The Dustbin
Day 30: Ghost Stories Part 1
Everyone has hobbies. Some practice them as a form of self-expression or as a way to kill time. Some find ways to practice new skills or hone their old ones. Either way, it has been proven that people are creatures of habit and that even for people who monotonous as the Dustbin, find hobbies at a whim outside of their nightly classes and morning bandit exterminations.
After their Professor had to cut class early due to "reasons" (mainly trying to get Hanneman off of Topaz's back about her new arm; he still insisted even after Hanneman took several blood samples from Topaz), the Dustbin now suddenly found themselves with what they never thought they'd never have: free time, at night.
Sleep wasn't an option, given their irregular sleep schedules (being nocturnal with the exceptions of weekends and the aforementioned bandit raids), and leaving academy grounds at this time wasn't an option given that security tightens up at night, so the Dustbin were left with little-to-nothing to do.
Then one night, one of the Dustbin students brought up a proposal. Even better, Karna's classes were shortened due to the little tug-of-war between their Professor and the Blue Lions' Professor.
2nd of the Horsebow Moon, Night
"... So, is everyone present?" spoke Byron as he lit a lantern at the Dustbin's part of the monastery's stables, the rest of the class sitting around the light in a circle, nodding in agreement, "alright, you know how the rules go."
"Each of us tells a scary story," Sorcha remarked.
"Whoever holds the lantern must tell a story," said Selene.
"After finishing a story, pass the lantern to the person next to you," Cyrus pointed out.
"And none of us are allowed to sleep until all of us finish telling each of our stories," Topaz finished reciting the ground rules.
"... Any... questions?" Vidar grunted.
"Oh yes, can I join?"
Out of nowhere, an outsider was found sitting between Vidar and Byron, causing everyone to strangle their yelps of surprise only to see who the mysterious person was.
"... Waitaminite," Sorcha squinted her eyes at the beaming smile creased between of pair of mint-green curls dropping from the top of the stranger's head, "... Flayn lass?"
"Indeed," Seteth's younger sister politely replied.
"What are you doin' ere'?" Selene sighed out, "ye know that if Seteth finds out that yer with us, he's gunna give all of us hell for takin' ye."
"Normally, that would be the case," she pointed out, "but, I decided to try something I've heard called a 'rebellious phase'!" Flayn announced, "and what better way to experience such thing than to hang out with the most rebellious class in all of Garreg Mach? And ghost stories no less too!"
"... Huh," Cyrus raised his eyebrow, "never took you for being a bad girl."
"'Rebellious' is a pedantic label for us displaced foreigners and two or three homeless people," Topaz glared at the girl.
"... Oh, I'm sorry," Flyan looked downtrodden, "... I'll leave if you like-"
"Nah, forget it," Byron shook his head, "stay if you want. If Seteth catches us awake and technically breaking curfew, then at least you're around to explain if it comes to it."
"... One more... good," Vidar droned, "... more... merrier..."
"How wonderful!" Flayn squeed as she knelt back down, "okay, who's up first?"
"Me," Byron wickedly grinned as he took hold of the lantern, "my story is called 'The Eternal Gravedigger'."
The rest of the class (and Flayn) quiet themselves in anticipation.
"Every graveyard is tended by someone, anyone, who was willing to sequester themselves outside of society," Byron spoke, "one such man was the gravedigger; hunchbacked, old, wrinkled, looking more akin to the dead that he tends to than the people who request him to bury their beloved ones. A man that nought knew of love nor hate, for the dead simply remained silent as the grieving. The gravedigger did not care, for he was his own profession; a digger, an undertaker, a monster in human skin."
The lamp flickers for a brief moment.
"One night, another request came," he continued, "an unknown person, looking neither a man nor a woman, elder nor child, nought rich nor poor, an unknown blank of a person. A stranger in every sense. The stranger requested for a body to be buried. The gravedigger asks where is the body, for which the stranger replied that it is coming. So, the gravedigger went about digging, six persons wide and one person deep. Upon the trench being finished, a coffin was built, out of pine and iron nails holding the boards together. As soon as the coffin was finished, the gravedigger asks again where is the body. The stranger replied that it was coming, and then orders the gravedigger to drag the coffin into the hole. The heavy box was then placed into the trench, as soon as the tombstone was readied right above the hole, waiting to be chiseled after the burial to commemorate the departed's name."
Wind howls from outside the stables and into the pens, brushing itself across their backs.
