The Dustbin
Day 26: Community Service Part Final
23rd of Blue Sea Moon, Afternoon
"So... uh," Karna tried speaking with the guard outside of the bars that he and his class were behind, "... how long do we have to stay in here?"
"Until, we're, allowed, to, let, you, go," the Soldier emphasized each word as if he were talking to a slow-minded child, "... honestly, you kept asking me that question Goddess knows how many times in this one day! One! It's ticking me off!" he yelled as he pointed his [Steel Lance] towards the Professor's face.
"I get the feeling that your sense of aggravation isn't from the fact that you have to play babysitter towards us," deadpanned Byron, "did something happen while we were gone?"
"Quiet you," he snarled, "I'm just waiting for my shift to be over."
"You're the boss," Byron shrugged before he walked back into jail's rear.
Throughout the whole week after their "arrest" as "prime witnesses", each of them have been throughly vetted and questioned every single day about the bodies in found in the swamps the Varley. The only way for them to be released is for the investigation to conclude, and depending on how the committee rules the findings, they'll all either end up as free men or on the chopping block.
The fact that they can't see the results happen nor aren't allowed to ask questions about said investigation didn't make the situation any better for them. Especially Cyrus, whom is being soothed by Topaz and Selene patting his back constantly after the former was convinced not to lockpick their cell doors in order to not get themselves into further trouble.
"Professa, I gotta ask," Sorcha said, "when ye mentioned that we can't afford to git into further trouble when we're neck deep innit, why bother?" she pointed out, "I mean, seeking out more trouble seems no different from what's been happenin' to us before we even knew each other."
"Call it... harm reduction," explained the Professor, "it's sometimes more ethical for trouble to find us rather than the other way around. At least that way, we'll less likely to be blamed for said trouble occurring in the first place."
"Yeah, sure as hell makes my job a hell of a lot easier..." grumbled the guard as he walked away as his replacement came in his place.
As the new guard came in, he tossed an enveloped letter through the cell's bars.
"Special delivery," the new guard said as Karna and the other students in the bar read the opened letter, "the investigation is over and you guys are to freed effective immediately," the Soldier stated as the bars opened while the letter read out as their "compensation check" of 10,000 gold, "you can go now. I need this place empty so I can take my nap here. It's the only time of the day where I can get some quiet time."
As the Dustbin are allowed to leaved, Karna stops next to the guard to ask him something. "By the way, about the previous guard," the Professor asked, "what was up his butt to make him so cranky?"
"That 'compensation check'?" said the Soldier with a smirk, "apparently, some of us were placing bets on which region will get broken down during your repair jobs," he pointed out, "I bet 1,000 gold on the village in Arundel. The guy before me bet the same for Varley."
"Who won?" asked the Professor.
"No one," the Soldier flatly replied, "and it was around that point where you guys found the bodies just outside of Varley is when our little gambling ring got caught, disbanded, and the winnings were then unanimously agreed to be distributed to you guys as both 'compensation' for your guys' troubles and the unofficial winners for our little betting pool."
"Ah. Peachy."
At the Audience Chambers...
"Rejoice," Rhea spoke before the Dustbin, "for you have all been absolved of your accusations."
"Which ones?" asked Sorcha.
"I will not dignify that with an unnecessary answer," the Archbishop promptly ignored the Brigidian girl, "while you lot were away, our preparations for the Goddess's Rite of Rebirth has been going swimmingly without any major accidents or bodily harm," she announced, "meanwhile, on the outside, not only you've all managed to repair the wrecked village at Arundel without any major issues, we've also confirmed the link between the one who sponsored Lord Lonato and the ones who've slaughtered the contractors that we've hired to build a bridge in Varley's swamps!" she spoke cheerly, as if she was invited to a noble family's baby shower while packing a barrel of lit black powder as a gift, "I never thought that you lot could've done something that was actually productive. Good work, all of you!"
Everyone sans Rhea and Seteth sarcastically applauded.
"Okay, so with that little case of foul play out of the way..." Karna pointed out, "now what do we do?"
"Well," Seteth looked over his papers that he'd brought with him, "with our contracted workers that your group was supposed link up with being too dead to actually work, the company has allowed us to cancel the order with a full refund," he pointed out, "as of your possible involvement of the investigation into this case of foul play... don't count on actually doing fieldwork with Shamir," the adherent looked at Karna with a glare, "we don't want any potential evidence being destroyed because of your calamity-inducing misfortunes, do we?"
"... Fair enough," Karna stopped himself from protesting Seteth's claims, still remembering the fort catching on fire last month.
"And if you're thinking of taking bandit extermination assignments just to work off your case murder-cold turkey..." Rhea spoke, "... I'd suggest you all purge said thoughts. We're putting you all under house arrest for the rest of the month within academy grounds."
"What?! Why?!" Cyrus spoke out.
"Listen, all we want is a month where nothing dire happens, especially with you lot found at the epicenter!" Seteth pointed out, "... we rather not take our chances, just saying."
"Never took you for the superstitious type, desk jockey," Karna smirked at the adherent.
"So says the sadomasochist leading a pack of sadomasochists..." Seteth muttered to himself, his facade of professionalism fraying at the seams whenever he deals with the Dustbin.
"However, we will lift the ban on your activities if there is an emergency sortie and put your class as part of of an emergency dispatch," Rhea pointed out, "however, if things go according to plan, we will not be needing you out on the field at all for the rest of the month."
The Dustbin go into various stages of grumbling and self-pity.
"Okay, what do we do for the rest of the month?" Byron asked.
"Figure something out," Seteth immediately replied, "make a sandwich in the mess hall for all I care. At least that way, none of you will end up scooping out someone else's eyes with a spoon!"
Everyone looks at Vidar.
"... One... time..." he spoke before pouting.
"So I take it that our ban on the mess hall has been lifted?" asked Topaz.
"We will reinstate it immediately the moment something goes south," Seteth replied, implying "yes" on the little Hassan's part.
"Finally!" Sorcha rejoiced, "actual food!"
