Hello there!

I apologize for the long time it has taken to write this chapter but I hope you can enjoy it nevertheless.

Chapter 3 - Conversations

Early evening that same day, Enbarr.

The sun was setting outside, as a few clouds were gently moving across the clear evening sky. In Enbarr, the clearing and cleaning up after the battle had been ongoing for the last two days and citizens had now slowly started to return after being forcibly evacuated before the battle had begun. People were helping out all across town with clearing rubble, cleaning the streets and homes and moving bodies that were still laying around from the battle. Soldiers of Faerghus, Knights of Seiros and several battalions of mercenaries were currently maintaining the order in the city and helping out wherever possible.

While most citizens were glad that the fighting was over, the worry over what was to come was something that could be seen in the way people acted. Nervous glances and a polite distance seemed to be the way most people treated the occupiers at the moment. There had been a few fights and attacks from angry citizens, many out of anger over losing loved ones who had been fighting the forces now occupying their home. But most people were merely hoping that peace was finally upon them and the war finally over.

Marianne and Hilda had earlier today found themself in one of these fights and managed to stop it from escalating to more than bruises and cuts on the attacking citizens. Any situation could quickly become tense and the task of keeping the order took great patience and understanding from the soldiers, knights and mercenaries. Both Dimitri and Alois had made it clear that this was a priority since they didn't want more people to lose their lives.

Kneeling in the cathedral, Marianne was praying to the goddess that no more people should have to lose their lives now that the battle was over. She also sent her thoughts to those that already had. Of those she knew personally the most recently had been Hubert, along with Edelgard and Petra, right here in the city along with all of its garrison forces who refused to surrender.

So many lives had been lost and while Marianne was happy that the fighting was over she couldn't also help but feel sadness for the lives she had taken along with the guilt of knowing she had broken families by killing mothers, fathers, sons and daughters. She had made children orphans through her actions in the war.

She remembered one child in particular she and Hilda had seen in the city. The child was being comforted by what seemed to be her mother who was also in tears. She didn't know why but for some reason seeing the child and woman cry together had struck her hard. That family had probably lost a husband and a father, maybe even by her hand. She had felt tears roll down her own cheek when she saw this and quickly Hilda's arm had reached around Marianne's shoulders and comforted her.

Marianne knew she herself had made the decision to be strong and fight for what she believed in, her friends and her future. She wouldn't give up, not anymore. She wanted to live, and when Edelgard chose to start a war Marianne knew she had to take a stand with her friends. That meant taking lives to protect the world she wanted to live in.

The door to the church opened and Dorothea entered, she saw that Marianne was kneeling in the front of the altar and she quietly walked over to her friend.

"Hello Marianne, I'm sorry to disturb you but do you think I could join you?"

Marianne didn't expect anyone to join her and was a bit surprised that one of her friends had shown up. The look on her face revealed this to Dorothea.

"Sorry that I just showed up like this Marianne." Dorothea looked apologetically at her.

Marianne shook her head as she stood up and answered quickly: "Oh no, it's fine! Of course you can join me Dorothea."

Dorothea nodded her thanks and joined her in prayer. They stood there a while, praying, as people came and went to the cathedral. After they were done, they quietly slipped out and walked back together to their quarters in the city.

On the way back they talked about this and that with each other and then Dorothea asked Marianne a question which had crossed her mind a few times these last two days.

"Do you know what you want to do now that the war is over?"

Marianne had thought about what she wanted to do as the words of her professor had come to mind: "You should look to the future instead of the past". Thinking about the future was a foreign concept since she had for so long been asking the goddess to take her. But with the strength she had found with the help of her professor and the others she now wanted to look to the future.

So while she had an idea about the future she didn't have any concrete plans so far, other than that she wanted to spend it with Dimitri. She couldn't help but be uplifted by his promise to continue on living, and to never give her cause for despair. She herself wanted to continue living, not only for herself and her friends but also for Dimitri who so earnestly had admitted that he would be devastated if anything would happen to her. That feeling was mutual, she thought to herself.

So as for her plans for the future she only knew that she needed to speak with Dimitri at a good opportunity and discuss (what she hoped would be) joint plans for the future.

