[IS1]: Insert song 1 - "That Sword, Dancing Magnificently (Tales of Xillia)"
[IS2]: Insert song 2 - "Veiled in Black (Final Fantasy XV)"
[ISE]: Insert song end

It all happened in an instant. Just as the ceremony was reaching its conclusion, a loud explosion came from the back of the cathedral, and four armed gunmen accompanied by monsters emerged from it. Then, one of the sisters revealed herself to be an imposter and swiftly took control of the cathedral, declaring that everyone in the building were now hostages. And to make matters worse, Kurt was promptly disarmed.

Cedric clenched his fist. He found himself powerless to do anything. "There has to be something that I can do…"

The prince began to look around at his surroundings. He found it rather odd that neither he nor Patriarch Sigmar, the two most influential people in the building, were bound up or tied by this point. Rather, they, along with Kurt and all the other people that had gathered for today's ceremony, had been ushered to the altar and front pews of the sanctuary.

The fake sister was a tall woman with bright red hair, and she brandished a sword. Including the four armed terrorists and two hound monsters, that totaled up to seven enemies total. Additionally, not only did they have the terrain advantage of being on top of the cathedral staircase, the floor closest to the entrance was broken into a large hole, meaning that those lucky enough to break through the terrorists' defenses would likely be caught unsuspected by the trap and fall into the catacombs.

"Your Highness…" Kurt whispered to him. "Look over there."

Cedric's focus shifted to a particular jar that was sitting right where Kurt's swords were. One of the terrorists was tasked with guarding both of them.

"I felt some sort of malevolence emanating from it earlier, when I had to give them my swords. It's likely that whatever is controlling those monsters is coming from that."

Cedric reached into his shirt pocket. The only thing he had to defend himself was a hand-me-down orbment from Olivert.

"S! It's the RMP!" one of the terrorists called from the entrance. "They're coming this way!"

"They came here quicker than I thought," the fake sister said. "Okay, boys! Get ready to make some noise!"

The terrorists' attention was temporarily diverted from the crowd. In that moment, Cedric pulled Kurt down from the altar so that they were hiding behind some of the civilians.

"Listen, Kurt. I have a plan." The prince pulled out his orbment. "I'll use an art to draw that person away from his post. Can you weave your way through the crowd and strike once he's out of range?"

"Your Highness, it's too risky!" Kurt warned in a hushed whisper. "That orbment is of an outdated model; you need to get in range in order for it to work."

"I know. That's why we need some form of distraction-"

"Perhaps I can be of assistance?" said an elderly voice behind them.

Both boys looked up at the face of Patriarch Sigmar. "Your Holiness?"

"If I say something, all the focus will be on me, and the terrorists have made it abundantly clear that they can't afford to shoot me. In the meantime, you two carry out your plan."

At the front of the cathedral, the terrorists were beginning to fire at the RMP coming up the steps.

"It is now or never!" With a nod to each other, Cedric and Kurt ducked their heads and began to weave their way through the crowd.

"May the Goddess protect you." After uttering a small prayer to himself, Patriarch Sigmar rose to the altar and spoke in a booming voice, "Sister! May I ask a question of you?"

The red-haired imposter turned around, annoyed. "Does it look like we're in the proper place for a conversation, Your Holiness?"

"You carried yourself with such dignity during today's ceremony," the patriarch said. "I could tell from a glance that you once were a part of the church. So I ask of you: why did you choose to stray from the path of righteousness?"

"Why?" The sister stamped her foot. "Do you think I had a choice?"

"We all have a choice, for the gift of freedom is the Goddess Aidios's blessing to us!"

As the patriarch and the sister bellowed at each other, Cedric ducked behind a church pew. 'This range should do…'

Kurt gave him the signal to proceed. Cedric nodded and activated his orbment. Once the art was fully prepared, he aimed his orbment to the left of the terrorist. "Stone Hammer!"

A large boulder manifested above the terrorist's head, which then dropped next to him. Startled, the terrorist retrieved his gun and pointed it at the spot where the boulder fell.

"That's right, come closer…" Cedric muttered as the terrorist predictably started moving away from the shattered remains of the boulder. He began to prepare a different art. "Earth Lance!"

He pointed his orbment directly behind the terrorist. A small spike ruptured the ground, causing the terrorist to trip and lose his footing. "Wha-?"

"I have you!" Taking advantage of the enemy's loss of balance, Kurt delivered a blow to the head that knocked the terrorist out cold. He then sprinted forward to try to grab the jar, but before he could reach out his hand, a long whip-like object wrapped itself around the jar and pulled it away.

"Ah, ah, aaahhh~" the sister taunted as the jar landed safely in her arms. The whip retracted into its original sword form. "Don't think I didn't catch you boys being sneaky."

She made a gesture with her sword, and the two hound monsters began to slowly approach the two boys. "I was hoping you'd sit still like good little children, but I guess a little discipline is in order."

Kurt remained a short distance away from his sword. Cedric considered preparing an art as a last-ditch effort to draw the monsters' attention, but before he could act, a round of bullets fired from the entrance at the monsters' feet, causing them to turn around.

"Heeey. Remember us?"

The sister widened her eye as she turned around. Standing at the entrance to the cathedral were two teenagers, one a tall girl with blue hair tied in a ponytail, and the other a petite girl with short silver hair. The latter also carried a pair of pistols with blades attached to them.

"The ones from Bryonia Island!" she realized. "Back for more, eh?"