"Oh boy..." Selene sighed out in a nervous sweat, "... now I'm gonna have get used to seeing lots of people in an enclosed place..."
"Dismissed," Rhea remarked, to which the Dustbin left the audience halls.
"Hm, how odd," Karna spoke to himself as he walked down the halls, "I didn't get punched out of the doors."
But just as the Dustbin were about to leave the building, Seteth comes running towards them from behind.
"One last thing!" the adherent spoke, "... Mr. Iskandar, your application for your Beginner's Exam retake has been approved by the board. Please see yourself to the Exam Hall whenever you have time before the month ends."
"Thanks," Cyrus nervously replied, still trying to hold down his fears of being trapped in a small room for long periods of time, "hopefully, the weeks of labor didn't reset any sort of progress I made..."
Elsewhere...
"Hey," Catherine spoke as she entered into a dimly-lit room, "how's the investigation going?"
"No less confusing," Shamir curtly replied as she tried to mentally connect the dots between the cases that occurred month to month, "the involvement of a small-time brigand... the one who set the border fort on fire... and now the group of bodies found in the swamps of Varley..." she muttered to herself as Shamir eyed towards the trio of slips of paper that had picked up traces of a pink-purplish specks of fine powder preserved in resin, "... and all three months, these things were found right where the footprints end... question is, what are these?"
"Not much of a guessing girl, but I think the workers found at the swamps were just purely bad luck," Catherine interjected, "I mean, there are worse places to die. Like the swamps next to Varley? Heard those were toxic."
"I don't look towards superstition to conclude the result of my findings," she replied, "the facts confirm that Karna and his group weren't responsible, while someone else killed the workers in the swamp, those being the same ones behind the past two incidents," Shamir stated, "meaning that they were targeted deliberately for knowing something that they shouldn't have known."
"Why do you think that?" Catherine asked.
"One of those workers were from Gaspard," she pointed out, "he might've been an eyewitness to the incident to the last month's arson/cover-up."
"And so does all of Faerghus," Catherine remarked, "if he was from Gaspard, why didn't our culprits go after the refugees that ended up in Gideon?"
"That, my group is still looking into," Shamir replied, "but all the answers I got from them that their now-dead Lord Lonato told them to not look back. So far, we cannot confirm any involvement between the refugees and our prime suspects, direct or otherwise."
"Stubborn ol' geezer, even after kissing the mud..." she grumbled as she recalled the pacification mission last month where they had to slay every man against them. It was like her first execution, only done repeatedly.
It was dirty work, but it was for peace. Who knows, the fact that she sort of understands the Faerghusian sense of pride reaffirmed that Catherine still hasn't let go of her past just yet.
Damn that Karna, she cursed internally, his accursed being had to dig up old demons that I had buried a long ago.
"So... uh," Catherine smacked her lips as she ran out of things to talk about that would grab Shamir's interest, "... I'm gonna go get some grub. You want anything?"
"Anything small and that won't make a mess," she replied.
"Got it," Catherine then walked out of the door, "good luck with your investigation."
26th of Blue Sea Moon, Morning
Today was the the day. The Goddess's Rite of Rebirth.
The town below the monastery were packed to the brim with devout pilgrims and faithful, coming from all four winds, from the Southernmost of Adrestian Empire to the Northernmost of Faerghus. To the Westernmost where the doubtful lie to the harried Easternmost, all those whom believed in the grace of the Goddess have gathered for the day where they hope their being of faith returns to their world. Inns and taverns were fully booked, streets and marketplaces were crawling with people with gold to spend, and as for the academy grounds, spirits were high, chapel attendance were at an all-time high as the air around them echoed with their melodic and angelic choirs, all academic activities were canceled for this special day, and regarding the Dustbin, they were just glad that they were able to eat regularly-prepared food rather than having to steal them out of the pantry or kill rats and other small animals available.
"Man," Byron chuckled to himself as he looked around to see glaring eyes directed towards them, "they must love us right now."
"Kinda sucks that we can't go outside until the month's over," Sorcha grumbled, "don't have time to bond with y'all. Makes me wonder why we only grow closer when we're out there, fightin'."
"Fools," Topaz clicked her tongue as she sucked on her finished tiny fish bones that she'd picked up next to empty skewers, "a day of revelry for a religion? How droll."
"Well, at least the food is extra-good today," Selene pointed out as she helped herself on her very first (and tenth) plate of Beast Meat Teppanyaki, "they advertised this as the 'taste of the wilderness', but really, this feels like what the Empire noblemen would eat. And normal people, schmucks like us, eat this."
"Food's food," Cyrus pointed out, "as long as Darius is free and not in the stables, I'm happy even if the whole world is going straight to hell as we speak."
"Don't jinx it," Karna teased as he spoon-fed Vidar his own Gautier Cheese Gratin (the student in question was still prohibited from using utensils, also the cheese will require him to replace his bandages for sanitary reasons), "knowing my luck, some bad actors might as well be involved in the crowd," he snarked as Karna sipped only the liquid parts of his Onion Gratin Soup while leaving out the solids, "not our problem though. Sellsword and her class are in charge of today's security detail within campus grounds, and I heard Catherine's helping her out. For us, we're backup."
"At least we got our weapons back," Byron remarked as he bit into his serving of Garreg Mach Meat Pie, "seriously, does this place serve nothing but mostly fish here? Vidar's allergic to fish!"
"Normally, people would say 'order something else', but it's not that Vidar wouldn't be capable of doing such thing," Karna mouthed off as he kept sipping on the broth, "rather, it's the case of Fodlan's menus not allowing to make our own meals."
"Malarky," Topaz clicked her tongue, "their food has no flavor that would keep me awake and alert at all times! Even their so-called Super-Spicy Fish Dango doesn't live up to its label of being 'spicy'."
"What counts as spicy for ye then?" asked Selene, remembering that one time when the twins snuck out with their Princess Petra to try Adrestian street food, their mouths smoking on that day, "I mean, I tried Fodlan's spicy. I thought that would be the last thin' I would've ever tasted."
