Part 1: White Clouds

Danger in the Dark

"Hmmm… I wonder where Claude and Hilda have run off to." Hanneman muttered to himself, shuffling his research papers together while walking across the bridge to get to his first lecture of the day. He stopped in the middle of the bridge and stroked his moustache. "They haven't shown up to class in a few days."

"You! You student stealer!"

He looked to his left to see Manuela storming up to him and jabbing a finger in his chest with a mad look on her face. "Return Dimitri and Ashe to me immediately! I know you have them, you crazy coot!"

"What? Preposterous! Why do you assume I took them?"

"Because it's revenge for me taking your house! That's it, isn't it? I knew you were scheming and that one day you would enact your plan! Now return my students!"

Hanneman slapped her hand away and groaned. "Where does your imagination go, you crazy woman?! I don't have your students! As a matter of fact, I'm missing a few of my own as well. Claude and Hilda have been missing for quite some time."

"Well then, where could they have gotten off to? It's not like them to just up and vanish without something as much as a letter." Manuela said with her hands on her hips. But then her eyes brightened when she saw who was just arriving from the Cathedral.

"Oh Jeralt, my hero!" She exclaimed wrapping herself round one of his arm's. "See to it that this ruffian hands back my students!"

"For the last time I do not have your students, you crazy hag!"

She gasped loudly and let go of Jeralt and rolled up her sleeves. "How dare you! That's it, we're taking this outside!"

"We're already outside…"

"You know what I mean!"

Jeralt sighed and gently pushed Manuela away from Hanneman. "Alright, that's enough, you two. We don't need to send Hanneman to the infirmary."

"What?!" Hanneman blustered with a red face. "What makes you think she would win in a fight?! I can throw a couple punches!"

"Hah! And then you'd probably collapse from the stress from having to do actual physical stuff!" Manuela laughed loudly.

"Why you!"

"That's enough." Jeralt said firmly before looking at them both. "So, you two have missing students too? Edelgard and Linhardt have vanished too. Come to think of it, Byleth hasn't been around either. And she usually says when she's going out on a mission."

BOOM!

All three flinched when they heard a distant explosion coming from somewhere as Manuela clung to Jeralt on instinct.

"What was that?! Are we under attack? Jeralt, protect me!"

But Jeralt simply peered down from the bridge and saw the explosions from down below. He closed his eyes and searched out the Ki signatures and found multiple.

Ah. So that's where she is. But why?

He shrugged and looked at his fellow colleagues.

"Don't worry about it. I know where Byleth and the students are. They're down there."

"But we need them here!" Hanneman protested. "I have Claude and Hilda signed up for sky patrol! Who else will take their place?"

"I'm sure they'll come back soon. Besides, if they're down there with Byleth then it must be something important."

Manuela peered over the edge. "I did always wonder what is below this bridge. Ah well, I'll just grill them for info when they return."

She then turned around and walked away waving at the two men. "Later boys! Mama has a date with last nights sandwich!"

"But you have class today!"

"One step at a time Hanneman!"

Hanneman felt like tearing his moustache off. That woman was soooo infuriating! He stormed off to the lecture muttering to himself. But Jeralt just kept his attention on the Ki signatures and frowned. This was too fishy. It's not like them to just up and go somewhere without informing anyone. Maybe he should inform the Knights. Maybe even Rhea…

'What are you up to, kid?'

"Oh… wow. Was. That really us?" Balthus said, looking around at the remains of the scrapped machinery of what they just fought. There was almost nothing left.

"I knew we were stronger but… they were like paper." Hapi mumbled. But then smirked. "I like it."

The group all met back in the middle after making sure that everything was taken care of. There wasn't a single functioning robot in sight. All were either deactivated or got torn so badly that they weren't even recognisable. Edelgard placed a hand on her chest as she exhaled.

"I have to admit. It was a refreshing change of pace where we were the ones who had the advantage."

"You said it, Edelgard!" Claud grinned. "It sure beats having to fight for our lives everytime. Now I can only hope that this winning streak keeps up."

"I apologise to everyone." Constance said, still in her alternate state as she hugged her arm. "I wasn't going at my full power. If I had done so, then we could've been done in record time. Oh, I truly am useless."

But that's when Hapi noticed something. In all the commotion, one of the stone walls got a little damaged and showed something quite interesting. "There's something drawn on the wall over there. They look like Crests- woah! What's going on?!"

A rumbling occurred around them as the wall she was looking at started cracking at the centre, revealing a hole. Constance noticed one of the Crests looked very familiar and placed her closed hand on her chest.

"My Crest… oh! But look at the stone! There's light coming from it!"

