knowlee- Finally completed this chapter! :D

*collapses*

I planned on getting this done much earlier, but unfortunately got caught up with other things that prevented me from giving this my full attention. I tend to have a fairly busy life with work and stuff that most of the time I spend it sleeping, or eating and writing. So yeah, I had to have a break somewhere in there.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the update! And now I'm off to go to sleep and work out the other half of this outline for this story when I get time for it. I have like 85% of it figured out, but the parts I'm iffy on is when Edelgard and Dimitri enter the scene. Since I have yet to play their routes, I'm going to watch let's plays so that I can make sure I make their characterizations and stories as accurate as possible. Course they won't come in for a while, but still I want to be prepared. :)

A Fire Emblem Three Houses Fanfiction

Drifting Souls

Chapter 2: Chopping Block

By: Knowlee Raven

Claude barely caught himself as he was practically thrown into an empty room located on the second floor of the main building of the monastery. While he had thought he would come back to this place one day, he never would've imagined it would be in this manner.

He turned to look back at the man who had escorted him here. The man's green hair and eyes brought back memories of his academy days. Ah, Seteth, the guy who was the bane of his late teenage years. While yes, he understood the man had a job to do in keeping things in order as part of being the academy administrator, he also found that the man had no funny bone in his entire body. Regardless of what he did back when he attended, the man would watch him like a hawk.

Due to this, he always tended to catch wind of nearly all of the schemes he would think up and put an end to most of them before he had a chance to put them into action. Seteth never found out about all his ideas however. Claude had to force down a smirk before it could form. That certainly wouldn't look good for him in his current predicament.

"If that's how you treat an alumni of this school, I'd hate to know how you treat those attending." He joked to try and liven up the situation. The scowl on Seteth's face didn't waver an inch. He inwardly sighed. The man definitely hadn't changed since he last saw him.

"As an alumni, you should know better than to go into places where you're not meant to be." That he couldn't deny, but Claude knew he could rework that to fit his narrative.

"For all you know, I could've followed those bandits who made their way into the tomb to try and stop them from ransacking the place."

The glare still didn't budge. "Perhaps… Yet you still awoke the sacred Blade, which in itself is blasphemous."

That, Claude didn't have an adequate response to give. Or at least not one that would let Seteth give him some leeway. Still, he didn't want to let the statement go unanswered. "That wasn't my intention. I assumed she was just a woman who needed help. I didn't think she was a Blade."

Seteth continued his long stare, not even flinching once. It was moments like these that made Claude question whether this guy was even human. "Regardless of your excuses, it will be up to the Archbishop to decide your fate."

And with that said, the man turned on his heel, and walked out of the room, the guards locking it securely behind him.

Claude sighed and ran a hand through his hair, gripping it slightly in frustration. Why did this have to happen? Maybe he should've just ignored those bandits and continued to nap away. But no, he had to give in to his curiosity and get himself into this mess.

He groaned as he took a look about the room and its sparse contents. His mouth formed a frown as he realized that there was nothing here that he could use to get out. It looked like he was stuck here. He sighed again as he lowered himself to the ground to sit and wait until said Archbishop would arrive to see him.

Although he knew that he wished he wasn't in this situation, he also knew that he wouldn't have changed it. Especially since he knew that that woman was there. Blade or not, he couldn't let those men get their hands on her. She didn't deserve to be wielded by them.

That thought led to the main problem he had with this whole scenario. How could he even wield her? By all accounts, he wasn't even supposed to resonate with her. Logically, the only Blade he should've been able to wield was Failnaught, the Blade given to the House of Riegan by the Goddess. It would only resonate with those with the Riegan crest, which he possessed through his mother's blood and it would be through his mother that he would inherit the Crest Stone for that Blade. But that wouldn't be, he hoped, until years from now.

