large hole in the side of the chapel. As Anna reached it and looked inside, her expression darkened at what she saw.
Reaching the merchant, Claude asked, "Anna, is anybody still…?"
Claude's question trailed off as he and Petra looked inside at a scene of carnage. On the floor of the chapel were the bodies of the remaining second-year students, all in various states of dismemberment as their blood soaked the floor. Two of the bodies had been decapitated, one of the girls had been ripped in half vertically, and another boy's body had been mangled so badly it barely looked human.
The sight was enough that Petra fell to her knees as she said, "They are all… gone. Great spirits above…"
Claude knelt next to Petra as the princess of Brigid began sobbing at such a harrowing sight.
Meanwhile, Anna slowly walked into the chapel as the stench of blood engulfed her. Pushing aside her regret at being unable to save the second-year students, her eyes scanned the chapel for any clues as to who might've been responsible.
But as she stepped through the carnage, she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Turning, she recognized the unconscious redhead who was slumped near the entrance to the chapel.
"Monica?" Anna said as she strode over to the unconscious third-year student.
"Wait, what?" Claude asked upon hearing Anna. "What's Monica doing here?"
Anna put a hand to Monica's blood-stained cheek as the girl stirred. Opening her eyes slowly, Monica looked up to see Anna gazing back at her.
"M-Miss Anna…?" moaned Monica.
"Are you alright?" asked Anna.
"I… what happened? I–" Monica gasped loudly as she saw the bloody scene within the chapel. "Oh no… Nononono…! The others! Oh, Goddess, no!"
As Monica began bawling loudly at the traumatic scene, Anna grabbed her shoulder and said, "Monica! Monica, listen to me! What happened here? What were you doing here?"
Fighting to speak through her tears, Monica whimpered, "I-I-I saw the second-years acting all funny, s-s-so I w-went to see what they were doing. W-W-When I got here, there was already one of those things in here and I… I j-just passed out…"
Anna scowled at hearing this. The girl hadn't witnessed whoever was responsible.
…
The remaining two Demonic Beasts had not taken much longer to bring down, but the battle had resulted in several casualties for the Church's soldiers. At least forty were wounded, with about thirty dead. The first-year students had all survived the battle, though several were injured. Ashe had gotten himself knocked out when one of the beasts smashed a wall that collapsed on him. Dedue had to receive multiple bandages for his own injuries, even after Marianne had tried healing him. Felix had gotten himself burned when he had shoved Annette out of the way of a fire blast, and the orange-haired mage was now trying to heal him with her own magic. Hilda had been swatted into a wall and dislocated her arm, which was now in a sling. Constance had been knocked off Syrene and fell onto a tree branch, cracking her collarbone. Finally, Catherine had taken a hit directly to her breastplate, a blow that had nearly caved it inwards and forced Shamir to remove it with her knife. The Crusader was now being assessed for any rib fractures.
As Byleth helped Dorothea with healing Ashe's injuries, she turned to see Anna, Claude and Petra escorting Monica away from the chapel. The merchant soon broke away to look back at the chapel as she raised a hand to her chin and pondered.
Byleth gave a gesture for Dorothea to continue helping Ashe as she got up and walked over to Anna.
"Did you find anything?" asked Byleth.
"Nada…" said Anna. "Not a trace of who could be behind this. But if I had to take a wild guess, I'd say we may be looking at the same people behind what happened in Remire."
"You mean Solon?"
"I can't be certain. But if you think about it, there's a definite connection."
Anna and Byleth then turned to watch as one of the Church soldiers inspected the body of a male second-year student from the Golden Deer.
"The students…" Byleth said in realization.
"Yeah. The third-year semester was all but wiped out at Remire, and now this happens."
Byleth turned to look back at the first-year students as concern overwhelmed her. If the enemy were targeting the students, the first-years would be next.
The notion of it filled the bluette with dread.
The two then heard Claude shout, "Wait, Monica!"
"Leave me alone!" Monica shrieked as she stumbled away from Claude with tear-filled eyes and staggered her way toward Jeralt, who stood in the middle of the battlefield.
Looking at the redheaded heir of the Ochs family, Anna's eyes suddenly widened with realization.
"Wait a second…" said the merchant. "Monica was with the others at Remire…"
"Anna?" asked Byleth.
