AN: Good day, dear readers.

For today's authors note, I thought I should explain something that I touched upon: Sacred Gears. Assuming that only very few of you know about High School DxD, where Sacred Gears come from, let me give you a short rundown:

Sacred Gears are tools and weapons created by the Biblical God to protect humans from supernatural threats. Only people with at least one human parent can be born with one. Sacred Gears are bound to their user's soul, which means that extraction kills them, with the exclusion of Independent Avatar type Sacred Gears. Each and every Sacred Gear has a base form and an advanced form called Balance Breaker, which can only be gained through great emotional distress and, in most cases, imminent danger to the user's life. A rare few Sacred Gears have access to an enormously powerful third form (Juggernaut Drive, Breakdown the Beast, etc.) that comes with massive drawbacks.

Chapter 16: Sacrifice

30th Day of the Garland Moon 1180. Church army camp near the headquarters of the Western Church.

The encamped army of the Church of Seiros had been a hive of activity ever since Rhea had arrived just this morning in order to lead the assault on the Western Church's headquarters personally. She was not someone who took treason lightly, especially not when it was committed by members of the Church.

In the midst of the commotion, a group of three, consisting of Rhea herself, Byleth and Ashe were heading towards the command tent, which was currently being magically outfitted with countermeasures against eavesdroppers. They were about to talk about classified matters.

After they had made their way inside the tent, Rhea turned around and looked Ashe directly in the eyes. It kind of unnerved him, especially since he didn't really know what was going on. Fortunately, that was about to change as Rhea began talking.

"Normally, a student of the Officers Academy would not be qualified to know what I am about to tell you, but Professor Byleth was insistent that you should be informed as this matter affects you personally. Needless to say, this is classified. You must not talk about this to anyone who is not cleared to know. That means nobody below the rank of Cardinal or Knight Captain, with the exception of Catherine, Jeralt and Byleth here. Am I understood?"

Nervously, Ashe nodded. "I understand, your Grace!"

The Archbishop's steely gaze softened. "Very well then. The matter in question pertains to your adoptive brother Christophe. Since you will be present at Lord Lonato's interrogation, you will likely hear about him there."

"I guessed as much. Lord Lonato's grudge with the Church stems from Christophe's death," commented Ashe.

"That is true," said Rhea, "It is a bit more complicated than that, however. You know that Christophe was executed for being a conspirator of the Tragedy of Duscur, correct?" At Ashe's nod, she sighed. "That is false."

The boy's eyes widened. "What?!" he exclaimed.

Rhea continued, "Indeed, he was executed for a crime, but it was not collusion with the Tragedy's perpetrators."

Ashe remained distraught, which was understandable. "What crime could he have committed to warrant that response and secrecy?"

"He was planning to have me assassinated," Rhea stated bluntly. "Ordinarily, it would not have been necessary to cover such a thing up, but with Faerghus as unstable as it was back then, more threats to its stability could not be allowed."

"But why would he have done that? He was always so kind to everyone," lamented Ashe.

The Archbishop shook her head. "We were unable to figure that out. We suspect the Western Church's involvement, however. It is possible that their records will yield answers."

There was a short moment of silence before Ashe spoke, "I don't know what to think about this, but I appreciate you telling me about this, Your Grace. Thank you as well, Professor."

From where he stood, Byleth inclined his head but stayed silent.

Rhea picked up again. "Now then, with that done, we should proceed to the prisoners' tent and begin Lord Lonato's interrogation."

They swiftly left the command tent with their course set towards their destination. The journey was mostly silent, though Ashe did ask Byleth a question.

"Professor, how is it that you know about… what we've just talked about?"

"That's classified for now," answered Byleth.

Ashe questioned, "For now?"

"Yes." Byleth did not elaborate any further than that.

Within quarter of an hour, the trio had traversed the distance between the command tent and the prisoners' tent, where they met with a small group of Knights of Seiros, including the Captain. The knights saluted and then followed them into the tent.

There, sat at a small table was Lonato, his hands bound behind his back and his ankles shackled. Apart from a few wounds from the battle that were still healing, he seemed to be in good condition, however. His mood, though, was another matter entirely.

"So, the witch herself has come to question me. I'm honoured," he spat with a snarl.

Ashe was shocked to hear the man that been like a father to him speak like that. As soon as the boy stepped forward, the snarl on the old Lord's lips died, the hurt look in the Ashe's eyes giving him pause. Consequently, he held his tongue until his adoptive son began speaking.

