AN: Note of the 1st of March 2021. I edited a minor error (a missing word) towards the end of last chapter.

Now, before this chapter begins, I would like to thank everyone who reviewed, particularly a rather enthusiastic guest reviewer. While your suggestions are interesting, I don't know if I will include that many of them. On that topic, while Bereto and Beresu are phonetically distinct, they are semantically the same. Byleth has many alternate spellings, including Belet and Beleth, which can be transcribed into Bereto and Beresu.

Chapter 10: Pest Control

Dinner that day was a communal affair. The three Houses sat together and enjoyed their food while their Professors gave them a more detailed After-Action Report, during which Byleth gave Raphael a few stern words about his failure to give the signal when his group had encountered opposition in the forest.

At some point, Dimitri expressed his disappointment at his performance. "I did not think we would be the first ones to be eliminated. It only goes to show that there is still much I need to learn when it comes to leadership."

It was Edelgard who replied to him. "Hmm… that much is true, but your defeat today was a matter of information."

"I'll have to agree with the Princess there," interjected Claude. "We focussed on you because we knew you'd be the most dangerous opponents on the field."

Dimitri looked puzzled. "How did you come to that conclusion?" he asked.

"I don't know about the Black Eagles, but Teach told us that some of you have actually seen battle before," answered Claude, "Which meant that we had to take you out first."

"That is correct," said Byleth. "You would have overwhelmed both other Houses individually. The one tactical mistake the Blue Lions made was to split up. While initiative is all well and good, it is not worth entering disadvantageous engagements for."

From that point on, topics came and went. While the mock battle stayed the primary topic for most of the evening, other things came up as well. Eventually, conversations about day-to-day matters started to pop up and it was about an hour later that everyone had deserted the dining hall.

Byleth had left as well and was now on his way back up the stairs to meet with Rhea and Seteth. Two flights of stairs later, he stood in front of the double-door to Rhea's chambers. Not quite knowing what to do, as nobody stood in front of it, he decided to simply knock and wait.

It took about a minute or so, but the door was eventually opened from the inside by Rhea. She gave Byleth a small and somewhat shaky smile and invited him in. He noted that Seteth was already present, after which he nodded at the man. Rhea motioned for them both to sit down, which they did, and she followed suit.

There was a minute of awkward silence before Byleth spoke, "You were probably right when you said that this conversation would not be pleasant, but its brevity depends entirely on you. I have only two big questions." He waited for Rhea to nod and then continued, "My first question is: Why have you not informed the other surviving Nabateans of your plans? They could have helped you or devised alternatives."

"I would like to know that as well," remarked Seteth, "What were you thinking?"

Rhea cast her gaze downwards. She started to shake and Byleth realised that tears had started to flow. "I was desperate," she began, "Mother was dead. Almost everyone else was dead too. My siblings, their children, their friends, all of Zanado, dead. A city of over half a million souls destroyed in a day, all its people massacred. Some of them had even been happy to die after hours of rape and torture had broken them. I had seen it all happen, powerless to stop Nemesis' rampage."

Byleth now felt uncomfortable. He would later come to categorise the feeling as guilt for having brought back that memory, but at the moment, all he knew was that she was in emotional turmoil and that it did not sit right with him.

The Archbishop continued in spite of that. "I was several centuries old already at that point, but right after the massacre, I felt as though I was a scared little girl again, and I acted accordingly. I felt that only Mother could fix this broken world. I needed her back, to tell me that everything was going to be alright, to make things right again and bring back those happy days before the war with Agartha. And so, I made plans to bring her back.

After Nemesis' death, I made every effort to bring Mother back. To that end, I contacted the ones you know as the Four Apostles, who had forsaken Nemesis after finding out what he had done to grant them the power they wielded and had decided that they owed us a debt. They agreed to attempt the Rite of Rising, but it failed, as you well know. Despite the Rite's failure, they had paid that debt, however, and they went into exile afterwards.

After that, I started experimenting with my own blood in order to create a vessel for Mother in which she could reincarnate. By that time, there was no one to left for me to talk to. Cethleann was in a healing sleep and Cichol hid her away to protect her. Indech, gentle soul that he was, left to heal as well, though more in spirit than in body. Macuil… he had come to detest humans and had no desire to interact with them ever again. He came to resent Mother as well so I could not trust him to not interfere with my attempts to resurrect her."

