There was this stone… a wall? No… a throne!

And there was someone dead… or sleeping?

It was… a child… maybe…

There was always this fog… No eye-clouding fog, more mind-clouding…

It felt like she should recognize something… knew something… feel something.

But the only feeling she was capable of was mild confusion.

Maybe… if she could wake the… not child… Maybe she knew something…

Byleth sat up abruptly in bed. She wasn't in her cave - how strange. It only took a moment for Byleth to remember where she was and why. She had made a blood contract with the Emperor. She sat in the dark room without a window, but her keen demon eyes could still make out the shapes of the furniture.

In contrast to what Byleth told the Emperor yesterday, she had felt fatigued and decided to lie down. She had forgotten how much energy it takes to travel to the human world.

The few times Byleth slept, she was often plagued by confusing dreams that didn't seem to mean anything and of things she never saw before. Most of the time it was about this stone throne with the sleeping girl. Every time she tried to remember what the girl looked like, it was as if the dreams would dissolve completely.

These dreams were preferable, however. The alternative was the same repeating nightmare over and over again. It was more a memory than a nightmare, but that only made it more horrible.

A loud knock jolted Byleth out of her musings.

"Morning, I am needing to escort you! I hope you are awake", that was the voice of the one who moved without much noise. But what was her name again…

Petra! Petra was her name. Byleth stretched herself and trotted to the door. She opened it with a bit too much momentum and Petra sprung back startled.

"You are awake. Let's be going to eat. You must have great hunger."

Byleth nodded in agreement. Her stomach was empty enough that she could devour a whole cow. She watched her escort walk without thinking light-footed like someone on the hunt. Yesterday Byleth was most impressed by her fighting ability from all Eagles. She was looking forward to training with her.

They arrived at the luscious dinner hall. It had a large ceiling so high, Byleth had to crane her neck to look up.

All Eagles were already present. Well except the sleepy one and the terrified one. What were their names again? Byleth wasn't used to so many new names and faces. Most of the time she didn't care about the names of others, but somehow it felt important to know their names.

Byleth and Petra joined the group at the long table full of unfamiliar dishes. Seated between the eager fighting one and Petra, she quickly reached for the nearest delicious smelling dish. Byleth didn't really know what it was, but it tasted divine to her.

She had forgotten how much better the human food tasted than the food in the hell dimension. Only when she noticed the sudden silence, Byleth stopped eating - her third dish - to investigate. All eyes were on her with a mixture of disbelief, surprise and disgust.

Even her blue-haired neighbor, who had been enjoying his food with similar enthusiasm stared at her open-mouthed.

"Is something wrong?"

Byleth asked, after swallowing a mouth full of vegetables. Maybe they noticed her teeth and were scared. Some of her teeth were really sharp and inhuman. Humans were really skittish about them.

"I am sorry. It seems I shouldn't have withheld your supper yesterday. You wolf down your food like you are starving", said the Emperor with an embarrassed cough. She was seated at the head of the table with the dark mage to her right. She wore the same red dress from yesterday and had barely touched her food.

"Don't worry, Emperor. Your food just tastes really good."

Byleth shrugged and turned back to her food. Ignoring the humans and their odd behaviour.

After eating all of the remaining dishes, Byleth patted her full belly and let out a pleased hum.

Even with trying to hide their stares, Byleth could still feel them on her. She hardly cared about them, like about most things. Though she did care about the next topic the Emperor addressed.

"With almost all of you here, I take the opportunity to talk about our next goal. As everyone except the Ashen Demon knows, we are to attack Garreg Mach Monastery - the church's headquarters. This is an important battle that we can't afford to lose.

While the main army will draw the attention of the knights of Seiros and the remaining army of the church, the Black Eagle Strike Force will attack the monastery directly. We need to seize Garreg Mach Monastery quickly so that we can destroy their defense from within."

The Emperor took a sip from her goblet, before concluding her speech. Everyone in the room hung on her every word.

"We only have a short time to build a good team with our new addition, but we need to give it our best. In two weeks we will be riding to Garreg Mach Monastery. If we conquer it, it will be a devastating blow to the church and we will control the most central place in Fódland. A good strategic place for future plans."

"The church… hmm", Byleth was deep in thought and didn't even realize she talked out loud.

"Is something wrong?"

The voice of the emperor was a voice that did not allow nonsense.

"Is it about the holy ground? Can you not step foot on the monastery ground?", the mage - Dolores? - who was seated opposite from her, leaned forward with a curious spark in her eyes.

"What?" Byleth was really confused about the questions.

"Oh, I hadn't thought about that. There are not many books on Demonology. The church keeps them away from public libraries or even destroys them so our information about your kind is rather limited. If you can't step foot on the church ground, that would be a big disadvantage for us. After we take the monastery, it will become our new military headquarters. It would be very detrimental if you could not be there."

