Part 1: White Clouds

Pain and Fear

"What… happened?"

Rhea barely managed to get the words out of her mouth as she looked straight ahead at the sight that was in front of her. She has seen many things with her time on this planet. War, evolution of races, the death of her people, the destruction of land. Yet, even with all of that experience, nothing had prepared her for Shamir of all people to come running to her while she was in the middle of leading a prayer at the chapel. She wasn't prepared for the haunted look that the archer wore. And she especially wasn't prepared for her to lean in and whisper in her ear.

"It's Byleth."

After that, everything was a blur. Her aura of serenity shattered as she clumsily disbanded the prayer and quickly made her way to the medical ward. The voices. They were everywhere. The news has travelled so fast. She could only pick up pieces but she didn't stop. Not once. She only heard one thing.

Her arm.

Oh no…

What had that foolish girl done to her mother?!

Rhea didn't need to ask people to stand aside, they parted the way for her. Her eyes travelled to the students. They all look like they were in a trance. Even the three House Leaders who were meant to lead Fódlan into a new age, were reduced to children who didn't know what to do. Her eyes shifted to her own flesh and blood. Seteth, who was consoling Flayn who sobbed into his coat. He ran his hands through her green hair and kept whispering into her ear. They were standing outside the medical ward. Rhea nodded to them and was about to head in, but Seteth quickly grabbed her arm and they locked eyes with one another.

"…Prepare yourself. It's not a sight that you'll forget."

"I have seen my fair share of bloodshed, Seteth."

"Rhea… it's worse."

And that's what lead her to the present. Where she watched at a distance as both Manuela and Hellen did everything they could to stabilise Byleth. Her screams and whimpers of pain were burned into everyone's ears. Jeralt sat on a chair in the corner with his head in his hands, Shamir standing next to him with her arms crossed and looking away, unable to look at the sight. And Rhea couldn't blame her. Not even her mother's murder all those centuries ago was this… barbaric. Or maybe because she was spared the sight of that murder that she thought that way.

She repeated the same question from before. "What happened?"

Nobody could answer. A long silence laid in the room except for the whimpers of pain from Byleth. That is until Jeralt stood up and ran a hand through his hair.

"We need to discuss our next plan. Rhea, we can explain all that we can but I think it's better for everyone if we do it in private."

"Yes… perhaps you are right." Rhea mumbled, unable to take her eyes off of the stump where Byleth's arm used to be. Shamir nodded silently and walked to the door.

"I'll gather Alois and Catherine."

Jeralt nodded and was about to follow her, but felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Hellen looking at him with eyes that felt like pity. But also genuine sadness. He shouldn't be surprised, Hellen raised Byleth just like the others. Especially in areas where the men couldn't. It wasn't easy for her to be operating on someone who she considered a daughter.

"…I'll be fine. You make sure you're taken care of. Where are the others?"

"They're on a mission. They won't be back for another week."

"Good… at least then we can prepare for them."

Hellen watched Jeralt and Rhea leave but was quickly alerted by the groans coming from Byleth as she hurried over, stroking her blood matted hair and planting a kiss on her forehead.

"It's okay baby… you're going to be okay…"

"Okay I'm just gonna go out and say it. What the fuck?"

That definitely summed up all the students thoughts. Well, all of the Black Eagles who were currently residing in the mess hall which was unnaturally quiet. Seems after news of Byleth's condition broke out, nobody really had much of an appetite. The cooks were told to take the rest of the day off too. So the group made this their base of operations to talk about what happened. It wasn't like they could go to their classroom right now, as Jeralt was not in the mood to teach. For good reason.

"What could've possibly been enough to do that to her? I mean, Miss Byleth is the strongest person I know." Linhardt mused to himself. After he got over the feeling of sickness due to seeing so much blood, his thoughts instead shifted over to who could do such a thing?

"We don't know." Edelgard replied, trying to stop her hands from shaking. "We can only sense Ki, not paint a picture. As soon as the battle was over, it just vanished."

And that was what kept Edelgard on edge. If it was the Agarthan's, then she would've heard about it by now. Her uncle would've come to visit and gloated about the power they have at their disposal… but she saw Kronya. Even she had no clue what happened. So that had to mean that they either had no clue about this malicious Ki, or they're keeping secrets from one another.

