I'm gonna get all kinds of hell for this one, I'm sure of it.

Chapter 38 – The Price of Loyalty (Pegasus Moon)

Bernadetta had to shed a small tear as she watched Yuri finish burying Gwendel. The grave was marked only by the Gray Lion's shield atop a pile of rocks, for they could not dig into the once-fiery ground of Ailell. The rest of the Dukedom's men lay strewn across the battlefield as House Daphnel and the Church tended to their wounded.

House Daphnel had suffered severe losses from the battle. 500 had been killed and another 700 were grievously wounded. The Church, by comparison, had lost about 40 dead, and another 90 wounded of their 400-strong unit. By comparison, House Rowe's army had been decimated, with only 500 of their original 3,000 escaping the battle. Of those who had been lost, 2,200 were dead, with 300 men taken prisoner.

It was an astonishing victory, to say the least. Yuri knew this one would be for the history books.

Of course, he wasn't focused on that as he looked down at Gwendel's grave, remembering how the elderly knight had looked after him before he'd cut his ties with Count Rowe.

"Yuri?" asked Bernadetta. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be alright, Bern," Yuri answered. "It's not the first time I've lost a good friend."

Bernadetta was about to speak again when Brigitte came up to them as she said, "You're damn right, it isn't, Yuri. It's always like this with you, isn't it? Good people who care for you always seem to end up dying." Then, glancing at Bernadetta, she remarked, "Gotta wonder who'll be next."

Bernadetta squeaked as she realized Brigitte's implication.

"Whoa, that's awfully dark," said Leonie.

"Why would you make such an implication of Yuri, Miss Stark?" asked Ferdinand.

"Because it's what happens to good people around him," Brigitte answered. "They pitch in, do a few favors for him, get all buddy-buddy with him, and how does he repay them? By getting them a shallow unmarked grave."

"Hey, don't go saying things like that about Yuri!" said Bernadetta.

"Why shouldn't I? It's the truth. It happened to Gwendel, it happened to Norman and Oscar… it happened to Julius. And what does this guy keep doing? He keeps getting good people put in the ground because of his so-called 'best intentions'."

Ferdinand then said crossly, "Miss Stark–"

"Leave it alone, Ferdinand," said Yuri. "She's not wrong. A lot of good people have paid the price for my mistakes."

"Yuri…" Bernadetta said in dismay.

Scoffing, Brigitte then spun around and walked away as she said, "You want my advice? Don't go putting too much faith in this jerk. You could end up dying next."

The others looked at Brigitte in awe for a second, never having seen this side of her.

Leonie then said, "Yuri, don't tell me you're just gonna take that from her!"

"Stay out of it, Leonie," Yuri answered. "She's got every right to be mad at me."

"And why's that?"

"That's between her and I. You don't need to get involved in it."

Leonie and Ferdinand did not appreciate Yuri's answer, but they knew they weren't going to get a straight answer out of him.

Bernadetta, meanwhile, wondered in fear just what Brigitte had implied.

…

Dorothea slowly walked her way toward Byleth, Anna and Judith as they discussed the outcome of the battle with Catherine, Shamir and Seteth. She was still tired from her Hymn, but she was able to move around now after some rest.

"I gotta say, that was closer than I'd like," Judith said to Byleth. "To think we'd get into a scrap here of all places. We're lucky we made it out alive."

"I'm just glad you and your men are safe," said Byleth. "This wouldn't have happened if we'd been more vigilant."

"Sorry we took so long, Judy," said Catherine.

"Don't worry about it, Cathy," said Judith. "In this day and age, it's a miracle I've been unscathed this long." Then, noticing Dorothea, Judith said, "Well, well, here's the girl who saved my skin. I'm impressed you could conjure such a huge blizzard on your own, Dorothea."

"Well, I had a little help," Dorothea said sheepishly.

"I heard you singing when all that happened. Who knew a song could do something like that?"

"It's not a widely known art," said Anna.

