Drops of sweat ceased their fall from Edelgard's brow. Her eyes were wide with fear and her mouth was contorted into an angry scream- both frozen still in time. She stood there, like a statue, her hand outstretched towards the bloody mess that was once her classmate.
A pool of blood covered Dorothea's chest, the red liquid clinging to her skin; not even the pull of gravity could cause a single droplet to move from its place. There was only a little flicker of light left in her cloudy eyes. Her body had paused in the midst of a scream, her mouth hanging open but refusing to move.
The scythe that carved through her flesh hung in the air, the red sheen on its blade glimmering in the torchlight.
Byleth watched on in horror, the scene splayed out before him like some sick, twisted painting. Time stood still in this hellish purgatory. Only he was allowed to move freely through this pause on time.
"…How long are we going to do this, Byleth?" Sothis spoke quietly in his mind. "How long will you try and divert fate?"
Byleth swallowed his fear, his hand tightening around the hilt of his sword.
"As long as I am able."
The light and sounds of the mausoleum began to distort as Byleth turned back the hands of time once more.
Clang!
The clash of metal on metal reverberated in Byleth's eardrums. The mercenary jumped backwards, creating space between him and his opponent.
"Damn it," he cursed under his breath, wiping a trail of blood away from his cheek with a thumb.
"Fool…"
A voice like a beast growled out through the darkness. The sound alone was enough to cause his hair to stand up on end.
The clacking sound of a horse's hooves echoed throughout the chamber as a pair of red eyes grew closer.
"If you had fled, I would not have chased you. But it seems you wish to die…"
The black knight's form slowly fizzled into view, the flames of a nearby torch reflecting off of his pure black armor. Spikes lined his shoulder pauldrons and the collar of his armor, each point looking sharper than the last. A pair of long, curved horns rested atop his skull-shaped helmet, giving him the appearance of some demonic beast. His terrifying scythe rested on his shoulders, the same scythe Byleth saw tear through so many of his students.
All that stood between the Eagles and the tomb in the back of the chamber was this single, imposing figure. It was as if Death himself had taken to the field to impede their progress.
"Professor!" He heard Edelgard's voice in his ear. "This foe is too great; we should circle around him and stop that mage before he opens Saint Serios's tomb!"
Byleth glanced at Edelgard, then looked to the rest of the class behind her. Thanks to his efforts and his supernatural gift, many of them had escaped the battle so far with only a few scrapes or bruises to their name. Most of the knight's lackeys hadn't proved to be much of a threat and had been taken down with relative ease.
It was this demon that proved to be the real problem.
"No." Byleth shook his head. "I will not let this monster walk the earth."
In five separate instances, Byleth had watched helplessly as the knight cut down student after student, his scythe slashing through flesh and limb. Byleth had listened to the agonizing cries of those he swore to protect call out for him, begging to be saved. Their faces haunted his memory. Their screams plagued his thoughts. As long as he lived, he would not let this beast come back another day to reenact the nightmarish scenes Byleth had witnessed.
But, as strong as he was, the knight was stronger. Even at his full strength, there was a class of students behind him that Byleth had to worry for. Every move he made was influenced by their presence. Were he to completely disregard their lives and attack the knight as the demon he was once known for, there might be a chance...
However, he wouldn't allow himself to consider that option. The way he saw it, he had at least one or two more attempts to down the knight before the drain of Sothis's powers became too much.
"Edelgard, Hubert, you're with me."
For whatever reason, the knight seemed uninterested in those two. It was almost like he had been avoiding them in every timeline.
"Caspar, you're our fastest runner. I need you to go and alert Catherine to what's happening. Get her and the other knights here as fast as you can."
"Aw, really?" Caspar groaned, his shoulders drooping. "I don't want to miss out on any of the-"
"You will do as I say!" Byleth bellowed, shutting him up. The booming sound of his voice caused Bernadetta to shriek and Dorothea to gasp; even Hubert looked marginally surprised. Never had any of the students ever heard the soft-spoken Byleth raise his voice before.
