Time for a fight I think some of you will have anticipated.
Chapter 84 – A Score to Settle (Great Tree Moon)
"Uncle Averill's gone?" Annette asked Simon in dismay.
Her blonde cousin nodded, having just recounted the story of what happened at Arianrhod.
"He rode out against Cornelia with his whole army," said Shez as she, Annette, Simon and Cia walked into the monastery. "But if what we heard at that tavern was right, they were wiped out."
"No…"
Annette lowered her head in remorse at learning of her uncle's fate. Despite him taking the Dukedom's side early in the war, Annette could not blame Baron Dominic for his choice. He had only sided with Cornelia to keep everyone in his territory safe. Even his decision to try and marry her off to an Imperial noble was for that purpose.
Hearing of his demise brought back the tears that Annette had shed upon hearing Cia's story.
Cia then said, "Hold on a second. If this battle took place over three weeks ago, how come it took you so long to get here?"
Now slightly flustered, Simon answered, "That is…"
Interrupting him, Shez rubbed the back of her head as she said, "That's my fault. Never could read a map right."
"I am afraid I must agree. Shez almost took us to the western coast before we realized we were going the wrong way."
Deciding not to embarrass them any further, Annette said, "Well, I'm glad you're here, Simon. You'll be safe at the monastery."
"Thank you, Annette. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry for how Father kept you locked up at the estate."
"It's not your fault, Simon. Father was just trying to protect me."
"Speaking of Uncle Gustave, do you know where he may be?"
"He's with Dimitri and the rest of the Loyalist Army near the Great Bridge of Myrddin."
"At Myrddin?"
"Dimitri's looking to take the fight to the Imperials," said Cia.
"I see."
"Guess taking you to his side's not gonna work out, is it?" said Shez.
"Don't worry about it, Simon," said Annette. "You can stay at Garreg Mach for as long as you need."
"Thank you," said Simon. "But I don't think I'll be much help in battle."
"Not a problem," said Cia. "Lady Eisner's only taking volunteers."
"Lady… Eisner?" Shez whispered to herself. None of the others heard her.
The four made their way through the entrance and past the dining hall as they approached the main building of the monastery. All around them, Shez looked to see people of all trades going about their day. Construction workers, monks, blacksmiths, knights, and many others worked either on reconstruction efforts or on preparations for the Church Army's next battle.
As Simon looked around, Annette said, "I'm sure you'll fit right in, Simon. The choir could always use more singers."
"What, you don't think I'm enough, Annette?" Cia said jokingly, prompting Annette to giggle in response.
Then, as they entered the main hall, Annette pointed and said, "There she is." She then called out, "Lady Eisner? Professor?"
In the center of the hall, Byleth had been in conversation with Anna and Yuri when she and others turned upon hearing Annette's voice.
As the standing Archbishop turned to face them, Shez's eyes went wide in recognition.
It was her. The woman who had left her on the verge of death almost six years ago.
Even if her hair and eyes had changed from blue to green, Shez could never forget the face of the Ashen Demon.
"YOU!" Shez said furiously.
Surprised, Cia and Annette turned just as Shez darted past them, drawing her two swords and letting out a roar as she dashed toward Byleth.
Seeing the threat, Byleth immediately drew the Sword of the Creator and blocked the purple-haired mercenary's blades, locking their weapons together.
"Shez, what are you doing?!" Simon shouted in shock.
As Simon said this, Byleth got a good look at the mercenary. Her eyes widened with her own recognition.
"I've finally found you, ASHEN DEMON!" Shez shouted as she separated her blades from Byleth's sword.
The mercenary let out another roar as she unleashed a flurry of swipes and slashes at Byleth, who deftly avoided and parried each strike. With each attack that Byleth foiled, Shez's anger grew and grew. It was as if the green-haired woman was barely trying.
As she slashed away, Shez said angrily, "This time, you won't win! This time, I'll beat you, just like you beat me six years ago!"
Shez darted back briefly and then lunged at the Archbishop with incredible speed.
The two met in another clash of blades, with Shez's weapons locked against the Sword of the Creator.
