"So what do you think is going to happen?" One of the Alliance guardsmen asked his partner.
"We going to continue on with the rest of our shift in peace?" she dryly responded.
"Not that! I mean what's going to happen with our neutrality?" The two of them were stationed in the corner of the street in the early morning. News of the attack on the Great Bridge of Myrddin travelled fast to all the small towns and hamlets across the Leicester Alliance. It had become the number one topic of discussion along with what was going to happen to them now that they were included in the war.
"Duke Riegan is still keeping the debates going between the Lords so for now nothing's changed. But Lord Gloucester is pushing harder than ever before to join up with the Empire, and are trying to get Lord Ordelia to support them too," she replied as she looked down the streets, trying to keep watch and do her job despite the distraction from her partner.
"House Ordelia was linked with the Empire years ago... but things have changed since then. You think our Lord would ally with the Empire again?" he asked, not paying any attention to his guard duty.
"How should I know? And it doesn't matter what I think anyway. We'll do what our Lord commands no matter what it is. Now stop asking pointless questions and keep your eyes on the road," she snapped back at her partner, slamming the end of her spear into the ground. Suddenly a loud crash was heard around the corner, causing the guardsman to jump out of his skin.
"GYAH! W-who's there!" she shouted as he brought up his own spear. The two guards ran around the corner to investigate. What they found were two people, a dark-skinned redhead face palming at the sight of the large muscular man lying on the ground with the remnants of a barrel in pieces around him.
"Uuuh... hey fellas," He said with a big dopey smile and a wave.
"I am a woman sir," the female guardsman frowned. "What were you doing?"
"Oh I was just... uuh..." he scratched the top of his head, trying to think of something.
"Don't embarrass yourself any further B," Hapi stepped forward towards the guardsmen. "I apologise for my drunk friend. I was trying to take him back to our room at the inn but he decided to wander around like a dunderhead."
Balthus pushed himself up to his feet with a wobble, now purposely making an effort to appear intoxicated. "Uh, y-yeah! The night's still young am I right?"
"It's morning sir. Look, just get your friend to a bed before he causes any more problems okay?" she turned back to Hapi, pointing to Balthus.
"You got it, come on B, let's get going," Hapi nodded, took hold of Balthus's arm, and pulled him away from the guardsmen and down the street.
"Take care!" Balthus waved at the guards as he was pulled away. Once they turn another corner out of sight he let out a sigh. "Thanks, Hapi, you really are a quick thinker."
"How could you think it was a good idea to sit on a small barrel? You're larger than most people and you thought that small barrel could hold your weight?" Hapi shook her head as she pinched her nose. "You really are an idiot."
"Aww come on, it's not like we were going to learn more from them anyway. Miss Stick up her ass wanted to work than talk. At least we got the little information we did. Gloucester wants in on the Empire and wants to drag Ordelia with them," Balthus shoved his hands in his pockets and looked on ahead with a frown.
"Both of them are much more powerful than Acheron in position too. If that happened it would weaken the Alliance greatly and give more power to the Empire. And I thought the Church were bad," Hapi sarcastically quipped with her arms crossed.
"Heh, I thought you'd be more supportive of the Empire over the Church," Balthus smirked as he looked down at his redhead friend. "What's changed?"
Hapi spun around to look up at Balthus with a glare; she uncrossed her hands and clenched them tightly at her side. "They want to kill my friend."
Balthus was a little taken aback by Hapi's statement. For her to feel as strongly as she did in the defence of her friend was something he never saw often. People in Abyss would focus on their own survival more than anyone else. It was the likes of Yuri that would be the ones to care about other people so that all are looked after. But to see Hapi, who was always the one to be in the background making quips and letting things pay out before her, now stand there ready to fight the Empire in defence of Byleth. It made Balthus genuinely smile down at Hapi.
"Yeah... he's my friend too," Balthus ruffled the head of Hapi who tried to swat his hand away.
"Don't touch me," Hapi protested and walked ahead of Balthus so that she could hide the blush on her face from him. She heard Balthus laugh behind her and jog to catch up. "Let's see if we can learn anything else before we meet up with Yuri-bird and Coco."
"Yeah yeah. I think there are more guards by the tower over there," Balthus pointed out the large watch tower rising above some of the houses in the town.
"You're too big to be quiet around them. We'll leave that to someone like Chatterbox or Yuri-bird," Hapi shook her head. "Anyway, how are you feeling being back in Alliance lands again? Wasn't this your home?"
