Chapter 12: Conviction

Zofia Harbor, The One Kingdom of Valentia, Valentia

Val. Year 403

Ashe weighed his options. He didn't have many, but he had to choose one and he had to do it now.

Running was out of the question. The cargo hold, while quite large in its base dimensions, was not very spacious. There was little room to move around—let alone run—with so many boxes and shelves in the way. And with Anna standing near the door, it would be near impossible to get around her without being shot first.

Fighting was another option. He could rush her and wrest the crossbow from her hands or, if he was quick enough, he could shoot an arrow of his own to incapacitate her firing arm. Once their situations were flipped, he could force her to reveal where she was hiding the dragonstones, take one to test on Kana, then have Byleth reset the whole debacle. No harm done in the end.

But who was Ashe kidding? He already felt terrible enough for trying to rob her in the first place. Threatening her life for information when he was the person in the wrong would be taking it too far.

That left him with only one course of action: tell her the full truth, and pray that it would be enough to convince her not to shoot him.

"Don't have an answer for me?" Anna asked, tightening her grip on the crossbow. "You'd better speak up soon. I'm not playing around."

"I understand." Ashe held his hands out to his sides, palms open, to show her he had no intention of attacking. "I wasn't trying to get in the way of your business—"

"Shouldn't have tried stealing from me, then."

"…But it's like what my friend said before, at your shop," Ashe continued. "We have a child under our care who turns into a dragon when he's scared or stressed. A manakete, I think you'd call him. He needs something to help him control his abilities because he's being hunted by the invisible—"

"Oooh, of course you do." Her words carried a sarcastic bite. "I thought you wanted the dragonstone for your totally real, definitely not made up nephew."

"That was…er…" Ashe's fingers curled as his nerves spiked. "That was a small lie on my part. A bargaining tactic."

"Obviously." She took a step closer to him, her aim still held on his throat. The candlelight flickered off the steel tip of the loaded bolt. "A liar and a thief. Why in Naga's name should I believe you?"

"You don't have to take my word for it. I can show you, and the king and queen can vouch for—"

"We're not going anywhere."

Her finger traced the crossbow's body. Ashe's heart thumped hard against his chest as her grip settled on the trigger, ready to fire with the smallest amount of pressure. He forced himself to relax, at least on the outside. Show your confidence, he told himself, not your fear.

"…You're right to be skeptical," he admitted. "If I were in your shoes, I probably wouldn't believe me either."

Anna cocked an eyebrow at him. "You're not exactly helping your case here—"

"But what if I am telling the truth?" He straightened his posture and raised his chin. "What if there really is a manakete in the harbor without a dragonstone? And what happens when the invisible soldiers return to Valentia and frighten the manakete, forcing it to take dragon form?"

For once, Anna didn't interrupt him. She merely looked him over with a scrutinizing eye, lips pressed into a thin line.

"And make no mistake: sooner or later, those things will return. I know, because they've come for him before—multiple times now." His hands clenched into fists. "They attacked my home, my siblings, my friends, all to get to him. And each time he transformed against his will, endangering everyone around him." He locked his eyes with hers. "That's why I'm so desperate to get him a dragonstone. I don't want him or anyone else getting hurt."

"Why go through all the trouble?" Anna asked. "That sounds like a lot of pressure to put on yourself, trying to keep a dragon in check."

Ashe couldn't help but crack a slight smile. There were so many reasons—Kana was a friend of his brother's, Ashe empathized with Kana's familial loss, Kana had some kind of connection to the enemy—but the simplest answer was…

"It's what me and my friends do. We help people."

Anna's gaze drifted toward the ground for a brief moment, a deep furrow set between her brows. When she looked back up, the muscles in her jaw tightened.

"And like I said, you don't have to just blindly believe me—I'll take you to him. I'll give you my weapons and my gold before we go, if that'd make you feel better, and you can have the harbor guard accompany us. We just need to test one on him to make sure—"

"I don't have them."

Ashe blinked at her, body stiffening. "…What?"

"I don't have the dragonstones," Anna repeated. "I didn't bring them to Valentia."

"You…didn't…?" Ashe could barely form the words. "But…you said…"

"I know what I said," Anna sighed, relaxing her arms and lowering the crossbow. That should have made Ashe feel better about his predicament, but his stomach only twisted into a tighter knot.

"It was just part of my marketing strategy. You know, make you more desperate to buy from me and—if you really do have powerful connections—get someone of prestige to purchase a stone from my store in Archanea at top price."