"Take a look! There's something in that opening!" Claude said and slowly reached inside it, pulling out an object. And Constance gasped.

"Oh… could it be?"

Claude stepped out from where he grabbed the object and showed it to everyone. It certainly looked like what they were looking for. But was it truly that?

"Is it?" Balthus muttered and Constance sighed.

"You would know best whether that is the Chalice. It is beyond my ken. Curse my ignorance."

"We don't have time for this." Yuri grumbled and Balthus pressed her.

"Answer the question! Is it or isn't it?"

For good measure, Claude handed it over to her and she slowly traced a hand over the shiny gold, feeling a familiar aura of magic emanating from it. "That quaking earlier… some kind of containment magic related to the Crests was placed here. Whether intentionally or not, the Chalice was released…"

"Maybe it was those big metal behemoths we destroyed?" Linhardt chimed in. "They had the goal to possibly protect the Chalice, so perhaps they had the means to disable the spell once they ceased functioning? It's a working theory…"

"Oh, perhaps one of our Crests was the key to unbinding their Chalice?" Constance said back to Linhardt, as everyone just felt lost. Hapi tapped her friend on the shoulder.

"Care to… summarise that?"

Constance sighed heavily and bowed her head. "My apologies. I have caused you undue vexation by speaking so incomprehensibly. Were I to venture a tentative guess, I would say that this is indeed, the Chalice of Beginning's."

"You know, you could've just said that this was it…" Balthus muttered but got an elbow to the ribs by Hapi. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Be nice."

Linhardt was still deep in thought as both he and Constance inspected the artefact. "Forgotten Crests resembling those of the Four Apostles depicted on a sealed rock wall, objects that resemble holy armaments and a Chalice that seems to gather magic all on its own? I don't know if any other legends that cover this, so this must be what we're looking for."

"I thank you for covering my own inadequacy with such a competent explanation." Constance sighed.

Edelgard scrunched her face hearing Constance talk like that. It was so surreal. She almost missed hearing that obnoxious pomp and circumstance that she carried. "I'm still not used to hearing you talk in such a way."

Constance gasped and kneeled before Edelgard, making the Princess blink in surprise as well as take a step back. "Forgive me your Highness. If I have displeased you, please take my life as a small gesture of atonement."

"What?!"

Claude snickered and grabbed Edelgard's hand and got on one knee. "Oh your highest of Highnesses! I doth humbly beg of thee to find forgiveness within your royal heart!"

But Edelgard was not amused bud yanked her hand away. "Stop fooling around Claude."

She then smiled gently at the Noble who was was waiting for the killing blow that would never come. "And Constance, I assure you, there is nothing to forgive."

Constance slowly nodded, not believing her in the slightest. But then she looked up and noticed something was happening. The sun was starting to cover up with dark clouds. Dimitri knew what that meant and gestured to the entry point to Abyss.

"Rain is soon to follow."

"Yeah, we'd better head back to Abyss." Yuri nodded. "Before we get hit by the storm. Wouldn't want a successful mission like this to be ruined by wet clothes."

Everyone ran off to the entrance except for Constance who looked like she was in a trance before her face brightened up considerably and she had that same smile as before… before it shifted into realisation as she saw her surroundings and she groaned in frustration.

"Ugh, it happened again. Why must my good intentions always-"

A massive noise alerted her as she frantically looked around. "Huh?! W-What was that? Hey, cease your walking and let me catch up! I'm the one who lead this operation, so I get to hold the Chalice-"

Another clanking sound rung through the air as she gasped loudly. "It cannot be! Y-Yuri! They're coming! Run!"

The group all saw her run into the cave towards them and with her, a single mechanical beast chasing them.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me." Hikda groaned before summoning a Ki axe. "Alright, let's send it back to the scrap heap-"

Byleth placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her head. "We're at the disadvantage once again. We're too deep into the caves."

Yuri clicked his tongue in irritation, knowing what she meant. "She's right. If we go all out, we risk weakening the structure around us. Our only option is to run and wait for an opportunity to stop it."

"This is just unfair!" Ashe exclaimed. "It must've waited for us to enter the cave because it knew it couldn't take us on in the open!"

"Does that thing really possess intelligence? How curious…" Linhardt muttered but then felt his arm be grabbed by Dimitri.

"Run!"

Like their minds finally caught up to them, they turned around and ran as fast as they could. It seems that Ashe was right, and that the mechanical beast that was pursuing them played it smart. They were once again at a major disadvantage, as they couldn't use their full power nor could they run fast as the light around them was too dark and they would risk tripping on something. They turned corners, jumped over rocks and even used small Ki blasts to make obstacles that wouldn't harm Abyss or what was around it.

