Time to start picking up the innumerable pieces of the last big battle.
Chapter 101 - Aftermath of Carnage (Harpstring Moon)
The start of the Harpstring Moon was not a welcome one for the battered armies of the Church, Loyalists, and Alliance. Everywhere one looked, they could see the casualties of the Battle of Gronder Field, whether dead or wounded. It was a scene of carnage unlike any Fódlan had seen in hundreds, even thousands, of years.
For Seteth, who commanded the Church's battered army while Byleth was still comatose, the devastation was staggering, even for him.
Between all three armies, they had started with about 68,000 soldiers. Following the battle, Seteth estimated that no more than 4,000 had gotten through relatively unscathed. There were also about 11,000 who, while injured, could still fight, but these numbers paled in comparison to the number of casualties sustained. They had at least 21,000 badly wounded, while the remaining 32,000 were either dead, dying, or missing.
Among those missing were Yuri, Constance, Bernadetta, and Brigitte. No one knew what had happened to them after the meteor shower.
Their morale was also in a terrible state. The Loyalists were in despair over King Dimitri's death, as well as the death of Rodrigue Achille Fraldarius. Gilbert, in particular, looked as though he had aged ten years in a single day. The Alliance, which had been devastated by the Hymn used by Cornelia Arnim, were not much better.
In short, the battle had been a total calamity.
The only saving grace was that the Imperials had pulled back during the meteor shower, giving their army some breathing room. But Seteth knew it wouldn't last long. They probably had a few hours at most before the bulk of the Imperial Army caught up to them.
Seteth turned to watch Flayn as she tried to heal Ignatz's many wounds. She had not fully recovered from being struck by lightning in the battle, but she insisted on trying to treat the Alliance archer's injuries. Even with her talent at healing magic, she could only do so much for Ignatz, who had been beaten within an inch of his life by the Black Eagle ace Zola Axberg. Nearby, Raphael had suffered several third-degree burns, but he still tried to help however he could, bringing bandages to those who needed them.
Turning, Seteth saw Linhardt doing his best not to vomit at how much blood there was while he tried to patch up one of the knights. Nearby, Claude spoke with Judith on the position of the Imperial Army. Though he could not hear them from where he stood, Seteth knew from the look on Claude's face that the Imperials had to be hot on their heels. Even with how many the Empire had lost, it seemed Edelgard wasn't about to let up on a pursuit.
Battered as they were, Seteth knew they couldn't enter another fight with the Imperials. If they didn't get back across the Airmid River before the Imperials caught up with them, they would surely be wiped out.
Seteth made his way toward Claude and Judith as the leader of the Alliance winced and clutched his chest wound.
"You need to get that looked at, Claude," said Judith.
"Already did," Claude replied. "But we've got bigger problems to worry about."
"How soon will you be able to move your men?" Seteth asked as he approached the leader of the Alliance.
"You mean how soon will I be able to move those who can still walk?"
"If we had sufficient time, I would agree with evacuating everyone we can. Unfortunately, the Empire is not about to give us such a luxury."
"You're asking us to leave people behind?" said Caspar. "Not a chance, Seteth."
"And how do you propose we get all our wounded to safety before the Imperials reach us?"
Caspar scowled, knowing Seteth had a point, yet he refused to agree with the idea. Turning away, he hissed, "Dammit…! This is just so damn wrong!"
"You don't have to like it, Caspar," said Catherine.
"Yeah, well, I wouldn't like it even if you ordered me to!"
Seteth then muttered, "If only Miss Arnault had not used that Hymn, we may have had some chance of turning the battle around."
"Hey, don't go blaming Dorothea for this, Seteth!" said Anna.
"I warned her those spells were dangerous. And because she used the most terrible of them all, our forces are in ruins."
"You may have some point, Seteth," said Lysithea, "but Cornelia Arnim did just about as much damage with her own Hymn. Are you planning to ignore that?"
"I do not know how the Duchess of Faerghus came to learn the art, but both she and Miss Arnault caused devastating losses to our armies. If I'd known Dorothea had learned such a dangerous spell from Madame Jiayi, I–"
"Dorothea didn't learn that Hymn from her, Seteth," interrupted Anna. When Seteth turned to her with an incredulous look, Anna said, "She got it from me."
"You… What were you thinking to teach her such dangerous magic, Annabelle Sharene Ernest?!"
"I didn't teach it to her, okay? She heard me trying to practice it before our fight with Randolph, but I couldn't get it to work."
"And that somehow changes our present debacle?!"
"Knock it off, both of you!" snapped Judith as she put herself between the two. "Fighting each other isn't gonna help anything."
"I concur with Judith," said Lorenz. "We should be moving as many of our wounded as we can instead of wasting our efforts squabbling with one another."
Wordlessly, the others agreed with Lorenz. Yet as they returned to their tasks, the tension between them remained palpable.
