Starting this chapter, we're going to start touching on spoilers for Awakening. Other games that have not yet been specifically discussed (but have been hinted at) will be brought to the forefront in the coming chapters, so here is the first warning for that.

Chapter 22: Hanging Balance

Ancient Ruins, The Kingdom of Valla, Moirai

Year 625

Everything in Valla, as Byleth had quickly learned, was wet. Heavy moisture clung to every blade of grass, every breath of air, every stone set in the earth or built into the abandoned, ancient ruins that stood silent across the vast stretches of this strange land.

Azura had ushered them into the cover of one of those ruins soon after their arrival. Away from the wandering eyes of the Silent Dragon and his minions, she had said, should the former happen to awaken from his slumber during their visit. Byleth didn't intend to stay here for that long, though; the atmosphere of Valla alone was enough to make his skin crawl and his chest burn, aggravating his already-pounding headache.

Whatever information Azura had to share, he only hoped it could help cure him of…whatever was happening to him.

"What I'm about to tell you," Azura started, "cannot be repeated outside of Valla's borders. Words have great power here, whether through speech or song." She glanced around the ruins nervously, tucking a strand of her long, flowing hair behind her ear. "Speaking of Valla or its denizens in the outside world will trigger a terrible curse. A curse that grants Anankos access to your soul, causing you to dissolve into mist and enslaving you to his will forever."

The air grew quiet as the weight of her words sank in. A variety of expressions settled across the group, some taut and troubled by the grim warning, others stiff with disbelief. Byleth just stood in place with a deadpan stare—his face didn't allow for much else in the way of emotion—and leaned back onto one of the many broken pillars scattered throughout the ancient grounds. Water trickled from the top stone and plopped onto his head in a steady drip, drip, drip.

He didn't bother moving out of the way. Too tired.

"Sheesh, talk about overkill," Mae muttered under her breath, scratching her head. "We can't talk about this place at all? What are we supposed to tell everyone when we get out of here?"

"It is frustrating, I know." Azura wrung her hands together in a tight grip, tiny water droplets dancing around her fingers. "Trust me, I know better than most. Besides, perhaps, the two of you"—she gestured to Odin and Selena— "as well as Laslow and Corrin. The burden of knowledge weighs heavy on our shoulders…are you prepared to bear it with us?"

"That's why we're here," Alm said. "To learn the truth, and use it to put an end to this madness once and for all. Doesn't matter if we can talk about this place or not—we'll beat the enemy down all the same."

Azura smiled at him, though the expression was slight and wan. "I appreciate the spirit. I'm afraid things won't be so simple, but now that we are able to speak freely with so many new allies…we may be able to finally turn the tides in our favor."

She turned to face the sky in a smooth, gliding motion, watching pieces of earth drift through the air as though they were floating atop a gentle river. Her toes barely brushed the ground, drawing small streaks of water along the stone floor.

"Valla has not always been so…broken," Azura said, her weak smile turning somber. "It was once a country filled with magic and peace, founded and protected by Anankos himself. Unlike many of the ancient dragons of his time, he had a great adoration for humanity, and devoted all his power to preserve it, even going against his brethren to do so."

"Adoration for humanity?" Felix scoffed. "He has a strange way of showing it."

Azura heaved a heavy sigh. "He was Valla's benevolent protector for years—centuries, if the stories are to be believed. But as time passed by, his great power grew unstable…and his mind along with it." Her fingers curled into her palms, so tight that if she had a corporeal form her nails may very well have pierced the skin and drawn blood. "Such is the fate of all dragons."

"That deterioration brought on destructive urges," Selena added, her face tight. "Urges he could no longer control, urges that caused him to lash out at his people and destroy the land he had once fought so hard to protect. At least, that's what he told us."

"You've spoken to him…directly?" Azura asked. "I know you have been to Valla before—how you had managed to find it, I was never sure—but I hadn't realized…"

"It'd be more accurate to say Anankos found us," Selena said, "me and Odin here, and Laslow, who's helping keep watch with the rest of the Nohrians."

Odin nodded, a pensive frown settling deep into his face; a stark contrast to the playful and dramatic expression he usually wore. "Like all of you, we hail from a world beyond the borders of Nohr, Hoshido, and Valla. A piece of Anankos's soul, one that had yet to succumb to the dregs of draconic madness, called out to us from the barrier separating our realm from his in search for help. And, well, being the brave heroes that we are, we could hardly see fit to refuse his plea."