Ashe dug a hand into his hair and hung his head, suppressing a groan. She had just been stringing him along to boost her potential profits. Of course she had. This was Anna he was dealing with, after all. And now, because of that little scheme, all the time he and his friends had put into finding a dragonstone had gone to waste.

And she had the nerve to call him a liar…

"Was the wedding a lie too, then?" he asked, trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice. He really shouldn't have been surprised, but he couldn't help but feel frustrated at her, at himself, and at their luck.

"Oh no, the wedding is happening, and I'm definitely going to be there to sell my most valuable merchandise," Anna said. "That's why I don't have them with me now. I mean, think about it, why would I risk bringing my dragonstones overseas to Valentia when I wasn't planning to sell them here in the first place?"

"…Right…" His shoulders sagged, too defeated, too drained to say anything more.

"That's why I can't give you a dragonstone, not even one to test on this manakete of yours—if he exists, that is. I'd have to travel back home first." Anna rapped her knuckles against her chin, eyeing the bow on his back. "…But…"

Ashe glanced up at her. "But?"

"…How good of a shot are you?" she asked.

"Um…" Ashe rubbed the back of his neck. Where had that question come from? "Pretty good, I guess."

"Show me." With a flick of her wrist, she pointed to a shelf situated in a corner on the other side of the cargo hold. There was a random assortment of scattered goods sitting along the racks. "See that sack of flour over there?"

Ashe nodded. It was wedged between a rolled-up carpet and a steel pot that had lost its shine.

"Shoot it."

"What?" He frowned at her. He didn't have time for an archery show. "Why?"

"Because if you're as capable an archer as you are a thief," Anna said with a mischievous grin, "and if you really are being genuine, we might be able to help each other out." The crossbow was raised again. "But if you even attempt to turn your aim on me, I'll shoot you first. Got it?"

Ashe just stared at her for a few moments. He really didn't want to be wrapped up in another one of her schemes, but…he supposed he didn't really have a choice in the matter.

He grabbed his bow and took an arrow from his quiver. With one smooth motion, he lined up the shot, pulled back the string, and released the arrow into the small bag. Flour puffed out from around the arrow on impact. Before Anna could comment, he fired another through the thin sack right below the first. Two easy shots.

"That's more than pretty good." Anna tapped her cheek, a gleam shining in her eyes that Ashe couldn't quite place. "And your friends, are they as skilled as you at handling a weapon?"

"They're better."

Anna hummed and clicked her tongue. "And you've faced these ghost soldier things before?"

"We've fought them twice now." He returned the bow to his back with a sigh. "Look, I don't know what this is about, but I really need to get back to my friends. I know you're probably still mad about me sneaking onto your ship, but maybe if I pay you for the trouble—"

"I don't need your money right now. I need your protection."

"I…what?" Now Ashe was even more confused. "From the invisible soldiers?"

"Maybe," Anna said, putting her free hand on her hip. "Let me cut to the chase: I'm worried. Ever since I arrived in Valentia, which was right around when those things started showing up, I haven't heard anythingfrom Archanea. Nothing from my sisters, nothing from my boyfriend, nothing from even rivals of mine in the trade business. You remember all those empty stalls in the wharf, right?" The grip on her hip tightened, her fingers curling into the pink fabric of her shirt. "Usually I'd be thankful for having less competition, but for there to be no other Archanean merchants here? It's not normal."

"Have you tried reaching out to anyone back home?" he asked.

"I wrote my family a few letters about the situation here, hoping to hear that they were doing okay…but I still haven't received a reply from anyone." A pained expression crossed her face. "I'm not sure if it's pirates messing with the trade routes, or if it's the ghosts, or…something somehow worse than that…but something is definitely wrong. I can feel it."

Ashe frowned. It unfortunately made sense; there was no reason to believe that the invisible soldiers had only attacked Fódlan and Valentia. Who knew how many other continents or worlds they had assaulted before locating Kana?

"I want to go home to check on everyone, and to give myself time to prepare for the wedding, but it might not be safe for me to do so…unless I have some extra protection." Anna gestured to him with the crossbow, making his heart jump into his throat. She really needed to stop waving it around so carelessly!

"And I'm guessing you want to hire us as that extra protection?" he asked, willing his body to relax again.

"Hire is a generous term." Anna flipped her ponytail. "You'll do it for free, to make up for your thieving attempt."

"For free? We can't just—"

"What's the matter?" Anna folded her arms over her chest, her tone almost mocking. "I thought that's what you and your friends do. You help people, right?"

