Part 1: White Clouds
The Turn of the Tide
"They just keep coming!"
"Keep fighting!"
"Oh geez, I never thought of that, thank you very much!"
"Can we FOCUS?!"
The groups of students and 141 were now all huddled together trying their best to fend off the horde of enemies that were trying to overwhelm them. The losses that had befallen them were many. They were down to at least 200 knights, and that was very generous to say. The only reason that they were still alive was because the 141 members were a lot more stronger than the soldiers of Lord Slug. But they couldn't keep this up. Not only were they so exhausted from having to understandably bear the brunt of the forces, but the rain was making a simple task such as breathing very difficult to do.
The students all knew this. And on the Golden Deer side, they looked over at the shortest member of their team to see her looking like she was about to collapse. They knew that if Lysithea and even Edelgard push themselves too hard, then they collapse. And the former has been exhausting her magic reserves just to keep the enemies at bay.
Once they all got a moment to rest after taking out this next sector of soldiers, they all turned to one another and tried to quickly form a plan.
"Okay, who's still able to stand?" Ferdinand quickly asked. But Lorenz shook his head.
"I think it's clear who's able to fight and who isn't. Lysithea, I suggest you fall back."
"We can't have her fall back!" Caspar yelled. "She's our strongest magic user!"
"She's exhausted!"
"We're all exhausted! In case you haven't figured it out Lorenz, we're literally fighting for our lives!" Hilda yelled at him. "We don't have an option but to keep on fighting! If we lose, then we're dead! Everything will be gone!"
Everyone grimaced and looked down, knowing that Hilda was right. Ferdinand pushed his wet hair out of his face and tapped his head to try and think. "Okay, but we need to try and get our strongest at the back for now-"
"And we're to do what?" Dorothea crossed her arms. "Ferdie, we can't bear the brunt of the soldiers on our own, we need 141."
They knew Dorothea was right… but Annette was currently being held up by Mercedes, Felix and Ashe were panting heavily. Bernadetta was ready to collapse due to not only the physical strain, but also the rain making it feel like she was choking. Hilda couldn't even hold up her axe, and had to lean on Leonie. The only ones who were in 'fighting shape' were Leonie, Petra and Caspar. But even then they were ready to give up too. And when they all looked in the distance they could see their House Leaders fighting their own battles.
"She's right…" Marianne clasped her hands together. "But… I may be able to help."
Everyone looked at her as she shrunk away. "I-It's nothing much, but… Hilda has been teaching me how to utilise my own Ki. And I think it can-"
Her eyes widened when she saw a laser blast heading straight towards her, which was luckily blocked by Raphael as he grunted.
"Hey! That was very rude! We were in the middle of a conversation!"
"I'm sorry Marianne, but we will have to continue this later." Leonie said, summoning a Ki lance as everyone took their stances.
"B-But I think… never mind."
"Alright, we stick to the original plan!" Ferdinand yelled. "Try not to break formation!"
"I-I'll make sure Lysithea doesn't get too tired!" Bernadetta volunteered.
"We can't falter now!"
"Hey! Get back here! I'm not playing around!"
Wings roared and slammed his fist into a tree that Jeralt hid behind which caused it to topple over and crash onto the mud as the older man gritted his teeth. He needed time to recover his Ki. If he could, then he could probably even the tides just a little bit. But this guy wasn't giving him a moment to even breathe.
But just as Wings was about to smash his fists down again, he grunted in pain as he felt something stuck in his back. He turned his head to find arrows sticking out of it and let out another grunt before ripping them out his back.
"It ain't a nice thing to go for somebodies back during a fight!" He called out to the distance, as Claude had his bow drawn after just firing a volley and he clicked his tongue in frustration.
"How tough is this guy? It's like fighting Teach… only not as good looking, but just as scary."
That's when his eyes widened when he sensed Jeralt's Ki rising steadily. That's it! How did he not realise it sooner? He was too busy trying to keep Wings distracted. Claude then chuckled and wiped the rain out of his eyes and put his bow on his back.
'Alright, Papa Teach. I got you now.'
"Hey! Big and ugly! You wanna fight me?!" Claude yelled, hoping that the insults would get under his skin. It worked, as Wings slowly turned around and made his way towards him. It's only then that Claude realised the… height difference between them. He chuckled very nervously and rubbed the back of his head.
"Well uh… wanna talk about this?"
"No."
As Wings kept making his way towards Claude, he felt something under his foot and looked down to see light slowly forming and then-
KABOOM!
Claude grinned and waggled his finger. "One thing to learn big guy, is that you make yourself look weak to come out on top."
The smoke slowly cleared to reveal Wings, looking a little singed but VERY angry. Claude kept up his brave face but quickly looked over at Jeralt gathering power.