…
Hilda found Marianne sitting next to Mercedes as the cleric tried to console the queen. Seeing her best friend in such misery was a heartbreaking sight for the pink-haired fighter.
"Mary? Are you okay?" Hilda asked as she sat down.
"H-Hilda…" Marianne wept.
"Mary, I…"
Unable to find anything to say, Hilda simply pulled Marianne into an embrace. The queen immediately burst into tears again, wailing as Hilda tried to comfort her.
"He's gone…! Dimitri, he's…!"
"Marianne…" Mercedes said softly.
"I knew it could end like this…! I knew he was obsessed with Edelgard…! But I… I… He said I was his light in the darkness! But I couldn't… I couldn't…!"
Marianne bawled loudly as she kept repeating her beloved's name.
Nearby, Lana finished healing another soldier's wound and turned to watch the queen in her grief. All around them, those witnessing Marianne's sorrow were themselves driven to tears.
All except for Lana, that is, who could not shake her perpetual smile.
A few seconds later, Lana heard one of the wounded say, "What is wrong with you?"
"H-Huh?" Lana said as she turned to the Loyalist soldier.
"How can you be smiling at a time like this?!"
Another Loyalist soldier then said, "You… you're happy that our king is dead, aren't you?!"
"N-No, that's not it at all!" Lana protested.
"Then why are you still smiling at it, you freak?!" said a third Loyalist.
More and more of the Loyalists began berating and scolding Lana. They also began hurling insults and pinning blame on the Church and Alliance for the deaths of their king and comrades.
Then, just as one of the wounded Loyalists stood up and moved menacingly toward Lana, Alois rushed onto the scene and grabbed the hostile Loyalist by the arm.
"Alright, cut it out! All of you!" Alois barked. "She doesn't mean any offense toward your king or your comrades!"
The hostile Loyalist scowled as Alois pushed him away. Alois then took Lana by the arm and escorted her away from the angry soldiers.
As they left the Loyalists' company, Lana said, "Thanks, Sir Alois."
"I know you do not mean ill toward them, Miss Lacrimosa, but they do not understand that you can't help smiling constantly. For your safety, I must insist that you keep your distance from them."
"But Marianne, she…"
"Leave that to Hilda and Mercedes. I'm sure she'll pull through."
Lana nodded after some hesitation, yet she remained unconvinced.
The way Marianne was grieving was all too familiar to her.
…
Having just watched Alois escort Lana away from the Loyalists, Ingrid put a hand to her forehead as she tried to cope with everything that had happened. Despite all their efforts, they had failed against the Imperials. Everything they had fought and suffered for had been in vain.
Yet this was just the tip of the iceberg for her as she thought about her own actions during the battle.
"Ingrid? You gonna be alright?" said Sylvain as he sat next to the blonde.
"Oh, Sylvain…" Ingrid said as she tried to avoid her friend's gaze.
"Yeah, I'm guessing that's a 'no'."
"Why are you even talking to me, Sylvain? I almost attacked you back there, you and Felix."
"Yeah, good thing Annette stopped you. That could've gotten ugly."
"Dammit, Sylvain! How can you be so blasé about it!? I put my duty ahead of everything, even when I knew you were right! I knew Dimitri was wrong, but I…"
Now in a serious tone, Sylvain said, "Hey. Don't worry about it, okay? I know that's the way you are."
"But if… if I'd spoken up earlier, maybe he'd… maybe Dimitri would still be alive…"
As Ingrid exhaled loudly and buried her face in her hands, Felix walked over and said, "Don't delude yourself, Ingrid."
"Whoa, Felix~" Sylvain said, his tone conveying that the swordsman was about to make things worse.
Ignoring this, Felix said, "She needs to face the facts, Sylvain. The boar… Dimitri… I doubt even the Goddess herself could've stopped him. He let his guilt over what happened in Duscur consume him. No matter what you did, it was going to end the same way for him."
Shocked, Ingrid said, "But I…"
"You can't change that he's dead, Ingrid. Just like I can't change how my father's gone too. That damn fool… He kept going on about his duty to the late king. No one seems to understand. The dead won't acknowledge your loyalty. They don't care."
"You're wrong, Felix!" Ingrid snapped as she stood up angrily.
"No, I'm not. The dead are dead, and the living are living. Dimitri couldn't accept that, and he kept stringing gravestones over his neck until he snapped! He and my father were fools to think avenging those who died in Duscur would earn them some kind of redemption! And you're just as foolish in putting their misguided goals ahead of your own conscience!"
Enraged, Ingrid swung a fist at Felix's face.
The swordsman did not flinch as Sylvain grabbed her arm and stopped her punch less than an inch before Felix's face.
Felix looked Ingrid in the eye as she was forced to face the reality of his words.
After several seconds, Sylvain released his grip on Ingrid's arm as her anger settled down.
Ingrid sat back down and had to bite her lip to stop herself from screaming to the heavens.