"Yes, but…" Ashe fiddled with the drawstring hanging from his hood. "Our time is limited. Sailing to another continent could jeopardize our mission…"

"Well, if you can get me, my sister, and my merch home safely, I'll sell you a dragonstone."

Ashe's eyes widened at her. "…Really?"

"I have a store in Port Artemis on the coast of Altea—the country where the wedding's happening, and where I stored the dragonstones." Anna stepped forward, crossbow lowered and hand held out toward him. "Get us there in good time, and I'll even give you a nice discount for it."

Ashe bit the inside of his cheek. It wasn't really his place to be making such a big decision for the rest of the group. And, despite Anna's decision to spare him, he couldn't ignore the gnawing suspicion that there was more to her intentions than what she was letting on…

"How do I know this isn't another one of your 'marketing strategies'?" he asked.

"I guess you'll have to trust me," she answered. "Just like I'm doing for you right now. Unless you have a better option to pursue?"

They really didn't, not that he knew of, anyway. If this was their chance to get a dragonstone, he couldn't let it pass him by.

He lifted his hand—

Boom!

A blast of lightning struck the cargo hold's door and sent it flying off its hinges. On instinct, Ashe grabbed Anna's outstretched arm and yanked her out of its path. The door soared past them, triggering a tripwire along the way before slamming against the back wall. A loud bell began to shriek.

"Ashe?! You in here?!" came Felix's voice over the piercing alarm. His body appeared in the now-open entryway, sparks dancing in his palms. Light from the late sun poured into the hold around his figure.

"Are you kidding me?!" Anna's eye twitched, her face going red with rage. "I just got that door replaced!" She snapped the crossbow up at Felix and, in return, he raised the crackling thunder magic in her direction.

"Wait! Wait!" Ashe quickly jumped in between them. "Felix, what are you doing?! You don't need to—"

"Byleth is down!"

Ashe went completely still. That couldn't be possible…Byleth was practically invincible!

"…What?"

"Something happened to him, we don't know what," Felix growled, not taking his eyes off Anna and her crossbow. "He wanted me to get you out of here."

Anna's nostrils flared and a vein pulsed in her forehead. "You think you're just gonna destroy my door and walk away like nothing happened?"

"Yes."

Her finger went for the trigger. "You'd better think again—"

"Stop! Please!" Ashe's hand shot out to grip her wrist. "My group won't agree to take you back to Archanea if you hurt him, or if our friend doesn't get the help he needs—"

"Ashe, we need to go!" Felix was glaring at something that Ashe couldn't see, but from the clamor of clanking armor and the angry "get back here!", it wasn't hard to figure out what was coming for them.

Still, he stayed in place and held her gaze. "Anna, do you want our help or not?"

The merchant narrowed her eyes at him, at Felix, at the door, then at the ground. A flurry of emotions crossed her face all at once. She scrunched up her nose, let out a frustrated groan…

And dropped the crossbow.

Ashe didn't have time to celebrate. Several soldiers swarmed the deck, forcing Felix to back into the cargo hold with them. The sparks in the swordsman's hand died out. "Just great…" he grumbled.

Two of the soldiers marched into the entryway, each brandishing polished silver lances. The one on the right regarded Ashe and Felix with a pointed look. "Drop your weapons and come with us quietly. You have committed a crime against the great country of Valentia by trespassing on a private vessel without the proper—"

"It's fine, sir," Anna said, moving forward to meet them. "They're with me. I'm sorry for the confusion."

"But…" the man looked between the three of them. "This one ran past us and boarded your ship without first providing us a permit, and the other one—"

"I sent him to bring me a sword from my shop," she lied smoothly, a fake grin plastered over her lips. "It was urgent, that's why he was in such a rush." She turned to Felix, motioning for one of his swords. Though hesitant, Felix unsheathed a blade and handed it to her. She examined it with a close eye.

"Yes, we will definitely need to grind this one a bit more before it's ready to be sold…"

Felix bristled, obviously offended by the implication that he wasn't caring properly for his swords, but he remained quiet.

"But…" the second guard traced the outline of the missing door with a suspicious frown.

"Oh that?" Anna kept her smile tacked on, but the fist she held behind her back tightened until her knuckles turned white. "We were just testing the security of my storage…looks like it's working!"

"If you say so, miss…" The two guards exchanged a look, then tapped their own fists against their plate armor. "We apologize for inconveniencing you."

"It's no trouble at all," Anna said through gritted teeth, waving them off. "Thank you for keeping the harbor safe!"