"The Albrecht clan's further east from here. My mother's further north. But I don't want to return home. As much as I'd like to see my old man again, it'll just cause problems for him and my little bro," Balthus explained with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Why, because of our debt collectors?" Hapi quipped with a raised eyebrow.
"Suppose that's partially the reason, but it's mostly cause of my stepmother. She hates me," Balthus scratched the back of his neck. "She's the kind of person that would take her hatred of me out on those I care about."
"Damn, talk about spiteful," Hapi murmured as she crossed her arms.
"Though I'm happy to be in Ordelia lands again. The last time I was here they were still under the control of the Empire. I was beaten up pretty badly by bounty hunters. And yet they still gave me fed me, tended to my wounds and helped me ditch the hunters," Balthus smiled at the memory and kindness Lord and Lady Ophelia gave him in those dark times in their life. "The nobles here are good people. If I can help pay that kindness back I'll be one very happy guy."
"Huh. Well maybe you can help make the streets a little cleaner then," Hapi suddenly said as she pointed ahead of her.
Balthus looked ahead to see a uniformed group of bandits shaking down a skinny man for his gold. He grinned and slammed his knuckles together. "Alright then! Time to show these guys why I'm the King of Grappling!"
Hapi shook her head with a smile as she watched Balthus march down the street calling out the tallest of the thugs. He was an idiot, but he was the Ashen Wolves' idiot. And Hapi found it hard to not like him.
88888888
Yuri and Constance were sat at a table in a local eatery that served breakfast. They were outside under a parasol where they sipped tea from their tea cups. All around them were other tables that were taken by the townsfolk eating their own breakfasts. A waitress came over to them and placed two plates in front of them with croissants.
"Thank you," Yuri gave a smile to the waitress, who left the table with a blush. He turned to his quiet companion and took up a fork. "Why the long face milady? Preferring the company of someone else?"
"What could you possibly mean by that?" Constance narrowed her eyes at Yuri, still holding her teacup in her hand.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm asking if you would prefer the company of the one you bed at night than me," Yuri bluntly stated with a smirk as he used his fork to break a piece off the croissant and eat it.
"How uncouth of you to proclaim such a thing in public!" Constance exclaimed, drawing the eyes of others from their tables.
"Calm yourself, Constance, you are the one drawing attention right now," Yuri sighed as he ate another piece of his breakfast. Constance looked around with a gasp and placed her tea down. She cleared her throat, picking up a napkin to dab at her lips. "Truthfully this is something I wanted to talk to you about."
"What makes you think that what I do with my private life is yours to discuss?" Constance rebuked as she crossed her arms with a frown. Yuri preferably wouldn't want to discuss topics such as who was bedding who. That was their business and unless he was the one being bedded he wanted nothing to do with it. However, Constance was an Ashen Wolf, his teammate and at one time a denizen of Abyss. Therefore she was someone he vowed to watch over. And given the recent events, this was something he needed to discuss now.
"Normally I wouldn't have cared but you and I both know things have changed since Myrddin. Ever since he saw her," Yuri went straight to the point as he took another sip of his tea. Constance looked down at her croissant as Yuri's words echoed in her mind.
"If people want to get their frustrations out with one another then fine but we both know only one of you stopped seeing it as frustration," Yuri continued.
"I don't wish to discuss this with you," Constance snapped as she frowned, refusing to look him in the eye.
"I don't want to be discussing it either but if I don't then you'll continue to torture yourself. So let's cut to the chase. You love Byleth don't you," Yuri said that less as a question and more of a statement. Constance gripped the rim of her skirt as she refused to answer.
"He still loves Edelgard too," Yuri sipped from his tea again. "He froze like prey before a predator makes it attack."
"What is the purpose of this? Are you trying to attack me with your words?" Constance snapped again with gritted teeth.
"I'm looking out for a fellow wolf so that she may be spared even more heartache, which is what you and he are heading towards," Yuri continued as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table.
"I do not remember asking you to look out for me. And get your elbows off the table you rude rapscallion," Constance glared as she pointed at Yuri's elbows in offence.
"I know you didn't. The leader does it anyway because he cares," Yuri sighed as he leaned back, his elbows sliding off the edge of the table. Constance leant back as well, staring at the croissant that she had lost her appetite for. "And I do Constance. I care about all of you. As entertaining as it is for me to get you riled up, I still don't want to see you hurt."
Constance remained silent for a while and Yuri went back to eating his croissant. Constance knew he was right. While what they had at the start was a fling she couldn't deny that she had fallen for the former professor. And despite how much it hurt she couldn't deny that Byleth did not share her feelings. It also hurt that Byleth had grown distant in that regard since Myrddin, either sleeping on his own or staying up at night. Things had changed and she knew they couldn't carry on as they were.