The other thing that bothered him, was how the woman didn't even look like a Blade. Typically they were supposed to having glowing lights on their bodies as well as their Crest Stone glowing red on their chests. Hers wasn't visible. Unless perhaps it was hidden underneath that golden broach she wore. And if that were the case, then that could explain why he couldn't see the glowing marks either. Her armor could be hiding those too. He wouldn't know for sure until he asked her, but even so that would be an iffy subject to ask. Regardless of her status as a Blade, she was a woman too. And that was simply something you didn't just ask them. Or anyone, really.

Plus there was comment she made towards him when he asked about her connection to the Sword of the Creator. She didn't even know what a Blade was. Let alone that she was one. How was that even possible?

He ran both of his hands through his hair as the thoughts continued to swarm in his head. He had so many questions he needed to ask her, but…

Claude's eyes glanced up at the door as he felt the dread he experienced earlier when they were caught in the Holy Tomb course through him again.

He had a feeling that he might not get that chance.

Byleth chanced a glance at the green-haired regal woman walking in front of her and the guards as they continued to walk through this strange building. The look on her face was expressionless as she tried to make sense of what was going on.

First, she was awoken by a man whom she had never met before inside of a place she had never seen before. Then, a strange voice in her head explained to her how to fight against some people who were threatening to do her and the man harm and made her utilize powers she had never seen before to help fight them and heal the man who saved her from his wounds. That led to the man summoning a powerful sword that she felt she had a strange connection to and using it to fend off the last of the bandits that had attacked them. He had even attempted to question her on that connection, to which she had no answer.

She turned her attention away from the woman and stared blankly ahead. And now, she and the man had been separated from each other and their weapons, his bow and quiver and the sword that she felt was somehow hers although he wielded it, confiscated. She tried to catch sight of where he was being taken, but the woman who was walking in front of her prevented her from going forward with that plan.

Byleth breathed out slowly. All of this confusion made her head spin and she felt as if she should be terrified of what was going on around her since she had no idea where she was nor did she have any knowledge of who these people were. But she wasn't. Instead she was calm, a bit frustrated at her lack of answers, but overall she was calm. It was like she was control of the situation, even though she knew for a fact, she clearly wasn't. Maybe it was due to this lack of knowledge that made her feel this way. Either way, it just added to the list of questions she was making up in her head.

A few moments later, the group stopped in front of a door. The woman in front directed a guard to open it for her and she walked inside. Another guard standing next to her motioned her to follow. Byleth hesitated for a moment before she decided to listen. It wasn't like she had another choice.

Once she was a few feet in the room, the door was shut behind her, leaving her alone with the regal woman. She glanced back at the door once before turning her gaze back to her. She didn't like being left alone in a closed room with someone who had practically forced her here against her will. At least the man who helped her before didn't force her to do anything. In fact, it was him he forced himself to help her, when he probably didn't want to in the first place.

Oh well, if she did try anything at least she had her ability to conjure fire in her arsenal. That would allow her to fend her off at least.

She heard the woman take in deep breath before turning to face her. She gave her a small smile. Byleth felt as if she was hoping that it would make her feel safe and assured, but it was, in fact, doing the exact opposite. "Do… do you remember me?"

A look of confusion briefly broke through Byleth's blank expression. Remember her? Why would she remember her? Where was she going with this? She decided not to respond. Instead she returned her face back to the blank stare she had just a few moments before. "..."

A frown formed on the woman's face. "I see..." Byleth watched as she clenched her hands together and turned her line of sight away from her to look down at the floor. She took in another deep breath before striding around Byleth towards the door, which she knocked on to the let the guards know to let her out. Before she completely left her alone, she spoke once more. This time with a statement than a question. "I'm sorry if that man was doing you any harm. I promise you that he won't bother you anymore."

She exited the room and the door closed before Byleth could get a word out, the door latched shut behind her. She was locked in.

Now she was concerned. What was going to happen to the man? As far as she knew he had done nothing wrong and he definitely didn't hurt her. So why were they punishing him?

'I am not sure why either, but I do know that you do not need to get separated from him for too long. He is our Wielder after all.'