"We might say the same to you," the blue-haired girl replied coldly. "Disrupting one summer festival was more than enough. Surrender now and turn yourself in, Scarlet."

"Hmm, a tempting offer…" Scarlet hummed to herself. "But unfortunately for you, I have a room full of hostages, including the patriarch and the crown prince. If I wanted to, I could send my hounds on them."

"Somehow, I doubt that." The silver-haired girl squinted her eyes. "If you were meaning to harm them, you would've done it already."

"Heheh… You're not just quick; you're clever, too."

"Still, the fact that you suggested harming a member of the Imperial family…" the blue-haired girl sighed. "...indubitably means that you all have chosen to accept the wind's wrath."

The terrorists looked at each other in confusion. Scarlet arched an eyebrow. "Wind's wrath?"

"In other words…" The silver-haired girl smirked. "A gale force."

As soon as she said that, something - or rather, someONE - practically soared past them and struck the hound that was closest to the crown prince. The monster fell to the ground, and all eyes were on the newcomer.

"Morgan...?" Cedric croaked.

Morgan dropped to one knee. She was panting furiously, but that didn't stop her from grinning at the prince in reassurance. "I'm glad we...made it in time!"

Seizing the opportunity provided by Morgan's entrance, Kurt rushed to grab his swords. He felt more comfortable now that he had a blade in each hand, and he quickly slayed the hound that was cornering him so he could return to Cedric.

"My apologies, Kurt. I should have thought it through better-"

"Don't worry yourself," said Kurt. "Let's focus on getting rid of these terrorists. Morgan, can you help me defend His Highness?"

"Thought you'd...never ask!" Despite being heavily winded, Morgan found it in herself to stand up.

Back at the entrance, the rest of Group A had entered the building. Fie and Laura were stationed in the front while Emma and Alisa brought up the rear.

"Ha! They're just a bunch of kids!" one of the terrorists said. "Let's take 'em!"

"Dude, did you NOT see that girl?!" another terrorist exclaimed, pointing at Morgan. "She practically flew in here!"

Scarlet looked around her. "Five of them plus the sword boy, one man down, and a room full of civilians. Oh well. It's not like this was our main objective anyways…"

"Huh?" That comment caught Morgan's attention, and not in a good way either.

Scarlet reached into the jar and took one insect out. Then, she raised the jar above her head. "We've caused enough of a ruckus! Time for Plan B!"

With all her might, she smashed the jar on the ground, causing a cloud of smoke to start enveloping the room. All the people quickly ran to find cover behind the church pews.

"You two! Get down!" Morgan yanked Kurt and Cedric down to the ground. The latter of the two yelped in surprise.

When the smoke dissipated, the terrorists, including the one that Kurt had knocked out earlier, had all disappeared.

"They're gone!" Alisa looked around the room. "Where did they-?"

"They must have retreated underground!" Laura said, pointing at the hole near the entrance of the cathedral.

Meanwhile, Morgan got up from the ground. "Kurt. Cedric. You two okay?"

"Yes, thanks to you."

"Y-Yes…"

Morgan noticed that Cedric was staring at her. It was then that she realized the stunt she just pulled in broad daylight: she had just pulled the crown prince of Erebonia to the ground AND was talking to him casually. "S-Sorry, Your Highness! I shouldn't have done that in public."

"I-It's fine," Cedric said. "You did it to protect me and Kurt. Rather…" He gave an earnest smile. "I'm glad that we were able to meet face-to-face again, Morgan."

"Y-Yeah…"

From behind them, Fie interrupted the moment with a stifled snort. "Since when were YOU self-conscious?"

"C-Come on, Fie!" Alisa hissed at her. "I thought we already went over proper etiquette yesterday!"

Emma, noticing the crown prince's gaze, started straightening her hair. "Um, I'm not TOO dirty, am I?"

"We were just in battle, Emma," Laura consoled the bespectacled student with a chuckle. "I think even His Highness can excuse us for that."

Kurt, meanwhile, directed his attention towards the weapons that Fie was currently holding. "Those weapons…" he remarked with a slight hostility in his tone.

Fie put away her gunswords before answering with a glare of her own. "Got a problem, Mister Bodyguard?"

"Come on, you two." Morgan put her hands on her hips. "No fighting."

"That's right!" Cedric didn't hesitate to back Morgan up. "They just saved our lives, after all."

Kurt remained silent for a few seconds before he too sheathed his swords. "...Very well."

The crown prince cleared his throat. "Um, you're all Morgan's classmates, aren't you? I've heard much about you from my siblings. You likely already know this, but I am Cedric Reise Arnor, Crown Prince of Erebonia. Thank you for coming to our aid."

As the students were checking in with Kurt and Cedric, the RMP took full control of the cathedral, working in conjunction with the members of the church to evacuate everyone in an orderly manner. Before long, the sanctuary had been completely vacated.

"Ah. There you all are."

Everyone turned to the officer that had just entered the cathedral. "Captain Claire!"

"I'm glad to see you're all unharmed. Especially you, Your Highness. Kurt."

"Er, y-yes, well…" Cedric began to get a bit tongue-tied at the sight of the Icy Maiden. "I-It was all thanks to Morgan! Uh, and her friends! Oh, but that's not to say you're not all equally as important, but…"

Though they were not going to admit it out loud, the students were amused by the prince's stammering. His awkward fumbling of his own words and his attempt to pick up the pieces gave him his own sense of endearment, similar to Alfin's schoolgirl teasing and Olivert's artistic eccentricism.