But then, after another second, there was an audible thud as Shez's pupils narrowed in pain.
Byleth had just punched the mercenary in the gut with her free arm.
Shez staggered back as Byleth strode slowly toward her.
Recovering, Shez made another lightning-quick slash at Byleth with her right blade, only for Byleth to swing her sword at it and send it flying from Shez's grip. Fear became palpable on Shez's face as she made another desperate swing with her remaining weapon, only for Byleth to again strike it from her grasp with seemingly little effort.
Before Shez could even recover from the second strike, Byleth rushed forward, slamming her left knee into Shez's gut. Shez, who hadn't even recovered from the previous hit to her belly, let out a painful gasp and staggered back again.
The world then spun in Shez's vision as Byleth kicked her in the chest, sending Shez tumbling past Simon and Annette, landing face down on the floor.
Despite her injuries, Shez struggled to push herself back up.
"Damn… you…" Shez groaned.
Then, her strength failing her, Shez collapsed to the ground.
Everyone in the main hall watched Shez apprehensively, but after a few seconds, it was clear the mercenary had lost consciousness.
As Byleth watched Shez for any movement, Yuri walked past her with his blade drawn.
Seeing Yuri's intent, Simon stepped between him and Shez and said, "Wait, please! Don't kill her!"
"Give me one good reason," said Yuri.
"If it weren't for her and her band, I would not be standing here today. She lost her entire company getting me to safety."
"And who are you, exactly?" asked Anna.
"Simon. Simon Wingate Dominic. My father is… was Baron Averill Francis Dominic. I beg of you, please spare her life!"
"After she just tried to take Lady Eisner's head off?" said Yuri.
Simon, knowing how bad things looked for Shez, tried to think of anything he could to convince Yuri and the others.
But before he could, Byleth said, "Yuri, sheathe your sword."
"I'm positive I didn't hear that right, Lady Eisner," said Yuri. "You're gonna let her live?"
Sheathing the Sword of the Creator, Byleth said, "She has every reason to hate me. Her comrades from Berling's Company are dead because of my father and I."
"What are you talking about, Lady Eisner?" asked Annette.
"It was at Tarren Village. Berling and her company were sent to stop us and attacked the village. Father and I wiped them out. This girl… I thought I'd cut her down like the rest."
Yuri then said, "That's touching and all, but she just tried to kill you. And you wanna let her go free? She'll try again if you do."
"Take her to the dungeons. Make sure there's at least two guards watching her."
"If that's how you want it, Lady Eisner."
Yuri sheathed his blade and signaled for two of his rogues. They picked Shez off the floor and dragged her away, with Yuri confiscating her weapons.
Simon breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I thank you, Lady Eisner, for your mercy."
"You're Annette's cousin, aren't you?" asked Byleth.
"Yes, I am."
"What were you doing with her?"
"Shez and her mercenaries were hired by my father. He tried taking Arianrhod away from Count Rowe, but Duchess Cornelia led an army and besieged us. Her agents destroyed our food stores, so father decided to mount an attack on Cornelia's position." Simon paused and then said, "I assume he is dead. Father asked Shez to escort me to the Loyalists for safety, but she lost her entire company when we were ambushed by Cornelia's men. We barely made it out alive."
Byleth paused to think over Simon's story. From his expression, she felt he could not have known Shez would react so violently upon seeing her again. The blonde troubadour had no weapons on him, with only his lute in his hands, so Byleth doubted he was a fighter.
After a moment to think, Byleth said, "I'm afraid I can't in good conscience allow you to go to the Loyalists, Simon. Dimitri is mounting an offensive into Gronder Field and to let you go to him would endanger you. Instead, it would be safer if you stayed here at Garreg Mach."
"Annette told me as much. I thank you for your hospitality, Lady Eisner. And I apologize for Shez's actions. I'll make it up to you, I swear."
"Thank you, Simon. Annette, can you show Simon around the monastery?"
"Sure thing, Professor," said Annette. "Come on, Simon."
The two cousins left the main hall as everyone went back to their work.
