"It feels weird to be sitting idle." Eve sighed into her ale. "I know there isn't anything more we can do to prepare right now, but it still feels… wrong."

"It feels weird being in Abyss." Sylvain glanced around anxiously.

"The town's closed and I needed a drink, so deal with it pretty boy." Eve rolled her eyes.

A week had passed since Edelgard declared war on the Church of Seiros and everyone was still making preparations. But Eve couldn't do anything more than steel herself for what was to come. Even still, she felt useless and somehow wrong for sitting around drinking ale in Abyss.

"Have you had any correspondence with your father?" Eve asked.

"I sent him a letter when we all found out, but I haven't heard back yet." Sylvain shook his head. "I warned him that war was coming and to start pulling any troops he could from the northern border with

"I wrote to Rodrigue because I wasn't sure Felix would." Eve said. "But I also haven't heard back. I know it hasn't been enough time, but a part of me worries our letters have been intercepted."

"What did you tell him?" Sylvain asked.

"All that happened in the Holy Tomb." Eve shrugged. "And to forgive me, but my duty would be to my husband and I would be unable to return to Fraldarius to fight."

"You're not going back?" Sylvain frowned as he took a sip of his ale.

"Not yet." Eve shook her head. "I can better protect Fraldarius if I help to protect Faerghus as a whole. And at the moment they're so far north they won't be in immediate danger. But if the front line moves up towards Fraldarius I will go to protect my lord."

"It feels weird that we're talking like we're going to lose this battle at the Monastery." Sylvain sighed.

"It's a very real possibility." Eve pursed her lips. "The Empire has clearly been preparing for months and we have two weeks. The knights aren't ready. The Archbishop is sending children to war, Syl, no one would do that if they weren't desperate."

"You'll have the help of the Abyss." Yuri's voice said from behind the two.

"Yuri." Eve turned to face him, startled by his interjection.

"These people down here have nowhere else to go." Yuri motioned vaguely. "They'll fight to protect what they have."

"It's still not enough." Eve shook her head. "I don't know that we can win this."

"Maybe we lose this battle." Yuri shrugged. "But we can thin as much of the Empire forces as we can before the real war breaks out."

"If we lose this battle, what happens to those in Abyss?" Eve frowned. "Garreg Mach is central to all of Fodlan, it would be a strategical place for the Adrestian forces to occupy."

"I don't think Edelgard will occupy the monastery." Yuri shook his head.

"You don't?" Sylvain interjected.

"This place stands for the very thing she's fighting against. I believe she'd rather destroy the monastery and let it fall into disrepair than occupy it." Yuri explained.

"For the sake of all those down here, I hope you're right." Eve sighed.

"Hey, we haven't even fought yet can you stop acting like we've already lost?" Sylvain grimaced.

"You're right, I'm sorry." Eve hung her head.

They were going to lose Garreg Mach, though, and she knew it. The Knights of Seiros were grossly underprepared and the students of the Officer's Academy were nowhere near skilled enough to face a trained army. Eve was already coming up with contingency plans, ways to get herself and her friends out when the battle was no longer in their favour.

But she was most worried for what happened after Garreg Mach. Could the Kingdom fight off Edelgard's forces? Dimitri wasn't ready to be king and he certainly wasn't in the mental state to claim his crown. But Eve didn't trust the King Regent to be an effective war-time leader. And what of the Alliance? Sure, she knew where Claude stood, but that was just one heir to one noble house. What if Alliance nobles sided with Edelgard? Would the Kingdom then be facing a war on two fronts?

The possibilities were endless and it was driving Eve mad. All the while, her husband was spiralling into insanity before her very eyes. She was of no comfort to him. She couldn't ease his anxieties or quell the darkness that was invading his heart. Every day now he had been in the training hall, training so vigorously that he had broken nearly all of the training lances available.

"Hey, Kitten, we'll be okay." Sylvain rubbed his friends back comfortingly when she went silent.

"Will we?" Eve asked quietly.

"Think of everything you've survived so far, every bit of adversity you've had to face." Sylvain tried to offer a hopeful smile. "I know it's not fair, but you've done it before. So do it one more time."

"My luck's gotta run out eventually, Syl." She shook her head. "What if this is it?"

"Felix told me what you promised him." Sylvain blurted.

"What?" Eve blinked.

"You don't go back on your promises." Sylvain urged. "You promised Felix you wouldn't die on him, so your luck can't run out yet."