"As much as I'd like to talk, we can't waste any more time," Claire said professionally. "Your Highness and Kurt? My team will escort you to a safer location. The rest of you, come with me. We need to get moving ASAP."

"You sound serious, Captain…" Morgan noted. "Oh yeah! How's everyone else?"

The captain grimaced as Cedric and Kurt were led out of the cathedral. "It was as we suspected; the terrorists staged a coordinated assault on the cathedral, racetrack and Mater Park. Prince Olivert is safe; he and his bodyguard singlehandedly fended off the intruders in time for us to arrive. But as for Princess Alfin…"

That pause did not sit well with Morgan. Suddenly, she remembered that comment Scarlet said before she escaped.

"It's not like this was our main objective anyways…"

The revelation hit her like an armored vehicle. "No… NO."

"There were more of them than we had anticipated, even with Group B's assistance. The princess, as well as her attendant, Elise Schwarzer… They've been captured."

Meanwhile, Rean and the rest of Group B were chasing the terrorists that had taken Princess Alfin and Elise hostage. Leading the terrorists was Gideon, the man he and his classmates encountered in the Nord Highlands last month. Though the man's appearance suggested he was more an academic than a fighter, he carried a flute that had the power to manipulate monsters to his will.

"...Just a little farther!" Rean said. "We need to catch up with them now!"

"I'll fire off some warning shots to stop them from running!"

"Can I trust you to take that side?"

"Of course, Jusis! Leave it to me."

"I'm with you, Rean!"

"All right. I'm counting on you!"

After sharing a nod at each other, each member of Group B split to do his part in halting the enemy's movements. First, Machias fired his shotgun to get the terrorists' attention. Then, Elliot used an art to keep the enemies from escaping. Finally, Gaius and Jusis came in from the sides and blocked the path forward.

"R-Rean!" Elise exclaimed.

"You came for us!" Alfin shouted with joy.

Rean pointed his tachi at the terrorists. "Show's over. Let Her Highness and Elise go. Now."

"Don't think that I've forgotten what you've done in Nord," Gaius added, his visage displaying a rare fit of anger. "You WILL do as we say."

"Tch! Damn kids…"

"Your odds are five against three," Jusis reminded the terrorist who just spoke. "I don't think you're in any capacity to fight back."

"Then how about we change that!" a female voice called from another part of the chamber.

Gaius looked up in alarm. "Jusis! Get back!"

The Nordian just barely managed to push Jusis out of the way and block a surprise attack with his spear.

Jusis grunted. "It seems that I owe you, Worzel."

The bladed whip that had struck Gaius's spear coiled back into the shape of a sword. "Ah, young camaraderie! That takes me back."

"Comrade S!" Gideon said in surprise.

Machias scowled. "Scarlet!"

Scarlet had shed the habit that she wore in the cathedral, now being clothed in a predominantly red cerise and black minidress. Her right eye was also covered with an eyepatch.

"So this is the woman you guys met at Bryonia Island…" Rean said. "They really are part of the same group."

Gideon looked at his comrade intently. "I thought I sent you help."

"One of them got knocked out, so I sent them on ahead." S sheathed her sword. "Change of plans, G. We're going to be using 'that.'"

"'That?'" Whatever it was, it didn't sound good to Rean.

"Ah…" Gideon nodded. "That explains why you're empty-handed. Very well. Do it."

S knelt to the ground and released a small glowing insect that skittered all the way across the room and came to a stop at a strange horned object. As the lamps in the chamber ominously began to light up, the students realized that the object was a giant horned skull; they were too busy focusing on the terrorists to realize the massive pile of bones that was lying conspicuously on the ground.

Gideon then made a motion towards his men. The terrorists that were carrying Princess Alfin and Elise forcefully put handkerchiefs to their mouths, knocking them out after a few moments.

Rean grit his teeth. "Son of a-!"

"Fear not, boy. They are only asleep." Gideon pulled out his flute. "After all, this is hardly a sight fit for the eyes of such innocent maidens!"

"Dark Dragon of Ruination, Zoro-Agruga!" Scarlet called out. "Rise and serve!"

At the same time, Gideon began playing his flute. As he played, tendrils of violet-colored mist poured from the holes of the flute and began to envelop the mangled pile of bones. Slowly, they began to reassemble until it assumed the shape of a gargantuan quadruped dragon with wings on its back.

"Oh...my…"

"A bone...dragon?"

Gideon laughed as the students cowered at the sight of the monster. "Behold! The combined might of the Shadow Insects and Demonic Flute. Even the shadow that reigned over Heimdallr has submitted to our will! And now…" He pointed the flute at the students. "I'll have you delay your journey to perdition no longer!"

Where there was confidence just a few minutes ago, there was only fear left in the students' hearts. In contrast to the Tehra Gigant that Machias and Elliot had fought the previous month, which was buried from the waist down, the bone dragon was a complete skeleton.

Elliot preemptively took a few steps back. "Th-There's no way we can take on that thing…"

"Such malevolent energy…" Gaius shuddered. "I've never felt anything like it!"

"Wh-What are we gonna do?!" shouted Machias.

"Tch…" Jusis grumbled. "It seems like the odds are against us now."

"Haaaaaaaaaaaah!" With a loud shout, Rean slammed his sword against the ground. "We are NOT just going to roll over and die here! If you think back on how much we've grown since we first came to Thors, there's no way this thing is going to take us down!"

They were just simple words on paper, and yet the way they came out of Rean's mouth, the conviction he held in his voice… It almost felt believable. Compared to all the weird things they had faced in the Old Schoolhouse, a giant undead dragon wasn't all that different.