"We should all count ourselves fortunate that Dorothea's gamble paid off," said Seteth. "Things could have turned out far worse for us."

"Seteth, cut it out," said Catherine. "Can't you just be glad it all worked out?"

"Those Hymns are some of the most dangerous magic known to man, Catherine. Forgive me if I was not confident that she could control it."

"Leave it be, Seteth," said Byleth. "Sometimes risks like that are worthwhile."

Seteth said nothing to this, but it was clear he didn't agree with Byleth's logic.

"Risky or not," said Judith, "she still has my thanks. And it's thanks to her that I'll be able to give you what's left of my army."

"We really appreciate the help, Judy," said Catherine. "And don't worry, we'll take good care of your men."

"Damn straight you are. I'll be making sure of it."

Surprised, Byleth asked, "You're coming with us, Judith?"

"What, you think I'm just going to hand off my men to you like that? You've got a knack for tactics, Lady Eisner, but these are my men's lives you'll be risking. Besides, Claude wants me at Garreg Mach for his scheme in the spring. And if you're still going to be dealing with Dukedom spies, you're going to need my help in catching them. Your spymaster seems to have missed one or two."

Shamir, though slightly offended by this remark, said, "Fine. If it'll help keep our enemies in the dark about our plans."

"Good. Then I trust you don't have any issue with me tagging along, Lady Eisner?"

"Not at all," said Byleth. "Thank you, Judith."

At this moment, one of the Church soldiers ran up to the group and said, "Lady Eisner, we've spotted more soldiers approaching from the north."

"Dukedom reinforcements?" asked Seteth.

"No, sir. They appear to be Loyalists."

"How many are there?" asked Shamir.

"Barely thirty. Probably a scouting party. But their leaders bear the symbols of House Galatea and House Gautier."

Realizing it could only be two people, Byleth, Dorothea and the others moved to the northern side of the camp.

…

Ashe looked up anxiously as Ingrid and Sylvain dismounted from their steeds. Ingrid had noticed him and was clearly unhappy to see him. He couldn't blame her; he had turned his back on them years ago and she would never forget it.

"Ingrid! Sylvain!" said Annette. "What are you two doing here?"

"Annette? I could ask the same of you," Ingrid said, surprised to see the orange-haired mage.

At that moment, Byleth, Dorothea and the others reached the scene.

"Professor Eisner!" Sylvain said, drawing out his words coquettishly. "As gorgeous as always, I see. Love the new outfit." He then turned to Dorothea and the other opera divas as he said, "Same to you, Dorothea. Ladies."

Cia huffed at Sylvain's compliments as Byleth asked, "Ingrid, Sylvain, what are you two doing here?"

"We were dispatched to Ailell to see what House Rowe's army was up to," said Ingrid. "I didn't expect to encounter you here, Professor Eisner."

"Well, it's good to see you two," said Annette. "You didn't show up for the reunion."

"Yeah, sorry about that," said Sylvain. "His Highness was… well…"

"How is Dimitri?" asked Byleth. "We haven't heard back from him.

"You didn't receive his reply, Professor?" asked Ingrid.

"The messenger we sent to you never returned."

"Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but His Majesty refused your offer to join forces."

Felix scoffed at this, knowing well in advance that it would've been Dimitri's response.

"Why did he turn us down?" asked Anna.

"He doesn't believe you can be depended on to defeat Emperor Edelgard, given you failed to stop her five years ago at the start of the war. That said…" Ingrid then pointed to Ashe as she said, "I might be able to convince him to hear you out if you were to hand him over."

Ashe blanched at this, so Dorothea asked, "Hand Ashe over? Why?"

"He turned his back on His Majesty shortly after the war began. If you were to give him to us, His Majesty might be more willing to listen to your earlier offer."

Byleth looked at Sylvain to see what he thought. His expression of discomfort was clear enough for her to understand that handing Ashe over would not end well.

"What would Dimitri do if I handed Ashe over to him?" asked Byleth.

Ashe choked at this, afraid that Byleth was actually considering Ingrid's offer.