The grey-haired teen's tone was sharp as he asked, "Lonato, why did you rebel? I know that Christophe's death hurt you. It hurt me too! But this… This was just senseless slaughter!"

"What would you have done, boy? Let them get away with murder?" demanded Lonato.

Ashe yelled, "No, but I wouldn't have dragged half the town into death!"

On the side lines, Rhea, Byleth and the knights were merely observing. It was possible that Lonato would give up information he wouldn't reveal in an ordinary interrogation if they just let him talk with Ashe.

Back in the conversation, Lonato appeared to be livid, answering Ashe's exclamation with his own. "It was the only way to destroy the Church!"

The boy was perplexed. "Why?" he asked, "I know you wanted revenge for Christophe, but why would you want to destroy the Church?"

"Because it is corrupt!" was Lonato's answer. "It holds our society back, spreads false information and murders people at random. And it's led by this witch here, a deceiver of the highest grade."

Rhea's eyebrow was twitching slightly, the rest of her face stony. If he hadn't been paying attention to her, Byleth would have missed the signs of her irritation. Thinking quickly, he subtly grabbed her arm. There was a twitch of surprise at first, but then she breathed deeply and relaxed.

It appeared that the silent approach wasn't going to work. It was disappointing since they hadn't gotten much out of it at all. Not all plans worked as intended, sadly. As such, the Archbishop decided to respond to Lonato's accusations directly.

"It is true that I am perhaps not as liberal with the truth as some would like me to be," she began, "But for the sake of Fodlan and its people, not everything can be discussed openly."

"Typical," mocked the old Lord.

Rhea was not finished, however. "However, since you are apparently so set against lies and deceit, I ask that you tell us why you thought that your rebellion would destroy the Church."

He only scoffed. "As if you'd understand, witch," he said.

"I might surprise you," responded Rhea with a raised eyebrow.

There was a long pause before Lonato finally spoke, "Seiros will destroy her own Church. Now leave me be. I will not answer any more questions."

"Very well," said the Archbishop, "We shall see each other again on the day of your trial. Goodbye."

The knights, Rhea, Ashe and Byleth exited the tent without receiving a response. All of them were pensive, though not to the same degree. It took some time before anything was said, and when it happened, it was Ashe who asked, "Do you have any idea what Lonato was talking about?"

Rhea stayed silent, which mean that it fell to Byleth to answer. "I have a suspicion. Can't talk about it if it is what I think it is," he said.

Ashe nodded and decided to accept that answer, for now.

1st day of the Blue Sea Moon 1180. Inner perimeter of the Western Church headquarters.

There was something unnerving about getting used to the being in battle, thought Claude. At least his nerves weren't as much on edge as they had been at Magdred Way. Frighteningly, in a way, immersing himself in the flow of it was quite easy. The rhythm of it kept him both distracted and alert, paradoxically. Draw and aim, then loose, move, find new target, repeat.

The army had already broken the outer perimeter, seeing as the headquarters had been fortified similarly to Garreg Mach when he had first arrived there. Teach was right. The thickest walls are worthless if you leave huge gaps in them, he thought, remembering the lectures on the matter. Claude wondered whether all of Fodlan's fortresses were built with such weaknesses.

Focussing on the matter at hand again, Claude listened to the runner who had come to relay a message. "Commander! The Archbishop has ordered the students and Professors to regroup by the wall. Your unit is to be led by the Lieutenant in your absence."

Claude nodded in acknowledgement. "Understood," he said. He turned to make sure that the Lieutenant had heard. Upon receiving a thumbs-up, the young noble clapped the runner on the shoulder. "I'm off, in that case. Good luck out there."

As he made his way back behind the lines, he caught a glimpse of Rhea, and he was unsettled by what he was seeing. She was surrounded by scores of mutilated corpses of Western Church soldiers. He watched as she used powerful magic to rip into more of them. The spell she was using to do so, Agnea's Arrow he recalled from lectures, was worthy of being called the pinnacle of Black Magic. Each hit decimated another unit, and Claude could see that the enemy's morale was about to break.

What unsettled him about the situation was not the sight of death, however, as he was used to that by now. No, what put him on edge was the Archbishop's face. It appeared ice cold, but he was very good at reading people, and the expression he saw on her countenance was something else entirely: vindictive fury. He suddenly had a feeling that she was more prone to being guided by her emotions than was good in life-or-death situations, and was very glad that Teach was in charge of the Golden Deer instead of her.