"We've each come a long way since the first day," Rean added. "Now's as good of a time to show off what we can do!"

"I believe we're done talking here," said Scarlet. "You boys had better start praying to the Goddess."

"Haha, indeed! As our leader once said to us, 'Pick a god and pray!'" Gideon stretched out his hands, relishing the moment. "Go, dark tyrant! Bring down the merciless hammer of judgment upon-!"

*BOOM*

A large stream of concentrated electricity hit the dragon's skull, causing it to reel to the side.

Gideon hushed up at once. "What-?!"

Scarlet cursed under her breath. "I didn't think they'd be able to follow us…"

"Rean! Everyone!" Alisa's voice called out.

The boys turned to see their female classmates rushing in from the leftmost entrance. Standing at the back was Morgan, whose arm was outstretched, indicating that she was the one who initiated the attack.

Emma visibly shuddered at the sight of the giant enemy. "Such powerful malevolence… Is that what's causing the higher elements to be active down here?"

"I can't estimate its strength…" Fie frowned. "Or even the best way to fight it."

"How'd you guys find us?" Rean spoke. "I thought for sure you'd be with Captain Claire and Instructor Sara."

"We had a map," Morgan said matter-of-factly. "But that's not important; we're all here now, and that's what counts, right?"

Morgan looked at the terrorists that were keeping Alfin and Elise hostage, and upon seeing that her friend was unconscious, she didn't hesitate to activate Ignis one more time. She and Rean locked eyes with one another, and there was immediately a silent understanding between the two. Nodding at each other, they formed a combat link for what felt like the first time in a while.

Rean stretched out his hand. "Class VII, Groups A and B! Let's do this!"

"Group B is already pursuing them through the underground passageway. We'll catch up to them after we rendezvous with Sara…"

"But Scarlet and the others retreated through that hole!" Morgan pointed to the giant hole located at the entrance to the cathedral. "Can't we chase them through there?"

"The terrorists already have a lead," Captain Claire argued. "By this point, you won't be able to catch up with them unless you have a map."

"I do." Fie raised her hand, much to the surprise of those gathered. "And I've got a pretty good idea where they might be headed."

Without wasting another moment, Fie retrieved the map she received from Aurier from inside her blazer and laid it out on the cathedral floor. "Rean and the others are coming from Mater Park, which means they'll eventually end up here." She pointed to a large circular area. "The waterways lead to some depths underneath the plaza. I didn't go into it, but chances are that's where their hideout is. There's also a lot of entrances from the other cardinal directions, including one that leads straight to the cathedral."

"So if we start pursuing them now…" Emma began.

"...Then we will be able to corner them in a pincer movement," Laura affirmed.

Alisa smirked. "They won't see us coming."

Morgan bowed respectfully to the captain, her face dead serious. "Please, Captain. Let us help our classmates."

Claire pressed her index finger to her forehead and closed her eyes. The Icy Maiden's visage remained calm, but Morgan had a feeling that underneath that, Claire's mind was moving at several selge per second, debilitating whether to let them chase the terrorists or not.

Eventually, her expression eased slightly. "You all are such anomalies…" The captain sighed. "I ought to rethink how I go about my calculations when it comes to your class."

"So that means…"

Claire opened her eyes and nodded. "You should get a move on. I've got a feeling that Group B's going to need your help more than we do. Stall the terrorists if you can; I'll let Sara know what's going on."

"Thank you! We won't let you down!" With their request formally approved, Morgan turned to her other groupmates. "Okay. Let's go!"

"It's just like the monster at Bryonia…" Morgan muttered to herself. "Aim for the head! That's the quickest way to take it down!"

"Hear you loud and clear!" Machias shouted back. "Hope you're ready for a full salvo!"

Machias had a few modifications to his shotgun since the Bryonia field study; now it was capable of firing rounds that packed more concentrated strength in each shot, granting it more range at the cost of losing the shotgun's spread. Every round that Machias fired was essentially now its own miniature bomblet, capable of blowing away large parts of the skeleton.

"You're finished!" Machias shot a supercharged bullet at the dragon's head that exploded on contact. One of the dragon's horns was destroyed, and it became dazed.

"Nice shot, Machias!" Elliot gave a thumbs up.

"Glad that worked out." Machias looked at his shotgun. The last round he fired used up a significant portion of his gun's orbal energy, resulting in the green lights around the receiver to now blink red. "I need time to reload! Quick! Who's closest to it?"

"I'll take this one!" Morgan activated Ignis and immediately began pouring her magical energy into her orbment. "Wait til' you see this!"

Morgan began running towards the dazed monster. Given its enormous size, she figured that instead of trying to entrap the entire body, she would instead try and isolate the skeleton from the neck up. Under normal circumstances, the separation of body parts would cause lots of blood to start spewing everywhere, but since the monster in question was an undead skeleton, there was no need for concern.

Thrusting her orbment forward, Morgan watched as torrents of wind began to wrap themselves into a sphere around the dragon's head and neck. Once it was ready, she took a step back to ready herself for the finishing blow.

But right before she could strike, she was caught off guard by the sound of a flute playing in the air.

"What…?"

The other members of Class VII recognized the sound as well. Gideon had resumed playing his flute. And what was worse, it appeared to be giving the dragon the strength it needed to wrest free from Morgan's wind sphere.

'Not good!'

The dragon lifted its right front leg and swiped it upwards, cutting the sphere in two. The concentrated pressure was let loose all at once, causing an uncontrollable tempest to spill outwards. Morgan covered her face with her arms and tried to stand her ground, but the force of the gust swept her off her feet and pushed her into the storm.

