AN: A small correction to last time's AN: It was supposed to say 14th of January. I'm a bit impaired at the moment because my keyboard keeps eating my inputs.

Another point about last chapter, The Agarthan leaders Thales, Solon, Chilon, Bias, Pittacus and Myson bear the names of five of the Seven Sages of Greece.

Chapter 8: Meetings, Greetings and Learning

It was remarkable how quickly one could move via outposts where one could be warped further onwards. The journey from Remire village to the outskirts of Garreg Mach had taken less than two days. In the meantime, Byleth had observed the students and knights while they travelled and had also spoken with some of them.

Following Hyperion's advice, he had made sure to get to know the three House leaders a bit. Provisionally, he could say that Edelgard was both refined and hardened in character, that Dimitri was a polite young man with a well-disguised near-obsession with justice, and that Claude played his cards very close to his chest, betraying almost nothing about himself.

The knights, on the other hand, were not very talkative, except when it came to sharing old stories of missions they had gone on. Byleth had listened in on those, if only to gain insight into how the Knights of Seiros operated, what tactics they used and what problems had occurred that might still have consequences nowadays.

While he was walking next to the House leaders, Dimitri suddenly spoke up. "This will be your first time at the Monastery. I'd be happy to show you around."

"It really is Fodlan in a nutshell. The good and the bad," chimed in Claude.

Edelgard had her own comment. "Like it or not, we will soon be there," she said.

At that moment, the entire party of nearly two-hundred people exited the forest. The view was breath-taking. The landscape was beautiful, the architecture of the outer walls of Garreg Mach was superb and the Monastery on the hilltop some kilometres away towered over its surroundings like the proper seat of authority it was. Byleth's mind was not focussed on the beauty of the scene, however.

"These walls are absolutely worthless," he thought inwards, sounding somewhat scandalised.

"That they are," responded Hyperion. "The walls are well-made, but the lack of gatehouses and the massive gap that is somehow at least thrice as broad as the road make them nothing more than expensive ornaments. This needs to be fixed, and quickly."

Byleth did not voice his thoughts, instead choosing to remain silent as the entire procession walked up the hill. While he felt vaguely insulted by the total waste of the otherwise impressive fortifications, he decided to at least inspect them on the way up so he could talk to the right people to get the flaws corrected.

The second set of walls, much to the young mercenary's dismay, shared the same weakness as the outer walls. In his opinion, that was even worse since this particular line of defence was supposed to protect the town of the Monastery through which they were now walking.

Ere long, Alois gave orders to lead the mercenary company to the barracks, where they could rest and stay for the time being. Jeralt and Byleth were left with instructions to meet Lady Rhea as soon as they were finished with settling in.

Consequently, the two of them found themselves within the market place at the entrance of the Monastery proper an hour or so later, where Lady Rhea was watching them from her quarters' balcony with a very slight smile.

While continuing their walk, Byleth kept inspecting the Monastery's defences. The positive was that the entrance to the Monastery proper at least had a portcullis. The downside was that there was virtually no gatehouse, no murder holes, no drawbridge and not even hardwood gate wings.

The buildings, however, were sensibly arranged. They could funnel potential attackers into kill zones rather effectively. The upper floors of the main building were also very defensible thanks to the single access point to the stairwell. From what he was able to see, the Cathedral also made an excellent last retreat in the event of catastrophe.

Finally releasing his thoughts on military matters, Byleth took a bit of time to look at the Monastery from a different perspective. The surroundings, for one, were well-suited for training and field exercises. The market place seemed to be well-organised and easily accessible, stocked with wares both useful and interesting. From what little he had seen of the facilities, the place was also roomy and very tidy. While there was a minor sense of pomp to the whole thing, it did seem rather homely as well.

Finally, their trek saw the father-son duo ascend the stairwell to the second floor of the Monastery's main building. From there, it was but a few metres to the Archbishop's audience chamber. The chamber itself was not quite spartan, but it was certainly far less pompous than one would assume. Of course, there were some ornamental pots and the rather beautiful window, but there really was not much in terms of decoration.

The two of them waited in the chamber for a minute or two before Rhea and a green-haired man exited the adjacent room and came into view. The shade of green was rather peculiar. It held none of the blue-tint of Byleth's own hair and was also significantly darker than Rhea's. From previous conversations with Hyperion, Byleth could surmise that this was Seteth.

"My apologies for the wait," was the first thing Rhea said. "The past few weeks have been somewhat stressful because of an unfortunate incident which occurred some time ago."

Byleth and Jeralt knew what she was talking about. The latter commented, "Monica von Ochs was abducted, yes. We're aware. She and her father accompanied us on our way here."

A slight look of surprise overcame Rhea and Seteth's faces. Rhea gave voice to her thoughts. "We heard that she had been found, but this is a fortuitous surprise."

