Chapter 45: The Dim Abyss

Castle Gyges, The Kingdom of Valla, Morai

Year 625

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Byleth blinked his eyes open. A slow, steady trickle of water dripped through the cracked stones above him and splashed onto his face, gentle but frigid as ice. The stone floor beneath his back was just as cold, just as wet, sending chills running through his body as his groggy mind awoke from the haze of his dreams.

…Where…?

Byleth wiped the water off his face and rolled onto his side, wincing as a sharp pang of pain shot through his stomach. Right, he had been stabbed by one of Lilith's undead generals during the ambush at the canyon—punched, too, if his throbbing jaw was anything to go by. But he was alive, he was awake, and his wounds had at least healed enough to stop any active bleeding. That's all he could really ask for, given his current circumstances.

Slowly, he propped himself up onto his elbow. Walls constructed from thick, ancient stone and rusted iron bars surrounded him on all sides, trapping him within the confines of a damp, dark, dirty cell. A torch crackled somewhere outside beyond Byleth's line of sight, providing him with only a few dim streaks of light for his eyes to latch onto.

He reached out to grasp one of the iron bars and gave it a weak shake. Rust flaked off the metal, but the bar itself refused to budge. He pushed and shook a bit harder, careful not to make too much noise as he searched for any weak points he could exploit. Still nothing. The bars were strong and infuriatingly sturdy, despite the cell's obvious age.

He rummaged along his belt and padded himself down, then huffed out a frustrated sigh. All of his weapons were gone, from the knife he kept hidden in his sleeve to the Sword of the Creator. Figures. Perhaps once he had some time to regain his strength, he could summon a small fire spell and melt through the—

"Oh, he's awake!"

Byleth flinched back as a young girl came bounding over to his cell, smiling at him through the gaps in the bars. Between her green hair, pointed ears, and pale skin, she resembled Sothis more closely than she did any of the invisible soldiers, but…

Byleth kept his distance from the cell bars. Trapped in an unfamiliar dungeon in an unfamiliar world, one could never be too cautious. Who knew who was friend or foe?

"Look, Miss Robin!" the girl called out, her cheery voice echoing down the dimly lit hall. Too cheery—and too loud—for the situation at hand. "Another one of us is awake!"

"The mercenary?" A white-haired woman walked up behind the girl, peering into the cell with a curious brow. "Well, would you look at that? Awake, at long last." She took a few steps closer, resting her hand on the iron bars as she studied Byleth with a warm, but cautious, smile. "It's a relief to finally be able to talk to you, sir. We were beginning to worry you might never wake up."

A relief, huh? Byleth narrowed his eyes at her. "Who are you?"

"Not one for conversation, are you?" the woman sighed. "I'll cut to the chase, then. We're the same as you: people who were trapped in some sort of magically induced sleep, only to find ourselves imprisoned here in this strange dungeon upon waking." She ran her finger along the bars, stopping at a padlock hanging off the rusty metal. "My name is Robin, a tactician from the Halidom of Ylisse. And this is—"

"I'm Tiki!" the girl said, rocking back on her heels with a beaming grin. "Nice to meet you!"

Tiki. That name, he had heard it before. Tiki. Tiki. Byleth blinked at the girl, long and slow, shaking away the last wisps of fog clouding his sleep-addled mind. Then…

The realization of who he was talking to struck him like a slap across the face.

The Silent Dragon's captives.

"You're the missing dragon princess," Byleth said, staggering up to his feet and shuffling closer to the bars. "From Archanea."

Tiki's smile instantly fell away. She bit her bottom lip, hugging her arms as she forced herself to nod. "That's me," she mumbled. "The Divine Dragon princess. But how did you…?" She glanced up to Robin, then back to Byleth, a curious realization dawning in her eyes. "Oh, you must be from the future, too. Like Miss Robin?"

"I don't recognize him." Robin pulled a pin out of her pale hair and slotted it into the padlock's keyhole, brows furrowed in deep concentration. "But it's possible your future self knew him in a different time, one in the centuries before my own." The hairpin clinked against the lock's inner mechanism, loosening the shackle. "Or perhaps, he's a mercenary from Valm? That uniform is not one I'm familiar with, but maybe—"

"I'm not from any future, or any world, you would know," Byleth said. "This is our first time meeting, as far as I can remember."

Tiki tilted her head, her long ears twitching with the movement. "Then how—"

"Some of the people I was traveling with were looking for you," Byleth said. "Kris and Merric. Do you know them?"