"Well…" Ingrid said, clearly reluctant to answer.

"He'll kill him," Felix answered as he stepped forward. "Am I right, Ingrid?"

"Felix, long time no see," said Sylvain. "Your father's–"

"This isn't about my old man," Felix interrupted. "Answer my question, Ingrid. The boar will take off Ashe's head the second you bring him in. Am I wrong?"

Trying to dodge the question, Ingrid said, "Ashe is a traitor to the crown, Felix. We offered him a place in our ranks, and he chose to side with Count Rowe."

Deciding to speak up, Ashe said, "Ingrid, I had my own people to look after. You know I didn't want to do it, but–"

"You be quiet!" Ingrid snapped. "We offered you our help and you turned us away, Ashe! Do you know how that made His Majesty feel?"

As Ashe remained silent, Felix said to Ashe, "The boar was ranting for almost a week about how he was going to tear you apart, limb from limb. He never gave any thought as to why you couldn't accept his offer." Turning back to Ingrid, Felix continued, "But that's hardly surprising. He hasn't cared for the wellbeing of the Kingdom ever since he fled from Fhirdiad."

"Felix…" Sylvain said, gesturing for him to stop before the swordsman did something they would all regret.

"And you're still following in his footsteps, Ingrid," Felix said in disdain. "Just like my father and Sir Gilbert. You're still the picture of blind loyalty."

"You're one to talk, Felix," Ingrid said crossly. "You just up and abandoned us without a word!"

"I wasn't about to continue following the boar after what I heard him say."

"What are you talking about, Felix?" asked Dorothea.

"It was three years ago. I overheard him talking about how he killed Lord Rufus. He murdered his own uncle in cold blood."

"He what?!" Byleth said in shock.

"That's a lie!" Ingrid said angrily. "Lord Rufus was murdered by Cornelia Arnim, and she framed His Majesty for it!"

"Oh? Is that the story you believe?" said Felix. "Why don't you ask the boar what really happened? Or better yet, why not ask his woman? Marianne saw the whole thing."

Ingrid was just about to draw Luin when Sylvain grabbed her shoulder and said, "Ingrid, don't."

The heir of House Galatea glared at Sylvain for a second, then at Felix, and then slowly removed her hand from Luin's shaft.

"I'm sorry, Ingrid," said Byleth, "but I can't hand Ashe over to you if Dimitri will execute him. He will remain with me as a prisoner of war."

Ashe sighed in relief at this.

Ingrid, on the other hand, frowned at Byleth before turning around and saying, "I'm sorry to hear that, Professor. His Majesty won't be happy to hear your answer."

Ingrid moved to mount back up on Celdia as Sylvain walked over to Byleth and Felix.

"Sorry about all this, Professor," said Sylvain. "If I'm being totally candid, though, I can't say I agree with Dimitri's decision to turn you guys down."

"You know he's out of his mind, Sylvain," said Felix. "You know he only gives a damn about killing the emperor."

"Yeah, I know."

"So why do you keep following him?"

"It's not really him I'm following." Sylvain turned and glanced toward Ingrid as he said, "Someone's gotta look out for her, you know? She took it real hard when you left, Felix."

"Let's go, Sylvain," Ingrid said loudly.

"Sorry, gotta go." As Sylvain turned and walked back to his horse, he stopped briefly and said to Annette, "Oh, Annette, I'll let Mercedes and Gilbert know you're alright."

Immediately souring, Annette replied, "Don't bother telling my father. He won't care."

"Umm, okay, but I thought you'd wanna let him know–"

"No, I don't. He dumped me off with my uncle when I wanted to help fight the Empire. If I never see him again, it'll be too soon."

Sylvain showed his disappointment at hearing Annette say something so harsh about her father. Neither of them noticed as Cia, who heard the exchange, almost winced at Annette's words.

"Well, if that's how you want it," said Sylvain. "But you don't mind if I tell Mercedes, do you?"

