We arrived back to garreg mach. The place was preparing for war. Everyone was gathering weapons. And getting ready. We did all we could. Now tomorrow decides the fate of many. There is no empire vs the church. It's all of us. The empire. The kingdom. The alliance. And the church. All facing an evil that refuses to stay down. The agarthans. Are coming.
"Welcome back everyone. While you were gathering allies. I made these for you." sothis said. A few nights came in holding suits of armor. Each one colored in a way that represents our nations. Mine was red. Athro's was blue. While shujinkos was golden. I noticed that a gauntlet in all our armors had a bizarre gem.
"What are those gems?" i asked.
"Those are dragon signs natsu. They mimic the power of crests. Including allowing you to wield heroe's relics without repercussions. Yours replicates the effects of the crest of seiros. Athros is the crest of blaiddyd. And shujinkos. The crest of charon." sothis explained.
"So that means i can wield aredbhar if the need arises. Good to know." athro said.
"You've all done well…for tonight rest. You'll need it for tomorrow." sothis said. We all nodded. After retiring to my room.
3rd person pov.
Fear. fear is strong within garreg mach. As everyone knew what was coming. But there was also another emotion strong within garreg mach…love. As their toughest battle comes. One with a low chance for survival. All of the couples are holding each other tight. As it maybe the last time they see each other.
Natsu was holding edelgard. Athro was within Dimitri's arms. Shujinko had lysithea sleeping on his chest. While hilda and marianne held his arms. Claude was holding byleth. Jeralt was holding onto his wife. Vowing to not let her die again. Ferdiand was holding his water nymph. Dorothea. Despite their rocky start. Caspar and petra are not their fathers. Where hatred should have been was instead love. As caspar held petra in an embrace. The relationship between hubert and bernedetta were a shock to many. But a welcome one. As hubert held her for the night.
On the day of Lonatos' betrayal. An love bloomed as well. When mercedes took ashe to his room. She watched over him. She was there when he needed someone most. Ashe's resolve to become a knight became stronger then ever. Not just for his family. But for the kind woman he fell in love with. As he held Mercedes for the night. Felix. The cynical lone wolf. Ever since the passing of his brother. He has pushed everyone away. And was only focused on his way of the sword. But Annette refused to be pushed away. And her determination. Made it so that the lone wolf wasn't so alone. As she held him for the night. Sylvain and ingrid. Childhood friends. Despite sylvains stupid antics causing her trouble all the time. She always helped him out of it. Because he was there when she needed him most. When glenns death threw her into despair. Sylvain did his best to pull her out. She was there for him. When he needed her most. The death of his brother miklan. And from now on. They will always be there for each other. No matter what. As sylvain held her to his chest.
The next day rolled around. And the agarthans arrived. Three armies stand agains them. Along side three armored knights. The champions of the three nations. Thales alongside kronya were leading the charge. Among them were the two armageddon knights that sided with them. Carmen. And yoshanai. As both sides clash. Both sides started to take heavy losses. The town of garreg mach became stained red and black. The three houses were fighting with everything they had. The healers were constantly healing those injured while everyone else blasted them with magic. And slashed with sharpened blades. Everyone has gotten strong since the beginning of the year. And this battle proved it. As for the three champions they cut down all who stood in their way of the ones they despise the most. As natsu got close to thales. He was blasted back with dark energy. And taken away by a swarm of swords courtesy of yoshanai. Shujinko tried to go cut off his head. But yoshanai blocked it and grabbed him by the head. And used an ice spell. Freezing shujinko solid. The armor took most of it. But his swords were also frozen. Yoshanai threw shujinko high into the air. The impact of the ground would have no doubt killed him. But he was caught by hilda. She looked at him with concern as she flew towards marianne and lysithea. Athro was clashing blades with carmen. Their rage and hatred for each other was so great. They didn't notice the cracks forming on their blades. Carmen got the upper hand. And freezing athro's helmet. And then blasting her with a huge fireball. Athro fell to her knees. Her helmet broke off. And she coughed up blood. But despite that. She wouldn't fall here. She refused to. She stood up. Wiped the blood from her mouth. And continued the clash.
Natsu pov.
I fell onto the ground. Far away from the grounds of garreg mach. The swords broke my helmet. I coughed up blood.
"Does it hurt natsu? Now you know my pain!" yoshanai yelled as he appeared before me with that same teleportation.
"You know what? I'm not even gonna try to reason with you. You threw everything away for your hatred yoshanai. Those you had left. Your honor as an armageddon knight. Everything. To come after me for something my past self did. You are beyond hope at this point. All I can do is put an end to your madness." I said. I readied my axe. And clashed blades with yoshanai. No doubt the agarthans did something to make him stronger. As he was stronger then last time. He soon got the better of me. As i fell to my knees with a a ruined on my chest.
"This is for my family! Justice is served! Die natsu!" yoshanai yelled. As he went swung to decapitate me. I transformed.