Immediately the Emperor fretted about the scenario. You could see that a thousand possible options and solutions clouded her head. Byleth intervened before it could go on for too long.

"No, there should be no worries as long as they didn't protect the ground with the right diagrams and runes to repel demons. I don't really know what this holy ground stuff is. I never heard of it. However, if the church is your enemy, I wonder if there are knights of their order who have made blood contracts with angels. As far as I know - and I don't know much about the church and the history of humans - the church has often brought in angels for support in times of war. Just as the Emperor summoned me."

Byleth now had all the attention on her and looked into many astonished faces. Some were speechless others just spouted questions.

"Angels are real?!"

"I really want to fight an angel. Are they any different to fight than humans?"

"Linhardt will be so interested to learn more about them."

"I have never be hearing of this term 'angel' before."

"Enough", the Emperor's voice boomed through the hall and everyone immediately quietened down.

"We should discuss this in the meeting room. I planned to have the meeting in the afternoon so that we could train before lunch, but this matter is too important. We will train after the meeting. Hubert, please find Linhardt and Bernadetta and accompany them to the meeting room immediately."

Everyone was getting up and a few talked quietly with each other. A bit lost Byleth stood up and followed as everybody left the dining hall. They climbed extravagant stairs with plush red carpets and went through excessively large wooden doors until they arrived at a room that was barely decorated and had only one large table with dozens of plush chairs around it.

The Eagles seemingly had all designated seats and left three chairs free obviously for the three missing members. Byleth was unsure where to seat herself. Thankfully Petra was aware of her indecision and petted the seat beside her.

"You can be seating next to me, cert."

As they waited for the other three, most Eagles were talking to each other. Byleth wasn't used to all this noise. While demons could be quite loud especially when they were fighting, which was their favourite thing to do, they mostly lived remote. So she wasn't used to so much noise without fighting being involved.

"Speaking gives me difficulty. I hope you have understanding."

Byleth tilted her head and studied her. She did look indeed a bit different from the other humans. She had a tattoo under her eye and one on her arm. Her clothes also differed. They were made of leather and she had all sorts of colorful jewelry and adornments. Something familiar was about this sight, but like always Byleth couldn't remember why.

"You are not from here? Which tongue do you speak normally?"

"I am from Brigid. I don't be thinking in Fódlan is a name for our language."

"Is this your native language?"

"Yes! How did you learn my language?"

Petra was visibly excited to talk to someone in her native language. She leaned towards Byleth and grinned from ear to ear.

"I learned many languages. It is troublesome to be in a blood contract with someone you cannot understand. I think I was summoned a few times in the place you call Brigid, but I can't tell for sure."

Before Petra could reply, a sleepy Linhardt, a frightened Bernadetta and a dark-looking Hubert finally joined them.

"Now that everyone is here", the Emperor shot a dark glance at Bernadetta and Linhardt, "We need to discuss an important matter. Please Byleth tell us more about these angels and their contracts with the church."

"Well, there isn't much to say. Angels are similar to us demons. They too come from another world or dimension. You call it heaven I believe. They can make contracts in exchange for souls and lend their strength to humans. I heard there was this institution called church that made a lot of contracts with them. However, everyone who knows how to call them and hold them in this world can make a contract with them - just like with demons. Although in big wars demons and angels often fight on opposite sides. They can't really stand each other."

Byleth never really understood this feud between angels and demons. She fought against demons and angels with the same indifference as any other enemy. It was all the same to her.

"What can you tell us about them, their strength and their weaknesses?"

"They are all individually different. They all fight diverse, some with magic, some with relics. There is a higher class of angels. They are said to be really powerful and hard to fight. Though I never encountered them."

The Emperor shook her head, but Byleth didn't know why.

"Alright, it seems you can't help us as much as I hoped. However, at least we won't be fully blindsided by a new enemy. We all have to be even more cautious. Have they unique looks so we can recognize them?"

"Oh, yes. You can't overlook them. They have big wings, mostly white. Some have white or golden claws and tattoos. The high-class angels can transform into huge beasts, I heard."

"Beasts?"

Bernadetta screeched in fear. Only the stern stare of Hubert stopped her from running away.

"I don't know much more. Those are just the rumors around hell."

"This is highly interesting", began the green-haired man, "Demon deals are for most just a myth, but there are records of them. Even if they are seen as fictional works. Never once have I heard of angel deals. This must be a well-kept of the church. Angels are considered watchful guardians, but also punishers. When the masses were aware that they are simply creatures that follow the will of a human, it would change the whole look on the church and their religion."

"Yes, indeed. That could help us greatly to show the people how the church uses its power to manipulate Fódlan to their will."

The Emperor nodded resolutely. They began to discuss if in events in the past an angel could have been responsible. Next they went on a list of known church members and the possibility of them having a contract.

Byleth didn't try to follow their discussion. She had lost interest quickly. She didn't have the best attention span and she felt… well she felt nothing like most of the time.