None of it was working. The beast had one objective in its mind, and it was to get the Chalice that they possessed.

"Oh! My poor abused legs!" Constance slanted while looking behind. "It seems I have been neglecting training my lower… body as of late it seems."

"I told you that would happen!" Balthus yelled. "But you ignored me and said 'A Noble such as myself has no need for running!'. Look now!"

"Yes, I see that, thank you for noting it down!"

"Don't give up!" Yuri said, as they turned another corner. "We're almost back to Abyss! What a damn mess we've gotten ourselves into…"

"We should give up." Hapi suggested and looked at the Chalice in Constance's hands. "Just throw the Chalice at the big one and be done with it. It doesn't seem like it's gonna ease off. If that doesn't work then I guess we're dead."

"Oh don't be silly my dear Hapi!" Constance laughed, making their way through a opening and looking behind at the beast. "I shall never surrender! I shall not die until I have reached my glorious aim! And besides, it's just one of them! It's not like it has other tricks up it's metal sleeves-"

They all saw it slowly open a slot where it's mouth would be and black smoke poured out do it. It soared past them and slowly morphed Into the forms of soldiers. Hapi slowly glared at Constance who blushed sheepishly and looked away.

"Oh great. This thing must love a good chase. It won't let up!" Balthus said, seeing the fallen soldiers make their way to various areas to trap them.

"Not to mention those things that look like phantoms." Yuri looked at the black smoke still spewing out of the beasts mouth. "Further measures to protect the Chalice I'm sure. I think Hapi is right. As long as we have the artefact, these things won't stop."

"We can't lead it back to Abyss!" Ashe said, watching it break through piles of rubble they managed to let loose. "The people there will be in danger!"

"We need to fight them. But we need to get to a place where we won't cause a cave in." Byleth looked to Yuri who nodded.

"Agreed. I know a place where we can keep these things at bay."

Balthus, Constance and Hapi all widened their eyes in realisation as Balthus grinned. "Oh yeah, the gates! They're so sturdy, I almost broke my priceless fist on one!"

"You know you can use your Ki to shield your fists, right?" Edelgard said and that made his eyes widen even further.

"…Princess, you just changed my life!"

But Constance wasn't amused and jabbed her finger in his chest. "You punched one? Like a brute?! Ugh! Why must you always behave in such an infantile manner?!"

"He probably thought that was the best way to test it's endurance." Hapi shrugged. "He doesn't have bad intentions, he's just that dumb."

But Yuri groaned loudly and massaged his temples, feeling a headache incoming. "Balthus. If you broke the mechanism, I'm sacrificing you to the creepy doll. Let's get moving."

They all nodded and followed Yuri to a set of corridors but found more of those phantom soldiers blocking the way. What's worse was hearing the clanking and sounds of gears behind them. Edelgard summoned her Ki axe and turned around. "The enemy has caught up to us. How smart of it to corner us in small areas. It could pick us off one by one if it so chooses."

"That thing is worse than the others we fought at the chasm!" Balthus said, getting in a fighting stance. "It's big enough to flatten me, ME, of all people!"

Dimitri then spotted a phantom nod to another one who was behind one of the gateways and pulled a lever and he heard a series of gears start to turn and is eyes widened.

"The gate! Perhaps I can force it open?-"

"Don't even bother." Yuri interrupted. "They're enchanted with gravity hexes. Not even the Ashen Demon can get it open."

"Who designed this place?!" Hilda screamed.

"Someone who didn't want anyone getting in, that's for sure." Byleth muttered as Yuri let out a nervous laugh seeing the mechanical beast before them start to close in.

"Heh heh. This is bad. There's more where that came from too. We need to get moving, now!"

They all nodded and carried on running. But that's when Constance noticed something very, VERY wrong. "Oh my. I believed this to be a shortcut, but it seems that the way is closed. "

Yuri clicked his tongue and looked around. "They planned this. Got ahead of us and closed it off. Luckily for us, the lever to open it is nearby. But we have to be quick."

Hapi used her death vines to snare some approaching phantoms and drain their life force and pointed in the general direction that it was at. "Who wants to do us a favour and pull the lever? Though you might get left behind."

"I'll do it." Ashe said, and ducked under the swing of a phantoms sword and dodged any incoming blows while making his way over to the lever. That did mean that he was the main target to the group of phantoms who slowly started to corner him as he grabbed the lever and pulled it with all his might, accidentally snapping it off.

"Oops."

But it did do the trick. Now the shortcut was opened, everyone can make their way through. Though Ashe was still cornered by the phantoms who were closing in. He sucked in a breath and summoned a Ki arrow.

