knowlee- Finally got done with this chapter! :D

Had a brief bought with writer's block for a bit there, but once I started working on it, it started making its way from my brain to the computer document.

I originally had this be a bit longer, but after nearly 7,000 words, I decided that the other scenes I had planned for this would do better in the next chapter. Otherwise this would've been a LOT longer.

Also, a little fun fact, I based the title of this fic on one of the theme songs from XC2 called Drifting Soul. The song in question is a good one and is basically the theme for ALL the characters in this fic, so I do recommend listening to it if you get the chance. Here's a link if you're curious! :) (Link probably won't work on FFnet, so in that case just look up 'Drifiting Soul Xenoblade Chronicles 2' on Youtube to find it.)

Hope you guys enjoy this latest chapter! Until the next one!

(Also, I did a little edit on the previous chapter, just removed a sentence cause I felt it took from the overall feeling of desperateness that the latter half of the chapter had. Just to let y'all know.)

A Fire Emblem Three Houses Fanfiction

Drifting Souls

Chapter 3: The Crest of Flames

By: Knowlee Raven

Breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth; repeat with eyes closed. Let your thoughts drift through your mind. Don't hold onto them, just let them go.

Shamir took in a deep breath as her ears caught hold of everything going on around her. The footsteps of the soldiers patrolling down the hall, the slight murmur of voices coming from the offices nearby, the birds chirping outside, she could hear it all. All of it the signs of the start of a peaceful day at Garreg Mach.

As she continued to let her mind stay at peace, she heard one particular set of footsteps that caught her attention. She could tell from the sound of them that they didn't belong to a soldier, nor did they belong to any of the teachers who frequented these halls. Plus they didn't sound like those of her partner's either. She had a more particular way of announcing her presence which definitely showed in her gait.

Easing herself out of her mantra, she stopped leaning against the wall and turned her attention towards the person who was getting closer. As they rounded the corner, she found that the footsteps in question belonged to the old librarian, Tomas. Ah, she should've known. His was definitely one of the more unique ones. Especially when the sound of the cane was added into the mix.

At first she was a little confused as to why he was here, but after she remembered what was located on this floor, she knew it would only make sense for him to be heading that direction. It was the start of another school day after all. A librarian did need to be in the library just in case any student decided to seek them out for guidance towards the perfect book.

Still, Shamir knew to always be cautious regardless of how well known a person was.

She couldn't afford not to. She had learned the hard way that she needed to be that way, through what she had experienced some time after being woken by her partner.

Technically she was her Wielder, but they had both agreed that they didn't care for that term and decided on the one they were currently using instead.

Now, if only said person would get here soon. The person they were expected to meet soon wouldn't like for them to be tardy. Especially that of her adviser. She huffed. The poor guy needed to get out more honestly. That would certainly help lighten him up a bit, but she doubted even then that would go very far.

"Ah, Shamir! It's a surprise to see you here." Tomas had caught her standing next to the large doors leading to the audience chamber. He made his way over towards her, moving as quickly as his age and cane would allow.

Although she didn't really want to have a conversation with the man, she knew that she didn't really have much of a choice. She didn't need to look rude. It certainly wouldn't bode well for either one of them. "Do you have an audience with the Archbishop today?"

Exhaling slowly, Shamir decided to humor the man. It looked like her partner wasn't going to get here for a few more moments anyway… "Yes. Catherine and I both do."

A smile came across the old man's face at the sound of her partner's name. "Ah, yes, Thunderstrike Catherine. One of the most famous knights of Seiros. If the Archbishop herself has called both of you here, there must be something very important she has to tell you."

Shamir vaguely wondered if he had heard all of the gossip coming from the servants and soldiers that frequented the halls of the monastery. Although she didn't get all of the details, she knew enough to know that it had to do with someone very important from the Leicester Alliance and was the reason why all the soldiers were being mobilized as they were.

She was also sure that whatever happened was the reason why she and Catherine were summoned to see the head of the Church herself. She had her theories as to why they were needed, but she decided to keep them to herself for now. Especially since what had exactly happened hadn't even reached everyone's ears just yet apparently.

"Indeed." Shamir hoped that that would be in the end of it, but knowing Tomas he'd still try to press her for more information. The scholarly types tended to be like that. One professor in particular came to mind when she thought of an example. Luckily for her the familiar sound of a certain set pair of footsteps grew near. Her partner had finally arrived.