"Fine, fine. Sheesh." Caspar rubbed the back of his head. "I'll be back before you know it."
The blue-haired boy was true to his word, taking off down the hall as fast as he could to find the wielder of Thunderbrand.
Byleth let out a sigh of relief, then turned to the rest of the class.
"Ferdinand, Bernadetta, and Linhardt I want you to circle around to the left. Petra and Dorothea, you to the right. Finish off what's left of the enemy and stop the man at the tomb before he can finish whatever it is he's doing. Do I make myself clear?"
The five students nodded, hurrying off to complete their assigned tasks before their teacher's anger could rise once more.
As he expected, the knight didn't move an inch as the students ran around him. His red eyes never left Byleth. For whatever reason, his gaze was solely fixed on him.
"Edelgard, you and I will lead the charge. Hubert, focus your magic on his horse to keep him off balance. Try and cover any openings in our attacks. Understood?"
"I don't take orders from the likes of you." Hubert glowered at him. "But, I suppose if Lady Edelgard demands…"
"Do as he says, Hubert." Edelgard nodded.
"Then I am at your disposal." Hubert shrugged.
Edelgard leaned towards Byleth, her voice dropping to a whisper.
"Professor, are you all right? It's unlike you to look so pale in the face of an enemy."
Byleth appreciated the concern the soon-to-be empress had shown him, but there was no time for feelings like that.
"This enemy is unlike any we've faced before." Byleth frowned. "Can I trust you to have my back?"
Edelgard's eyes stared long and hard into his. He could feel her gaze reach deep as she examined him, but he didn't waver.
Eventually, she nodded, raising her axe.
"You needn't even ask, my teacher."
"Then follow me, and don't do anything rash."
"I could say the same to you," Edelgard shot back, her brow creased with worry.
Byleth ignored her, raising his sword once more.
All of them gave him a reason for being. These unorganized, naïve, inexperienced… yet hardworking, passionate, and loving students had given an aimless mercenary a purpose, and for that, his life was theirs. Should he die so that they could live, then so be it.
It was that conviction that calmed his shaking hands.
Forgive me, Sothis.
Steel hammering against steel echoed throughout the mausoleum, the explosions of magic shaking the very ground they walked on.
Despite the Death Knight being at a disadvantage in numbers and in movement, he repelled every attack and sent it back tenfold. Hubert's magic was reflected. Edelgard and Byleth's strikes were tossed aside as if they were simple slaps. His diminished mobility sitting atop his horse seemed like a minor inconvenience to him. No matter what strategy Byleth had come up with, the Death Knight stopped it all.
Edelgard's eyes widened as his scythe entered her vision, its sharp blade plummeting towards her head.
Clang!
Byleth's sword suddenly appeared in front of her, knocking the scythe away. How he had managed to clear the distance between the two that fast, she'll never know. It was if he had predicted the movement before the knight had even lifted a finger.
Edelgard growled, her fist clenching around her weapon. This was not how she had planned things to go. Not only had Byleth ignored her advice to avoid the Death Knight, he seemed determined to kill the man himself, their original mission be damned. If things didn't change soon, Edelgard would have to choose between the life of her weapon, or the life of-
"Are you hurt?" Byleth asked, his eyes flickering to her. He was drenched in sweat, his face covered in various cuts and gashes he received from protecting her and Hubert. His legs were shaking, his arms trembling with exertion as he held his sword. Her professor seemed to have tired out much quicker than he had during the battle with Lonato.
Edelgard felt her heartbeat steady looking upon the man. Despite all of that, here Byleth stood, his feet planted firmly beside her.
"I am fine, Professor."
Whatever happened, she valued his life much, much more than that of her tool- no matter how sharp it may be.
"Professor! He's opening the tomb!"
Dorothea's voice pulled her back to reality.
She shot her head up to see a masked man pushing at the stone lid of Seiros's coffin. From the look of things, he nearly had. The rest of her classmates were close, but they were too bogged down in fighting to stop him.
There was little time left, but it was her chance to finish this without losing either. As much as she loathed to admit it, she still needed the likes of the Death Knight if possible.