Suddenly Constance was snapped from her thoughts as Yuri tapped the table twice with his fork. She looked up to see him facing her, but his eyes looked off to the right. She then remembered what they were here for and looked at where he was looking. There was a husband and wife talking to one another on the table next to theirs. She focused on listening to what they had to say.
"I'm worried; my sister said in her letter that the soldiers in Gloucester territory have been rallied up. It's as if they are preparing to march to war. What's going to happen to us? Has our neutrality ended?" the wife said to her husband, her hand to her chest with worry. He reached over the table and rested his hand on her cheek.
"Do not worry. House Gloucester can't march to war unless the rest of the Council agree to it. If he does then Sovereign Duke Riegan will bring the full force of the Alliance down upon him," the husband reassured, stroking her cheek with his thumb.
"Our lord won't take us to war will he?" the wife then asked, as she held his hand on her face.
"Of course not my love. After the House Hrym revolt, House Ordelia wants nothing to do with the Empire or war. Everything will be fine," he reassured her with a warm smile.
"Hmm. Gloucester preparing for war. That's troubling..." Yuri murmured to Constance as he picked up his teacup again.
"Why? Do we not want more people to stand against the Empire?" she rested her hands on her lap as she looked back to Yuri.
"From what I've heard Gloucester has been in support of the Empire and wants the Alliance to join them. On top of that Gloucester is very Anti-Riegan too so if he's raising an army to march..." Yuri left the question hanging for Constance who understood immediately. Yuri was beginning to regret coming to the Alliance territory now. "Fódlan bearing the brunt of two civil wars at the same time. Jeez, what a pain."
"Why would Lord Gloucester do something so ludicrous? The country is already suffering as it is, and he wishes to add more strife to the land. How come noble lords like him still keep their power and my house gets dissolved?" Constance crosses her arms in a huff.
"At least Ordelia lands for the time being are safe. Means we can relax for a bit before moving along," Yuri went back to eating his croissant. The two fell quiet once again as they ate and drank. Yuri continued to ponder on what may come from their stay in the Leicester Alliance. It'll take a few more days before he would be able to gather information if Those of Slither in the Dark are about. Byleth seemed to think they were but only time would tell. For now, they had to learn everything that they can about the land and what is going on.
"May I take your order ma'am?" Yuri heard the waitress ask a customer.
"Oh yes, please. I would be delighted to know if you had any fish on the menu?" the female voice responded.
"Huh. Not what I would have had for breakfast but to each their own," Yuri muttered to himself and had another sip of his tea.
88888888
Byleth walked down the market lane perusing the stalls but keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. After redyeing his hair black last night he felt comfortable walking amongst the public once more. He needed more anonymity now more than ever. He was confident that some of Those who Slither in the Dark had to have come from the Alliance lands to get onto the walls behind Judith at Myrddin. A group that big dragging those supplies would be too slow to get to their position from the Empire's side and would have surely been caught. No, they had to have come from the opposite side of the bridge. Which meant the Alliance territory wasn't as safe as they had hoped. But it also meant more of Those who Slithered in the Dark to kill.
Or is their true name Agarthans?
In Byleth's sleepless night, he thought back to their uniforms. Those who Slither in the Dark and the Agarthans wore the same colours and clothing. If they were the same people, then that brought on more questions and terrible implications. A group of people that had waged a devastating war against Sothis, Seiros and the Nabateans, lurking in the shadows continuing their wars against the Church in the present day? How much hatred do these people have to endanger the lives of those that had no part in the past war? To experiment on the likes of Edelgard and Lysithea? To turn students into monsters? No matter the cause of the war, actions like that would not be tolerated. Their actions today have proven they are pure evil and must be stopped.
His thoughts then turned to Lysithea. He was walking the markets and streets of her family's lands. He wondered what she was doing now. No doubt working harder than anyone else around her, to show how driven and mature she was. He wondered if she had asked for help from others on a task that proved too much for her. When at the academy she had a bad habit of not asking for help, viewing it as if she wasn't old enough to do it herself. Or worse, to prove that she wasn't too weak due to her condition.
It didn't take Byleth long to figure out that Lysithea had two crests when Edelgard revealed to him her circumstance all those years ago. After all, white hair like theirs was not a natural hair colour. To think these Agarthans had a hand in her condition also. He wondered how much of a hand they had in many events of his students' lives. Maybe even history itself if they've lurked in the shadows for as long as they have. He wanted to learn the truth as quickly as he could. As grateful as he was for Sothis's guidance and visions of the past, he hoped he could learn more and quicker.