'Come on, Papa Teach. I don't know how long I can keep him distracted.'
As Wings punched a wall that Claude managed to avoid, he grinned seeing his arm was stuck.
"Hey now, that wall is not your eating disorder."
"You're a penis!"
"Been so long since you've seen yours that you don't even recognise one? That's sad."
Wings roared loudly and ripped his arm out of the wall causing that house to crumble and Claude grimaced.
'Okay, maybe I could've prevented that house from being destroyed. I should probably find the owner after all this.'
To the outside perspective, it would look like Claude was playing chicken. But that was far from the truth. He wasn't stupid, he knew that if he went up against this guy, he was definitely not going to win. He wasn't the strongest, as he preferred to spend his training honing his Ki abilities like his Buck Shot and his Ki mines. But Claude still didn't have enough time to dial down the charge rate for the Buck Shot technique. Something that would be really handy right about now.
'Just conserve your strength. I know as much as everyone else that these guys aren't the main threat. That one is still in the ship, likely preparing for his assault on us. Save your breath for him. Don't waste your time. Just distract him long enough.'
"Get away from me! You freaks of nature!" Edelgard screamed, swinging her axe and using the momentum to fling the baby creatures away from her as she and Flayn were trying to get to Medamatcha and take him out.
"Ah, ah, ah! You have to play nice with my babies!"
"How does he keep making them?" Flayn muttered to herself, whilst still staring at her hands as Edelgard turned to her.
"Flayn, I am unable to fight alone. Are you able to assist me or are your hands more interesting?" Edelgard scolded her, but Flayn shook her head.
"I'm trying. But everytime I try to use more if my strength it's like… something inside me is preventing it from coming out…"
She held out her hands to Edelgard, and that's when she saw what Flayn was talking about. The hexes that ran throughout her arms and possibly her entire body. And since Edelgard knew who Flayn really was… the implication of those hexes were unsettling to say the least.
'Were they put on her because… if she loses control-'
"Edelgard! Look out!"
Both girls fell to the ground when Flayn tackled the House Leader and they both narrowly missed the beam that was headed towards them. Edelgard caught her breath and they both managed to pick themselves up.
"Do I really get caught up in my own head that often…?" Edelgard muttered to herself. But she shook her head and summoned a Ki axe before nodding to Flayn.
"We can worry about that later. I think I have an idea."
"…Does it involve me getting near the creepy small ones?"
"…I'm only doing this because it's logical."
"Edelgard I can't believe you!"
Flayn then growled and sucked in a deep breath before expelling a huge torrent of flames that burnt the little alien kids to a crisp. The flames were so hot that it wasn't even fazed by the constantly pouring rain. Edelgard was left stunned at the display of power.
"Flayn? How did…"
"Oh dear, I don't know what came over me!" Flayn exclaimed. "I hope that I didn't hurt anyone else!"
But that's when Edelgard frowned and thought to herself again. Only this time, keeping an eye out for any surprise attacks. 'Hmmm… those hexes placed on her body… it's been known that she has anger problems but… what if it's not? What if intense emotions allows her power to break through in small bursts? Those hexes can't keep all of it contained. Maybe this can help.'
"Change of plans." Edelgard said and looked towards the group of smaller aliens. "I'll take care of the smaller ones, you deal with the bigger one."
"What? Why-"
"Flayn, you can do this. If you haven't noticed, then your power creeps through when you get angry, or your emotions get out of control. Just… try to get angry. And focus it on him."
She was very unsure about this. But Edelgard had a point… it was better than nothing. "Okay. I'll try."
"Hmm, you are a lot more persistent than I thought." Angila pointed out, avoiding Dimitri's attacks. "I'd imagine that you are a lot more persistent than anyone else on this miserable rock. It's truly a shame you have to die. I'm sure we could've used someone of your strength."
"I will never join someone as cruel as you lot!" Dimitri yelled back. "You and your boss are the reason my dear Professor is laying comatose without her arm!"
"Well it wasn't easy for us either. I mean she left a LOT of blood, that we had to clean off."
Dimitri gritted his teeth, almost snarling as Angila used his arms to dig under the ground and uppercut the Prince. "You're like a rabid animal. It's rude to snarl at people, didn't your parents teach you that?"
"Stop it…"
"Oh no matter. If they aren't dead already, then they will be soon. There's nothing that you can do."
As Dimitri's grip tightened under his Ki Lance, almost shattering it completely, he heard a voice in his head.
'You waste of space! Are you just going to let him tarnish our names like that?'
"Father…" Dimitri started to say as his head started throbbing as more voices rang out.