Rhea no longer looked as though she might break out in sobs, but there was still a heavy air around her and there were still tears flowing down her face. She was grateful that neither Seteth nor Byleth said anything while she took some time to compose herself again.

Seteth looked pensive. It appeared that he was uncomfortable as well, according to the way his face contorted. "It seems," he said finally, "That I acted too hastily back then. I should not have left your side so soon."

"No," countered Rhea, "You had Cethleann to look after and I could not ask you to take her safety lightly."

There was silence again for a while, and then she looked at Byleth again. "There was another question you wished to ask."

Byleth nodded. "Yes," he said, "It's about myself, mother and those before her. How did you treat them?"

Rhea swallowed hard. "I was not kind in the beginning," she said in a subdued voice, "I named my first creation Bael, after the first demon from a man-made book on demonology I had read once. I thought it fitting, for I did not see her as a person. She was a tool to me and I realised too late that she was anything but that. She took her own life at the age of fifteen." She looked ill as she said this and Seteth did not look much better.

She continued, however, "My second creation received the name Agares, again named after a demon. I had vowed to treat her better than Bael, and I did, but she did not have a happy childhood either. Nevertheless, we eventually learned to get along after I realised that Mother had not awakened, and she became an Archbishop. The lives of Vassago, Samigina, Marbas, Valefon, Amon, Barbatos, Paimon, Buer and Gusion were much the same, though I made efforts to give them a better childhood, and I eventually came to see all of them as my daughters.

Sitri, your mother, was my twelfth creation. While I did not allow her to leave the Monastery for fear that she and Mother's heart would be lost, I made sure she did not suffer the loneliness some of her predecessors did. She spoke often with those whom I trusted, Jeralt amongst them. Their romance made her happy, and I did not interfere for that very reason, despite my fears."

Rhea sighed sadly and said, "When she gave birth to you and her life was hanging in the balance, the pain of loss came upon me again. I did not refuse her when she begged me to save you. There was a small chance for her to survive childbirth, but she refused. I…," she had to pause because there were tears leaving her eyes again. "I was forced to cut her open immediately if I was to put Mother's heart into you in time. It killed her. I killed my own daughter," she managed to choke out.

Byleth closed his eyes. He was thinking hard while Rhea continued to cry as she buried her face in her hands. There were many conflicting emotions he had no true names for, but eventually, he came to a decision.

"You have done many things that were wrong," he said, "The guilt for these crimes and evil deeds is yours."

Her head lifted itself off her hands as he talked, and the look of shame her face wore made it clear that she knew this.

He was not finished, however. "That said," he went on, "it is clear to me that you carry regret as well. Your misdeeds and their consequences haunt you, and it is because of this that I am willing to give you a chance."

Rhea, though tear tracks were still visible on her face, displayed mainly confusion. "A chance at what?" she asked.

Byleth's answer threw her for a loop.

"A chance at being family, Grandmother."

A few days later, 4th of the Harpstring Moon 1180. Near the dormitory entrance to Abyss.

Aelfric's days had been busy for years now. After the discovery of Sitri's body, he had spared no effort or expense in his ambition to bring her back to life. And now, after years of labour, his preparations were nearly complete. In but a few months, he would be reunited with his dear Sitri.

Oh, how he longed to see her smile again. Of course, he had only ever seen her smile in the company of Jeralt or Lady Rhea, but he was sure that she would spare him one after her return to the land of the living. He was also sure that she would set aside Jeralt, for she had died on his watch, and the knight had lost any right to her with that occurrence. But Aelfric would care for her and make sure no harm would befall her ever again.

The arrival of Jeralt and his son, clearly a child of Sitri's, had been an unexpected development, but neither of them could greatly interfere with his plans at this point. Still, Jeralt had invited him to a ride around the Monastery to reminisce about the days when Sitri had been alive. Aelfric had no reason to refuse, and he was always eager to hear something about Sitri he'd never heard before. There was a good chance of that happening, after all, since nobody had spent as much time with Sitri as Jeralt.

He made his way across the Monastery grounds to reach the stables and he spent his time once more marvelling at the architecture of the place. There was a majesty to the building complex that could scarcely be described. Even decades after he'd first laid his eyes on it, the Monastery still looked so beautiful and immaculate.