"The stranger than asks why the gravedigger became the gravedigger," said Byron, "he answers that he doesn't remember. The stranger then asks when did he first buried the body. He replies with another unknown. Again the stranger asks the gravedigger how it felt when he first buried the body. The gravedigger then finally answered. Being born a hunchback, he could never do anything but look up as the others looked down at them, so to see the deceased from above was the only time he could ever look down at someone, feeling above them as he himself was still alive while the dead were spat and looked down upon by the gravedigger. The stranger than asks if he would like to be looked down upon, of which then the gravedigger was pushed into the very coffin for the coming body, right before the gravestone itself fell onto the crooked man, straightening his back as the stone struck and pinned him down and the dirt began piling itself on top of the wailing gravedigger. Upon the trench being filled, the stranger leaned down to hear the muffled cries of his victim, every night. Every night, the stranger came back, bending over to hear the unmarked grave's stifles sobs and pleas for air. Every night, the cycle continued. And after the final night, the stranger became the gravedigger, as the cycle continued, one gravedigger after another."
The entire Dustbin was left in silence.
"... Wow," Sorcha blinked, "... yer kinda messed up."
"Circle of life me arse..." Selene gulped, "... what kind of sick dastard comes up with dat crap?!"
"Just rumors of a local gravekeeper at a village where me and Vidar visited once, and how he never ages," Byron pointed out, "turns out that it just runs in the family, and profession."
"... Give me my sweat back," Cyrus demanded, slightly mortified at the story's brand of claustrophobic horror, "give me my sweat back, you... you jerk!"
"... So close to death..." Topaz sighed in disappointment, "... ah, how I wish for the story to be real."
Flyan meanwhile, was found crying. Not in fear, but in sadness, much to everyone's shock.
"... What's the matter?" asked Byron as the girl kept weeping.
"... It's just..." she sniffed, "... the story's so sad!"
"... Uh, it was meant to be a horror story," explained Byron, "not a tragedy."
"... Still... I felt bad... for the gravedigger!" she sniffed, "... and that he was murdered... so someone else can take his place?!"
Everyone sans Flayn exchanged awkward looks with each other, only to come to realize that their event was on the verge of being sort of ruined and that if they wanted to make this event worthwhile for her, then they're going to have to make her scared through their stories.
And from there on, the lantern was passed person to person, story after story, ranging from stories about the headless rider (Flayn laughed, if a little nauseated at the buckets of blood being thrown about at the people gazing at it), the moving forest (she was fascinated, mostly about sentient trees while completely ignoring the trees eating people part), and about the immortal who turned into stone (Flayn took it as an inspiring story, seeing the immortal as a goddess-like figure like her own religion, despite the story being about the follies of a life without death). None of which succeeded of its purpose of scaring the innocently unflappable girl.
From then on, the Dustbin vowed to come up with stories that would make Flayn quake in their boots, out of pride which all of them began practicing their craft in storytelling to come up with a ghost story that would genuinely scare her. Then perhaps, she would learn to appreciate the concept of horror and what it means to be scared and find fun in life.
At least that way, the Dustbin can actually respect her given time. Surprisingly, they held no contempt against Flayn, and as the nights full of spooky stories went by with a multitude of reactions that came from their guest (sans terror), the two unlikely groups form a secret kinship between each other.
Still, classes went by, and after every nightly class finished, the Dustbin would come together to make their own ghost story that may serve to scare her just yet.
However, they did not anticipate that there was something scarier going on outside of their stories, and so close by too.
5th of the Horsebow Moon, Night
"... That's weird," Byron remarked, "she's not usually this late."
"Think Seteth caught er in the act?" Sorcha pointed out, "... I mean, night after night of sneakin' out, ye gonna git caught."
Everyone inside the stables stare at each other in silence as the lamp shone between them, with only the huffs and snorts of the horses around them. They were used to this kind of ambience, for every night, they would fall asleep to the noises associated with their stable mates. However, even if it started with only the six of them, Flayn not being here on their nightly rituals... felt wrong.
"... Ugh, to hell with this," Selene snatched the lantern as she walked out of the stables, "I'm gunna look for her!"
"... Me... coming..." Vidar grunted, "... Vidar... friend..."
"... Oh what the actual hell," Byron rolled his eyes, "I'm coming too, just that there will be one of us to at least explain ourselves."
"Eh," shrugged Sorcha as she got up, "might as well come, if we're all gunna git into trouble."
"Hey guys," Cyrus hissed, "we really shouldn't go, right Topaz-" he looked to his side only to find her missing, presumably already gone ahead of everyone, "... fine. Wait for me!"
