My name is shujinko garu arashi. Since the battle at garreg mach. I've returned to house ordelia. And helped lysithea run ordelia turf until she turned it over to a new lord. So that her and her family could live in peace. My time as a servant to house ordelia maybe over. But my life with lysithea certainly isn't. Alongside two other beautiful girls from the golden deer.
I still can't believe i married three girls. It took a bit for lysithea to get used to it. But hilda and marianne got used to each other instantly. Considering hilda is kind of a perv. Which i certainly don't mind. And marianne also had a crush on hilda alongside me. So the fact she can have us both was a blast of fortune in what felt like nothing but misfortune and i'm glad she's now happy. And honestly? Who needs coffee? When waking up to see marianne and hilda making out. That's more than enough to get you wide awake.
Of course. They have there own territories to worry about. But any chance they get to see there husband again. They take it. However. When hilda came to me this time. She came with a…troubling message from claude. Who has taken his rightful position as the leader of the alliance.
"Hey shujinko. Hope your crazy love life is working out. I need you and lysithea at derdriu. Almyran troubles. Signed claude." i read the note out loud.
"Almyran? So there attacking again?" lysithea asked.
"Of course. After all. Claude let that arrogant brat shahid fly away. I knew it was only a matter of time before he came back for round 2. Probably with a bigger army. So claude will need all the help he can get." i said. Me and lysithea hopped on to hilda's wyvern. Air travel was alot quicker then a carriage. So it didn't take long for us to arrive at derdriu. And when we did. It was like a big reunion.
I got a kiss on the lips from marianne. While lorenz wallowed in jealousy. Ignatz waved at me as he continued his masterpiece. Don't know what it is. But knowing him and his passion for art. It will be great. Leonie and raphael challenging me to a sparring match. Which i told them i would do later. And soon the big man himself entered the room alongside the hero of daphnel judith.
"Hey everyone long time no see." claude said. As he entered the room. He looked at me and whistled. "Looks like you've been training for the better part of five years." claude said with amazement.
"Indeed. The agarthans may have gone into hiding after the battle of garreg mach. But for as long as they're out there. They will be scheming to destroy us all. Which is why we need to be ready. But before them. We have shahid to deal with." i said. Judith looked at me in shock.
"How do you know the name of their leader?" judith asked. I shrugged.
"I was there when claude let shahid fly away. I knew that an army would come storming to avenge him. But i also knew that arrogant brat would come back with an even bigger force. And i was right. At least this way. It gave us five years to prepare. Instead of about a couple of months like how finishing him off would have lead to." i said.
"Yeah. which is why i called you all here. If the alliance is going to repel them this time. We'll need all the help we can get. So what do you say?" claude asked.
"Say no more. I'm in." i said. Everyone else nodded.
"Really? Just like that?" judith asked.
"Of course. Claude's is not just our old house leader. But our friend as well. Besides of shahid gets his way. The alliance will be reduce to ashes. Including all of our territories. And our homes. So we're more then ready to help repel them. But i'm gonna need you to lend me some swords claude." i said.
"Why would you…oh right. Your swords were destroyed in the battle of garreg mach." claude said.
"That really sucks. Those two oversized scalpels were your longest companion. They were really good swords too. Finding a replacement is not gonna be easy." leonie said.
"Luckily sothis has a replacement ready for you." shamir said as she entered the room.
"Shamir! What are you doing here?" claude asked.
"Don't mind me. I'm just making a delivery." shamir said as she handed me something wrapped in cloth. I opened to find two sabers. I picked them up. "So what do you think of Macuil's drakeswords?" she asked.
"Amazing. Like they were made for me." i said.
"They were. As a matter of fact. Sothis's order. And with that done. I'll be heading back to garreg mach now." shamir said. Only for a soldier to come charging in.
"The almyrans are at fodlan's throat. Lord holst is requesting support!" the soldier yelled.
"Shamir. Can you aid us in this battle?" i asked. Shamir side.