In a way, it was just like his dear Sitri. Not even death had dared mar her beauty for all these years, for she had not decomposed even in the slightest. If this was not a sign that she was not meant to be dead, then nothing was. It was the will of the Goddess for her to return and be at his side. He was sure of it.

By the end of his ruminations, he had made it to the stables, where Jeralt was already waiting on his horse and chatting away with one of the knights on stable duty. It was not long before the knight spotted him, though.

"Hello Aelfric. Good that you could come," said Jeralt.

"I am happy I could as well," answered the Bishop, after which he mounted the horse another knight had brought him.

They made their way through the marketplace and out of the gate while catching up on things. Jeralt talked about how the world was while Aelfric shared information about the comings and goings of the Monastery over the last twenty years. It was mostly empty words, but eventually, they got to the interesting part after leaving the town.

"This makes me nostalgic," said Jeralt, "I used to always tell stories of my travels to Sitri. By the Goddess, I miss her."

"I miss her as well," admitted Aelfric, "The world is lesser for her loss."

"That it is," responded the older man.

"I have heard of your son," said Aelfric, "I've seen him as well, once or twice. He is very similar to her."

Jeralt looked at him for a long moment and then said, "Yes, he is. He is the very best of her. He has trouble showing it, but he's very kind and he's got a strong sense of justice. He cares for the people under his command as well, especially those he trains."

"I see," responded the other man.

They had entered the old abandoned district in the meantime. As they slowly rode through the dilapidated ruin that once was a place of worship during a renovation of Garreg Mach Monastery, they kept talking. The bird song that accompanied the sight contrasted the ruined look in a strange way.

"Truly, it is a shame that she is gone," commented Aelfric after some time, "She was so full of life, even if only a few could see it."

Jeralt closed his eyes for a long moment before opening them again. "You're right. It is a shame, but now she's resting. And resting she shall remain."

The Bishop adopted a nervous look. "How do you mean that?" he asked.

Laughter from behind him caused Aelfric to whip his head around. "He means to say that your little scheme has been discovered, Aelfric."

There, out in the open, stood Yuri, a severed head held aloft by the hair in his hand. Aelfric was shocked to realise that the head belonged to the leader of the bandit group he had hired for his mission. Before he could turn to flee, he found himself pushed out of his saddle, and he fell to the ground. When he looked up, he found Jeralt's thunderous countenance stare down at him.

"You will not drag Sitri out of her rightful place in Paradise," the knight growled.

The statement was accompanied by dozens of Jeralt's mercenaries and Yuri's Abyssians converging on their position. Aelfric tried to scramble and flee, but his attempts were interrupted by an arrow piercing his side, quickly followed by another one, and a third, and a fourth. A scant few seconds later, Aelfric resembled a pincushion more than he did a man.

When it was over, Jeralt continued to stare down at the now dead Bishop and sighed. There were some mixed feelings, as he'd known Aelfric, but after Yuri had managed to acquire and present proof of the man's plans, there had been no doubt about what to do. Sitri deserved her rest. Jeralt loved her still, and his heart ached for her, but he would never dare take that away from her.

"It seems that today's business is concluded," said Yuri. "It's kind of ironic," he went on, "I've always refused to be hired for assassinations, but now I'm doing them for free."

The young man's tone held a melancholic quality to it. Jeralt scrutinised him for a few seconds before he responded with, "It's all a matter of purpose and of method. Why do you do it? How do you do it? It's what I had to learn when I became a knight. When I started killing people."

Yuri nodded. "I suppose I will have to learn as well," he said.

At the same time. Garreg Mach.

Since the conference, extensive preparations had been made for this moment. Ostensibly, this was just a demonstration of a new way of doing magic, and it was that, but the relevant people knew that it was a far more important event on top of it.

Currently, there was a gathering on the training grounds. Byleth stood in the middle with Hanneman and Manuela. On one side, Rhea stood with Seteth and the famous Thunder Catherine. A bit removed from them, Alois and a female knight named Shamir stood guard next to Baron Ochs and his retainers. Monica was there too.

Between these two groups and the place where Byleth and Hanneman were standing, was Tomas, or rather Solon in disguise. He had been called there on the premise that he was to witness the demonstration of magic and compare it to records the library held.