Putting that out of his mind for now, he instead made his way to the designated meeting point. Once there, he noticed that Jeralt's mercenaries were present as well. Slightly annoyed with himself, he noted that he was one of the last to arrive. Fortunately, the Professors didn't seem to mind.

When they were finally all assembled, the Golden Deer's Professor wasted no time with his instructions. "We have been ordered to start sweeping the interior of the Western Church's headquarters' east wing once the main force has broken through its defences. I personally disagree with this decision as we have not yet practiced how to do this, however. On the upside, while my objections were overruled, we have been reinforced by my company here."

Silence reigned among the assembled students, with one exception. "Surely, it can't be that bad. We'll just go in and smash the enemy! Easy," commented Caspar.

"No," countered Byleth, "With that attitude, you will be dead before you pass the fifth door."

The blue-haired boy deflated. "What?"

The Professor elaborated, "Buildings are death traps. Every door is a danger. Every room is an ambush waiting to happen. Every wall is a place for an enemy to hide behind, and even a single second of inattention will cost lives."

The students exchanged worried glances with each other. This sounded bad. Many had a sinking feeling that they weren't ready for these things yet.

"Professor Byleth is correct," stated Hanneman. "This is why none of you will ever enter a room alone. You will announce when you enter one and where. You will announce when a room is clear of enemies, and you will announce when you exit a room. If you don't hear the clear sign from a room where your comrades entered, assemble there and storm it."

"Beware that storming means opening with something that disables people. Soldiers from your side will be in that room, after all," added Manuela.

After the Professors had made sure that all the students had understood what had been said, the group made their way towards the headquarters' east wing. It was large, but not heavily fortified. It was easy for someone to assume that sweeping the building would pose no difficulty. However, as Byleth had said, buildings were death traps, even more so with a harmless appearance.

It was, therefore, with apprehension that the students and mercenaries approached the building around which the fighting was slowly starting to die down. The sight of so many dead bodies was not a pretty one, but on the upside, the good guys were winning handily. From where they were, they could even see other units taking up position at the north and south wings of the building.

Then, after a minute or two of tensed waiting, the horn signal came and the mages broke open the gates with powerful spells, allowing the Professors and the mercenaries to flood into the building ahead of the students. Right off the bat, Byleth's words were proven true, as by the third room, the mercenaries entering it were under attack by Western Church soldiers. Quickly, more mercenaries gathered to secure access to the room while most of them broke off to reinforce the ones who had entered it.

From there, further chaos erupted. Every few rooms, they came under attack. Most devastating of all were the area of effect spells used against the attackers. Many mercenaries were wounded, some even crippled. The only reasons none had died as of yet were that nearly half of them knew the ward spell and that there were very talented healers amongst the students.

Byleth felt the stress of battle intensely. This was a first for him too, and he did not like what was going on. His force was only at two thirds of its original strength only ten minutes into the assault. It was going to be impossible to sustain this attack beyond the hallway they were currently in. He would be having words with his grandmother about the orders he had been given once this was over.

Before long, he found himself joining the attack on the last room of the hallway, where they were met with heavy resistance. Calling it a mere room didn't do it justice, though. It was more of a hall, where he saw a good two dozen enemy combatants guarding a single, black-robed individual of indiscernible gender who sent shivers down his spine thanks to the ominous aura that surrounded them. Nevertheless, he pushed forward and fought his way through the enemy ranks in the cramped space.

As he sent his sword's tip through an enemy soldier's throat, Byleth could finally get a closer look at the black-robed person, and noticed that there was a magic circle underneath his or her feet. Dark Magic then. He also noticed that said circle pulsated violently whenever a combatant died. When he cut down another soldier trying to bash his head in, the pulsing turned into a continuous glow, unnerving him further. It intensified rapidly and-

"Ward, now!" he heard Hyperion yell at him.

Without thinking, Byleth immediately did so, overcharging the spell reflexively and let it be overlaid by Hyperion's AT field. As he did so, he relayed the order. "Wa-"

And then, the world went red as an explosion ripped through the east wing, deafening everyone within and wreaking havoc on the entire structure. Byleth felt himself being lifted off the ground by the shockwave. Fortunately, he was blasted through the doorway and into the hallway window instead of the wall. But from there on, all he could feel was pain.

When he regained control of his senses after a few seconds, he tried getting up, only to notice that something was lying on top of him. As he looked down, he froze. The thing on him was the upper half of one of his mercenaries. Klara, if he remembered her name correctly. Her face was contorted in a rictus of pain and her lifeless eyes bored holes into Byleth's skull. A whimper escaped him.