"By your comparison, try my homeland's food, and it will be the last thing you'll ever taste," Topaz smirked behind her veil.
"It's true," Karna concurred, "their lentil soup is consumed for winter nights for a good reason. Desert nights in the outer fringes of Almyra tend to get cold to the point where you'll develop frostbite before the sands freeze over. The spice only serves to warm the body for night travels rather than appealing to anyone's tastes."
"Frostbite, without snow?" Byron's curiosity being piqued, "... how odd."
The rest of the Dustbin then turned to leave their table as the other students and staff looked at them as if they were a circus's freak show.
"Deserts can grow cold without snow?" a Faerghusian male student muttered, "... I'd hate to be her."
"Those guys are dangerous..." an Adrestian female student remarked, "... I'd rather not let them watch my back during a fight."
"Couldn't they just go eat elsewhere?" a Leisterian female student grimaced, "the academy was so much better without them walking around."
"Yeah, especially their Professor," an Adrestian male student whispered to another, "bad luck aside, how is a human being that tall and yet that thin?"
As the Dustbin class walked out of the mess hall, it wouldn't be an exaggeration that the misfit students felt extremely uncomfortable at the eyes staring at them and mouths whispering about their behind their backs.
"You know..." Byron sighed out, "I would say that we should be getting used to this," he grimaced slightly, "... but I wouldn't lie that I actively welcome this public scorn."
"They believe that they have the privilege," Topaz replied, "the privilege of not being raised in a world where survival exists above prosperity."
"They ain't got the balls to back up their words," Sorcha spat in disgust, "the gall of those dastards. If they have a problem with us, why don't they say it to our faces?"
"I think they're afraid of getting hurt," Selene pointed out, "Vidar bit off someone's ear, so I think the whole school still thinks of us as a bunch of ear-biters."
"How pitiable," Cyrus sighed out, "they delude themselves to being proper while they nothing more than dolls manipulated by their own fears," he remarked, "while I may suffer confinement, they fear the unknown. The wolf fears the pen just as the sheep fear the open plain."
"... One... time," Vidar defended himself, "... he also... made fun... of Byron..."
"Any ideas, Professor?" Byron asked with a smirk, "now that were in public view, how do we proceed without repeating what had transpired before you came into our lives?"
Karna smiled. Even though that despite everything, from being chased by normal people and bandits alike to being constantly on the move within and out of Fodlan, he finally felt that he'd found his own world that he can settle down and be vulnerable in.
A country without borders. A castle with legs. Camaraderie. Between misfits and deviants.
"Stick together," Karna flashed his own wicked smirk, "the collective fears us more than when we're divided."
As the Dustbin walked in coordination with a swagger that screamed that they were the apex predators of this academy's habitat, a sudden thought came into Karna's mind.
"So Cyrus, about your exam..." Karna remarked.
"Professor, let me tell you something," he replied with a pained and crooked smile that screamed both pitch-black humor and suppressed terror, "most of that she-devil's 'tutoring' took place inside the exam halls. I said enough."
At the local settlement near Garreg Mach...
Byleth lets out a hefty yawn as she and Catherine stood next to each other by the town, currently engaging in pre-celebration inspection, checking everyone coming into permitted boundaries to check for any evidence of foul play.
Normally, this kind of vetting process would be handled by people like Karna. In fact, this was supposed to be his job if the somehow managed to finish both of his repair jobs as a way to preemptively keep him and his idiosyncratic class in line. However, upon the bodies of dead workers being discovered by said basket case of hellions known as the Dustbin, this unforeseen circumstances, this menial task was pushed to Byleth due to Manuela being found too inebriated for the job, Hanneman being stationed elsewhere (informational tour guide for the visitors interested in the academy grounds for future applicants), Shamir being too busy (as usual), Alois and the majority of the Knights of Seiros being preoccupied with the bulk of the general security detail and Cyril, while being one of the more motivated pages around, he was still too young for the job and had to be convinced by Rhea herself that he's better off elsewhere.
"... Is it just me?" Catherine crinkled her face as if a sneeze was stuck inside her nose, "... or are usually summer mornings this chilly?"
"Might be getting warm later on," Byleth remarked as stopped a comer to pat him down for weapons hidden on his person, "so enjoy it while you can?"
Catherine then lets out a sneeze after a concerted amount of effort that she didn't anticipate. "Yeah yeah," she replied as she approved the guest for clearance, "you're better company than that pasty Professor or his bipolar powder keg that is his class."
"Really now?" asked Byleth as she vetted another guest coming in, "how so?"
Catherine looks at the former sellsword as if she grew another head out of her neck. "Are you blind?" she twitched her eyelid in utter disbelief, "do you know how many times that I had to deal with them personally?! Especially that Almyran brat who is somehow taller than me yet acts half his age every time I had to drag him into the exam halls by his boots earlier this month?!" the Knight of Seiros ranted while inexplicably approving the clearance for the next guest, "I'd rather fight a whole pack of giant wolves for the rest of my life than deal with them in the future!"
"I don't judge," Byleth pointed out, "I met all sorts of people, and while I do have my reservations for people like them, that doesn't mean I start pointing fingers at them just to make myself feel better," she continued the vetting process as she spoke, "who knows. Maybe I'll be like you when I come to blows with them someday. Or I can remain duck-faced like I was with everyone else."
"... Wow," Catherine blankly blinked, completely dumbfounded at what Byleth had just said, "... that's a level of maturity that I'd never though I'd hear coming from you."
"Eh, guess I was raised right," she replied as she kept with her vetting process.
"Haha... right," Catherine nervously laughed, the sellsword's words hitting her right where it kind of hurts. After all, even though she wanted to forget her life before "Catherine", it still doesn't change the fact that it still happened. She could only live in denial for so long, "Cassandra" was still a part of her just as "Catherine" is her right now.
And yet, here comes the Dustbin, the force of entropy that she really didn't need in her life. If it were solely up to her, she would've killed the entirety of the Dustbin and spared herself the future headaches, but right now, Catherine knew that her life wasn't just her own's.
