Byleth stared at Alois's weak form. He had hardly changed in the five years since he had last seen him. It was on the day of the trip to the Holy Tomb, the day that changed everything. He wished him good luck just before he left. Now here he was dying on the table before him. What was he doing here? What did he think of Byleth now?

"Snipes! Hurry!" Yuri called out behind him, snapping Byleth out of his thoughts. He took a deep breath and put his hands over the large wound on the knight and concentrated. He had learned many things during his time at the monastery. One of which was that he had quite the knack for Faith magic. Something he attributed to the divine help of Sothis, which only got better when they merged together. She was another voice he missed. He wondered what she would say of his current situation. His hands began to glow with a bright white light as the faith magic poured into Alois's wound from his palms.

"You have our thanks mercenaries. Your actions will be remembered by the Church," one of the knights said with a bow to Yuri. From his voice, he sounded like an aged veteran.

"I'm surprised the Church is still around in this area. Aren't you guys public enemy number one here?" Balthus asked with his arms crossed.

"We're were on a classified mission. Our next step is to return back to the Kingdom," the knight responded.

"Damn the Empire! In Lady Rhea's name we'll get our revenge one day and end Edelgard's reign of tyranny," another knight, a female grumbled.

"And how's the Archbishop these days?" Yuri asked with a raised eyebrow.

"She remains a steadfast pillar to all of the follows of Seiros," the third knight, a younger man proclaimed.

"Well that's a lie then," Yuri commented with a shake of the head.

"Excuse me?" the female knight took a step forward defensively.

"When you've been in the crowds I've been in you are able to tell when someone is lying while trying to put on a brave face. That kid sounds like he's trying to convince himself on the matter," Yuri explained as he eyed the knights.

"Can't say I blame her. Must be tough having everything under your control stolen away and forced to hide away in the Kingdom Capital," Hapi commented with a severe lack of empathy for the situation.

"You watch your tone merc!" the female knight spat out, pointing a finger at Hapi.

"I'd watch yours too, lest you forget whose territory you reside in right now," Yuri stepped in between Hapi and the knights with a civil smile. This reminder made the knight stand down with a grunt. "But don't you worry, we'll keep our lips sealed if anyone comes asking for gone astray Knights."

"As grateful as we are, why are you helping us?" the young knight asked, looking to his captain as Byleth continued to treat him.

"...We know Alois. He's a good man who doesn't deserve to die like this. Right Snipes?" Yuri called out. Byleth looked over his shoulder to Yuri who gave him a nod. He didn't respond or acknowledge the question as he turned back to the Captain. He used three Heal's on the wound and while it was slowly closing, the blood loss had taken its toll on Alois's body. His next step was to use Restore to close up the wound completely. His hands glowed with a brighter light this time as it poured into the wound. He watched as the wound slowly started to close. Only for the healing to suddenly stop as black magic began to glow around the edges of the wound.

"What's happening?" the knight called out as Constance finally came downstairs to see see the scene before. Yuri quickly went to Byleth's side and leaned in close to him.

"The wound... there's dark magic stopping me from healing it," Byleth whispered to him

"Can't you do anything?" Yuri asked with worry in his eyes.

"I don't know..." Byleth tried to use Restore again. His hands flashed with a light green Faith magic. But even that seemed to have no effect on whatever was halting Alois's healing. At this rate, he was going to die, and Byleth did not know how to stop it. Suddenly he felt a hand on his other shoulder. He turned to see Constance giving him a reassuring smile.

"You've got this. I know you can do this. If you have my Faith from my prestigious background then you certainly can't fail," She had a unique way of encouragement that was for sure. He gave a nod and went back to focusing on Alois. The two Ashen Wolves stepped back to give him space. Byleth looked at the wound, to Alois's face, then back to the wound again. He didn't know what to do and he was running out of time. He suddenly remembered a time when he was fishing with Alois, he was chuckling loudly as he regaled a tale of what he and his father did on one mission for the Knights of Seiros. Why was he remembering this now at a time like this? He wasn't an expert healer like Manuela was, or as good as Linhardt. Why did it have to be him? He was no healer, and the spells he did know had no effect on him. Alois was going to die and there was nothing he could do about it.

Suddenly a hand reached forward and placed it on top of his hand. It was a small hand with a silver bracelet with a white cloth attached to it. This wasn't any of the Ashen Wolves' hands. He turned to his right and his eyes widened in surprise.