'You failed to save us, before. Are you going to fail us again?'
'Do not let him drag everything we worked for into the mud! Wipe him from the face of the planet! Kill him Dimitri!'
'Or are you going to fail your Professor, too?'
As Dimitri slowly sunk to his knees, dropping his Ki lance and clutching his head, screaming in pain, Angila scrunched his nose and kicked him onto his back before stepping on his neck and applying pressure making Dimitri start to gasp and choke.
"You know, you're a lot more damaged mentally than I thought. And here I thought you were one of the strongest, but you've done nothing but act like a lost puppy. It's just not fun if you aren't that strong and can't keep your sanity together. But I suppose I can be a nice guy, so I'll let you choose who I kill."
He then slowly dragged Dimitri to his feet and forced him to look at the display of his own classmates fighting for their lives. "No…"
"I think… that blue haired girl might be a good target. What do you think?"
Dimitri's eyes bugged out when he realised he was referring to Marianne. Angila grinned and leaned in, talking into his ear as they watched her desperately try to heal everyone, but she was exhausted and struggling to breathe.
"She looks so fragile… I wonder if she would even put up a fight?"
"Stop it…"
"Or would she just accept her fate? Or maybe I could take her onto the ship? I'm sure that the other soldiers would appreciate such a… delicate flower-"
Angila frowned when he felt pressure digging into his arm as he looked down to see Dimitri grabbing him with gritted teeth.
'What the hell? Where is this power coming from? I can't get him off!'
He tried yanking his arm away from Dimitri, but the pressure was getting too much. "Let go!"
"You… won't… HURT HER!"
As Dimitri stood up and threw him hard into the ground. Angila coughed up blood and dug his arms into the ground and made them spring out to catch his wrists… but then he started laughing.
"What are you?"
Dimitri just kept on laughing louder and harder and grabbed his hands before…
CRUNCH!
A howl of pain came out of Angila as Dimitri crushed his wrists with minimal effort. As lightning struck the ground around them, shedding light on Dimitri… and the very crazed look in his eyes as he kept laughing.
"I WILL SPIKE YOUR HEAD ON THE GATES OF FAERGHUS!"
"He's changed… what the hell has gotten into him?" Angila muttered to himself, massaging his wrists and flexing them before getting into a stance and charging towards him, bringing his fist down on his head. But to his shock, he didn't move. Instead he slowly looked up with those crazed eyes and raised a brow.
"Is that all you got?"
And with that, he slowly grabbed Angola's fist, and with a surprising amount of force, gently moved it away and nodded. "Okay, guess it's my turn."
"What-"
CRACK!
Angila screamed in pain once more as he was thrown about on the ground like a rag doll, before being tossed away once again and Dimitri laughed loudly.
"AFTER I AM DONE WITH YOU, I WILL MOVE ON TO YOUR MEN! AND THAT DEMON! HE WON'T BEST ME! I WILL LET HIM CHOOSE HIS OWN DEATH!"
"What the hell? What's happening over there?" Leonie grunted, blocking a punch and stabbing a soldier before feeling her senses go haywire. "Who's power is that? Is it ours?"
But then she saw Felix click his tongue in annoyance… as well as nervousness. "It's the boar."
Ingrid gasped and turned to Felix. "No, don't tell me-"
"Dammit, why now of all times?!" Sylvain shouted, ducking under a laser blast and throwing his spear at the soldier which impaled him, as Petra gave him a spare one made out of Ki.
"I am having confusion, what is wrong with Dimitri?"
"The boar has finally turned into what he really is."
The non blue lions looked confused at this but Ingrid sighed, as she kept fighting while explaining. "His Highness has… emotional damage from the Duscur Tragedy. I've only seen it happen a few times, but he…"
"Loses all control and starts laughing like a maniac." Sylvain finished. But his eyes widened when he saw Dedue break out of the formation and run off. "Hey! Dedue! Where are you going?!"
"His Highness needs help." He simple said.
"Are you crazy?! It's too dangerous!"
"I'm coming too."
They all turned to see Marianne running off beside Dedue as Hilda shouted at her.
"Wait! Marianne! Come back! Maria-"
Hilda yelped after narrowly avoiding a laser blast. Leonie just shook her head and readied her lance. "They made their choice, we'll catch up with them later. Lysithea? You ready?"
"Yeah… I'm… ready…" Lysithea weakly said and sucked in a breath, before readying her Crest. She won't use the other one. She can't. She won't give the satisfaction to those who did it.
She can't.
She can't… keep doing this.
As on the other side of the battlefield, someone else had similar thoughts.
