I almost didn't finish this on time. I'm having too much fun with Octopath Traveler. Seriously, it's really good.
Chapter 45 – Best Intentions (Lone Moon)
The soldiers of the Church and the citizens of Castle Gaspard, exhausted from their flight from the Dire Wolves, set their camp up south of Magdred Way, with soldiers and knights watching for any wolves that may have pursued them. To their relief, after the battle with Fenris and its pack, none of the wolves had given pursuit.
Kneeling next to a wounded Gaspard Knight, Byleth finished her healing spell on the man's arm, to which the knight replied, "Bless you, Lady Eisner."
"Try not to exert yourself," said Byleth.
"Pray tell, how is Lord Ashe?"
"He's in Linhardt's care. Don't worry, he's one of our best healers."
"Is someone mentioning me?" said Linhardt as he walked by, the sleeves of his green robe stained with blood. "And before you ask, yes, Ashe will pull through. But I wouldn't expect him to be fighting again anytime soon. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to wash off all this blood." Linhardt made a short "Ugh…" of disgust before leaving Byleth's presence.
Smiling, Byleth turned back to the Gaspard Knight and said, "You heard him."
The knight, and several of his nearby comrades, smiled back at her, relieved that their lord was going to survive.
Byleth, deciding that she needed to have a talk with some of the others, rose and walked through the camp. She looked from side to side as she went, seeing the poor condition of the refugees. Though they had survived, they had lost most of their possessions, and several of their loved ones had been casualties of the battle with the wolves. Their misery was palpable to the Archbishop, and they still weren't safe yet.
It was then that Byleth heard Dorothea's voice.
Tue lei ze croa riou tue ze
Croa riou ze tue riou lei neu riou ze
Va lei ze tue neu tue riou tue croa
Riou lei croa riou ze lei va ze lei
Va neu va lei va neu va ze lei
Croa riou croa neu tue lei croa riou ze lei va
Lei va neu croa tue lei lei
Byleth remembered the song, which Dorothea had sung years ago after the battle in Remire. But it was only recently that Byleth had learned from Jiayi that the song was a Hymn, specifically called Yulia's Hymn. According to the seamstress, the Hymn had the power to quell despair and sorrow in the hearts of others, provided one could properly channel its power. Fortunately, it was a safe Hymn to use, so Jiayi had taken the time to teach Dorothea how to use it.
Looking around, Byleth could see the Hymn was doing its job. Widows who wept over their lost husbands, and children who cried from the loss of their parents and home, started ceasing their sobs. They weren't suddenly becoming joyful, but at least their sorrow was eased by Dorothea singing the Hymn.
Byleth looked to where the diva stood, a circle of magic beneath her feet as she continued.
Tue lei ze croa riou tue ze
Croa riou ze tue riou lei neu riou ze
Va lei ze tue neu tue riou tue croa
Riou lei croa riou ze lei va ze lei
Va neu va lei va neu va ze lei
Croa riou croa neu tue lei croa riou ze lei va
Lei va neu croa tue lei lei
Byleth smiled at Dorothea as she sang, giving the diva a warming nod when she looked her way. Dorothea, ending the Hymn, smiled back at her.
"That was beautiful, Dorothea," said Byleth.
"Thanks," Dorothea replied. "I just hope it'll tide everyone by for the moment."
"I'm sure everyone here will be fine. I need to go speak with Yuri and Alicia."
"Do you mind if I come along? You might need my help."
"With what?"
"With Brigitte. She and Yuri have a bad history, you see."
"I know. Yuri told me about what happened to Brigitte's brother, Julius."
"Oh, he did? That saves me a long explanation. Let's go find them."
Nodding, Byleth moved through the camp with Dorothea in tow. Both looked around as they went, seeing that Dorothea's song had indeed left the refugees and soldiers a lot less miserable. A few of them gave thanks to the brunette, who met their praise with a magnanimous smile.
Byleth soon found Alicia and Yuri with Brigitte, realizing she had arrived just in time to stop the redhead.
"What the hell were you thinking, Alicia?!" Brigitte said angrily to the Pegasus Knight. "Going off like that without telling us!"
"I'm sorry, Brigitte," said Alicia. "But you were all so busy with training and everything else that I didn't want to bother you."
Before Brigitte could respond, Byleth said, "Brigitte is right, Alicia. You should have told us what you were up to." She then looked at Yuri as she added, "Both of you."
"Why'd you go asking for his help then?" Brigitte asked Alicia as she waved a hand at Yuri. "If you had told me, I'd have helped you out in a heartbeat."
"That's… um…" Alicia said uneasily.
Yuri then answered, "It's like she said, she didn't want to cause a fuss. Besides, getting to Castle Gaspard would've been a lot harder if you had brought an army with you, Lady Eisner."