Byleth whirled around, searching for the voice. She knew she was alone in this room, so how could she hear someone in here? It took her a moment, but soon she recognized it as the one she heard back when the bandits were attacking them. Just who did this voice belong to? Why did she feel as if she already knew the answer to that question?

'Well, that is certainly rude! How dare you treat me with such disrespect? Honestly!'

Byleth still couldn't see who it was that was speaking until she turned back around to the door to see a young child, the same one she saw in her dream, floating there in front of the door. She nearly jumped out of her skin. How did she get in here?

The girl gave her a glare, and rolled her eyes at her obliviousness. 'No one else can see me, but you.' She sighed. 'Well, it is fine. Apparently, based on your reactions to previous events that have happened today, you have no clue as to what is going on, do you?'

Although Byleth was still in shock at her being before her, she managed to shake her head in response. The girl giggled and clapped her hands together as she looked at her in glee. 'Well, then. I guess it's up to me to guide you from now on. Right? You can call me Sothis… but I'm also known as "The Beginning".'

Sothis? She had never heard that name before, but somehow it felt familiar. Like she knew it from somewhere before. But where? She growled in frustration. She was going to get a headache from all these questions swirling in her head. Before she could pursue the thought any further, she heard the girl speak again. 'Hmm… Sothis… Yes, that is it. My name is Sothis. And I am also called… The Beginning. But who once called me that?'

Seems like she wasn't the only one having problems with her memories. That made her feel slightly better about her own situation. "Sothis?"

The girl nodded. 'I was not able to recall my name… until just now. And just like that, it came to me. How odd.'

Odd, indeed. Now, if only her memory would work that way...

Byleth wasn't quite sure to make of this girl floating before her. Hell, she didn't know what to make of this entire mess. It was already bad enough that she didn't know anything about anything, but now she had the girl she only saw in her dreams before now, seeming to exist.

And to top it all off, the woman that had led her here had implied that they knew each other before and seemed disappointed when she didn't respond positively. She clenched her hands together in frustration. Sure, she didn't show it before, but this was ridiculous! If this was someone's idea of a joke, it wasn't a funny one. When, or if, she thought grimly, she got out of here, she was going to demand some answers. She didn't know much, but she definitely knew that she didn't like to run into things blindly.

Her emotions seemed to carry over to the girl, cause her confused look changed into a glare. 'That look upon your face… Did you think me a child? A mere child who forgot her own name?!'

Byleth quickly shook her head. "No! I'm... just confused… and maybe a bit frustrated." She sighed as she unclenched her hands. "Like you, I can't… I can't remember anything. I want to know what's going on, but… I don't even know where to begin..."

The girl's face softened. 'I see.' She sighed as she began to try and figure out how she should word her next statement. 'Perhaps then, we should start over. I may not be able to answer all of your questions since, like you, I am unaware of certain things. But… in regards to our status as a Blade, I should be able to respond to those.'

There was that word again. Both the man and the gir- Sothis called her this. Why? "Blade? What is that supposed to be?"

Byleth could tell that Sothis was trying to keep her irritation off her face. It seemed like that was her usual go to emotion. She heard her sigh before she began to speak. 'A Blade is a physical manifestation of our Crest Stone. They have a weapon given to them, the Sword of the Creator in your case, upon their birth when they resonate with a person who bears the same Crest on their stone. That person becomes their Wielder and is able to share their energy and power with them and the same goes for the Wielder to the Blade. The Blade also has elemental magic they can use to help protect their Wielder on their own or in tandem with their partner.'

Sothis kicked her legs back and forth throughout this explanation. 'There is some more to it, but that is the gist of what a Blade is. We are a Blade and that man who you were separated from is our Wielder.'

That helped put some pieces of the puzzle together, but Byleth was still confused. "What did you mean by the Blade being born? Was that being asleep and then waking up?" She wasn't born when she resonated with him, was she? She didn't know why, but it felt as if this piece was a part of a bigger puzzle. And it was one that she was determined to get to complete.