"Morgan!" everyone called out.

Morgan tried to make sense of her situation as she was being tossed to and fro by the winds. Her body was suspended high enough in the air that she couldn't hear her classmates. Her entire field of vision was dark, save for the unmistakable silhouette of the skeleton dragon.

'This feels like my nightmare…' She closed her eyes. 'Is this really it?'

"Uh-oh! The wind's picking up!"

"Urgh, but we're so close to the end!"

"We have to stay together! Severa! Don't fly too high!"

"We fly any lower than this, Morgan, we're gonna get disqualified! I'm going up!"

"Severa! Wait! The headwind's blowing from over-!"

Before she could finish her sentence, a sudden gust of wind blew into Severa and her pegasus, knocking them dangerously off-balance.

"Severa!"

"She's gonna fall!" Cynthia looked at Morgan. "Morgan, I'm gonna catch her."

"Let me help!"

Cynthia shook her head. For once, the peppy pegasus rider looked completely serious. "If we do that, we're all gonna dip below the disqualification zone. One of us needs to finish this."

"But…"

"You wanted to be a pegasus knight, right? Then go chase that dream! We'll catch up with you later. Now if you'll excuse me…" Cynthia flashed a grin through her helmet. "I've got some hero things I need to do! Hyah!"

Morgan watched as Cynthia dove to catch Severa and her pegasus. Fortunately, they were able to make it just in time. Slowly, the two riders and their mounts made their descent to the ground."

"Guess it's just me now…"

Her mount whinnied in protest.

"Ahaha, you're right. I've got you, don't I?" Morgan stroked her mount's mane. "We've come too far to back out now. Everyone gave us this chance; we can't waste it!"

Gripping the reins tightly, Morgan lightly tapped her feet to the sides of her pegasus, motioning it to move forward. They were nearing the end of the aerial obstacle course that the knights had set up for the trainees, but that wasn't an excuse to relax. Morgan vigilantly scanned the horizon to see where the wind was blowing.

"Next one's coming from behind us...a tailwind! Don't fight it! Remember what we learned! Let the current carry you until you've found your target, and then…"

'Remember what I learned?'

Morgan opened her eyes. She tucked her body in and somersaulted until she entered a swan dive. Right as the wind was about to die down, she used her orbment to fire a quick burst of wind, propelling her back into the air and causing her to perform a front flip. Once gravity began to pull her back to the ground again, Morgan did a sideways roll to land safely on the ground.

She looked down at her hands. "That was…"

"Are you alright, Morgan?" Rean called out. Everyone else breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"Yeah, I think…" Her voice trailed off. 'I think I'm...remembering something?'

As she was contemplating her newfound revelation, Gideon continued to play his flute, giving the bone dragon more power. The broken pieces of bone that Machias had blown off were beginning to lift themselves from the floor.

"Oh, come on!" Machias complained. "You've gotta be kidding me!"

"That's not real music…" Elliot gripped his orbal staff tightly. "I'll show you what real music sounds like!"

Elliot put his palm at the end of his staff and pushed the stick all the way in. With his staff now in a more compact form, he rested it on his shoulder, holding it like a violin. And to cap it all off, he procured a violin bow and assumed a playing position.

"Here's a performance just for you!" [IS1]

The bow in Elliot's hand began to move across the head of his orbal staff. In doing so, the unmistakable sound of a violin's strings began to fill the air.

"How is he doing that?" Fie couldn't help but ask.

"If there is one thing we have learned on our end…" Gaius answered. "It is to never underestimate the power of music."

To the surprise of everyone, the undead dragon began to falter in its movements, swaying to Elliot's music.

"And it's actually working?!"

Gideon began to blow harder into his flute to tighten his hold on the monster. It responded to his call by roaring and slamming its front claws on the ground, but that only made Elliot pick up the tempo on his end.

"Elliot's not going to hold it for long!" Rean shouted. "Let's make the most of it and hit it with everything we've got!"

"Right!"

As violin and flute clashed against each other in the background, the rest of Class VII moved in to attack the Zoro-Agruga. They pulled out every trick and formation that they had cultivated since the beginning of their time together. ARCUS links were being tied, severed, and tied again between all of them without any regard for groups. Individual crafts and Rush attacks were being performed left and right.

Eventually, the students began to fall into the rhythm of Elliot's tune, and a faint blue light started emitting from each of their respective ARCUS units.

Laura gasped softly. "This feels like…"

"Back at the Old Schoolhouse…!" Rean recognized this feeling as well. It had been a long time since any of them had felt it, but it was without a doubt the phenomenon that had occurred during their orienteering exercise. "All our thoughts...are one!"

At that moment, everyone knew exactly what to do. Moving as one coordinated unit, they unleashed their strongest attacks on the monster. Fie used her Sylphid Dance to cripple the left hind leg while Jusis used his Crystal Saber to attack the right hind leg. Laura's Radiant Blade Dance blew apart the left front leg, and Rean's Flame Slash cut the right front leg in two. Alisa and Emma used their Rush attack, raining down a storm of flaming blades on the dragon. Finally, Gaius leapt into the air, let out a mighty howl, and dove spear-first towards the dragon, cutting off the other horn on its skull and leaving it unbalanced.

"That still wasn't enough?!" Alisa said in surprise.

"No! That's our opening!" Morgan responded. "Give me another shot at it!"

Rean nodded. "Alright. You're up!"