"Alright. But you better pay me for this." shamir said. Claude agreed. A mercenary like shamir is worth is like byleth and jeralt. Worth every bit of gold.
After arriving in fodlan's throat. The battle has already begun. Holst is fighting like a beast as usual. But even he can only take so much. So we joined the fray. A large scale battle like this was not what i expected would be how i test my new swords. But these drakeswords were even better than my dan tien daos. They cut through wyvern hide and steel armor like a hot dagger through butter. I even managed to cut through steel swords like they were bread. Needless to say. I owe this macuil a feast. It didn't take me long to fight through the almyran soldiers and give support to holst.
"Right on time shujinko! I'll be honest. I thought was a goner there." holst said.
"Can't let my brother in law die. Can i?" i asked with a grin. Holst laughed. More almyran soldiers came at us. Holst readied his sword and grinned.
"How about we show them the terrible twister that is you and me working together?" holst asked.
"It's as if you read my mind." i said as we charged our way through the almyran soldiers.
"Should we help them?" marianne asked.
"Nah. that's not nearly enough to stop those two. Let's go help the others mari." hilda said. Marianne hopped on the back of her wyvern and flew off. After cutting our way through the waves of soldiers. I ran into an old foe. Nader the undefeated.
"Well. if it isn't the kid who knocked some of my teeth out five years ago." nader said.
"And my right hook is gotten even nastier since then. Ready to finish what we started five years ago?" i asked.
"Yep. but not in the way you expect kid." nader said. Causing me to raise an eyebrow. "Everyone! Time to initiate khalids plan! We are to follow commander shujinko's orders!" nader yelled…typical claude. Always Hiding an ace up his sleeve. After dealing with the soldiers khalid sent to kill nader for his betrayal. I went face to face with the spoiled little brat. Alongside claude.
"I knew you would be back. You seem like that kind of spoiled brat to not like losing at all." i said. He looked at me with anger.
"Today will be my victory! You barbarian!" shahid yelled as he dove down. And swung his axe. He repeated this dive bomb motion a few times. I got sick of it. So in one quick motion i cut off the wyverns head. Shahid fell off and rolled a few times. He charged at me with his axe after getting up. But his swings were sloppy compared to hilda natsu or edelgard. So it didn't take much effort to dodge and give him a roundhouse kick to the stomach sending him flying over to a cliffside. He stood back up. Claude was at the ready with a failnaught arrow with his name on it.
"Give it up shahid! It's over. You lost." claude said.
"Let fly that arrow then. I'll never kneel to the likes of you!" shahid yelled.
"But that isn't what I'm asking you to do here! Let's end this. Come on!" claude yelled. Desperately trying to get through to shahid.
"You little brat! I would sooner die!" shahid yelled as he threw a shamshir at claude. I got in the way and deflected it.
"No wonder you hired my brother. Your just as much of a scumbag as him! Claude if you can't do it. Then leave it to me. I'm an expert in fratricide." i said as i walk towards shahid. Sword at the ready.
"No!...this is my burden to bear." claude said as he readied his arrow. "I never wanted things between us to end this way…i'm so sorry. Brother." claude said as he let his arrow fly. Sending shahid off the cliff. "Guess we're both brother killers now. Huh shujinko?" claude asked.
"Yeah. There was no love lost between me and shin. But it's a different story when despite everything you still held hope that he would change. My parents never let go. Even when it was harmful. I'm glad you know when it's time to let go off that hope. Before it cost you…hopefully without shahid's egotistical goals in the way. Your dream of co existence between almyra and fodlan will be much closer." i said.
"Yeah…thanks shujinko…come on. Let's get back. Hopefully everyone is alright." claude said. He whistled and a white wyvern came down and picked him up. As he flew back to the camp.
"Guess i'm walking back to the camp…thanks claude." i said as i rolled my eyes. It was a long walk back to the camp. Everyone was there. Unharmed. I was greeted with a hug from hilda lysithea and marianne. Getting a look of jealousy from lorenz. And a look of sadness from claude.