It was serving a grander purpose. To keep the peace in Fodlan in the name of the Goddess who've blessed this land and its people. Anything else were of secondary of concern.
Wow, Sothis remarked as her astral form floated around Byleth's head like a ghost, knew she was dedicated but damn.
Since when could you read other people's minds? asked Byleth semi-sarcastically as she continued on with her given work.
Who do you think has been giving you those suggestions and helped you cheat on your promotion exams last weekend from Myrmidon to Thief? Sothis boasted, without me, you'd be as sociable as a beached guppy!
Thanks I guess, she mentally replied, ain't being an ingrate, but please, tone down the bragging. It's ironically fitting of your current stature.
Don't make me shut myself off from you again! she whined petulantly, and you better make sure that nothing that'll bring me out happens!
Just outside the permitted borders...
"Okay, big day..." Albion paced around the dark parts of the surrounding forests back and forth, admittedly a little excited and nervous about this operation, "today, I break into the so-called tomb, my superiors paid off a bunch of bandit schmucks to act as the auxiliary muscle, the Death Knight is already planted in the monastery grounds..." he then looked towards another Dark Mage standing next to him, his robes being a dull blood-red to his bright white, "which then leaves you and your band of fire starters..."
"Oh, don't look at me like that," said the red-colored Dark Mage, "who was the guy who set the fort on fire and covered our tracks last month?"
"Oh shut your piehole, Ddraig," Albion hissed, "or are you just jealous that you won't be able to hog all the glory to yourself this time around?"
"Ha! You wish!" Ddraig snorted, "you're only gonna get good with the bossman only because I allow it! Ain't the most generous person walking upon this ball of dirt and water?"
"So says the guy who's literally fitted into the prototype suit of the Adrestian Empire's Dark Magic Division proposed by our higher-ups planted among the nobility," spat the white Dark Mage, "is there something that I haven't been told about this mission?"
"Hey, hey!" the red Dark Mage jabbed his finger at Albion's mask's beak, "keep your nose in your own business and I'll keep mine off of yours. Got it?"
"Whatever," Albion rolled his eyes behind his mask as he saw a company of similarly-dressed Dark Mages come from behind Ddraig, rolling barrels of black powder and carrying jugs of lantern oil on their person, "friggin' showoff."
The night of the Goddess's Rite of Rebirth...
The sun has set in place of a perfect blue moon, the skies have turned dark allowing the stars to shine at their brightest and the earth below are now alight with specks of light that looked like fireflies when looked from a distance, all converging onto the center of Fodlan like fish gathering into a piece of bait in a feeding frenzy.
"You know, back during my bounty hunting days, I used to think lamplight trails were evil," Byron confessed as he and the rest of the class looked at the trail of pilgrims walking into the monastery's gates that they stood above all the way from the settlement below, "usually, it was either another bounty hunter after me and Vidar or Knights of Faerghus coming after us to 'bring us to justice'."
"Now yer thinkin' that it looks beautiful?" Sorcha remarked, "... cuz, it kinda is. Like fireflies, but... bigger."
"So why is Vidar blindfolded?" Cyrus asked as he looked at the bandaged boy curled up into a ball next to him, his head down and arms wrapped around his legs and his covered with a strip of thick cloth.
"He's afraid of fire," Selene pointed out, "in small quantities, he's fine, but when it's too big or too close to his face, uh..."
"Enough," Karna scolded, "just for today, expect and hope that nothing happens tonight."
"With us around?" Topaz snarked, "the whole world itself feels like it's out to kill us. So what's stopping them?"
"Who's the 'them' that you're referring to?" asked Karna.
"Anyone, who we are allowed, to murder," Topaz hissed, "I have been denied of death for too long. The world is out of balance if peace persists too long-"
Suddenly, as if it were on cue, a massive, fiery explosion was seen and heard coming from the forests outside of the settlement below.
"... Well, wish granted," Karna deadpanned, to which Topaz was pleased as a punch, "... we should probably quell the panic down there, just in case-"
More, but smaller explosions were then spotted coming from different parts of the forest bordering the town below the monastery, now escalating a possible panic-inducing situation into that of a full-blown wildfire.
"... Let's go see Alois," Karna remarked as the crowd below were then corralled by the security detail led by another Knight of Seiros with Jeralt to deescalate the panic that was about to happen, "I think now it's the 'emergency dispatch' that Seteth has put us into."
"What about Vidar?" asked Byron, "don't tell me we're going into an inferno with him around!"
"Then keep him blindfolded," Karna muttered as he walked downstairs, "leaving him here unattended won't make it better."
Below at the Holy Mausoleum...
"That's our cue!" Albion crowed as he and his group snuck into the tomb below the monastery during the panic, with their spare weapons being supplied by their "inside man" within monastery grounds, allowing them to slip through customs without raising an alarm, "alright boys, spread out!"
The hired muscle then began to disperse themselves throughout the array of stone coffins as he and the Death Knight made their way towards the giant sarcophagus waiting at the very end of the subterranean burial grounds.
"Here we are..." the white-clad Dark Mage eagerly rubbed his gloved hands together, "the motherload."
"Get on with it," the Death Knight slammed his weapon's blunt tip onto the ground, "unless I sate my appetite with your blood instead."
"Yeah yeah," Albion dismissively remarked as his hands approached the stone casket depicting an carving of a woman, "I'll get to it-YOWTCH!
As soon as he touched the stone sarcophagus, his hands were shocked with a sudden jolt of unseen energy that surrounded the coffin.
"Explain," ordered the Death Knight.
"Yep, they really don't any prying hands on whatever this box is holding," Albion shook his jittery hands to shake off the pain, "a layer of raw Black Magic reinforced with Faith Magic to deter graverobbers."
"Can you dispel it?" asked the Death Knight as he attempted and failed to break open the casket with his weapon, only for it to bounce off the barrier.
"Give me around... 25 minutes at least," Albion stated as he got to work lockpicking this unforeseen (but not unprepared) security measure, "there ain't nothing in this world that a little Dark Magic cannot deal with."