"Know them?" Tiki's frown split into a wide grin. "Kris-Kris and Mr. Merric are my friends—no, my best friends!" She stuffed her face between the iron bars, squinting into the dark corners of Byleth's cell. "Are they here with you now? We have to wake them up right away!"

Byleth sighed and shook his head. "No, we were separated before the invisible soldiers knocked me out and dragged me down here. But I bought them some time, and they managed to escape with everyone else." Quietly, he added, "At least, I hope they did. Can't really say for certain."

Tiki's shoulders bunched into an anxious coil at the mention of the invisible soldiers. "Th-the ghosts from the water?" She shrunk back, fiddling with the hem of her pink dress. "Did… did Mar-Mar come for you, too?"

"Marth, you mean? The Altean prince?" Byleth asked. Tiki turned to stare down at her shoes, nodding and shuffling her feet. "Yeah, he came for me, all right. He stabbed me with that golden sword of his, then nearly cut my arm off when I tried to fight back against him and the other shadows."

"He did? I-I thought—" Tiki's breath hitched, tears welling up in her bright green eyes. "I thought I was the only one. I thought I had done something to make his spirit angry because he… h-he attacked me, even though he said he would always protect me. Then he hurt Ban-Ban and Miss Palla and Miss Catria when they tried to stop him, and then—then—" She hid her face, and her tears, behind a pair of trembling hands. "Mother's sword. It burned. It burned so badly, and I couldn't fight back, and he grabbed me and took me away and—"

"Shh, it's okay." Robin pulled away from the padlock and bent down to Tiki's level, reaching out to comfort her. "None of that was your fault. Whatever summoned the ghosts you saw was probably controlling the Hero-King's spirit, too. It wasn't him, not truly."

Tiki sniffed and scrubbed at her eyes. "R-really?"

"Really." Robin smiled, gentle and warm. "And if that impostor dares to show his face again, all of us here will keep you safe. I promise."

A lofty promise. One Byleth was fairly certain they wouldn't be able to keep—the Silent Dragon's generals were formidable, ruthless, and clearly capable of overpowering them; Byleth, and likely the other captives, had lost to them once already—but he had enough sense not to voice his doubts aloud. Better to allow the young dragon princess some peace of mind for now, even if only temporary, than to frighten her with his pessimism.

(And better to start looking for a way out of this dingy dungeon so they could, hopefully, avoid another confrontation all together)

Byleth reached through the bars of his cell and tugged on the padlock. Thanks to Robin's handiwork with her hairpin, the shackle popped free with little resistance, allowing the rusty door to swing open with a long, creaking groan. Slowly, he stepped out into the dimly lit hall, scanning the length of the dungeon beyond Robin and Tiki for any sign of life. For Rhea, for Kana and Sophie's mother, Corrin, and for any of the other captives that Azura woman had described seeing.

But there was nothing in immediate sight. Nothing but thick vines of ivy crawling over a wall of empty cells, coiling around the rust and moisture clinging to their grated doors. Families of fungi and clumps of moss peeked through the cracks and crevices of the floor, fluttering against the rivulets of water trickling softly through the ancient stonework.

Byleth squinted his eyes and strained his ears, but past the plant life, past the dim torchlight, past the steady drip, drip, drip of the leaking ceiling and the quiet, gentle flow of water beneath his boots…

Still, nothing. No prisoners. No guards, living or dead. No security measures at all, really, beyond the rudimentary padlock now hanging crooked off his cell door. At least, none that he could see.

How strange.

"Have you seen anyone else?" Byleth asked, quickly but quietly. Even if there weren't any invisible soldiers in their immediate vicinity, that didn't mean there weren't any nearby, lurking somewhere beyond the darkness. "Any other captives, like us?"

Tiki wiped away the last of her tears and nodded. "Ju-Jee woke up around the same time as me and Miss Robin. He was in the very, very back of the dungeon, all alone in the dark, and he looked really scared and confused when we found him. But that's okay, because I was, too." She pointed down the dark hallway. "He's somewhere down that way right now, watching over the last two people we found because they're still sleeping."

Only two? Byleth wondered. Rhea and Corrin, perhaps?

"Apparently the man is a prince of some sort," Robin added, "and he claims to have no memory of who—or what—brought him here." She rubbed a finger against her temple, wincing. "In that regard, he and I are the same."

"You don't remember anything?" Byleth asked.

Robin's gaze fell to the floor. "I remember that I was supposed to die," she muttered, frowning down at the back of her hand. The pale skin was free of any blemishes or scars, yet she still scratched at it as though it carried an itch she couldn't get rid of. "I sacrificed myself to stop a terrible evil from destroying the world. I thought I had succeeded, but…" She closed her eyes, sighing. "Now I'm not so sure."