"What do you mean, Yurikins?" asked Dorothea.
"Moving the Church army away from Garreg Mach would've left it exposed. And there's no way you could've reached Castle Gaspard undetected with an army at your back. My rogues and I, though? We know how to move unseen."
"You still should have told me about your plan, Yuri," said Byleth.
"Please don't blame him for this, Lady Eisner," said Alicia. "It was my idea to bring Ashe to Castle Gaspard. I didn't think you'd approve of it if you knew."
"Alicia, why did you think that? I would have given my consent if you had just asked."
"Y-You would?" Byleth nodded, prompting Alicia's face to turn red with shame as she said, "Oh, I'm such a blockhead! You were so busy and I just–" Alicia groaned at her blunder as she buried her face in her hands.
Sighing, Byleth said, "Please, in the future, don't hesitate to speak to me before you go off on a mission like this, Alicia."
"I'm sorry, Lady Eisner," said Alicia. "I won't do it again."
"That's good to hear."
After a moment of hesitation, Alicia asked, "Is Ashe going to be alright?"
"Linhardt said he'll survive, but he won't be up for a while. He'll need a lot of rest and time to recover once we get back to Garreg Mach."
Alicia lowered her head again in shame and said, "He got hurt protecting me. And I got so many people killed because I was stupid."
"Alicia…" Dorothea said with worry.
"Your heart was in the right place, Alicia," said Byleth. "No one can fault you for that. Besides, no one could've known those wolves would attack you. Don't blame yourself for it."
Alicia sighed at this. It was clear she understood what Byleth meant, but she wasn't about to let go of blaming herself for her error.
…
Yuri frowned as he finished the headcount of his rogues. He had lost 24 good men and women to the wolves, with nearly everyone else he'd brought along wounded. Meanwhile, the Gaspard Knights and Church soldiers had suffered another 62 dead, some having perished from injuries sustained during the battle. Another 76 were wounded from the fighting, with around 18 in serious condition. Overall, they had suffered 162 casualties, with 86 fatalities, a considerable blow to their forces.
Grimacing as he wrote down the names of his fallen rogues in his notebook, Yuri reflected on how his best intentions had again resulted in good lives being lost.
"There you are," said Brigitte as she approached the lavender rogue.
Sighing, Yuri put the notebook away, having finished writing in the names of his fallen rogues, and said sardonically, "I'm guessing I'm overdo for another beating from you."
Brigitte didn't respond to this.
"And I'm guessing I'm also about to earn another earful about getting a lot of good people killed again," said Yuri.
After taking a moment to glare at the Savage Mockingbird, Brigitte said, "I saw what you did for Alicia during the battle. You used that Relic thing on your wrist to swap places with her when one of those wolves had her pinned. Why'd you do that for her?"
"It was a spur-of-the-moment thing. She didn't deserve to get killed for trying to help those people. Besides, if I'd let her die, I know you'd have bashed my skull in by now."
Brigitte sighed at this and walked up beside him, taking a seat on a log. She then said, "You got her into that mess… but you also saved her life. I'm willing to let it slide this time." Yuri looked at Brigitte, as if to thank her, but stopped when the opera matron said, "But don't go thinking you're off to hook for what happened to my brother. I still don't forgive you for that."
"Of course, you don't. The thing is…" Yuri raised the Fetters of Dromi as he continued, "I wish I had this back then… when Julius died. I'd have switched places with him in a heartbeat if I could."
Surprised, Brigitte asked, "You would?"
"Without hesitation. I was the one who dragged him into that mess. He deserved to live more than I did. But we can't go changing the past now, can we? I did for Alicia what I couldn't do for Julius."
Sighing, Brigitte said, "Thank you for that, Yuri. For helping her, I mean."
The two were silent as Brigitte pulled a charm out from her tunic. The charm was a small brass coin that had been broken in half tied to a string. Yuri recognized it immediately. It was something that Brigitte and Julius both had, with Julius having the other half the coin.
"You still have that?" said Yuri.
Brigitte nodded and said, "It's all I have left of him. He gave me this after I made my stage debut at the Opera Company. Heh, the damn thing wouldn't even have gotten us a slice of bread, and yet it's still priceless to me. I just… I miss him. It's been thirteen years since he died, and I still can't believe he's gone."
"I know the feeling. Julius was like a brother to me. Not a day goes by where I don't hate myself for letting him die. He was the first name I put in this." Yuri raised his notebook in a gesture and said, "Since then, I've put so many names for people I've lost over the years in it. Bannon, Alphas, Miles, Noelle, Meryl… Good people, all of them. All dead because of my mistakes."
Brigitte said nothing in reply as she watched the solemn look of regret on Yuri's face.