"Save your boasts," the Death Knight heard other footsteps echoing from above and towards where they are, "they're here."
As the entrance of the mausoleum, a group of Black Eagles students led by their Professor had arrived.
"Okay, so about..." Byleth counted the number of armed graverobbers present, "20 of them against 10 of us."
"Then it's a fair enough fight," Catherine snarled as she drew her [Thunderbrand] from its sheathe, "they'll rue this day that they've dared desecrated these holy grounds!"
"Easy there," Byleth tried to calm the Knight of Seiros down, "let the kids have some. Can't let the adults get too greedy for some hands-on-experience."
"How considerate of you, Professor," Hubert smirked as his hands glowed in a purplish hue, "it's time to show the fruits of our labors."
"Alright!" Caspar banged his [Iron Gauntlets] together, "let's kick some bad guys' butts!"
"Indeed," Petra brandished her [Iron Sword], "we slay them all!"
"Ooh, of all the days, why today?" whined Bernadetta as she readied her [Iron Bow] with her trembling hands, "... still, I can't sleep with all of this noise happening outside, so... alright, I'll fight."
"Seconded," Linhardt yawned out, "I'll back you guys up with my healing, so try not to die, okay?"
"Aw, how sweet of you, Linny," Dorothea smiled as her hands crackled with bolts of electricity, "next treat is on me, okay?"
"Make it for the whole class," Ferdinand pointed his [Iron Lance] towards the enemy in a heroic manner, "for Ferdinand von Aegir shall lead us all to triumph-"
A cough was heard from Edelgard, whose usual dignified posture was now slightly wobbly and feverish.
"Edelgard, been meaning to ask you this, but are you okay?" asked Byleth, "ever since you got back last week, you've been looking a little feverish."
"... I'm well enough to fight, Professor," she replied as Edelgard holstered her [Steel Axe] over her shoulder, "thank you for your concern, but we have bigger concerns to worry about."
"At last, all the players have gathered..." spoke the Death Knight as he mounted onto his jet-black steed adorned in horned armor, "... now let us play... our game of death."
So much for nothing happening, Byleth internally snarked, wonder if Sothis' gonna get mad for waking her up.
At the forest set ablaze...
"AHAHAHAHAHA! RUN YOU SNIVELING COWARDS!" Ddraig cackled out as his Dark Mage compatriots kept shooting the forest around them with their [Fire] spells, "THE WORLD SHALL BUUUURRRRNNN!"
"Wow," one Dark Mage snarked as he kicked a barrel of black powder towards the roaring flames, "overcompensating much?"
"I won't let Albion take all the glory tonight!" ranted the lead Dark Mage, "in fact, I can do better than him! I can set the whole mountain on fire and kill lots of those vermin crawling inside! How is that?! Ain't that gonna be a kick to the balls?!"
"Uh sir," one Dark Mage spoke out, "won't we get caught in the blaze and the thing that our higher-ups are after be destroyed in the process if we do exactly that?"
"Oh relax. These prototype suits are fireproof!" Ddraig barked back, "and if we kill everyone important up at the church, then our workload will be significantly reduced!" he pointed out his brand of forward thinking, "I think that initiative is something that'll be worth some significant praise, ain't it?!"
But just as a Dark Mage could protest, an arrow pierces his neck and through his fireproof suit. From afar, Shamir and her personal squadron of Archers and Snipers took aim at the arsonist group.
"Fire," she ordered, letting their quivers fly.
"Aw crap!" cursed Ddraig as the arrows rained towards, "cheese it!"
The Dark Mages then all scattered throughout the burning woods, desperately evading the arrows using the flames and smoke as cover.
"Shall we engage the pursuit?" asked the Sniper.
"Negative," Shamir replied, "our role here is auxiliary. Flush them out of hiding and let the rest cut them down."
"Yes ma'am," he replied as he and the rest of the bowmen spread themselves out throughout the unburnt parts of the woods, using the flames as illumination to pick out and harass their targets, coaxing them out of their intended escape routes (if they had any), leading the Dark Mage to encounter Alois' group of Brigands backed up by Armor Knights from another squadron led by another Knight of Seiros.
Meanwhile, Karna and the Dustbin managed to run into Ddraig along with a few other Dark Mages that followed behind him during the panicked rush.
"I thought I told you guys to cheese it!" the red Dark Mage hissed, "it means, run any direction that isn't mine!"
"Well good evening, masked gentlemen," Karna taunted, "to what do you lot owe this wonderful night of setting the whole forest on fire?"
"Two words, string bean," Ddraig pointed up two fingers before curling the index back into his hand and leaving only the middle sticking out, "eat, [Fire]!"
At his cue, the Dark Mages unleashed smoldering hell towards the Dustbin. Vidar himself was carried behind Cyrus' back and still blindfolded with the addition of earplugs so he won't hear the crackling of mass flames dancing about the forest.
"Finally..." Topaz's eyes widened in pure elation, "DEATH!"
She drew her [Bolo] from its rectangular sheathe as she sped towards the group of Dark Mages shooting [Fire] towards her.
"DAMMIT!" one Dark Mage cursed as his shots kept missing, "I HAVE EASIER TIME HITTING FIELD MICE THAN HER!"
"We're outnumbered!" another pointed out as he ducked under an arrow while the flames behind them encroached towards their direction, "we're sitting ducks!"
"Not for long!" Ddraig retorted, "on my count, run around and surround them!"
"Wait," another protested, "what count-"
"[Bolganone]!" Ddraig then slams both of his hand into the ground and caused the earth itself to erupt into molten lava in several spots where the Dustbin and Karna stood, disorienting their pattern of attack and scattering them into a disorderly mob.
"NOW!" said the Dark Mage as he picked up the cue and started running towards his right as the other ran to his left, "[Fire]!"
He then began to shoot the spells in a rapid fire fashion to get in as many hits as possible unto the unruly lot. The Dark Mage kept firing even as his nerves started to heat up from excessive magic usage, hoping that the sheer volume of fire was more than enough to keep them pinned down long enough to make their escape.
