Jeralt was the first to strike the enemy, his lance running through the mage standing next to the machine. Ferdinand and Seteth were next, trampling through a small grouping of enemies, with Dorothea and Hubert taking down the stragglers with a quick few blasts of magic. Chaos was already erupting through the Argathan's ranks, with their soldiers quickly forming up into defensive positions, even as they kept the prisoners quiet.

Edelgard wasn't very used to fighting on horseback. Riding most certainly, but keeping her balance while carrying an axe and shield was difficult. As she raced toward her first quarry, a mage fleeing with his back turned, she prepared to strike, aiming for his neck. She missed, only connecting to the woman's shoulder, but it was enough to force the woman down. From the sound of things, the horse's hind legs finished the job.

Edelgard turned her sights to a group of soldiers encircling a few of the mages and their prisoners. Their lances were all ready to skewer the incoming horses. "Ferdinand!" Edelgard shouted, pointing at the men inside. He shouted back, and quickly prepared to charge them along with her. The soldiers readied their pikes, preparing to stop both horses in their tracks. They clearly did not expect for Edelgard to summon a fireball to break through their formation. Ferdinand rushed through the opening, striking at the mages while Edelgard dealt with the soldiers who quickly closed ranks.

The men were clearly very experienced, and quickly closed back into an attack formation. Edelgard struggled to keep them at bay while desperately trying to stay on her steed, who was whinnying terribly. Ferdinan was faring better, darting in between men quickly and efficiently. Edelgard swung her axe down on a soldier's head as she called out to Ferdinand, hoping he might be able to break her out of the quagmire—

—an explosion of magic rocked next to Ferdinand, sending him flying through the air—

Edelgard tried not to be taken aback by the sudden flash. A warning from her Crest. "Ferdinand, look out!" She cried, doing what she could to gesture at the place where she saw the blast.

Ferdinand managed to follow her eyes, and both saw a mage plunge a syringe into a prisoner's neck, before hastily retreating. Ferdinand quickly reacted, and pivoted away. Not a moment later, the prisoner burst into that bright, magical light. The soldiers around her threw themselves down onto the ground, and the wind burst forced Edelgard to hold onto her horse for dear life. It wasn't enough as the beast panicked, reared back to throw her off, and dashed away as fast as it could manage. Edelgard did what she could to scramble up from the heap she had been thrown down into, turning to face her enemies—

But they too were turning tail to flee, barely giving her a second glance. Before she could properly question why, a roar sounded out to answer her. A monstrous lizard with one glowing red eye was stumbling forward, hissing as it moved to lunge at the closest thing to it—Edelgard.

Vaguely, she was aware of Ferdinand galloping towards her. What might have been Seteth or Dorothea shouting her name. Hubert had been further away, not nearly close enough to help her. Edelgard breathed in, and prepared to survive alone.

Then an arrow whizzed past her head, the very wind spiraling alongside it as its tip gleamed eerily, like a star breaking through the sky on a midsummer's day, before slamming into the creature's eye. What had once been a man reeled back in agony, howling up at the vacant sky.

"What are you doing, just standing there!?" A familiar, but angry voice called out. "Get your ass in motion and kill the beast, woman!"

Edelgard bristled, but didn't need more encouragement. Charging ahead, she jumped into the air and slashed open the creature's exposed neck. It gurgled, before collapsing to the ground in a heap.

That done, Edelgard turned to face the man who aided her. He stood on a small collection of rubble, charred nearly beyond recognition and wore a simple tunic, colored an ugly green with a few splotches of yellow on the cuffs. His hair was pulled back, but in an unkempt, lackadaisical way you might see on a man half or twice his age who had all but given up on their appearance, with a short, scraggly beard to match. In his hands was the glowing orange-red bow Failnaught, twitching slightly as an arrow was released from its string, goring a man twenty paces away.

"It's just not fair." Claude snorted as he fired another arrow. "A million people who could have crawled out of their graves, and it had to be you."