"Claude? Are you alright?" i asked.
"It's nothing." he replied. Yeah that was unconvincing.
"You miss byleth. Don't you?" I asked.
"...yeah." claude replied with sadness in his voice.
"Hopefully. We'll get news of her return soon." i said. I truly meant that. It didn't matter what timeline it was. Either it was falling off that cliff or getting blasted by rhea. Byleth would return in five years. However. All those times. Sothis gave her her power. I wasn't sure if she would survive that fall this time. however my fears were shot dead with an arrow when we returned to derdriu. As a knight of seiros was there with a letter. That byleth has been found. The second claude read it. He immediately hopped on his wyvern and flew off to garreg mach.
"Where's the boy going?" judith asked.
"To reunite with his beloved teach." i said with a grin. We all followed him.
Garreg mach audience hall./present time./natsu pov.
"And that's what's been happening with us." shujinko said. We saw byleth being bridal carried by claude. Blushing byleth was pretty cute. She was alive. But clearly without sothis fusing with her. It would take some time to recover after her five year coma. She looked at us and smiled.
"Edelgard dimitri and claude…all three of you are here" byleth said. Tears soon went down her face. "After so many tries…so many resets…natsu. Athro. Shujinko. Thank you…thank you so much." byleth said. Gratefulness emanating from her voice.
"No need to thank us. I was happy to help you change fate. A brighter future is worth fighting for." i said.
"Byleth…before i came here. I had nothing. I was a ghost. But finding dimitri in the tragedy of duscur…i found hope in those flames…i learned a lesson from that. If you lose everything. You can always begin again. The kingdom of faerghus was my new beginning. And i was happy to give dimitri a new beginning as well. To save him from the dark curse those flames left on his mind…so there's no need to thank me. This was a task I was more than willing to do." athro said.
"Byleth. Before i came here. I was abandoned by my family. I had nowhere to go. Saving lysithea and meeting the golden deer was truly a blessing. The golden deer was the family i needed. One that will always help each other out. And call you out on when you're doing something incredibly stupid. Something my previous family lacked. So there's no reason to thank me. Your family too professor. And family always looks out for each other." shujinko said with a smile. Byleth smiled back at us.
"When you recover…there's still one last thing that needs to be done." i said.
"Indeed…the nations aren't fighting each other. But the agarthans are still a threat. Considering the weapons they have." byleth said with a straight face. And if the world was proving her point. An imperial soldier came rushing in.
"Your majesty! The imperial palace has been destroyed!" the soldier yelled.
"WHAT!?" me and edelgard yelled.
"We don't know what happened. Everything was normal. Then this javelin of light came from nowhere. And completely destroyed the palace." the soldier said.
Enbarr.
The imperial was completely gone. Nothing but rubble. No doubt there planning on firing more at the other capitals too.
"Casualties?" edelgard asked the soldiers.
"None. alot of people nearby were injured and being treated. But no one was in the palace when the javelin hit. Natsu told everyone that when neither you or natsu are in the palace. Everyone is to leave." the soldier said. Edelgard looked at me.
"Did you know this would happen?" edelgard asked.
"I knew about the other timelines thanks to sothis and byleth. Me. athro. And shujinko. I knew it was only a matter of time until those snakes started to use those. No doubt they've got two more with fhirdiad and derdriu as there intended targets…the palace can be rebuilt…human life can not. Which is why I made that choice." i said. Edelgard looked to the ground with a look of anger on her face. She knew i was right. But not liking that the empire's jewel is now rubble.
"Natsu…it's time." shujinko said with a determined look.
"Yeah…let's go." i said.
"Go? Go where?" athro asked. I pointed to the mountains in the east.
"To the city without light. Shambhala. Dimitri. Claude. Gather up your army. We're going to do what the nabateans couldn't…and crush the agarthans once and for all!" i yelled….the final battle is approaching…at long last…this war with the dark will come to an end. And the violet sun will rise.