…
Anna found Byleth later that night at the edge of the camp. Everyone else was resting, with only a few keeping watch in case the Dire Wolves returned.
"Can't sleep, By?" asked Anna. "Pretty sure the others can handle night watch."
"What about you, Anna?" Byleth asked in return.
"Too much going on in my head to be sleepy. Specifically, stuff that happened today." Taking a short pause, Anna then asked, "Byleth, there's something I gotta ask you."
Byleth was a little surprised at Anna using her full name. She didn't usually do that with her.
"What is it?" asked Byleth.
"How do you know Dragontongue?"
"Know… what?" Byleth's expression showed she had no idea what Anna was talking about.
"You spoke it when you went up against that White Wolf, right before you tried slicing it to pieces."
Completely baffled, Byleth said, "I don't know what you're talking about."
Anna looked at her in the eye and, after a second, said, "You really don't know…"
"I just tapped into the power of the Goddess and then… I can't remember. It's like something took over me for an instant." Then, after thinking about it for a second, Byleth said, "Wait… that wasn't the first time…"
"What do you mean?" asked Anna.
"Back when we defeated Solon, I… I felt that same feeling when I attacked him. And when I killed Metodey. I just… I lost control, even if only for a second. But wait, Anna, what is Dragontongue?"
"It's a language used by an extremely rare race around the world known as Manaketes. They're also referred to by another name: Dragonborn. I've only ever met one Manakete in my travels, when I was in Ylisse. Her name, funnily enough, was Nah. I kid you not."
"What was she like?"
"She was… well, she liked trying to be more mature than she looked. Manaketes live very long lives, so she looks like a child, but she's a lot wiser than she appears. She said I looked like someone she knew a long time ago."
"Really?"
"Yeah. That was my reaction too. I haven't seen her in over thirty years now. But when I saw her in battle one time, she spoke in Dragontongue. And lemme tell you, you do not want to get on a Manakete's bad side."
Byleth was silent for a moment before asking, "So, I spoke in Dragontongue when I lost control?"
"Yeah. I'm not fluent in it, but I recognized it when you said it."
"Why would I say it, though?"
"Good question. Maybe it has something to do with what happened when the Goddess gave you that power boost in the Sealed Forest."
"You think Sothis may have been a Manakete?"
"It's possible, but I don't know for sure. I've never heard of one bestowing a human with power like that. Especially since–"
Anna stopped herself, remembering that she had never told Byleth she knew that Sothis had been inhabiting her body for a time. She hesitated to reveal that she knew, thinking Byleth might take it badly.
"Since what, Anna?"
"Nevermind. Maybe I'm overthinking it. Either way, we should get some shuteye. I don't think we have to worry about that White Wolf chasing us at this point."
"Why is that?"
"From the rumors and legends that I've heard about it, and from what we saw today, I'm guessing that it's a kind of forest spirit. That's why we couldn't hurt it."
"But why did it stop attacking us?"
"I can only guess it had something to do with you channeling the Goddess's power. Maybe it has some connection to her. Heck if I know. Maybe Seteth knows something about it. I doubt he'll tell us, though."
"Why not?"
"Because he's hiding stuff about you that Rhea doesn't want you to know. I spoke with him shortly after we retook the monastery, and he claims he swore an Oath to Rhea not to tell you about what she wanted in the Holy Tomb."
"An Oath?"
"It's like a magical contract of sorts that binds you to its terms, sometimes for a power boost. The more restrictive the Oath, the more power you can get by abiding to its terms. Both Seteth and Flayn took the same Oath, and it's preventing them from explaining what Rhea wants with you."
"Why would she make them agree to something like that?"
"I don't know, but I intend to find out."
The two decided to return to camp at this point. As they walked back, neither of them noticed as a large pair of bright blue eyes observed them from the forest.
As Byleth and Anna both moved out of Fenris's line of sight, the White Wolf turned and disappeared back into the forest.
A lot to think about, indeed.
Fenris isn't about to make any more appearances for a long time (if ever), so don't worry about it becoming a regular occurrence. In a way, it's kinda like some of the boss creatures you can find in Octopath Traveler: a standalone monster that lords over a particular dungeon and doesn't have a direct connection to the main storyline.
Speaking of Octopath Traveler, while playing it has given me a few fanfic ideas, I have no plans to stop working on Songstress. I've already sunk too much effort into this fic to back down now. Still, if I find time and have a desire to do so, I may write a oneshot or two. I'm also considering picking up Champions of the Continent (Octopath Traveler mobile prequel) to fill my gacha days once FFRK is gone at the end of September.
Anyhow, next chapter we're gonna get back to Ladislava and her Black Eagles. See you on Friday.