The first thing Lysithea noticed as they arrived within Fraldarius territory were the large plumes of smoke in the distance. It also didn't take long for them to notice what looked like to be a small army of bandits raiding a city.

Oooh, that didn't look good.

"Oooh, that doesn't look good," Marisa commented.

"Get me in there now," Felix commanded as he stood up and balanced himself on Marisa's broom.

Marisa gave him a salute. "Aye aye Captain."

She sped forward with Felix and flew low as she initiated her first barrage of spells. As the enemy were getting blown away or forced to take cover, Felix leaped off the broom and combat rolled onto the roof of a nearby building. The three archers situated on it barely had time to turn before he had cut them down with three swift strikes.

Eventually Lysithea herself arrived but by then the enemy forces in the air had long since noticed her. Wyvern Riders mostly, but surprisingly well armored. Thankfully Wyvern Riders simply didn't have the maneuverability that she had in the air and they were also vulnerable to magic. As long as she kept herself composed then she would have no issues.

She had plenty of experience with Danmuku, so they didn't pose too much of a threat as long as they were uncoordinated. Really the only thing they had for them was sheer numbers which she and Marisa were dealing with effectively.

"Wind Fire Sign: Raging Wildfire!"

Gusts of wind and blame blanketed the skies in front of her, burning several of the enemy out of the skies while forcing the rest of the Wyverns to hesitate. They quickly changed strategies and split off at different angles and directions, likely in an attempt to encircle her.

Not that that helped them much. Lysithea simply focused and shot them down one by one.

Things were a lot easier now that she had started flying freely again. Not only could she dispatch these Wyvern Riders but the enemies on the ground couldn't reach her. Soon they would be helpless while she flung destruction from above and really the only thing that posed a threat were Archers once the fliers were dealt with.

Lysithea paused in the air for a brief moment and turned her head toward the Wyvern Rider charging at her. The beast roared and she flinched, as images of that monster that had almost killed her came back. It was a brief moment of hesitation, one that nearly cost her as she was barely able to dive out of the way of the bandit's axe and the Wyvern's grasping talons.

She gasped, took a few deep breaths, and glared at the Wyvern as it circled back around toward her. She threw a fireball that missed. The Rider charged at her once more.

This... wasn't like her. She was better than this.

With her first clenched Lysithea looped in the air, deftly avoided the axe of a Wyvern Rider, and blasted them out of the sky with her own spell from above.

She turned to face the two Wyvern Riders that were now flying at her to avenge their ally. Neither of them had much chance to do something before a small but bright laser beam pierced both in the chest and sent them falling to the ground.

Lysithea turned to Marisa who waved at her before suddenly jumping off her broom. She landed on the back of another Wyvern Rider, blasted him in the face with a point blank spell before he had even turned around, and then leaped again to land on her broom that had already moved to catch her.

Lysithea rolled her eyes. Unnecessary and flashy, but that was just Marisa's MO. She just had to show off.

Still, with the two of them dominating the skies it didn't take long for the bandits to start retreating, and from the look of things they didn't even manage to steal much of anything. Probably didn't expect reinforcements to arrive so soon, but those were the benefits of flight and traveling light.

Marisa had already gone to cut them off in one entrance of the city while Lysithea went to cut off another.

"Earth Fire Sign: Erupting Vesuvius!"

Molten rock emerged from the ground and erupted to encompass the area of the East Gate. The bandits were stuck and ultimately had to choose between wading through the magma or be cut down by the knights coming in behind them. Only a tenth of them unwisely chose the former, the rest ultimately died fighting or simply surrendered.

It was a messy affair and she could tell that some of the men were looking up at her with slight disgust. The charred flesh and bodies was a gruesome sight, along with the property damage, but she kept the latter at least to a fair minimum. Better to repair some road than to risk letting this group of bandits back in the Kingdom.