The Dustbin then begin sneaking around the campus grounds patrolled by Soldiers. As the Dustbin were naturally creatures of night, the diurnal Soldiers, despite their numbers and lanterns, were unable to detect the group of students sneaking by them.
"So uh, where's Flayn's room?" asked Byron, "I mean, unless our little princess sneaks out via rope made of blankets, then I'm not sure where she could've have come from-"
Topaz raps his shoulder before pointing her finger to an open window with said rope made of blankets drooping down from above.
"... And I stand corrected," Byron sighed as he and the Dustbin approached where the rope falls towards the ground, "okay, I see faint footprints from the dirt where she'd strode off towards..." he murmured before finding a different, slightly-more visible set of bigger footprints heading towards the opposite way where Flayn was presumably heading, "... okay, I can safely say that she'd been kidnapped."
All of the Dustbin look at each other in horrified silence before sprinting towards where the bigger footprints were leading towards. The class of rejects eventually make their way towards where the fishing pond was, spotting a cloaked intruder with a squirming sack over his shoulder amidst the trail of laying bodies of Soldiers behind the culprit.
"That's screams kidnapper!" Sorcha remarked as she and the others chased after the cloaked man with Flayn in tow, "and a fast one to boot!"
"Topaz!" Byron called out as the Hassashin girl sprinted past them and made a break towards the kidnapper, only for the latter to throw a glass bottle, which upon shattering released a hiss of gas from the spilled liquid, "gas!"
Topaz unfortunately catches the whiff of the scentless fumes, knocking her out cold as Cyrus then carried her over his shoulder. The Dustbin carefully circle around the emitting puddle before entering into the main faculty building.
"Sleeping gas?" Selene remarked as her class ran upstairs, following the drumming of the kidnapper's footsteps that can be heard from timber and masonry alike, "is der such a thin'?"
"Questions later!" Byron hissed as the class entered the next floor, "we got a kidnapper to catch."
A scream was heard from down the hall, followed up by a loud creak and a bang. Then silence. The Dustbin then head towards where the scream came from, only to find Manuela laid on the ground with her head bleeding from a strike, and her entire office ransacked as if a storm had passed through.
But weirdest and most concerning of all, there was a hole behind the upturned medicine cabinet. A hold big enough for a person to fit into.
"Uh guys," Byron looked into the exposed passageway leading to the underground, shining the dark tunnel with the lantern handed to him by Selene, "... I think I know where Flayn went."
6th of the Horsebow Moon, Morning
The whole complex was now at a buzz. Flayn has been kidnapped and someone had broken into the monastery, again. Students and staff alike were on a fever pitch, each spreading their own take of this recent commotion. Nevertheless, the present staff were doing their best to keep the situation under control and enforce a sense of normalcy across the student body and hopefully everyone focuses on their classes rather than baseless rumors.
With Manuela incapacitated from last night, the Golden Deer's substitute class was filled in with Jeritza, the academy's fencing instructor and voted as the scariest man alive. Byleth herself was quickly called to the Archbishop's audience chambers to be informed of this current predicament in detail.
"As you may be already aware, Seteth's younger sister, Flayn, has gone missing," Rhea explained, "at present, all we know for sure is that she has not left Garreg Mach."
"She's a kid, but she ain't naive," pointed out Byleth, "she's at least smart enough to tell Seteth whenever she's going."
"I've taken personally to mobilize a search party to search both the monastery and the town nearby," informed the Archbishop, "hopefully, the troubling rumors running rampant isn't correlated..."
Byleth raised an eyebrow. "Troubling rumors?"
"There have been rumors of someone prowling the streets and attacking innocents, night after night," Rhea spoke, "the knights have investigated the matter. They have not discovered any remains, nor they have found any concrete evidence."
"From what you imply, there are so far, no local casualties," the Archbishop nods at Byleth's statement, "what's the creepy man's name?"
"They call this phantom, the 'Death Knight'," answered Rhea before she let out a sigh, "... despite our... dire situation, we must remain composed lest we let our culprit slip from our grasp," she emphasized, "it's not just Seteth that is agonizing at her disappearance, for she is also family to me as well."
"She's practically everyone's surrogate kid sister around here," Byleth remarked, "we'll find her. Otherwise everyone's gonna get super sad."
"Agreed," Rhea nodded, "Professor, your mission this month is to help us find Flayn," she ordered, "the knights will cover the town, so I ask that you focus your efforts on searching the monastery again. We have no time to waste."