'I can't… keep doing this.' Edelgard was panting heavily, as much like Lysithea, her body just couldn't keep up. Both of them were very weak after what they went through… but Medamatcha was giggling menacingly as he grabbed her head and lifted her up before starting to apply pressure.
"Come on, little lady! Let papa hear you squeal! I'm not interested in the other one, I wanna hear you!"
Edelgard screamed loudly in pain, feeling intense pain in her head as she tried to kick at him but was unable to do so. And Medamatcha brought her closer and giggled again.
"You're so fragile! Feel like I'll end up POPPING you mr head like a grape! I wonder if it's the same with you as with everyone else! Let's find out!"
As Edelgard groaned and screamed in pain trying to scratch his hand to get him off her, she had to think. She was going to die if she didn't do anything! Where's Flayn?!
"Edelgard! No!"
She heard Flayn's screams as the tiny baby creatures piled on top of her and prevented her from moving as she couldn't do anything but watch. The plan went array in almost an instant. The little ones separated the two immediately, and Medamatcha took his time dismantling Edelgard.
But not all was lost. They still had a chance.
"F-Flayn! You need to… do it!"
Flayn looked up as she still struggled to get the creatures off her. "W-What? But-"
"You're the one with the power here! You can do this!"
But then Flayn said something that shocked Edelgard to her core. "USE YOUR CREST!"
The power of her voice reached everywhere in the battlefield as Lysithea also heard it as both the white haired girls froze when hearing it.
"I know… you're holding it back." Flayn struggled to say, talking to Edelgard while Lysithea was able to hear it. "I know you're afraid. But please! I can't go all out if you're holding back! Please! FIGHT!"
Both the girls went slack as Lysithea fell to her knees. Which Ignatz noticed.
"Lysithea! No!"
Sylvain hissed in annoyance as he gripped his lance. "Heads up guys, we're down another! She can't go on."
But she was in her own world now as she was brought back to a memory from a while back, as did Edelgard. A memory of a simpler time.
"Why do you two hide yourselves?"
Both Edelgard and Lysithea were shocked to hear their Professor say that to them. As the three of them were currently fishing at the docks. Well, more specifically, Byleth and Edelgard were fishing with Lysithea just sitting in between them and absentmindedly chewing on a cookie.
"I… beg your pardon?" Edelgard said. "I don't hide my scars anymore if that's what-"
"I don't mean your scars. But Lysithea, you shouldn't hide them either." Byleth shook her head, as she kept staring ahead at the water.
"I mean why do the two of you hide your Crests?"
That made the two stiffen up in shock as Byleth continued. "Forgive me Edelgard, I know you said it in confidence, but considering Lysithea has a similar experience to you, I figured it would be right to talk to you both."
"Y-You also have…" Lysithea started to say, but then shook her head. "No wait, why are you assuming such things about me?"
That's what's Byleth gave her such a deadpan expression, that Lysithea felt like shrinking under her gaze. "Well, you both have white hair, your eyes are dull compared to the other students, you both can't do intense sessions without collapsing from exhaustion and you cough up blood when pushing yourselves too far."
"I mean… that could just be a coincidence…"
"What do you mean by hide our Crests?" Edelgard said, sensing that a debate would happen and cut in. Byleth shrugged and reeled in her line.
"I don't know what you two went through. Honestly, I don't think I want to know, as it must've been unspeakable horror. But… you shouldn't let what happened to you hide what you truly are."
As Byleth summoned her Crest of Flames in her hand and stared at it. "I don't know how these things work, given that I only found out I had one recently. But what I do know is that if it can help me protect those that I care for, then I will use it. Don't you two think you should use yours to protect your own?"
Both Edelgard and Lysithea sat there pondering that just as Byleth yanked her rod and stretched out her hand to catch a fish that was dangling from the hook.
'Use it…'
'To protect those…'
'I love…'
*Song: Open Your Heart (Sonic Adventure)*
Lysithea slowly dragged herself up before realising that the Golden Deer formed a protective barrier around her to keep her safe. Even then, the fact that they had no Ali aside from Hilda and Leonie, and they were still trying to protect her. And yet… she wasn't going all out…
Something snapped in Lysithea as she clenched her fists and felt lightning crackling from her body.
'No… I won't stand by anymore! I WON'T BE WEAK!'
As she started yelling and powering up, shattering the barrier that had surrounded her, which attracted the attention of the students who all felt her power start to increase. Even those who couldn't sense Ki could FEEL the power on display as Lysithea's power skyrocketed followed by a roar that was not like her at all, before a bright light burst out of her body and blinded everyone in the area making the students cover their eyes. And when the light died down, they all saw… Lysithea. With not only her Crest floating next to her… but another one too.
"L-Lysithea?" Hilda gasped as the smaller girl glared at the army of Lord Slug and spoke with venom in her voice.