"A psycho like you doesn't know what justice even is." i said. I quickly cut off his arm and slashed his torso with my axe. And kicked him. Sending him flying. I went to where he was. He was on his knees coughing up blood. He looked up to me with hatred.
"I was gonna make it quick…but now i'm going to make you suffer...i'll kill that precious empress of yours…and everyone of that black eagle house…and you'll be lookin up to me while the adestrian empire burns!" yoshanai yelled. I went for his neck only for him to do the typical agarthan thing…teleport away when things aren't going your way.
"Great…now i got that to worry about." i said with a sigh. I could worry about him later…i needed to return to the battle.
Athro pov.
"Do you really think you belong here athro? You're an armageddon knight. An alien to this world. A destroyer. You know the nobles of the kingdom will never accept you. So why fight for them? Why be with those very people who see you a nothing more than trash." carmen said as our swords rapidly clash.
"I'm not doing this for them! I'm doing it for the blue lions. My friends..no my family. Dimitri gave me a reason to keep living. After killing you. I was going to end my life. But them. Dimitri. Dedue. Felix. Ingrid. Sylvain. Mercedes. Annette. And ashe. They are my friends…no my family. Thanks to them. I have a reason to keep moving forward. And i'll protect them with my life…this is no longer about revenge…this is about making sure that incidents that massacres like the tragedy of duscur never happen again!" i yelled. As i clashed blades with carmen. We pushed each other back.
"So you're a hero now!? That's cute. Just like when you were a kid. But this is a story where the hero dies in the end!" carmen yelled as she charged. I charged as well. Our swords connected…and broke. Both enryuu and my diamond katana. "Dammit!" carmen yelled. As she threw away what little remained of enryuu. And picked up a nearby steel sword. And rushed at me. I dodged. And fell to the ground.
"Athro!" i heard dimitri yell. He threw his hero's relic. Areadbhar. It pierced the ground in front of me. As he continued his fight with his new lance. Azure moon. I hope sothis was right about this gem. Otherwise i'll end up like miklan. So with a gulp. I grabbed the shaft ot the lance. It glowed. But i'm not feeling any pain. Carmen charged at me again.
"Atrocity!" i yelled as i swung areadbhar with full force. Carmen tried to block. But the sword broke and as well leaving a nasty slash across her chest. The wound burned with red lightning. As she coughed up blood. She looked up at me with hatred.
"This isn't over…i'll be back to bring you. That prince. And all of the monkeys of faerghus to their knees!" carmen yelled. I aimed to impale her. But areadbhars blade hit nothing but ground as she teleported away.
"Dammit…" I said…i was too weak to stop you before. But i'm not now…next time we meet. I'll be the one victorious…sister.
Shujinko pov.
"Shujinko! Are you alright!?" lysithea yelled. I was frozen. The armor took the most of it. But i still couldn't move. To make things worse. I'm now unarmed. My dan tien daos were also frozen. They shattered into pieces upon landing on Hilda's wyvern.
"Mari! Quick! Heal him!" hilda yelled. Marianne used a healing spell on me. I could feel the ice weakening.
"Unbelievable. Why is it that we got the three most incompetent armageddon knights? Despite all that hatred. None of them could get of you these three idiots who are making our lives hell! But hey. Yoshanai did something right. He turned that one into a popsicle. Which gives me the opportunity for the glory of killing a demon!" kronya yelled.
"You'll have to get through us first." lysithea said.
"Easy enough." kronya said with a psychotic grin…the fight was not going well. I honestly thought kronya was nothing more than an egotistical coward. While there was no way in hell she could best jeralt face to face. She definitely has the skill to best my girls. After kicking away hilda. Lysithea threw a hades omega at her. Despite the powerful spell. Kronya ran out of the black smoke and went for a slash. Lysithea managed to dodge. But not the kick to her stomach. Sending her to the ground. She was gonna kill her…i struggled. I had to break free….I GOTTA BREAK FREE!
"Tough break kid. If you were just a good girl. And let us work our magic. You could have been strong enough to defeat me. Sure you would have had a decreased life span. But going up against us? Lowers your life span even quicker!" kronya yelled with a psychotic smile. And raised her sword eye. Lysithea looked up at her in fear. Tears going down her eyes. She closed them and waited for the inevitable. But as kronya's stab was interrupted by my foot to her face. As she rolled multiple times.
"Leave those i love ALONE YOU VILE SNAKE!" i yelled. Kronya got up. And spat one of her teeth. She looked at me with pure psychotic rage. I picked up two nearby steel swords from dead soldiers. And clashed blades with kronya. She was striking like a complete psycho. One of the steel swords broke. But i was the more skilled fighter. With a quick block with the broken sword. I stabbed through the stomach with the unbroken steel sword. She dropped her sword. As she looked at the sword in her stomach with pain in fear.
"This is for jeralt. Bitch!" i yelled. I stabbed her in the neck with the broken steel sword. She made the fatal mistake of pulling it out. Her neck spraying out black blood. She tried to reach for me. But it didn't take long for her to bleed out and die. I ran over to lysithea. And carried her bridal style. I took over to marianne. Who was healing hilda. She healed them both. And fell to the ground exhausted. These three couldn't continue any longer… "you three rest." i said as i picked up kronyas sword. Alongside a silver sword. "I'll finish this." i said.