"Professor! Go!" she shouted. "Hubert and I can hold him off to buy you some time."
Byleth faced her. While his expression would never betray it, the look of pain in his eyes was an arrow to her chest. She could see his heart twisting behind those big, blue pupils of his. The choice between his people, and his duty… It was one she knew too well.
"Trust in our strength," she said, softer this time. "We'll be fine. Now, go!"
The professor shook his head, cursing under his breath, then took off towards the back of the mausoleum.
"I will not let you leave so easily…"
The Death Knight galloped forward, his scythe poised above his head.
A blast of black magic exploded at the horse's hooves, causing it to rear back on its hind legs.
Byleth continued past untouched, his feet hammering at the stone floor as he ran.
Once he was certain Byleth was out of earshot, Hubert spoke.
"Isn't it time you withdrew from here?" Hubert seethed.
The knight turned his head slowly towards the mage.
"I don't take orders from you…" His voiced slithered out from his helm.
"But you will from me," Edelgard ground out. "The plan has changed. It is time for you to make your leave before Catherine and the others get here."
The Death Knight remained silent. The only sound that came from him was that of his strained breathing.
"Do not deny my blade…" he hissed. "It craves that one's flesh…"
"You would do well not to disobey me," Edelgard warned, her voice absolute.
"You would dare to constrict me…?"
The Death Knight raised his lance, his horse strutting in place.
Edelgard shook her head, the anger in her chest threatening to boil over.
"I've had enough of your insubordination."
She turned to Hubert, nodding once.
"Of course, Lady Edelgard." Hubert bowed. "Allow me to dispense of this trash."
With a flash of purple light, the Death Knight disappeared, his form sent to some place far, far away from the monastery. Her uncle's technology was something the Flame Emperor had found very useful as of late.
Edelgard looked around the mausoleum. Her classmates appeared too busy to be privy to any of their exchange with the Death Knight, thankfully. It seemed her shaky alliance with the creature would remain in the dark for now.
"Where did you send him?" she inquired.
"The Sealed Forest," Hubert replied. "He should be out of our hair for the time being."
"Good," Edelgard sighed, letting out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding. "Thank you, Hubert."
"It was my pleasure, Your Highness." Hubert flashed one of his rare smiles before going back to his usual expression. "But, I must ask: is it really wise to allow that… man to thwart our plans so easily?"
Hubert's poorly masked animosity for the professor was his worst kept secret. While, for the most part, he followed Byleth's orders for her benefit, Hubert hardly trusted the man. Even less so now that he and Edelgard and begun to form something akin to a rapport. Edelgard didn't necessarily approve of the contempt he held toward their teacher, but she couldn't hold it against him. As was the case in most instances, Hubert only had Edelgard's best interests in heart.
Edelgard brushed her hair behind her ear, then turned to face her most trusted comrade.
"There's nothing for it, Hubert. Any plans to retrieve the Saint's bones had to be put on hold the moment the professor called for Catherine's aid. It would be foolhardy to try anything now. We'll simply have to acquire her remains another-"
Edelgard stopped, her eyes widening at the sight of a red glow near Seiros's tomb. It was near impossible to make out what her professor was holding from the distance, but she could swear she saw the outlines of what could only be a sword in his hand.
"Lady Edelgard," Hubert gasped when he noticed as well. "Is he wielding-"
Edelgard watched in disbelief as the sword in Byleth's hands seemingly expanded in length, slashing through the Western Church mage several feet away from him.
"The Sword of the Creator…" she breathed.
This… this was far beyond her expectations. She had expected the burial place of Seiros to hold her bones, certainly not the King of Liberation's legendary blade.
And yet, there it was. In the hands of her professor. Hundreds of questions flew through her mind, but before she could hope to get an answer to any of them, they had to finish up here.
"Come, Hubert. We should rejoin them before they take notice of our absence."
"Of-Of course, Your Highness," Hubert stammered, following behind her.
With Nemesis's sword in his hands, what remained of the Western Church dissenters didn't last long. Any that hadn't been felled by her fellow classmates were cut down by their professor.