"It's just… barbaric!" Ferdinand exclaimed. "There was no honour in that whatsoever! What that fiend did to Miss Byleth."

"Unfortunately, some creatures are not sharing the same honour as us, Ferdinand." Petra spoke up, tracing her finger on the table. "Though the fault lies with me. I should've stopped her-"

"Don't say that, Petra."

She turned to Caspar with a look of surprise. "I'm… sorry?"

"Don't blame yourself for what happened." He replied, with a serious look in his eyes. "I know too well what it's like when you blame yourself for things that happened outside of your control. We all thought she could handle it. Why wouldn't she be able to? She's won every fight ever since we've known her."

"That's true… but victory doesn't last forever." Petra whispered, with her eyes dropping to focus on the table.

"Caspar is right." Edelgard nodded. "We had every reason to believe Professor Byleth would be victorious. But Petra is also right, in that those winning streaks run out eventually. That's what Professor Byleth taught us. There will always be someone out there stronger."

"I just wish that this stronger foe wasn't evil."

"Yes… hopefully we can find him."

But Dorothea's eyes shifted to Bernadetta who was sitting next to her with her hood up, and hadn't spoken up since she recovered from fainting. She slowly rubbed her back and spoke in a low voice.

"Bernie? Are you okay?"

"…"

"I know it's bad, but Miss Byleth is tough. She'll be better in no time at all-"

"I'm scared…."

That barely came out as a whisper, but everyone heard it. And that's when Bernadetta broke down and started to cry into her hands as she choked out the words again.

"I'm scared."

She perfectly described how everyone was feeling right now. But Dorothea put on a brave face and hugged Bernadetta who cuddled up to her source of comfort. She gave good hugs after all. "We're all scared, Bernie. It's okay to feel that way. But we will find a way out of this. We always did, especially when the Moon Beast had shown up."

Edelgard and Linhardt shared a look with one another but said nothing else. Just the sounds of Bernadetta hiccuping and crying into Dorothea's chest. But that was when they heard a knock that echoed through the hall and they all turned to see Flayn, who gave a small smile.

But it quickly turned into a sad frown as she looked over to Edelgard. "The… Task Force is needed."

"…Very well. Petra, Caspar, Bernadetta. We should go."

"Can't you see that Bernie isn't in a state to be going anywhere?" Dorothea scolded Edelgard, but that's when Bernadetta wiped her eyes and stood up.

"N-No, it's okay Dorothea. Bernie will be strong, for the Professor. Can't be a crybaby…"

Edelgard nodded with a small smile as both Caspar and Petra stood up too. "Lead the way, Flayn."

"HRG!"

"RAH!"

"RRRRRRAAAAHHHH!"

Dimitri panted as he looked at the ruined training post which had been reduced to wood chips due to his constant strikes. He also looked to the training spear in his hand which wasn't in any better shape. And he just scoffed and tossed it aside, ignoring the cluttering sound of the wood hitting the floor and echoing through the training area. Dedue was standing in the corner, his hands at his sides as Dimitri held out his hand.

"Another one."

"Your Highness, perhaps we should take a break-"

"Dedue. Please. Another."

"…As you wish." Dedue muttered, closing his eyes and reaching for another training spear. But his eyes then caught somebody standing in the doorway.

"I… hope I'm not interrupting." Marianne whispered, playing with her hands as Dedue looked over at Dimitri.

"Your Highness, you have a visitor."

For the first time since today, Dimitri seemed to break out of his trance when he heard that voice. He turned to see Marianne but grabbed the training spear out of Dedue's outstretched hand and went to another post that wasn't destroyed. "Hello Marianne. I hope you aren't skipping out on class because of me."

"Umm… class has been over for a good few hours."

"I see… so a lot more time has passed than I thought."

Silence fell between then as Marianne kept staring at her feet and Dimitri went back to training. Finally she spoke.

"Are you okay?"

"…" He stared at the lance in his hand. "Marianne, are you familiar with the Tragedy of Duscur?"