Frantically sitting up, lifting Klara's body off of him in the process, Byleth looked around, trying to see how the others fared. To his despair, all he saw around him were corpses. Many of them were crushed by debris, others impaled by fragments of wooden beams and other shrapnel or dismembered. Blood and guts were strewn everywhere he could see.

The thing that pushed him over the edge was the sight of the students' remains. Most of them were pulps of flesh that could only be recognised by the personal changes they had done to their armours, but some of them, like Leonie and Dedue, he could recognise because of their heads, smashed in as they were.

Byleth's breathing grew faster despite the persistent pain in his ribcage and an unfamiliar rhythmic thumping started within his chest. His thoughts were blurry, filled with visions of red. His head felt light all of a sudden and the world started spinning.

"Sothis!" Hyperion shouted once more.

Just like that, everything was bathed in purple as time stopped. The light-headedness and all other physical sensations disappeared at once. However, this did not diminish the anguish Byleth was experiencing at this moment.

"They're dead," he cried out, "All of them are dead. Lars and Jana, the students, the company, Manuela and Hanneman. All of them, dead."

"They are, but not by necessity," came the unusually calm voice of Sothis. "We can turn back the hands of time and change this outcome."

The young Professor forced himself to calm down over the next few minutes, not replying, before he finally said, "You're right. Any ideas? I can't think right now."

"It depends on how far we go back. The most I can give you is two minutes right now," Sothis said in a sad tone.

That was less than a minute away from the explosion. Damn.

"I'd say give the order to evacuate immediately," commented Hyperion in a shaky voice. It appeared he hadn't taken the event any better than Byleth.

"That sounds good enough," remarked Byleth, "It has to be. Set us back, Sothis."

As he said this, the world began reversing in a blur and suddenly, he was back in the hall. Not losing a single second, he yelled at the top of his lungs, "Retreat! Everyone out of the building as fast as you can!"

Confused, his troops hesitated at first but quickly followed his orders when he started pushing them backwards while fending off their opponents. The black-robed individual saw this and cursed before quickly shooting spells at the backs of the Western Church soldiers, which killed several of them. The magic circle once more started glowing brightly, and the explosion occurred again.

"Fuck!"

Byleth's exclamation rang through the purple stillness of the world as time stood still the second time on this day. This plan hadn't worked at all. Flight was out of the question now. Warp spells could have worked, but there weren't enough people with the skill on his roster to get even a quarter of his people out of there in time.

"Turn back again. We'll have to try with defence," he said.

Sothis complied silently, once more reversing time to the original point. The return to normal time was felt again and Byleth shouted out his new orders. "Ward spells now! Overcharge!"

With that, he activated his own Ward and reinforced it with the Emperor Arcanum of the Crest of Fraldarius. Hyperion's AT field also sprang forth, strengthening his defence. His troops followed suit, which resulted in a sort of magical shield wall.

It was for naught, however, as when the explosion inevitably triggered, those ward spells and the people behind them were torn apart mercilessly. Bodies flew through the air and slammed against walls, which crumbled away as well. And mid-flight, time halted again.

Byleth cursed again, "Why won't it work, damn it?!"

"Sacrificial rituals are a bitch," responded Hyperion with a mixture of annoyance and anger.

"I thought sacrificing souls was impossible," countered Byleth.

"Whoever is casting this spell isn't sacrificing souls," commented Sothis, "I have witnessed such rituals happen. If any souls had been sacrificed here, we would currently be staring at the opened Gates of Damnation and its wardens dragging off the offender to their well-deserved fate. The mere sight of it is enough to drive people insane. Even I nearly fell victim to the effect."

That answered one question, but it still left another one. "What are they sacrificing then?"

"Blood and life force, I'd guess. The magic circle pulsates whenever someone dies," answered Hyperion.

Byleth was not happy with this at all. "How do we stop it?"

"We can't," said Sothis in a subdued voice. "If the caster dies, the magic will be released prematurely and the explosive force will be lower, but it would still kill everyone in the hall at the very least."

"What? That can't be. There has to be a way to stop this!" exclaimed the Professor.

At this point, Hyperion spoke again, "We can't stop it going off, but there is a possibility to save the lives of your companions."

"How?" asked Byleth.