'Hmm…' Sothis brought her hand up to her face in thought. 'No, well, yes, maybe.' She grumbled as she lowered her hand back down to her side. 'You are technically asleep, but not in the traditional sense. You are asleep in your Crest Stone until the time comes for you to awaken by resonating.'

Byleth furrowed her eyebrows together. Asleep in your Crest Stone? But she was asleep on a throne? And she didn't resonate with him until she was prompted to by the voice (Sothis' voice?) telling her to. Apparently Sothis caught on to her thinking cause she spoke up with her own thoughts. 'Hmm… that is odd. You did not follow the same protocol as a Blade with their stone and yet you are a Blade by being able to summon a weapon and resonate? This is most confusing.'

Byleth agreed. Her thoughts turned back to the man, or her Wielder she guess she should call him now. Maybe he had some answers regarding this? Or that woman, perhaps? She felt as if she needed to ask them, but with her locked in her room, she couldn't. She sighed. Surely they're had to be a way.

Then she wondered about her connection to this girl in front of her. Was it normal for Blades to have another person connected to them? She began to ask this question of Sothis, but she was interrupted before she could continue.

'Oh my, your face! What happened to it?'

Byleth looked back in Sothis' direction to see her pointing at her face, more specifically, at her lower right cheek. She placed her hand onto that part of her face only to flinch and pull it back at the pain that resonated from that spot. "Ow! What was that?"

'There is a bruise there. It just formed there a few seconds ago as you were lost in thought. How did that happen?' Sothis moved her hand to her own cheek only to flinch back in pain too. 'What is this?!'

Byleth gasped as she saw a bruise form on her face in the same exact place where hers was. How was it they had a bruise form on their face in the same spot? And how did they even get them in the first place? They hadn't been fighting anyone, so why…? Her thoughts turned to her Wielder. Sothis had mentioned that a Wielder and their Blade shared their energy with one another. Could that apply to wounds as well? Did that mean her Wielder was in trouble?

The regal woman's words came to the fore front of her mind. Was she doing something to him? Was she hurting him?

She glared at the door behind Sothis. She needed to get to him. Now.

She marched to the door and grabbed the handle, trying to turn it. It wouldn't budge. Cursing under her breath, Byleth looked around the room to try and see if there was anything she could use to force the door open. She only stopped when she heard Sothis chuckle at her antics. 'Trying to get to our Wielder, I see.' She levitated over to be next to Byleth. 'I do not think the guards are just going to let you walk out of here. I would suggest perhaps burning down the door, but first we need to make sure no one's around. The last thing we need is people panicking and getting in the way.'

"How would we do that?"

If the grin on Sothis' face widened anymore, she'd probably break it. 'Simple. I'll go look through the door to see what is on the other side. They cannot see me, so unlike you, I will not cause a panic.' Byleth could only give her a glare at the snide comment. 'Give me but a moment to see.'

Byleth watched in surprise as Sothis phased through the door. She felt a little jealous at the action. How come she didn't get to have that power? She frowned for only a few moments more before she saw Sothis' head pop through the door. It scared her for a moment as she didn't expect it so soon.

'Funny enough, I do not see any guards. And yet they locked the door on you. How odd.' The girl phased the rest of her body through the door. 'Perhaps they failed to predict your power or perhaps they trust you too much to even try.' Sothis smirked as she glanced back at Byleth. 'Shall we prove them wrong?'

Byleth smiled back at Sothis. Although she grated her nerves a few times since they met and she still had no clue why only she could see her and what their full connection was, she felt as if they would grow to be very close to one another in time. She turned her attention back to what she needed to do.

Placing the palm of her hand onto the wooden door, Byleth felt the warmth building up at that point. She could see small tendrils of smoke begin to sneak out from under her fingers at the growing heat. Pretty soon, the door would erupt in flames and turn into ashes.

Claude rubbed at the spot where the Archbishop had punched his face just a few moments before. With the strength she used to hit him, it was surely going to bruise. It was probably even forming on his face as he stood there looking at her in disbelief. The woman didn't pull her punches that's for sure.