The battle ended quickly after that. Claude had brought three other of their old classmates with him: Leonie, who's hair had grown out and was now resting in a braided ponytail, wore some studded leather armor and a grim look on her face as she helped lance down the last few enemies. Hilda, who was clad in a bright pink tunic totally unfit for a battle to match her long pink hair, was positive and cheery. When she wasn't looking at Edelgard, anyway. Her relic weapon swung lazily in her hand, the sight of it enough to break most of the soldiers she approached into a dead run. Finally, Raphael was as jovial as ever. With a peasant's garb and some dangerous looking spikes on his gauntlets.

"Thank you for the assistance, Claude." Ferdinand said after all of the soldiers were dealt with and the remaining prisoners saved. "I didn't think you'd be in the area so soon."

"Humph. Yeah, well." Claude snorted as he brushed his hair back. "Where there's smoke, there's fire."

"Thank you for saving us!" One of the prisoners blurted out at Ferdinand's side of . They had all gathered together, and were huddled in a small group. "We thought we were goners for sure!"

"Of course. It is our duty." Seteth gave a short bow of his head. "If I may ask, who are you all? And why was the empire trying to kill you?"

They all shifted uncomfortably. An older woman spoke up next. "We come from a village up north. Last week, those men came looking for answers. Looking for—" She pointed at Claude. "—Him. We told them we didn't know anything. Just what everyone knew. They didn't like that answer, and before we knew it, we were marched here, to that-that thing."

The strange Argathan machine continued to belch smoke up in the air as Hubert studied it. Dorothea was pointing at a few strange glowing buttons at its side, and after a brief discussion between the two, they both pressed several of them. The machine gave a sputtering noise, before cooling off and seemingly stopping whatever it was doing.

"What even is it?" A boy in the crowd ventured to ask. "If they just wanted to kill us, wouldn't swords be enough?"

"It's a Crest extractor." Claude piped up. A number of the civilians flinched. "The empire likes throwing people in them to see if they have some fragment of Crest blood from some long lost great-great-grandaddy. If you do, they get some weird magical essence and you die horrifically. If not, you just die horrifically."

Hubert busied himself by trying to find the best place to break the machine apart with the proper spellwork. Raphael wandered over and used some of the fallen blades as crowbars and wrenches to help pry the metal sheeting apart. Edelgard turned back to the civilians. "We are going north as well. Would you like to travel back to your homes with us?"

There were a great many nods and cheers at that, and at the sight of Jeralt shepherding the Argathan's supply wagons forward. There would be more than enough provisions for the journey, as well as a few seats for the old men and women too tired and hurt to walk the journey. After some delay the group was off north. Claude let out a few loud whistles southward, and before long a few horses and two other members of the Golden Deer came riding over the horizon. Ignatz was clad in polished, if light-looking armor, and Marianne wore a dark blue dress a little worse for wear.

"Dorothea! Ferdinand! It's great to see you!" Hilda shouted, running up and giving them a hug. "How have you been?"

"Good! Great, all things considered!" Dorothea happy replied. "How have you all been? We haven't been able to talk much in our letters about anything but buisness, and with you're talk of Claude's—"

"Oh hush. We don't need to go over that yet!" Hilda playfully batted Dorothea's arm. "Let's not distract everyone here. In fact—"

"So, this is your outfit?" Jeralt asked Leonie as Hilda dragged Dorothea away from the group. "Weren't there more of you running around the last time we partnered up?" His face fell. "I hesitate to ask, since..."

"...Yeah." Leonie said quietly.

Jeralt rocked back. "Oh geez, all of them? And the boys—"

"What?" Leonie's eyes widened. "Oh no, not that! Lysithea and Cyril are off scouting right now. They're due back in the next few days. Balthus is running around doing some errand for Yuri, and—"

"Mama!" A sharp, high-pitched voice called out. Edelgard turned to see a small child with a tuft of purple hair waddling towards Leonie, looking no more than three years old and ready to cry. "Mama…"

"Oh baby!" Leonie instantly dismounted and rushed over to sweep the child up in her arms, showering him with kisses. "Were you a good boy for Ignatz and Marianne?"

"Uh-huh!"

"And did you keep your little brother safe?"

"Yu-huh!"