"No more needs to be said," Byleth than runs off before stopping in her tracks, "uh, Archbishop?" she asked, noticing that the room they were talking in being too quiet only to realize the elephant in the room, "where's Seteth?"
Rhea palms her face before stifling a sigh. "About that..."
Elsewhere...
"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" Seteth exploded at the Dustbin class, actively holding himself back from beating all of them senseless, "NONE OF THIS WOULD'VE HAPPENED IF YOU HELLIONS DIDN'T CORRUPT HER!"
"Last I checked, sir," Byron replied in a cool tone, "we heard from her in person that it was her own choice."
"IT WAS A MISTAKE TO EVEN LET YOU GUTTERSNIPES EVEN BREATHE!" Seteth roared back, losing more of his cool than humanly possible, "WHY?! WHY CAN'T WE HAVE A PEACEFUL MONTH WITHOUT ANYTHING HAPPENING?!"
"Sir, if ye think a basket case like Fodlan can be normal for a month straight, with all the bandits jailbreaking Seals, giant beasts, and Crests that give nobles superpowers," Sorcha explained why Seteth's desire normalcy was flawed, "den yer more mad than us."
The adherent then began seething pure rage between the gaps of his snarling teeth. "I'LL SHOW YOU MAD!" he snapped as wound his closed fist back.
But from behind, Karna grabs him by his elbow before delivering his own jab across Seteth's jawline. "Bad," Karna scolded, "blame the actual kidnapper who'd done the deed," he pointed out, "resorting to scapegoats? How juvenile."
"... It wouldn't have been an issue... if you all just disappeared," Seteth snarled.
"Oh sure," Byron hissed back, no longer hold up the pretense of being civil, "BLAME EVERYTHING ON US, WHYDONCHA-"
The two were then punched at their throats by Karna, forcing the two of them to take a kneel. "Both of you, shut up," Karna ordered, "quit playing the blame game, and actually start finding a solution to this issue. Then blame each other later, got it?!"
The two croak in reluctant agreement.
"Good," the Professor then looks at Seteth, "mind taking us to the crime scene?"
Seteth kept choking on his own words due to his recently-caved-in throat.
"I'll take that as a 'yes'," Karna replied, "put on your thinking caps, kiddos! We got a mystery to solve!"
The Dustbin (and Seteth) then make their way towards the crime scene, currently walled off by the Church's Armor Knights and Gilbert currently leading the investigation.
"Sorry, but beyond this point is off-limits," said the Armor Knight.
"Please do not disturb with the current investigation," spoke the other Armor Knight.
"Figured," sighed Karna, "where's Manuela?"
"At the infirmary," spoke the Armor Knight, "she's yet to wake up."
"Is visitation open?" asked Karna.
"Sorry," spoke the other Armor Knight, "that is also, off-limits-"
A Soldier runs up towards the Armor Knight pair. "I have something to report!" he shouted, "Professor Manuela has woken up!"
"Noted," Gilbert remarked as he came out of the room, meeting the Dustbin, "... come with me. I've been expecting all of you to come sometime soon," the Knight of Seiros ordered the group, "the Dustbin class, after all, are prime witnesses of this case and we'll need both yours and Seteth's insights for our missing person's case," the Fortress Knight then turned towards the pair of Armor Knights standing guard by the crime scene, "the two of you, keep watch. Let no one pass unless I say so."
"Yes sir," replied the Armor Knights.
The Dustbin (and Seteth) then follow Gilbert towards the infirmary, where they see the female Professor with bandages wrapped around her head as she feebly work up.
"... Hey," Karna greeted, "... sorry for what happened to you last night."
"... Could've been worse," she groaned as Manuela rubbed the bridge of her nose, "late-night grading could've easily ended with poor me dead on the floor..."
"... Glad that's not the case," Seteth sighed out, trying to keep himself together under pressure.
"Mm? What's wrong?" asked the head nurse, "why is Seteth looking more stressed out than usual?"
The Dustbin all exchange looks with each other before all coming to an agreement to break it bluntly as possible.
"Professor," Byron remarked, "Flayn's been kidnapped and the kidnapper might've been the one to have to have... you can figure the rest out."
"... Oh dear," she recoiled at the sight, "... that fiend! How did it happen?"
"THESE BUFFOONS!" Seteth exploded again, "THAT'S WHY-"
Karna delivers an axe-kick that chopped into the top of Seteth's head, placing him flat onto his own face and knocking him out cold.
"Apologizes," Karna spoke, "but when emotions run high, cooler heads must be prioritized. Get in the back of the line, you volatile powder cake."