"Marianne? Are you there?"

Suddenly taken out of her thoughts, she realized Dorothea had stopped her and was looking at her with a strange look.

"Oh I'm so sorry Dorothea! I was a bit lost in thought, please forgive me!"

Dorothea waved off her apology and shook her head before answering: "You don't need to apologize Marianne, it is fine. There is a lot going on now and it is easy to get lost in thought." Leaning in close to Marianne she whispered in a quiet voice: "I freely admit that I've been caught once or twice as well." A small smile played on her lips as she said this.

But then Dorothea quickly leaned back and clapped her hands together and asked Marianne: "So, any plans for the future you can tell me about?"

Marianne averted her eyes from her friend and wondered if it would be alright to tell her? Or should she just keep it to herself for now? It would be nice to talk to someone about all this. She was going to ask Hilda about it but since the events earlier today there hadn't been a good opportunity to do so yet.

Marianne knew of course she could go to the professor but he had enough to deal with at the moment so perhaps it would be nice to just confide in someone and Dorothea and she had became good friends during the war so maybe it was fine?

"Can you keep a secret Dorothea?" Marianne asked and looked at the brunette.

"Certainly Marianne, anything you say will stay between us two. I give you my word." Dorothea looked around the street and saw a few people coming and going, including soldiers. She grabbed a hold of Marianne and led her to a quiet spot near the river where they could talk in private.

Marianne realized she hadn't been thinking about the fact that they were standing in the middle of the street and was glad that Dorothea had found them a quiet spot to speak. She had a lot to learn it seemed. Marianne took a breath before she spoke.

"Um.. It isn't really a plan or anything but I need to speak with... Dimitri, about the future. There is something important I need to ask him."

Dorothea's eyes lit up as she heard this, Marianne could practically see her eyes glistening at this revelation.

"I knew it! I knew there was something going on there! I'm so glad for you Marianne!" Marianne suddenly found herself in the arms of Dorothea who had hugged her and was practically jumping out of joy. While a small part of her felt a bit uncomfortable by the hug, another part of her liked it. Marianne still wasn't used to physical contact with friends and loved ones; she had felt the same way with Hilda when she hugged her the first time. Marianne knew she would get more comfortable with it as time went by but assumed it would take a while and until then she could only hope she didn't cause trouble for people.

Dorothea soon let go of Marianne as she had felt her tense up a bit, Dorothea took a step back to give Marianne space, before speaking again: "It is good that you want to speak with him about this, I'm certain it will go well, trust me!"

"You think so? I'm not entirely convinced..:" Marianne looked down at her hand which had grasped the other as she felt her nervousness manifest.

Dorothea put a hand on Marianne's shoulder and said: "I can't say I know everything about Dimitri but what I can say about that man is that you are special to him. He shows it in the way he acts when you are in the same room as him, how he speaks and looks at you. If you don't believe me then observe him for yourself next time you meet him."

Marianne looked at Dorothea, thinking this over until she nodded and gave her a small smile. It did feel a bit better to actually tell someone about it.

Dorothea clapped her hands together before she enthusiastically started:

"So now that you have told me a little secret, let me tell you one of mine, if you can keep it to yourself?"

"Of course!"

Dorothea looked around to make sure they were still alone before she started talking again.

"Sylvain proposed to me yesterday".

Surprised by the news, it took a moment before she responded. "Proposed, really!?" Marianne asked with her face somewhere between shock and surprise. But before Dorothea could answer she also quickly added "What did you say?"

"Naturally no. Emotions are still high after the battle and I wouldn't want to make a snap decision at this time. Sylvain has his charms and is a good man whom I really like, maybe even love, but there is a small part of me that doesn't know if I can trust that he is genuine in his feelings for me. So I will keep a cool head for now and not rush into anything, there is plenty of time for him to show that he means it and it will give me time to sort out how I feel about him."

Marianne continued to look at Dorothea with surprise on her face when she heard her explanation. As she thought about what had been told to her Marianne started thinking about her feelings for Dimitri…

Dorothea noticed this and quickly grasped Mariannes slender shoulders as she said:

"No no no Marianne do not go there. You will find Dimitri and you two will talk about this soon. You have nothing to worry about! This is Sylvain we are talking about, you know very well how he is which is why a few precautions are necessary. Dimitri and you do not need that. Alright?"