"Go, my friends. Go on without me, and help the people of Abyss-"

BOOM!

Ashe covered his eyes as an explosion of Ki incinerated the phantoms that were just there. From out of the smoke, Dimitri stepped out and held out his hand. Ashe was quite frankly stunned.

"Your Majesty, I-"

"We leave no one behind, my friend. Come, so that we may live to fight another day!"

"…Right! Of course!" Ashe grinned and the two ran to catch up to the group just as they heard the giant sounds of metal dragging across the ground rang in their ears as the gate closed followed by the seals of the gravity hexes being placed on the bars.

"It really closed, huh?" Claude laughed nervously. "It's a good thing we got through there when we did."

"We can't rest just yet." Yuri said, looking ahead. "That was only the first one. The lever that phantom pulled was the master switch, only used in emergencies. The other gates will be closing shortly. We need to keep moving."

"Well, at least that creepy doll beast won't keep following us." Constance sighed in relief and Hapi slapped her hand across her mouth.

"Coco, no-"

A beam of light filled the room they were in to reveal the mechanical beast had teleported in and was getting ready to chase once more. Hapi slowly turned to look at Constance who just sighed again and deflated.

"You can berate me later. Let's just go before I jinx us once more."

"Come on! Follow me! It shouldn't be too far!" Yuri yelled.

They continued making their way through the hallways, destroying any phantoms that stood in their way. Luckily for them, the mechanical beast wasn't hot on their heels, but then Byleth heard a voice.

'Above you!'

Sothis?

Byleth looked up and widened her eyes. A stalagmite that was positioned above the doll. She looked at the group and then back to the doll and then held out her hand.

"This blast won't kill you… but what'll happen next will stall you."

She fired a Ki blast which struck the rock formation and it broke off from the ceiling before impaling the mechanical doll who let out a roar as it struggled in it's place. It wasn't dead yet, but it wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. Byleth nodded to herself and turned away.

'I don't know if you're there, but thanks.'

The sounds of the metal twisting and steam escaping snapped Byleth out of her thoughts and she quickly ran over to the group.

"Professor, where did you go? We heard an explosion." Edelgard said but Byleth pointed her thumb behind her.

"I managed to trap the doll. I'm not sure that it's dead, but at least I bought us some time. Any phantoms?"

Edelgard shook her head. "None here. Seems like whatever you did may have impacted how many phantoms were spawned. As expected of you, my Teacher."

"Thank you Edelgard, but we aren't out of the woods yet. We still have to get out of here before the gates close on us. If we're trapped in here with that thing, then we're doomed."

The two nodded to each other and ran to the others, but that's when Byleth heard a voice behind her and got struck in the head by an arrow. Fortunately, it wasn't one that could deal any damage to her, but it did sting so much. She looked to who shot that arrow and saw…

Oh great. Bandits.

"What the hell?! I shot her right in her head!"

"Well, maybe you got toothpicks instead of arrows."

"Shut up!"

"You have got to be kidding me." Edelgard groaned.

"We just can't catch a break, can we?" Claude said as he summoned Ki on his finger tip.

"Look, just play it cool!" One of the bandits said and cleared his throat. "Oi! You lot find find that treasure? That treasure-majig? That treasure-thingy? Whatever it's called, hand it over!"

"Absolutely not, you brutes!" Constance yelled, keeping the Chalice close to her chest.

"Ugh, great. Now we have to fight these guys too." Hapi moaned. "Whatever, let's make it quick."

"Shame…" Yuri said as he drew his blade. "I quite like playing with my food."

"Get them!" A bandit yelled and charged towards them but froze in shock as a Ki beam shot through his heart. He slowly looked down in disbelief and then to Edelgard who had an outstretched finger.

"Simple, but not as damaging to the walls." She explained, watching the bandit slump to the ground, dead. She looked at the others and held her arms out.

"Anyone else? It would be shame if you all had to die down here. I'll give you one chance to run away."

They all looked at one another… and ran towards her, weapons at the ready.

"Ice the bitch-"

The bandit gasped loudly as pain went through her whole body and felt… cold.

Edelgard sighed as her fist was buried deep in the bandits chest. "I warned you."

She then grabbed the axe that she held and slowly walked towards the other bandits while pulling her fist out of the dead one. Her glove stained in blood as she took it off, showing her scarred hand.

"You will know the full might of the Empire. If I could, I would take my time dismembering you all. But unfortunately my time is cut short. So I will make it-"

BOOM!

"…Quick?" Edelgard stared dumbfounded at the bodies now burned to a degree that they weren't recognised. She turned to see Byleth and her palm smoking after releasing a Ki blast. Edelgard was confused.