"Are we ready to begin?" asked Hanneman, "I am very much looking forward to this."

Rhea looked around, inspecting the grounds and covertly looking for the signal of a trusted knight. Once she saw it, she asked, "Are the safety precautions in place, Professor Hanneman?"

The greying man looked aghast. "I would never suggest we start without them, Your Grace! I do have to admit that my excitement could have had an impact on my attention, however." He made to cast a few spells to check the spell containment ward and other standard measures for magical experimentation. "Everything seems to be in order," he said after a minute.

Rhea nodded and then shifted her focus. "Professor Manuela, are you ready as well?" she asked.

"Yes," the woman in question said, "Emergency medical supplies are all ready to use if we need them."

"Excellent," Rhea commented. "Professor Byleth, if you are ready, we can begin."

The former mercenary nodded and held up his hand. In a flash, the thaumaturgic magic circle floated in front of him. "This new type of magic requires a specialised magic circle," he said.

"Fascinating," muttered Hanneman. He wasn't acting with that statement. He was genuinely interested in this, as Byleth had not yet had the opportunity to talk with him about magic. Never mind that this sold the ruse even better.

Solon was also busy looking at the strange new magic circle. He had to figure out as much as he could about this. If this was a threat to the great ambition of the Agarthan nation, it had to be analysed in detail. He was so engrossed into his observations that he nearly failed to hear Rhea speak.

"Tomas, is there anything in our records similar to this?" it asked of him.

"Not to my knowledge, Your Grace," he responded absentmindedly. Despite knowing for sure, he still had to make a show of looking through the tomes he had brought with him. Pretending to be a lowly beast like these surface-dwellers could be so very tiring.

While he was busy doing that, Byleth elaborated a bit. "This kind of magic falls under the Faith category," he added to his previous statement.

"Interesting," said Manuela. She was an expert in Faith magic, though she strictly kept to non-offensive spells, with the sole exception of Nosferatu. She was, therefore, genuinely interested in what her newest colleague had prepared. "What can you do with it?" she asked.

"My experimentation has been elementary so far," answered Byleth, "except for one spell. I call it Reveal."

And with that, he cast the spell. A wave of magic swept through Garreg Mach, hitting Solon and any other Agarthans still present at the Monastery and the town.

Predictably, pandemonium broke out immediately. Weapons were drawn and spells fired at the surprised form of Solon. Despite this surprise, he was quick to defend himself by throwing his own spells at those heading towards him and dissipating the weaker ones with the weird cane he was carrying.

The magic circle beneath his feet blazed in its eerie purple light as he shot half a dozen spells in a single second to retaliate. Hanneman, Manuela, Byleth and, surprisingly, Rhea deliberately intercepted these spells both with Ward spells and with their own bodies. This was particularly troublesome for Byleth, as he had already cast his Ward spell over Monica, at whom one of Solon's attacks flew. However, before Solon's other spell could truly hit him, it was intercepted by a strange, hexagonal barrier.

Byleth was startled by this. Wait, isn't that-

Putting that aside for now, he refocused on the Agarthan in front of him. Solon had clearly not expected this development either, as he was now showings signs of panic while firing his spells. As Byleth was closing in, he noted that his adversary had very much a hard time defending himself. While the close-range fighters were nearly upon said adversary, he could clearly not implement countermeasures as spells and arrows were shot at him from every direction.

Desperate, Solon gathered as much power as he could and channelled it into a localised Mire Beta spell. He would hit himself with it, but he hoped it would buy him enough time to escape. The spell went off, hitting everyone around him and knocking them back. Solon fought through the pain of taking a hit from his own attack and took the precious time he had bought to cast Warp on himself.

The feeling of victory evaporated, however, when he noticed that the spell had not triggered. He cursed. What could have caused this? he thought. Spells and arrows were already flying at him again, and as his eyes landed on Hanneman, he understood. That man had put up a barrier that blocked Warp and Rescue spells. The transitory nature of this kind of barrier meant that it was only put up when such spells were expected, which in turn meant that his enemies had anticipated this fight. He had been found out and set up!