Her task done, Lysithea quickly gained elevation in order to survey the state of the battlefield from above. Marisa had done her work at the South Gate while Felix and his father's troops had also taken control of the North. Unfortunately though that still left the West gate for a good majority of the bandits to make their escape.

By the time each party dealt with their own groups the remaining bandits had already escaped. Marisa had tried to give chase but apparently they had been quite good at hiding themselves in the forests and unfortunately they weren't enough justification to turn the local fauna into a mound of scorched earth.

Lysithea shook her head.

That would be an issue in the future. Nothing good could come of these bandits being allowed to escape back into the Kingdom. If only there was a way to track them while she was busy- oh wait.

She flew down and moved to intercept another small group of bandits as they made their way across a road. While most of them were flying from getting blasted she made sure to tag one of the survivors on the back before letting him run away. It was a page from a book she had been carrying around. It wasn't a particularly good novel, so she had been perfectly happy to rip off a page and apply the same spell that she had used to track the countless books in Sensei's library.

Now it was just a simple matter of cleaning things up here and regrouping before going after the rest of the bandits.

With Lys on clean up duty, Marisa didn't really have much else to do as she flew toward Felix's location. Her magic unfortunately had limited feasible application when it came to construction work so it was best to just leave that to her more versatile Kouhai.

And Lys was a more versatile Magician than she was, Marisa was more than willing to admit that. Honestly Lys's biggest issues were a tendency to hesitate at key moments and overthink things much like Patchy would. Now Marisa was no stranger to getting trapped in her own head, it was something that just happened, but sometimes you just had to take decisive action even if all the odds weren't there.

Sadly Patchy's habit of being overly methodical was something she had passed down to her student, so it had become Marisa's responsibility to work that out. Lys was a meticulous planner but even planners had to learn to wing it when things didn't go their way.

That was for another time though. Preferably when Lys overcame the issues she had her with her Crests. Right now, she had to… watch as Felix stared at someone that looked a lot like him but older?

Well ok, too bad she didn't bring any popcorn.

"Thank you Felix, you arrived much sooner than I had expected. And your allies… well they certainly left their mark on the battlefield," the man – Rodrigue was it? – said as Marisa landed next to them.

"They didn't have to come so you'd better reward them properly," Felix replied as he glanced at her.

Aw he was thinking about her and Lys. Wasn't that sweet?

"Of course. They will be duly compensated," Rodrigue replied. "I am glad that you've made such reliable friends and that you arrived before the bandits could've done too much damage."

"Where did they get so many people anyway?" Felix asked. "This wasn't just a raiding party, it was almost a small army that had invaded."

"I don't know and they caught us completely off guard," Rodrigue admitted. "And a good number of them did get away. We'll have to shore up our defenses and make sure they don't have another opportunity. I don't think I could've faced Lambert again if we let them do this again."

"Really?" Felix glared at the man.

"What is it?"

"We came here to protect innocent people, not your ego," Felix replied angrily. "I don't give a damn as to whether or not you can bring yourself to face a dead king."

"I will not tolerate such language from you," Rodrigue replied, his voice stern.

Marisa simply stood to the side so that the two could talk, or really just shout at each other. She was kinda hoping for the latter.

"Well then if I suppose if I died, you would have said the same thing you did after Glenn's death. He died like a true knight. I suppose you'd be ready to face a dead king then once we both died for your honor."

Rodrigue remained silent.

"I have nothing more to say," Felix said as he turned around. "I'm going to gather some men to head into the forest. We need to wipe those bandits out or at the very least chase them away so they're someone else's problem."

Felix left, leaving Rodrigue and Marisa behind. It wasn't until his son was gone that the man let out a weary sigh and turned to face Marisa. "I'm sorry you had to see that. He's been that way for four years now. Of course, I understand his sentiment to some extent. It all comes down to… Well, a difference of opinion."

"That's what it always is, isn't it?" Marisa replied, plainly. "A difference in opinion. Just an excuse for not considering how they feel or what they want."