"I will activate a function I added to your helmet some time ago. It's experimental and highly dangerous at this time, but it will enable me to channel significantly more of my power through you," explained Hyperion, "You will have a minute at most before your body starts breaking down from the strain channelling divine power puts on it. It's simply not sufficiently accustomed to do that for prolonged periods of time yet."

Byleth's tone was firm as he spoke, "Do it."

"Very well," assented Hyperion. His tone changed to something that sounded vaguely business-like, "Sothis, keep watch over us and stop time if we go too far. Initiating Balance Breaker protocol now. The helmet will change form to the Raiment of the First Principle so be prepared for that. Activation will take place upon time reversal and subsequent resumption."

"This foolishness had better pay off. If you die from this, I'll find a way to bring you back just so I can kill you myself!" shouted the woman.

With that, time reversed for what was hopefully going to be the last time today. As soon as it started flowing normally again, a bright white light erupted from Byleth's head, temporarily blinding everyone in the hall. The shouts of surprise were barely even noticed by the man himself as a burning pain spread throughout his entire body.

To any observer, his pained grunts were secondary to what they were seeing, however. It looked as though a shell of light was creeping over his form within a single second until there was not a single square centimetre of him left that wasn't shining like a miniature sun. The flowing robe made of the same white light added to the look, projecting the presence of a divine warrior of myth come to pass judgement on the wicked.

Alas, the short period wherein nothing happened did not last. With inhuman speed, Byleth's hand shot out and from it a lance of light shot out towards the mage in black. Before anyone could understand what was going on, the mage was dead, the lance having completely erased their neck. More lances followed, mowing down the front ranks of the remaining Wester Church forces. Within the span of only three seconds, a good dozen defenders had been killed.

The true obstacle, though, was the destabilising sacrificial ritual. Therefore, Byleth ceased his offence and instead started generating the largest Ward spell he could in an effort to protect everyone behind him. He also reinforced it with the typical hexagonal barrier of Hyperion's AT field, which was now many times stronger than before. He finished not a moment too soon, as the explosion went off while the AT field had just begun covering the most distant of his soldiers.

This time, as the explosion tore apart the east wing of the Western Church's headquarters, the rest of the building stayed mostly intact. It would still have been enough to kill the entirety of Byleth's unit if it hadn't been for his quick intervention. As it was, it still alerted everyone within a diameter of several kilometres that something big had happened there.

When the dust was beginning to settle, hacking coughs could be heard among the wreckage, coming from a single source right at the centre: Byleth. The shining light which surrounded the youngest Professor of the Officers Academy was already starting to dim as the coughs increased in intensity. Soon enough, it developed cracks and began crumbling away from his form.

Attracted by the noise, the mercenaries, students and Professors approached him, only to find that beneath that luminous armour, his skin looked as though it had been cooked. It went further than that, unfortunately, for after the pieces of Byleth's helmet obscuring his mouth had flaked off, he proceeded to cough up large quantities of blood.

He fell to his knees, soon leaning forward, and felt his consciousness leave him. The least thing he heard were the worried cries of those whom he'd managed to save before he could hear no more.

"Sir!"

"Professor!"

"Byleth!"

It was nevertheless with soul-deep satisfaction that he entered the darkness.

Alerts were flashing across my screens as the Raiment of the First Principle ravaged Byleth's body. Worryingly, it was worse than I had initially imagined. Only twenty seconds of activity had pushed him to the physical breaking point. Then again, it was possible that the three uses of Divine Pulse had already put a strain on him beforehand. Thus, I forcefully deactivated the Balance Breaker as soon as the explosion had subsided to prevent further injury towards my friend.

I knew that he was likely to appear in here as soon as he fell unconscious, and made my way to the spot at which he always appeared when he entered his mindscape. Sothis, who had been beside me ever since the beginning of combat, followed me there. Predictably, we didn't have to wait for more than a second before Byleth appeared in a groaning heap. That was pretty much within expectations. Divine power also strained mortal spirits, though to a lesser extent.

Sothis and I propped him up while I commented on what had just happened, "Looks like you did it, chief. As far as I can tell, neither your troops nor you bit the dust. As long as they get around to healing you, it'll also stay that way. Congratulations."

"Do you have to be so nonchalant about this?" complained Sothis.

I grinned. "Yes. It's more amusing that way."

The flat stare Byleth gave me in response invigorated my grin further. Eventually, he too let out a light huff that could be interpreted as a weak laugh. Sothis just looked at the both of us with an exasperated expression and sighed.