"No one can keep a promise like that!" Eve cried out in indignation, throwing her hands up. "It's a stupid promise I made in the heat of the moment."

"If anyone can keep a promise like that, it's you."

Eve looked around at her fellow classmates as a pit of dread gnawed at her insides. Everyone was quiet, eyes flitting between each other in fear and worry. Ashe was anxiously picking the string of his bow and Eve could see his hands shaking ever so slightly. Mercedes and Annette were huddled together as the younger girl was biting back tears.

War was here.

This was not a first battle for anyone— not for the teachers, not for the students, not for the knights. But as they all stood at the top of the town below the monastery, it was apparent that everyone knew this was the only battle that mattered. Bandits and the stray demonic beast were not a trained army led by a girl who would stop at nothing to reach her ideals.

Eve looked to Rhea who stood in her battle gear beside Seteth and Byleth. Not that anyone doubted the brevity of the situation, but seeing the Archbishop on the battlefield made it all the more real.

In her hands, Eve could feel the thrumming aliveness of her weapons. Rhea had gifted her with a Hero's Relic just a few days prior— two halves of a Crest Stone adorning the hilts of her dual blades. She could feel the power emanating from them and she understood now why Hero's Relics were so important. Eve had always thought them a desecration, their power mostly fuelled by the legends that accompanied them. But ever since seeing the affect the Lance of Ruin had had on Miklan, Eve knew there was more merit to their power. And now feeling the pure energy that radiated from the blades in her hands, she knew that these relics truly were stronger than any other weapon. And so it made sense to her why Sylvain, who had given responsibility of the Lance of Ruin over to the Professor, was now wielding the weapon for a fight like this.

Eve let her eyes fall upon Felix who stood beside Sylvain just in front of her. He looked so collected with the Aegis shield upon his back, the only one of their classmates that wasn't visibly nervous. She knew this was what he wanted; a reason to wield his blade against enemies that would pose a challenge to him. With all her heart, Eve wished she could convince him there was more to life than conflict. She worried that he would run headlong into this battle uncaring of what happened to him. And she couldn't afford to focus solely on protecting him when she needed to keep an eye on Dimitri.

Dimitri…

Eve now turned to face her husband who stood beside her in terse silence. He was shaking, his whole body wracked with tremors. But his shaking did not appear to be a product of fear or anxiety. No, he was humming with anticipation— excited to have an opportunity to kill

Gently, Eve reached out to grab Dimitri's hand to comfort him. But before she could reach him, she stopped herself. Physical affections would not ease his anger now. Right now, he was not the shy prince who would blush at the smallest physical contact. In this moment he was a man that Eve frankly did not know at all. This was the part of himself that Dimitri had tried so hard to hide from her.

"Listen up, everyone!" Alois called out to all those assembled. "The Imperial army is upon us. If you can fight, pick up a weapon! Everyone else, hurry up and evacuate! We have the Goddess' protection on our side. We have nothing to fear. Victory will be ours!"

There were various shouts and rallying cries that sounded out as the Church forces moved to intercept the Adrestian army before they could get too close to the monastery. Eve saw Claude directing those who were evacuating as she rushed forward to the front line.

Please, Goddess, let everyone make it out of this alive. Eve found herself thinking just as the sound of steel clashing with steel reached her ears signalling the beginning of it all.

Eve could not process much of what was happening. Despite it having been so long since she had been involved in serious conflict, her body and mind went automatic. It was all too easy to fall back into the violence and bloodshed.

But she was careful this time not to fall into the same blind rage that she had had in the Sealed Forest. She was mindful of her allies, using her Crest where she could to give them an advantage. In a battle of this scale, though, she could not protect them as she usually could. Instead of being able to blanket all of her allies with the power of her Crest, she had to target certain wounds as she saw them happen. She was also trying to be conservative about using her Crest should anyone fall.

"Ferdinand!" She shouted as she saw her friend's horse collapse with him still on top.

She rushed to him, shoving her blades into their scabbards on her belt as she fell to her knees beside him. One of his legs was pinned under his steed and he was clearly in immense pain.

"I'm stuck." He said through gritted teeth.

"I got you, I got you." Eve reassured. "I'm going to try to lift as much as I can and I need you to see if you can wiggle out from underneath it."

Ferdinand nodded and she grunted as she tried to lift his horse up off of him. It took quite a bit of effort from the both of them, but eventually they were able to get him out from under his steed.

"Eve, my leg is broken." Ferdinand choked. "Just leave me."

"No." She shook her head firmly.