Marianne saw Dedue tense up and close his eyes. She nodded, which Dimitri took as a sign to continue speaking. "I made a vow that day, that I would protect those I care about. That they wouldn't suffer like my family and the people of Duscur did."

And he clenched his fist and shut his eyes tight, crushing the lance to pieces. "But when I saw Professor Byleth fly off to face that foe. I thought to myself that I should've faced it alongside her. Because when she came back, covered in blood and missing her arm. I think back to that day I held my father's corpse in my arms. And I feel so… WEAK!"

He punched the wall and caused a dent in the stone with cracks forming in it. But Marianne still stood there, eyes downcast. "…Did you hear what happened the day Miss Byleth went with us to the Alliance?"

Dimitri slowly flexed his hand and nodded. "Yes… General Holst. He was a good man from what I've heard."

"I was there that day. He died in my arms."

Marianne watched Dimitri turn to her shocked at what he was hearing. She continued to speak. "When he was mortally wounded, Hilda begged me to heal him. But there was nothing I could do… I had to watch my friend cry her eyes out as she watched her brother pass on from this world and all I could do was watch."

Her eyes then shifted to Dimitri with a sad look. "It's part of my curse. My Crest is my curse that brings despair to people everywhere I go. It happened when I lost my parents… and countless others."

"Marianne…"

"I suppose what I'm trying to say is… I understand how you're feeling, Dimitri. I understand that pain in your heart. And… while I don't think I'm the best person to come to… I… I…"

Her cheeks flushed slightly as she looked away again. "I'm here for you. If you need to talk."

But she gasped when he gently took her hands in his own. "…Thank you. And… I could say the same thing to you."

"H-Huh? What do you mean?"

"You're not cursed, Marianne. And whoever tells you otherwise will have to deal with the Prince of Faerghus personally. And, if you need to talk. I am also here."

"Dimitri…"

Dedue had a small smile watching the exchange between the two staring into one another's eyes. At least he wasn't wrecking all the training equipment anymore, now that the fog that plagued his mind seemed to disappear. But then he heard the clanking of armour and turned to see Catherine there. He then cleared his throat which alerted Dimitri and Marianne who quickly jumped away from each other blushing.

"Oh, Lady Catherine. To what may I owe this visit?" Dimitri asked, trying to cool his face while Marianne looked the other way, covering her red cheeks. But Catherine was in no mood to tease, not with the current situation.

"141 needs to be assembled."

Dimitri's eyes hardened. Not with the same clouded rage as before. But with a newfound sense of determination. He knew what was being asked. "Show me the way. I will help in all I can."

And before he left, he turned to Marianne and smiled. "Thank you."

Her cheeks heated up again as she flashed a small smile. "You're welcome."

"…I will make sure the training area is tidied up, your Highness."

His cheeks heated up alongside Marianne out of sheer embarrassment once it finally dawned on him just how much of a mess he had made. "Y-Yes, thank you Dedue."

"Leonie, you are going to to make a hole in the flooring if you keep moving like that." Lorenz scolded.

"Oh, bite me Lorenz!" Leonie snapped back. "In case you haven't been paying attention, Professor Byleth is in critical condition and Captain Jeralt is beside himself with worry! How do you think I should feel?!"

"All I'm saying is you are doing yourself no favours by pacing back and forth like that. Huh, where's Marianne? She's usually here."

"I didn't quite hear her, but I believe she went to find someone." Ignatz said, drumming his hands on the desk while Raphael stared at his skewer of meatballs.

"…Food doesn't even taste good right now. I hope Miss Byleth is okay."

The Golden Deer were in their classroom with no teacher at the moment. Hanneman had excused himself for a moment after Manuela asked him for his assistance with tending to Byleth. Not like much teaching was going on anyway, as everyone was too distracted.

Claude just sat at his desk, tapping the wood in frustration while running a hand through his hair. He had too much to think about. But the biggest thing on his mind was who attacked Byleth?

It couldn't have been a wild animal, that much was obvious. He's seen the woman kill a bear and eat that same bear all to herself. So that left out any wildlife. Could it have been an assassin? No, that wouldn't add up either. Even if there was one that could actually incapacitate Byleth, there's no assassin that would be sloppy like that. Wasn't the whole point of assassins that the kills be swift and clean? Nah, that wouldn't work.