"It most certainly is," remarked Seteth. "You have my sincerest thanks for bringing back one of the Academy's students safely." After a second's pause, he added, "Ah, excuse my poor manners. My name is Seteth. I am an advisor to the Archbishop."

"Hello," responded Jeralt. "Think nothing of it. We were in the area and it was the right thing to do."

Somewhat sceptically, Seteth nodded. "Very well."

"Speaking of things to do," Jeralt went on, "Baron Ochs accompanied us here to speak to you. The official reason is that he wants to lodge a formal complaint about the… lacking security of the Monastery. Unofficially, he's here for information and answers."

Rhea raised an eyebrow. "Information and answers? That is odd."

"I never said that you would provide them. Well, most of them," said the mercenary. "That's going to be our job. Your and Seteth's presence will be needed because you need some of this information as well and we need to discuss what we should do with it."

The second eyebrow joined the first one on Rhea's face, although it was now Seteth's turn to speak up. "What kind of information would necessitate such subterfuge?"

Jeralt looked at Byleth, who nodded and summoned his helmet, much to the surprise of the two clergy members across from them. A few moments later, the young mercenary spoke up. "We're clear for now."

The helmet was dismissed again in short order and Byleth stepped close to his and his father's interlocutors.

Then, he whispered to Rhea, "The Agarthans are active again. There is at least one within the walls of the monastery."

At once, Rhea's serene appearance cracked. Instead, she adopted a stare that would have sent lesser men running for the hills. There was anger in her expression. Lots and lots of anger. Seteth also looked very troubled.

"There are other topics related to that one as well. It's likely we'll need at least two conferences," said Jeralt. "We were hoping we could hold the first one tomorrow evening. Our list of suggested attendees consists of you two, Baron Ochs and possibly his daughter, Professor Hanneman, Professor Manuela and Yuri of the Ashen Wolves. We know about them too."

Rhea took a few long and deep breaths and closed her eyes. After about ten seconds, she had regained her composure. "Very well," she commented. "Can I ask why you wish these people to attend?"

Jeralt nodded. "You two for obvious reasons. Baron Ochs should be there because it was his reason for coming along in the first place. We'll need Professor Hanneman for his expertise in magic and Professor Manuela for her medical knowledge. And finally, we need Yuri because we promised him answers when we involved him in the mess with Monica."

"I see," was Rhea's answer. She then continued, "There will be other business we will need to talk about tomorrow, but for now, I have a simple request for you, Jeralt. I would like to ask you to re-join the Knights of Seiros. Their current captain is no longer in his prime and could use your assistance."

The man in question sighed. "Alright, I'll join up again."

The Archbishop smiled slightly. "One last question," she said. "Is this your child?"

Jeralt's face showed a slight grimace. "Yes, he is."

"May I ask where his mother is?" she asked.

"You already know," he answered heatedly. "It's one of the things we'll talk about tomorrow."

Rhea was somewhat surprised at the slight hostility in Jeralt's voice, but she acknowledged what he had said. "Very well. Let us adjourn this conversation in that case."

Damian, the Baron of Ochs territory, father of Monica and loyal subject of His Majesty Ionius IX was not in a happy mood despite his reunion with his daughter. The cause of this unhappiness was the education of Princess Edelgard. It had been precious little time he had been able to spend with the young woman, but he had found an utterly appalling deficiency in her knowledge of how the Empire, the Church and Fodlan as a whole worked. Instead, it seemed, she had been fed misinformation in practically every matter of import, most likely intentionally.

Naturally, he had offered his tutorship in the pertinent subjects while he stayed at the Garreg Mach. He had almost missed the look of shock that had very briefly crossed her face before it had returned to its normal state. It was almost as if she didn't expect anyone to genuinely aid her.

The way the Princess subtly twitched whenever somebody unexpectedly came too close to her was also unnerving. During the war with Dagda and its aftermath, he had seen many people who acted like that. Almost all of them had gone through experiences best not spoken of. What compounded the situation was the way Edelgard covered herself. While few noblewomen ever showed off much skin, she covered every square centimetre below her neck with the exception of that small piece of her breastbone. The one time he had seen her without her gloves, he'd seen the scars on the backs of her hands. He shuddered to think of it, but it was possible, even likely, that Her Highness had been treated atrociously while in the "care" of that scum Arundel, or whatever lout now wore his skin, if his new associates were to be believed.

He narrowed his eyes. There would be Hell to pay if he was right. First, however, he would see to it that his future ruler was well-educated. While he would support her in deposing the insidious leches who had seized power, he refused to do so at her and her people's expense. Recovery and preparation came before revenge. But when the time came, there would be little in terms of mercy or remorse.