She crossed her arms as she cocked her head towards the aforementioned person. "Ah, so you finally decided to make it? And her I thought I was going to have come find you and drag you here myself."

Her partner just laughed. The sound of it echoed against the monastery walls. "Sorry, had to deal with a few last minute things before I got here. I'm not too late, am I?"

Shamir shook her head. "Lucky for you, we have a few minutes to spare. Any later and I'm sure Seteth would've sent out a search party."

Her parner laughed again and opened her mouth to respond, before she was interrupted by Tomas. "Ah, Lady Catherine! So nice to see you again! It's been a long time!"

Shamir watched as Catherine turned her smile towards the old man. "It certainly has. You been doing alright there, old man?"

He nodded. "Aside from these aching bones, I've been doing pretty well. Keeping up with the young ones at the Academy certainly helps with that." A few chuckles came out of his mouth. "Makes me feel young again."

Shamir was certain the two would've continued their conversation for some time, but luckily it was at that moment that Seteth decided to make his presence known as he walked down the hall that led to his office. "Ah, I'm glad to see that you made it on time. I was afraid I'd have to send someone to come find you."

Catherine turned her attention towards the green-haired man. "Hey now, I may take my time getting somewhere, but when it's for Lady Rhea, I'm never late."

Seteth huffed. "Even so, you do have a propensity for it. So forgive me for thinking this would be the case for this situation as well." He motioned to the door that led to the audience chamber. "Shall we?"

After giving their farewells, to Tomas, Shamir and Catherine followed Seteth into the next room, eager to see exactly what it was the Archbishop had summoned them for.

The light from the stained glass windows that stood in the far back of the room washed Rhea in an almost ethereal glow. From this image, Shamir could easily see how people would follow Rhea to the death and believe in the religion she preached. Although the woman had helped her out in a few instances shortly after she had been awoken, she didn't count herself as one who was wholly devoted to her cause.

She still pledged loyalty to her both due to wanting to pay back the debt she owed along with the fact that Catherine completely believed in her. And as a Blade, she couldn't refuse her Wielder. Fortunately neither party took offense to it and allowed to keep her mindset, never pushing her to accept what they saw as truth.

And she was grateful for it. For this, in turn, allowed her to scrutinize everything that was said to either her or Catherine. If she felt that anyone, including those of the church, harbored any ill will towards herself or to Catherine, then she would effectively end them.

Rhea sighed as she composed herself to speak to the two standing before her. "I suppose you two are wondering why I summoned you here today. I'm certain you have heard about commotion that occurred last night on the monastery grounds. While Seteth and I have tried to keep it under tight wraps until an official announcement is made, it seems as if some of our knights have started to talk amongst themselves and that in turn has caused rumors to spread."

Shamir placed her hand onto her hip, eager to figure out exactly what had happened. "So, if I may, what is the truth then? The most I've heard is that it involves someone from the Leicester Alliance, but that's all I have so far."

She studied the reactions of the two standing before her. Regardless of what they revealed verbally, if there was something they were hiding, she would catch it. Body language could be very telling. "What you heard was true, but you did not hear who it was exactly."

"Who is it?" Catherine questioned. Based on her partner's stance, she could see that although she was being patient, she didn't want the answer to be drawn out. She wanted to know fully who it was they were dealing with.

Shamir noticed Seteth send Rhea a quick side glance and a frown before re-focusing his attention back onto her and Catherine before he spoke. Well, that was interesting… "The person in question is the heir to the Riegan line, Claude von Riegan."

She could see Catherine's eyes widening. "Claude? That prankster kid who was the head of the Golden Deer five years ago? That Claude?" Seteth and Rhea nodded as she heard Catherine snort in laughter. "No offense, but what did he do that was so bad? I mean, I know he caused trouble back when he was at the Academy, but it was all harmless fun in hindsight. So what did he do this time?"

Shamir's eyes narrowed a bit when she noticed Rhea gripping her hands. Her eyesight traveled up to see that a small frown had formed on the Archbishop's face and could practically feel the fire that was present within her eyes. Whatever Claude did apparently didn't sit well with Rhea. She suddenly found herself afraid for the man.