Then again, those enchanted swords exist and those actually hurt her-

"Claude?"

He blinked and saw Hilda lean into him. "…I'm afraid."

"…Yeah, me too Hilda. But we'll avenge Teach with no problem at all."

"Could we?"

"What do you mean? Of course we can."

"Actually…" Lysithea, who had overheard, looked up from her book. "There hasn't been one opponent we fought on our own which ended with us victorious. Professor Byleth always saved us at some point."

"Hey, that's not completely true." Claude said. But Hilda made a face.

"Actually Claude… she's right."

"What? No, that can't be right. I mean yeah there was Lonato, but what about the night at the Mausoleum? Lysithea managed to beat the Death Knight."

"Except without Professor Byleth, I wouldn't have even gotten close." Lysithea pointed out.

"And also after she got the sword, the battle was over."

"Okay… well, what about when we fought the Almyrians?

"Leonie almost permanently destroyed her arms trying to get the Relic out of that monsters chest. And it was miss Byleth who fell that foe." Lorenz called out as Leonie traced the lightning shaped scars on her arms.

"Dammit Lorenz, not you too." Claude groaned. But then he clicked his fingers. "Aha! The Moon Beast! Teach wasn't around during that!"

Hilda gave him a look but he placed a finger on his lips to shush her. Lysithea wasn't convinced.

"That wasn't a victory."

"What? Of course it was!"

"Yes, I have to agree with Lysithea." Ignatz said. "A victory would imply that we defeated said opponent, but in reality the Moon Beast disappeared after the sun went up. If it wasn't for a string of lucky incidents, we would've either been disintegrated by the Moon Beast, or overwhelmed by the monsters it summoned."

"Come on guys, work with me here! There has to be something…" Claude tapped his head to think, before grinning and stood up in triumph.

"I got it! Abyss! Teach wasn't the one who dealt the final blow on the Umbral Beast! That was Dimitri who did it. Checkmate!"

But then he saw Hilda make a face and he raised an eyebrow. "What? That counted!"

"Yeeaaaahhh… except that if it wasn't for the Professor being there, then we wouldn't have survived even the first encounter with those mercenaries that Aelfric sent. We would've again, been overwhelmed by the horde, or cut to pieces by the Death Knight."

Claude stared stupefied at Hilda before groaning and slumping on his desk again before slamming his head on the wooden surface groaning.

"No banging your head, Claude. It is unbefitting-"

"Of someone of my station, yeah I got it Lorenz. In case you haven't noticed, I'm kind of in an existential crisis."

"Hey, there's always a chance you can get a win without miss Byleth being there!" Raphael said. "After all, we go on little missions here and there to clear out monsters or bandits and she isn't there with us."

"…huh. That's a good point Raphael. Thanks. Yeah, you're right. Take the small victories as they come."

Claude nodded to himself with a small smirk before he then leaned his elbows on the desk with his hands on his chin. "Now the big question… what exactly are we dealing with here?"

But before an answer could be said, they heard a throat being cleared and turned to see Seteth standing there with a neutral look, and his hands behind his back.

"Task Force 141. You are needed."

"…Yeah. We're coming." Claude nodded to Leonie and Lysithea and helped up Hilda as the four of them left behind their classmates and followed Seteth.

"Annie, please eat something. You haven't eaten all day."

Annette had her head on the desk with Mercedes rubbing her back gently while looking at the small basket of sweets she baked. "I'm sorry Mercie, it looks good. But I'm just not hungry… I'm worried about Professor Byleth."

"It was certainly a shock… I never thought that something like this would happen to someone like her. But it's okay Annie, Professor Manuela and Miss Hellen will make sure she is as right as rain!"

"I hope you're right…"

The Blue Lions were all in their own classroom. Manuela forgot to lock it after she heard the news and made a mad dash to the infirmary. But the students had nowhere else to go, so they elected to just stay in the classroom. Well… most of them did anyway.