"Help for what, exactly?" Alm asked.

Odin's back instantly straightened at the question and threw his hand up in salute. "To watch over his child, sir, and be there to help her find the divine weapons needed to bring a…permanent end to his suffering."

Celica brought a hand to her chest and leaned against her husband's arm. "He wanted his child to be the one to kill him? That's…that's horrible…"

"It's not a matter of want," Azura said, shaking her head. "He knew that his degenerating dragonself could only be stopped by one of his own. By the person he knew would be chosen to wield the Yato blade."

"Corrin." As soon as the name left Byleth's mouth, larger droplets of water began to drip onto his head from the stones above him. Annoyed, he shuffled his aching feet over to the other side of the pillar to avoid the water's flow. "And he reached out to you two and your friend to help take him out, because…?"

Selena tossed a red pigtail over her shoulder. "We have a fair amount of experience fighting big, dark, dangerous dragons."

"Lots of good that did you," Felix muttered.

Selena's eye twitched in his direction. "Excuse me?"

"Seems to me like you did a pretty terrible job of keeping this Corrin person safe, seeing as she's been, you know, captured by the creature she's supposed to kill." Selena bristled, her shoulders bunching up around her ears and her eyes narrowing into dangerous slits, but Felix was undeterred. "And now that his main threat is out of the way, this mad dragon has free reign to terrorize as many worlds as he pleases with an army of dead people for seemingly no other reason than senseless destruction." He crossed his arms and met her glare head on. "You failed your mission, and now we're all paying for it."

The anger that flushed Selena's face rivaled the color of her hair. "Listen, asshole, you have no idea what we've been through to get here. Do you know how hard it is to stop not just one dragon from destroying the world, but two?!"

"Sev—Selena," Odin said, resting a careful hand on her shoulder that she immediately shrugged off. "It's okay—"

"No, it's not! I don't appreciate being talked down to by some edgy swordsman who doesn't even know how to wear a proper ponytail."

Annette grabbed Felix's arm as he attempted to close in on Selena. "Felix, please—"

"Now is not the time for this!" Azura snapped, the outburst spraying out a mist of water around her floating figure. "I didn't bring you here so you could squabble like children. I brought you here so we could work together to defeat Anankos and stop his plans before they can be completed. That's all that matters now."

"Agreed," Alm said, sliding Falchion out of its sheath. "Dragons descending into madness, wreaking havoc across the world…I think that's something many of us have had to deal with at least once already. We need to put an end to this now while we have the chance."

Byleth tilted his throbbing head in consideration. As he opened his mouth to speak, another drop of water splashed on his cheek and sent a harsh, prickling sensation like needles down his body. He threw a pointed look up to the top of the pillar and grumbled, swiping the spatter off his face. Not even the water here would let him have a moment of peace.

"You're saying we should try fighting him now…" Kris said, rubbing his chin.

"Azura said he's resting right now, didn't she? This could be our only opportunity to launch a surprise attack on him before he's able to wake up again." Alm ran a hand along the flat of the golden sword. "We might not have Corrin, her Yato blade, or the other divine weapons Azura mentioned, but we have Falchion. And Falchion has killed two god-dragons already. Why not make it a third?"

"Because that would be reckless." Celica pushed down on Alm's sword arm until it dropped to his side. "Alm, this isn't Mila or Duma. We're dealing with something much more powerful, something capable of transcending the boundaries between worlds and twisting the souls of the dead all at once. I'm not sure brute force is going to work, at least not with the numbers or resources we have now."

Alm's fingers tightened around Falchion's handle. "But the longer we wait, the more people he'll be able to hurt."

"We won't be able to help anyone if we die taking on an enemy that has us outmatched," Celica countered.

"She's right," Azura said. "Facing Anankos as you are now, even as he slumbers, would be suicide. There are still droves of Vallite soldiers that wander these lands, ready to act according to his will. There are countless of them guarding the castle where he and his captives currently reside." She glanced off to the side, running her fingers slowly through a thick strand of her hair. "I…I have tried going inside myself to check on his prisoners, but I couldn't get much farther than the front gates before being discovered."

"That's the piece in all this that still has me confused," Celica said. "If he has truly lost his mind and is merely acting on his destructive urges…why go through the trouble of taking prisoners at all? Especially when one of those prisoners is destined to kill him."