"What?" Tiki gasped. "You were going to die? That's horrible!"

"Horrible," Robin agreed, "but necessary. I would do it all again if it meant knowing that my family, my friends, and everyone in Ylisse would never be threatened by that monster again." Her fingers brushed the grating of an empty prison cell, sliding through the slick moisture coating the bars. "But then, the next thing I knew, I was waking up from a strange dream here in this dungeon. Disoriented, to be sure, but somehow still alive."

"The invisible soldiers must have interfered in some way," Byleth said. "Or maybe even the Silent Dragon himself, because of your connection to that one dragon—what did they say the name was? Grim? Grime? Gremlin—"

"Grima." Robin's grip on the cell bars tightened. "You know about him, too?"

"Bits and pieces." Byleth stepped around the floor fungus to reach the wall, carefully lifting the lone torch lighting the area out of its sconce. "Odin and Selena told me about it."

"Who?"

"More people I was traveling with," Byleth said simply. Robin's hand fell away from the cell, frown deepening, but Byleth moved past her with hurried steps, shining his torchlight into the darker recesses of the dungeon behind them. "Those details aren't important right now," he said. "What matters is finding the rest of the Silent Dragon's captives and figuring out how to escape this place, before he, his daughter, or his soldiers realize we've broken out of our cells."

"You keep saying 'Silent Dragon' like we're supposed to know what that means." Robin grabbed his elbow before he could turn the corner of the hall. "I'd like to at least know who or what we're dealing with before we try strategizing a way out of here."

"Fine," Byleth said. "We can talk while we look for the others, but we have to move quickly." He held the torch out to Robin, careful to keep the flames away from the water leaking from the stones overhead. "You said the prince was watching over two of them, right? Do you remember the way to their cells?"

Robin nodded and took the torch into hand. The firelight gleamed off her pale hair as she turned to face the depths of the dungeon herself, pressing her lips into a thin, determined line. "They're on the other side," she said. "Follow me, and stay close."

More vines, more moss, more empty cells in disrepair greeted them as they crept through the desolate dungeon, the stale air around them growing rank with must and mildew as they moved from one dark corridor to the next. Byleth spoke in short, hushed whispers along the way, relaying what he had learned about the invisible soldiers and their draconic master over the course of his travels, withholding dangerous details like specific names to, hopefully, avoid triggering the curse Azura had warned him about. Robin simply nodded along, listening carefully to each and every word, while Tiki gripped her sleeve and buried her face into her coat, jumping at every sound and dark shadow that disturbed their path.

Thump. With each minute that passed, Byleth's heart beat a little harder, a little faster, thumping against his chest over and over and over again without pause. Just as it had during the ambush, he remembered, when Sothis's power had failed him. When Marth's divine blade tore its way through his stomach, and his allies, his students, had all nearly perished.

Was this what it was like to have a normal, functioning heart? Having it beat in such a distracting way, every time the threat of danger loomed over your shoulder? All it did was make Byleth feel even more tense, as if the foreboding darkness lurking around every corner hadn't been enough already.

Robin's torchlight guided them to a short, thin, crooked archway framing the entrance of a crumbling tunnel, tucked away in the darkest corner of the dungeon. Ice-cold water dripped over their heads as they ducked under the stone and squeezed through the tight passage, backs scraping past black mold and crusty lichen leaves. Eventually, the tunnel emptied into the bowels of a small chamber packed around four rusted prison cells. Two empty, and two occupied, though the shadows blanketing the cells obscured the prisoners' faces.

"Who goes there?" a young man standing guard outside the cells called out. Waves of flame danced around his fingers, glowing as red and vibrant as his hair. "I won't ask again. Who—"

"It's us, Ju-Jee!" Tiki poked her head out from behind Robin's back. "Tiki and Miss Robin!"

The young man's shoulders relaxed as he lowered his flaming hand. "Thank the gods," he sighed. "My apologies, princess, my lady. I didn't expect you to return so soon." His red eyes slid over to Byleth, studying him with a guarded smile. "And with new company, I see. Well met, good sir. I am Julius, heir to the Velthomer Dukedom and crown prince of the Grannvale Empire."

Byleth offered a short nod in return, introducing himself with a simple, "Byleth."

"By-By just woke up!" Tiki said. Byleth cast the young dragon a curious tilt of the brow. By-By, was he? "He knows a lot of things—scary things—about a very, very bad dragon. He's the one controlling the ghosts who attacked me, and the one who messed with our dreams and locked us up in this dungeon."