"I just can't believe what I saw." Ashe spoke up. "I mean yes, I suppose I should've known that there would be a fight that Professor Byleth wouldn't be able to win but…"

"What that thing did… there was no honour in that. It sickens me to find people like that exist." Ingrid said, while giving Ashe's hand a reassuring squeeze.

But then a thought crossed her mind as she realised they were a few people short. "Where's his Highness?"

"Oh, he went off to train. He had 'that' look in his eyes." Sylvain mumbled. And Ingrid understood, looking down at her desk. But then she heard a scoff.

"Typical Boar."

"Felix!" Ingrid scolded.

"What? You know I'm right. Whenever something bad happens, the Boar goes to his cave and destroys everything in sight. You don't have to hide that, you've seen it for yourself."

Then he crossed his arms and sighed, before looking at Annette and Ashe. "She's going to be fine. She's the strongest person I know. This won't stop her."

They were all stunned to hear that coming from Felix of all people, but Ashe and Annette flashed a small smile of appreciation at him. Felix just scoffed as turned his head as Sylvain got his arm round him grinning.

"Aww look at that! See, you can be a softie if you wanted to."

"Let go of me right now or I'm driving my elbow in your stomach."

"Woah, and we're back to old Felix already." Sylvain chuckled, backing away with his hands raised. But then he saw Shamir walk in who gave Felix a look.

"141, follow me."

Mercedes gave Annette a reassuring smile while Ingrid stared at Ashe with concern as the three of them made their way over to Shamir who nodded at them to follow.

"…"

"…"

"Is anyone going to speak up?" Jeralt asked, looking around the room which consisted of Rhea, Seteth, Alois, Shamir and Catherine. Even Flayn was there despite Seteth's protests but Rhea insisted that she had to be there. After all, she was one of the few who saw Byleth. And of course, all the members of 141 were present too.

Catherine and even Alois were unnaturally quiet. The latter not even busting out his jokes to try and lighten the mood. One minute Byleth flew off, the next minute, she came back on death's door, and it's not like the students themselves were being very talkative. They all noticed the emotions they were all going through right now. Jeralt sighed.

"Alright, I'll start. We're in trouble."

"Yeah, that's an understatement." Shamir muttered. "We're completely out of our depth here."

"You said that a… large green creature managed to beat Byleth?" Seteth asked and Jerald nodded.

"Whatever we're dealing with, it's not from here. And we can only imagine what it's next moves are. Whether it's leaving in peace… or it's coming back to finish the rest of us off."

A terrified squeak came out of Bernadetta as Edelgard leaned forward, trying to keep her cool and closed her eyes. "What do you propose?"

"Honestly? I've got nothing." Jeralt shrugged. "I mean the power gap is one thing, but we have literally no idea what we're up against."

"Only that he was big and green." Flayn mumbled.

"Well, I say we take the fight to him." Felix said, with his arms crossed.

"And where exactly are we gonna start looking?" Leonie shot back.

"More importantly, what are we supposed to do against a being like that?" Lysithea glared. "You felt that things Ki, what do you hope to do against something like that?"

"Who knows, but at least I'll be going down protecting my home. If you want to roll on your back and like a puppy and die, go ahead."

"Why you…" Lysithea growled and Jeralt sighed.

"We have enough to deal with right now without adding arguing on top of it. We're at a disadvantage in terms of intel. We have nothing to go off of with who or what this thing is. Or even where it is. And unfortunately, the only person that does have an inkling is currently in critical condition."

Rhea closed her eyes. "This is indeed a very perilous situation. Regardless, we should be ready to defend should this being come back. Alois, send the Knights to-"

That's when she stopped when everyone started to hear noises coming from outside. Dimitri frowned in confusion.

"What's going on out there?"

But the closer it got to the room they were in, the clearer the noises started to become.

"….be resting!"

"…please don't push yourself!"

"Byleth come back!"

Everyone's eyes widened hearing that name as the doors slammed open, revealing Byleth. Who looked absolutely horrible.

"Professor!" Edelgard brought a hand to her mouth. Now that everyone got a better look at the Saiyan, they saw just how bad her injuries were. She was no longer in her regular outfit but in loose comfortable clothing provided by Hellen and Manuela who were trying to bring her back to the ward. The blood and dirt had been mostly cleaned off from her hair and face, but what was clear to everyone, aside from the large gash on her right eye which was in the process of getting stitches, was the very noticeable lack of a right arm, which was bandaged up tightly. Her tail was hanging limply behind her as she used her remaining arm to prop herself up on the door, panting.