"And to be fair..." Byron sighed out, "... it was kind of our fault for indirectly inviting her to our nightly ghost stories in the first place."
Karna looked at his own class in slight shock. "... That's why the paper-pusher was blaming you?"
"Your classes ended early for the past couple of days," Topaz remarked, pointing her now-bandaged arm (to hide the quasi-Demonic Beast arm under Hanneman's orders that she now has ever since cutting off Miklan's arm and the residual energy of the [Lance of Ruin] affecting her) towards Karna, "... we actually had free time."
"Okay, enough pointing fingers," Manuela pointed out, "what are your questions?"
"First," Karna remarked, pulling up a stool before sitting down, "have you seen the kidnapper's face? If only for a brief moment?"
Manuela shook her head. "Got it covered up nice and full," she explained, "even then, he probably looks like everyone else that might be walking around village roads."
"Ugh, fair enough," Karna sighed out, "second, what was that hole behind the knocked over medicine cabinet?"
"... Okay, that... is odd," the head nurse pointed out, "when I first moved in here, my empty office didn't have a hole in it. Perfectly lined bricks, all around."
"Maybe it may have been blocked off prior?" pointed out Cyrus, "I mean, remember that time where we were trapped at the Ab-"
Everyone shuts him up.
"Remember, we swore secrecy," Topaz pointed out to their accidental involvement with the Abyss, her right hand's grip being stronger than that of a human's of her stature (likely due to the Demonic Beast Arm).
"Hm? What are you guys talking about?" Manuela asked.
"Manuela, is it possible to ask the Church higher ups for a map that covered Garreg Mach's prior construction pre-amending? Assuming if they're still around?" Karna requested, "I get the feeling that whoever was behind this, they're using the old holes to slip in and out of this place like ants."
"So much for dis place being Fodlan's most secure establishment..." Sorcha rolled her eyes, "... der are so many holes in this place that whole armies can come in beneath our notice!"
Manuela sighs. "... Yeah, that makes sense," she nested her head on her hands, "this place is older than all of us combined. But the real question is, how did the kidnapper know of the secret passage, let alone, break it down beforehand?"
"That, we're going to have to investigate," Gilbert stated, "the point is, we're glad that you're well, but please, rest for a day."
She nods as the group leaves, with Karna hoisting Seteth over his shoulder.
"I must ask Professor," Gilbert spoke as they walked, "was it really necessary that you've had to lay him out the way you did?"
"We're short on time, Sir Gilbert," Karna bluntly replied as they entered Manuela's office before dumping the unconscious Seteth onto the office desk, "emotional drama should be at the bottom of our priorities. ... But I'll be sure to apologize later."
"You better," sighed Gilbert as Byron looked into the hole in the wall, the tunnel leading downwards more akin to a chute than a secret passage, "found something?"
"Yeah," Byron remarked as he looked at the walls, "how did our culprit exactly get down here without breaking his shins?" he asked, "I mean, the point of a kidnapping is to ensure both the kidnapper and kidnappe are relatively... uh, not dead, right?"
"Yes, from experience, a hostage has no value when they're dead," the Knight of Seiros remarked as he also knelt down and began looking for clues, "anything that can lead to the evidence of external methods of vertical traveling? Like anchors or any sort of indentations?"
"Wait a minute," Byron looked at the knocked over bricks, the edges of the impact pointing outwards rather than inwards, "... it is assumed that the wall was kicked or broken in, right?"
"Yes," Gilbert remarked, "what of it?"
"Uh, I think it has to do something with this," Karna then held up a loose brick that he'd found at the corner of the office, "think someone might've broken through from the other side?"
"But who would be capable of such feat?" asked Gilbert, "no normal person would be capable of punching through a brick wall hard enough to send bricks flying to the other side while upturning an entire wooden cabinet!"
Topaz blinked for a moment at the Knight of Seiros' statement. "... Are you sure that we're in the same Fodlan that you're from?" she asked, "normal doesn't exist!"
"Point being, we're not dealing with regular ransom holders," Karna remarked as he put the brick back where it was found, "we're probably dealing with people who fund other schmucks like Miklan and Lord Lonato. Someone that cannot be classified as a run-of-the-mill thug looking for a noble's spare change."
Byron then takes a lantern before lighting it. "Anyone got rope or something for me to tie my ankle with?" he requested, "I think I need to see the chasm a bit further down."
Everyone looks at Byron's coat hanging from his shoulders.