"A dragon, you say?" Julius winced and rubbed at the center of his forehead, as though trying to wipe away the remnants of a stain that, from what Byleth could see, was no longer there. "Manfroy has finally turned against us, then. I should have suspected as much."

"Is that the name of the bad dragon?" Tiki whispered to Byleth. "I thought we weren't allowed to say it?"

"Manfroy is an associate of my father's," Julius said before Byleth could answer. "Though 'associate' may be too generous a term. He's no dragon, but he is a dangerous man all the same, one Father has always said I should keep at arm's length." He sighed, a grim frown tugging at the edge of his lips. "I made the mistake of accepting a gift from him when he came to visit my father in Belhalla. A powerful tome, he said, one that will prove you worthy of your inheritance, he said, but the moment I touched his so-called 'gift' I was knocked unconscious and—" he gestured around the small chamber "—now I'm stuck here. Probably being held for ransom, or worse: to be sacrificed to Manfroy's dragon-god, Loptous."

Tiki paled. "S-sacrificed?!"

"There is no need to fret, princess," Julius said. "I won't let that crusty-old blaggard lay a finger on you. If you are indeed the princess of the Divine Dragons, then—as a descendant of Naga's chosen Crusader, Saint Heim—it is my sacred duty to protect you." A smile softened his expression. "Besides, it won't take my father and mother long to realize I've gone missing. Once they learn of Manfroy's treachery, all the Knights of Grannvale will come riding to our aid and—"

"Yeah, that's not happening," Byleth said.

Julius's eye twitched, just slightly, at the interruption. "I beg your pardon?"

"Your parents may be looking for you in your world," Byleth said, "but they won't be able to find you, because this 'Manfroy' is not responsible for our imprisonment." He shuffled closer to one of the occupied cells and peered through the bars, but the chamber was still too dark for him to make out anything but the vague outline of a person crumpled on the floor. "It's possible he could be involved somehow, but this dungeon, the magically-induced sleep, the dreams and the undead shadows and the broken memories… it's all the work of—"

"M… Mother…?"

A weak, ragged voice groaned from within the black cell. A familiar voice, one Byleth instantly recognized.

Rhea.

Byleth grabbed the padlock hanging off the cell door and yanked down on it as hard as he could, breaking the lock's rusted shackle with a quick snap. He swung the door open and, without waiting for the others, hurried inside, stumbling around the darkness until Rhea's long, matted clumps of green hair came into clearer view.

"Rhea?" Byleth knelt by her side and gently rolled her onto her back. Splotches of mud coated her cheeks, blotted her neck, and stained the ivory silks of her dress a ruddy brown. "Rhea, can you hear me?"

"Mother…?" she rasped, struggling to drag her eyes open. "Mother, is that… you?"

Byleth sighed and shook his head. "No, it's Byleth. I'm here to help you." Rhea's brow bent into a deep furrow, lips fluttering with frantic, breathless whispers to her mother. "Rhea, it's me," he tried again. "Byleth Eisner. Professor of the Officer's Academy. Jeralt's—"

Jeralt smiled as he hooked an arm around Byleth's shoulders. "What do you say, kid?" his father said, handing Byleth his fishing rod. "One more catch for your old man?"

—Byleth gasped and fell back, heart beating so wildly it rattled the bones of his ribcage. A thin stream of water—pure, clear water, without any trace of blood or rheum—trailed out of his nose and dripped down his chin. He quickly wiped it away with his sleeve, eyes wide as he tried to blink his vision back to reality.

What the hell was that? A memory? A remnant of the dragon's dream, trying to dig its claws back into his psyche?

He didn't want to stick around to find out.

"Come on, Rhea," he said, more urgently this time. He slid an arm under her back and lifted her into a seated position, bringing their faces closer together. "Look at me. Do you remember who I am?"

Her half-lidded eyes drifted from side to side, unfocused, struggling to settle on his face. "Your hair… and eyes… blue. Why? Why?" She threaded a trembling finger through his dark bangs, glaring at the color. "Where is… Mother…?"

Byleth nudged her hand away, frowning. Some part of her mind seemed to still be trapped in the dream, but they couldn't afford to waste time waiting for her to fully wake up. Muttering a quick apology, he hooked his other arm under her knees and scooped her up against his chest, carrying her back out to the main chamber.