"Anytime now..." he muttered as arms started to char, "any time-"
His words were then cut off by his own throat being slit open from behind.
Oh crap...thought the Dark Mage as he tried to dam his bleed throat with his hands in futility, ... where were you this whole time?
"Right side!" Karna cried out as he fired his [Miasma Δ] towards the Dark Mage at the left, breaking his focus and allowing Selene to let loose a few blind shots with her [Iron Bow], the arrows striking his left thigh and right shoulder.
"SON OF A-" growled the other Dark Mage as he pulled out the arrows sticking into him, "HEY DDRAIG!"
The Dark Mage just tosses him a small [Hand Axe] for him to defend himself with.
"You've gotta be kidding me," sighed the Dark Mage as he picked up a logging tool for a last-ditch weapon, "well, things can't get any worse-"
He then sees Sorcha unravels her bandage-covered shaft to reveal during her charge to reveal a giant slab of thick iron that looked too big to be a regular [Iron Sword]. Realizing that he's out of magic to use and their operation going below south, these were his last thoughts as the massive blade fell between his eyes.
With my last breath, I curse Ddraig.
Sorcha bellows out a feral howl as blood and viscera splashed onto her face and clothing, all the while, a euphoric sense of fulfillment shocked all the way down to her very marrows.
"Ooh yeah..." she sighed out in bliss, licking her blood-covered lips, "... it feels good to be back."
Ddraig lets out a sigh as he saw his two compatriots being cut down.
"If you want to do something right, you do it yourself," he sighed out as he drew out his [Levin Sword], "come on! Let's see what's in that belly of yours!"
Ddraig then charged towards the Dustbin as Karna intercepted the electrocuted blow with his [Crescent Sickle]. Upon his blow being parried, Ddraig casts his [Bolganone] beneath the Professor's feet, but Karna himself was casting something above the Dark Mage's head.
"Not the most optimal use of my new spell, but what the hell," Karna rolled his eyes as he felt the ground below him getting too warm for his liking, "[Dark Spikes T]!"
Both spells fired in unison, the combined blast causing both of them to break off from each others' weapon lock and away from the blast zone relatively unharmed.
"An anti-calvary spell used as an anti-air?" snickered Ddraig, "crafty dastard."
"We can take him," Byron remarked as his hands began to emit frosty vapors, "it's 7 on 1 now."
"Bring it," Ddraig taunted before he slammed his hand onto the ground, "[Bolganone]!"
The ground around them erupts into magma once again, forcing the Dustbin to scatter lest they want to get burnt. Ddraig takes an advantage of this opening and uses his [Levin Sword] to send bolts of lighting across the forest's opening to further disorient them.
"AHAHAHA!" cackled the red Dark Mage, "I ain't like that pissant Albion! I actually know how to use all facets of offensive magic!" he smirked behind he mask as he spotted Topaz trying to ambush Ddraig from behind, "and I'm also smart enough to learn from my peers' mistakes. [Banshee Θ]!"
The red-clad Dark Mage belts out a horrid, Dark Magic-empowered shriek into the air that knocks back both the surrounding flames and Topaz alike in a sundering shockwave of pure sound.
"Ugh..." Topaz swallowed her own vomit as her ears rang like the chapel's bells, "... my head... so nauseous..."
"... Kind of a hell on my throat," Ddraig remarked as he felt up his sore vocal cords as he kept up his barrage of lightning attacks from his sword as he kicked the disoriented Topaz into the burning brushes to get her out of the way, "... four uses left."
"Professor?" Byron called out over the sparks flying about, "did you hear that?!"
"Aside from the ringing?!" Karna replied, all the while cursing himself for not packing additional earplugs, "what do you have in store for?"
"Just trust me!" Byron cried back, "now go! Draw him to you guys and let me do my work!"
Karna nods, knowing that their options against this surprisingly formidable foe was scant at best. "Alright," Karna remarked to anyone not named Byron, "anyone got any good ideas for distractions?!"
It was admittedly a little hard to suggest any ideas when lightning rained from above and lava exploded from below.
"Maybe we can taunt him?!" Selene remarked, holding tight onto her glasses close to her face as if her life depended on it (it really did; vision problems and area-of-effect attacks are a match made in hell), "then maybe he'll become so cross that he'll make a mistake?!"
"How about running away?" Cyrus sarcastically called out before yelling in fury, "or we could if we were allowed to bring Darius along!"
"Ah shut yer trap!" Sorcha remarked harshly as she ducked under a bolt of lightning, "it's an open field and yet there ain't enough room to swing me blade without being burnt or shocked!"
Karna racked his brain for any good ideas, but only one came into his mind.
"Professor?" Cyrus remarked, "what are you looking at me for like that?"
"... Tell Byron that I'm sorry," Karna remarked.
"For what?" Selene asked as the Professor brandished his [Crescent Sickle].
"For what I am about to do," he then cut loose Vidar's bindings and his blindfold, welcoming the broken soul back to his hell from where he'd come from.
"PROFESSOR!?" Byron remarked as he heard Vidar's screams coming from where they were, "WHAT THE HELL?!"
"VIDAR!" Karna cried out as he smacked the bandaged boy across his face, "LOOK! I'M SORRY THAT I HAD TO BRING YOU BACK HERE, BUT WE NEED YOUR HELP!" he begged as he pointed towards the red Dark Mage, "that fear you feel? It's all a lie, Vidar. It's holding you back and you'll never be able to protect Byron or any of us with your power! You can't burn twice, Vidar! You're stronger than the fire that has destroyed you!"
"I..." he shuddered out, "... I am... I am..!"
He felt as if he'd ended up in that same place again. The same place that he was forced to confront alone back when he was tortured last month. This time however, seeing someone else's face other than Byron's made him feel, for lack of a better term, not afraid or angry.
"Vidar," Karna spoke as he pinned the bandaged boy onto the ground, "what, do you want, to do, now?"
"... I..." Vidar shuddered, "... I... fight..." he steeled himself, now able to trust Karna a bit more, "I... fight!"