Right now was not the time for such thoughts, however. His first tutoring session for the Princess and her attendant, Hubert, who had insisted on being there, was about to begin. He would have been suspicious of this, as the boy was Marquis Vestra's son, but the clear signs of trust in him which the girl displayed and his consent to Monica's attendance made the Baron acquiesce. So, Damian was now seated at a desk together with his daughter, having prepared his notes, and waiting for his two new pupils to enter.

The door opened only moments later and the two aforementioned pupils stepped in. He and his daughter stood up and bowed. "Your Highness, young Lord, be welcome. Please, sit down. I am happy to begin as soon as you are ready," he said.

Edelgard and Hubert bowed respectfully in return as the former responded, "We are grateful for this opportunity, Lord Ochs." Then, the both of them sat down a pair of chairs that stood by the desk.

"I must confess," the Baron began, "The impetus for my offer was the realisation that your previous tutors have either failed miserably or that they deliberately taught you misinformation. Nevertheless, the necessity of these remedial lessons does not lessen my joy at being able to be of assistance."

At Edelgard's slightly surprised expression, he elaborated further. "Your Highness, for some strange reason, your previous tutors have either overstated the importance of the Church of Seiros within the Empire or have misattributed its involvement in affairs that are internal to the nobility. While your stated goal of abolishing the system upheld by Crests is indeed a worthy goal, you were allowed to mislead yourself as to where the roots of the problem lie.

Furthermore, your ideas of a meritocratic new order are admirable, but it is important to think of what exactly constitutes merit. Such systems are as prone to corruption as any estate-based system such as the one we live in now.

And finally, as I understand it, it is your goal to spread these ideas of yours across all of Fodlan, not just the Empire. I will not presume to tell you what to do once you are on the Throne, but I must suggest that internal matters are handled before the external ones. Internal enemies, even when fighting a common foe, have a tendency to stab you in the back at the most devastating point in time.

The most recent war between Morfis and Dagda thirty-four years ago demonstrated this aptly. Dagda was close to crushing Morfis and taking the city, had not a succession crisis erupted that set the Dagdan troops against each other. A succession crisis which could have been easily avoided had the Dagdan King first set out to suppress his rebellious second son's forces. The King was thus forced to recall his troops stationed in Morfis to quell the rebellion. Subsequently, the navy of Morfis rallied and destroyed the majority of the Dagdan fleet, killing some 40'000 soldiers in the process. The Dagdan King was deposed and the war with Morfis ended with no clear winner.

We will address all these things, as well as your administrative skills over the course of our next few sessions. For this evening, a general overview of the political factions in the Empire and in the rest of Fodlan should suffice."

The three teenagers were listening intently while the Baron spoke, each with different thoughts on the matter.

Monica was mostly absorbing the information and trying to process the information her father had gleamed from just a few conversations with the Princess.

Hubert was glad that someone saw the same problems as he with the Empire's current political landscape. The new perspective on his Lady's ambitions the Baron was sure to provide would also serve to further refine his methods of fulfilling them.

Edelgard, however, felt a slight sense of unease. Baron Ochs had discerned that much about her from nothing but a chat or two over the last two days. It appeared that her skills at concealing her true intentions were lacking. Nevertheless, she was grateful that he seemed supportive of her goals. Sadly, there was still the matter that she could have been basing her action plans on false information, and false information was deadly.

Letting them absorb all this for a few seconds, Damian kept quiet for a few seconds before continuing. "We shall begin with your current knowledge basis. Of course, our focus will be on Adrestian politics. Despite our wishes to the contrary, none of us are too privy to the internal politics of other nations, after all. Therefore, I invite all three of you to name the rough political factions within the Empire and their connection to outsiders, should such connections exist."

"Well," Monica said after a moment's silence, "There are the loyalists, like us and the late Count Nuvelle. Many are just minor lords and commoners in clerk positions. The broader populace has shifted in our favour as of late due to the misconduct that is perpetuated by the current regime. The main goal of our faction is to put Emperor Ionius back in power." She did not say anything further, ceding the floor to the other two.

Edelgard took the opportunity and added her own piece. "There are the Six Great Noble families as they call themselves," she said with clear contempt. "Their goals are largely to maintain and expand their authority. Headed by my uncle and Duke Aegir, the others are Duke Gerth, Counts Bergliez, Varley and Hevring, and… Marquis Vestra."

The rather terrifying scowl on Hubert's face was a sight to behold. His contribution to the list was said in a tense tone. "There is also a small subset of anti-imperialists, mostly located in former Hrym territory. They do not appear to have any outside contacts, but I would not put it past Count Gloucester of the Alliance to support them. He seems the ambitious sort. They bear similarity to the anti-royal faction of the western parts of Faerghus, who sometimes communicate with the Western Church and Lord Arundel. They are not as subtle as they like to think they are, but Prince-Regent Rufus of the Kingdom seems to be rather unobservant."