"Byleth please go back to bed! You should be recovering!" Hellen pleaded, trying to pry her away.

"…..father….. need….. father."

"Now this is not the time to be stubborn!" Manuela scolded, trying to pull her back, but Byleth shook her head.

"…..warning…."

When Jeralt heard her, he immediately ran to her side just as she collapsed onto her knees, panting heavily.

"Round up the knights to put her back in the ward!" Rhea ordered and Alois nodded.

"Kid, are you okay-"

"Shut up. Listen. Don't have much time."

Jeralt widened his eyes at the desperate plea, but nodded. "Lord… Slug. His name is Lord Slug."

"Lord Slug, right."

"He's going to… going to…"

"Take your time kid." Jeralt assured her. But she shook her head.

"He's going to… flood all of Fódlan and beyond. Drown everyone."

Edelgard, Dimitri and Claude looked at each other in shock. She couldn't be serious, right?

"Outer space… can stretch arms…"

"She's delirious!" Seteth said but Jeralt kept nodding at her showing he understood what she was saying.

Her grip started to loosen as her vision was getting blurry. "Can regenerate… his limbs… save everyone… save… Fódlan… dad."

Byleth then slumped to the ground having fully passed out right as the Knights of Seiros came rushing in. As per their orders, they gently picked her up and escorted her back to the medical ward with Manuela and Hellen fussing over her. But Jeralt slowly stood up with a new sense of resolve and turned to the group.

"Well at least we have a better clue on what we're dealing with."

"Are we expected to blindly follow what she said? She said that this… Lord Slug came from space." Seteth said, unconvinced at her words but Shamir shrugged.

"Byleth's mom came from space."

"…Yes, I suppose I can't argue with that."

That's when Catherine turned to Rhea who had an unreadable look on her face. "Lady Rhea? What do you propose?"

Everyone waited with baited breath as Rhea contemplated every single decision going on in her mind. But only one kept popping up every single time.. with a heavy heart, she stood up and sighed and opened her eyes with a hardened expression.

"If what Byleth said is true, then it's reasonable to assume that they would start here. Garreg Mach is one of the strongholds of Fódlan."

"Are you saying…?" Seteth couldn't bring himself to say it. But Rhea nodded.

"Ready the Knights. The students. 141. Everyone. For today, we prepare to defend against the stars."

"And you're sure that you heard that correctly? You are absolutely positive?" Solon asked.

Kronya nodded. She and Solon were in a hidden room that was behind a bookshelf at the Garreg Mach library, with a glass ball in between the two, currently glowing to indicate that a connection has been made to communicate. They were in a meeting with other Agarthan's right now, which is why the two were comfortable shedding their disguises for now.

"I am. I disguised myself as one of the knights around this rotten place, and I heard it clear as day. Whoever managed to best the Fell Star is coming back to finish off the rest of Fódlan and the entire world. Cover the planet in water and drown everyone who resides here."

"Hmm… this is a very big turn of events. Never would I have seen something like this transpiring." Solon muttered.

"And this 'Lord Slug' is a powerful being." Cornelia added on her end of the call. "If he was able to reduce the Fell Star to a state that you have described, then it's not someone we should take lightly. And on top of that, from what you have said about his intentions, it doesn't sound like he is someone we can form an alliance with."

But Solon noticed that Thales had been quiet throughout the entire conversation and asked him what he thought. And it took a good five seconds before he responded.

"The very thought of this idea disgusts me to no end… but Kronya, Solon. You have a new objective. You are to assist the Church with this Lord Slug character."

"WHAT?!" Kronya screamed, standing up so fast that she knocked over the chair she was standing on and it clattered to the ground.

"You can't be serious! You want me to work with those disgusting surface dwellers?! I won't do it!"

But then grunted in pain as she felt her whole body freeze up on command. She couldn't even move her head to look at who did it. But then she heard Solon.

"You would do best to watch your tongue, child. Especially when it is against our lord."