Edelgard stared off as Leonie continued to fuss over her son—her sons. She was taking the younger one—from the looks of things, he was no older than six months—out of a wicker cradle strapped tightly on one of the horses Marianne was shepherding. Her classmate—no. The woman barely seemed to give any mind to the world around her as she swung her children through the air, laughing along as they screamed with glee. Jeralt paused, glancing back between Byleth's carriage and Leonie's frolicking, before giving a heavy sigh, and moving to join Leonie, handling her children with utmost care, as though he were their grandfather.

"Edelgard?" She snapped back to attention at Ferdinand's gentle prodding. "Are you alright?"

It took a minute for her to respond. "Yes, thank you." Leonie was brushing down her eldest's messy hair as the poor thing squirmed. Edelgard found her hand running through her hair, and running into one of the more stubborn knots. She sighed, and went to fetch the brush Marie was keeping for her.

Five years. Five whole years.

Claude was looking into Byleth's tent when Seteth found him. Failnaught was hooked around his shoulder, the ancient weapon subtly twitching.

"When you first sent the letter, I couldn't believe it." Claude said, not looking up. "Five years of nothing, before she's thrown back into our lives." He glanced back at Seteth. "No chance of her waking up?"

"Byleth has been mostly unresponsive despite Rhea's best efforts." Seteth studied the boy. It had been what…two? Three years? Since they had last met face to face. Despite the rumors, Claude had kept himself mostly groomed, even if he was growing quite a stubble. He didn't smell much, at least. "Still, she seems to be improving."

Claude grunted. Seteth quirked an eyebrow. "Claude, if you don't mind me asking…" The young man mirrored Seteth's own mask of polite curiosity.."What exactly are you doing here? We were supposed to meet you in three days some distance away. I believe we are owed some honesty on this."

"Sure, why not." Claude shrugged. "We've been tailing you for a while now. Trying to figure out if you were Agarthan spies."

Seteth started to nod, before pausing. "Really? Surely you saw our party. Do you honestly believe they could have killed us all and stolen our faces without you hearing something?"

"I've learned to be cautious." Claude shot back. "Plus, they might have just gotten some really good wigs and actors. You never know when they might try to do things old school."

A thoughtful noise escaped Seteth. "I suppose you're right. Nonetheless, I am glad your company was following ours, and saw that we truly were who my letter said. Together, we saved many more lives than apart."

A civilian walked in at that moment. "Lord Seteth, I didn't have an opportunity to thank you for saving our lives personally. I'm forever in your debt! If you ever need anything done, anything at all, just ask!"

"You are too generous, sir. I only wish we had come sooner, and could have saved more of your neighbors." Seteth nodded back with half a smile, twisted into something grim. "Still, it was not just myself and my party who came to your aid. Without von Riegan and his companion's timely aid, certainly more of your fellow townspeople would have been murdered."

The man's eyes twisted to face Claude, who stared back with an open, if neutral, expression. "Ah…" The man hesitated. "T-thank you, Count R-riegan. As well."

He quickly shuffled off, leaving Seteth to watch on in confusion.

"Don't worry." Claude said. "He's one of the nicer ones."

The townspeople were not practiced at moving quickly, but they were all very determined to get home as soon as possible. They were all friendly and grateful to the imperial party, and only asked a few questions about Byleth. Seteth fibbed and told them she was a sick woman they were transporting to a doctor. And while the townspeople were eager to talk with and hear news from everyone across the border, and even most of Claude's band, it was clear Claude himself was an exception to that rule.

The men and women would fix him with a frightened stare whenever he was near, mumble something or other, and move away from where he was going. But one thing was common amongst them all: whenever they thought no one was looking, they would whisper amongst each other, and stare at Claude with hurt, angry eyes. The Golden Deer house seemed quite used to it, and kept civil. But after one such incident near the head of the makeshift convoy, Edelgard spoke up.

"What is wrong with you people?" She demanded to a group that had quietly shuffled out of Claude's way at the first opportunity. "Claude just saved your lives, but you treat him like a leper? Show some respect! You can't possibly believe the lies told about him, that he was the one to destroy Derdriu! Or is this all just because he's A—"

"Relax, princess." Claude spoke up. "I'm a dangerous friend to have, that's all. These people were marched out of their homes because the empire thought they might know me. In fact, that's common imperial policy around these they get too warm and fuzzy with me, the soldiers might come knocking again." He glanced across the crowd. "I know you folks don't mean anything by it, no harm done."