Damian took in the statements of all three of them and thought them over. "Those are good observations to start with, especially yours, Lord Hubert. However, they are incomplete. Specifically, there is much more to the three factions you mentioned. Their cohesion, organisation and unity all differ. There is also the fact that these are not the only political forces at play within the Empire.

Firstly, the loyalist faction is very weak, seeing as my Barony is its strongest member, but it is united. Contributing to this are the following things: One, we remember the fair rule of His Majesty when he was in charge. Two, a fair number of us have always been annoyed by the grandstanding of the so-called Six Great Noble Houses and despise their increasingly power-hungry ways. Three, the mismanagement of the Imperial treasury and the policies aimed at increasing the power of the Six and Arundel have resulted in the reduction of prosperity, even in the impoverishment of some regions, which has made their Lords understandably upset. Four, there is but a single heir, which means there can be no disunity about which to support the most.

The next faction you mentioned were the Six Great Noble Houses. While you were mostly spot-on about the higher-ups of the faction, there were some very important details you have missed. For one, their support base is shrinking. Even with their increased wealth, they cannot bribe everyone into letting them do anything and everything they want. An increasing number of their supporters are also becoming disillusioned with their government due to its inefficiency and ineptitude.

The most important thing about this faction you must never disregard is its disunity. While Duke Aegir believes himself to be in charge, his power is less stable than it appears at first. Counts Bergliez and Hevring, his greatest supporters, are quick to squabble with each other and hamper their effectiveness. Marquis Vestra is completely focussed on keeping His Majesty in the dark and trying to run things himself instead of going through Duke Aegir. Count Varley is too busy trying to set the new record for the richest person on the continent to co-operate with the others. To top it off, Lord Arundel is the puppet master who makes them dance to his tune like trained dogs. Their movement stands and falls on his whims, and he will act soon. I would not be surprised if we had an Arundel dynasty instead of Hresvelg within the next ten years if he goes unopposed.

Separated from all this is Duke Gerth. While a traitor to His Majesty still, he can be reasoned with. His loyalty is to the Empire itself and he saw a danger in Emperor Ionius' centralisation of power policy. This is not entirely unjustified, as there is historical precedent in Albinea that such moves can lead to tyrannical rule. He has, however, separated himself almost entirely from the other five of the Six. There is no co-operation between him and them beyond the scope of his office as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Of note is that he holds no real enmity with the loyalist faction, as his friendship with the late Count Nuvelle and his active military support of the same during the Dagdan War can attest to.

Lastly, the anti-imperialist movement. Once more, your information was quite accurate, Lord Hubert. I must make a slight correction, however, in that it started as a secessionist movement. Irrespective of that, the gross mismanagement, the frankly absurd taxes levied to the Hrym region and unjust treatment of commoners has incensed the local populace. The only thing keeping them from declaring open rebellion is the strong presence of Aegir household troops. While this means that the people there would prefer to be separate from the Empire, it also means that a sufficiently strong and, more importantly, benevolent Emperor could win their loyalty, especially since they lack any form of leadership or organisation."

Stunned silence greeted the Baron. His pupils said nothing for quite some time. It seemed that his suspicions proved true. The Princess had learned more about the political landscape in these short few minutes than over the course of the last few years.

Gathering his wits in order to disperse the awkward silence, he proceeded with the next topic. "We will return to this topic later. For now, let us discuss estate management."

The next day, 23rd of the Great Tree Moon 1180.

Byleth's mind was working overtime right now. He had just come out of a short meeting with Lady Rhea. Despite the deviations from what Hyperion called the original continuum of timelines, she had still insisted that he become a Professor, which suited him just fine. The action plan he'd cobbled together with his father and Hyperion depended on him becoming one, in fact.

The current task he was now busy with was the selection of a House of students to teach. He had asked Hyperion about it, but the gaseous man's answer had been rather firm.

"I can't make this decision for you, Byleth. I've already revealed a lot of personal information on some students to you. Using that information to build a rapport with them before they give it to you of their own free will, or at least before you tell them you already know, is tantamount to emotional manipulation. Were it not necessary for their continued safety or that of Fodlan, you would know nothing about them but the absolute basics. I will not put you further into that spot if I can help it.

Know only that each House has its pros and cons, and that choosing one does not exclude you from befriending the others. Plus, with how we're planning on changing the plan, there will be more interaction between the Houses than ever before."

Sothis had agreed to that as well.

So, the mercenary turned Professor now saw himself confronted with a choice. To solve the conundrum, he had spent quite some time exploring the Officers Academy and talking to the lead students of the Houses.

That was another interesting thing. Each House only had eight lead students, who would participate in drills, missions and other class activities. The vast majority of normal students were only present for lectures and seminars, having sparring and practice only with the combat instructor. Luckily, that meant there was less work for him as he grew accustomed to being a Professor.