"Monica said she came here because she was curious when she saw the second-years acting strangely. But after what happened to her at Remire, why would she…"
Now concerned, Byleth turned back toward Monica. The girl had stumbled her way up to Jeralt, whose back was turned to her as he shouted out orders to a pair of Knights. At the same moment, Dorothea, who had finished doing what she could for Ashe, turned to see Monica as well.
Monica suddenly stopped, lowering her arms with her hands pointed to the ground. Her sorrow was instantly replaced by a sinister grin as a strange dagger fell from inside her sleeve and into her right hand.
"JERALT!" Anna screamed, but it was too late.
Byleth's eyes widened in horror as Monica plunged her blade into her father's back, effortlessly piercing his chainmail.
Dorothea looked on in shock as Jeralt let out a painful groan when Monica twisted the knife, slicing into his internal organs.
"Well, well, well…" said Monica in a tone that was completely unlike the girl the others knew. "Dropped your guard for once, did you, Blade Breaker?" Monica ripped the dagger from Jeralt's back as he slumped onto his knees and then said, "Looks like you're just a sad old man after all."
Anna was just about to rush forward at Monica when Byleth, in utter disbelief at what had just happened, stopped the flow of time.
"Why that scheming, wretched, deceitful little…" Sothis said, so angry she could barely finish. "Teach that vile backstabber a lesson she will never forget!"
Jeralt was brought to his feet as Monica's dagger re-entered his back, resulting in her twisting it back through his body. It then exited his back again and returned to her sleeve as she stumbled away from Jeralt.
It was as far as Byleth could go. She hadn't fully recovered all of the Divine Pulse's power and could only manage to go back a few seconds. She couldn't spare a moment, or her father would die.
As time resumed its flow, Byleth spun around toward Monica as she approached Jeralt and Anna said, "Why would she…"
Anna, seeing Byleth whirling around, spun around as well to see Monica approaching Jeralt. The girl stopped behind him, her face contorting into a sadistic grin once more.
The Sword of the Creator left its scabbard as Dorothea saw Monica's dagger fall from her sleeve.
As Anna screamed "JERALT!" once more, Byleth lashed forward at Monica with the Sword of the Creator, intent on piercing the treacherous girl's heart.
In that very instant, a man dressed in black materialized a mere three meters from Monica, in between her and Byleth, and deflected the bluette's attack with a strange ward, the same kind that Solon had used.
As the Sword of the Creator bounced off the ward, Byleth could only watch in horror as Monica again plunged her blade into her father's back.
"Well, well, well…" said Monica once again. "Dropped your guard for once, didn't you, Blade Break… er…?"
The girl's words trailed off when she saw Thales standing next to her. Jeralt slumped forward as the dagger left his back.
"H-Huh?" Monica said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"YOU BITCH!" Anna screamed as she drew her Levin Sword and rushed at Monica and Thales.
Thales immediately responded by raising his right arm, which surged with dark magic, and letting out a shout as he slammed his palm to the ground. This released a massive shockwave of dark magic all around him, one that had no effect on Monica, but sent Anna flying back with a loud scream, as well as knocking away Byleth, Dorothea, and anybody else who had been within a thirty-meter radius of Thales.
As the dust settled, Thales slowly rose and said to Monica, "You must survive. Merely because there is a role that I require you to fulfill."
Thales then masterfully swept himself toward Monica and grabbed the girl with his left arm before turning to Byleth, who had quickly recovered from the shockwave and was now glaring at him and Monica. The others, whose heads rung from Thales' attack, struggled to look back at the dark magus.
Thales then smirked and said loudly, "The Flame Emperor sends his regards."
Then, with a flash of dark power, Thales and Monica vanished as they were warped away.
In that instant, snow began to fall as clouds filled the sky, seemingly out of nowhere.
As Dorothea tried to stand back up, she suddenly heard Byleth shout "FATHER!" in a tone of absolute fright.
Byleth had dropped the Sword of the Creator and now rushed frantically to Jeralt's side.
"Jeralt!" Anna shouted as she too ran over to the Blade Breaker.
"Captain Jeralt!" Leonie cried out in fear as she followed suit.
Dorothea immediately ran over to try and help Byleth as the bluette cradled her father in her arms. She wasted no time in trying to heal Jeralt's wound, but it barely took a second before she realized there was nothing she could do. The dagger had cut through his chainmail like paper and pierced one of his lungs, and Monica had also carved her way through several other of Jeralt's vital organs.
Dorothea looked over at Byleth and saw, to her dismay, that the teacher's expression was one of pure despair. She knew the wound was fatal.