"I've had… enough of you."
As she stuck her hand out and charged a Luna spell with ease and fired it towards the group of soldiers charging towards them. She then clenched her fist as the huge ball of darkness started to suck in the soldiers who all screamed trying desperately to escape but met their fate by being crushed by the intense gravity of the spell.
"Woah… she has… two Crests?" Ashe managed to croak out, still unable to believe that the girl who was in the ground a second ago was now tearing apart the invading army. But suddenly, they all felt another spike in Ki and turned to see Edelgard stand up as like Lysithea, she had both her Crests hovering behind her.
"Edie…?" Dorothea whispered in shock as the Princess glared at Medamatcha who just tilted his head.
"What, you think a little light show is gonna save you?"
But Edelgard just kept her glare on him as yet another spike of power erupted as Flayn threw the babies off of her and bellowed out a torrent of flame at them. Edelgard knew however that unlike herself and Lysithea, they were treading VERY dangerous ground.
Flayn looked different. There were a few patches of scales on her face and hands and her pupils were no longer round, but were now slits with her green eyes now glowing and pulsing with light. And on top of that, Edelgard saw those same hexes on her arms and neck glowing a blinding white. She cautiously approached the Nabatean and reached out a hand.
"Flayn? Are you still with us?"
The smaller girl looked at Edelgard's hand, then back to the Princess before nodding and taking it as she was helped up.
"I'm here. I'm sorry to have worried you."
Edelgard was relieved to hear that. But then her gaze shifted to Medamatcha who looked between the two girls glaring at him.
"I think now that we have taken care of his children, it's just him left."
"Yes, I think I have to agree."
As they slowly moved over to Medamatcha, their power causing the rain around them to evaporate upon contact as he growled and stamped his foot.
"THIS ISN'T FAIR! I WAS WINNING! THAT IS IT! KILL THEM! KILL THEM BOTH!"
They tensed up and braced as his body started bulging in multiple places as it looked like he was trying to birth out as many babies as he possibly can. Flayn nodded to Edelgard, her eyes still trained on the forming children.
"You know what happens if they leech on, yes?"
"Don't worry, I have a plan."
"Your plans don't seem to be working lately, Edelgard."
"Flayn."
"Okay, okay."
The two were brought out of their conversation as Medamatcha had finished forming the little baby versions and pointed to the girls. "GET THEM!"
Followed by a series of shrill shrieks m, the babies started running towards their targets. But Flayn and Edelgard kept on walking, unfazed by the swarm of creatures coming towards them. Instead, Edelgard raised her hand… and clenched it into a fist. When the creatures tried to pounce on them, instead they were met by a series of Ki beams that impaled them all in multiple places. With weak gasps, the creatures all died as Edelgard turned behind to see Shamir holding her bow and nodding.
"Seems all I'm doing is saving you two." She said. "Please tell me you can finish the job without me playing babysitter."
"Don't worry. I think this fight of ours has been decided."
"Hm."
Cracking their knuckles, Flayn vanished from view only to appear in front of Medamatcha and slammed her elbow right into his stomach causing his eyes to bulge out in shock as he doubled over, coughing violently before feeling Flayn's foot collide with his face as he was sent flying towards Edelgard who brandished her axe and swung it just in time to meet the collision head on. It cut through the alien clean in half as her axe was coated in his blood, and watched as the two halves collapsed to the ground. Wasting no time, Edelgard then picked up the upper half and tossed it in the air before holding both her hands out and channeling a mixture of Ki and fire magic which snaked it's way up her arms and into her hands, with her two Crests powering up the attack even further. She then screamed out the attack.
"HAMMER OF DAWN!"
The attack shot out into a massive beam of fire snaking around it and headed directly towards Medamatcha who growled loudly and tried to block the beam, but it disintegrated his hands upon contact.
"YOU BIIIIIIIIIIITCH!" His last words rang out before he was completely engulfed by the attack and reduced to ashes. When the attack died down, it was replaced by the rain. Everyone on the battlefield was stunned to say the least, with Edelgard looking at her own hands in shock.
'This… is what I am capable of? Interesting… and I haven't even taken my weighted clothing off…'
But then she saw the bottom half of Medamatcha still there and scrunched her nose before looking at Flayn who was still in her powered up state.
"Flayn?"
"Yes, I am on it."
Before she looked down at the ground and sucked in a large amount of air… and bellowed out a large torrent of green flames to reduce the legs to be like it's other half. "Finally… I fear that I am going to have nightmares about those things for months now."
Edelgard nodded and smiled. "I have to admit, I did not expect to team up with you."
"But of course! We're 141 after all!"