She must have zoned out because the next thing Byleth was aware of was a hand shaking her lightly. Petra retracted her hand and jerked her head towards the Emperor.

Byleth's blue eyes locked with the lilac eyes of the Emperor. The pale-haired sighed nearly silently.

"We have talked enough it seems. Let's heed to the training field. We need to sharpen our skills now more than ever."

The light blue-haired boy pumped his fist into the air and was the first one out of the door. Byleth quickly followed. She hoped that a bit of training would be more exciting.

The Emperor started by instructing everyone to work on their own at first, except Byleth. The imposing woman wanted to gauge Byleth's skills with her own eyes in a duel.

Unexpectedly, stood the small seemingly timid woman in heavy iron armor, with a large shield and an impressive axe before her. The Emperor even twirled her axe in a casual way as if it weighed nothing like a feather.

Still, Byleth thought she had the speed and agile advantage and didn't waste any time as the Emperor gave the start signal.

Her plan was one or two quick swipes with the sword to bring her down. Heavy objects tended to fall quickly and couldn't get up fast.

To Byleth's surprise the pale-haired woman paired the first strike incredibly fast and deflected the second so it harmlessly bounced off the armor. Gritting her teeth she tried another tactic that was reliable with heavy hitters like the day before with the brawler. She would dodge her attacks until she would get tired and sloppy.

That was a mistake. More precise than any other axe wielder she knew the woman attacked vigorously - and fast, really fast. It was only by a hair that she managed to dodge her charges. Some she needed to block and the strength of her strikes shook her to her bones. The Emperor didn't seem to lose any stamina as the fight continued. Her strikes were as unforgiving as at the beginning.

She never experienced such power from a human being. It was equivalent to a demon's strength. Byleth managed to gather herself again. She had to stop underestimating her like normal humans.

She began to deflect and dodge her opponent's powerful strikes so that the Emperor began to overbalance and paid for it with counterattacks that she couldn't block. Sadly the wooden sword glanced harmlessly off the heavy armor. Her real sword would have torn through the iron like her teeth through meat.

Byleth had to resort to drastic measures. Dodging one downward axe attack, the Emperor swung the wooden axe upwards with the blunt side. Instead of dodging again or deflecting, Byleth rushed forward and took the brute force of the attack. The blunt end impacted heavily with her stomach and all the air rushed out. Nevertheless she still managed to get close enough to swipe the emperor off her feet with a swift kick and to place the sword at the delicate exposed neck between helm and armor.

"I yield."

The Emperor sounded anything but amused. Byleth hadn't much time to think about the sour mood of her contractor as she bent over and heaved for air.

When her lungs finally stopped screaming for air, Byleth looked up at a pair of concerned lilac eyes. Gone was the look of irritation and defeat. She was a compassionate woman who seemed to care even about her.

The Emperor was so close, Byleth could smell her unique sweet but not overly so scent even through the heavy smell of sweat. It was rather pleasant.

"That was a truly reckless move, but it did lead you to victory. I don't know if it was worth it. You beat me but if there were other enemies, you would be in big trouble in your state."

"Yes, but it was only here for training. The only goal was to beat one opponent. If there were more, the whole fight would be different. I never fought a human who was this strong. It was quite unexpected."

"You certainly give it your all in a fight. You can focus on training on your own first. In an hour we start with team exercises."

A pink blush dusted the Emperor's cheeks, she must have been still winded from the fight, Byleth thought.

Looking around, she tried to decide where and what to train. Should she go to the dummies and train her weapons technique? She needed to pick up more speed if she wanted to beat opponents like the Emperor reliable.

Byleth was just coming to the decision to do that when Petra stopped her.

"You fought well. You fought with grace and speed like a feline predator."

"Thank you."

"Can you show me the swipe with your feet? The one you used to bring down Edelgard?"

"Of course."

So she began to instruct Petra instead. She was a quick learner and took in everything Byleth taught her. After Petra had mastered the move, Caspar got her attention. He wanted to train with her to work on his stamina and speed. The hour was over quickly and the team training began.

Hubert divided them into two teams to compete against each other. She was supposed to fight with Ferdinand and Bernadetta against Caspar, Petra and Linhardt. A difficult team composition - while Ferdinand was visibly uncomfortable even standing next to her, Bernadetta trembled with fear if Byleth gave her even a brief glance.

She managed to eliminate the opposing team all by herself, but it wasn't the result they were looking for. Hubert criticized her sharply for it, but Byleth only shrugged. She had done her job. She didn't really see the point to wait for the others when she could manage the enemy team alone.

After three more various team compositions and still the same results, everyone decided to end the training for today. The others didn't seem impressed by Byleth's lack of cooperation, but she didn't really care. She was never good at working with others and even less good at understanding human behavior and emotions.

She hoped that the next day would be more productive. Linhardt had shown her kindly the library upon request. Thus Byleth would not have to lie bored in the dark room on the bed over night.