"Professor, I had it under control."

"Did you?"

Byleth pointed her finger to one of the bodies and Edelgard followed it and gasped. It was fading away, but one of the bandits had a dark spell charging up. She didn't even notice!

Edelgard looked to Byleth grabbing her hand. "We're in a fight, not a theatre. Let's have less monologues and more finishing the job."

An embarrassed blush made it's way across her cheeks as she looked down. "Of course, my teacher."

"Okay. Luckily, the gates are taking forever to close. Balthus found a way to delay it. But it won't last. Let's go."

"Right!"

The group made their way through the bandits and phantoms that kept trying to block their path and grab the Chalice out of Constance's hands. But she was not letting go. Not one bit.

"Get away! You brutes!" She screamed using Ki to amplify a kick which took of a bandits head and dodged out of the way of an incoming phantom before using Ki to blast it away. "Yuri! How much further!"

"We're almost there! We just passed another gate!"

Constance sighed in relief. "Okay, at least there's no more bandits-"

She widened her eyes and covered her mouth, dropping the Chalice. That's when they heard voices coming from ahead.

"Give up the treasure! And we will be nice!"

Everyone slowly turned to Constance who just slowly kneeled down and picked up the Chalice before walking forward with her head down.

"Let's just go…" She grumbled and ignored all the looks she was getting. She summoned magic in one hand and looked at the bandits coming towards them.

"Ugh!" Hilda groaned. "I don't even think she jinxed us this time, these people just don't know how to READ A ROOM! There's ghosts and a metal doll chasing us! Leave us alone! I have already soaked through my shirt by working too much!"

Balthus got in front of Hilda and took a stance. "If anything happened to you while I was around, Holst would come back from the afterlife to kick my ass! Be careful!"

But Hilda just let out a snarky giggle and had an evil glint in her eye. "Oh, I'll be fine Balthy! In fact, why don't I show you something I've been working on? Everyone, get back!"

"Wait, what are you doing?"

Hilda gripped her axe tight and channeled Ki into it as it slowly started glowing pink. The bandits who had ambushed them saw she was up to something and ran towards her in an attempt to stop her. But she just grinned and slammed her axe into the ground.

The group stared in disbelief as the shockwave from the axe travelled to the bandits and launched them in the air. While they were suspended, Hilda zipped towards them using Ki to boost her speed and yelled loudly, swinging her axe horizontally before landing on the ground and turned towards the group, giving a peace sign and tapped her axe on the ground as the bandits she just hit were all sliced in half. Blood sprayed into her clothes but she just kept that cheeky grin.

"Aw yeah! Hilda! Hilda! Hilda!" She chanted pumping her axe every time she said it. Everyone stared in disbelief at that new technique. Though for Claude, it was a different feeling.

Just the sight of Hilda looking like that. Covered in blood, pumping her axe and jumping up and down… was doing things for him. But he just shook his head.

'This better not awaken something in me.'

Yuri chuckled and nodded to the others. "I guess that takes care of that. Come on, let's get moving. Final gate is right there."

"Good work Hilda. That was amazing." Byleth praised as Hilda beamed and saluted.

"Thanks Professor! I may have ruined this shirt, but it looked cool, didn't it? Hey Claude! What did you think?"

Claude was still staring at her as she tilted her head. "You alright?"

Edelgard noticed and smirked, nudging his ribs. "Yeah, Claude. You seem a little out of it? You feeling flustered?"

Seeing that eyes were on him, Claude quickly recovered and gave a thumbs up. "Awesome execution, Hilda. Really liked how you flung them in the air. Couldn't have done it better myself."

"Awww, thanks Claude!" Hilda giggled and followed Byleth while Edelgard kept that same smirk on Claude.

"You like her, don't you?"

"Come on Edelgard, don't be childish." Claude responded with a similar smirk. "I mean, who would pry into someone's personal feelings? That just seems immature."

A vein slowly formed on Edelgard's head with her smile slowly vanishing as she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply through her nose. "…Battle of the Eagle and Lion. I won't hold back."

With that, she turned around and Claude let out a sigh of relief. He was getting too careless there, staring at Hilda like that. Though, irking the Princess might be bad for him later.

"…Ah well, it's Future Claude's problem this time around."

"Hey! Are you guys coming or what? The gates won't hold for long!" Balthus yelled.

"I'm coming, don't worry." Claude said and looked behind him. No more enemies coming towards them, and the mechanical beast was only just getting out of the trap Byleth put it in.

"Good. Nobody left behind."

He stepped past the gate as a second later, the last one slammed shut and the gravity hexes were put in place, shutting those unfortunate to be there away from them.