As Dorothea looked into Marianne's eyes she wanted to assure her and not lead her to question her own decisions. Soon enough Marianne seemingly accepted this and nodded which led to Dorothea releasing the breath she didn't know she had held. Letting go of Marianne she soon linked arms with her and told her that they should get back to their lodgings since evening was approaching.

Meanwhile on the other side of the mountains due east of Enbarr.

"General, I've gathered the troops" The officer stood at attention next to his general as he told him. The general took the message that had been in his hand and put it away before he straightened his armor and nodded to the officer.

"Good, it's time they heard the news."

They walked towards the gathered imperial soldiers, men and woman who had fought and sacrificed much in the name of the Empire and its Emperor. People whom general Volantis had much respect for and was proud to have fought with.

Standing in front of them, general Volantis could feel the tension in the air. They had received orders to return and defend Enbarr but never made it back before being intercepted by Faerghus forces which had stopped their progress. And when they finally could continue their march they realized they had to take the long way around or they would have to fight their way through enemy soldiers all along the main roads.

Now they had received news from Enbarr and many feared the worst.

"Everyone, thank you for your hard work. I know you have fought hard these past months, never seeing home but instead relying on each other to survive and spread the glory of the Empire." General Volantis spoke in a clear voice as he addressed the soldiers in front of him.

He took a deep breath before continuing. "It is with great sadness that I must report news from the capital that our Emperor is dead, killed by the monster Faerghus call their king. The Emperor fought to her last breath to defend the Empire and died when she refused to bow to Faerghus and the Church."

Basically everyone's faces were filled with different levels of shock, worry, confusion and anger at this piece of news. But the silence was still total, no one said anything. They didn't know what to say. The general continued as he saw that no one said anything spontaneously.

"I know you ask yourself what is to become of our Empire, our home. I can't give you an answer to that. What I can tell you is that while we must face the reality of our situation we won't abandon our Empire. We can't fight the royal army and the church at the same time with our limited troops in open battle. We are doomed to fail. And while it is a glory to die for the Empire we will instead bide our time and strike when the time is right."

It was a necessary thing to try and convince the troops of. General Volantis knew they were outnumbered and would very likely end up dead if they attacked head on.

"The Empire will never disappear as long as there are people who believe in it and we, as its defenders, can not and will not forget. We will return home and carry with us the Empire in our hearts and souls. And when the time is right, when Faerghus and the Church least expect it, we will strike and rally the people of the land to rebuild the Empire, stronger than ever before."

Volantis saw that determination was coming back on his soldiers' faces.

"The Emperor may be dead but her Empire lives on through us. Carry with you the flames of ember and nurture it, for when the time is right we will unleash it upon the world once again. Faerghus and the Church will pay for their crimes against the Empire, that is a promise we all make today."

Same evening in the Imperial palace, Enbarr.

After explaining the contents of Edelgard's journal he and Shamir had discussed what this meant going forward and she quickly agreed that while on the surface the war was over they needed to prepare to continue the fight. Not until "Those who slither in the dark" had been defeated could they say it was over.

"What will you do?" When Shamir had asked him that question, Byleth had known his answer before he formulated it but as he told her a part of his brain wanted him to stop.

"I need to tell Dimitri and Dedue, especially the parts about Duscur. I also should tell the rest of the group since they really ought to know, given how they have fought for this future…" Byleth knew what they would say when he told them and while he was proud of this he still worried about putting them into more danger. They had just gotten through this war and the thought of dragging them into more danger was not something he looked forward to.

Shamir looked at him as he turned his head away and stared out the window. Evening had come and the darkness had replaced the bright sun that had been there all day.

"But?"

Byleth sighed, clenched his fist and looked back at Shamir as he answered.

"I don't want to take away the relief and happiness they all have felt since the last battle. You have seen it on their faces, in their eyes. They have started to adjust to the idea that the war is now over. They deserve peace and quiet, to grow outside of a reality filled only with war and death around us."