If Claude were a weaker man, he would've wavered under the dark glare she was sending his way. But he had seen too many of those sent his direction in his lifetime that he had grown used to it. He knew there were people that wouldn't like him no matter what he did in life. Hell, there were people that hated him just for existing. But for someone who professed that everyone needed to be treated with love and respect, he was surprised to hear the venom coming out of her mouth.

"How dare you!" Claude moved to open his mouth to respond, but she interrupted him before he had the chance. "I don't care what your excuses are! You knew better than to go there!" She breathed out slowly, perhaps trying to keep herself calm and to keep from lashing out again. "Now, because of you, the holy Blade was awakened before her time. She was asleep for a reason and now you have ruined what she was meant for."

Awakened before her time? The image of the blue-haired woman came to him. What did she mean 'what she was meant for'? She was a Blade, wasn't she? Wasn't she meant to be resonated with? Claude could sense a mystery there and his curious nature wanted it answered. However he knew that now wasn't the best time. With how the Archbishop was treating him, he knew that she wasn't in the mood for questions.

The dark feeling he felt earlier returned and made his stomach feel heavy and nauseous. He had an inkling he wasn't going to like what she was going to say next. "Fortunately for you though, there is a way you can atone for your sin. And that only requires your life."

Claude paled. "What?!"

Sure, he knew that he had technically committed a crime by trespassing, but was that a crime worth killing him over?! Certainly there was a different way to go about this. It wasn't like he did it to spite the Church (although he technically did that already by just being a nonbeliever) and the whole resonating situation was entirely an accident. And now she wanted him dead over it? Did she realize what chaos she'd start over that? Not just with the Leicester Alliance, but with his father's side of his blood as well. She'd literally be opening up a giant nest of wyverns with what she was suggesting.

In his peripheral vision, Claude thought he saw Seteth even have a look of aghast on his face. Was he not expecting this result either? However he didn't get a chance to focus on it much further. The Archbishop was talking again. "Claude von Riegan, you have committed a grave sin against the Church by resonating with the holy Blade. For your crimes, you have been stripped of your title as heir apparent to House Riegan and the Leicester Alliance and sentenced to death by beheading." She breathed in deeply as she motioned to the guards to tie his hands together. "May the Goddess have mercy on your soul."

Claude tried to fight against the guards tying his hands together only to realize that it was useless. Was this… really how it was going to end for him? Had he read this whole thing… wrong?

He felt the guard finish tightening the rope around his hands while two others roughly grabbed his arms to force him to walk. He felt as if he was in a daze as the guards brushed him past the Archbishop and Seteth and forced him to leave the room and begin walking down the hall. Because of this he barely caught the brief conversation held between the two as they walked some distance behind him, but it was enough to confirm that he wasn't the only one who thought this sentence was a little much.

'Rhea, are you certain?'

'Yes, Seteth. My judgment is final.'

The door before Byleth crumbled into ashes after it briefly erupted into flames from her touch. She smirked a little as she thought back to her jealousy towards Sothis' phasing ability. Yeah, this power was much better now that she could see what could be done with it.

She took a few steps out of the doorway and looked around. Sothis was right, there wasn't any guards to be seen. But now she had no clue as to what to do next. "Now what?"

She turned to see the girl no longer in sight. Her eyes widened as she looked about trying to find her again. Where did she go? She soon got her answer. 'I disappeared for a bit.' Byleth heard a yawn. 'I cannot keep up my ethereal form for too long. It tires me out much faster than just talking to you. And since I know you still need my help like the little child you are, I decided that this would be the better option.'

If she still had her form before her, Byleth would be glaring at it. Instead, she decided to focus on the task at hand. Where was her Wielder at? 'First, I think it is imperative that we locate our weapon first. Even if we were to find him, he would not be able to protect himself adequately without it. Even with our help.'