"Peace, Solon. She has every right to be angry at the suggestion." Thales spoke through the glass orb as Solon grunted in displeasure and released her from the spell he casted on her. She fell to the floor panting hard as Thales continued to speak.

"Now think logically for a moment, Kronya. We are to usurp the Church and the Nabateans from our home and take it back, yes?"

"Y-Yeah?"

"So then what would all of this mean if we don't have a home to take back? We are many things, us Agarthan's. But we cannot live underwater. We have to defend our home in order to reclaim it. Do you understand?"

"Yes… my apologies, master. I spoke out of turn."

"And look on the bright side." Cornelia said. "If this battle goes the way we expect it to, then more of the surface dwellers will be walking towards their death's, which also means that when the time comes to take back our land, there will be less resistance."

"…Hee hee. Now that does make me feel better."

"Very well then. Kronya, you are to engage on the front lines alongside Hresvelg. We will send some support units in order to try and help out. But do not blow your cover."

"I don't know what you mean?"

"He means don't get too bloodthirsty." Solon said with a deadpanned face.

"I don't get bloodthirsty!"

The silence after Kronya said that was deafening and she crossed her arms with a huff. "I don't get TOO bloodthirsty…"

"…Right. Well then, if we are finished here then I will continue with my own business." Cornelia rolled her eyes. "Try not to get us all killed."

With that, she severed her connection to the call as Thales sighed. "Yes… and do not get yourself killed, more importantly. You still have a role to play in all of this."

No other words were exchanged as the ball in front of them dimmed down to indicate that the connection was severed on his end too. Solon sighed and changed back into his Tomas disguise.

"Come child, we have work to do."

Kronya nodded, and after changing back into her Monica disguise, followed Solon out of their little hiding place. She had conflicting emotions. But Thales was right. If they were going to kill these disgusting creatures, then unfortunately they had to team up against this third party.

"Ugh, this is the worst…"

"Ow… my head. Wait, where am I?"

Byleth groaned and sat up, before opening her eyes and looking around. She was having trouble remembering where she was, and what was… doing…

Why did her body feel… weird? She sighed and went to scratch her head… only to find her arm wasn't doing as it was told. She quickly looked down and-

Oh.

Now it was all coming back.

"I… lost." As she stared at the stump where her dominant arm used to be, she remembered her battle with Lord Slug. And then when she briefly woke up and against Manuela and Hellen's protests, ran to where her dad and Rhea were to warn everyone. She closed her eyes and let out a relieved sigh.

"At least I managed to warn them."

"Yes, but do you think that it will be enough?"

Byleth turned to see that Sothis was behind her, no longer sitting on the throne that she usually did. But she was staring sadly at her arm and Byleth shook her head.

"Come on, Sothis. We can't be thinking like that."

"Byleth, you barely got out of there alive! How do you think that they will be able to best this opponent when not even you can?"

"…I don't know. But I can't lose hope. They'll be able to figure something out. But more importantly, this isn't the afterlife?"

Sothis sighed and shook her head. "No, thankfully, your Saiyan biology kept you from passing away. You're currently in the medical ward, in a coma. With luck and patience, you'll be able to recover. Though, I cannot say the same for your arm"

"It's okay." Byleth shook her head. "I'll just learn to use my other one."

"Honestly, you are quite the strange child. But I like that about you."

"So. It's happened to you too."

Sothis and Byleth gasped and wheeled around, ready to fight at whoever just spoke.

"Who goes there?!" Sothis screamed. But then Byleth saw that… it was Byleth. Or rather, that green haired version of her.

"Sothis, it's okay. I know her."

"…Huh. Now that you mention it, I recognise her too."

Future Byleth smiled uneasily. "I'm glad to see you again, Sothis. Though I wish it was under more peaceful situations."

That's when Byleth noticed that her future self was also missing an arm. Come to think of it, she looked like she just crawled out of an intense battle.

"Did you get that from Lord Slug, too?"

"…Who?"

Byleth and Sothis looked at each other confused before turning back to Future Byleth. "Lord Slug? I just came out of a battle with him where I almost died."

"…Who's Lord Slug?"