"Both of you are mad, honestly!" she said. Then, a soft smile graced her face as she added, "But Hyperion is right. Your charges live and so do you. You did well, Byleth."

Byleth merely nodded once before speaking, "Thanks."

"Now then, I think that we've got a bit of time on our hands due to one of our number being technically unconscious right now," I began, "So, in order to celebrate this momentous occasion, I recommend we watch another movie while we wait for the healers to patch Byleth up."

The stifled snort that escaped Byleth was enough answer from that front. Sothis, too, eventually caved. "Fine. I guess a bit of relaxation can't hurt."

Ah, there she went again with her minor tsundere tendencies. Funny how a thing I normally disliked was so adorable on her. It made teasing her all the more fun though.

Still, with the decision made, we helped Byleth get over to the couch, where we sat him down. Sothis and I remained standing, however. I didn't quite know why she would do that instead of gtting comfortable, but I did so because I had to get the movie for us to watch. For today, I decided to pick a favourite of mine: Stardust.

As I had sat down and waited for the film to start playing, I looked at Sothis, who looked contemplative upon closer inspection. "I don't know about you, but standing around instead of sitting on a comfortable couch doesn't sound like a good deal to me. Come sit down," I said.

She shook her head, getting rid of the thoughtful look and replacing it with one I couldn't quite read. "Right," she replied.

When Sothis finally sat down as well, she did so next to me. Close to me. Very close to me. Her right leg was brushing up to my left one, which would sound innocent enough if we had been in a cramped room, but this was different. Then, she leaned on my shoulder. Was she-?

No, I couldn't let my wishes and desires make me believe things that weren't real. I'd had movie nights with friends before and this was close enough to it. Well, it was more contact than I was used to on such occasions for sure, but it was not enough for me to be able to confidently interpret anything more into it.

Instead, I focussed on the movie, which had just begun. I smiled, revelling in the experience of revisiting one of the greatest pieces of media I knew of. It was a wonderful tale of a young man on a quest to find a fallen star, who then turned out to be a beautiful woman he would eventually fall in love with. It was a compelling story, and one I found myself never growing tired of.

…

Wait…

Oh boy.

Just like Claude before her, Edelgard had thought that Rhea had been unnerving to observe in the midst of battle, but this was far, far worse. The Archbishop was, in a word, livid. No, that was too weak a term to describe the font of rage she was being right now. At least she knew why she was in such a state this time.

The place where the headquarters' east wing had previously been was currently the site of a congregation of a good two dozen healers operating on Professor Byleth. The man looked awful, what with being covered in burns all over and having experienced what the medical team had tentatively called egregious exsanguination.

Of course, as anyone who was part of his unit could attest to, this was a result of their orders. However, it appeared that there had been a rather large problem with those.

"Where is he?! Where is that imbecilic cretin who dares relay false orders in my name?!"

Yes, it seemed that their orders hadn't really come from the Archbishop. This stank of either treason or cowardice, as the man who had "relayed" their orders had been the commander of the unit which had originally been assigned to clearing the east wing, apparently. As a consequence of this, Rhea was understandably very much upset.

As it was, the woman gave off the impression of an apex predator on the hunt instead of the serene one she usually portrayed, and everyone seemed to be aware of it. Naturally, the knights and the Professors were on a manhunt to find the offender and bring him in for questioning.

Edelgard herself was also not quite calm at this time, no matter what her outward expression feigned. Not only was she worried about her tea-… Professor Byleth, but she was also contemplating what had happened and what could have happened. That explosion had nearly killed everyone, including her, and she had seen just what clothing the caster of the spell had worn.

This was what had shocked her the most. The Agarthan must have seen her, recognised her and still decided to cast that spell. That either meant that this person had violated orders or that Edelgard was no longer seen as a vital asset. If the latter were true, then it was clear how she should proceed.

Before she could decide on anything, however, she had to talk with Hubert. He was better than her at planning, that much she could admit without shame. She wanted to get his opinion on it in case he had insights that had the potential to affect her decision.

That conversation would have to wait a bit, though. It appeared that another one was ahead of her since she could spot Lysithea approaching her. Edelgard couldn't help but see the younger girl as something of a sister and would therefore always make time to have a talk with her. It had been that way ever since their first conversation during which they had shared their tales of hardship with each other.

"Edelgard? Can I speak with you for a moment?" the shorter of the two asked when she had come close enough to talk comfortably.

"Of course," replied the princess.

Lysithea wasted no time getting to the point, "You saw that black-robed mage too, right? They looked like one of them."