He would need to report to Thales as soon as possible, Solon decided. This was a disaster. He would have to get out of this mess first, however. His options were limited, though, and he was impaired by his self-inflicted wounds. Preparing for the inevitable clash with the Professors and the knights charging at him, he let his magic course through him and-

A rasp escaped the Agarthan as he saw a blade poke out of his own throat. It quickly retreated again and Solon crumpled to the floor. Behind him stood Baron Ochs, a blood-soaked spiked gauntlet on his right arm.

"That was for Monica!" he said to the corpse on the ground.

With the Agarthan dead, everyone on the training grounds took a bit of time to take stock of the situation. Most had light or moderate injuries and there didn't seem to be any severe ones. Manuela was already hurrying to see to Catherine, who had taken an unprotected hit from the Mire spell.

"That was easier than I had anticipated," commented Byleth.

Beatrice looked at him as if he had grown a second head. "You call that easy?"

"Extraordinarily so," answered Byleth, "we caught him off-guard and ambushed him in a place where his more damaging spells couldn't be cast without him hitting himself. It's a miracle that none of us sustained heavy injuries."

Speaking of miracles. "Hyperion, why did that shield look like an AT field?" he asked internally.

"My friend," came the answer, "We're not just watching NGE for the entertainment value. AT fields manifest as defensive or offensive abilities and are powered by the soul. Since I inherited the powers of Psyche, the Goddess of the Soul, I thought I'd experiment rather than let you get hit. As you can see, it was a success."

That was surprising. "How did you know it would work?"

A light chuckle spilled out of Hyperion. "I didn't. It was a gamble. However, considering that magic in this world is fuelled by energy the soul emits, something was bound to happen."

Byleth made a thought of acknowledgement before moving to help Manuela and Rhea patch up the injured fighters. They couldn't spend a lot of time on that, however, as the sounds of fighting could still be heard outside the training grounds. It appeared that there had been more Agarthan infiltrators than anticipated.

"Move quickly," ordered Rhea, "We cannot allow those villains to harm any more people on these sacred grounds!"

And so, they burst out of the training grounds, Byleth, Manuela and Rhea at the front with Ward spells at their fingertips. The scene they entered was not as precarious as they had feared, but very surprising nonetheless. The monastery grounds were littered with dozens of dead bodies, over half of which belonged to extraordinarily pale skinned individuals, clearly Agarthans. There was still some fighting going on, which was expected, but the surprise was that many of the students had joined the knights in trying to fight the infiltrators when they should have been attending a seminar held by one of the monks.

Acting quickly, the group headed by the Archbishop tore through whatever opposition remained. Many a head turned when they witnessed the serene woman literally turn a man's head to mash with a powerful kick that bashed said man's head against a wall, finishing the fight around the Officers Academy.

"Teach!"

The shout drew Byleth's attention away from the carnage itself and made him focus on the one who had addressed him. It was Claude followed by the majority of the Golden Deer. He was clearly out of breath and he had some blood stains on his face and his right hand, which gripped a dagger.

"Teach, what is going on here?!" he inquired. "We were in the middle of a seminar and when that weird wave of magic hit, the monk turned into some kind of guy in black robes. Lysithea went nuts and started casting lethal spells in the middle of the classroom! She ran out before we could ask her what was going on. Then we went outside as well, and suddenly, a whole bunch of these weird guys were fighting the knights."

Rhea answered in Byleth's stead. "We're cleansing enemies of the Goddess from the premises of the Monastery," she said darkly.

"Where was Lysithea headed?" Byleth asked hurriedly, "We need to find her quickly."

"I think she went in the direction of the greenhouse," said Leonie.

"Then that's where we're headed," was the youngest Professor's reply.

Rhea took this opportunity to give orders. "Shamir, Alois, accompany Professor Byleth and his students. Take half the knights here with you. Professor Hanneman, Professor Manuela, you must find your students and link up with Professor Byleth. The rest of you, follow me. We shall sweep through the dining hall, main hall, knight's hall and the treasury. Our two groups will link up to secure the entrance hall, the stables and the market afterwards."

With that, they separated in their respective teams. Byleth made sure that the two dozen students of the Golden Deer House stayed behind the knights of his detachment as they made their way through the dormitory section of the Monastery. They encountered little living resistance on the way and instead incorporated any idle knight into their group.