Rodrigue opened his mouth before letting another sigh and shaking his head. "I should be insulted, but you have the right of it. I can't take back those words I said to Felix. I had assumed they were what he needed to hear at the time. Even if I was assured in how I feel about Glenn… I should not have projected that onto Felix." He sighed. "I wonder if that rift between us had always existed or if Glenn's death was simply the catalyst needed to reveal it to us."

Regret… that was the one thing that Marisa never saw from her own father. It was the only reason why she wasn't following Felix at that very moment. "You can't take back what you said, but you can do your best to make up for it… I guess. Not going to be easy though. He's a bit stubborn."

"Indeed… he's an odd boy. Thick headed, but he's my son all the same." A son… Despite their disagreements and the resentment he received, this man still called Felix his son. "I'm glad he has you to look out for him."

Now it was Marisa's turn to look confused. She pointed at herself. "Me?"

"He looks up to you and just from this brief conversation we had, I can tell that you understand him. There's nothing more heartening than having someone you can relate to."

"Well, I guess I understand how he feels." Marisa brought down the brim of her hat and hid her eyes.

Rodrigue walked up to Marisa's side and looked out in the distance. "Just from that brief moment alone… I can see he feels at ease around you. I haven't seen him act like that since his brother died."

"And you're proud of how Glenn went out?" Marisa asked.

"You're not from Fodlan, correct? You wouldn't happen to know about the Tragedy of Duscur or the history of our families?" Rodrigue asked.

"Not really," Marisa admitted.

"During a diplomatic mission to Duscur a number of kingdom royals and nobles were assassinated during their travels. That included our previous King Lambers, Queen Consort Patricia, and Glenn. He died protecting his king though when I explained that to Felix… I believe that's when he started to resent me. And his brother I think. I know for a fact that it was something that Glenn had spent his life ready to face. It was his duty, his dream, to fight alongside his king."

To die swiftly but brightly for the sake of your own goal. For your own ideals. Marisa understood the appeal of that.

"After that the people of Duscur were blamed and a massacre began on an unprecedented scale," Rodrigue continued. "His Majesty tried to stop it, but though he was the sole remaining prince he was still but a child at the time, there was little that he could do."

Politics weren't really something Marisa was good or interested in dealing with, but even she could tell how messed that situation sounded. "Damn that's… most of those people were probably just regular people. They wouldn't have known anything about it."

"I agree, but the death of Lambert had brought up a fire within the kingdom that could not be quelled. There were very few survivors, one of whom was saved by his Majesty. I believe you know him."

Marisa nodded. "Dedue. It's sucks… but why are you telling me all this?"

"Perhaps I am overstepping my bounds, but as I said before my son looks up to you. And I believe as a classmate and an outside perspective you might give them guidance that I could never provide."

"Asking a lot from me," Marisa crossed her arms, but didn't deny any of it. "Look I'm not promising anything, but I'll listen."

"Thank you," Rodrigue nodded before continuing his story. "His highness, Sylvian, Ingrid, and my son are childhood friends. Annette's father was also tasked to protect Lambert, though he was absent from the Tragedy due to complications with his own family. Also, at one point Glenn and Ingrid were to be married."

"Woah." Was all Marisa could say. Suddenly the whole relationship dynamic of her class just got a lot more intimate and confusing. It was weird and honestly something straight out of one of those saucy Victorian romance dramas that Remilia liked to read.

"It can be intimidating for someone outside the group. They and our families in extension have always been incredibly close and we did our best to raise his highness in absence of his parents. However, I believe Felix resented me for that too. Felix blames me for Glenn's death and thinks that I tried to replace his brother with his Highness. I will admit that his Highness is a son to me… but it was never my intent to ever replace Glenn."

"You ever told him that?" Marisa suggested. Usually, the straightforward option worked, and Felix seemed like a straightforward guy.

"I did. But he never believed me."