"What was that about?" Julius asked as they emerged from the dark cell. He crossed his arms, huffing, "You know, in my kingdom, it is quite rude for a commoner to turn his back on a prince without first—"

"I know, I know," Byleth said. "Save the lecture for later. Right now, we need to work on getting everyone out of—"

"Professor!" a group of students called out to Byleth's back. He turned around to find the smiling faces of the Blue Lions, the Black Eagles, the Golden Deer, all waving him over to the music and merriment bustling through the dining hall.

"Come on, it's almost ready!" they said in unison. "How long are you going to keep us waiting?"

—Byleth jolted. More water leaked out of his nose, water he couldn't wipe away with Rhea in his arms. It was cold, much too cold, threatening to seep down deep into his skin and freeze the blood, muscle, and bone underneath.

Julius dragged his thumb under his own nose, eyes widening at the same water now glistening over his fingertips. "W-what?" he stammered. "What was—was that—Ishtar? How—?"

"We need to get out of here," Byleth repeated. He looked to Tiki, to Robin, then back to Julius, heartbeat quickening at the sight of water running down all their faces. "Now."

With a shaken, shallow nod, Julius hurried to the last cell and melted the padlock off the door with a tiny burst of fire magic. The flames chased away the dark shadows of the cell, illuminating the face of the prisoner trapped within: a young man not much older than Julius, wrapped in purple mage robes and still as death in his comatose state.

Not the person Byleth was expecting to see. He had thought for sure they would find Corrin here with the other captives, and yet…

Still no sign of her.

Robin shoved the door open and slid to the man's side, shaking him by his shoulders. "Hey, it's time to wake up! Let's go!" She patted her palm against his cheek, but the man remained unresponsive, head lolling to the side under her hand.

"Allow me, my lady." Julius knelt beside her and rolled back the man's sleeve, summoning another bout of fire from his fingertips. "Stand back, and avert your gaze."

Robin's eyes snapped over to the open flame. "What are you—"

Julius clamped his burning hand around the man's exposed arm, searing blisters into the pale skin. The man's back arched off the stone floor, twisting and writhing, the flesh of his forearm beginning to char into an ugly black. His mouth hung open around a choked gurgle, water coughing out of his throat and spilling over the floor.

"Stop it!" Robin yanked Julius's arm back and smothered the flames with her coat. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Do you want him to wake up or not?" Julius conjured another spark of fire in the center of his palm. "I don't wantto hurt him, but we don't have time to coddle him awake. If you need something done quickly, sometimes you have to resort to methods others might find unpleasant." He lowered his flaming hand toward the unconscious man again. "My father taught me that."

"Unpleasant?" Robin slapped his hand away and narrowed her eyes into a furious glare. "Try reckless and dangerous! You could have burned his forearm off with that spell!" She scooped up a handful of water from the cracks in the floor, pouring it over the man's burns. "For all we know, pain only makes the sleep state worse!"

"Well, it didn't."

"You didn't know that before you so carelessly—"

"Eph… raim…" the man's raspy voice uttered. His eyes flickered open, but they were distant and heavily lidded, much like Rhea's. "Eir…ika…? I'm… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"

Ignoring Julius's self-satisfied smirk, Robin bent down and turned the man's head upright, gently brushing the frayed strands of purple hair out of his face. "Don't worry, it's going to be all right," she said. "We're here to help you. Can you hear me? Can you tell me your name?"

"L… Lyon…" The man coughed again, water trickling out of the corner of his mouth. "A-am I… dead…?"

Robin offered him a kind smile. "No, Lyon. You're not dead—thank the gods."

Lyon blinked at her, long, short, and slow, before whispering, "I should be."

Then, as quickly as he had woken up, his eyes slid closed and he slipped back into a deep, silent sleep.

"Wha—hey!" Robin shook him, pinched him, shouted in his face. "Lyon! Come on, stay with us!"

Nothing. No response, not even a slight twitch of his fingers.

"It seems he would rather stay in his dream world than join us here in reality," Julius said. He sighed and stood up, shaking away the dying embers of his fire spell. "Unfortunate, but we cannot allow his obstinance to slow us down. We will have to come back for him another time, once we have more people and resources to help him."

"Huh?" Tiki peeked into the cell, eyes wide with worry as she looked upon Lyon's unconscious body. "B-but we have to wake him up, Ju-Jee! We can't just leave him here by himself!"

"We're not going to," Byleth said, shutting down the prince's incoming protest with a hard stare. "We're not leaving anyone behind, not in this place. Not unless we're forced to do so."

"A noble sentiment," Julius muttered, "but an impractical one. How are we meant to escape if we have to drag not one, but two unconscious people along with us?"