"This time for sure…" Morgan muttered as the flames of Ignis began to appear all over her body. "This time, I'll tip the scales!"

Once again, Morgan poured her magical energy into her orbment and created a wind sphere around the undead dragon's skull and neck.

'Because I've found it… I've found what I was missing!'

Morgan performed a leaping diagonal slash into the air, cutting the sphere in two. A wind funnel erupted around her and the monster.

'Everyone worked together for this chance!'

Morgan lengthened her weapon into its two-handed form and slashed diagonally upwards again, this time in the other direction. The skull of the dragon was knocked clean off the neck.

'Push back the impending darkness…and rise above the clouds!'

She put whatever remaining energy she had into her weapon and prepared for the final strike. The insect on the dragon's skull was in her sights.

"This is my...Triangle Attack!"

With a final horizontal swing, Morgan cleaved the insect off the dragon's skull, killing it instantly. The force of the attack knocked the skull out of the wind funnel towards a wall, shattering it to pieces.

"I-Impossible…" Gideon's mouth was agape. "They defeated it…!"

Morgan landed on the ground. Without a moment to rest, she pointed at the terrorists. "Go! Get 'em!"

Scarlet widened her eye and hastily blocked an attack from Fie, who had been lying in wait. While they were occupied, Machias fired some more warning shots to keep the terrorists from retreating. Then, Rean blindsided Gideon and used his tachi to slice his flute into two pieces.

"No… The Demonic Flute…"

The rest of Class VII joined them in surrounding the terrorists on all sides. Elliot stopped playing on his staff and returned it to its normal state. [ISE]

"That's checkmate," Morgan announced, pointing her weapon at the terrorists. "Now let them go."

"Heh! You sure about that?"

The students blinked. "What?"

Morgan's fight-or-flight instincts activated. "Scatter!"

She and her classmates immediately dispersed as gunshots suddenly rained down from the upper parts of the chamber.

"More of them?!" Rean got back up on his feet to see a large muscular man carrying a just-as-large gatling gun land in front of them.

"Comrade V!" Scarlet breathed a sigh of relief. "And…!"

A second figure dropped down to join the group of terrorists. This one was clothed entirely in black, with the only thing keeping him from blending into the dark surroundings being his helmet, which had a red visor that completely obscured his face.

"A mask?" Morgan noted. "He must be the ringleader."

"Comrade C," said Gideon. "I wasn't expecting to see you here. Did my planning for this operation seem that flawed to you?"

"On the contrary…" the man called C replied. "It was almost perfect. You all played your parts flawlessly. However…"

He swished his black cloak and gestured towards the students. "No plan is completely foolproof. As the ladies and gentlemen of Class VII have demonstrated so brilliantly, one must always factor in unpredictable elements."

"You know who we are," Rean said without a hint of surprise.

"Why is it that everyone knows who we are? Alisa complained.

"Word spreads around quickly," C replied drily. He then turned his attention towards the terrorists holding Princess Alfin and Elise. "We have already fulfilled our primary objective. Release the hostages."

"Understood."

The immediate compliance from the grunts caught Class VII off-guard.

"Wait, just like that?" Elliot asked.

"It's gotta be some sort of trap," Machias guessed.

"Courting dishonor by harming a member of the Imperial family would gain us nothing now," C said. "We can lower our weapons if you wish."

At his word, the bulky man briefly set his gatling gun down so he could rotate his arm around.

"Looks like he's telling the truth." Rean glared at the masked man. "But if you decide to go back on your word-"

"As we have stated, we have no further use for them. You should be directing those words towards your trigger-happy friend with the glasses."

"Rrgh…"

"Settle down, Machias," Emma said soothingly.

Eventually, Machias loosened the grip on his shotgun. Both Elise and Princess Alfin were transferred over to Class VII's custody.

"There. A gesture of goodwill, in the hopes that we may yet resolve this without bloodshed." The masked man opened his arms. "What say you, ladies and gentlemen of Class VII? Will you stand aside and let us leave peacefully?"

"...Like hell I will."

Morgan was the first to speak. "You tried to hurt Cedric. You kidnapped Alfin and knocked her out. What you've done is unforgivable."

With every sentence that came from her mouth, she moved closer to the terrorists. Her tone was subdued, but that did nothing to diminish the sheer animosity that she held.

"It is almost as if you can see the hatred seething from her body…" Gideon muttered to himself.

V let out a loud chuckle. "Heh! That kid's got some serious grit! I can see why she gave you so much trouble, S."

"Shut it, V," Scarlet replied bluntly. "Although, I certainly wouldn't mind a little roughhousing…"

"No. You all have done enough. Conserve your energy…" C walked in front of them. "And allow me to take center stage for once today."

V raised an eyebrow. "Whoa! You sure, Boss?"

"Morgan, you're not seriously thinking of taking him on alone," Rean warned.

"You can all think of this as an entertaining way to kill some time," C spoke nonchalantly. "The Railway Military Police are already on their way. Until then, pour out the vessel of your wrath upon me."

With another swish of his cloak, he pulled out a strange weapon with a blade on either side of the handle.

"This is between me and the girl." C looked behind him. "Comrade V and Comrade S. Make sure her classmates don't interfere."

The two of them grinned at each other and pointed their weapons at the rest of Class VII. They reluctantly took a step back.

Morgan quickly cast a brief Crest art to augment her defenses. Both her orbments were running on their last fumes, so she would have to rely on her physical strength and wits. "Don't think I've seen that weapon before."