Shamir looked at him as he finished his thoughts, they watched each other in silence for a while until Shamir spoke up:

"You are a good professor, maybe a bit overprotective at times but I can see that your heart is in the right place."

While she had begun in a positive manner, Byleth knew that wasn't the point she wanted to make. Shamir did follow up her comment with a few questions:

"What did you teach your students, what kind of adults did you want them to become?"

The questions caught Byleth a bit off guard, it wasn't what he had expected her to say but he recovered quickly and answered:

"I wanted them to stand strong for their beliefs, believe in themself and their friends. I wanted them to make their own choices in life."

Shamir nodded, and continued her line of thoughts on the subject.

"Well, if you want them to make their own choices, how do you expect them to do that when you don't give them the necessary information to make it? You are still treating them as students you need to protect. They are adults now and can make their own choices in life. You need to give them the chance to make the best one for themselves, otherwise they are going to be living a lie."

As Shamir spoke, her words brought with them some needed wisdom to his mind and feelings. Thinking about it, Byleth couldn't understand how blind he had been. As she told him it was all so clear. He was still trying to protect them and treat them as his students. And as he realized this he immediately knew that it was an insult to think that they couldn't handle the truth. A small part of him still didn't like it and wanted to protect them but he knew Shamir was right, he needed to tell them about the situation so they could choose what they wanted to do for themselves.

Byleth looked out the window again and sighed.

"You are right Shamir. I will tell them all. They deserve to know."

Shamir gave him a smile before saying: "Good. Come, let's get some dinner."

Shamir stood up and went to the door and opened it but stopped in front of it when Byleth hadn't followed. She turned around and looked at him, silently asking if there was something else he wanted to say.

Walking closer to her and stopping at arms reach, Byleth looked her in the eyes and said: "I'm sorry Shamir."

"For what?" Shamir looked at him curiously.

"I tried to keep this information for myself when you found me. I hesitated and wasn't immediately honest with you. That was a mistake." Byleth knew he had to get this off his chest, he didn't know why he had tried withholding the information but Shamir had once again shown him how much he could rely on her.

Shamir nodded and answered him:

"It's fine, I forgive you. It is hard to learn to trust someone without hesitation. As a mercenary I had few people whom I trusted fully and I find myself falling back on old habits of keeping it to myself even to this day. You are one of the few I do trust but even I can't say in full honesty that I wouldn't hesitate if the roles had been reversed."

"Really?" This news surprised him a little bit.

"Really. We could work on our trust together, if you wish." As Byleth watched Shamir he noticed a slight blush on her cheeks as she said this. She looked away from him as she saw that he noticed it. He couldn't help but smile as he answered:

"I'd really like that."

"Good. Then let's get going."

Shamir had barely finished her sentence when she suddenly threw herself to the side and did a roll as she hit the floor. As Byleth saw this his instincts kicked in and he drew for his sword as a dagger passed through the space that Shamir had just occupied. The dagger continued into the room and eventually found some furniture to crash into.

With his sword drawn he saw the shadow of a man coming towards them at high speed through the corridor. Clad in all black and with a mask similar to those they had met on the mysterious mages while fighting the Empire. He guessed they were from "Those who slither in the dark".

Extending his sword towards the attacker he saw the man dodge the incoming attack as he threw another dagger, this time heading towards him. Byleth dodged to the side just before the dagger made contact, it missed him with a small margin. The man was quick, he entered the room and immediately headed for Byleth who barely had time to get on his feet after dodging the dagger.

To the side, Shamir had drawn her own dagger and was charging forward to intercept. She wasn't armed with her bow at the moment so she had to rely on her dagger.

Coming at him the man slashed at Byleth who again had to dodge the blade while swinging his sword at the man's chest. The man was quick and dodged the sword by bending over and rolling past Byleth.

Shamir had now intercepted and as the man recovered from the dodge he caught Shamir's dagger and struck it out of the way. Byleth noticed the glint of another dagger in his other hand and as he yelled Shamir's name it seemed as if she had noticed it too. Stuck in an attack move she couldn't entirely avoid the other dagger, which was able to slice her upper arm as it hit.