They moved with speed and reached the greenhouse in only a short few minutes. The sight before him made Byleth curse. There, on a pile of pale-skinned bodies lay the still form of Lysithea. Without hesitation, he ordered his troops to move faster and secure his wayward student before any more enemies could show up.

Once he'd reached her, the young professor immediately checked her over. She was covered in injuries and her clothes were soaked with blood. How much of it was her own, he didn't know, but the gaping wound in her left side meant that it was probably most. The good thing was that she was still beathing erratically instead of not at all.

"Get me a healer, quickly!" he shouted as he moved to cast his own healing spells on her. When only Marianne stepped forward, he was disheartened. It appeared that many of the Golden Deer House had neglected White Magic training. There was no time to cry over spilt milk, however. "Marianne, do what you can to stabilise Lysithea," he ordered.

The shy girl nodded shakily, but her back straightened. She knew that her fellow student's life depended at least partly on her.

Byleth's mind, meanwhile, raced. His healing spells could be augmented by a lot with the help of the Sun Arcanum, but Lysithea's extreme pallor made it clear that she had lost far too much blood already for even that to work. He had to think, but there was no time for that.

Time! That was it! The world was doused in a sea of black, white and purple as time stood still. Reversing the flow of time would not be useful in this situation since he could not wind it back far enough for him to change all these unforeseen consequences, but that was not the point.

"Sothis, I need your help," he pleaded to the Goddess in his head, "She's dying."

"It's a bit bothersome that you cannot do this yourself already, but luckily, you have me," she answered to him.

"Ha, I'd take that as a compliment. She obviously believes you to live up to her lofty expectations," piped in Hyperion.

Now Sothis was pouting. "Hmph, just make the magic circle. Try to cast the spell yourself. If it goes wrong, we can always turn back the hands of time."

Byleth was perplexed. "That is callous. I do not wish to gamble my student's life on an experiment," he commented.

"I tend to agree with you, but I think we can work around the problem," said Hyperion, "How about you try it yourself and if it doesn't work right away, you maintain the magic circle so Sothis can follow up?"

Byleth took a moment. "Very well. Let's try."

"Just one more thing," interjected the spectral man, "Do not try to regenerate her blood. The blood reconstruction surgery she underwent was likely tainted by Qliphothic sorcery. Focus on returning what was spilled to her instead."

With a nod, the world reverted to its normal colours and Byleth immediately called forth the thaumaturgic magic circle. He had to override the laws of the universe temporarily to properly heal Lysithea. In other words, he needed a miracle, and that was what Thaumaturgy was all about.

As soon as the circle appeared in front of him, he concentrated. He needed faith. Faith in his own abilities, faith that Sothis and Hyperion would have his back if things went wrong and faith in his student that she would fight to stay alive.

There was a flash of light, and before the eyes of everyone present, the teenaged girl's body was bathed in an ethereal glow as her wounds closed at an astonishing rate. The blood in her clothes and on the ground rushed back into her before they closed completely, much to the astonishment of all.

"I've heard the rumours, but I didn't think it was true," muttered one of the knights, "He must be blessed by the Goddess."

Heedless of the hushed whispers that started spreading among the watchers, Byleth felt his lips form the vague outline of a faint smile while Lysithea took on a healthy look.

"Professor, what was that?" asked Marianne from beside him.

"My dedication," answered Byleth, "No student of mine will die on my watch."

He let that statement hang for a while and then turned to the knights. "Four of you will stay here and guard the young Lady. The rest, fall in line. We're sweeping the rest of our designated areas."

It was several hours later that Garreg Mach had been swept clean in its totality, Abyss and even the town included. In total, there had been a bit over a hundred Agarthan infiltrators in and around the Monastery. Rhea was currently outraged at the thought that so many enemies had been this close to her people's resting place.

Many things would have to be done about the situation. Public statements would be prepared and spread in the coming days. Of course, information about Reveal was not going to be released. Instead, it would be stated that an oversaturation of Dark Magic had caused defensive enchantments on the Monastery to trigger. There was a good chance it would fool the Agarthan leadership since Garreg Mach had many such enchantments they knew about.

Now, however, there was a more urgent matter to attend. A specific group of people had been gathered in the infirmary. This group consisted of Edelgard, Hubert, Dimitri, Dedue, Claude, Baron Ochs, Monica, Rhea, Seteth, Byleth, Hanneman, Manuela, Yuri and Lysithea, who had awoken only a few minutes before. They were currently standing over Solon's body.