"Hm… yes, that is true. Come on, we best help the others." Edelgard said as Flayn nodded.
"Right!"
"What?! Medamatcha has been beaten?" Angila gritted his teeth keeping his distance when dealing with Dimitri who was in the middle of his frenzy. He tried to send off soldiers to try and distract him, but any attempts to do that were quickly met with their deaths. Like he was a predator, and his prey was in his sights and he wasn't letting anyone distract him.
"You little upstart prick! Why won't you die?!"
Dimitri said nothing. Only kept on advancing towards him as Angila had had enough. He dug his hands into the ground and used them to grab Dimitri by his ankles. Dimitri just lazily looked up with that same manic look in his eyes as Angila charged a mouth beam aimed towards him.
"DIIIIEEEEEEE!"
The blast went sailing towards Dimitri who just held his hands up in front of him and didn't make any attempt to move. When the blast collided, it caused a massive explosion which formed a giant crater. Angila laughed loudly and triumph and pointed at the crater.
"Finally! You're dead! You finally died!"
But when the rain cleared the smoke away, Angila was astonished to see Dimitri still in that same pose… but with a barrier of Ki in front of him. Despite the manic look in his eyes, he straightened up and walked towards Angila.
"Shield of Faerghus. Be glad that you were the first to witness it, as your death will no longer be meaningless."
"No! NO! I WILL KILL YOU!" Angila screamed, charging another mouth beam and using his hands in the ground one more to grab his ankles but Dimitri was prepared this time. He stepped back at the last second and grabbed Angola's hands and looked at them. The mouth beam dissipated as he quietly pleaded.
"Please don't break my hands."
"…No."
CRUNCH!
Angila screamed in pain as Dimitri crushed his hands and dropped them to the ground after rendering them useless. The alien tried to charge another mouth beam out of desperation but in a quick flash of speed, Dimitri got in front of him and clasped his hand over his mouth to shut it in place, and trapped the ball of Ki inside, his head starting to glow as muffled screams came out and Dimitri just stared on with a cold look.
"An acceptable way to die."
SPLAT!
Angila's head exploded from the pressure of the Ki trapped in his mouth as Dimitri let his body collapse to the ground and he looked at the blood coating his hands and clenched them, before picking up his spear and like a man possessed, went to go towards the unsuspecting soldiers still fighting.
'Yes! Kill them all!' His father yelled. 'Destroy them all-'
"DIMITRI!"
"Your Highness!"
He stopped in place and slowly turned around to see Marianne and Dedue standing there, as his same cold look remained. Marianne went to go towards him, but was quickly stopped by Dedue.
"Do not approach him. I fear that he is… not himself."
"Not himself? What do you mean?" Marianne asked him, trying to get past.
"I've only seen it once… but when he gets like this, he loses his mind. Fortunately it seems that he directed all his rage towards the enemy."
But then his eyes widened when he felt a Marianne shove his arm aside and run towards Dimitri.
"Marianne! No!"
"I don't care! He needs help!" She yelled back as Dimitri didn't move. Only just kept staring at her as she stopped in front of him.
"You shouldn't be here. It's dangerous. I'm dangerous."
But Marianne shook her head, with a rare fierce look in her eyes. "I told you. I know what it's like to be considered a monster. To be scared what others think. But you are many things Dimitri. But a monster isn't one of them."
As she slowly raised her hands to his face, and waited for a reaction. Despite the rain pouring down on them, he still made no moves and allowed her to keep going. And her smooth, soft hands made its way to his face as she gently caressed it.
"You're a good man, Dimitri." She continued, running her thumbs across his face as she looked at the decapitated corpse of Angila. "Someone who does everything to protect those they care about. That doesn't make you a monster."
Her eyes widened when she felt his hand placed gently on top of her own and held it in his own, closing his eyes. "They threatened you. I wouldn't allow them to do that."
When he opened them again, they no longer contained the madness that was there before, but the warm blue that she had grown used to. "Marianne… I-I'm sorry, I wasn't myself… but when he said what he would do to you."
"It's okay." She smiled lightly and ran her thumbs across his face again. "You… managed to defeat him."
"Marianne…"
"Dimitri…"
Even though the two were soaked to the bone, they slowly leaned in closer and closer before finally their lips touched. Sparks ignited between the two as they held each other close, deepening the kiss. From a distance, Dedue smiled and nodded to himself. Good. She managed to do the impossible and bring him back from the brink. He let out a breath he didn't realise he was holding and turned away to give the two lovebirds a moment to themselves. The battle however, wasn't over just yet. They had to deal with the vast array of troops. And though he didn't want to…
He cleared his throat and watched the two jump and separate as they blushed hard. "I apologise for interrupting your Highness. But we should reunite with our fellow classmates and drive back the invaders now that some of the higher officers have been dealt with."