"... Anything else more... integral?" snapped Byron, to which no one answered, "... fine," he muttered as he tied the sleeve of his jacket around his ankle, "one of you, grab onto the other end and don't let go!"
Cyrus and Vidar secure Byron's line as he was slowly lowered into the hole with the lantern in his hand, hanging upside down like a bat.
"FOUND SOMETHING!" yelled Byron, "PULL ME UP! PULL ME UP!"
As soon Byron was retrieved from the hole, he then places a fresh nail before Gilbert. "Normally, nails inside walls are rusted due to age and dirt, but this one's fresh out of the forge," he pointed out the iron nail's luster gleaming in the sun's rays shining from the window, "I think a rope ladder might've been utilized. Both by our breacher from the other side and our little getaway kidnapper," he explained, "I only found one nail, meaning that the rope ladder was pulled down with such uneven force that one of them miraculously hung on."
"Eh, makes sense for de nail," Selene looked at the metal pin, "better dan breakin' shins."
"Well, at least we found our culprit's probable way out..." Gilbert sighed out, "... now how do we figure out the way the culprit got in?"
Karna racks his brain for any holes that they know of, but he couldn't come up with any plausible ways into Garreg Mach, save for one, very improbable place where one would have to jump through so many convoluted hoops, that no sane person would ever taking such a convoluted way around. Yet, if Karna's choice of suspect is correct, then yes, they would be the only people in Fodlan that would take such a complicated way around just to accomplish their one, single goal of capturing one, single person.
Before the Dustbin's Old (and Buried) Classroom...
"You've got to be kidding me," Byron groaned at the hole dug open at their cellar, "they came through our old classroom?!"
"What's left of it, anyway," Sorcha snarked as all of them looked down at the hole.
"Evidently, they couldn't even afford to cover their own tracks that throughly," snarked Karna as he looked at the hole being blocked by rocks and not by the surrounding debris (composed of snapped wood and gravel rather than currently-present loose boulders), "we never actually found out what was on the other side, right?"
Vidar shook his head in agreement.
"So what," Gilbert remarked, "we dig?"
"That alone will take too long," Karna pointed out before he turned towards Cyrus, "is Seteth awake?"
"Nope, out like Manuela after binge-drinking," he replied, "... what? I saw her crashed at the monastery's greenhouse one time."
"Give him here," Karna grumbled before he hoisted the academy administrator over his own shoulder before setting him down near a well. Karna then pulls up a bucket full of water before drenching the green-haired man to wake him up.
As Seteth woke up screaming, Karna knelt down and slapped him hard across his face to get the man's attention towards Karna. "Shh," he shushed, "before we begin, let's make one thing clear," the Professor remarked, "can I trust that you'll remain calm through the remainder of this investigation, or do I have to put this bucket over your head, beat your behind senseless, and keep doing so until you get your act together?!"
Seteth nods at Karna's surprising level of intimidation amplified by his own shame of him being less than composed in the face of this crisis.
"... Good," Karna nodded, "here's what we found out so far."
Karna then begins explaining how not only the kidnapper got into the monastery through the Dustbin's old classroom, but also that there was another case of an inside man assisting in the kidnapping, or at least someone who is aware of Garreg Mach's hidden passages that were taken off the record.
"So here's the plan," the Professor explained, "me, Byron, Vidar and Topaz will head down where the culprit went and scout the area where your baby sister was taken and hopefully rescue her before anyone else notices. Sorcha, Selene, Cyrus and Gilbert will excavate the old cellar classroom and contact your friends underground/the Abyss and begin intel gathering on who came through our hole and how many people that aren't from around here were present. That way, we can ascertain how big of a deal this little case is. My fortunes say that this operation might as well be in-between the Rite of Rebirth's infiltration and Miklan's cartel base raid in terms of importance, or at least, our little friends getting to know your little Flayn so well is after more than just the Chruch's pocket change. And then, that's where you come in," Karna ordered, "your job is to organize this rescue operation and make sure that the traffic of new information along with our timetable proceeds smoothly. Meaning that not only you'll be in charge to coordinating both the surface and the Abyss to make sure that Flayn is found, but that if my group doesn't come back in a week, then you send Byleth's group in to at least collect our bodies. Should she and her class don't come back by the end of the day, then all bets are off, send in every single Knight of Seiros and raise hell," he declared, grabbing Seteth's shoulder firmly to make sure that he was paying attention to every last word that Karna said, in detail, "point being, the likelihood of Flayn seeing the light of day ever again, hinges on your ability to keep your emotions in check and do your damn job. Do I, make myself, clear?"