The voice that came from Rhea's mouth was hardened and filled with a slight hint of rage. It was a sound that Shamir recalled hearing come from her when she dealt with those who attempted to subvert the teachings of the church to do despicable things as well as when someone attempted to harm herself or those of the children at the Academy. That tone gave her some clues as to what exactly it was that Claude did.

"He broke into the Holy Tomb and stole one of the most precious artifacts that lay there. I don't know how he managed to get a hold of it, let alone use it, but he now has this artifact in his hands and I'm afraid to know what he means to do with it." The heat in Rhea's gaze would've been enough to set the monastery ablaze with how directed it was.

How Rhea spoke of this 'artifact' made Shamir wonder exactly what it was. She tried to run through a mental inventory of what was stored there and there was nothing she could think of that would be so sacred that Rhea would be so riled over. But considering the fact that the artifact was sacred, that probably spoke for itself. "So you want us to get it back for you, am I correct?"

Rhea turned her gaze towards her. She didn't flinch. "I want you to take back the artifact he stole and to drag him back here so that he can be fittingly punished for his crimes and if he doesn't come willingly or at all, then I want you to carry out his sentence yourselves."

Catherine's voice took a serious tone. "Which is…?"

Rhea looked at her, finality in her voice. "Death."

Shamir saw the look of shock show on Catherine's face for a brief moment before it changed over into one of acknowledgment. She bowed, Shamir following shortly afterwards. "It will be as you wish, my Lady."

When Shamir returned back to her standing position, she noticed that for a short moment that Seteth looked grieved at what Rhea had said. Before she could think too long on it though, Catherine had begun to walk back towards the double doors leading out to where they were earlier. Shamir turned to follow.

Before they could get too far however, Rhea called out to them. "None of what you heard here goes beyond these walls." Shamir and Catherine turned around, the heat still present in Rhea's eyes. "Until I announce it personally myself, this should be done quickly and silently. If do you manage to bring him back here, then I will make the announcement and promptly show what happens to those who defile the church and it's artifacts!"

Both of the women nodded their acknowledgment and turned to leave. They had a mission to complete.

Byleth had no idea what to do.

She tried racking her brain for anything, something, to help with the situation, but unfortunately with her lack of memories and subsequent knowledge of how to deal with something like this, she wasn't sure how she should help. All she could do was frown and try to help her companion save the wyvern that had flown them to safety the best she could.

But she had a feeling it was all for nothing.

Hearing the beast breathing heavily and seeing all the arrows that they had yet to remove still protruding from its chest and wings during their attempt at healing him with vulnaries, was enough to convince Byleth that it was no use. But with how desperate her companion was at trying to heal it, she still had to try.

"C'mon! Don't give up on me now!" She could hear him pleading with the creature to fight and survive against it's wounds and while she could see that it was trying, the light was slowly dying in it's eyes.

Although she was still unsure of what it was she should do, she did know that he was fighting a losing battle. He had to let it go. Gingerly, and with some slight hesitance, she placed her hand on his shoulder. He froze and went silent. Her voice was quiet as she tried to find a way to explain to him that his wyvern wasn't going to make it. "It's no use. I think we've tried everything. There's just too much."

He let go of the breath he had been holding and the tension seeped out of his body. She frowned as she realized that he had accepted what was about to happen.

Her heart ached as he attempted to comfort the beast, speaking to it in low tones as a comforting gesture. The sadness grew even more when she saw the wyvern take it's last breaths, it's eyes closing for the last time.

Byleth held her hand to his shoulder for a few moments more, her thumb rubbing on his shoulder to try and give him some comfort, before she let go. She watched with a solemn expression as he leaned over towards the creature's snout and spoke a phrase she didn't quite understand before pulling himself away.

He sighed and shifted his attention back over towards the luggage bag that was still strapped to the wyvern and began gathering things from it. He handed her one of the bags he had detached from the beast. "Here, hold this. We're gonna need this stuff if we're gonna keep moving."

She said nothing as he continued sifting through the things for a few moments more before tying up his own bag and standing up. She stood up next to him, tossing the straps of the bag over her shoulders. "We need to go. We can't stay here for too much longer. If I know the church like they do, they're gonna send someone out after us as soon as they can. They're quite punctual with that."