"Sothis?" Byleth gasped as he saw the young girl who was supposedly the Goddess herself beside him. How was she here? She looked toward him with determination and a nod. With her hand, she moved his hand over the wound again and closed her eyes to focus. Left with no other ideas, Byleth decided to follow her lead and also shut his eyes to focus. On what he was not sure. But it was better than nothing. He focused on closing Alois's wound. He focused on trying to remove the dark magic infecting the wound. He focused on trying to save his old friend.

"Woah what the?!"

"What's going on?!"

"What magic is that?!

"By-"

"SNIPES!"

Everyone was taken by surprise as the room suddenly lit up in a bright light green glow coming from Byleth's entire body. Small sparks of green magic began to float around him like an aura as a small gust of wind encircled him. This was magic neither in the room had ever seen before.

"What is he doing mercenary?" The older knight exclaimed as he looked towards Yuri.

"I... honestly do not know... but whatever it is he's trying to save your Captain. Have faith in him!" Yuri answered back, though he too was unsure of what was going on. All the Ashen Wolves stared with a mix of wonder and concern for their friend. The wound Alois had however glowed brightly and the dark magic around it began to fade away like smoke to a blown-out candle. The dark magic fizzled away and once it was gone the wound finally closed. The bright light slowly faded along with the wind and aura around Byleth. He opened his eyes to see Sothis was gone. He looked around frantically to find her anywhere, ignoring the stares he was getting from the others, but there wasn't a trace of her. He looked down to the wound on Alois, or lack thereof. It was gone. There wasn't even a scar left behind. It was as if he was never struck. Byleth sighed in relief and lowered his hands. He turned his head to give Yuri a nod but found that all his strength left his body. The next second he was falling backwards.

"Woah! Snipes!" was all he heard, unsure of who called out. He didn't even hit the ground before everything faded to black.

88888888

He felt weightless as his eyes opened. White clouds floated all around him as he looked side to side. The bright sunlight was a stark contrast to the dimly lit tavern he was once in. It was when he looked down that he began to panic. He was floating in the air with the ground barely visible from this distance. He had no idea where he was or how he got here. Where were the Ashen Wolves? The Knights of Seiros? Was Alois okay? Many questions raced through his mind as he tried to figure out what was going on. It was then he heard the sound of beating wings behind him. As he spun around alert his eyes widened at the unforgettable sight of five years ago. The Immaculate One. Rhea.

She flew right over him as if she did not see him. Suddenly his body pulled through the air, following behind Rhea as she flew across the clouds. His body managed to catch up to Rhea and flew beside her head. To see Rhea in this form again was slightly unnerving as he remembered their last meeting where she went into a rage and tried to kill him. But despite somehow flying beside her, she did not seem to see him. They continued to fly across the sky together until they started to descend towards what looked like a canyon. There he saw buildings of an ancient civilisation that looked familiar to him. But what got his attention more was the monsters littered all around it. They were all as large as Rhea of different shapes and sizes.

They started to slow their descent as they approached an open area in this city of monsters. There in the middle, there were three monsters standing in a line. A large winged creature like Rhea but with a long fur tail, more fur around its neck and a pointed snout. Another looked like a tortoise of immense size with three horns. One on its head and two coming from the jawbone pointing down. Another looked like a cross between what Rhea was and a lion. Its body was like that of Rhea's with scales and wings on its back. But its face was that of a lion with two long sabre teeth and fur around its head with two horns protruding from the top curving behind the head. As he got closer towards them he noticed two others. A small creature like the lion one that huddled close to it like a child to its father. The other was the unforgeable small girl that lived within him all of his life.

"Sothis..." Byleth whispered as he slowly touched down upon the ground. Rhea landed just next to him as Sothis turned around to face her. The Sothis he knew always had a condescending grin or a frown on her face when she chastised him. But here Sothis wore a smile on her face that was full of love and adoration.

"Seiros, welcome back," Byleth was not expecting that name to be uttered to Rhea. Seiros? The Saint Seiros? Sothis placed her hand on Rhea's head as the Immaculate One bowed down.

"Mother," Rhea's distorted voice murmured as her eyes shut, content with the head pat she was getting. Byleth looked to see the other monsters smiling at Sothis. A shadow passed over them as another flying monster flew across the sky. Byleth looked around at the buildings as the sun almost blinded his eyes. He was sure this place was familiar to him but was unsure as to where he'd seen these buildings. The sunlight was so bright that he lifted a hand to block it out. Only to find out that it wasn't the sun. The world was getting brighter. The shapes of the buildings faded into the bright light that was enveloping the world around him. The monsters soon disappeared, Rhea and Sothis disappeared. Everything was white. He could not see anything, not even his own hands. Soon he heard muffled voices in the background. As he tried to focus on what they were saying the white began to fade away.