The group muttered their gratitude before dispersing down the caravan. Hilda quickly caught a number of them in a loud, animated conversation about local fabrics, and Ignatz was doing some sketches for the few children in the group.

Edelgard regarded Claude. "The rest of the Golden Deer are just as wanted as you, no?"

"I pride myself with being the leader of the pack."

Her eyes narrowed. "But the townsfolk don't mind speaking with them."

"Really? That's so strange. I've never noticed. Thanks for telling me, princess."

"How can you be so blase about this?" Edelgard pushed.

Claude shrugged again. "Hate is one thing no one can take from you. It's not hard to figure out why people cling to it."

"These people are mistreating you, just because you are—"

"Hey, didn't you try to have me killed that one time?" Claude snapped. "In fact, weren't you also party to that whole Holy Tomb adventure with Jeritza? Doesn't that make it twice? Why are you pretending to care?"

Edelgard felt herself freeze. "I—"

"We're not friends. And given the opportunity, I'll kill you and your walking talking shadow, no questions asked." Claude's eyes didn't lose any intensity as he idly scratched his beard. "Don't try to butter me up. It's not going to work."

"That's not—I—" Edelgard tried, but Claude snorted and brushed past her. Edelgard sighed. Looking back at the rest of the party, The Golden Deer were busy ingratiating themselves with the townsfolk. Dorothea, Ferdinand, and Hubert were busy discussing something amongst themselves, while Jeralt was fussing with Leonie's children. Seteth, as calm as ever, kept the horses and oxen in pace with each other, Marianne assisting him.

From inside the wagon, Rhea's green slitted eyes fixed on Edelgard with a hateful glare.

It took about two days to deliver the townspeople back home. After that, it was a surprisingly short trip to the Golden Deer's hideout, just four hours of travel even with the ox cart. It was a small, well hidden cave at the base of one of the mountains leading to Ailell, with a retractable roll of grass covering the entrance. The cavern itself was barely wide enough for a man of Raphael's size to squeeze into, but it opened up into a larger cavern. A number of the group stayed outside, tending to the animals, with Dorothea, Hubert and Seteth joining Claude and Hilda inside. The Golden Deer had already set up a few bed rolls and torches, and there seemed to be enough barrels of provisions to last a few days.

"Hilda, do you see—" Claude called out as he wriggled through the entrance.

"Nope!" She shouted back. "Guess we got here before everyone else."

Claude grunted. "Figures." He reached out, and grabbed a barrel to sit on while Hilda snatched another with practiced ease. "Welcome to the home of the illustrious Golden Deer, I guess." He made no effort to grab seats for his guests, so Seteth pulled a crate over for them all to sit on.

"So." Claude leaned back, watching them all. "You went to quite a bit of effort to find me. What do you want?"

"We wished to extend our hands in partnership." Hubert began. "Our groups haven't had much direct contact over the years, but the winds are changing. The archbishop has awoken, and is quickly regaining her strength. With her power, we may soon be able to change the tide of the war, furthermore, Lady Edelgard and the professor's return is undoubtedly a sign of good—"

Claude snorted. "Yeah, a coma patient and the woman who started this whole mess. That's great and all. What do you want?"

"What Hubie is trying to say," Dorothea said, "is that if you look at a map, nothing has really changed in the past few years. The alliance is still occupied, and the kingdom is still barely holding on. We think a change in tactics would do us all a world of good, and throw the empire for a loop."

"Alright…" Claude ran a hand through his hair. "What do you have in mind?"

"We were thinking that you might want to come over to the empire, or the kingdom. Raise hell there, far away from familiar grounds, and the troops who are used to your movements—"

"I'm just going to stop you right there." Claude barked out between a laugh. "You want me, and my merry band, to pack up and leave Leicester, and go solve your problems. Did I get that right?"

Dorothea and Hubert were too practiced to share a nervous glance. Seteth picked up where they left off. "We are simply trying to explore options. It is no secret that both the kingdom and alliance are in desperate need of something to shake the status quo. Combining forces close to the heart of Arundel's war machine is a logical move, and takes quite a bit of pressure away from the alliance. The empire will cease these witch hunts for you and your companions if you aren't here. Many lives may be saved—"

"Oh, so now you're saying I'm a danger to my own people?"