Seteth's head then no longer feels heavy anymore. Rather, despite him hating Karna and his class down to his very being, even the thought of them being the ones vital to saving his Flayn, sickened him to the core, the Professor was right. Her survival hinges on his ability to keep calm.
And as of now, he've failed to do so, indirectly endangering her even further. "... Crystal," Seteth snarled, no longer blindly angry, but a focused rage was burning in his eyes, "... name your price."
Karna smiles. "My man, we're going to need some [Torches], [Holy Water], [Concoctions], spare weapons, provisions, flint and steel, along with a quill, ink bottle a map of the entirety of Garreg Mach's underground as reference if you don't have the ones that you didn't presumably dispose of and a booklet to take anecdotal notes," he declared, "also, lots of rope. All of which, that an underground expedition may need to last... at least a week."
"Anything else?" Seteth smiled back.
"Order Gilbert, his men and my remaining students to start digging the old cellar classroom," Karna replied, "let's move."
And with that, everyone present moved. Karna's group were given a week's supply of food, weapons, tools, and other essentials that they may need for a prolonged underground exploration in search of the missing Flayn. Seteth was able to procure one intact map of the Garreg Mach's sewer system for Karna, and despite its outdated nature, it was still better than groping about the dark blindly. Gilbert's group, all of whom composed of Armor Knights, grabbed shovels and pickaxes alike and started digging up the cellar, with the remaining Dustbin students helping out and giving pointers of how the cellar's structural integrity.
"Whoa..." Manuela blinked at Karna and the three students all dressed to look like if they were about to go away for a while, "... how long are you going to be gone?"
"If it's over a week," Karna remarked as he handed a rope to Alois and his men to hold their own end to make sure that the Professor's group rappelled down safety, "... call Byleth and her group. At least that way the Archbishop will know that we at least took initiative, and we might've died trying."
"Don't look down!" Alois warned as Topaz rappelled down first followed up by Byron and then Vidar.
"And you, my good man," Karna replied as he readied himself to rappel down to the deep, dark hole below, lighting a [Torch] with his flint and steel and coiling his leg and hip with the rope, "don't let go of the rope."
As the Professor grasps the [Torch] between his teeth, he jumps down into the hole below. Upon reaching the bottom, the group found themselves ankle-deep in water.
"Alright folks..." sighed Karna as he took the lit [Torch] out of his mouth and into his hand, "stick together and we won't die down here..." he smacked his lips in apprehension, the damp and humid hair underground already causing their light to flicker, "... hopefully."
Somewhere Underground...
Between the mishmash of iron bars and laid stone bricks, a cloaked man sat on a chair, snoring away with his sheathed [Venin Edge] leaning against his leg. At the cage next to him was Flayn, chained and drugged to the point being unresponsive. To him, it was her fault that she struggled so much, and of course he had to overdose her on his custom-brewed narcotics (made from illegally-imported ingredients like opium from Shangri-La and cucumber cactus from Almyra from one of Miklan's smaller channels that still covertly functioned after the center's collapse), made even more justified when he was bitten by the girl, almost costing him a finger.
He was then stirred awake by the horrid sounds of iron being scraped against the floor. "... What the hell, man," he groaned as he woke up to the screeching, "... can a guy get some sleep for five minutes-"
A sharp and heavy fang of bluish-copper buried itself between where his legs were spread open.
"How about... I help... you sleep..." a distorted voice akin to someone being choked and strangled by his own throat hissed out before him "... forever... Metodey...?"
Before him stood a Fortress Knight with a heavily-modified armor of which had several pipes emitting various steam and gas coming out from around itself connected to a bulky iron tank bolted onto his back. The helmet was a bestial-skull-like helmet with a single blade-like horn at his forehead, the vented visor was replaced with a pair of thick, obscured goggles reinforced with more brass and iron and a half-mask with a pair of cloth tubing reinforced with rings of iron and chainmail connecting to the tank on the back. And in its hands of which the thing dragged behind was a heavy warpick made of raw, bluish-bronze, with numerous skull-like designs etched onto its pommel and hammerhead. It's shield was was a spiked bulwark with more skull-insignias on its face that was carried with an additional arm connected to the armor, due to it being so heavy and cumbersome in its construction.
"... Geez, Plaguebearer," Metodey growled as he got up and turned his chair around before sitting back down, "someone's who just got recruited into the inner circle is already acting high and mighty..."
"Death Knight... put me... in charge... while he's... gone..." heaved the Plaguebearer, its distorted voice sounding like a man drowning, "... I am... superior... operator..."