Byleth supposed that made sense. But where would they store her Blade? She frowned. She had no idea of the layout of this place, so there was no way she could pull it from memory and go from there. There was a couple of rooms nearby, so perhaps it was there?

Byleth moved to begin walking down the hall where she turned a corner to see another long hallway before her. The moonlight shone through the stained glass windows that adorned it and gave her some light to work with to find her way. As she kept walking, she could see that she was coming up on another hallway. She stopped suddenly as she heard voices getting closer.

Quickly, she pressed herself against the wall next to the archway at the start of the next hallway and waited for them to pass. However she almost jumped out to grab one of the owners of those voices when she heard what it was they were talking about.

"Did the Archbishop really sentence the future Duke Riegan to death?!"

"Looks like it. I wonder what that's going to do to the Alliance. He was next in line after all. And after all that time searching for a new heir six years ago… looks like their gonna have to find a new one."

Alliance? Duke Riegan? What did those names mean? She vaguely wondered if it they had something to do with the man who saved her. And if so, did that mean he was about to die? She took in a deep breath as she remembered the bruise she and Sothis shared on their faces. If that bruise was caused by him being injured... if her theory was correct, then what would happen to her if he were to die? 'You would return to your Crest Stone.'

She almost jumped at Sothis' voice coming back in her head. She breathed out quietly. The last thing she needed was to get caught. 'You really need to watch doing that. You almost got us caught.'

'You mean to say that you did, not me?' Byleth could practically hear Sothis pout. 'Still, either way, we need to find a way past them. I feel like I can sense our weapon somewhere nearby in one of those rooms and if your thoughts are correct and he is sentenced to die, then we cannot tarry long. From what little I know of him, he does not deserve that fate.'

Byleth agreed. Although she didn't know his name or anything else about him, she could tell that he was a kind man who wouldn't harm someone unless absolutely necessary. His actions back in the tomb spoke enough for her to come to that conclusion.

She peeked her head around the corner to see who it was that was talking. What came into her view were two guards that were standing watch over one of the doors located in that hallway. That she found a bit odd. Why only protect that one door and not the others? That could only mean that something precious was locked up in there. Maybe it was her weapon? She hoped so. Her chest tightened at the thought of being too late to save the man.

He had saved her, so it only felt right to return the favor.

Byleth breathed in deeply to steal her nerves and felt the familiar warmth build up in her hands. Although she didn't want to kill them as they did nothing to her, she felt as if she had no choice. Hopefully she could just knock them out, but even with option in mind, the likelihood was slim. Either way she prayed for forgiveness for whatever happened.

Quick as a knife being pulled from its sheath, she moved from her position on the wall and began running down the hall, throwing the fire she had grown in her hands towards the two guards. It caught them off guard and made one of them drop the lance he held in his hands. Before that one could react, she pulled her arm back and made her hand into a fist and threw it out towards his face, knocking him out in one hit. She was a bit surprised by the strength she had in her (she chalked it up to her Blade status) and was just glad that she didn't kill him. The guy was going to have a major headache when he woke up however.

The other one wasn't so distracted and brought his lance into a ready position. He quickly jabbed at her, but she sidestepped the attack and grabbed ahold of the pole and forced the warmth from her hand into it causing it to heat up rather quickly. The guard yelped in pain and dropped the pole to keep it from continuing to burn his hands. Before he could have a chance to respond, Byleth brought the blunt part of the lance up against the man's head, knocking him out along with his companion.

She sighed in relief. Looks like she didn't have to kill them.

Byleth turned her attention to the door they were guarding. Bringing her hand up to the handle, she turned it, hoping that it was unlocked so that she wouldn't have to force her way in. She didn't have much time to spend on doing that. Plus, she hoped that that she was correct that her weapon was in there.

She turned the handle and sighed in relief to find that it was unlocked. After dropping the lance in her hand to the ground, she pushed the door open and walked inside. It took her eyes a few seconds to adjust, but when they did, she saw, sitting off in the corner, the sword that came to life in the man's hands when he resonated with her and next to it, his silver bow and quiver.