To see the sword herself was beyond anything she could picture in her imagination. The flashes of red light in the air like falling embers as the blade turned into a sharpened chain, slashing out at anyone with the bad luck of being in a ten-foot radius… It was hard to believe that it was real.
Somehow, he had managed to awaken the sword's power, and by the looks of it, even without its crest stone in its hilt. Edelgard vowed to not let her teacher catch her off guard as he often did, but it appeared that even on the battlefield Byleth managed to surprise her.
But… How? Unless-
The empress's thoughts came to a halt as she got close.
Byleth was now surrounded by the rest of the Eagle squad, all of them smiling as they basked in their victory, but something appeared off. While the others were laughing and smiling, her teacher had a strained look in his eyes. His labored breathing looked to be worse. His shoulders bobbed up and down as he gasped for air, despite how he might try to conceal it.
The others hadn't noticed it, because why would they? To them, Byleth was acting as he always had. One hand carelessly tousled Bernadetta's hair while the other gripped Ferdinand's shoulder.
Edelgard knew better, though. She knew firsthand how hard their teacher would push himself for their sake. She could see how the hand on Ferdinand's shoulder was more to keep Byleth upright instead of a friendly gesture, or how the hand on Bernadetta's head was carefully keeping his balance.
Byleth's glassy gaze met hers as she got closer, and that was all the indication she needed.
"Well, it appears that the day is ours," Edelgard remarked as they approached.
"Yes!" Petra exclaimed. "We were able to get the victory thanks to the professor!"
"Don't give me all the c-credit," Byleth mumbled, his tongue tripping over his words. It was slight, but given the narrowing of Hubert's eyes, he had noticed it as well. "It was a group effort."
"That may be, but you were quite the sight to behold, Professor!" Ferdinand shook his head in disbelief. "To think, the tomb of the great Saint Seiros might hold such a fabled weapon, and that you could wield it!"
Byleth raised an eyebrow, rotating the Sword of the Creator with his wrist. Given the confused look on his face, Edelgard assumed this was one more thing the teacher knew nothing about due to his upbringing.
"Damn, I ran all the way here, but it looks like you Eagles already have it covered."
Edelgard turned her head to see Catherine stride up to them, half a dozen Knights of Seiros and Caspar following in tow.
"Poor Caspar here sounded so urgent when he came to find me, I just assumed it- what the hell?!" Catherine's eyes widened at the sight of the sword in Byleth's hands. "What… why… no, how do you have that?!"
"This?" Byleth raised the blade, then motioned to Serios's resting place. "It was in that tomb over there."
Byleth's words only proved to further confuse the knight. Her eyes darted back and forth between the tomb, Byleth, and the Sword of the Creator.
"We have to get you to Lady Rhea. Now," Catherine barked.
Byleth blinked a few times, not looking any less baffled by her reactions.
After a few seconds, he shrugged.
"You heard her. Eagles, you're dismissed. Get some rest, and I'll meet up with you later."
The class nodded, each giving a farewell to their teacher as they made their exit out of the mausoleum.
Edelgard stayed put, crossing her arms across her chest. Unsurprisingly, Hubert remained still as well.
Byleth's tired eyes met hers once more as he nodded a silent thanks.
"Catherine, go on ahead of me. Tell the archbishop I'll be with her as soon as I can, but there are a few things I have to discuss with the house leader here first."
Catherine frowned, clearly not pleased with that answer.
"Please?" Byleth exhaled. "I understand this sword here has some great deal of importance attached to it, and I'll gladly discuss all the details with her, but I'd be failing at my job if I didn't touch base with the leader of the Black Eagles first. That is what Lady Rhea hired me to do, yes? I'm sure she'd understand."
Catherine growled under her breath, but relented, motioning for the knights to move out.
"Fine. Just don't keep her waiting, otherwise I'll drag you down there myself."
With that, the most accomplished Knight of Seiros turned and stomped off.
Once she was gone, Byleth let out a shaky sigh, his entire body slumping forward.
"Hubert, would you mind giving us a moment alone?" Byleth asked with half-lidded eyes. It seemed his composure was finally breaking.