"And last but not least, the last gate." Yuri said. "Wasn't as hard as I initially thought. Seems like Ki was the way to go. Not bad."

Linhardt however, was not impressed. "Go through this gate, open that one, run through another one. Sheesh! I'm the only one here who doesn't even use that stuff. All I was doing was running around like a headless chicken. I'm overdue for some shuteye…"

"All is well though!" Constance chirped, holding up their treasure. "We have safely retrieved the Chalice of Beginnings!"

"By the way, Balthus. How did you manage to slow down the gates?" Yuri asked, turning to Balthus who grinned.

"Ah, I just shoved a stick in one of the gears!"

Everyone stopped and slowly turned to him with deathly silence as Yuri pressed his thumb and finger on the bridge of his nose. "…Care to repeat that?"

"What? It got the job done, didn't it?"

"You are such a BRUTE!" Constance yelled. "If the gears ended up breaking then we would've been stuck down here! Or worse, lead our enemies to Abyss!"

"I vote that B doesn't get to go near gates anymore." Hapi said and everyone else nodded.

"Aw come on! I bought us some time!" Balthus complained.

"Yeah, well, that just added on top of everything that was awful with that. I'm never going back down there, that's for damn sure." Yuri sighed.

"With things like that wandering around, you couldn't even if you wanted to." Balthus said, tapping the bars of the gate with his knuckles.

"Interesting. Haven't seen the gravity hexes used in such a way before." Linhardt said. "Only other way I've seen it used from it's intended purposes was on clothing. Speaking of which, do you four have that?"

The Abyss group looked at one another then back at Linhardt. "Why would we?"

"It's what we use to get ourselves stronger!" Hilda said, showing Balthus the hexes on her uniform.

Needless to say, the four were stunned at seeing this.

"Holy shit…" Hapi mumbled.

"You've opened my eyes, little Hilda!" Balthus grinned. "I gotta try that too!"

"Anyway. I think we can all agree that what we just went through was a valuable learning experience." Byleth said.

Hilda snickered. "Yeah. Don't trust Balthy with gates. I agree with Hapi's vote."

"Hilda! Not you too!" Balthus dropped his head down low and groaned loudly with everyone laughing.

"Come! We must get to Aelfric and present the Chalice to the Church at once!" Constance exclaimed.

They all nodded and started making their way back to Abyss. On the way back however, Byleth was thinking to herself again.

She wondered if this was truly the right cause of action, to give it to Rhea. Byleth didn't exactly trust her. With all the visions she was getting as well as how… out of it she was sometimes, Byleth couldn't bring herself to see the Archbishop in a positive light.

But then her mind shifted to the Chalice itself. All this trouble for one little cup. They almost died multiple times just to get to this thing, Byleth questioned whether it should've stayed locked away. What secrets came with the Chalice? If they did hand it over to the Church, who's to say they wouldn't misuse it? After all, the ability to revive the dead certainly is a far fetched idea and one that could bear consequences.

Byleth shook her head as she helped Hilda squeeze through a gap and went through herself. Perhaps she was overthinking things. After all, Aelfric himself said that the ritual was a failure and the Four Apostles haven't been seen since. And if it helped Constance get a better life than Abyss, then who was she to deny-

Why couldn't she move?

She suddenly realised that she couldn't move any further and looked down. Then she sighed loudly. Of course.

"Guys? I… need some help."

They all turned around and saw the problem. Or rather, two problems.

"Damn." Hapi said, letting out an impressed whistle. "Your Professor is stacked. For better or for worse."

"Claude, give me a hand in getting her out of there." Dimitri called over his fellow Noble, and together, the two grabbed her arm and started pulling.

"I used to wish mines were as big as hers." Hilda mumbled. "Now I'm glad."

"Stop making her feel self conscious." Edelgard scolded. "It's not her fault."

"Doesn't change the fact that she's stuck and we're not."

"Almost there, Teach. Just one more tug." Claude said as she finally managed to break free and looked down at her chest and adjusted her armour.

Then she carried on walking and everyone looked dumbfounded.

'She's carrying on like nothing happened?!'

"Well, at least we're back in Abyss." Yuri said, shaking his head. "After all that, I think I need some rest."

"Oh, but we have to show this to Aelfric first!" Constance said holding up the Chalice to his face. But then Yuri saw guards approaching them with panicked looks.

"You! You're all safe! How could you sneak off at a time like this?!"

"Is… everything okay?" Byleth asked, with a hand on her hip. But the guard shook his head.

"Some outsiders came and kidnapped Master Aelfric!"

Collective gasps sounded from the group as Constance gripped the Chalice tight to her chest.