And with that, he turned around quickly and began walking deeper into the forest. After a short glance back at the wyvern's body, Byleth followed after him.

Silence echoed between them as they continued their trek. After a few moments passed, Byleth began wringing her hands. She wanted to try and say something to him, but honestly, she had no clue where to start. With her memory loss, there wasn't much to pull from.

Luckily, she didn't have to dwell on it much longer.

"My name is Claude."

She was surprised for a moment as she wasn't expecting him to say anything. She knew he was probably still dealing with the loss of his wyvern which was another reason why she was hesitating on saying anything to him. Still, she knew she needed to respond. "Byleth."

She heard him hum slightly. Perhaps he had heard of it before? "Byleth, huh? That's an interesting name." That didn't really tell her much. "Well, Byleth, I know we hadn't really had time to get to know each other with all this craziness going on, but hopefully once we near a village, we can try to get those questions answered."

His gaze still stared forward as if trying to make sure they were heading the right direction. "Do you know where we're headed exactly?" She didn't want him to think she was doubting him, but she wanted to make sure he knew what he was doing. At this point, she was relying on him to be a good guide.

Claude made another noise before turning his torso to the side to reach into one of the bags he had taken from the wyvern. After a few moments of rustling, she watched as he pulled out a folded piece of paper. She was momentarily confused as to what it was, but when she saw what looked to be a giant landmass drawn on it, a memory of seeing one before came to mind that helped her realize what it was. "A map?"

She froze for moment afterward. How did she remember that? Maybe because it was basic knowledge or something? She was confused. How did this memory loss thing work exactly?

Byleth probably would've continued on this train of thought had it not been for Claude confirming that the object was indeed what she thought it was. "Yep. With this, I should be able to see where we're at and where we need to be going."

She took a few steps closer to him to get a better visual of their location. He pointed to a building sitting atop some mountains. "This is where we were: Garreg Mach Monastery." He moved his finger to trace their path. "We flew down this side of the mountains to this forest here."

Next to his where his finger rested, Byleth could see another word next to it and from what the picture showed, it looked to be some houses. "So, would that be a village right there?" She pointed at the word in question. "R-Remire?"

She looked over at him. "Did I say that right?"

He smiled as he nodded. "You said it correctly." He turned his attention back to the map. "Looks like we got a little more walking to do before we reach it." A frown formed on his face. "And when we do reach it, we'll need to disguise ourselves."

She cocked her head to the side in confusion. "Why would we need to do that?"

Claude looked back over to her as he returned the map back to the bag. "Unfortunately I'm quite a recognizable figure and since it's the church we're hiding from, I, along with you since you're traveling with me, need to keep a low profile. We don't want to give our location away."

He sighed as he started to walk again. "We're not going to stay in Remire for too long anyway. Once I figure out what to do, we're going to move again."

Part of her wanted to question him as to what it was they were going to do, but she decided to just keep quiet and let him ponder on it some more. She jogged a little to catch up with him all the while wondering what this 'Remire' would look like.

As they entered the village, Claude made sure to tighten the hood of his cloak closer to his head. Although he wasn't exactly in Leicester territory, he knew that there was still the possibility that someone here would recognize him and relay that information to the church. And that was definitely the last thing he needed right now.

Another thing that definitely worked out in his favor was the fact that due to the village's proximity of it being so close to the church as well as being in between Faerghus and Adrestrian terriroty, it was fairly easy for the both of them to just walk right into the village without anyone being none the wiser since so many people tended to use it as a resting spot during their traveling.

Byleth.

He was going to have to get used to calling her that.

He definitely wasn't meaning it in a derogatory way, but for someone who had been searching for years for the Blade belonging to the Sword of the Creator, it was kind of hard to separate the two. And now that that moment had arrived for him, it's was still trying to sink in.

He now had the Sword of the Creator which meant he was one step closer to fulfilling his dream. And although he knew that a Blade was going to come with it, he never imagined it would be quite like her.

Claude glanced back for a moment to see Byleth, the Blade in question, turning her gaze towards the inhabitants of the village. He could see the curiousness in her eyes about what they were doing and he had a feeling that he was going to get asked a few questions about it once they got somewhere safe.

Speaking of questions, he turned his attention down to the sword hidden at his waist, she did promise to answer some of those he had in regards to what had took place earlier that day. His eyes narrowed slightly as he caught sight of their destination.