"It is called a double saber," C explained. "Though I'm sure your greatsword wielder has already figured that out."

Laura was surprised when the masked man called her out. "That weapon is a relic from the Dark Ages. Be careful, Morgan!"

"...Your name is Morgan?"

"Yeah." Morgan assumed her battle stance. "And who are you to ask for my name when you haven't even introduced yourself?"

"Ah, of course. My apologies." The masked leader gave a mocking bow. Morgan had a feeling that the man was probably smirking underneath his helmet. [IS2]

"I am C. That is all you need to know. I look forward to becoming acquainted with you...Morgan!"

As he said her name, C immediately rushed towards her, swinging the double saber with his left hand. Morgan hastily blocked the assault.

"You didn't even give me a warning? That's no way to treat a lady."

"Please…" C retorted drily. "If my comrade has taught me anything, it's that females are the more deadly of the genders."

"I heard that!" Scarlet yelled from behind him.

Morgan used that moment to sidestep away and try to catch C from behind, but he effortlessly blocked her advance with the bottom half of his weapon. Realizing that she wasn't going to make any headway from this angle, Morgan disengaged from the clash.

'What's with this guy?' Morgan thought as she continued trading blows with her opponent. She tried rolling behind him and throwing out feints, but every time she tried to mix up her approach, he was ready and waiting to retaliate. 'We've only just met, but it feels like he already knows how to counter all my moves!'

She grit her teeth. "In that case…!"

Readying her bardiche by her side, she leapt into the air. "Form of Silence!"

She thrust her weapon down into the ground, creating a shockwave around her. C was pushed backwards by the force of the attack.

"Hoh? So you have that sort of trick up your sleeve?" The masked man gripped his weapon tightly. "Very well!"

What C did next sent a wave of surprise through the students. First, he readied his double saber by his side. Then, he leapt upwards while twirling his weapon and thrust it into the ground, creating a shockwave all around him. Morgan widened her eyes as she held out her weapon to defend herself. For a moment, it was as if she were fighting a mirror image of herself!

"He replicated her technique after seeing it once?" Laura exclaimed.

Rean clenched his teeth. "He's better than we gave him credit for."

"Haha! That's our C for ya."

"Can't deny he's got the brains AND the brawn to lead."

Morgan started to feel a little annoyed when she heard those comments from C's comrades. "I can do that too, you know!"

"Really?" C made a beckoning gesture with his right hand. "Then let's see you prove it."

"Is that a challenge?"

The masked man grunted. "Hmph. Observe carefully."

Hoisting his weapon over his shoulder, C began his assault. As she blocked his attacks, Morgan's mind was working overtime, memorizing every way the masked man's body moved in, trying to find the fundamental motions as he twirled his weapon around. Two cuts that formed an "X" shape. A vertical slice followed by a horizontal one. A downwards swing that completed the attack.

"Chain Slash." C's last attack broke Morgan's guard and sent her sprawling across the floor.

"Morgan!" her classmates called out.

Morgan struggled to get back on her feet. Fortunately, that last-minute Crest art she cast at the start of the battle kept her from feeling worse on the outside, but it was a whole different story on the inside. The stress from everything she had to do in the past few hours, from saving Prince Cedric to chasing the terrorists through the catacombs to taking down an undead dragon, was beginning to accumulate fast. Lying down sounded like a good idea all of a sudden…

"Stand up."

Her eyes bolted open. Not because of the words that she heard, but because of who it was that spoke them.

C pointed his double saber at her. "We are not yet finished. It is your move now, Morgan."

At this point, Morgan was feeling more than a little ticked off. This was the first time in four months that she was able to come home, and she was able to grow closer to her classmates. It was supposed to be a time of enjoyment and festivities, but then this masked man and his group of terrorist cronies decided to make a mess out of everything. Her home city? Damaged. Her best friend? Kidnapped. And now, not only had this person stolen one of her techniques and used it against her, he had the nerve to address her so casually.

Earlier, C had invited Morgan to pour out all her wrath onto him. Now, she was ready to do just that. Her vision started turning red. The sound of high-pitched laughter rang through her ears.

"That was a lot of fancy twirling you did there…" Morgan said as she wiped the dirt off her face. "It almost kept me from gathering the fundamental movements."

C grunted. "Should I be flattered?"

"If your job was to distract me, you ALMOST succeeded." Morgan forcefully reverted her bardiche into its axe form.

The man titled his head. Probably a substitute for raising an eyebrow. "I thought you said you were going to do as I did."

"What, copy all those movements? Psssh!" Morgan let out a small scoff. "No way I'm doing all that flippity-dippity stuff. Because at its core…"

She readied her axe over her shoulder, mirroring the masked man's stance. "All I have to do is this! Chain Slash!"

Morgan rushed at C, who assumed a defensive stance. She slashed twice to form an "X" shape. Then, she performed two slashes downwards and to the right. Here is where she would have to halt her movements to perform the final downwards swing, but Morgan decided to do something different. Instead, she continued to follow through with her sideways momentum, rotating on her right leg until she was able to perform an upwards one-handed strike. The sudden revision to his original skill caught C off-guard, forcing him to take a step back.

"No escape!" Morgan lunged forward with a one-handed stab. "Break!"

C tried to block it, but the force of the attack combined with how quickly Morgan was able to initiate it was enough to break through his guard. "Urgh!"

"She got through!" Alisa cheered.

