(A/N: I went through a small debate on whether this should be the Blue Sea Moon or the Verdant Rain Moon. I decided on the former, so this marks the first chapter with a repeated title! I wanted to maintained the "War Council: month" naming for thematic and allusion purposes, so I slapped the year at the end.)

Garreg Mach didn't have any dungeons or safe places to keep prisoners, so when they arrived Edelgard arranged for Dedue, Ashe, and Ingrid to stay in Abyss. For as long as they were able, she didn't want the one to know the other two were there. Honestly, she would have considered letting them return to their old rooms if it didn't put them so close to the others. She did allow them some small assurances—a bit of sunlight, a few chances to speak with any Black Eagles they were friends with at the academy, meals brought to them from the dining hall. Her purpose wasn't to utterly break them; if they wanted to suffer through the situation, she would let them, but otherwise they served more purpose alive and well.

There wasn't a safe place for Lúin, but she opted to keep it in the Holy Mausoleum. Any followers of Seiros were likely to leave it be, and anyone else trying to enter could be taken aside and questioned. It lowered the chances of anyone coming across it by accident or deciding to use it.

Edelgard wanted to get everything settled as soon as possible, so she called everyone to the Black Eagles' classroom roughly a week after they came back. She waited until they all came and took their seats before starting.

"Taking Fhirdiad and clearing a path back to Garreg Mach did well," she said. "We now hold one of the most important places in the Kingdom, and so far no one's stepped forward to reclaim it. We're still not sure on where Dimitri and Rhea are, but we're at a better position to look for them. Claude agreed to continue a search in the Alliance while we look in the Kingdom."

Ferdinand spoke up in her brief pause, unsurprisingly. "Perhaps we could send a group or two into the Empire, as well? To be more thorough?"

"Enemy territory is the worst place to hide," Linhardt pointed out dully, partially glancing over at him. "I can't imagine they would be that witless; we wouldn't have to look for them if they were."

"It's a possibility, and I merely wish to voice it," Ferdinand argued. He cast a small frown at Linhardt, then looked back at Edelgard. "Could there be some consideration, at least?"

"We have enough soldiers to spare a small group," Edelgard reasoned. "If nothing else, I can have someone check any holy sites or any nobles they're most likely to hide with."

It wouldn't hurt to look for and remove any of Thales's mages either. If she was lucky, perhaps she could officially remove the 'Arundel mage unit' by grounds of the man himself doing something harmful. They haven't received that help for a few battles anyway.

Ferdinand nodded his thanks, and she waited another moment before continuing.

"As I mentioned earlier, with two footholds in the Kingdom we're less likely to face resistance if we go out to look for them," Edelgard said. "I plan on sending each of you out to look in different areas. Your main goal would be to capture the remaining areas, or convince the remaining lords to stop fighting; investigating any places Dimitri and Rhea might have gone is still a priority, as well as looking for and getting rid of anyone that worked for or with Cornelia when she captured Fhirdiad. Is there any additions or oppositions?"

No one protested—some had predictable responses, like Bernadetta's frown or Linhardt's inattentive yawn, but she knew them all well enough to judge who could and could not manage alone.

"A few of you will be paired with others," Edelgard continued, "And you'll have the same amount of soldiers coming with you. I'll be staying at Garreg Mach for the duration of it; Hubert and Monica will be with me, and Jeralt's Mercenaries will remain here and move to support the groups as needed. I don't expect a large amount of resistance; although many nobles haven't stated either way if they'll fight, only those especially loyal to the king are opposing us. That being said, this isn't a situation where lives need to be spent—request reinforcements if you feel you need them, and retreat if you absolutely have to. I will come out if anyone falls into any serious danger."

They all nodded their agreement, and some showed a bit of reassurance.

"I'm willing to hear any preferences on which direction you want to travel in," Edelgard said. "No place is necessarily any more or less dangerous than others, aside from the areas near Charon, Fraldarius, or Gautier—if necessary, those territories can wait until the rest around them is taken. Anyone heading directly west will receive soldiers from Arianrhod, while the rest will wait another week or so until more soldiers arrive from Enbarr. I want to start this next portion as soon as next month, and preferably finish before winter comes again."

She waited another moment, then concluded. "That's all for today; I've already sent word to the people supplying soldiers, so I'll call everyone back in a few days to confirm routes. If you don't want to discuss preferences now, you all know where I tend to be."

The group gave some nods or murmurs; a few left and a few stayed. Although officially ended, the meeting continued for a bit longer while she discussed preferences on direction and groups with the others.

"This is getting out of hand."

Felix could only understate the problem and frown while Rodrigue poured over reports of the surrounding areas. He cared more about Dimitri's wellbeing than what Felix had to say about a situation. Called it a 'promise to the late king;' something about guiding Dimitri, or how he couldn't guide Dimitri if he was missing.

He waited another second to see if his father would look up, then stepped up to the desk and swiped one of the stacks. The papers fell, and Rodrigue frowned at him; it was better than nothing.

"We haven't heard from Dedue or Ashe since Cornelia took Fhirdiad," Felix said firmly, "And Ingrid didn't come with the rest of her family. Does that concern you at all, or are you too concerned about the boar?"

"Dedue, Ashe, and Ingrid are all likely alive," Rodrigue replied. "The emperor doesn't strike me as one who would kill the people Dimitri knows well, when they could be used to draw him out."

Felix sighed and moved away from the desk before Rodrigue could ask him to clean up the papers. "Find it hard to believe she hasn't figured out the boar's not with us, either. At this rate, we might as well let them find him—if Cornelia didn't take him."

"Felix. I won't allow His Majesty to be captured, no matter what."

"To me, it sounds like one of the better strategies; we let the boar go with the emperor, they're lulled into a false sense of security, then he breaks through by sheer hatred."

"He would be outnumbered," Rodrigue pointed out.

"He doesn't care. You've never seen him fight."

The Holy Tomb taught him plenty—Dimitri snapped back there. Everyone noticed that change, but for the most part they were concerned; a few were scared, others didn't care. He was the only one that noticed the king had been like that since the Tragedy of Duscur.

Felix didn't quite care to explain everything to Rodrigue; he was among the people who would insist it's nothing more than stress or fear or mourning. He briefly glanced at his father as he stood at the door.

"Just start some kind of action. The emperor isn't going to wait for us, and we shouldn't have to wait for her."