Karna smirks as he pointed his thumb towards the only Dark Mage left standing. "Get im."
As soon as the Professor lets Vidar go, the latter comes towards Ddraig like a rabid animal.
"Hold still, you..." Ddraig snarled as his attacks all aggro towards Vidar as the latter kept dodging and weaving through his blasts, "... damn beast!"
"Vidar... beast..." he snarled as he ran through the fire and flames, the chains of his fears slowly snapping away as he got closer to his prey, "... beast... tear... throat!"
He leapt into the air with his teeth bared. Like a wolf pouncing upon a cornered prey, Vidar delivers his mortal blow towards Ddraig, diving down from above to strike him down.
"... You... you... you-idiot," he smirked as he aimed and readied his [Banshee Θ], "being airborne makes you an easier target!"
Ddraig then lets out another choir of his horrible scream, but not the scream of rage, but rather pain, as his blast of sound was redirected behind where he stood upon the back of his both knees being slashed open by Topaz's poisoned blade.
"Your back..." grinned the little Hasashin, "was open..."
The blast of sound missing Vidar caused the latter to bite down onto his fireproof suit, ripping the protective layer open to reveal a pale-skinned chest beneath.
"THAT WAS MY FAVORITE SUIT!" he continued to yell through his [Banshee Θ]-empowered voice, becoming louder with his indignant rage, thrashing about the ground, unable to stand, "YOU DASTARDS-"
All of the sudden, the loud voice was silenced. From across the burning field, Byron stretched out his hand with a pale white aura emitting from his left hand.
"... Never thought [Faith Magic] could be useful outside of healing..." he smirked, "... then again, [Silence]... is golden."
Just as Vidar was about to deliver the killing blow, Cyrus grabs his arm before pointing Vidar's head towards the fire coming towards them.
"We should go now," Cyrus remarked.
"Professor," Topaz crawled out from below Ddraig's thrashing body, "what do we do with him?"
"Take him with us," Karna remarked, "maybe the Church can squeeze him for info and we get a little bonus."
"Fine..." Sorcha grumbled as Cyrus lift up Ddraig over his shoulder as the former took the latter's [Levin Sword] as a trophy.
"Professor..." Byron looked at Karna, his eyes no longer in reverence to the latter, now burning with cold disappointment towards his idol, "... we're going to have a long talk later."
"Come on!" Selene cried out, "move or get cooked!"
No one questions her as the Dustbin and their Professor run across the burning forest and meet Alois' men trying to put out the fires with whatever means they have available. Right now, all they can do is to simply prevent the fire from reaching the settlement.
"Hey pun-man!" Karna called out, "we found the culprit-"
"GOOD GODDESS! YOU'RE ALL BURNT!" Alois exclaimed as he saw the miserable states of the Dustbin students and their Professor, "SOMEONE SPARE SOME WATER FOR THEM-"
Karna slaps the man out of his funk. "We're fine," he pointed out, "we kinda uh, almost... died, but that's our normal Tuesday. Now can someone apprehend this arsonist?!"
"I will," Shamir called out as she and her squadron of bowmen appeared out of the woods with a battalion of Armor Knights led by a redheaded man in dull-slate-gray armor with orange tassels and tunic all bearing the sigil of Seiros walked next to her, "General Gilbert and his men have neutralized the suspects. They resisted arrest and fought to their deaths."
"In short, your initiative worked in our favor," Gilbert remarked before bowing his head towards them, "we're grateful for your efforts."
"Yeah," Byron remarked, "I used [Silence] on the guy. Anyone know how to dispel a magic-induced mute command?"
"I do!" a young Cleric called out, "just learned [Restore] the other day!"
"I'll see to it that you're all compensated for," Gilbert spoke as his men took Ddraig by his arms, "take him away for questioning!"
"Sir!" the sound of horse hooves drumming against the ground was heard from afar, revealing to be a rider before he pulled the horse's reins to get it to heel, "the monastery... it's been infiltrated!"
"What?!" Alois remarked, "so you're saying-"
"We got played," Karna looked at the captured Dark Mage in red, who looked as if he were snickering to himself, if he were able to vocalize, "so, who's ready for round two?"
"As much as we'd love to Professor..." Sorcha remarked, "we go by foot, the fighting will already be over by then!"
"Oh yeah..." the rider heaved as he got off of his horse, "about that..."
A familiar neigh was heard followed up with the clanking of wooden wheels just behind the drumming of its massive hooves.
"Darius?!" Cyrus exclaimed as he saw his Battuian Steppe King steed gallop with a wooden trolley behind it.
"Almost died myself getting those bridles onto him," the rider pointed out, "either way, you guys now owe me."
"As soon as we're cleared to take requests and have the time to do so, we'll consider it!" Karna remarked as he and the Dustbin class got on, "let's go!"
Cyrus snaps the bridles and immideately the horse flies across the earth.
"Now then..." Gilbert knelt down before the captive, "... I'll ask you this only once. Who is behind this?"
Ddraig then lets out a whimper-like chuckle, more bemused than intimidated.
"What of this situation do you find humorous?" Gilbert asked, not raising his voice nor hiding his anger, "you tricked us once, so what else are you hiding."
One of the Armor Knights rips the beaked mask off of the Dark Mage's face, and it reveals a face that was similar to Karna's pale complexion.
"... I really can't believe it," Ddraig chuckled, "... you lot are way in over your tiny little heads, aren't ya?"
"Explain," Gilbert ordered only for the Dark Mage's eyes to start glowing blood-red.
"... Let there..." he coughed out, flashing one last wicked grin of pure spite towards his captors with his reddened eyes giving the smile of the Devil, "... be light."
Ddraig then explodes into a fiery conflagration, engulfing his own surroundings to make sure that he takes his captors down with him. Thankfully, Gilbert's deployment of his tower shield of thick steel prevented excessive casualties, Shamir included, but not the rider, who's succumbed to his burns like the others who were unfortunate enough to not get away on time.
"... Okay," Gilbert remarked as he peeked out of his shield, only to find where the arsonist knelt were nothing but a soot mark, "... I honestly didn't see that coming."