"Be careful shujinko." marianne said.
"End this." lysithea said with a smile.
"Kick some ass darling!" hilda yelled. I smiled at them as i charged back into battle.
Byleth pov.
Things were going in our favor. The enemy was quickly losing morale.
"Damn you fell star! You and your demons! At least one of you will fall today!" thales yelled. As he fired a dark ball at me. I blocked it with my sword. But the attack sent me flying, knocking me towards the hole i fell down in two different timelines. And just like before. The ground gave way.
"Byleth!" natsu yelled. As he tried to grab my hand. But he was too late. I fell down the hole…again. Guess i'm heading for a five year coma again…natsu. Athro. Shujinko. Please let the five year future wake up to. Be a bright one.
Natsu pov.
Byleth was gone. I punched the ground. "Shit!" i yelled. I turned around and looked at thales with anger. "You bastard!" i yelled.
"Neither you nor the nebatans will have will have victory today demon!" thales yelled. As i saw something huge flying towards us…is that…an javelin of light? Thales teleported away. If he thinks they can destroy garreg mach and us with that thing…he's dead wrong. I flew up. And pointed my finger at it.
"Aureola!" i yelled. The javelin was destroyed in a massive blast of light. I landed on the ground and reverted back. I fell to my knees. Breathing heavily…the battle was over…but not without a cost.
Three hours later./meeting hall.
Me. athro. Shujinko. Edelgard. Dimitri. And claude were in the meeting hall. We won…but this didn't feel like a victory. Athro and shujinko lost their swords. The swords that were with them since the very beginning. A weapon that you've had that long is like a part of yourself. But that doesn't come to the fact that we lost byleth. Jeralt looked to the ground sad. While sitri looks absolutely distraught.
"Do not worry. Byleth is alive. I can feel it. We won't see her for five years. But she's still alive. I know it." sothis said. Sitri looked up with a bit more of hope in her eyes. She smiled.
"So what now?" I asked.
"For now…just live. I'll handle things here for the church of seiros. You three on the other hand. I'm leaving the three nations in your capable hands." sothis said with a smile.
"Before we go. I need to talk to seteth. It's time i call in that favor for reviving astraea." i said. Sothis nodded and had a knight go find seteth. He sighed.
"And hear i was hoping it would be years before you call in that favor. So what do you want athro?" seteth asked.
"I lost the diamond katana in the battle. I need a new sword. One even better than my old one? Know any good smiths who can do that?" i asked.
"I do know one…but i doubt he'd be willing to do that." seteth said.
"I know who your talking about cichol. I'll go with. Maybe i can force him out of his disdain for humans." sothis said. Athro smiled.
"Could i commission the guy as well…my swords are now shattered pieces of ice." shujinko asked.
"Shame. Those swords never let you down. It sucks that they're gone." claude said.
"I am truly sorry about your sword athro. A weapon you have for that long becomes a part of you. So losing it must be hard." dimitri said. Athro shrugged.
"Not really…it may have been my longest companion…but it was also a constant reminder of the worst thing that happened in my life…so that's why i'm happy to get a new sword…this one will represent my time here…and all of you. The best thing that happened to me." athro said with a smile.
"Athro…" dimitri said.
"But i must ask…the crest system. Will you do something about it?" edelgard asked.
"Of course. This vile system. It was created thanks to the ones who killed me eons ago…and it has lead to nothing but corruption…so the system will be destroyed. The nobles who exploited it won't be happy…but like natsu would say…screw em." sothis said with a smile.
"Mother!" rhea yelled. We all laughed.
"Thank you sothis…and until we meet again." I said with a smile. After that. We all graduated from garreg mach. And it was time to go our separate ways. As everyone returns to their own nations. We may separate. But our friendship won't break. The next time we meet. It won't be to fight and kill each other. But to unite fodlan peacefully. And until then. We have our own problems to fix. The agarthans will most likely pull something again. And yoshanai and carmen are still out there. But that is a problem for another day. Right now. As the emperor of the adestrian empire…it's time to do some fixing...
author's notes. and here we are finally done with the academy phase. after this. it's the time skip. athro and shujinko will be getting new weapons. also for time skip appearance. well for shujinko it's easy. shujinko garu arashi. was inspired by the mk character of the same name. who kind of went forgotten after deception. and wasn't very well liked from what i heard. his time skip appearance is going to look like after chaosrealm shujinko. and as for athro. her time skip appearance will like a white haired red and blue eyed Snow form combatants will be dispatched. are characters going to comment on how she outgrew hilda and dorothea? yes. yes they will. and as for natsu. well not sound like a lazy fire emblem Modder. but natsu's time skip appearance is going to have fe7 hectors hair but orange with red armor. each character will get there own problems to deal with. but for right now. see you later.