To get back to the point, however, Byleth still had to decide on which of the three Houses he should teach. Just as Hyperion had said, there were pros and cons to each of the three Houses. He knew that Edelgard would be a pivotal figure in the coming war and that making her amenable to the new solution would be important. The problem was that he would not be up to date on developments outside of the Empire.

The same held true if he were to choose the Blue Lions. While the students seemed friendly on the most part, there was little in terms of information flow to be gained from even within the Kingdom. Still, the students apart form Felix seemed to have little strife between them, which was always a positive.

The Golden Deer were a mixed bunch in almost every sense of the term. Both commoners and nobles were prominent. Unfortunately, there was the tension between Claude and Lorenz. That could be an upside, though, when it came to intelligence on a possible enemy, namely Count Gloucester. Claude's apparent thirst for knowledge would also help alleviate the dearth of information on the other territories of Fodlan outside the Alliance.

That last point, coupled with the fact that two of the four students Hyperion had specifically asked him to look out for were in the Golden Deer House, finally made him decide on them. The Golden Deer it was.

With his choice made, he moved back inside the central building and ascended the stairs to the Archbishop's audience chamber. Before he moved up the stairs, he made sure to check the sundial outside to see if he was roughly on time. Luckily, he was, so he proceeded onwards and upwards.

Before long, he stepped into the chamber, where Hanneman and Manuela were already waiting together with Rhea. He inclined his head politely in greeting at all of them and then waited for Rhea to talk.

"I see you have returned, Professor Byleth. I assume you have made your choice," she said.

Byleth nodded.

"The Black Eagles, the Blue Lions and the Golden Deer," began Manuela. "All so different. So, what is your choice?"'

Byleth's answer came quickly. "I have decided to teach the Golden Deer House."

Rhea smiled. "I see your heart has made its choice."

The (now former) mercenary was slightly puzzled by the phrasing, but decided to accept the statement. He maintained his attention when Rhea started to speak again.

"Now that you are here, Professor Manuela, Professor Hanneman, I would like to extend an invitation to a conference this evening. You will likely be needed for your knowledge in your fields of expertise."

Both Professors' eyebrows rose. "That is unusual," muttered Manuela, "though it has the potential to be interesting. I'll be there."

"So will I," said Hanneman. "Very few people are actually interested in Crestology, despite how many are obsessed with Crests themselves. Speaking of Crests, would you be interested in accompanying me to my office, Professor Byleth? I would like to test if you have a Crest."

Byleth blinked at the slight shift in topic and gave a nod of affirmation.

"Splendid!" exclaimed Hanneman.

Rhea smiled fondly, as if watching children playing games with each other. Which was fair, thought Byleth, considering that compared to her, any normal human was a child.

"In that case, you are dismissed for now. I will see you later this evening," she said with the smile still on her face.

With the signal given, Hanneman proceeded to practically drag Byleth to his office. Once there, the newly minted Professor inspected his senior's paraphernalia. From books and loose papers to diagrams and weird instruments, there seemed to be a selection of everything that would make a scholar salivate.

"Here we are, Professor Byleth," the older man spoke. "This instrument you see here is my Crest Analyser. All you have to do to see if you have a Crest, is to place your hand on it."

Byleth did so, and saw that result Hyperion had told him to expect if he ever used the device. Displayed above it was part of the Crest of Flames.

Hanneman was stunned. "What is this? I have never seen this Crest before! To think that there are still Crests not even I have ever seen. Truly marvellous!" Then, he caught himself and addressed his younger colleague. "Do you know anything about this? Or even Crests? My goodness, you must be confused if you do not!"

Byleth answered, "I didn't know until recently that I even have a Crest. A friend has helped me figure out what it is."

"You know what Crest this is? Fascinating. Can you tell me? I am most intrigued!" The older Professor's eyes shone with excitement as the words spilled forth from his mouth.

The young man was slightly amused, he admitted to himself. "I will, but later. Our findings on Crests and magic are part of what we'll be discussing this evening." Taking the thought a bit further, Byleth went on, "If you have any magical methods of preventing eavesdropping, please employ as many of them as you can. There are things we will talk about that are extremely dangerous."

Hanneman's countenance shifted to a serious look at those words. "I see," he said. "I will see what I can do."

Later that evening. Conference/War Room of Garreg Mach Monastery.

Though his face showed nothing, Byleth was quite nervous as he sat at the table, waiting for Manuela and Yuri to arrive. Rhea, Seteth and Hanneman had been here for as long as he, Jana, Jeralt, Baron Ochs and Monica. Hanneman had then busied himself with securing the room from eavesdroppers. The process had taken about half an hour, but now everyone was just waiting for the last attendees. This only served to make the young man more tense, as the things they were about to reveal would then be out of their control.

Manuela walked in a few minutes later. She took in the room and the people seated there with some surprise, likely because she recognised Monica but not her father.