Hilda spoke up. "Claude, Seteth didn't say that…"

"No, but the crusty old bastard sure as hell implied it." Claude stood up. "I've heard enough. You church types have spent the past five years using Leicester as a smuggling route, so smuggle yourselves out of my cave."

Dorothea tried to salvage the situation. "Claude, please, we didn't mean—"

He wasn't having it. "No, I think you did. Five years of nothing, but once dark and greasy here finds his precious—" Claude made finger quotes. "—'Lady Edelgard', suddenly we have to drop what we're doing and help her princessness reclaim her empire. Don't think I can't see what's going on here!"

"Claude, please." Dorothea growled back. "You think after everything Edelgard has done, we were just going to place her on the throne? Like nothing happened?"

"No, I think that's what Hubert is thinking, and you're even stupider than you pretend to be if you don't think the same."

"Even taking away the fact that such a plan is completely infeasible, Riegan, the idea that we would somehow be able to help you any more than we have these past five years is ludicrous. We are—"

"Clearly not trying hard enough!" Claude snapped. "Once you leave and get Macuil to wander back with you, I know for certain that you're not coming back to the alliance with him. Maybe after you save the kingdom, overthrow the empire, and the Agarthans kill everyone in Leicester to make it their fortress. Am I right?"

"I beg of you, Claude." Seteth bit out. "Think of all the good you did with us rescuing those townspeople. We can do even more if you just do as you did then, and trust us! We are your comrades, not vultures looking to peck you clean! We fight for the freedom of all of Fódlan! Just as in the battle we fought together!""

Claude laughed back. "I didn't join that fight because I trusted you."

Seteth was taken by surprise. "What?"

"The Agarthans have pulled more convoluted schemes than faking letters and sending a battalion out to die by their own agent's hands to get at me." He spat. "The thing that pushed it over the edge was you leaving a badly injured Rhea and a comatose Byleth in the care of Yuri of all people. That's a level of incompetence you can't fake."

",,,You would let innocent people die to satisfy your paranoia?" Dorothea managed.

Claude sneered. "Oh, don't you dare tell me you haven't done worse, Dorothea. You, who shacked up with Hubert, all just because—"

"Alright Claude, that's enough." Hilda rose to her feet. "I'm going to take our guests out for some air. You stay here and cool off."

Claude wasn't having it. "I will not sit idly by while—"

Hilda's foot slammed just inches away from Claude's own. "Don't push your luck, mister." She growled. Claude's brow wrinkled as he sneered, but he relented.

With a turn and flourish, Hilda's expression warped back into a cheery smile. "It gets really stuffy when people argue in here. After you!"

Dorothea bit her lip, but pulled Hubert along, with Seteth following shortly after.

It was night when they emerged from the cavern. Jeralt, Leonie and Marianne were huddled around a small illumination spell. Balthus had arrived, and was loudly chatting with Yuri. The two children lay next to their mother, and had fallen asleep. As they approached, the party looked up.

"So, how did it go?" Leonie asked. "Any luck getting Claude away from this?"

"A bust." Hilda said as she slipped out after Seteth. She flashed a tired smile at Dorothea. "Thanks for trying, though. Maybe after you're done with Rhea's errand, you can come back and see if his tune's changed?"

"We can try." Seteth sighed. Hubert rolled his eyes.

"He really is quite unpleasant. Just like in your letters." Dorothea sighed. "Hard to believe that's the same Claude from the academy. And you say he's been getting worse?"

"Yeah." Hilda sighed. "He was miserable before, but ever since Lorenz died…"

"We've all needed a change." Leonie murmured. Her eldest son whimpered, but did not stir.

As always, thanks to Dox for beta reading!

I just realized Leonie has the sterotypical anime mom ponytail. Not as pronounced as part 1 Mercedes, but it's there.

And that was Claude, after five years of total misery. Anyway, next chapter were off to see what's left of Derdriu, and then a family reunion in the sand. Beach episode, perhaps?