"By trying." Byleth shifted his arms around Rhea, resecuring his hold on her, before turning his attention to Robin. "Do you think you can carry him? We can switch, if he's too—"

"I've carried my fair share of drunken Shepherds back to camp after they'd downed one too many drinks at the local tavern," Robin said. She shrugged off her coat and tied the sleeves around her waist. "He looks pretty thin, so I should be able to manage it. I just need some help getting him on my back."

"I've got it!" Tiki quickly sprung to her aid, lifting Lyon off the floor with a short burst of draconic strength and hoisting him up onto Robin's back. Julius—with thinly veiled reluctance—helped spot them as Robin hooked her arms around Lyon's thighs, drew in a deep breath, and slowly, carefully, rose to her feet.

"Ready to go," she said. The toe of her boot tapped against the stone floor, pointing to the streams of water trickling through the cracks. "Follow the water current. While Tiki and I were investigating the dungeon earlier, waiting for the rest of you to wake up, we found that the water flows along a very strict path—one that travels uphill, instead of down."

Byleth glanced over Rhea's head to squint at the floor. Sure enough, the water dripping from the ceiling and trickling out of the empty cells crept in rivulets across the stone, rolling up the slight incline and slithering into the dark, crumbling tunnel connecting them to the dungeon's central chamber.

A warm laugh brushed through the air as the light of dawn sparkled over the fishing pond. "Oh my," Sitri laughed. She leaned her head on Jeralt's shoulder and waved Byleth closer, holding a bouquet of pink flowers to her chest. "It really is beautiful," she said. "I can see why you boys love it here so much. I could stay here forever, Goddess willing."

The water lapped in gentle waves against the morning breeze, washing over his mother's shoes and reaching out to touch Byleth's feet. Creeping closer… and closer… and closer…

"Th-the water's flow leads to a spiral staircase," Robin continued, wincing against the visions that seemed to plague them all. "And at the top, a metal door. The only door—and the only potential exit—we could find in the entire dungeon."

Byleth leaned his back against the wall and winced along with her, strength waning as water began to trickle out of his ears. He gritted his teeth, tightened his arms around Rhea, and grunted out, "What's on the other side of it?"

"I don't know." Robin shifted her shoulders to better balance Lyon's weight and began her march along the water's path into the connecting tunnel. Tiki clung to the coat around her waist, shivering, but also helping Julius illuminate the way forward with the torch in her free hand. "We didn't want to risk opening it on the likely chance that there are guards on the other side. We've been lucky to avoid them for as long as we have." A pause, then, "Perhaps a little too lucky."

The implication cut Byleth's breath short like a cold knife to the throat. Was it luck? his unease couldn't help but question. Or was it simply by design?

"All the more reason to find our way out of this filthy dungeon," Julius said, nose turned up in disgust as he sidled against the mold-encrusted walls of the thin passageway. He burned away the lichen leaves and moss clinging to his hair, muttering, "Treated little better than sows in a mud pen. Unbelievable."

Together, they squeezed their way through to the main chamber and hurried along the water's path, the heavy taps of their shoes echoing down the dungeon halls. Byleth's eyes darted between the walls, peering into each and every prison cell carved into the stone, but the only things locked inside them were crumbling rocks, rusted metal, and invasive fungi feeding off the moist air. No sign of any other captives in need of rescuing…

And still no sign of Corrin.

The water guided them to the foot of a spiral staircase, its steps steep, crooked, and cloaked by shadows as it spun a slippery path up to whatever, or whomever, lay in wait on the floors above them. The others wasted no time moving into the staircase, beginning the long climb to escape, but Byleth stopped a few paces short of the first step.

He glanced over his shoulder to the last of the empty cells, frowning. Where is she?

"Something wrong?" Robin said, carefully turning around in the middle of the first set of stairs, urging Tiki to keep climbing without her. Lyon's body leaned heavily to her right, nearly causing her to slip on the slick steps. "We should hurry, before—"

"Are you sure there's no one else down here?" Byleth asked. "These two—Rhea and Lyon—they were the only other people you found after me and Julius?"

Robin struggled to nod as she readjusted Lyon's position on her back. "We searched every inch of this place," she said, "and every cell of every room. There were only six of us total, no one else."

Byleth pinched his mouth into a tight line. "I… see."

"Do you think we missed someone?"

"I don't know." He sighed and turned away from the dark dungeon, joining the rest of them on the steps with Rhea held securely in his arms. "There's another woman I know of who was taken by the invisible soldiers. The mother of two children I was traveling with, before being captured myself."

Robin's pace slowed. "A mother?" she asked, her voice growing small. Quiet. "And two children?"