…
Later that evening…
Anna and Byleth sat down next to each other in the dining hall, having finished their meals. Looking back into the hall, they saw Simon nervously backing away from Felix as he entered the room. It was clear they recognized each other, and Simon was clearly terrified of Felix.
"Wonder what that's about?" said Anna.
Byleth didn't answer this. She had a good guess, but she wanted to confirm it with Annette later.
After seeing Simon finally calming down as Felix showed no hostility toward him, they watched as the two sat down with Annette and Caspar. The second son of House Bergliez was far friendlier to Simon than Felix.
"By the way, nice work with that Shez girl," said Anna. "You mopped the floor with her."
"It was sloppy," Byleth replied.
"No kidding. She was–"
"I don't mean her, Anna."
Confused, Anna said, "Wait, what?"
"I mean I was sloppy back there. I could've beaten her far more easily. Back when I fought her in Tarren Village, she didn't even get off a second strike before I cut her down."
"Oh… kay… Why are you bringing this up?"
Byleth paused for a moment. Then, taking a deep breath, she said, "I'm not nearly the fighter I was back when I was the Ashen Demon. I didn't just take her down back then; I practically took down Berling's entire company singlehanded."
"I find that hard to believe, By. That's not how Jeralt told it."
"Either way, I… Ever since I started teaching here at the Officer's Academy, it… it feels like I've been losing my edge."
Thinking about it for a moment, Anna asked, "Because you learned how to feel?"
"I think so. But Anna, I… I don't want to go back to being the Ashen Demon. I hate how I was just an… an emotionless statue. But we're at war now. I need to be stronger than I've ever been if we're going to succeed. And I know I'll be stronger if…"
"If you go back to how you were back then?"
"Yes. Fighting Ladislava at the bridge made me realize just how much I've slipped. Cyril's dead, Alicia barely survived, Ferdinand won't be fighting for maybe another month."
Anna realized Byleth's conundrum. On one hand, Byleth had the right of it. They needed every advantage they could get. They needed to be at the top of their game in battle.
But Byleth clearly didn't want to sacrifice her emotions, even if it meant victory.
After a moment of silence between the two, Anna said, "For what it's worth, By, I like you the way you are now way more than how you were back then. And I bet the others would say the same thing."
"Do you think so?" asked Byleth.
"Definitely. So don't go giving up on smiling, laughing, and so forth on us, you hear?"
Byleth was stunned at Anna's words.
After a short pause, Byleth smiled and said, "Thank you, Anna."
"Don't mention it, By."
Sorry if this feels a bit short, but I couldn't find a way to extend it without rambling.
Byleth easily besting Shez is definitely something that would happen, especially since Shez doesn't have Arval. Even in Three Hopes, the only reason Shez can ever beat Byleth is due to the latter being controlled directly by Sothis, with Sothis having trouble since Byleth resists, along with Byleth not getting the Sword of the Creator in Three Hopes (thanks for reminding me, StellarLupine). Even with Arval, at the start of Three Hopes, Shez still can't beat Byleth, so it makes sense here that she'd be curb-stomped by her. Additionally, Shez rushing at Byleth without any sort of plan or strategy would be in-character for her (unless I'm mistaken) since she's reckless with Arval's gift (i.e. jumping from a high elevation just to "get tougher" is one show of her lack of caution).
EDIT: After reviewing the script from Three Hopes, I've adjusted the clash between Byleth and Shez a bit to reflect that Shez wasn't that broken up over the deaths of Berling's company. Instead, the dialogue now reflects that Shez is after Byleth due to her wounded pride.
This also allows me to bring up something that certain anonymous reviews have been pointing out: how Byleth seems weak compared to how she's described in Three Houses. It might sound weird, but Byleth's loss of skill can be attributed to her becoming more emotional. She hesitates more, tries to be more compassionate, etc. This isn't to say she shouldn't show more emotions; it just comes with an unfortunate drawback. Of course, one could also see it as Byleth depreciating herself, as she did just fine against Shez.
I'll see you next week (if I can come up with something for Lana to do).