Hopefully she wouldn't dodge any of them. He had been lied to too often in his life to have that be done to him again.

Claude gently gripped her arm to bring her attention towards the building they were now standing next to. Luckily, she didn't take much prodding for she followed him without protesting.

Once they were inside, Claude quickly glanced about the room to find where the owner of the building would be. He didn't want them to stay exposed for too long for he knew if even just one person saw them, outside of those who needed to, it would lead to some problems when they had to get out quickly.

Fortunately it didn't take too long to find them as they stood behind a nearby desk looking through what was surely to be their bookings for the rooms they held on the second floor of the building. Claude breathed in deeply. Time to pull out his charm.

As they were walking over, Claude spoke quickly to Byleth informing her to follow his lead. He didn't want to assume that she would catch on, but just in case, he wanted her to be in the know. "Hello, there, good sir," A smile spread across his face. "me and my companion here need to ask if you, by chance, have a room available?"

The man gave them a once over. Claude felt a bit of concern rise within him that the man had recognized him or at least his skin tone and was going to deny them service, but luckily for him that wasn't the case. "Names?"

Claude thanked the stars above for the expertise he had built up during his days at the Academy for helping him come up with lies on the spot. "Name's Joshua." He glanced over at Byleth to see her watching the exchange take place with a blank expression. "Hers is Natasha."

The man shifted his gaze to the woman standing next to Claude, giving her a look as well. After a few moments passed, he conceded. "Alright then. You got the gold to pay for the room?"

After the money and key were exchanged, Claude and Byleth made their way up to the second floor, where, Claude hoped, all his questions would be answered.

Once the door opened up, Byleth could see the tiny room spread out before them. Some of the furniture she recognized from her short time of being locked in the tiny room back at the place they had escaped from. The one piece of furniture on the left side of the room though she didn't recognize.

What was it exactly? Another table? But it looked soft when compared to the table on the other side of the room…

"You can take the bed." Byleth turned towards the man standing behind her to see him motioning to the thing she had just been wondering about. "Considering I found you sleeping in a chair when we first met, I'm sure you'd rather fall asleep somewhere else. I can take the lounge next to the table."

Byleth glanced over at the lounge in question and watched for a few moments as moved to place his bags next to it. She, in turn, decided to do the same with the things she was carrying.

She took a few steps over to the 'bed' he had pointed out earlier and sat the bags down onto the ground next to one it's legs. With a slight glare and curious turn of the head, Byleth took in the strange piece of furniture. She was a bit hesitant to get on it, but after recalling what Claude said earlier, she deduced that it was meant for sleeping.

Turning around, Byleth lowered herself down onto the object and was surprised to find that it was as soft as it looked. She spread her hands out over the white material that covered said object. What was it?

"You look like you've never seen a bed before." Once again, Claude's voice pulled her out of her thoughts and back to him.

She shook her head in response to his observation. "No, I haven't."

A confused look came over his face. She had a feeling that he either didn't believe her or couldn't understand what he was hearing. "Just how long were you asleep for?"

She furrowed her eyebrows together, trying to come up with an answer. But, like everything else, nothing came to her. "I don't know. I honestly don't remember anything about how I got there or why I was even there in the first place."

She took in a deep breath. "I didn't even know I was a Blade until it was explained to me."

Byleth watched as he brought a hand up to his face, rubbing his chin as his confusion grew deeper. "'Explained to you?' Who explained it to you?"

She turned her gaze towards the floor. For some reason she was more hesitant about answering this question. Was it because she was afraid that he would think she was crazy? For seeing and hearing someone that only she could?

She tried to swallow down the anxiety she was feeling and almost felt overwhelmed by it until she saw a familiar hand appear in her line of vision and she looked over to see it was Sothis floating next to her. Instead of saying anything that help give her comfort, she simply smiled. That motion gave her enough courage to push back the emotion she was feeling and speak again. "I, I know this sounds crazy, but there's this, this girl I can see. She was one who explained what I was and how to use my powers as a Blade." She turned her head back to look at Claude directly. "She also said that you were my Wielder and that we needed to protect you."