"Yes. I would."
"Hubert, it is quite fine." Edelgard rolled her eyes. "It is clear our teacher has something he wants to talk with only me about. I see no harm in obliging him."
"I do," Hubert scoffed, shooting a chilly glare at Byleth. "This man has been getting far too chummy with you as of late."
"Hubert."
Hubert could be rather stubborn when he wanted to be, but even he was wise enough to not challenge the princess when her tone attained that level of finality to it.
"…Of course, Lady Edelgard," Hubert bowed, then turned and left as well, not even bothering to spare Byleth a single look.
Byleth waited a few moments before speaking again, content that Hubert was far enough away not to hear his next words.
"He's quite the tough nut to crack that Hubert is."
"Yes, he can be quite overprotective occasionally," Edelgard sighed as she watched her friend leave, then turned to Byleth. "I had a few things I wished to discuss with you as well, my- teacher?!"
Edelgard barely managed to catch the man before he could fall to the ground. The air was stolen from her lungs as his armored body hit hers, a strained grunt sneaking out from her lips. The Sword of the Creator fell unceremoniously to the ground, clattering against the stone.
"I-I'm sorry," Byleth murmured, his breath coming in gasps now. "They just wouldn't leave…"
"Are you all right?" she asked, looking down at him with concern. He was shaking in her grip.
"I will be... once I catch my breath… Just don't let me fall... if you would."
Snaking his arm around her neck, she slipped her free arm around his back and under his arm to help hold him upright.
"You don't sound very convincing," Edelgard frowned, resisting the urge to cup his cheek to get a better look at him. "Should I take you to see Professor Manuela?"
"N-no, she can't help me," he replied. "I just… overexerted myself. That knight was... stronger than I hoped, but at least none of us were seriously injured."
His pause was suspicious, but Edelgard decided not to question him on it given the sheer amount of relief that was plastered on his features.
"Professor," she sighed, shaking her head. "You seem to have a knack for overexerting yourself."
"You know me pretty well by now, don't you?" Byleth chuckled, yet his face was expressionless as always. "Do you mind if we sit?"
Edelgard hesitated, looking down at the tangled mess their two bodies had become. Honestly speaking, she was a little out of her element here.
"O-of course."
I suppose my numerous questions can wait until after the professor has caught his breath.
She gently lowered the two to the ground, making sure to lean Byleth's back up against a nearby pillar to give him support. To her surprise, he made no attempt to move away from her, simply letting his tired body rest against her shoulder.
It was rare to see Byleth like this. He always appeared so infallible on the battlefield, doing his best to always prove his worth as an instructor. She knew better than most how hard he worked to keep up that appearance, so to see him looking so frail, almost fragile, was almost more surprising than seeing him grip that sword.
Despite the situation she found herself in, she couldn't help but notice how light his body felt against hers, or the sensation of his chest slowly rising and falling against her shoulder as he drew breath…
Edelgard stopped that line of thought in its tracks, dumbfounded at how quickly her mind seemed to jump there.
"I'm not setting a good example as your teacher," Byleth groaned, pulling her back to reality. "So, I'd appreciate it if you simply saw me as your friend for the time being."
"And that makes it easier for you?"
"Yes," he nodded. "I don't mind if it's you that sees this weak side of me."
Edelgard's eyes widened, her mouth opening slightly.
This man was truly an enigma to her.
Only minutes ago her mind was filled with nothing but her hidden schemes and her plans to change this world. For years that has been all she has thought about. It colored her every step and influenced her every decision. Yet, whenever she found herself in these little moments alone with him, her mind drifted to other things. Like how deep a blue his eyes were, or how on the rare occurrence she got to see his smile, it made her chest flutter in a way she hadn't felt since she was a mere child. It was as if whenever she was beside him, she didn't feel the weight of her birthright bearing down on her. She simply got a chance to be Edelgard instead of the Imperial princess.
That thought alone made her feel guilty. Guilty for taking pleasure in the fact that, if only for a moment, she allowed herself to be distracted by idle fantasies like any other girl her age.