"Yeah yeah, whatever," the Assassin dismissed the new Fortress Knight's claims, "I got the girl, the Death Knight broke the way in for me, and your job is... what's your job again?" he asked, "no seriously, at least I know my job is assassinations and kidnapping while the Death Knight's job is killing people. What's your deal?"
The steam and gases spewing from the pipes around the Plaguebearer hissed out more fumes, causing Metodey to recoil out of his chair in fright.
"... You have... another job... now..." heaved the Fortress Knight, the goggles shining through the fog making it appear more menacing, "... the Abyss... is being-"
"I know, I know," grumbled Metodey as he got up and picked up his poisoned blade before walking away elsewhere, "... anything to get away from you, you basket case."
As soon as the Assassin had haggardly left to his next assignment given to him via proxy/Plaguebearer by his "clients", the Plaguebearer approached the cage where Flayn was held. It then takes out a ring of keys before unlocking the cage's doors with the correct one. The Fortress Knight then checks on her condition before unlocking her shackles (made of an unknown metal that was procured by their "partners") and picking her off of the floor to carry her elsewhere.
"Metodey... how generous..." it hissed, "... he saved... me work..."
The Plaguebearer then hears the girl around his arm stir herself awake. Even through she was fully conscious, her body was too weak to function to even struggle her way out of the armored man's grasp.
"... Who..." Flayn weakly groaned out, "... are... you...?"
"Shh..." hissed the Plaguebearer, "... relax... it's only going to hurt... just a bit..." the fog spewing from his pipes hissed out as the clouds flooded around itself and the terrified girl, "... as soon as you wake up... afterwards..." the Fortress Knight pointed out, "... for now... sleep... to Abaddon's... buzzing... "
To Be Continued...
Author's Notes: Someone in the reviews for this fic asked me if I can add Flayn into the Dustbin's fold, to which I said "no", with one of the reasons being named "Seteth". The other reason? This chapter in a nutshell.
Bad influence or not, the Dustbin are the kind of people that ask, attract or find trouble. Or the Flame Emperor's faction just happens to be nearby.
Anyhoo, this arc is going to be a split focus arc between the three groups (four counting the Flame Emperor's faction, but their coverage will coincide with Karna's group) and yes, the Abyss will have it's own dedicated arc after the arc coming after this arc, but for now, Flayn needs to be found and Seteth is not having a good time.
My take on Seteth, he's grounded, but that also means that he's just as susceptible to being dictated by his emotions, doubly so when Flayn is involved. Karna on the other hand, while he's irritable and unable to get his act together on the surface, he's only and ONLY cool under crisis due to his constant screw-ups getting one everyone's bad side that it pretty much warped his fight-or-flight spectrum to the human opposite. Not unlike how the Dustbin are better at killing soldiers and coordinating themselves on the battlefield but being unable to function in normal society. And Karna being the one to slap Seteth back in line after the latter's facade of professionalism breaks down upon Flayn being abducted? Kinda of a humble pie for him and maybe develop a begrudging respect towards Karna and the Dustbin.
As for the Plaguebearer, yes, I'm going for the whole "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" schtick because it's cool and the Flame Emperor now having to deal with the Dustbin as an additional (unknown) factor means that now he's going to have to recruit more people to his side just to cover all of his bases. That and well, the Dustbin need to fight more people than the ones that the canon game's classes fight, right? And not all of them can be just one-shots, or things are gonna get old fast.
Also, the Plaguebearer's warpick weapon is called the [Axe of Abaddon]. More about it at the References below.
Also, on a more... sobering note, Ferdinand Von Aegir's voice actor, Billy Kametz has died on June 9th, 2022 from Stage 4 colon cancer at the age of 35. Shine on, you crazy diamond. Shine on forever upstairs. For you are Billy Kametz, died too young and taken from all of us too soon.
References:
- The "cucumber cactus from Almyra" that Metodey mentioned for one of his ingredients of his narcotics (I was going to use actual morphine but it wasn't a thing until the early 19th century) is loosely based off the San Pedro Cactus found in the Andes Mountains, which is indeed, a cacti with hallucinogenic properties.
- The Plaguebearer's design is loosely based off Typhus from Warhammer 40K. Also, it's weapon is named after the biblical "Destroyer" who heralds the locusts to destroy all life on earth, and the correlation between it and the Death Knight's [Scythe of Sariel], yes, it's a Bloodstained reference to their final bosses. Mephisto and Bael will be namedropped much later.