"You're right… we might actually be able to win!"
"What the hell?! Angila and Medamatcha have been killed! How?!" Wings screamed as he grunted, falling flat on his face as a stray Ki blast struck him in the back of the head and made him fall. Claude looked over at Edelgard and Dimitri and pumped a fist.
"Yes! Two down, one to go. Come on Papa Teach, what's taking you so long?"
He ducked under another wild swing aimed at his head and yawned, pushing his wet hair out of his eyes.
"Oh, are we fighting? Sorry, just the wind is really picking up today."
"STOP!"
"DODGING!"
"AND!"
"DIE!"
Claude kept dodging attack after attack as he fell onto his back after firing a Ki blast into the sky. Wings grinned evilly cracking his knuckles and walked over to the downed Noble.
"Oh no, I guess you caught me." Claude shrugged, laying on his side and looking up at Wings.
"Yeah, that's right! No more tricks! No more distractions! No more-"
He was cut off when the Ki blast Claude fired up into the air had come falling down to crash into Wing's head slamming him into the ground as Claude hummed in thought.
"Oh yeah! I guess there was just one more trick!" He grinned, picking himself up and started backing away as he knew that this was the tipping point. A mighty roar erupted out of Wings as he powered up, leaving a massive crater in his wake.
"THAT IS IT! I AM KILLING ALL OF YA! I AM NOT GONNA STAND HERE AND BE MADE FUN OF- URK!"
Wings felt a sharp pain in his chest and slowly looked to see a spear glowing with blinding light sticking out of it. He then heard a gruff voice.
"Normally, I don't stoop to something this low. Things like this aren't really my style. But an old dog can learn new tricks."
"Y-You… a sneak attack?! You would do such a dirty trick?!" Wings managed to cough out as Jeralt wrenched the spear out of his chest and watched as the alien stumbled forward, clutching his wound and coughing up purple blood before collapsing and looking up at Claude.
"A-Alright. Now I know we said some things. But I think that if w whist talk to each other, we could be friends."
Jeralt raised an eyebrow as Wings extended a shaky hand. "What do you say? High five?"
"Down low." Claude replied holding out his own hand.
"Wha-"
"Too slow." He finished, holding his hand out in front of Wing's face and piercing his skull with a Ki beam that went straight through, destroying the brain and killing the alien instantly. Both Jeralt and Claude sighed in relief as they watched the corpse collapse to the ground as Claude turned to Jeralt.
"You had that attack ready for a while, I know you did."
"Well, I was just waiting to see how long you could keep him busy." Jeralt replied.
"Yeah, I probably could've gone for five more minutes. I didn't even get to bust out the itching powder. Then again, can aliens even feel itchiness?"
"…I'm not gonna dignify that with a response, kid. Come on, let's clear up the rest of this mess."
"Got it, Papa Teach!"
"Hmmm… it seems that the forces are retreating." Seteth remarked, staring out the window and witnessing the enemy finally being pushed back.
"Then does that mean that we have won?" Manuela asked, while dabbing a cool cloth on Byleth's head as the blue haired Saiyan still laid there motionless. Rhea however, shook her head and kept staring at the blade she used to fight her way to the Infirmary.
"I fear that this isn't the end. In fact, it could very well just be the beginning."
"What do you mean?" Hellen asked.
"That ominous energy… it still hasn't exited that ship.. the one that rendered our dear Byleth in this state. We just have to pray to the Goddess and hope that our allies are still able to fight."
Seteth frowned deeply and looked at the students and 141 all banding together to drive back the forces of Lord Slug. He saw Flayn in her powered up state, bellowing out green fire and felt his fists clench.
'She's pushing our luck by tapping into that much of her strength… Flayn, please be careful. I beg of you.'
"We're doing it! We're driving them back!" Annette exclaimed as Lysithea used her new strength to summon two giant tornadoes made out of dark wind magic and sent them towards the army who were trying to flee.
"Nice job Lysithea! I had no idea that you had that much power!" Raphael cheered, slamming his fists into a soldiers skull and giving a thumbs up to the smaller girl who huffed.
"Less time complimenting and more time fighting! Victory is at hand, and I don't know how long I can do this! This is entirely new to me!"
"She's right!" Edelgard yelled, having joined up with the rest along with Dimitri and Claude as she used her axe to throw a large ball of fire at the escaping soldiers. "We can't let them slip through our fingers!"
"We can't let a single one escape!" Dimitri said, throwing a Ki spear into the back of another soldier. But Ashe lowered his bow as they saw them scrambling into the ship.