…
Cia anxiously watched Dedue from afar as the Duscuri knight stormed away from one of the Loyalists' healers. He had only recently regained consciousness, and the news of Dimitri's death made his grief obvious. One of the other knights moved in front of him to try and calm him down, but Dedue shoved the man aside.
Concerned that he might hurt someone in his anger, Cia followed Dedue to a small forest at the edge of the camp.
As Cia approached him, Dedue looked down and said sorrowfully, "Your Highness…"
Dedue then smashed his fist into a nearby tree, leaving a large crack in its trunk, before letting out a furious howl of anguish.
After a moment of trepidation, Cia warily walked over to him and asked, "Dedue? Are you okay?"
"Leave me be, Cia," Dedue growled as he turned away from her.
Cautiously, Cia put a hand on Dedue's shoulder and said, "אל תאשימו את עצמכם במותו של דימיטרי."
Briefly surprised, Dedue turned and asked, "You can speak our tongue?"
"Yes. My mother was from Duscur, just like you are."
Turning away from Cia again, Dedue growled, "אם אתה יודע את דרכינו, אז אתה יודע מה עלי לעשות."
"אתה מתכוון לנקום בו? יש אחרים שצריכים אותך כאן עכשיו."
"השאיפות שלו הן שלי עכשיו. אני אביא לו את הראש של אדלגרד, לא משנה מה יידרש!"
Cia opened her mouth to speak, but Dedue jerked his shoulder away from her hand, startling the dark-skinned twin. He glared over his shoulder at the diva as a silent threat for her to stay out of his path.
Then, without another word, Dedue marched his way into the trees. For a moment, Cia thought to follow him, but she realized he would not listen to her.
Knowing he would not tread the same path as the others, Cia turned back to the camp as Dedue vanished into the forest.
…
Meanwhile, to the west…
The Agarthan Nightblade Dolofonos watched from afar as the royal procession made its way into Fort Merceus. Accompanying the Emperor and her escort were thousands of wounded soldiers, including her vaunted Black Eagles.
Dolofonos's enhanced eyes adjusted themselves to better see the Imperials from a distance. Within seconds, he saw his prey: Edelgard von Hresvelg. The Emperor had not been visibly wounded, but it was apparent that she had exhausted herself fighting at Gronder Field.
Turning slightly, Dolofonos quickly singled out a familiar face: Bias the Magistra. Or, as the humans knew her, Cornelia Arnim.
As Edelgard and her entourage entered the fortress, Dolofonos pulled his communicator from his belt and activated it. Seconds later, the image of Thales appeared before him.
"You are in position?" said Thales.
"Yes, Agastya," said Dolofonos.
"Good. Proceed into Fort Merceus and eliminate Edelgard von Hresvelg."
"What of the Magistra?"
"Kill her as well. Once you have done so, retrieve what remains of Myson's Darkheart and the Chimeric Stone. Eliminate anyone who stands in your way, be they beast or supplicant."
"It will be done."
Thales's image vanished as Dolofonos stashed away the device. As began his trek toward Fort Merceus, the Nightblade's body shifted in colors until he was all but invisible, with only his footfall hinting at his presence.
That can't be good.
Seteth blaming Dorothea for their defeat isn't totally out of the question, given I've set him up as being mired by tradition. And, to be fair, he DID warn them that Hymnos was dangerous. She might've had the best intentions, but she still made a HUGE mistake using that song.
As for the others, it took me a little while to figure things out, especially with Lana. Having her perpetually smiling even when everyone else is mourning Dimitri's death would understandably creep people out. I feel I haven't done enough character focus on Lana throughout the story, so I intend to give her more as we go along.
For the part with Ingrid, I took some of the dialogue from Felix's A-Support with Dimitri and adapted it. Once again, Felix is definitely a jerk here, but he's giving Ingrid a reality check. And, on a personal note, I agree with Felix. In the words of Mary Harris "Mother" Jones, "Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living."
In case you're wondering, Dedue and Cia are speaking in Hebrew. I hope it's an appropriate fit for the people of Duscur. I'm again using Google Translate for it, so I apologize if the translation and/or grammar is bad. And, just like in SS and VW, Dedue won't be staying with our heroes.
Finally, as yet another address to the guest reviewers, I agree that I've been abrasive. I've just had bad experiences with trolls trying to get my writings taken down in the past, so I appreciate those who've stuck with this story for so long. And I acknowledge that my portrayal of Byleth, Dorothea, and other characters may not be how they are in the game's canon. However, I have laid out a path for them, and I plan to continue treading it. So, while others may think I'm having Byleth be "weak", it's a necessity for the story. It's also a necessity that I have Byleth not yet realize that Cornelia mind-controlled her. She thinks she spared Edelgard's life willingly, which is needed for further character development.
Now, if you'll excuse me, Pikmin 4 awaits me while I'm taking a week-long vacation from work. I'll see you in the next chapter.