"Evidently, a poison pill is overrated," Shamir remarked, trying to hide her surprise.
Back below the Holy Mausoleum...
"Crap! Crap!" Albion looked back to see that his "hired muscles" were being routed from all directions by actual children (led by two competent adults) of all people, "how are these brats laying waste to-oh who am I kidding, they're fodder anyway! And I sure as hell ain't gonna leave this place empty-handed!"
The magic seal enveloping the sarcophagus proved to be more stubborn than he'd anticipated. He's already broken through several layers of Black Magic after decrypting the locks that the Faith Magic had embedded, and yet, even after over twenty minutes, he's can't discern whether he finished breaking through or not. Even the reinforcements didn't really matter much considering that a Knight of Seiros had intercepted all three of them at once.
"Hey Death Knight!" crowed Albion towards the completely stationary Death Knight, "don't just stand there! Waste those brats already!"
"They're not yet ready," spoke the Death Knight, "I will only engage if they allow themselves to test their mettle against me willingly."
"Bull!" replied the white-clade Dark Mage, "you're just being a pain just to spite me, aren't you?!"
"Do your duty and die by their hands or die by mine for disobedience," he threatened back.
"DAMN YOU, DEATH KNIGHT!" cursed Albion, "DAMN YOU AND YOUR SUPERIORS TO HELL! I HOPE THEY DIE SUFFERING!"
The Dark Mage then sees the teal-haired Thief coming towards him with a [Steel Sword] in hand.
"You're too late..." Albion boasted, trying to hide his fear of being cornered by a physically superior opponent, "the seal will be broken any minute now..."
"Cool," deadpanned Byleth, "can I break your arms?"
"Die!" Albion casted his spell with his one free hand while the other kept up trying to breach the seal around the coffin, "[Miasma Δ]!"
Byleth dodges it with ease before delivering a shallow cut to his leg before backing off.
"Hey!" the female Professor called out towards her class, "who wants a piece of this guy?"
At her beck and call, the entire class Black Eagles began to converge towards him like a kettle of vultures circling around fresh carrion.
"Get away from me!" screamed Albion as he kept firing his [Miasma Δ] towards the teal-haired Thief. Suddenly, an arrow strikes his shoulder before a bolt of [Thunder] zapped other leg, causing him to kneel, quickly then followed up by a cyan-haired Brawler's lariat across his ribs before a redheaded crimson-clad Soldier swipes his [Iron Lance] across his back.
"And that's why a lance is a hero's weapon!" Ferdinand boasted as the Dark Mage was now crawling himself over the sarcophagus, "alas, a shame that you've turned your back towards me. A dishonor on my part. Apologizes."
"Take that... little apology..." coughed Albion as he finally reached the last layers of the magical seal, "... and shove it up your backside!"
The force field around the coffin then shatters.
"It's no use..." he cackled as he lifted up the coffin's stone lid, "the seal... it's finally broken-" he himself was shocked to find not the bones of the goddess inside, but rather, something else, "huh? A sword?!"
Out of options and in desperation, Albion takes the sword for himself to defend himself with, but it was then immediately knocked out of his grasp by the teal-haired Thief, for which she then took it for herself after catching it from the air.
"DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT!" cursed Albion as he now unleashed his most powerful spell in his knowledge, "IF I'M GONNA DIE, I'LL SEND YOU TO HELL FIRST!"
A bright sphere of darkness was formed between his trembling hands.
"EAT THIS!" he cried out as he released the ball of pure energy towards the Thief, "[LUNA Λ]!"
The projectile hits the ground, causing a whole smoke of rubble to erupt between him and the class of Black Eagles. However, breaking through the haze, Byleth jumped towards the Dark Mage and delivers a downwards slash with her new and-now glowing sword from the sarcophagus.
In his last stand, he erects a [Ward] barrier as a makeshift shield before completely shattering under the pressure, which then Byleth finishes him off with another slash across his chest, staining his once-white robes with his own blood.
... It wasn't... supposed to... Albion thought as his consciousness began to fade away forever, end... like this...
Another choir of footsteps were heard coming from the mausoleum's entrance, this time, the whole of Dustbin sees that the fight is already over, much to their disappointment.
However, Karna and to a lesser (or greater) extent, the Death Knight, were too focused on the odd sword that the ex-sellsword was brandishing after her [Steel Sword] was snapped in two by Albion's last-ditch spell.
"The sword..." the Death Knight observed with genuine curiosity, "... I see. What a pleasant surprise."
"Hey," Karna looked towards the reaper-like warrior, "wait!"
It was too late, as the Death Knight now disappeared in a shine of pinkish light, leaving nothing but a stone floor caked with a thin layer of purple-pink powder behind.
"... Well," Byron snacked his lips in disappointment, "guess we are too late."
To Be Continued...
Author's Notes: Apologizes for the rush job. I wanted to get it out on a Tuesday release schedule in the name of origination.
So this chapter was a bit of a mess to write considering that I had to explain everything that the previous chapters had established to bring forth some payoff, and during my writing process, I was already making plans for another fic-original arc for the Dustbin to go through. Also, I only managed to get the prvious chapter out two days early due to no one coming to the card shop I hang out at, so I had a lot of time to burn back then.
As for the character differences between Albion and Ddraig, the Dark Mage duo, I guess in hindsight there isn't much difference between them aside from scant schematics, and Ddraig was a last-minute addition to give someone that the Dustbin can fight.
Overall, this chapter hit some rough spots mid-manuscript, but hopefully, the next arc will do something different a bit better. And I'll be sure to bring back support conversations around the next chapter. Because this chapter was the longest one I've written for this fic, so there's that.
References:
- Seteth's "make a sandwich" line is from Vox Machina.
- Ddraig's name is based of the Welsh Red Dragon, contrast to Albion's name being also based off the Welsh White Dragon.
- Ferdinand (von Aegir!) mentioning a "lance as a hero's weapon" is a reference to Sain's quote of similar ilk from Fire Emblem Blazing Sword.