"Maybe…there's still a part of him that still cares about her?" Annette suggested, still gripping on to Felix's arm. "Even if he's a big, mean dragon, Corrin is still his daughter…"

Azura shook her head. "I wish that were the case, but with all the other people the Vallite soldiers have dragged to the castle…I fear his reasons are more nefarious than out of any love for his family." She rubbed her arm and looked away again, her expression almost apologetic. "But why he's keeping them here, or what he's doing to them, I'm just as in the dark as you all."

"…You've seen the people he's captured?" Kris asked. "Was one of them a young girl? A young manakete?"

Azura closed her eyes and hummed, drifting into what seemed to be deep thought. Thousands of water droplets danced around her head in time with the soft melody, then broke away when she returned her gaze to them.

"If I'm remembering correctly," she started, "there have been two female manaketes—two of the dragonkin—besides Corrin, both with green hair. One looked to be a young girl dressed in pink—"

"Lady Tiki," Kris said, exchanging a solemn look with Merric. Selena and Odin perked up at the name but didn't make any comment about the missing dragon princess.

"—and the other was a woman wearing…what seemed to be religious attire?"

"Rhea," Byleth mumbled, balancing himself on the pillar. His insides knotted at the memory of her discarded headdress, winding into tight stones that weighed down his stomach.

"But it hasn't only been manaketes," Azura continued. "I remember seeing a white-haired woman in a tactician's coat as well. She had a strange aura about her, but it was different than that of a manakete…"

Selena's eyes widened and slowly slid over to Odin. "A tactician? That has to be…"

"…Aunt Robin…" he finished for her. "But she…she disappeared after…ah." His face and posture drooped. "I guess Anankos was able to find her before we could."

"Any idea why he'd be interested in her?" Alm asked.

"Robin was born to serve as a human avatar for Grima, the Fell Dragon, the one we defeated back in our home world," Selena said. "Their souls are intertwined, so if Anankos is trying to round up powerful dragons…I guess she'd be the closest thing to Grima."

"There were two others like her, as well." Azura tapped her chin, lips twisting as she worked through her memories. "Yes, two young men—mages, to be exact. One with long, red hair, the other with…choppy purple, I think? I could sense something powerful connected to each of them, as I did with the tactician." She raised a curious eyebrow, and it took Byleth a good few seconds to realize it was directed at him. "As I do with you, too."

"Those descriptions don't ring any bells," Byleth said slowly. Slowly, because he feared that the nausea roiling about his gut, the pain in his heart, the prickling across every inch of his skin, might make him vomit if he spoke too quickly. "But I do have…a connection with a powerful being. So, if…if what's been happening to me is any indication of what's happening to them…then whatever Anankos is doing with them is nothing good."

"He's making them sick?" Alm guessed. "Weakening them?"

"Or he's…ah!" Azura's hands flew to her mouth, muffling a fearful gasp. "That must be it! Azura, you fool! How could you not see it sooner?!"

"See what?"

"Anankos has always been powerful, but the sheer scale of his current abilities—raising his armies in multiple different worlds at once, controlling dead souls outside of his normal range of influence, subverting the natural course of both history and destiny—should be impossible for one being to possess. To do all that he's done, he would need not just the power of one god or dragon, but…"

"…Several." Byleth stared down at his hand, slowly curling it into a tight fist. "He's stealing their power to augment his own."

He's stealing Sothis's power from me to augment his own, he fumed silently.

"Then we need to get them out of here." Alm's face hardened, the muscles in his jaw bulging down to his chin. "Maybe we can't fight Anankos directly yet, but we need to at least cut him off from his…his power supply."

Celica frowned at him. "Alm, we already discussed—"

"We don't have the luxury of waiting anymore!" Falchion returned to his hand, flashing gold within his tight grip. "If we leave them behind and let him drain them of their powers, he'll become unstoppable. There's no telling what he'll try to do with all that power. I'm not going to stand by while that happens!"

"There's nothing you can do," Azura said simply. "Not here."

"But—"

"The only thing you can do now is return to Nohr." She motioned to the deep chasm they had all woken up beside after falling through the canyon. "Gather whatever forces you can, prepare for Anankos's next attack…and, if possible, find someone who can wield the Yato in Corrin's place. At its full potential, bathing in the presence of other powerful divine weapons, that sword is the only thing that can counter the Silent Dragon's power."