Sighing, Annette said, "Fine, you can tell Mercie."

"Let's go, Sylvain!" Ingrid said, louder this time.

Realizing Ingrid wasn't going to let him dawdle any longer, Sylvain ran back to his horse and quickly mounted it.

With heavy hearts, Byleth, Dorothea, and the rest of their friends watched as Ingrid and Sylvain departed.

…

The underground laboratory of Ephyra was one of Cornelia's personal hideouts, a place of safety where she could perform her experiments. Magitek devices beeped and glowed in the darkness as Cornelia, now in her true form as Bias, inspected a panel attached to a large glass stasis chamber. Floating inside of it was a curvy red-haired, dark-skinned girl. The girl was unconscious as she hovered in the stasis field.

Having just listened to Kronya's report, and still in contact with the Nightblade, Bias said, "Very interesting, Kronya. I wasn't aware anyone in the Church could use a Hymn. Who was it?"

"That Arnault girl," Kronya said crossly.

"Arnault? Dorothea Arnault? El mentioned her back at the theater. Tell me more about her."

"What's there to know? She's just another stupid beast."

"Kronya, you know I enjoy details. Tell me whatever you can about her."

Grumbling for a moment, Kronya said, "She used to be Edel's BFF before the war started. Just some Crestless opera girl from Enbarr. Thales was using her to distract the Church while Kataskopos was doing her thing."

"Thales had an investment in her?"

"She was just a decoy. He made her think he wanted her to locate the Holy Tomb, even though we already knew where it was."

"Anything else I should know?"

"Yeah, that I want her dead for helping the Fell Star beat me."

"Did she? Does she have some connection to the Fell Star?"

Thinking for a second, Kronya answered, "She was her favorite student, I think."

Bias smiled at this and asked, "And she's the one who sang the Hymn in Ailell?"

"Yeah. Dunno how the hell she pulled it off. But now House Rowe's army's in shambles and Gwendel's dead because of it."

"Thank you, Kronya. That'll be enough for now. Return to Fhirdiad as soon as you can. I'll have more for you to do once I'm done with the survivors of House Rowe's army."

Kronya's image dispersed from the communicator as Bias turned her attention back to the unconscious redhead.

As she did, Cleobulus asked, "Why are you always asking her stuff like that?"

"Hmm? About people, you mean?" asked Bias.

"Exactly. They're all beasts. Why care about any one of them?"

"Don't be so quick to underestimate them, Cleo. Some of them can be quite exceptional, like this girl here. Do you know how hard it is to find one with a Major Crest of Timotheos?"

"Do you really think your adjustments are gonna work this time?"

"I've already taken care of the glitch from before. Her conditioning is all but finished. Of course, I won't know if there are any more problems until I test her modifications. I just need to put the finishing touches on her. Care to watch?"

"Whatever. I've got nothing better to do."

Bias smiled as she tapped her finger to the control panel of the stasis tube, raising one of the settings.

As the Magistra did this, Hapi's red eyes suddenly shot wide open as she began screaming in agony.

Poor Hapi, right?

Several scenes in this took some work to get right, and I still wonder if I messed up somewhere. I hadn't been touching on Brigitte's disdain of Yuri up until now, and we'll be touching on it again in the future. This is to help me set up some Paralogue-like battles, since Brigitte, Alicia, Lana and Cia are OC's. However, I'm still working out how their Paralogues are gonna go.

The scene with Ingrid and Sylvain was also tricky to do. I wanted to make it clear that things are tense between Ingrid and Felix, and to give a reason why Byleth may not think Dimitri is trustworthy. Thankfully, Ashe's capture helped me do that. It's believable that Byleth wouldn't want to hand Ashe over if Dimitri was gonna kill him, even if she wants an alliance with him. I also needed to make it believable that Ingrid and Sylvain wouldn't join Byleth's army (at least for now). They've got roles to play in upcoming chapters, and it requires them to be part of Dimitri's force.

We'll be getting into the next Moon (March) in the next chapter. See you then.