Some time later, Yuri entered, leaving the guards he had brought along outside. "Sorry for my lateness," he said, "It took some time to make Aelfric believe I'm out settling a gang dispute. Well, to make him believe it for longer than the next few days."

The purple-haired youth looked just like Hyperion had described him. The hair, the eyes and the air of confidence were unmistakable.

Once everyone was seated and the doors were closed, Rhea took the lead and started to talk. "Since some of us do not know everyone at this table, I will make introductions."

While gesturing at the appropriate people, she said, "Present as members of the Monastery staff, there is myself, of course, my advisor Seteth and Professors Hanneman, Manuela and Byleth, as well as Sir Jeralt, once again a Knight of Seiros. Next to Jeralt and his son Byleth is Jana, a former Knight of Seiros as well as a trusted companion to both of them according to my understanding. Further present are Baron Damian von Ochs and his daughter Monica. And finally, this is Yuri. He is the House Leader of the Ashen Wolves, a sort of unofficial fourth House of the Officers Academy, and keeper of order among the… seedier elements of the underground here."

Byleth was surprised that Rhea was sharing this information. Hyperion, who had been listening since the conference's beginning, thought so as well. "Now that's interesting. It seems she's grasped the true nature of this meeting quite well."

The Archbishop then went on. "While I have called you here, this conference has been organised at the request of Jeralt and his son concerning matters of great importance to all of Fodlan. I will be ceding the floor to them now." With that, she gestured at Jeralt.

The man composed himself and started speaking. "The whole tale is a bit convoluted and also quite hard to believe, but you should probably listen to all of it before asking too many questions. I guess I should start with the beginning.

It started over two months ago, when my son had a strange dream. He first dreamed of a battle wherein Saint Seiros slew Nemesis, the King of Liberation, in battle. Then, the dream shifted and he saw a green-haired girl with pointy ears on a throne of stone, and a strange, corpulent man. As it turns out, that part wasn't quite a dream. Kid, do the thing."

Byleth nodded, and summoned his helmet. It looked different from its usual form, however. The right side, up to the middle of Byleth's forehead, was missing.

The voice that spoke from it was not the one of Jeralt's son. "It's rare that people dream of me so chances are that if you see me, it's not a dream." The voice let out a small laugh. "Anyway, my name is Hyperion, and just to demonstrate that I'm not just Byleth here using a voice modulator, I have left this tastefully ridiculous gap in the helmet, which leaves enough of his lips visible to tell you that he's either an exceptionally skilled ventriloquist or that I'm not the same person as he."

There were questioning glances around the table. "Is this a joke?" asked Seteth.

"It's about as much of a joke," answered Hyperion, "as that bunch of Russian neo-Nazis hiding underground like the rats they are. So, not at all."

There was general confusion about the room, but Rhea's eyes were sharper and more attentive than ever. Nobody alive except for her and possibly Macuil knew what that combination of words meant.

The man in the helmet continued, "What I am, however, is the mysterious informant Yuri, Monica and her father have heard about. I know things others don't. I also know things others can't know. In fact, with such knowledge, I can convince at least Lady Rhea over here that at least part of what I'm talking about is true."

"How so?" she asked in a tense tone.

"Well, it's a family matter. You are the youngest of 21 siblings, the only one of them still alive. Your next youngest siblings were Polaris, Bellatrix and Arcturus," was Hyperion's answer.

While the question marks over the other's heads, except Seteth's, grew larger, Rhea's face was in a position of shock. "How do you know this?"

His reply was swift. "Two reasons. One, I have very limited knowledge of how the world came to be as it is, but I know how it was when this continent was still called Europe. I also have knowledge of several possible futures. Second-"

"Absurd!" shouted the Baron. "Do you seriously know to claim the future? I can believe that you somehow acquired rare information, but this is too ridiculous for words. I followed you here for an actual explanation of how you gained your knowledge, yet you insult us by peddling this nonsense?"

"My good Baron," said Hyperion. "There is no such thing as the future. There are possibilities, and I know four rough outlines of this world's future. That doesn't mean that I have foresight or some kind of incredible information gathering abilities. It just means I know stuff. How else could I have known about the plot to abduct your daughter? Nobody except the conspirators could possibly have known, and I am confined to Byleth's head as you can see."

The Baron had no good counter to that, though he remained sceptical, and elected to stay silent for the moment.

Then, he added, "I also wasn't finished speaking yet. Lady Rhea, the second reason why I know quite a bit I shouldn't is that your mother is awake and slowly regaining her memories, powers and form."

Rhea's breath hitched. Then, after a few seconds' pause, she asked, "Her form?"

Hyperion elaborated, "Jeralt told you that Byleth saw a green-haired girl, didn't he? Girl, not woman. When our first conversation happened, she looked like she'd just barely hit her teens, now she's midway through puberty in appearance. Gods and spiritual beings are weird like that.