Although she knew she originally came in her for just her weapon, she knew that he needed his too, just in case. She strode over to the weapons and quickly grabbed the quiver and attached its belt to her waist. The bow she strung around her chest to help keep it close and have one of her hands unoccupied to launch fire. And the sword she grasped in her hand. It glowed red for a brief moment as if it were happy to be back in the hands of someone it knew.

Now that she had these things in her grasp, she had to find him before it was too late.

She marched out of the room, determined look on her face and continued back down the hall towards the double doors at the end. When she reached the small foyer before them, she debated as to where she needed to go next. 'To be honest, if I were execute someone, especially if he was someone that publicly known, I would do it in a place where everyone could see.' Byleth turned towards the staircase to her right. Her instincts were telling her that was were she needed to go.

With the reassurance of Sothis in her mind that she was making the right choice, she ran up the stairs.

Claude was forced on his knees in the terrace located on the third floor of the main building of the monastery. He swallowed hard at the sight of the block in front of him. In the corner of his eye, he could see the executioner standing to his left, with the tip of his sword touching the stone underneath him, waiting for the order to be given.

When he glanced up, he could see the Archbishop, Rhea, he figured was her name based on the conversation he heard, and Seteth standing before him, watching the proceedings.

He was about to be sick.

Claude pulled his head back to look up at the sky and the stars that had filled so many of his childhood dreams. Well, he sighed, at least he could see them once last time before he died. He closed his eyes briefly. He could only hope that when he died, someone else would pick up on his dream of uniting Fodlan and the world together, to bring down the barriers between them. That was his only wish.

When he opened his eyes again, he caught the sight of a shooting star streaking across the sky. Was it a sign that everything would be alright? He smiled wanly. He doubted it. There was no scheming out of this one. Not this time.

"It's time."

He was brought out of his thoughts by the voice of Rhea speaking to the executioner. He could see that the glare hadn't left her face. As much as he wanted to, he found that he didn't even have the energy to return it.

The two guards that forced him to his knees earlier now forced his head down onto the block. With his neck spread out across it, he could see the basket sitting next to the block, ready to catch his head.

Well, he supposed this was it then…

He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes, waiting for the moment of death to arrive.

When Byleth reached the top of the stairs, she turned to her left to see another hallway extending out. She began speed walking down it while simultaneously keeping an eye out for guards. When she reached the end of the hallway to see another one heading in a different direction, she turned her gaze to look out and see what was located at the end of it.

She quietly gasped as she saw the man who saved her being forced onto a block and another man wielding a sword bringing it up over his neck.

She had to move. Now.

Byleth began to run towards the spectacle before her, desperately trying to get there before the sword dropped, but she knew that she wouldn't. She couldn't let him die.

'Quick! Use the sword as a whip! It can be used in long distance as well as close. Use that ability to grab the sword the man has. Now!' Byleth didn't argue. Sothis obviously knew what she was talking about when it came to these Blade matters.

She pulled the sword back and while mentally calculating the angle and distance in her head, she threw the sword forward, still holding the handle tightly in her grasp, causing the blade part to come apart and extend like a whip. The action in itself surprised the spectators of the execution as it cut in between the regal woman from before and the green-haired man standing next to her to grab the blade the executor held. She quickly jerked it back and caused the blade be pulled from his grasp and fall against the stone floor.

The whip came back towards her and formed back into a sword. While still running, she launched herself over the woman and her companion and twisted in the air to throw fire in their direction.

Byleth vaguely heard the woman cry out for her to stop, but she disregarded it. No one would hurt him.

Landing back on her feet, she quickly threw fire all around her and the man effectively creating a fire barrier around them, cutting them off from the soldiers who were being ordered by the woman to stop her.

Byleth turned back to look at the man to see him looking at her with a shocked look on his face. "What… How did you?"