"It's not worth wasting your energy on." Ferdinand tried to smile.

"Ferdinand, you have forsaken the Empire to fight beside us today." Eve frowned. "I know how much your nobility means to you; I know this was no small decision."

"As a noble I could not stand for the bloodshed Edelgard will bring." Ferdinand said.

"I'm not letting your decision be in vain." Eve said as she activated her Crest.

She watched with delight as the Death Knight roared in pain, clutching his leg.

"Can you continue fighting?" Eve turned her attention back to Ferdinand as she helped him stand back up. "If not, evacuate with the rest and get to safety."

"I can fight." Ferdinand nodded after testing the weight on his leg tentatively.

"Good." Eve nodded as she unsheathed her blades again and moved to rejoin the fight.

"Eve?" Ferdinand called after her before she got too far.

"Yes?" She turned back to him.

"Thank you." He nodded at her.

Eve nodded back, understanding all of the weight in those two words. She had sympathy for him. Ferdinand was sacrificing his noble title that meant so much to him to fight beside the Church. He was putting his future at risk to stand for what was right. She prayed he would not have to lose his life for it.

To Eve's surprise, the battle seemed to be going in their favour. After having defeated Hubert and the Death Knight, they were able to flank the east and west entrances to the town with forces led by Shamir and Catherine. The Empire was falling back, even general Ladislava had retreated after taking a devastating blow from Linhardt of all people.

But Eve's hopes were dashed as they reached the edge of the upper part of the town to see down below where a new wave of Empire reserves were making their way towards them. There were too many and Eve knew this was the end of their stand here.

Suddenly, a mighty roar sounded and it felt as if the air itself was shaking. Eve looked up as a shadow flew overhead to see a brilliant white dragon making its way towards the reserve forces.

"The Immaculate One." She murmured in disbelief, astounded by the sight.

"Eve!" Sylvain came running towards her, shouting her name.

"Sylvain, are you unharmed?" Eve let her eyes sweep over her friend as they reached each other.

"I'm fine." He brushed her off.

"Hang on." She shushed him as she activated her Crest, ridding his body of any injuries and transferring them to a stray Empire soldier nearby.

"Save your energy." Sylvain grabbed her hands. "There's a dragon on the battlefield which I think is a good indicator that it's time to go."

"Yes, we should get out of here." Eve nodded in agreement.

"No, not we." Sylvain shook his head. "You need to take Dimitri and go. We'll stay and fight."

"I'm not leaving you, Sylvain." Eve blinked in disbelief.

"Don't worry, I'm not falling here." He tried to smile comfortingly. "We've just got to fight a little longer to make sure no one follows after you. But you have to get him back to Faerghus."

"You promise me, Sylvain." She said firmly. "You promise me you will retreat before it's too late."

"I promise you, kitten." Sylvain agreed. "I'll see you when I get to Faerghus."

"Good." She nodded, satisfied. "Now, where did you last see Dimitri."

"He's up ahead at the front line." Sylvain indicated a general direction. "He's pretty far up ahead, but you'll see him."

"Got it." Eve nodded, moving to run off before pausing. "Sylvain…"

"No." He shook his head, stopping her before she could say goodbye. "I'll see you soon."

She nodded before running in the direction he had indicated. Yes, he was right. This was not goodbye. She would get Dimitri to Fhirdiad and then meet up with the rest of them when they returned to their respective territories.

"Dimitri!" Eve called out when she spotted his blonde hair on the battlefield.

He was covered in blood, but she knew it was not his. She could tell by his erratic movements as he cut through the enemies that came at him in an endless wave. Six soldiers against one man should not have been a fight so clearly in Dimitri's favour. But he was blinded by his rage and was moving with frightening speed and accuracy.

"Dimitri!" She called out again as she got closer.

He ran his lance through the last enemy that stood before him as she cried out. When he heard his name he whipped around, arcing his lance up to slash across Eve's torso. She saw the movement, but just a moment too late to fully avoid it and she felt as the tip of his lance sliced through her flesh from a point on her waist all the way up to her clavicle on the opposite side.

"Dimitri." She said his name once more, this time in shock as she blinked at him.

For a moment, clarity shone in Dimitri's eyes which widened in horror as he realised what he had done.

"We have to leave." Eve said when her initial shock wore off.

"No." His features darkened again and he grimaced.

"Look around, Dimitri, we are losing." Eve motioned around them with her arm.

"I don't care if we lose." He growled. "All I care about is tearing that girl's head from her shoulders."