"Well yea, we both know he's stubborn." And Marisa herself knew what it was like to hold a long grudge. Unlike someone she knew though, this man was going out of his way to try and compromise with his son. It was… more than she ever got herself. "I'll keep an eye on him for you while I'm here. I'm not going to tell him he's wrong or anything, he isn't, but I'll make sure he doesn't do anything I would do."

"Thank you," Rodrigue put his hand to his chest and bowed his head. "I am truly grateful."

"A cave system." Felix grunted in annoyance as he stared at the dark and seemingly endless tunnel that Lysithea's tracking spell had led them to. They could even see the page just tossed carelessly into a nearby puddle. "They somehow dug out an entire system right in the middle of our territory. What has that old man been doing?"

"Maybe the bandits just discovered these and started using them?" Marisa asked.

One of the knights, a member of Rodrigue's personal guard named Yoren that Felix had trained with in the past, shook his head. He wasn't good at thinking for himself but he was straightforward and followed orders. "We've conducted an extensive survey of the territory for years, these caves should not have existed."

"Probably some magic or some extra help then," Marisa commented as she peered into the darkness. "Tight fit and looks like a lot of turns and bends."

"The worst environment for you Marisa," Lysithea commented. "You won't be able to fly or use about 80% of your arsenal without bringing the tunnel down on top of us."

"70% actually," Marisa corrected. "But yea I wouldn't be of much help down there and I'd be very vulnerable to getting stabbed from the shadows. But Lys it isn't exactly fun for you down there either."

"Maybe not but I have some options and I'll make sure to stay in the middle of the formation as we go down. Plenty of protection and at the very least I'll be able to support them."

"Makes sense," Felix replied as he began to order his men into a proper formation. "Marisa can you keep an eye on the sky? There are bound to be other entrances we can't see, but if we happen to flush them out from below-"

"I'll perform clean up duty. Aye Aye Captain." Marisa saluted before propelling herself to the skies.

"She's very eager," Yoren commented as Marisa became a tiny dot in the sky.

"You have no idea," Lysithea replied.

"Let's go and wipe these bandits out," Felix commanded once the men were in position.

They marched forward into the cave with Felix in the front, Lysithea in the middle, and the rest of his men surrounding their rear and flanks. With each turn Felix would take point with Yoren to his side to provide assistance. The rest of his men would focus on observing their surroundings and making sure they wouldn't get ambushed, something made easier with Lysithea's spells.

The light that she created illuminated a large area around them and somehow bent and twisted to reveal the occasional crevice or path. One such crevice had a bandit which Felix had quickly cut down. Other than him though there were no other enemies coming out to fight them.

"Too quiet," Felix whispered. "With that many men you'd think one of them would make a sound."

"Perhaps these tunnels lead even farther than we thought? Yoren suggested.

"These tunnels are all freshly built," Lysithea said as she reached down to break apart a chunk of ground with her hand. "Something dug all of this. All of these walls… they have the same trace, the same feeling."

Felix grimaced. "So either the bandits have some new technology we didn't know of…"

"Or they tamed some sort of monster. Something big…"

"Should we retreat, bring back more reinforcements from the neighboring territories?" Yoren suggested.

Felix shook his head. "We'd just be giving them more time to regroup or arm… whatever is it they have with them against us. No, we deal with them now."

"I really don't like this," Lysithea admitted as they continued to march.

"What do you like? All I ever hear from you are complaints," Felix replied.

"Sweets, tea, and magical research. And aren't you calling the kettle black?"

"I'm honest with myself at least."

"Hmph"

They continued to march, the sounds of their footsteps a stark match to the continued silence of the tunnels. There was nothing, almost lifeless, despite signs that there were many more people that had occupied this place.

Where did they all go?

The answer was a vibration in the area. One that Felix had barely felt before Lysithea had already run to a nearby wall and put her hand against it.