If it were possible, even more confusion seemed to radiate from him. "A girl?" Byleth saw his eyes dart around the room trying to see if he could see her. When nothing, she presumed, came into his vision as she was floating right next to her, he sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "Honestly, I don't know if I entirely believe you, but after the events that happened today, it's hard to put anything down to just hearsay."

Byleth frowned a bit. It hurt that he thought that, but she also knew that he had more knowledge to work with than she did. She honestly had no choice but to believe that it was the truth. Plus with the evidence of what she did earlier to back it up, she knew it just had to be. Also, he couldn't see Sothis like she could and that definitely didn't help her case.

"But the whole 'Wielder' thing? As much as I'm ecstatic that the Blade to the Sword of the Creator says I'm their Wielder, it shouldn't be possible." Seeing Byleth cock her head to the side in confusion, he continued. "I hold the Crest of Riegan in my blood. And the person that's supposed to wield you is one who has the Crest of Flames."

Her eyebrows furrowed together again. "Crests? Sorry, but I'm not sure what that is exactly."

Once more, the shocked expression reappeared on Claude's face. "You don't know what Crests are?! How is that even possible? Crests are essential to how Blades work." She watched as once again ran one of his hands through his hair as he continued to explain. "In order to wield a Blade, you have to have a Crest in your blood. It's a magical sigil that's said to have been given to humans by the Goddess, if you follow the Church's teachings. It's passed down through a person's bloodline and gives them special abilities depending on which one's possessed."

He moved to take a seat on the lounge. "To go further with that, also depending on which one you possess, you can wield a special weapon called a Blade. There's at least 12 that I know of. 10 once belonged to the Ten Elites, one to the King of Liberation and the other has been lost to time. No one's for sure where it's at."

She took in his words. She could recall none of what he was telling her. "So I'm a weapon then?"

He nodded. "Basically. Blades are essentially the physical representation of the weapon that's produced from the Crest Stone. The Blade acts as a conduit for it's Wielder and through their link they're able to use the magical energy in the environment to send power to the Wielder so that they can use the weapon to it's full potential."

Byleth nodded. She was slowly absorbing what he was telling her. Questions still remained however. "You mentioned a Crest Stone. What is that exactly?" She recalled Sothis mentioning it before during their search for Claude, but she didn't push her further on it since it wasn't the time.

"A Crest Stone is a round, red orb that both the Blade and weapon are sealed inside when they haven't resonated with someone who bears the Crest that matches the one on the Stone." Claude's face took on a serious look. "This is why only someone who's Crest matches with the Blade can be their Wielder. They're the only ones who can awaken them. If the wrong person tries to awaken it, well… from what I've heard it isn't pretty."

He took in a breath and looked over at the Sword of the Creator, the weapon she was the Blade to. "But… somehow that wasn't the case with me. Why?" He looked back at her. "How can I wield you?"

She turned her attention away from him and looked over at Sothis who had been floating nearby just watching the exchange take place between them. She knew that the girl would have an idea of how this was possible since, if she recalled correctly, she was the one who helped her connect to him in the first place.

As if sensing her gaze, the girl in question turned her head to look at her and with unflinching look, simply put her hand on her chest and shifted her eyes towards Claude. Byleth was confused by the gesture at first until she remembered him being run through during the battle with the bandits. Was that what Sothis was referring to? But why?

She wanted to ask, but based on the annoyed look Sothis gave her, she figured that this was all she was going to get out of her. She turned her attention back towards Claude who was giving her a look that told her that he was trying to get a read on what it was she was doing. She shifted a little under his scrutinizing gaze and decided just to go for it. "Have you checked your wound?"

His eyebrows furrowed together. "Wound?"

"The one the bandit gave you when he ran you through?"

A look of comprehension slowly dawned on his face as he realized what she was referring to. Looking down at his shirt, he placed one of his hands on the place where the sword entered into his body. His fingers rubbed at the spot for a few seconds before stilling suddenly.

Byleth watched as he quickly undid the buttons on his shirt until the area in question was exposed. Their eyes widened as strange markings, glowing red, became gradually visible until it revealed a symbol that looked similar to a group of flames flaring up.

Byelth didn't recognize the pattern, but from what she could see of Claude's reaction, he did.

"That's..." His hands were shaking slightly. "That's the Crest of Flames! But how-?"

He jerked his head up towards her, shock and some slight wonder in his eyes. "How did this get here?"

