Rhea raised an eyebrow at Edelgard. "I think you have some things you need to explain."
Edelgard shifted uncomfortably. "I...might have intended to declare war on the Church and conquer Fódlan," she admitted.
Rhea stared at her icily.
"In my defense, I did think it was necessary to put an end to the feudal system," Edelgard tried to explain. Rhea just kept staring at her icily.
"I changed my mind about it, though," Edelgard assured her. "I don't need to conquer Fódlan, and I don't particularly want the Church gone. Not anymore. I have laid those plans to rest."
Rhea stared at her for a moment longer. "See that you have," she intoned. She didn't doubt that Edelgard really had laid her plans for war to rest. If she hadn't, she wouldn't have told Rhea about them. And thinking about violence was not a crime. But there was no sense in seeming weak.
Zelda cleared her throat. "The road to Zora's Domain?"
"Of course," Rhea said, bidding the students continue.
Dimitri rode next to Felix. "Felix, I have heard the good news and wish to congratulate you."
"What are you talking about, boar?" Felix asked.
Dedue glared at him. "You will address His Highness with respect."
"Calm yourself, Dedue," Dimitri said. "I am currently a Prince of only seven people. By all means, call me by my name."
"...Yes, Prince Dimitri," Dedue said hesitantly.
"It's a start," Dimitri said. He turned back to Felix. "I must say, when I learned you started smiling again, it brought me great joy to find out that someone else is helping you during these times. And from what I have seen of Paya, she seems to be of excellent character. I approve."
"Paya? What in...who...Sylvain." He quickly rode to catch up to the redheaded philanderer.
"Oh, hey Felix," Sylvain said.
"Sylvain," Felix said through gritted teeth. "Stay out of my personal business."
"Sorry, can't do that," Sylvain told him. "It's for your own good."
"How is spreading rumors that I have feelings for Paya 'for my own good'?" Felix asked harshly.
"Look at you, all surly and angry. You aren't going to get the girl like this," Sylvain said.
Felix glared at him. "I don't need you to try to change me."
Sylvain chuckled. "Sure you don't."
Ingrid interrupted the conversation. "Why is the moon turning red?"
Linhardt's eyes widened. "The Blood Moon! We have to find shelter, or a decent defensive position at the very least!"
Claude looked for a place they could defend themselves. "There! There's a bridge." He pointed out a bridge made of metal and blue stone, flanked by two beautiful watchtowers made of blue and grey stone. "If we make our stand on the bridge, then the enemy can only attack us from two directions."
Once they reached the bridge, Claude took charge. "I want shield walls on either side of this bridge. Archers, mages, stay behind the melee fighters. Kass?"
"Yes?" the Rito asked.
"Fly ahead and try to bring reinforcements if you can."
"Certainly," Kass agreed and took flight.
Just as the shield wall had been set up, a band of Lizalfos crept into sight. The Rising Sun Company outnumbered the Lizalfos, but they clearly didn't care now that the Blood Moon had risen.
The Lizalfos attacked, and the cohesion all but fell apart.
Several spears reached out and struck the Lizalfos charging the shield wall, but while they did flinch from the impact, their wounds closed quickly, and they simply threw themselves at the shield wall again. It didn't seem to matter how many hits the Lizalfos took, they just wouldn't die, and soon the shield wall had been broken open.
Raphael tried slashing at one of the Lizalfos with the massive blade the Yiga Blademaster had used, but the Lizalfo was too fast and dodged under the blow, then jumped on him and tried to stab him with its bladed steel boomerang. Ignatz slashed at the Lizalfo, which didn't kill it but did catch its attention, and Raphael threw it off the bridge, but it swam out of the water and prepared to climb up to try again.
Meanwhile, another Lizalfo tried to attack Cyril, seemingly thinking him the weakest of the group. Before it could reach Cyril, however, Hudson crushed its ribcage with a hammer. Or at least that's what would have happened, as the Lizalfo simply shrugged off the blow and leaped again, this time at the construction worker. Cyril dropped his bow and tried cutting down the Lizalfo with his axe, but it survived that too.
Lysithea seemed like she was getting angry. She reached out her hand and formed a spell circle, causing a spike of dark energy to come down from the sky and impale the Lizalfo. Before the Lizalfo could react, the spike exploded. There wasn't much of the Lizalfo left after that.
"When did you learn that?" Hubert asked as he cast a Miasma blast into a Lizalfo's face to distract it as Edelgard tried to kill it.
"Just now," Lysithea admitted.
Dorothea cast a Thunder spell at a Lizalfo attacking Ingrid. The rain seemed to boost the spell's effectiveness, and while it didn't kill the creature, it did stun it and cause it to drop its weapons. Ingrid tried impaling the Lizalfo, but her spear wouldn't penetrate deeply enough, and the Lizalfo recovered and pulled the spear out, its wound closing.
Flayn picked up a dropped Lizal spear and channeled light magic through it, then stabbed a Lizalfo that was trying to attack Mercedes. Unlike the other attempts at stabbing the Lizalfos, this one killed the Lizalfo quite easily.
Link fought the biggest Lizalfo, and scored several hits, but none of them seemed to be effective. When Edelgard tried attacking it from behind, it struck her with the haft of its spear, nearly sending her off the bridge. However, she barely caught the bridge's edge.
It was clear that while the company could defeat the Lizalfos, unless help arrived, it would cost them at least a few lives.
And then help did arrive.
A very tall Zora, carrying two tridents, walked across the bridge, striking blows against the Lizalfos that sent them flying into the water. There, in the water, more Zora soldiers attacked the Lizalfos. And in the water, the Lizalfos were helpless as the Zora soldiers tore them apart. Edelgard's hand slipped and she fell into the river, but a Zora swam her to shore before she could drown.
The light mages tended to the injured. Fortunately, no one had received any injuries that couldn't be healed, though had the battle gone on much longer, someone likely would have.
"Thank you," Link said to the Zora who had saved them. He had a unique look about him. Two ridges extended to the sides like small, rigid wings from his snout just above his eyes, and the tail fin on the back of his head ran all the way down to the middle of his back. Unlike the other Zora, he also had an additional dorsal fin extended up from the top of his head, as well as a piece of silvery ornamentation that might have been the Zora version of a crown.
"It was no trouble at all," the Zora assured him. "I am Sidon, the Zora prince." He smiled, his teeth somehow sparkling. "And what is your name? You look familiar."
"Link," Link answered. "Though maybe we should leave introductions for later."
"That may be for the best," Sidon agreed. "With the Blood Moon in the sky, we should get somewhere safer."