88888888

Byleth slowly opened his eyes. He felt utterly exhausted. He tried to lift up his hand and rub his eyes but his muscles ached at the slightest bit of effort. From what he could gather, he appeared to be back in his inn room.

"The question is if those knights downstairs will keep quiet about this. It'll be hard to explain away what we saw downstairs," Byleth's eye's looked towards Yuri who was leaning against the wall beside the window.

"We could say that it was experimental magic that was in development by the great House Nuvelle! Spread the word of my future masterpiece!" Constance sat on a chair beside his bed to the left as she proclaimed her idea.

"Yeah, that's as believable as you being positive in the sun Coco," Hapi sighed with a shake of her head. She stood behind Constance.

"Hey he's waking up," Balthus pointed out as he stood against the closed door with his arms crossed and a big grin on his face. All the Ashen Wolves turned to Byleth with smiles on their faces.

"What happened?" Byleth mumbled as he managed to lift his hand to rub his temple. He found he wasn't wearing his mask anymore.

"We were hoping you'd tell us. You lit up like nothing I had seen before. But whatever it was, you saved him," Yuri explained with a nod toward Byleths right. Byleth narrowed his eyes as he slowly turned his head. Alois was standing with a hand on his hip, a hole in his armour, but looking alive and well.

"Good evening Byleth. Long time no see," Alois smiled down at him. Byleth tensed up and tried to recoil but was too weak to do so. The knight quickly held up a hand and offered a reassuring smile. "No no it's okay. It's okay. I'm just happy to see you again."

"You not here to kill me?" Byleth frowned at Alois in suspicion. He wasn't willing to trust anyone on each side of the war as both sides had tried to kill him.

"No no I would never. I made a promise to Jeralt that I would watch over you. Granted I... haven't done a good job at it while you were with the Empire or..."

"I'm not. I never was," Byleth confirmed. Alois looked relieved to hear it and nodded his head with a smile.

"Of course. I didn't think you were. When we heard that you left with the Flame Emperor we all thought the worst. But since then you were not seen at all. Not one word of you from the Empire in five years. Knowing you from your time as a Professor you were always one to be on the front lines with your students to keep them safe. So I found it odd that you were nowhere to be seen in any of the battles," Alois explained as he moved to the foot of the bed, Byleth following his movements with a turn of his head. "And now the Church has started to think that too. It's why I'm here."

"Why you're here? You mean you were looking for him?" Hapi pondered with a raised eyebrow.

"That was our mission yes. The Archbishop sent us out to find confirmation on his status. No doubt it would bring the Archbishop relief and ease of mind if you were to return to Fhirdiad," Alois shrugged one shoulder.

"I'm not going back just to be executed by that monster," Byleth snapped back, a little more forcefully than he wanted.

"Oh come now... Archbishop Rhea isn't a monster she-"

"I saw her transform into a monster Alois. She changed into this large-scaled creature with huge wings that could breathe fire. She tried to kill me because I dared to question her madness. That was the last time I saw her and the last time I saw Knights of Seiros they tried to kill all of us," Byleth glared at Alois. He knew what Rhea was and he wasn't going to be served on a silver platter.

"He's right! The Knights laid an ambush for us in the Kingdom! You're Church lay in wait like conniving scoundrels in a village near the Sreng border and tried to kill us! They even caused an avalanche to bury us alive when we took out most of them!" Constance exclaimed with her arms crossed and a frown at Alois.

"An ambush near the Sreng border? But we don't have our Knights posted all the way over there..." Alois looked genuinely confused by this news. He scratched the small tuft of hair on his chin with a frown. "Our Knights have been spread to the borders of the Alliance and Empire, or dealing with unrest where the Western Church use to be."

"You are sure of this? Couldn't they be keeping the truth from you?" Yuri looked down as he pondered on something.

"Well... what if I could find out if there were or not?" Alois offered as he looked at Yuri.

"How? You weren't necessarily sneaky when you walked into Empire lands," Hapi deadpanned to the knight.