With a quick salute, the guards marched away from the entrance in perfect time and departed with the remaining soldiers off deck. Once they were out of sight, Anna whipped around to face Ashe and Felix.

"The deal is on," she said. "But I'd like to meet the rest of your group first, and this mysterious manakete of yours, before finalizing any plans."

Felix crossed his arms. "What deal?"

"I'll explain on the way," Ashe sighed. Felix eyed him for a moment before shrugging off his suspicions, leaning forward to reclaim his sword from Anna. She swiped it out of his reach.

"No, I think I'll be keeping this."

Felix scowled at her. "Like hell you will—"

"No complaining." She wagged a finger in his face, earning a deeper scowl, before striding through the open doorway with a smug smirk.

"Think of it as payment for breaking my door."

—

Byleth woke up to a splitting headache.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he sucked in a quick breath through his teeth. A sharp pain seared across his skull, like someone had cleaved an axe into his head and left it there to rot. He tried to sit up, to reorient himself, but found his body covered in heavy blankets. Was he…in a bed?

"Professor, you're awake!" Annette instantly appeared at his side, smiling down at him with wet eyes.

"What…?" he mumbled, his lips heavy and sluggish.

"And praise Mila for that," Mae said, walking up to the foot of his bed and leaning her arms over the wooden frame. "You scared the dickens out of us. You didn't have a pulse for a while…me and the other clerics thought you were a goner."

His memories slowly returned to him. Right, he had tried using his Divine Pulses and it had ended…poorly.

"But not me!" Annette pushed his hair back and pressed a damp rag to his forehead. The cool touch felt wonderful on his skin. "I was worried for sure, but I knew you would pull through! I just knew it!"

"Sorry…for the…scare," he managed to get out. He had never told his students about his nonexistent heartbeat; it was hard to explain something you didn't really understand yourself. "That's…norm—"

"But eventually your pulse came back. It was really faint, but it was there," Mae said. Annette grinned and added, "And now you're awake!"

Ice flooded his entire body, sending chills all the way down to his toes despite the warmth of the blankets. They had felt a pulse? He had never had a pulse before!

Annette's joy faded from her face. "Professor? What's wrong? Oh no, you're getting all pale again…"

Byleth closed his eyes and brought a hand to his chest. A few seconds passed. Nothing. He waited a few more. Nothing. Perhaps they had been mistaken—

Thump.

His hand recoiled away with a quick snap. Something had throbbed against his ribs for the briefest moment, then settled back into place, silent and perfectly still. After another ten seconds, it happened again.

Byleth hesitantly rested his hand again on his chest, awestruck and frightened all at once. Was this what a heartbeat felt like?

"I-I'm going to get the other clerics! Just sit tight!" Annette tossed away the rag and scrambled for the door. "Is your fiancé still here, Mae? He seemed to really know—oof!" She bumped into a stack of crates, spilling bandages and herbal salves all over the floor on the way out. A cry of "Agh, me and my clumsy feet!" echoed from the hallway.

With a soft grunt, Byleth managed to push himself up until he was leaning against the bed's headboard. The room they were in was small, lit only by a few candles and slivers of moonlight streaming in from the window. The moon? he thought, staring at the night sky, just how long was I out for?

"Hey now, don't push yourself too much," Mae said. "You hit your head pretty hard when you passed out, and coughed up lots of blood…you should rest."

"I don't…have time to…rest." Byleth's voice grew a little stronger each time he used it. "Where are the…others?"

Mae nodded to the door Annette had left through. "Downstairs in the tavern, talking with that stingy merchant. We carried you here after you collapsed, and the owners were kind enough to lend us this room."

"Everyone is…okay?" he asked. His heart thumped again, startling him into a more upright position. It really was an odd sensation. Of all the times in his life, why had it decided to start beating now?

Part of him wanted to laugh—he was probably the only person in the world who was concerned that his heart was working normally.

"Pretty much. Your archer friend left Anna's ship in one piece after the sword guy went in to rescue him, and she came here with them."

"She's here? Why?"

Mae shrugged. "Something about making a deal for a dragonstone? Apparently she doesn't actually have them here, which doesn't surprise me at all—she's all kinds of shady. I mean, she was out in the harbor selling busted swords to her customers because some special 'hero' touched them once." She huffed and tightened a pigtail. "But Alm and Celica wanted to hear her out. They arrived on pegasus and horseback not too long ago."

That settled it, then. Byleth shoved the blankets off his body and shuffled to the edge of the bed. Despite the pain in his head, despite all the strange things happening with his powers and his body, he had to join them. If even the king and queen had taken the time to travel all the way from their castle to meet here, then Byleth had no right to be lounging around in bed.