"But they're retreating. Shouldn't we just let them leave? It doesn't make sense to pick off any survivors-"
A loud explosion expelling out from inside the ship shut Ashe up as the soldiers who retreated all screamed as they were all incinerated by the attack. The Fódlan army were shocked to see this display… before all of 141 felt a shiver go down their spine as they immediately got into a stance which confused the students.
"What is it, Edie? What do you sense?" Dorothea asked, clutching her tome as Edelgard glared at the ship.
"It's him. He's coming."
That made the blood drain from everyone's faces as they realised they were about to go up against the very foe that put Byleth in a coma. They heard the loud footsteps from inside the ship and tightened their grip on their weapons as a figure took shape from the smoke.
"Ah, what a mess. I tell ya, we go through soldiers like coffee paper…"
As the smoke cleared to reveal Lord Slug himself stepping out of the ship and peered through the rain to see the army and rolled his eyes.
"You lot! If you're with the government or the Church, get the fuck off my property! Which, considering I now own this rock, is effectively everything!"
Edelgard and Claude looked at each other as the latter rubbed the back of his head. "I mean… I guess we're both?"
"While we do ally with the Church, we do have our own form of Government in the three parts of Fódlan."
"Guys, focus." Shamir said, keeping her eyes trained on Lord Slug with her bow drawn. Despite her instincts screaming at her to turn tail and run, she wouldn't budge. But that power… it was insane.
"We will give you one last chance!" Dimitri declared. "As you can see, your army is in shambles. If you surrender now, and face judgment, we can spare your remaining army."
"Oh, you mean that army?" Lord Slug said, pointing to the crowd to his left. And to everyone's shock, he fired a Ki blast at the army reducing all of them to ash. Any other remaining ones cowered in fear as Lord Slug grinned.
"Yeah, I go through a whole lot of soldiers every day. It's fine though, I can get more easily. Though taking out my Demon Clan? I have to give ya props, congrats. But now there's a problem, I have a lot of vacancies for the top position. And well, it's gonna be a looooong interviewing process. However…"
He pointed over to 141 and nodded. "You lot do interest me. You're a lot stronger than the other bugs in this planet, that's for sure. The fairy has anger issues, but that's fine."
"Wait, am I the fairy?" Flayn asked Jeralt who shrugged.
"We would never join a tyrant like you!" Ashe yelled.
"Yeah! Get lost! We kicked your soldiers ass and we will kick yours too!" Hilda pointed her axe at Lord Slug.
"A-And you're green!" Bernadetta squeaked out.
"…Meh, now that I think about it. You all annoy me to no end." Lord Slug shrugged and stepped forward. The members of 141 felt their hands shake again as the power got bigger and bigger.
"I like to play a game I just made up." He grinned, cracking his knuckles. "It's time based. It's a game of what will kill you first. The water, or me."
"Everyone. I know that this looks impossible." Jeralt said. "But either way, we're dying. So go out with a bang instead of a whimper!"
"Yes Captain!" Leonie yelled.
"Let's do this!" Caspar roared.
"I will beat him or die trying." Felix grunted.
As the other students all voiced their cheers and words of encouragement, Jeralt closed his eyes and felt Byleth's Ki.
'It's different… maybe this is our chance. Just gotta at least hold him off.'
They all then watched the Namekian clench his fist and start charging up his power which made the ground start to shake. And the sheer power on display has everyone just trying to make sure they didn't get blown away, but they all were in utter disbelief. It was one thing to sense it from a distance. But up close? Oh, this was not going to be easy at all. After a full minute of roaring and charging Ki, the ground stopped shaking and everyone looked at Lord Slug who had exhaled and let out a big evil grin, looking over at terrified Fódlan army.
"Alright then. Who's first?"
*Song: DBZ Ending Theme*
Just when they thought they had won, the army of Fódlan now have to contend with Lord Slug himself! Can they find a way to beat him, or will they join the same fate as Byleth? Find out next time on, the Ashen Saiyan!
That's a wrap! It was quite a difficult fight to pad out. On one hand, I don't wanna keep dragging it out, but on the other hand, it was hard to keep jumping between everyone. In the end though, I think I'm pretty happy with what I have. I hope you all like it too.
If you're curious on what Flayn's powered up state looks like, it's based on Natsu from Fairy Tail when he tapped into DragonForce for the first time. Give it a google if you want. And sorry for being absent. The more life gets busy, the more time is taken from this story. But I still work on it, even if it is little by little.
Also, yes, Dimitri x Marianne is cuteness intensified and I'm glad they finally got together even if it's not the best of times. But anyway, join us next time for when it's 141 vs Lord Slug.
Catch you later!