"Oh come now! I'm not useless. I know I can help you with this. If there's a chance to give you a bit of peace of mind on the Church then I'll more than happily do it," Alois declared with a fist to his chest and a grin from ear to ear. "Trust me!"

"I don't trust people... not anymore," Byleth looked away from Alois with a frown. Even now he expected Yuri to try and sell him out one way or another. Maybe he had already done it when he brought the Knights of Seiros to him. He did work for Rhea after all to keep an eye on Aelfric all those years ago. If you don't trust anyone, you cannot be betrayed. And Byleth would never be betrayed again.

"Well... then let me earn it once more," Alois turned to Byleth with a determination on his face that he had not seen before. "I know you are not the cold-hearted mercenary you make yourself out to be. I'm sure the five years have been hard on you too. But I know that buried underneath that cold exterior, you still care about your friends and students. I like to think that I'm counted as one of them too. So let me prove it to you."

Byleth peered at the Knight before him. A part of him wanted to believe him. But the risk was too great. At the end of the day, he wasn't just a simple mercenary anymore. No matter how much he wanted to be. With his soul merged with Sothis, he was a valuable asset to either side of the war. Which he wanted no part in while he was on his own warpath. "What will you say to Rhea?"

"We could not find you. But found sufficient evidence from reports that you left the Empire before the war started. They won't know we've met," Alois nodded his head.

"You'll be able to convince the other knights downstairs to go along with it?" Balthus asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course. I can tell them that it was you four, former members of the officer's academy, that gave me the information on it. After the incident with The Chalice and how diligently you worked in the classes, the Church will take your information to heart," Alois nodded with a thumbs up.

"Hmm. In that case, tell Rhea that not only is he not part of the Empire, but assassins had been sent out to take him out too," Yuri added as he pushed himself off the wall.

"They did?" Alois gasped.

"He left quite the impression on Hubert Vestra when he left," the purple-haired man grinned with a nod.

"Hmph. Very well. Now that I'm fit as a fiddle, thanks to you, we'll quickly make our way back to Fhirdiad before we're seen once again," Alois gave a nod to the Ashen Wolves. "Thank you all for your assistance. Especially you Byleth. You saved my life. Thank you."

Alois made his way towards the door, which Balthus stepped away from to let him pass. Alois grabbed onto the door handle to leave but hesitated for a moment. He then looked back over his shoulder to Byleth.

"They told me what you had been doing the last five years. Hunting down Those Who Slither In The Dark. Protecting the civilians affected by the war. Knowing this... well... I'm sure that you are making the Captain proud. Every day," Alois nodded his head earnestly with a proud smile as he looked at the mercenary. Byleth didn't know what to say, but couldn't deny the words hit him harder than he expected. It had been a long while since he thought of his father. Would he be proud of him? He couldn't be sure. Alois gave another nod to the others and opened the door.

"Alois..." Byleth found himself calling out just before the knight left. Alois turned around to see a conflicted-looking Byleth trying to find the words he wanted to say.

"...be careful," he mumbled loud enough to just be heard. This caused a big smile to grow on the knight's face as he gave him a salute.

"You got it! Besides, I'm always careful! Hahaha," Alois chuckled as he turned away and closed the door behind him.

"If he was always careful he wouldn't have gotten stabbed, to begin with," Hapi dryly commented.

"And the dark magic around his wound brings up more questions. What is the Empire doing? As the years have gone on it seems they are using more and more underhanded tactics," Yuri pondered. All the while Byleth forced himself to sit up and glare at Yuri.

"Look I get you bringing him to me to try and heal him but why show him my face?" Byleth questioned quickly. Yuri turned to Byleth and chuckled as he pulled out something from his pocket.

"You did that yourself with your light show. Once you fell down your mask caught fire and burned away. Alois woke up immediately and was the only one who saw your face. Balthus was quick to grab you and take you out of there before the others saw you because... well...," Yuri walked over to Byleth and showed a mirror in his hand. Byleth frowned at the reflection. His bright pale green coloured hair was fully on show. The black dye was completely gone.

"It was as if your hair caught fire and burned it all away. Was crazy to see," Balthus chuckled then scratched his head. "But uh... might get harder to hide you with your hair doing that now."

"Yeah... what happened?" Hapi asked with a tilt of the head. Byleth rested his head back with a sigh. He did not want to mention Sothis or what he saw in his dream. He pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I don't know... but I can't let it happen again if it's going to expose me," Byleth sighed. "I'll be more comfortable once we reach the Alliance territory."