His eyes then caught onto a bulletin board with many posters and parchments nailed onto it. He read over each of them and concluded that Ordelia was having a troublesome time. Many of the posters were of bandits listing many crimes. Some were asking for help in safe passage through different areas. Monster problems seemed to be on the rise closer to the Gloucester border. But one poster caught his attention more than any other. He grabbed it in his hand and ripped it off the board as if bringing it closer could prove he was mistaken. But the poster did not change. And Byleth felt a pit in his stomach grow.
Missing Person. Marianne Edmund, heir to House Edmund.
Marianne was missing? When did this happen? How did this happen? Byleth thought back to all the times he had spoken to Marianne and all of the times she prayed to Sothis. Her clear signs of depression of who she was, believing herself to be a monster. Did she run away to avoid interacting with people? Or did she...
Byleth shook his head. He did not want to think of it. If she was missing then he had to find her.
"Are you interested in that job?" a female voice suddenly asked to the right of him. He turned to see someone in a long brown robe and hood up. She was a short girl and wasn't facing him, staring ahead at the board. He couldn't see her face which put his guard up.
"She has been missing for a few weeks now. Some people think she has been kidnapped," the woman spoke again. She was purposefully lowering her voice, but even then Byleth thought the voice sounded familiar.
"What's your interest in this quest?" Byleth asked, he felt no need to reach for his weapon yet, so decided to entertain the woman with conversation. Was she an agent of the Agarthans?
"I wish for her safe return home. That's all there is to it," she responded back. What interest did this woman have in Marianne? Whoever she was, at least their interests aligned from what she has said to him.
"Well, I wish for the same thing. My friends and I will look into it," Byleth said with a nod. The woman gasped lightly and finally turned to face him.
"You will?" She asked eagerly, before coughing lightly to compose herself. "I mean, thank you very-"
She suddenly stopped. She was now staring intently at Byleth. Her face was obscured by a brown cloth over her mouth and the shadow of her hood. But he could tell she was scanning his face suddenly. Did she... recognise him from somewhere? This wasn't good.
"I should be going," Byleth said and began to turn away. He felt two hands suddenly grab his right arm.
"Wait!" The voice called out, their voice higher than before. He was sure that he had met this person before now. But the risk of getting caught stopped him from thinking about it any further.
"Let me see your face again...," she asked. Byleth's eyes darted around for escape paths. He could lose her in the crowd if he made a run for it. There were alleyways he could dart into, and use the crates to jump onto the roofs of homes, they were low enough for it. His left hand reached down and grabbed the handle of his dagger in preparation. "...please."
There was something in her voice then. It posed no hint of threat or danger. He was able to catch her honest emotions in that one word. It was a plea of desperation. Did she hope it was him or someone else? Byleth eyed the busy market street again. He could just pull out of her hands, her grip wasn't that strong to hold him in place. He could run and lose her, find the others and get out of town. But against his better judgement, he found himself slowly turning back to face her, his grip on the dagger tightening out of her view. He looked back into the hooded woman who took a step closer. She was staring intently at his face, after a moment she let out a light gasp.
"Is it really you?..." That's when Byleth managed to look at her eyes in the hood's darkness. The eyes were a very light colour and if he didn't know any better. Her eye colour was... pink. "...Professor?"
Upon hearing his title he knew who this was. If she was concealing her identity then he wouldn't blow her cover. He quickly looked to the nearest alleyway and then back to her. "Follow me."
On instinct, he grabbed her hand and pulled her along with him. They cut through the crowd without an issue and entered the alleyway. They walked deeper in and took a left turn. It was a dark pathway that cut between houses on each side. It was dark and at the moment, there was no one else to be seen. So he let go of her hand and turned to face her, just as she was pulling down the mask and hood. Long white hair fell down her back with a purple silk cloth wrapped around the back of her head. A huge smile with shining pink eyes stared up at Byleth.
"It's really you!" She exclaimed so happily it reminded him of the time she was faced with a very tall cake. He couldn't stop himself from smiling down at her.
"It's good to see you again, Lysithea."
Another chapter down! I'm sorry it took a while but in between writing this chapter, I'm writing a chapter of the first draft of my own original fantasy story of magic and dwarves and cool things! So chapters will be short depending on how long it takes me to finish the next chapter of my original story and the next chapter of this story.
I'm not done re-editing past chapters just yet so bear with me.
But now we officially start the Leicester Arc. Time to inflate the cast of this story some more!