"Edelgard retreated." Eve shook her head. "You are not going to make it to her alive, not today."

"You are free to run away, but I will not shy from my path." Dimitri glared at her. "You cannot tell me not to kill her."

"I'm not saying you can't kill her." Eve sighed. "I'm saying not today. We are losing this battle, Dimitri, please look around. I'm asking you to survive this battle so you can kill her in the next one."

"Kill her…" Dimitri pondered this for a moment.

"Please, Dimitri, you know I'm right." Eve pleaded. "We have to get to Fhirdiad."

"Perhaps there is merit to what you are saying." He conceded. "Then let us return to Fhirdiad where we will organise the Kingdom forces to tear down Adrestia."

Eve let out a relieved sigh as she pulled her wyvern whistle from her blouse. She was glad Dimitri's lance had not severed the cord. Eve was only worried that the whistle would not work at this range over all the din of warfare. But nevertheless she brought it to her lips and blew as hard as she could.

"Eve!"

As Eve looked about for any sign of her wyvern, her eyes fell upon Felix as he ran towards them.

"Felix?" She wondered why he was coming her way.

"You're leaving?" He asked when he got closer to them, glancing at Dimitri behind her.

"We're making a strategic retreat." Eve nodded.

Before Felix could say more, Eve's wyvern dove out of the sky to land beside her with a great flap of its wings.

"Dimitri, get on." She motioned towards the wyvern.

"I don't know how to fly." Dimitri shook his head.

"Don't worry." Eve assured him. "I will fly us to Fhirdiad."

"Since when did you know how to fly?" Felix frowned as Dimitri moved to mount the beast.

"That doesn't matter." Eve said and grabbed Felix's shoulders roughly. "You have to listen to me, Felix."

"Eve…" Felix started.

"No, listen to me." Eve said firmly. "Promise me you'll listen."

"Okay, okay." Felix nodded.

"You take Sylvain and Ingrid and you get out of here." Eve instructed. "Ingrid can take a pegasus and fly overhead to keep an eye out for the road ahead. You ride with Sylvain on the ground so you can field any enemies you might see along the way. Do not seek out conflict, do not stop to fight if you do not have to. Make no delays."

"Eve, I-"

"I'm not finished." She cut Felix off hastily. "Get to Fraldarius as fast as you can and warn your father. Help him organise your forces to prepare for what is coming. Have Sylvain keep going north to warn the Margrave."

"What will you do?" Felix asked.

"I'm going to take Dimitri to Fhirdiad." Eve answered. "We'll tell the King Regent everything and prepare the Kingdom for war. I will…do my best to be Dimitri's sanity."

"And then you'll come back to me." Felix said.

"Felix…" Eve let out an exasperated sigh.

"Do your duty to your husband." Felix sneered. "But then come home and do your duty for House Fraldarius."

"I will." Eve nodded, swallowing her heart that felt like it was about to leap out of her throat.

The two of them stared at each other for a beat, the sinking feeling that this was goodbye plaguing them both. But neither wanted to be the one to say it; neither wanted to say the word that would make this real.

Suddenly, Felix grabbed Eve's shoulders and pulled her to him, moving the two of them into the shadow of her wyvern so neither Dimitri above nor anyone on the battlefield could see them. He pressed his lips to hers in a frantic and pleading kiss. It lasted but a fleeting moment as he pulled her back to look fiercely into her eyes.

"Remember your promise." He said. "Don't die on me, not for him."

"I won't." She breathed, heart racing.

With an understanding nod, Felix released his hold on her. Eve moved to mount the wyvern in front of where Dimitri had settled onto its back. And as the two of them took off, Eve took one last glance at the battlefield below them. Chaos was still rampant as the Knights of Seiros clashed with the Empire army. She could see Felix take off running towards the speck of red hair that she knew was Sylvain. And just as she was about to take off towards the Kingdom, Eve watched in horror as the Professor was hit by a mysterious spell that sent her over the edge of a cliff into the chasm below.

The Immaculate One let out a mighty roar wracked with grief as the Professor fell into the depths. And with her heart still pounding, Eve urged her wyvern to take off as fast as it could. She could feel Dimitri's warmth behind her, his arms that were wrapped around her waist still shaking.

"Sothis." She found herself praying aloud, voice choked with worry. "Protect us all…"

A / N We've reached the war phase finally! Thank you for sticking with me thus far. I will be taking a 1 week break as I'll be on holiday, but updates will resume the following Friday.