Quickly she moved to burn the ropes off of his wrists without hurting him. "We don't really have time to talk, but once we get out of here, you can ask your questions." Once the ropes were gone, she held the handle of the sword to him. He looked down at it, confusion etched on his face. "I believe you're my Wielder, so this should be yours."

Slowly recognition came across his face and he gently grabbed the sword from her grasp. Immediately upon him holding it, she felt their energies connect. She turned her attention to the soldiers before her. "Are you ready to go?"

She saw him move to stand next to her. The sword now being held confidentially in his hand as he moved it into a ready position. He nodded. "Let's get out of here."

Byleth nodded in return and began using her ability to wield fire to cause the flames around them to grow taller, causing the soldiers and the green-haired couple to move further back to escape it. She then collected the warmth in both her hands and threw them out to launch a bigger fireball that punched through the guards blocking the entrance, giving them a path to move through.

They took it.

The two ran down through the hall towards the stairwell that led down to the second floor. They could barely hear the lady and man call out orders for the soldiers to follow them, but by the time they were able to beat back the flames, they had made their way to the second stairwell that led to the first floor.

Although Claude wasn't religious, he was sending thanks to any god or goddess that could hear him for saving his life. Although he knew that the woman he had saved back in the tomb was still in the building, he had no idea that she would return the favor and save him this time. But he wasn't complaining.

They had reached the first floor and was about to head towards the audience hall's double doors when they saw soldiers coming towards them from the doors leading towards the classrooms and graveyard as well as the audience hall itself. The soldiers must've called for help from the balcony. "Damn!" That left only one other path. He motioned for the woman to follow. "This way!"

They burst through the doors and began running across the bridge that led to the church cathedral. Before they could get too far however, the gate that blocked the church from outsiders came rolling open and some soldiers came pouring out from there too. "Shit!"

They were trapped.

The woman he could tell was unperturbed though. He watched as she summoned flames once more and created another barrier around them. Although that worked as a temporary shield for now, he knew it wouldn't last. What the hell could they do now?

He quickly racked his brain for an answer and it wasn't until he happened to see his wyvern whistle hanging from his neck that an idea came to him. His wyvern!

He glanced down towards the valley below them. He wasn't too far from where he left him. The poor thing was probably still waiting. Claude grabbed the whistle in his free hand and blew into it.

The woman looked at him confused as to what he was doing. "What are you-?"

He turned back to wink at her while smirking. "I'm getting us a ride out of here."

She still looked confused, but the expression immediately wiped itself from her face when she heard the cry of a wyvern sounding out in the distance. Claude's grin broadened as he caught sight of his wyvern making its way towards them from below. They were getting out of here!

He quickly grabbed one of the woman's hand and spoke to her before she could protest. "See that wyvern? When it gets close enough, we're going to jump off this bridge and onto it's back." He saw her eyes widen at his suggestion. "How will we not miss him?"

"Well, we'll just make sure that we won't then." He winked again and looked back at his flying companion who was slowly getting closer. He turned to see the woman extending the wall of flames a bit further out as the guards were pressing their way through with ice mages now in among their party. He could see that she was starting to sweat. Whether it was from the heat or from overexerting herself he didn't know.

He glanced back at his wyvern to see that it was now time to move. He squeezed her hand to signal to her and she turned to see what he was looking at. She looked over at him. "Ready?"

Some nervous entered her eyes before it quickly disappeared. She nodded. The two turned around at the same time and began running towards the edge of the side of the bridge just as the ice mages finally broke through and the guards began running after them. Their feet stepped onto the stones that made up the sides and they launched themselves off the bridge.

His wyvern had caught on to what they were doing and flew directly under the bridge, dodging the magic and arrows being sent its way and came right underneath them, barely catching them in it's saddle. Claude quickly grabbed the woman around the waist and handed the sword for her to hold while he grasped the reins and began leading them away from the monastery.

Arrows and magic continued to be shot their way as they got further and further. He felt a few graze his skin and prayed that none hit his scaly friend.

However unbeknownst to him, a few had hit their target.