It was easy to guess just who was meant. The girl only held one group of people in such contempt.

"Yes," agreed Edelgard, "It most likely was."

"Just what was that one doing here? Were they here for the Western Church's knowledge on Crests? That seems about the only thing they're interested in," mused Lysithea.

"I don't know," answered the princess. It was the truth, actually. She was glad that she didn't have to lie to her junior. She went on, "But it is worrying that they had a presence here. Suddenly, the matter of the Western Church has become complicated."

The younger girl grimaced. "They seem to be wherever something shady is going on. I don't like it, at all. They're dangerous too. If it weren't for the Professor, we'd all be dead now."

That was most certainly true. It was an uncomfortable truth, but reality had little care for comfort. "You're right about that. Do you have any idea what he did?"

"No. I've never seen him all glowy like that. Not surprising with the state it's put him in," replied Lysithea. "I suppose it might have been a blessing from the Goddess, but the Professor doesn't strike me as very devout."

"No, he doesn't seem to be," muttered Edelgard, suddenly lost in thought. The power Professor Byleth had displayed had certainly not been within the human norm. So, some form of divine intervention was within the realm of possibility. Only, she didn't think it was the Goddess.

"Edelgard?"

Lysithea's voice took her out of her train of thoughts. She realised that she must have been silent for a few seconds.

"I'm sorry. I just had a thought," said the princess.

The younger girl looked at her with questions in her eyes, one of which made its way out of her mouth, "Is it one about the lightshow the Professor put on?"

"Yes, but I'll have to verify a few things first," answered Edelgard.

"Okay," said Lysithea in a tone which conveyed that she was a bit confused.

In response, Edelgard smiled slightly and ruffled Lysithea's hair. "It's just a bit of hearsay I want to confirm. Don't worry about it," she said.

"Don't do that! I'm not a child, you know?" huffed Lysithea as she squirmed her head out from under the older girl's hand.

The princess suppressed the urge to flinch. It hurt her to see Lysithea so willing to throw the last vestiges of her childhood away. Couldn't the younger girl see that with such a short life, she needed to enjoy her remaining time in this world?

Edelgard sighed and said, "I just want you to know that I care. It's just, when I speak with you, it's…" She paused. Then, she closed her eyes for the duration of a long breath- "It's almost like I still have a sister," she whispered.

Lysithea froze, suddenly feeling very bad about herself. "Oh," she uttered in realisation. "I didn't know you felt like that about it. I… guess you can ruffle my hair from time to time." Hurriedly, she added, "But not one word to Claude! You hear?"

A smile found its way back on Edelgard's face. "Promise," she said with a laugh.

After my initial embarrassment had passed, the experience with the movie had been quite enjoyable. We all had had a jolly good time and both my friends had liked the film. I myself had been more distracted by Sothis' closeness to me, but who could have blamed me? Anyone would have been hard-pressed to find someone with an interest in women who wouldn't want to have her leaning into their side.

Unfortunately, work had come calling. Right now, I was back in my bed. One might wonder why I would head there for work of all things, but it was the only way I had to access both prayer space, which is what I called that grey wibbly-wobbly location where I answered prayers, and the Underworld. It was the latter I wished to enter, for now.

It took a moment's concentration before I could feel something happening, but ultimately, I was overwhelmed by an urge to close my eyes. As I did so, I could feel a rush of cold for but a second, which, I guessed, meant that it was working. Good.

When I opened my eyes again, I found myself sitting on Hades' old throne again. I looked around the room and spotted one or two people going about the place every so often. One figure in particular was situated in one of the stone chairs on the left side of the throne room and rifling through a stack of paper. It was a man, that much I could tell, but I didn't recognise him.

"Uh, hello there," I called out to him.

The man looked up in surprise and swivelled his head towards me. "My king," he greeted me enthusiastically, "My apologies for not noticing you, but as you can see, I was absorbed in my work."

I waved him off. "Think nothing of it. You're doing what is technically supposed to be my work. I can excuse quite a bit for that. Though, if you don't mind me asking, what exactly is it that you're doing right now, and what's your name?"

"Ah, yes. You do not know many of us yet," he began his answer, "My name is Hydros. I am the Primordial of the, well, Primordial Waters. I'm currently doing the paperwork concerning the rivers of the Underworld. The Goddesses of four of the rivers are currently not around to tend to them, after all. I'm glad that Oceanus is still looking after his, though."