"No! It cannot be!"

"It happened as soon as he returned to the Monastery." Another guard explained. "Bandits were lying in wait."

Balthus growled and punched the nearby wall in frustration. "Dammit! How could this happen?!"

But Constance frowned deeply recalling what they just went through. "I'm sure that this is related to those bandits we passed by earlier. One group went for Aelfric while the rest tried to get the treasure."

Yuri turned to the guard and leaned in. "Have you informed the Church?"

The guard just shook his head. "Not yet. It all happened so suddenly. Do you think we should? Can we trust them? If we cause too much trouble, then Abyss is doomed-"

"Now isn't the time to worry about that!" Yuri snapped at the guard as he kept a tight grip on his sword. "We're in no position to cover something like this up. The Church has eyes and ears everywhere, so they may already know what's going on. Either way, go and tell them. Now."

Looking a little unsettled at how serious Yuri was, the guard saluted and ran off. But Yuri then called on him to say one last thing.

"If there are any wounded, bring them here. We can patch them up with healing magic-"

His eyes widened when he noticed a lack of numbers in their group. "Wait. Where's Hapi? And Linhardt?"

Before panic could set in about yet more people disappearing, they heard footsteps and looked to see the two walking towards them with Hapi holding a piece of paper.

"Hapi!" Constance said running up to her and patting her shoulders to smooth out creases, acting like an overbearing mother. "Where have you two been? Aelfric has been-"

"I know." Hapi replied, gently taking Constance's hands off her and holding up the paper. "Take a look at this."

Everyone crowded round to look at it. Balthus looked back at Hapi then to the paper again. "Some sort of fancy letter?"

Hapi nodded. "It was in the classroom. Listen to this."

She then started reading it aloud to the group. "We have abducted Cardinal Aelfric. We can guarantee his safety. For now. If you want to help him, meet us tomorrow evening in the ruins of the old chapel. Bring the Chalice. Know that if you alert the knights, the Cardinal's life will be forfeit."

"No doubt about it." Balthus said. "This was left by the people who kidnapped Aelfric."

Byleth was about to comment on how that was said from the start, but decided to bite her tongue.

"Then our enemy really IS after the Chalice." Constance frowned, looking at the treasure. "All the while, they were waiting for us to locate it for them."

But then she widened her eyes at some… inconsistencies in that statement. "This doesn't ring true! No!"

Hapi was just confused at the situation. "None of it rings true, so which part are you talking about?"

"How did the enemy know we were searching for the Chalice to begin with?" Constance asked. It all clicked right there for everyone.

She had a point. They never told anyone they went out to search for it. Or at least, they never told anyone directly. The conclusion would be that…

Yuri knew what everyone was thinking and nodded. "You all smell a rat. Someone who notified the Church or potential enemies of our plan. But it's not good talking about theoretical rats right now. First, we have to deal with the problem at hand."

"Too true." Constance nodded. "For once, you are speaking reasonably."

Though something else did seem strange to Byleth. And it seems that the House Leaders thought the same thing.

"Why would they be so confident to stage a meeting like this?" Edelgard asked. "Surely they've seen the display of our power at this point."

"Yeah, either they're smarter than we're giving them credit for, or they're really stupid." Claude agreed, closing his eyes in thought.

"The ruined chapel… that's even outside, too. So we wouldn't have to worry about causing a cave in, either. This feels too easy." Dimitri said.

Byleth used her tail to grab an apple and tossed it into her hand. "We need to regroup. We're all exhausted from that scrape with death. Let's take a small rest and think of a plan. Including this theoretical rat."

"Yeah…" Yuri let out a long sigh. "She's got a point. Some rest will help the brain. Let's get back together within a few hours and try and think of something."

Everyone nodded and went their separate ways. Byleth was needing food.

"Byleth, a word if you don't mind?"

Constance had jogged up to Byleth who was currently gnawing away at a deer leg, digging her teeth into the flesh and ripping a chunk off while looking at her innocently while chewing. The former Noble scrunched her nose up in disgust at this… barbaric behaviour but quickly shook her head and gathered her bearings.

"It's about the blackguards who kidnapped Aelfric. You noticed it too, didn't you? There has to be a spy in Abyss!"

Byleth had a thoughtful look and swallowed what she was eating before nodding. "I think you might be right. It's too suspicious."

"We are in agreement, then?" Constance beamed. "Yuri is extremely devoted to his friends and the people of Abyss… but there are times where he can be a bit… too trusting."

But that's when Hapi walked up with an annoyed look. "Coco. It's our turn to do the laundry today. Stop trying to avoid it."