Future Byleth frowned and looked deep in thought. "This timeline is a lot more different than the last…"

That's when Byleth realised something. "Wait, we're talking directly now?"

"Yes, the closer our timelines get to one another, the stronger the connection. It's why I was only able to give warnings before. But this? This isn't something that's happened in any of the timelines."

"Timelines?"

Future Byleth shook her head. "Look, this isn't important right now. What matters is your present. Best this foe, and build your connections-"

She screamed in pain and fell to her knees as a shadowy figure appeared behind her with glowing red eyes. Byleth went to draw her sword and help her future self only to find her weapon wasn't at her side. Sothis casted a spell and threw it but to her shock it bounced right off the shadowy figure.

"I'll be okay! We will meet again! Get stronger! Break the cycle!" Future Byleth yelled.

And with that, there was only silence. Future Byleth was gone as well as that figure that was behind her. Sothis rubbed her chin and hummed.

"This day just keeps on getting stranger and stranger. What did she mean by break the cycle?"

"She said that before. But if she said timelines… my head hurts."

"Yes, I expect your head to hurt after what you went through. No matter though, we have a job to do. We need to get you ready for when you wake up."

Byleth tilted her head. "Wake up? What do you mean?"

"You will be fully healed eventually as well as get a Zenkai Boost from your injuries." Sothis pointed out. "But that alone might not be enough to best this Lord Slug. To achieve victory, we must aim higher."

"The Oozaru!" Byleth exclaimed. And Sothis nodded.

"Precisely! After all, it's all a mental lock in the end. And where are we? In your mind."

"So… this is my head?" Byleth wondered to herself, now fully taking in the vast void of darkness that was around them. "I don't know whether I should be offended that it is so… empty."

"It's not your actual head! Oh my goodness, you are so… never mind. The point is, we have a lot of work to do. So let's get started."

"But we don't have time! Lord Slug could be here soon!"

That's when Sothis let out a cheeky giggle and winked, wagging a finger at Byleth. "Are you forgetting who controls time around here? We have all the time in the world!"

"What do you mean?"

"This is your conscience. It doesn't work the same way as it does out there in the real world. And when you fell unconscious, I took liberties to prepare for your training by making it so the laws of time moves slower in here than it does out there."

Byleth tilted her head with a confused frown. Sothis just sighed and rubbed her temples. "To put it simply, 10 hours in here is 10 minutes out there."

"Oh. Well then that makes things a little easier."

She then gave a determined look and nodded to Sothis. "Let's do this then."

"Very well. Just try not to blow out your vocal cords again."

*Song: DBZ ending theme*

As Byleth prepares her mental training to break her limits, the rest of Fódlan make their move to defend their home from the evil Lord Slug, including an unknown but unexpected alliance with the Agarthan's! Will they be victorious, or will Lord Slug reduce them all to the same state as Byleth? Find out next time on, The Ashen Saiyan!

And that's a wrap! Things are moving along quite nicely, and the arc has been set up in full swing. And yes, the Agarthan's will be providing assistance, though it's purely for their own gain.

Also, I hope you enjoyed the little Dimitri x Marianne moment in this chapter. They're one of the most precious ships in Three Houses, so had to give them a little attention.

I know people have been waiting for it, but Monkey in Tactician Robes will be releasing later today as well. It will be a shorter chapter, since like I said, it's a side project compared to this one. Hope you all enjoy.

And yeah, I went with the whole timeline gig since Three Hopes proved that one single decision changes everything. So yes, realistically, present Byleth would be stronger than her future counterparts. But how did Future Byleth lose hers? Who's she fighting? Honestly, I feel it's obvious but eventually we'll get there.

We also passed 165 favourites on this story as well as hit 180 followers. Blows my mind every time people tune into this story. Thank you all so much.

Oh, and please check out Quan Ming on Twitter. She helps me with all the artwork that goes into this story, and she's a great artist. I'll be compiling all the Ashen Saiyan art into a folder on deviant art but if you want to see the latest art, which is Byleth after her fight with Lord Slug, check out the chapter on AO3 where it will be posted.

But yeah, join us next time. Where everyone prepares, including Lord Slug.

Catch you later!