The mask she had spent years so carefully crafting seemed to crack ever-so-slightly whenever she found herself alone with Byleth. Edelgard didn't know if that realization frightened her or brought her joy.
"It gladdens me to hear that, Professor." She turned her head away to hide her smile. "At least this way I can be sure you'll allow someone to look after you should you push yourself too hard."
"It's a good thing I have you, then."
Byleth pushed himself off of her and up against the pillar. Edelgard could see him turn to face her out of the corner of her eye.
"And I have one more favor to ask of you."
"Yes?"
"I want you to call me 'Byleth.'"
Edelgard blinked, his request completely catching her off guard.
"I beg your pardon?"
"When we're alone like this, I would like it if you started using my first name instead of 'Professor' or 'Teacher,'" Byleth continued, his lips inching downwards. "Is that so strange?"
"I-I, er… It's not strange…" Edelgard stumbled over her words. "Although I'm not sure I feel comfortable addressing my teacher so casually."
"Oh?" Byleth tilted his head to the side. "When I first came to your homeroom as your new teacher, did you not tell me to address you as I would any other student?"
The princess nodded in defeat. She already could tell where he was going with this.
"Then I would like you to address me like you would any other friend."
Edelgard groaned, rubbing her temple. It's not like she didn't want to call him by his first name, in fact the idea made her somewhat happy… But he was her teacher! None of the other students called him by his first name! It almost felt… taboo for her to be allowed to do such.
"If you don't, I'll knock thirty percent off your final grade."
"If you're already acting like your old self, I take it you're feeling better…" Edelgard shot a glare at him. "That's playing dirty, Professor."
The corner of Byleth's lip tugged upwards. She couldn't tell if he was actually joking or not with that face of his, and that thought scared her.
Edelgard closed her eyes and sighed.
"I… I will try my best," she relented. "But I make no promises."
"Fair enough."
Using the pillar as a support, Byleth pushed himself to his feet with a grunt.
"I'm afraid we'll have to continue this later," he sighed as he walked over to where Nemesis's sword was, bending down to pick it up. "Rhea is probably waiting on me to give her my report. She scares me, so I'd prefer to not keep her waiting too long."
Edelgard chuckled, coming to her feet as well. It's a good thing no one heard him announce that so flippantly, but she agreed with him wholeheartedly. The archbishop was an imposing figure.
"Would you mind coming with me?" Byleth asked, facing her. "I'm afraid I don't know much about this sword here, and I'd like to avoid looking like an utter fool in front of her and Seteth again."
Ah, yes. Edelgard was vastly aware of Byleth's rather… unique upbringing. It was honestly astonishing how little their professor knew about even the most common knowledge about the church or Fódlan's recorded history.
Edelgard swallowed and opened her mouth to speak.
"Of course, Byl- Professor."
On second thought, that would take some time to get accustomed to.
"Well, I'll give you an A for effort," Byleth smirked. "Now, come along, and make sure I don't keel over on the way there."
Edelgard nodded with a smile, then followed behind him as the two made their way to the mausoleum's exit.
It wasn't often that Edelgard found herself following instead of leading, but if it was Byleth's shadow she was chasing after, she didn't particularly mind.
And that's that! Thanks for reading everyone!
Apologies for the longer wait time for this chapter. After my last post, I found myself in the brunt of my move, so I had to focus on that. Then once that was finished and I was finally in the new place (and the internet got back up...), I had to catch up with some buds and catch up on some Three Houses (Just beat Blue Lions, and lemme tell you holy shit).
But! Hopefully updates will come a bit sooner now, but I make no promises! Sometimes you just need a break, you know?
Anyhow, hope you all liked the chapter. I took a few liberties here, as you can see. Divine Pulse is kind of weird, because unlike Mila's Turnwheel it's a legitimate plot device. Unfortunately I don't know for sure if they ever explain what might happen to Byleth should he go past the limit, so I inserted some of my own ideas there. Basically that his body can't handle the strain of a godly power, yada yada. Stuff like that.
See you all next time!