"Lysithea," Byleth began, "do you recognise this man?"

The pure hatred in her eyes did not belong on a girl so young, the former mercenary thought. Her voice was tight as she spoke, "Yes. He was always around when we were hurt. They always deferred to him."

"We? They?" asked Claude, "Who is that?"

"My cousins and I," Lysithea replied icily, "underwent horrible experiments after the Empire temporarily occupied Ordelia territory in the aftermath of the Hrym revolt. The dark mages who conducted them always reported to this man."

This was not the end of Claude's inquiries, though his tone was more cautious. "So, he is affiliated with the Empire?"

"No," answered Baron Ochs, "at least not directly."

The stiffness that had appeared in Edelgard during the beginning of the conversation was seeping out of her slightly, though she made sure to stay on guard. This meeting could ruin all she had worked for ever since she had left that disgusting hellhole beneath the Imperial Palace.

"What do you mean when you say 'not directly?'" asked Dimitri.

This time, it was Rhea who answered. "He belongs to a group that predates the Empire, the Agarthans. They are masters of the darkest and most twisted magic in existence, and they have ever been enemies of the Goddess. Over the last twelve centuries, they have worked to destroy the stability and peace that the Church of Seiros and the Adrestian Empire brought about at the end of the War of Heroes."

Ever inquisitive, Claude dug for more information "How so?"

"I can answer that," said Yuri, drawing the attention of the students.

"Excuse me, but who are you?" asked Edelgard.

"I am the man whose job it is to figure things out, my Lady," he answered with a smirk. "As for the piece of information our friend over here has asked, there are records in the Shadow Library underground that implicate the Agarthans for orchestrating the War of the Eagle and Lion and later the Leicester Revolt. It helps that the authors of this information seem to have been Agarthans as well."

This was shocking news to everyone who had not yet known about this. This included Edelgard and Hubert. The Princess was suddenly very glad that Baron Ochs had decided to tutor her. The past few sessions and this new piece of information had made the point that she had unacceptable gaps in her knowledge.

"In more recent times," Yuri continued, "They have been active in several conflicts and assassinations. During the Hrym revolt, they moved behind the scenes and seized major resources of House Ordelia while conducting their sick experiments. House Ordelia's children were not the only victims of experimentation either. There were numerous more, one of whom is now under my protection. In the Empire, the Agarthans orchestrated the Insurrection of the Seven to defang Emperor Ionius and conduct the same experiments on his children as on those of House Ordelia. It is no coincidence that both Princess Edelgard and Lady Lysithea have white hair when they were born with brown and red hair respectively."

The two girls in question stiffened in shock and looked at each other with both disbelief and sympathy born of pain. They would talk with each other once this was over.

Dimitri had stiffened as well. "Is this true?" he asked in a dangerous tone as he turned towards them.

Edelgard shuddered and nodded. "Yes," she said in a low voice.

"That's not the full extent of their crimes either," interrupted Byleth before anything more could be said.

Yuri was quick to elaborate, "Yes. I have not been able to confirm if they were involved in it or if it was just Count Gloucester, but there is the possibility that they organised the assassination of the former Duke Riegan, the current Duke's heir.

Before I forget, I should also mention that they have been working to eliminate the Emperor's remaining loyalists. It is kind of suspicious that the Dagdan invasion during the war hit Fodlan's Fangs, territory held by Houses Ochs and Nuvelle, the latter of which does not exist anymore even though it is not extinct."

Baron Ochs narrowed his eyes. "It is a travesty that young Lady Constance was denied her birthright."

Claude thought that there was something suspicious going on here. "You have yet to mention these Agarthans' operations in the Kingdom," he said.

"Not quite," answered Yuri slily, "The one victim of experimentation under my protection I have mentioned was experimented upon in the kingdom by their most overt field agent. You know her as Lady Cornelia."

Dimitri was startled. "But she is a highly respected member of the court in Fhirdiad. She cured the plague that had ravaged Fearghus."

"People capable of curing plagues don't just pop out of nowhere, Dimitri," said Manuela. "Records say that this Cornelia didn't even attend the school of sorcery and that she was a complete unknown at the time."