As Byleth registered the impact of the dagger on Shamir he swung his sword forward, fueled by a familiar feeling of fury at this attack on someone he loved. As if the sword drew upon his feelings it glowed brighter and he extended the blade towards the unknown attacker. Byleth once again noticed the attacker was about to move out of the way from his sword. But this time Byleth was prepared and he took a nearby vase of flowers and threw in the direction he believed the attacker would dodge.

The attacker avoided the sword once again but was suprised by the vase that had been thrown at him. The attacker instinctively tried to shield himself and with that Byleth and Shamir saw the opening they needed. Shamir was closer to the attacker and quick to use the opening by closing the distance and with all the force of her body stabbing her dagger into the man's chest.

Yelling out in pain as the dagger hit him, the man was knocked off his feet and fell to the floor, desperately trying to get Shamir off him. The loud "thud" as they crashed on the floor was joined by the sound of the attacker's dagger sliding away from him. But Shamir wasn't done and quickly stabbed the attacker three more times to finish the job and soon enough the man was dead.

The attack had barely taken a minute or two and Byleth quickly rushed forward to check on Shamir, who in turn was making sure the attacker was dead.

"Shamir! Are you all right!?" He noted that she was bleeding from the wound on her upper arm. Byleth could feel the adrenaline and fury in his body after the attack but he tried to focus all his thoughts on Shamir's wound as he knelt down by her side and inspected it.

"I'm fine, it's just a scratch." Having made sure the man was indeed dead and no longer a threat she pulled her dagger out of his body.

From what Byleth could see the wound looked like it wasn't too deep and hadn't hit anything vital. He told Shamir to hold still as he administered his healing magic to force the wound to heal and close itself. While he wasn't as good as Manuela or Lady Rhea he had gained a lot of knowledge of and experience with healing magic during his time at the academy and the war. Manuela had told him that apparently he had a talent for it which had surprised him but he was just happy that he could help out, especially at times like these.

"That should do it, how does it feel?" Byleth said as he put his fingers on the area around the newly healed wound to make sure the skin would hold, the wound had completely healed but there was a minor scar where the dagger hit. While he could close smaller and/or more superficial wounds his (and other healers) powers weren't always powerful enough to handle larger or deeper ones. And of course they couldn't heal the effects of blood loss on people. That is why quick administering of healing magic to wounds was the most effective.

Shamir turned her head and looked at her arm, she moved it around and made sure she had full functionality of it as well. She had felt when Byleth had put his fingers on her skin and while she didn't say anything about it to him she had felt a jolt through her body at the contact. It wasn't because anything was wrong, quite the contrary.

Shaking her head, Shamir cleared those thoughts from her mind for now and answered Byleth that she was fine and thanked him for the help.

As Byleth heard this he finally started to relax, but that feeling was short-lived as he heard heavy footsteps coming from the corridor. Grasping his sword he quickly placed himself in position to fight off whoever it was that was coming. A hand on his arm surprised him as Shamir stood in a relaxed position next to him, not at all ready to face an enemy.

He quickly realized why as two mercenaries from his father's battalion came running down the corridor, swords drawn. They had heard the fight and were coming to help. Realizing this, Byleth relaxed himself and looked at Shamir. She was looking towards the corridor, her face bloodied with drops from the attacker as she had stabbed him. While Byleth noted that she hadn't let go of his arm he reached for one of his handkerchiefs and picked it out.

He turned towards her and started to remove the blood from her face, Shamir didn't mind and focused on informing the guards what had happened and that they needed to sweep the building for more attackers. Assuring them that they were fine, one of the guards went to inform the captain; the other placed himself at the door to guard the room until reinforcements would come.

When Byleth was done there was no more blood on Shamir's face and she looked just as beautiful as she always did. Her dark eyes were hard as steel, as they usually were when she focused on her task at hand. But when she turned towards him, he could have sworn that her eyes relaxed as she gave him a small smile as a thank you.

Byleth could feel a smile on his face as well, he then grabbed hold of the hand that had been on his arm and squeezed it. It was his way of conveying his feelings of relief that she was alright. Shamir looked at their joined hands and squeezed back, mimicking the action. They held each others hands in silence until more guards arrived.