"There's something coming," Lysithea said. "And it's coming fast- oh sh-"

Yoren and Felix acted quickly, dragging Lysithea out of the way as the wall suddenly exploded and a giant gaping maw emerged from the rubble. One of Felix's men was too slow and he barely let out a scream before the monster consumed him entirely and the floor he once stood on. The maw was revealed to be a giant worm as its body continued to move from where it emerged.

Felix moved swiftly, landing several quick cuts along its length that shed some blood as Lysithea began blasting it with her spells. Soon the worm's tail emerged from the wall before disappearing into the ground.

There was nothing left of the man now. Just a hole in the ground.

"How well can you track that thing Lysithea!?" Felix shouted.

"It's fast and my range isn't that large! We'd only have a few seconds of warning before it's on top of us!" Lysithea shouted back.

"Then give us that time! Use your magic, mess with the earth, try to divert it if you can."

"Already on it," Lysithea replied as she put both hands to the floor and started to mumble her incantation. Already Felix could feel the earth shift and change around them, until he could see his reflection on the now smooth surface around them.

"Let's see how it chews through four feet of tempered steel," Lysithea replied as she tugged on the ends of her ribbon. Once her rather oversized piece of headwear was tightened she put her hands together and began to charge a spell. The light and energy illuminated her in an almost ethereal light, its otherworldliness complemented by the appearance of her moving hair and flowing ribbon. "It can only come at us from the front or back now. We'll be ready to face it either way."

"Good," Felix replied as he and his men placed the torches as far as they could to illuminate as much of the darkness as possible. They then each moved to the side, leaning against the metal walls in order to give Lysithea the room to fire. She wielded force and power, more than it seemed some of his men were comfortable with, but he trusted her to be able to control her strength as necessary. "Get ready to cut its sides once it appears."

It took a tense minute before they could feel the vibrations in the metal walls once more. One of the walls suddenly bent as something slammed into it, but otherwise they held. The worm slammed into the wall again a few more times at different places before retreating briefly.

Then it emerged at the end of the tunnel charging right for them.

The worm jerked to the side, avoiding a direct hit to its head, but the spell still took out a large chunk of its side. It let out a dreadful screech that shook the tunnels and caused Felix's ears to ring, but he still ran forward to cut at it anyway. He and his men tore off chunks of its flesh with their blades. Several of them got knocked down by its thrashing body and one man ended up getting impaled by one of its teeth. Even as he bled out though and was torn apart from the waist up the man continued to stab the worm in the face before ultimately going still. The worm let out another screech before retreating with its food and disappearing into the darkness once more.

Felix and everyone else there took the time to pick themselves up and catch their breath. As for that man who had fallen… he would make sure to get his name. Death was pointless but fighting for your life to your last breath like that was admirable in a way. If anything his family, if he had any, deserved something for his tenacity.

"One more time," Felix commanded as they took positions once again. He then watched as Lysithea took the sword he had demanded that she carry and used it to cut the palm of her hand.

"Just a hunch but I think fresh blood will attract it… especially mine," Lysithea replied without clarifying any further.

Felix simply nodded. If she had any other information then she would give it when she felt like it.

The rumbling came and intensified. The worm let out a shriek as it reappeared one more time.

Felix watched as Lysithea let out a deep breath and exhaled, her eyes determined and focused.

"Metal Sun Sign: Altar of the False Deity."

A metal obelisk of gold and crimson emerged from the ground underneath the worm, piercing and tearing apart its head. Without or brain the of its best was left to simply propel itself forward with the remaining momentum. Gore, blood, and worm guts scattered and flew like it was placed in a blender coating all of the survivors.

Lysithea, who had been standing in the center, had taken the brunt of it. Small dots of her white hair were the only parts that weren't covered in a layer of the sticky and metallic substance. For her part, the girl simply stood there for a bit as she tried to process her current state; her arms still held out from using her spell.

Eventually her body shuddered.

"I think I need a bath…"

A/N

Attached below is my Kofi account. Any tip is appreciated though I will still do my best to keep writing, nevertheless.

/soul249134