"Easier said than done," Alm sighed.

"It's a daunting task, I know, but perhaps my son can aid you in your search. I was able to talk to him about our homeland before I—"

"Wait, your son?" Selena asked, eyebrows drawn into a deep furrow.

"Yes, Shigure. He…" Panic flitted across Azura's face. What little color was visible from her spiritual form drained from her cheeks. "Oh no, no no…is he hurt? Is he…is he…?"

"It's not that, it's just…" Selena slowly shook her head, "you don't have a son, Azura. At least, not one you ever told us about…"

"What? But I…no…" Azura sank to her knees, fingers curling into the gaps between the stone floor and eyes scrunched up tight, then began muttering to herself. "Was it…only a dream? No, Shigure, you're…I don't…I don't remember…"

"A-Azura?" Selena started. "Are you okay? I'm sorry if I…"

…Go…

Byleth startled at the soft voice in his head. Go? That was a new one. Yes, he wanted to go too, but they still had to—

Go!

A sharp pain carved through his skull. He dug his hands into his hair, wincing as another stream of water from the pillar trickled onto his scalp and crawled slowly, too slowly, down to his chin. The water was scalding against his skin, like burning talons dragging across his face.

"Professor?" One of his student's voices; Byleth couldn't place who. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Up!

Up. Byleth forced himself to look up despite the pain. There wasn't anything but the head of the pillar, cracked and weathered, and a slight shimmer right above the top stone from where the water ran. Just…a shimmer…

Byleth squinted hard, and for the briefest moment, he could just barely make out…a person. Watching them.

Sparks crackled beneath his palm.

"Byleth, what are you—"

Byleth thrust his arm over his head and cast Thunder at the pillar. The shimmer slid to the side just as the spell's bolt blasted off the pillar's top half. Smoldering stones tumbled to the ground, but the shimmering figure remained in place.

"And here I thought you were never going to notice me," it teased. "But I guess I shouldn't be surprised it took you so long. Father's really done a number on you, hasn't he?"

A girl materialized out of the shimmering light in a swirl of mist. She floated slowly to the ground, dark purple energy writhing beneath her feet once her boots touched down. The girl took a moment to smooth out her skirts, then readjusted an apron resembling that of a maid's before throwing them a sickly-sweet smile. A smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"L-Lilith?" Odin asked, taking a hesitant step backward. "You…you're…"

"Here to greet you," Lilith said with a hollow giggle. "We've been waiting for you all to arrive for some time, after all."

"Waiting…?"

"Lord Anankos said you would be coming." Her dull gaze went to Azura, who was still bent over the ground, hanging her head and whispering to herself. "Thank you for leading them here, Azura. They've been a thorn in Father's side for quite a while, managing to evade his grasp time and time again despite our best efforts. But now?" Her lips pulled back into a sinister sneer. "They've come to Valla on their own free will, right into Father's hands. And it's all thanks to you, my dear, dear cousin."

"…You led us into a trap?" Byleth growled. His stomach churned with hot rage and icy dread all at once. He should have anticipated this. How could he have been so careless?!

"No, I…I didn't!" Azura just barely raised her head, then flinched and cried out as though an invisible hand had smacked her. "I'm…I'm helping you all…" Her fingers dug into her temples. "Shigure…Corrin…why…?"

"It looks like your memories are all scrambled up. You're confused, it's okay—being dead will do that to you." The words themselves were consoling, but the tone of Lilith's voice was anything but. "I'm sure you were doing your best for these rats, but Father could foresee your actions from a mile a—"

Byleth sent another bolt of lightning straight through Lilith's chest. Her flickering form burst into mist, the tiny droplets dispersing through the air in front of them.

He didn't have the time, nor patience, to listen to her mock them.

"Lilith…" Selena whispered, hugging her arms. "You had finally broken free, but now…"

"We need to…get out of here…" Byleth said through ragged breaths. Casting just two simple spells had already taken it out of him, and he wasn't sure how much longer he could stay standing. With a hand gripping his chest, he added, "Before more like her show—"

"Did you really think you'd be able to get away that easily?"