"I figured she would be locked up here with us," Byleth said, "but that doesn't seem to be the case. Perhaps…" A new wave of unease, of dark realization, rippled through him. "Perhaps the Silent Dragon has different plans for her."

"We'll keep an eye out for her, then," Robin promised. She craned her neck up toward the very top of the staircase, following the flickering trail of Julius's firelight to the door looming overhead. "Who knows, maybe we'll find her on the other side."

Byleth could only hope.

Their footsteps quieted into soft taps as they rounded the last flight of stairs, inching closer to the dungeon's exit with aching arms and panted breaths. The water path trickling beneath them flowed up and over the top step and continued its slow crawl through the thin gap beneath the steel-bound door, disappearing from sight.

"It doesn't appear to be locked," Julius whispered, "and I don't hear any movement on the other side."

"It's quiet." Tiki shivered and rubbed her arms. "Unnaturally quiet. It feels… wrong."

"We need to be ready for a confrontation," Robin whispered. She closed her eyes, muttering to herself, "Stripped of our weapons, two unconscious people dependent on our aid… how to best approach this…"

"My magic is not nearly as potent without a tome to channel it through," Julius said, clenching a fist around the fire in his palm. "But I should have enough power within me to summon at least one or two bouts of Elfire." He held the fist up to his face, as if in prayer. "Fjalar and Naga willing."

"I can maybe turn into a dragon," Tiki said, frowning down at her shoes. "But only maybe. Without my dragonstone, my powers have already been greatly weakened. And even if I did manage to transform without it…" She bit her lip, hugging the bottom leg of the torch. "I don't think I would be myself anymore. I'd be something mindless and… a-and scary."

"Then we stick to the shadows," Byleth said, "and avoid conflict whenever possible. Move quickly, but move quietly. If we're spotted—"

"We run," Robin finished for him. "With Prince Julius casting his fire magic to push back our pursuers and cover our escape. But we must be ready to improvise, and improvise quickly, because once we walk out that door," her eyes narrowed on the exit, "there is no turning back."

"Turn back?" Julius scoffed. "Whatever dangers may lie in wait on the other side, facing them cannot be any worse than endlessly wallowing in this mold-ridden hellhole." He leaned on the door's handle, then raised a flaming fist with the other. "Well then, shall we begin?"

Everyone indicated their readiness with a unified nod. Julius pushed forward, and the metal door opened with a wide, sweeping creak—

Tiki screamed. Robin blanched. Julius froze in place, the flames of his spell sputtering into useless sparks at his side. Byleth choked on his breath, chest tightening so quickly he swore his heart had lost its beat again.

Because Julius couldn't have been more wrong. The world beyond the door was worse. Much, much worse.

Thousands of dead, flickering bodies lay motionless before them in the ruins of an ancient castle. Bodies of countless invisible soldiers wreathed in familiar purple flames, packed together side-by-side atop a series of stone altars that stretched far past the natural length of the castle halls. Most of the walls had been torn down or blasted away to make room for the makeshift morgue, creating a single massive chamber to house the resting spirits of the dead.

And overlooking them all: a man in a white hood, seated above them on a crumbling throne.

"Have you come to pay your respects?" the man asked. His gaze was focused on his lap, where his hands weaved together a bouquet of white roses and water lilies. "Or were you planning to leave without even giving us a proper farewell?"

Byleth couldn't move. Couldn't speak. He recognized this man—remembered glimpses, at least. The last person his battered body and mind had seen before being tossed into a cell. Before being tossed into an endless, twisted dream that haunted him even now.

The man—the dragon—behind it all.

Anankos.

"Did you really think you could so easily escape my notice?" Slowly, Anankos stood up from his throne and began his descent down the stairs, thick streams of water trailing his every step. Fires of unnatural shades—gold, green, purple, and black—burned within the massive braziers mounted on the bottom ledge, each flame flaring against Anankos's shadow when he reached the ground floor. "I may be going mad, but I have not devolved into complete mindlessness. Not yet."

Byleth stole a frantic glance around the chamber, searching for a path, any path, they could use to try to make their escape. There had to be something. There had to be.

"But I understand why you would feel so compelled to leave," Anankos said. He paused to lay his bouquet upon the chest of a dead woman, tenderly running his hand through the strands of her flickering black hair. "You are afraid, and rightfully so. Dragons are dangerous creatures." His attention drifted to the two altars resting on either side of her: one holding up a man dressed in white armor, and one holding up a woman dressed in black. "Dangerous, and cursed."