"What?!" Constance gasped. "But it's unbefitting of someone of my station! A true Noble must not- OW, OW, OW! HAPI!"

"Come on, Coco." Hapi said dragging Constance away by the ear as the blonde helplessly tried to release her grip.

"Ow! Ow! Unhand me! Oh Goddess, why are you so strong?!"

Byleth watched the two of them walk away with a perplexed look on her face. They were so weird.

She shook her head and went back to eating. Hopefully they could come up with a plan.

"You know, guys. It just occurred to me." Claude said, while he and the others were sitting down in the classroom of the Ashen Wolves.

"Yes, Claude?" Edelgard asked, leaning her hand on her face.

"We're STILL in Abyss!"

"…And your point is?"

"Well, it just feels like we've been here for months."

"But we've only been here for a couple of days." Dimitri said.

"I know, right?!"

But Hilda noticed Edelgard was thinking to herself and tilted her head. "What's up, Edie?"

"Nothing. Just… the identities of the cardinals are a closely guarded secret of the Church. Yet Aelfric's status was disclosed in that letter. Could this signify a power struggle within the Church? Or maybe… that's what they want us to believe…"

"Yeah, it was hard to imagine Aelfric being a cardinal of all things." Claude said. "Even more to harder to imagine him being abducted. And those who took him know we have the Chalice. I bet they even know how to use it. They probably aren't planning to decorate their mantle with it."

"And with that in mind, are they planning to resurrect someone?" Dimitri spoke up. "According to the legend Aelfric told us, the Chalice could even bring someone from the dead. Or maybe even sell it off for enormous profit…"

"I had another thought." Linhardt said. "I was speaking to Hapi earlier, and she may possess a unique Crest… possibly linked to the Four Apostles…"

He went back to thinking and everyone looked at each other. Hilda waved in his face.

"Uhh, you wanna finish that thought, Lin?"

"Not really. I don't have enough evidence to back it up."

They all groaned and deflated in exhaustion. But Hilda dusted her skirt and turned to face them. "It's almost time, isn't it?"

"And no plan in sight." Ashe sighed.

"Perhaps getting together will help." Edelgard said. "Yuri and Balthus should be back from assessing the casualties. The Professor will be among them too."

"Right. Aelfric is missing. Any ideas?" Yuri started out and Claude scratched his head.

"Yeesh, I thought we would start off with the causalities, but I guess we're going straight into it."

Constance spoke up. "Even if it's in the name of Aelfric, we cannot hand over the Chalice to those scoundrels!"

"Let's just give it to them and be done with it." Hapi groaned.

Yuri turned to Byleth. "Any ideas, Ashen Demon?"

Byleth was unsure. She could turn back time with Divine Pulse. But then again, she and Sothis aren't sure how far back they could turn back time. Seems it can be only be a few minutes at most. And even if they turned back time, she isn't sure where to start. Aelfric hides his Ki for some reason and she wouldn't have been able to track him to where he got abducted. Perhaps they can just do it under the illusion that they were handing the Chalice over and then strike? It's like Dimitri said, the ruins are out in the open so they wouldn't worry about harm coming to Abyss.

"I think I have an idea-"

But then they heard a voice.

"Byleth?! What are you doing down here? And with the students!"

They all turned to see someone running up to them. It was Alois along with a group of knights.

"I think we're busted." Claude said.

"You've been down here? You've been gone for three days!" Alois exclaimed as everyone's eyes widened.

"It's been three days?!" Edelgard yelled.

"It's ONLY been three days?!" Claude also yelled.

But that's when Byleth saw someone else walk up to them.

It was Jeralt.

"Hey, kid. We came down here as soon as we heard the report. But… why are you down here?"

Byleth wasn't sure what to say… to her father. After everything she learned about herself and her mother. She just looked down.

*Song: DBZ Closing Theme*

Just when things started to go their way, our group have found their way into yet more problems. This time, the life of Aelfric is at stake. But now Byleth has reunited with Jeralt after learning everything about herself. Will she feel different about her father? Will they give up the Chalice? And can they save Aelfric? Find out next time on the next chapter of, The Ashen Saiyan!

And that's a wrap!

Yeah I made a little DBZA joke because it occurred to me just how long I've been writing the Ashen Wolves saga. But we're more or less at the halfway point if all goes well. It's certainly different to me using ending sagas at 2 or 3 chapters but I hope it'll still be good.

We reached another milestone on this story. 130 favourites and 150 follows. That's always nice to see, and I thank everyone who takes the time to read this. I promise when this is over, Lord Slug will be next. And I'm excited to get my teeth in that.

But as for now, please follow and favourite, and I'll see you all in the next chapter.

Catch you later!