Coughing up blood, Jeralt looked up weakly at Byleth and said, "S-Sorry… It looks like… I'm going to have to leave you now."
"Father! Father, no!" Byleth said in near panic.
"You can't die, Captain Jeralt!" Leonie said as she began bursting into tears.
"Leonie… Sorry I couldn't… teach you more…" wheezed Jeralt.
He then turned his gaze slowly toward Anna, who held his left hand with a look of absolute sorrow.
"Anna…"
"Jeralt, I… I'm sorry…" Anna sobbed. "I w-wanted to… to…"
"It's alright, Anna… I'm–" Jeralt coughed loudly before continuing. "I'm glad y-you were willing to… wait on an old dog like me… Please… look after my girl, would you…?"
"Y-Yes… of course I will…"
Anna couldn't hold back her tears as she brought Jeralt's hand to her face.
But then Jeralt felt another set of tears fall upon his face, and he looked to see they were falling from the blue eyes of his daughter.
"Father, please…" begged Byleth as she desperately tried to reach for the Divine Pulse again, but the power would not answer her.
Jeralt could only smile as he said, "To think that the first time I saw you cry… your tears would be for me. It's sad, and yet… I'm happy for it."
"Father, no! Please, you can't! Please! Father…!"
"Thank you… By… leth…"
Jeralt then closed his eyes for the last time as his final breath left him.
"Father…?" Byleth said in silent disbelief.
Jeralt made no response.
"Father…?!"
Byleth shook Jeralt's body desperately as the others watched with sorrow.
"Father! Father! Wake up! FATHER!"
Byleth again shook Jeralt, but again he did not stir.
"Father…"
Dorothea looked at Byleth as the teacher came to fully realize that Jeralt was dead.
"No… no… nonononono… Father…"
The bluette's body shook for a moment as her eyes filled with despair and sorrow.
And then she lowered her head to her Jeralt's body, her face buried in his chest, as she cried, wailed, and screamed for the loss of her father.
All around them, soldiers, knights and students felt their hearts consumed by loss as they watched Byleth cry out with grief. Her voice, a scream of unbearable sorrow, filled the air and drowned out the sound of the snow as it fell.
And as she knelt next to her teacher, Dorothea could not help but cry as well as Byleth wept for Jeralt Reus Eisner.
This hit right in the feels, didn't it?
I know some people will be ticked off that I stuck with the game canon regarding Jeralt's fate, but I feel Jeralt's death is too important for me to retcon. His death, like in the game, serves as a catalyst for Byleth's development as a character. It leads to her learning to feel sorrow, something she needs to know no matter how much it hurts. Additionally, for the purposes of my story, Jeralt's death was also needed as a factor in Anna's character development. Anna's still got a big role to play in all this, and forcing her to experience such terrible loss is meant to help cement her role in what is to come.
I know you guys may feel like I should've let Jeralt live, but that'd be like retconning Aerith's death from Final Fantasy 7 or Isara's death from Valkyria Chronicles. Having Jeralt survive would've cheapened a lot of character development for Byleth. Losing her father like this is something that helps forge her into the leader she needs to be, no matter how twisted a logic that may sound. And it also teaches her that she cannot rely on the Divine Pulse like it's some kind of get-out-of-jail-free card; it can fail her. As such, she's gotta be more careful, more aware, and so forth.
Now, on a different note, there's one other thing I wanted to touch on: Thales and the Agarthans. One thing I disliked about the Agarthans was that they did not feel legitimately threatening, and outside of their tactical nukes they were an annoyance at best. In my story, I want them to be more of a legitimate threat, both via their schemes and in battle, and not just have them be full of themselves. I already did this with Solon being a necromancer, and now I did it again with Thales using that dark nova (which is far from the limits of his capabilities). Of course, Kronya's also going to get her chance to show off how deadly she is, but you'll have to wait a bit before we get to that.
I've been playing Trials of Mana on PC for a bit now, and all three villainous factions are deadly enough that they can take out both of their rivals if given the chance. That's pretty scary, given your heroes are against all three. I wanted the Agarthans to be similarly threatening, in that the Adrestian Empire could take them out if given the chance, but the Agarthans could take out the Empire too. This would make them much more lethal, and give good reason for why Edelgard chooses cooperation with them rather than making them her enemy outright.
The next few chapters are going to be tough for me to write, but your reviews will help me do the best I can.