The mist coalesced once again into Lilith's image, the droplets stitching together into an amused smirk over her face. "Father needs you to stay here, vessel, to join the others of your kind. As for your friends…"

She waved her hand with a lazy flick of the wrist. Five spirals of mist spun to life around the ruins, solidifying into soulless faces that were all-too-familiar. Edelgard to his right, the burned rider to his left, the archer and the mage and the bearded axeman all closing in from behind. The warriors from the Dragon's Table, their weapons wreathed in purple flame and thirsting for blood.

"Well, I'm afraid your friends have to die."

Selena whirled around in a frantic jerk, shouting, "Lilith, stop! You don't have to do what he says! Anankos doesn't care about you, he only cares about—"

"Shut up!" Lilith snapped, baring sharp fangs beneath a pair of flashing red eyes. "I am Anankos's loyal servant! I am his loyal daughter, his only loyal daughter! I failed him once by joining Corrin and her pathetic excuse for an army"—her voice dropped into a low, icy growl—"I will not fail him again."

"Lilith—!"

"Takumi, aim for the one with Naga's sacred blade," Lilith ordered. "The biggest threats go first."

An arrow flew from the Vallite archer's bow before anyone could blink. Alm threw himself to the side in an attempt to dodge it, but the arrow managed to strike him between the armor plate fastened around his bicep, ripping right into his sword arm.

"Alm!" Celica screamed.

Alm staggered back, Falchion slipping from his fingers. Thick streams of blood seeped down his arm and spilled over the fallen blade. The archer lined up another shot, Celica summoned a raging ball of fire above her head, his students drew their weapons as the warriors descended on them—

No, no, no! A panicked voice filled Byleth's head. Whether it was Sothis's or his own, he couldn't tell, but his mind was clear. He wouldn't let them hurt anyone. He wouldn't let Anankos or Lilith or any of his undead puppets win.

He wouldn't let this future come to pass. Not even if he had to hurt himself in the process.

Gritting his teeth, Byleth thrust his arm forward and reached out for the strings of time. His heart threatened to explode out of his chest as he took them in his grasp, his head felt like it was splitting open as he called forth the power of his Divine Pulse and willed time to reverse its course…

But nothing happened.

Byleth stared at his outstretched hand, his blood running cold.

"…What…?"

"Oh, you think you still have power over time?" Lilith mocked, her words coming out as a derisive laugh. "You lost that the moment you stepped foot into Lord Anankos's domain. He's been stripping away your powers for some time now, thanks to your bond with…what was her name again? Oh yes, Rhea."

No, no, no—

"But you coming here gave him just what he needed to claim them completely. Which means…"

Her crooked grin stretched up to her ears, fangs glistening through the shimmering mist.

"There are no do-overs here."

Lilith waved her hand again and, with poison dripping from every word, said, "Marth, do what you do best. Make sure he has no hope for escape."

A sixth swarm of mist materialized in front of Byleth. He tried to scramble back, but his movements were too sluggish, too slow, too—

Marth shot out of the mist and curled a fist into Byleth's mercenary coat, yanking him forward.

"PROFESSOR!"

A golden sword bathed in both light and darkness stabbed him straight through the stomach.

Character Bios:

Lilith: Astral Dragon

—Corrin's former attendant and keeper of the Astral Plane. Self-sired by Anankos, she faithfully carried out his will until a fateful encounter with the last sane (and kind) fragment of her father and the three heroes he had summoned from another world. This encounter led her to abandoning her post and seeking out her long-lost sister, whom she cared for until her death at the hands of the Faceless. Now given a second chance at life, Lilith has vowed never to betray her Lord Father again.

—Relations: Daughter of Anankos. Half-sister of Corrin. Cousin of Azura (by marriage, kind of—it's complicated)

Takumi: Sniper

—Youngest prince of the Hoshidan royal family. A man who never forgets a grudge, Takumi grew extremely hostile after his stepsister, Corrin, chose to ally herself with Nohr after the death of their mother. He dedicated most of the war that followed to hunting her down for her betrayal of their family. Ultimately killed by Corrin in the final battle of the war.

—Wielder of the corrupted form of the Fujin Yumi: the Skadi

—Relations: Son of Sumeragi and Ikona (both deceased). Stepson of Mikoto (deceased). Brother of Hinoka, Sakura, and Ryoma (deceased), and stepbrother of Corrin.

Byleth last chapter: I don't really feel like getting stabbed today

Vallite Marth this chapter: bet

Next chapter: A fight for survival.