"Exactly," commented Yuri, "She was highly suspicious from the very start. She was also instrumental in organising their biggest crime in the Kingdom and then blame it on others: The Tragedy of Duscur."

"What?!" roared Dimitri. He stepped forward and seized Yuri by the collar of his shirt. "Tell me everything you know! I want to know whose head I must take!"

Completely unfazed by the Prince's behaviour and the worried looks around the room, Yuri complied. "She was there to manipulate both the western Lords of the Kingdom and Lady Patricia, your stepmother. Cornelia is a friend and co-conspirator with Patricia's brother, Volkhard von Arundel."

"That doesn't make any sense," said Dimitri, still holding Yuri up by his collar, "Lord Arundel's sister is-"

"Lady Anselma von Arundel, yes," Yuri continued, "That is Lady Patricia's real name. She is also Princess Edelgard's mother. When the Insurrection of the Seven began, she fled to the Kingdom. Her brother followed, taking Edelgard with him, not that Anselma knew that. Only years later, when Edelgard and her Uncle departed, did Anselma find out that her daughter had been in Fhirdiad. She was made to believe that King Lambert had known about her daughter's presence and had not allowed her to see her. The one to make her believe this was Cornelia.

Lady Anselma became complicit in the tragedy of Duscur when she was promised a reunion with Edelgard, though I highly doubt she knew of its true extent. By all accounts, the woman loved you, Prince Dimitri, and would not have condoned an attack on you. Alas, we cannot ask her because she has been missing, presumed dead, ever since the incident. I suspect the Agarthans disposed of her once her usefulness had run out.

As it is, her carriage was the only one not attacked during the Tragedy. That would cause suspicions and in case it was ever suspected that the people of Duscur were not the perpetrators, Lady Anselma and, by extension, the Empire would appear as the orchestrators of the incident."

"I don't believe you," said Dimitri. "You say the Empire was not involved, but how can that be when Lord Arundel, the regent of the Empire was behind it?"

Yuri's answer threw him for a loop. "Because Lord Arundel has been dead ever since the Insurrection of the Seven."

Dimitri, in his disbelief, finally let go of the purple-haired man's collar. "What?!"

"Take a look at the corpse in the room," the crime lord said as he pointed at Solon, "Tomas turned into this man. The monk holding his seminar turned into a Dark Mage and many people all across Garreg Mach turned into Agarthans when the Monastery's defensive enchantments triggered.

The Lord Arundel you know of is nothing but a flesh suit worn by an Agarthan. Everyone who knew him before the Insurrection will tell you that his behaviour has changed completely from that point onward."

The Prince's eyes showed a lot of anger but also quite a bit of confusion. Finally, he said, "They must pay."

Rhea took the opportunity to speak up, "And they will. We have come to know the bulk of this information only very recently, but we have started to act against them."

Seteth finally said his piece as well, "As the future leaders of Fodlan, their adjutants and those who were affected by them, you are in a prime position to aid us in these efforts. We all have a shared interest in the failure of the Agarthans' plans."

Hubert looked subtly at Edelgard, trying to gauge her intentions. Their carefully laid out plans had become utterly worthless with this one conversation, as they both had feared. Still, there were new options, new potential paths they could take to reach his Lady's goals.

While his private thoughts on the matter were clearly in favour of disposing of the Agarthans as soon as possible, he would as always defer to her will. If she wished to ally with those who would have become her enemies otherwise, he would follow her without question. If she decided to continue her current course, naturally with modifications, he would follow her without question.

No matter her decision, she would have to at least play along for now, however. She nodded at Seteth's words in tandem with the others in the room.

The silence that had settled in thereafter was broken by Rhea. "Let us adjourn this meeting, then." she said, "Despite the current circumstances, the Officers Academy will not cease its operations."

AN:

Well, well, well, another early update. There is a reason for that, seeing as I might not have internet on the weekend. As a consequence, I had to rush this a bit. There might be more errors in here than usual.

Today's recommended story is Reaching for a Dream by Noodlehammer. It is a refreshing take on Naruto, despite its age. I will have to warn you, though. While it is well written, the two main characters of this piece and its sequels are sociopaths. Not necessarily malicious sociopaths but sociopaths nonetheless. There's also a large abundance of smut in it. If you dislike that, this might not be a story for you.

Anyway, until next time, dear readers.