Huh, I always wondered whether Oceanus counted as a Primordial or as a Titan since I had seen him listed as both. I guess that little nugget of information clarified that.

"Sounds like important work," I said. "I'd best leave you to it, then. It's high time I explored the Underworld a bit. Have a good day."

"You as well, Your Majesty," replied Hydros.

The royal address was going to take some time to get used to, I could tell.

With our talk concluded, I made my way over to a part of the House of Hades that would be useful for my exploration. It was fortunate that I could sense every part of this realm or I would definitely have missed this and wasted a lot of time. After all, why walk when you could teleport?

The part I was referring to was the Sigil of the Underworld, a platform that had originally been installed by Nyx which allowed the one it was bonded to free instant movement to any location within the Underworld. It was designed in such a way that only its king could actually bond with it, considering that security was kind of important.

As I stepped onto the Sigil, I pushed my power into it and chanted, "By my authority as King of the Underworld, I bind you to myself!"

Was that necessary? Probably not. Did I want to sound cool for once in my life, even if it was only to myself? Absolutely.

The Sigil flashed and I felt it settle into me. Wonderful. I had just a location I wanted to visit. Focussing on the place, I activated my new ability and departed from the House of Hades.

It took a second for me to register the sight of my new location before me, but it was clear to me that everything had worked as intended. The black, shadow-coated palace in front of me was definitely the residence of Erebus and Nyx. Now, I only hoped that they were at home. There were a few things I wanted to discuss with them.

I decided to swiftly use the door knocker on the heavy front door for its intended purpose and waited for something to happen. Fortunately, it didn't take even a minute before the door opened by itself. As it did so, I could hear Nyx' voice from inside saying, "Greetings, young king. Enter and be welcomed as our guest."

Ah, she was being formal about this. In hindsight, that was to be expected. The Greek Gods had always been big on guest rights. Anyone breaking them was instantly on Zeus' shit list.

"I accept your gracious hospitality in the spirit it was given," I said formally as I entered the palace.

The entrance hall, just as the outside of the building indicated, was massive. It could have easily fit hundreds of people without feeling crowded. The mosaics on the floor were hauntingly beautiful, which was to be expected considering its owners, as were the pillars and statues that adorned the hall. That was all secondary to me, however, as I beelined for the two beings I had come to see.

When I stood in front of them after some time walking, it was Erebus who spoke, "It is good to see you, my king. What brings you to our humble abode?"

I snorted and could see by the grin on his face that he wasn't that serious about that part either. I loved myself some good humour.

"While I appreciate your levity, I'm actually here for work-related reasons," I said.

At once, both their faces turned serious, though there was no tension. "Do tell," prompted Nyx.

I replied, "Well, there are mainly two items on the list. Neither of them is really pressing, but I'd like one of them handled within the next three months." At receiving two nods, I continued, "First, I don't think I should rule from out of the House of Hades. Once he and Persephone or freed from the Darkness of Zahras, they'll want their home back. Same for Pluto and Proserpina, Hel and all the other Underworld deities who aren't in the afterlife yet."

"That is a good point," commented Nyx, "You will need your own palace."

"A palace?" I asked incredulously.

Nyx laughed, "Well, of course. We can't have our king rule form a hovel, now can we?"

I sighed. "Alright then, as long as it doesn't take away any critical resources from other places. Keeping this place running is more important than a testament to my ego."

That brought up a snort from the both of them. "Alright, that's one matter dealt with. What was the other?" asked Erebus.

"That is the one I want to handle as soon as possible. You see, there is a promise I have to fulfil and the way in which I want to achieve it is going to open some very interesting doors for me in the future," I explained.

AN: Greetings, dear readers.

It's been only two weeks since the last chapter. I pushed myself to get this out in this time frame so I can get back into the 3-week on average cycle.

Now, some of you may be wondering why I named the Balance Breaker form of the helmet Raiment of the First Principle. This is a direct reference to the name Hyperion. A Roman Emperor, Julian the Apostate I believe, refers to Hyperion as the First Principle. No one knows why exactly, but it can be extrapolated from the fact that Hyperion is Sol's father, who was at this time the most important God of the Roman pantheon.

Once more, I'd like to thank everyone who followed, favourited and reviewed this story. I hope you all continue to enjoy it as I write more.

Today's recommended story is Harry Potter and the Hermetic Arts by HaikenEdge. It follows a Harry Potter who does not quite care about the sense and sensibilities of the wizarding world and instead likes to stick to his tabletop-RPG rulesets.

See you next time!