Anankos brushed his fingers along their cheeks. Their pale, nontransparent cheeks, untouched by the darkness corrupting the other bodies strewn throughout the castle halls. Which meant…

They were alive.

"But you need not be afraid of me," Anankos said, "not as I am now. Despite your refusal to accept my gift, I harbor no ill will toward you." His hooded head turned, just slightly. Blood-red eyes locked onto Tiki, onto Rhea, narrowing into thin, predatory slits. "At least, not toward the humans."

The young dragon squeaked and hid behind Julius's legs, crying into his royal tunic. Byleth took a few staggered steps back, pulling Rhea protectively against his chest.

"…Mother…" she whispered on her breath.

"The beasts' retribution will come in time." Anankos stepped away from the altars and lowered his hood, revealing a mess of light blue hair and a deep set of dark circles hanging under his eyes. "For now, I would speak to you and you alone, former vessels."

His cracked lips pulled back into an unreadable smile.

"Starting with how, and why, you were able to awaken from your slumber."

Character Bios

Corrin: Hoshido Noble

—Prince of Hoshido, Nohr, and Valla. A friendly and compassionate soul who wishes to see the world, and those he cherishes, happy and at peace above all else. Originally born in Valla to one of my counterparts, he spent a portion of his young childhood with the Hoshidan royal family before being abducted to Nohr, where he spent the rest of his formative years. After war broke out between the two neighboring countries, he ultimately decided to side with his "birth" family in Hoshido to avenge his mother's death, and to put an end to Nohrian conquest. The war took its toll on his heart, but now, he will be safe with me.

—Former wielder of the Blazing Yato

—Relations: Son of Anankos and Mikoto (deceased). Father of Kana. That is all that matters.

Corrin: Nohr Noble

—Princess of Hoshido, Nohr, and Valla. A friendly and compassionate soul who wishes to see the world, and those she cherishes, happy and at peace above all else. Originally born in Valla to one of my counterparts, she spent a portion of her young childhood with the Hoshidan royal family before being abducted to Nohr, where she spent the rest of her formative years. After war broke out between the two neighboring countries, she ultimately decided to side with her adoptive family from Nohr to investigate King Garon's schemes from the inside. The war took its toll on her heart, but now, she will be safe with me.

—Former wielder of the Shadow Yato

—Relations: Daughter of Anankos and Mikoto (deceased). Mother of Kana. That is all that matters.

Julius: Dark Prince

—Prince of the Grannvale Empire and the Velthomer Dukedom. A proud but caring young man whose life was twisted by the cruel hands of Loptous and the fanatics of the Loptr cult. Through his tome, Loptous possessed Julius's mind and soul to bring about the restoration of the Loptrian Empire, conducting ritualistic sacrifices on children and hunting down anyone associated with Naga—including Julius's own mother and sister. Loptous is a vile wretch, but the purging process was successful, and he can hurt Julius no longer.

—Relations: Son of Arvis and Deirdre (both deceased). Twin brother of Julia, and half-brother of Seliph and Saias. Nephew of Azelle. Fiancé of Ishtar. Former vessel of Loptous.

Lyon: Necromancer

—Prince of Grado. A studious young man, weak in constitution but gifted in sorcery. After experimenting with the dark arts and seeing visions of a terrible earthquake destroying his kingdom, he sought to harness dark powers far beyond his control to try to save his people and his sick father. A desperation the Demon King Fomortiis was more than eager to take advantage of, driving Lyon down a dark path very few can ever return from. But perhaps he can, now that he has been freed from that wicked beast's control.

—Relations: Son of Vigarde (deceased). Childhood friend of Ephraim and Eirika. Former vessel of Fomortiis.

Mikoto: Priestess

—Queen of Hoshido ANd princess of VAlla. AN incredible woman, Kind and lOving in every Sense imaginable. Such generositY, such grace, the mOst beaUtiful woman this world has ever KNOWn. And THey kIlled her. I killed her, too, in my own fitS of madness. Monsters, all of us, plaIn and Simple.

—Relations: Wife of Anankos. MotheR Of CorriN. Grandmother of Kana. That is all that matters.

Once again, thank you for your patience! Between the two weddings I was a part of last month and all the grading /post-semester admin stuff I had to take care of, I wasn't able to work on this chapter much at all these past few weeks (and haven't even been able to touch TOTK yet). But better late than never :)

How serendipitous it is, though, that Anankos's first "in the flesh" appearance in this story occurs right around when he's finally been added to FEH. Maybe I planned the timing on purpose lol

Next chapter: An audience with the Silent Dragon