"Whoa! Slow down, buddy. We should at least check you over one last time." Mae held out her arms as his feet touched the floor. "It won't take long. Just as soon as Annette gets back…"

Byleth ignored her and staggered along the wall to the door. Mae sighed, running a hand over her face, before offering an arm for him to balance on.

"At least let me help you down the stairs. We don't need you knocking your head again…"

He accepted it with a grateful nod. As they slowly made their way through the door together, Byleth caught a glimpse of his reflection in the bedroom's mirror. What he saw made his breath stop:

The tips of his hair were dark blue.

Byleth ground his teeth. His Divine Pulses weren't working properly, his heart was beating for the first time in his life, and now his hair was reverting back to its natural color.

What the hell was happening to him?

He didn't have much time to process it all before they were stepping down the stairs. Byleth was a little embarrassed by how long it took him to reach the bottom, but he reassured himself that this state of weakness was only temporary. He would be back to normal in no time.

Without a doubt.

Thankfully, the tavern itself was largely empty save for his students and their Valentian allies, making it easy for him to navigate over to the group with the support of Mae's arm and some scattered bar stools. There were a few people he didn't recognize—a tan mage with white hair, leaning back as Annette whispered something frantically into his ear; a blonde woman of a much paler complexion holding hands with Gray a few seats down; and a tall, masked man in white-and-gold armor standing guard by the door—but overall, everyone appeared to be exactly as Byleth had left them before losing consciousness.

Safe and unharmed.

"How long do you think this mission will take?" Alm asked. He was talking with one of the Anna's; Byleth wasn't sure which one.

"Two days at most," Anna said, counting on her fingers. "If we leave first thing in the morning, we can make it to Altea's port just before nightfall. You take care of any ruffians or monsters lurking about, I give you the stone, and you can be on your way back here the next day. Easy."

"Well, 'easy' will depend on what's waiting for us on the other side…" Alm glanced to his wife. "What do you think?"

"It's certainly risky," Celica said, carefully closing a book she had laid out in front of her. The pages were gold trimmed with a leather-bound cover to match. "But I think the potential benefits of our success outweigh those risks. Besides obtaining a dragonstone, we might get the chance to speak with some of Archanea's leaders. Perhaps we can form an alliance with them in our fight against the dead."

Alm laced his fingers together, pressing them against his chin in consideration. "I see, and what of…" The man perked up, finally noticing Byleth's presence. "Byleth! You're up sooner than expected. How are you feeling?"

"Fine." He dropped into an empty chair. His students all turned to him with a variety of relieved smiles…save for Annette who was instead frowning at him like a mother would a disobedient child.

He did his best to put on an air of strength and ignored the terrible pain still pulsing in his head.

"Care to fill me in?" he asked. Luckily, his voice did not waver.

"Sure, you've joined us just in time," Alm said. He rested his arms on the table and leaned forward.

"How do you feel about sailing?"

Character Bios:

Boey: Sage

-Priest of the priory in Novis and childhood friend of Celica and Mae. A calm yet sometimes insecure man who has mastered many of the mystical arts during his time as one of Celica's most trusted guardians and advisors.

-Relations: Fiancé of Mae.

Clair: Falcon Knight

- A member of the One Kingdom's Brotherhood of Knights. A refined and sociable noblewoman who tends to speak in an overly formal manner. Because of her somewhat sheltered upbringing, she sometimes has trouble communicating effectively with the commonfolk, but she is getting better every day.

-Relations: Sister of Clive. Fiancée of Gray.

Conrad: Gold Knight

-A Zofian prince who has recently begun serving the realm as a civil servant, though he still takes up his lance from time to time when his skills are needed. He grew up under the tutelage of Halcyon after escaping from the destruction of a villa that killed most of Zofia's royal family. He dons a mask to project a persona of confidence and mystery, but underneath lies a sensitive and kindhearted man who just wants to protect his little sister.

-Relations: Son of Lima IV and a Rigelian noblewoman (both deceased). Half-brother of Celica.

Thank you for your patience! The last two weeks have been extremely hectic for me—my best friend got married, and I had to turn in a complete draft of my master's thesis to my advisor (over 60 pages, yuck). Needless to say, I was a tired human by the time last weekend was over, and so I didn't have time or energy to finish up this chapter until this week.

But now that all that's over, we should be back on track for weekly updates around Sunday/Monday for a while.

Next chapter: A ship sails to Altea.