Oh, just by the by, she's seriously mad about your planned body-switch scheme for her, but she still loves you. Like, seriously, she's right next to me in Byleth's head right now. She looks really adorable when she's ma- ow! Damn it, Sothis! Fine, I'll explain it to them, now stop shouting."

Quite a few of the attendees were perplexed by the rather surreal goings-on until now. That changed, however, when Hyperion said his next sentence.

"Byleth, show them your Crest."

The stoic young man, who had been silent and nearly motionless until this point, lifted his hand and let the Crest of Flames appear above it.

"By the Goddess," said Hanneman. "This must be the Crest of Flames!"

"Yes, it is," confirmed Hyperion. "There are only three ways for anyone to have a Crest. One, they are a descendant of a bearer, which Byleth is not. Nemesis, the only other human on record to have it, has no descendants at all. His bloodline was wiped out. Two, the bearer underwent either a blood reconstruction surgery or the more benevolent transfusion ritual. The former was the case with Nemesis, the Ten Elites and whatever other chief followers he had. The latter would be the case with the five saintly Crests. Now, the third way for somebody to have a Crest is for the Crest Stone to fulfil its natural purpose: to be a heart.

Professor Manuela, would you be so kind as to perform a check-up on Byleth over here? When he was but a few days old, Jeralt had him examined by a doctor, who concluded that he had a pulse but no heartbeat. Confirm this, please."

Warily, Manuela stood up and walked over to where Byleth was sitting. She cast her diagnostic spells with practised ease and speed. Then, she repeated the process. And again. Finally, she said in disbelief, "It's true. There's no heartbeat."

Hyperion took the opportunity to speak up again. "Crest Stones are hearts. They pump blood and enrich it with their power. This is why Crest Stones are so vital to the so-called Heroes Relics."

"But… wouldn't that mean that the Heroes Relics are powered by someone's heart? And whose hearts would those be anyway?"

It seemed that Monica had finally found her voice.

"Ah, that is indeed a very good question," remarked Hyperion. "Young Lady, have you ever seen a Heroes Relic or a depiction of one? They all look like they're made of bones. That is because they are made of bones. More specifically, the bones of the Children of the Goddess. The Heroes Relics were the result of a genocide whose extent sickens me to the core."

The young woman's voice was a bit shaky as she asked, "But why would the Church allow them to be used then?"

"For the very same reason the Church exists in the first place, social stability and peace," answered Hyperion. "The wicked Gods in the official story? Those were the Children of the Goddess who ruled over humans while she was asleep and recovering from the extreme labour she put into restoring the world to habitable conditions. The Agarthans, who are the organisation which backed Nemesis, ran a very successful propaganda campaign during his original rampage, I imagine, painting the Children of the Goddess as evil. Whatever really occurred back then, the result was that Seiros could not just proclaim Nemesis and the Ten Elites, his followers, to be icons of evil when so many in Fodlan still believed them liberators and heroes. It also served to protect that last few Nabateans, as the Children of the Goddess called themselves, from persecution.

Back to the matter at hand, however. A Crest Stone is the heart of a Nabatean. How did Nemesis and his associates then get the power to slay them? You know that the story is that he received both the Sword of the Creator and the Crest of Flames as gifts from the Goddess. That is more or less true, only that he took both forcibly. He killed her in her sleep and the Agarthans then forged him the Sword of the Creator from her bones and heart. They also performed the first instance of a blood reconstruction surgery on him, using the blood of the Goddess to grant him the Crest of Flames."

The expressions around the table shifted into the realm of the horrified, the sickened or the stony. However, Hanneman and Yuri still paid attention to the story's contents. Hanneman was even taking notes with a displeased look on his face.

Hyperion's soliloquy continued. "After their last battle, Seiros took the Sword from Nemesis and hid it away. Through means only very few people know about, the Stone came to be with Byleth's mother. He was stillborn and his mother, who died on the day of his birth, hoped that the Stone would give life to her child. It did. And once a Crest Stone resides within a living body, it grants it the power of its Crest. Furthermore, at least part of a Nabatean's consciousness resides in their heart. That's how their curses came about."

"Curses?" asked Hanneman. Despite the gruesome nature of the information, he was still very interested in anything that had to do with Crests.

"You know of the Crest of Maurice, yes?" asked Hyperion. Hanneman nodded, making him continue, "The effect it has on its bearers is a curse. Many of them, just like Maurice, are said to have become Demonic Beasts. A Child of the Goddess savvy enough with magic could cast a powerful death curse as you can imagine. I don't quite know why the other forcibly taken Crests do not cause the same effect, but that they have their own curses as well. Mention of such incidents is usually suppressed so as not to endanger the narrative, but people without a Crest using a Heroes Relic turn into Demonic Beasts as well."

