Interlude
Year One
The monastery had fallen and with it Byleth. Seth had also died in the crash. Maira attended Finn's ceremony to become General and held a funeral with Wynne but she disappeared, opting to mourn her father in isolation somewhere no one knew. Wynne went to work as an advisor to the Imperial family. The fall of the monastery caused other problems though. All of the monastery landed directly on the Meritocracy where the majority of the Royalists resided. The Royalists fled into the other surrounding territories sparking intense fighting between the different nationalities. Oceania couldn't manage the problem and Finn was promoted to Supreme Leader at around the same time Eliana became Emperor, Johann became King, Leon became the Sovereign Duke, Akemi became President, and Demeter became Archbishop. A new age of rulers had emerged. But Finn had a serious problem, he could not focus on maintaining peace and helping to rebuild the land ruined by the monastery. That is when the Empire offered to help clear the rubble while Finn dealt with the conflict. The first year concluded this way.
Year Two
Eliana sent the Imperial Vanguard with the former Emperor, Edelgard at the head to assist the clean up in Ikairo territory. Where the new General Ikairo, Olaga was having difficulty. They worked well together and the territory was on its way to becoming prosperous yet again. But sometime in the year the attitude of the Empire changed, they still helped but they started to secretly bring in more of the military. They claimed it was so they could defend against the citizens if they pushed back against the Imperial forces but it seemed more malicious than that. Finn was in no position to argue though because he was just starting to get his situation under control. At this time Finn had also started to send scouts out to find Maira who had been missing for a little over a year now. Regardless, some stability was returning to the Naval Meritocracy and near the end of his second year when Finn finally achieved peace he told the Imperial Vanguard they could leave but they refused. At the very end of the second year the Empire declared war on the Naval Meritocracy. War had returned to Fodlan.
Year Three
At the start of his third year Finn was locked in fierce combat with the Imperial Vanguard. They were able to hold their southern border with no difficulty but the Vanguard was slowly moving west. Finn was sending requests for help to all of the other nations but there was little love for the Meritocracy. Finn had no intention of bowing to the Empire. They fought fiercely but eventually all of Ikairo territory was lost. Prepared for this Finn had fortified to the West blocking much of the Vanguard's movement. But there was one weakness. The Western Church was well fortified, so the Vanguard made that the target. Edelgard herself marched on it. They would have lost it until the Kingdom intervened. Both the Kingdom of Faerghus and the Holy Church State had close ties to the Western Church. The Western Church was locked in intense fighting between the Kingdom and the Imperial Vanguard. The Holy Church State hoped to join in but couldn't march because the Alliance and Abyssal Congregation decided to stay neutral. This upset the Holy Church State and they declared war on the Alliance, trying to capture the Bridge of Myrddin so they could march to the Western Church. But the Alliance and Holy Church State were evenly matched. Across Fodlan a stalemate would last for three years. Until Finn caught a break, he discovered the location of his lost professor. He quickly assembled his former classmates and rushed to try to bring Maira out of hiding.