Byleth honestly didn't know. She glanced back over to where Sothis was floating to see her no longer there. She frowned. Looks like she was going to have to figure this one out on her own.

She went back over the events in her mind that took place shortly after Claude had been impaled. She remembered throwing fire at the man who had attacked him, then Sothis telling her to go to Claude, her putting her hand on his wound and his hand on her chest where her heart was, then the warm feeling that formed in her heart afterward...

Byleth froze. Was that why it was there? Could it be? She looked back over at Claude. "Where are Crest Stones usually located for Blades?"

Claude was thrown off by the question. She could tell that he didn't know how this pertained to why that mark was on his chest. "They're usually visible on the Blade's chest, near their heart."

Byleth looked down to where her Crest Stone should have been seen, but there was nothing. Then how? Maybe it was inside her instead?

Still, regardless of whether it was visible or not, she knew it was there, the warm feeling she felt was evidence enough. "I think…" She returned to look at the man before her. "I think I may have given you a piece of the Crest Stone to prevent you from dying."

"What…?"

She continued. "That in turn, I guess, must've made it to where you could awaken it. Since the Crest is technically in your blood now."

Claude sagged back into his chair as the information he had just learned started to sink in. Although she had no idea how he processing it or what emotions he was feeling, she could tell that it was a lot just based on the blank look he wore.

Byleth placed her hand on her chest where her Crest Stone should be located. She had a lot more questions that needed to be answered and she figured he was in that same mindset as well. They both had learned a lot tonight and she had a funny feeling that it was going to be that way for the rest of their time together.

A wave of tiredness came over her and though she tried to stifle the yawn that was trying to come out of her mouth, she ultimately failed. This was enough to pull Claude of his contemplation and brought a small smile mouth. His eyes didn't reflect this motion however. "Perhaps we should call it a night. We can figure out more of this stuff tomorrow when our minds aren't bogged down with sleep."

He stood up from the chair while grabbing the bag he had sat down earlier and walked over to a nearby door. "I'm going to go ahead and clean up. You can go ahead and go to sleep. Though I'm sure you're tired of it, with all the power you used today, you're probably not used to it."

He opened the door and closed it behind him and after a few moments passed, she could hear the sound of moving water coming from beyond the door.

Byleth yawned again and lowered herself down onto the bed, the softness of it underneath her slowly easing her into a comfortable slumber. Her mind, still trying to hang on to the questions jumping around in it, started to grow quiet.

Claude was right, it was definitely much better than the stone chair she had slept in before.

Claude's fingers traced over the Flames sigil on his chest. He could feel it through his fresh shirt (he had to throw away the other one due to all the blood on the back) and although he had seen the symbol for himself, it still had yet to sink in that he now had it branded on him.

He glanced over at the bed to see Byleth sleeping, a look of peace etched on her face not unlike the one he saw when he first met her. He was still unsure about her. Sure, he didn't think she really meant him any real harm, but her story about not knowing she was a Blade to apparently seeing a girl he couldn't didn't sit right with him.

From all the research he did into Blades, they knew what they were and they weren't confused as to how they could do certain things. Plus, none of his studies said anything about Blades seeing other people that helped them use their powers. Unless, perhaps, that was just exclusive to the Blade of the Sword of the Creator?

He sighed. That could be a possibility. Not much was really know about her since only one person had wielded her before. Well, until him at least anyway.

Maybe that's why it was hard for him to wrap his mind around it. She didn't fit into what he knew about Blades and that made it more difficult for him to believe her. Still…

She didn't bare any symbols on her showing she was a Blade, nor was the Crest Stone glowing on her chest. To anyone looking at her, she looked like a normal human and not a supernatural being.

Which, honestly, did help with them trying to lay low, but Claude felt that there was a bigger reason why that was the case. He couldn't put a finger on that reason however and that was what was bugging him.

He wanted to know. No, he needed to know.

Claude sighed again and turned his eyes up towards the ceiling, trying to will sleep to come to him. Unfortunately it was hard to come by since not only was he thinking about the revelations that had occurred earlier, he was also concerned about the predicament he was in regarding the Church.

He closed his eyes to try and calm down his mind. One thing he did know for certain regarding the whole situation was that he was going to figure out why she was this way. And more importantly:

Why was she down in that Tomb in the first place?