In the meantime, Yuri had finished gathering his thoughts and spoke for the first time that evening. "You said that part of the consciousness is within the Crest Stones. You also said that Lady Rhea's mother was right next to you in Professor Byleth's head. And Professor Byleth has the Crest Stone of the Goddess within his chest. Are you telling us that Lady Rhea is a Child of the Goddess?"

Rhea and Seteth were visibly distraught about this question, whereas the rest of the conference attendees were very curious indeed.

"I was wondering when one of you would catch on to that," was Hyperion's response. "She is a Child of the Goddess, yes. I don't think I have to tell you to keep quiet about this. Seriously, if you blab, I will find a way to hunt you down and end you. Whatever grievances I may have with Lady Rhea, I do not wish death or worse upon her. Plus, she's important to Sothis and Sothis is important to me."

Were the topic not so serious, the deer-caught-in-the-headlights look on Rhea's face and Seteth's readiness to bolt would have been hilarious to behold. Both of them were beginning to think that this meeting was a mistake, but then Hyperion opened his proverbial mouth again.

"Now that we have established the complicated backstory to the problem at hand, let's get to the problem at hand: War. And I don't mean any past wars, no, I mean a war in the near future. The instigators of the coming conflict are old, however. The Agarthans are still around and they have been very active, recently. That is the only reason Lady Rhea has even agreed to host this meeting.

This involves all of you since at least one of them is currently on Monastery grounds."

"What?!" shouted Seteth.

Byleth could understand why he was so upset. The Saint in disguise had a daughter to protect.

"Indeed," Hyperion went on, "It was they who originally planned to kidnap Monica here. We got Yuri to pre-empt them by kidnapping her first. After the night of the incident, she was never in any credible danger thanks to this."

This was news to the older staff members of the Monastery. It had troubling implications. Agarthans had infiltrated the Monastery undetected and had nearly succeeded in abducting a student right under the noses of the Knights of Seiros without anyone being the wiser.

The explanation was not over at that. Hyperion continued, "Now, Baron Ochs and Monica were already told, the plan was to use Monica to plant another infiltrator within the walls of the Monastery. They would have been able to accomplish this with one of the vilest pieces of magic anyone has ever devised. It involves killing a person and then wearing their appearance."

Unperturbed by the disgusted faces of the majority of the people in the room, the man followed up. "I don't know how many were killed and replaced in such a manner, but there are two I know of right now. The first victim, Lord Volkhard von Arundel, has been dead for about nine years now. The second one, Tomas the Librarian, was replaced at some point while he was in Ordelia territory. Both of them have displayed great shifts in their behaviour for no well-explained reason. Turns out the Agarthans are shitty actors, eh?

To help combat the threat such infiltrators pose, Byleth and I have developed a spell to disable their disguises. Byleth has successfully taught this spell to the Baron's retainers. We have not yet had the opportunity to test it, but we are confident that it will work as intended. As a matter of precaution, we'd still like Professor Hanneman to go over our notes."

Before said Professor had any chance to speak, Rhea asked Hyperion an important question. "Do you know they are here and what their goals are?"

The disembodied man's voice was grim as he answered. "They want to finish the job. They want the death of the last few Children of the Goddess that yet live. They want to see the Church and the Goddess torn down, destroyed and broken at their feet while they can finally crawl out of their holes and take over Fodlan, maybe even the world. To that end, they have engineered many wars over the years such as King Loog's rebellion that resulted in the Kingdom of Faerghus.

And now, they're engineering a new war they've been planning for years. The Insurrection of the Seven, the deaths of all but one of Emperor Ionius' children, the Tragedy of Duscur, possibly the dubious death of Duke Riegan's son are events that they either caused or aided in order to destabilise Fodlan in preparation for the conflict. One hard blow would knock the majority of the continent's structure over. Succession crises and border disputes could start all over Fodlan at a moment's notice. From that point, it would be easy to roll over whatever force emerges as victorious.

I think, by this point, you have all realised that this is less of a conference and more of a war council. There is a lot more we have to discuss, namely an action plan, contingencies and emergency measures. This is going to be a long night for all of us."

AN:

And that's a wrap for this time. My apologies for cutting it off here, but the section was getting a bit too wordy and I wanted to get this chapter out in a timely manner. That also means that there might be more errors in here than usual, but I hope it's still legible to you all.

So, things at Garreg Mach have not yet started to go down, but a lot of people are going to sleep uneasily there this night.

Anyway, as today's story recommendation, I put forth Make A Wish by Rorschach's Blot. It is one of the most entertaining Harry Potter fics on this site with its very appealing humour and genuinely interesting characters. At a bit over 187'000 words, it's a comfortable read and should be fun for practically everybody.

Edit of the 08th of February 2021: Edited two minor continuity errors.