Morgan pointed her index finger at her opponent. "How'd you like that?" [ISE]

The masked figure merely dusted off his cloak, almost like he wasn't even fazed by the fact that she nearly hit him. "I admit you possess some skill…" He then put away his weapon, much to the confusion of the students. "But it will take more than that to bring me to my knees. You realize that, don't you?"

"What does he mean?" Jusis asked, raising an eyebrow. "Is he insinuating that he wasn't fighting at full strength?"

Morgan balled her left hand into a fist. "I hate to admit it, but he's probably stronger than all of us. The only one who'd be able to stand on equal footing with him is Instructor Sara."

"If you think that way, Morgan, then that doesn't sound good for us." Rean grimaced. "Maybe if we gang up on him…"

C chuckled in a mocking tone. "Hmhm. You are most certainly welcome to try. But alas, it would appear our little demonstration has come to an end."

Before Morgan could ask what he meant, Captain Claire's voice called out from behind her, "Freeze! All of you!"

The students turned to find Claire and a small group of RMP officers, all with their firearms drawn. In addition…

"Instructor!"

"Good work on stalling them." Sara also had her sword and gun in her hands. "Now we can-!"

"I think not." C procured a small cylindrical device from his pocket and pressed the giant red button on the top of it. A second later, there was a loud exploding noise that made the entire chamber shake uncontrollably.

"A bomb?!" Elliot exclaimed.

Instructor Sara frowned. "So they were intending this from the start…"

C swished his cloak and opened his arms. "From today, you shall know us as the Imperial Liberation Front. In our hearts, the flames of silent anger. In our hands, the hammer of judgment that shall topple the dictator. That is our cause. Our purpose. Farewell, ladies and gentlemen of Class VII. Until we meet again."

"Hey! Wait!" Morgan futilely reached out her hand at the fleeing terrorists.

"Forget about them, Morgan!" Sara called out to her. "The passage is collapsing! Hurry!"

Clenching her fist, Morgan retreated back into the catacombs alongside her classmates.

Machias leaned against a wall to catch his breath. "I had my doubts we were going to make it out of that alive…"

"You could've come a bit sooner, Sara," said Fie.

"Sorry, sorry…" The violet-haired instructor rubbed the back of her head. "That was pretty touch and go back there, but I'm glad to see you all pulled through. Thanks to you, we were able to rescue the hostages, at least."

Princess Alfin and Elise had been carried out of the collapsing chamber by the RMP officers and were now lying safely on the ground. Predictably, Morgan and Rean were the first to check on their status.

"Thank god…" Rean's voice was shaking. "Thank god you're safe, Elise…"

Morgan held the princess's hand. "It's okay. Everything's going to be alright now…" she muttered over and over to herself.

Off to the side, Alisa let out a small snort. "Those two are practically cut from the same cloth."

"Let them have their moment, Alisa," Gaius said. "I know I'd be reacting the same way if it were my siblings who were kidnapped."

"Well, now that both groups have reconvened…" Jusis spoke. "What do you suppose we do now, Instructor?"

"Good question…" Sara turned to Claire, who was just finishing up giving her squad new orders. "What's the situation upstairs?"

"Things are settling down, for the most part," the captain replied. "There was a massive panic once word got out that the princess was kidnapped, but hopefully those worries will be put to rest shortly. We'll continue the search for a while longer; in the meantime, can you have your students do another sweep through their districts?"

"Yeesh. If I didn't know better, I'd say that you're ENJOYING seeing us work our asses off."

"Sara, please…"

"...Mmm…"

Everyone's eyes turned to Elise and Alfin, who were beginning to wake up.

"Elise! Your Highness!" Rean said.

"That's a relief…" Machias sighed. "Whatever drug they were given doesn't seem to have had any lasting effects."

"I'm sorry, did you just say 'drug'?" Morgan stood up and raised her voice. "They DRUGGED her?!"

"They did." Rean became angry just thinking about it. "The Imperial Liberation Front…"

"Unforgivable…" Morgan began grumbling to herself. "Oh, they're gonna pay. They are SO gonna pay. When I find that masked freak, I'm gonna take that stupid helmet and shove it up his-!"

"Morgan, we understand you are close to the princess, but please watch your language!"

Morgan snapped to attention. "S-Sorry, Laura…"

"Heehee…" The princess in question giggled softly. "You have such good friends, Morgan."

"Alfin…" Morgan knelt back down, the notion of honorifics having all but left her mind. "You're not hurt, are you? They didn't do anything else to you, did they?"

"I'm fine. I'm still feeling a little fuzzy…" Princess Alfin sat up. "Oh! That's right! What happened to Cedric and Olivert?"

"They're both safe," Morgan assured her. "You're the only one they got their hands on."

Meanwhile, Elise also managed to sit up from the ground. She looked away from her adoptive brother. "I've caused you and your friends a lot of trouble again…"

"Don't worry about that." Without thinking, Rean embraced his sister in front of everyone. "You're safe and unharmed. That's all...that's all that matters."

"R-Rean…" Elise was more conscious of the attention her brother's display was garnering, but she eventually gave in and returned the gesture. "Thank you for coming to rescue me again," she whispered in his ear.

"Ah, the love between siblings!" Alfin commented cheerily. "We should do it too, Morgan…Morgan?!"

Her lighthearted expression turned into one of fear as she saw Morgan keel over onto the ground, unresponsive. The rest of Class VII huddled worriedly around their fallen classmate as Sara checked her vitals.

"She's just passed out," Instructor Sara announced. "I don't see any obvious wounds, so it's most likely fatigue."

"She engaged the terrorists' leader in single combat, and that's after the countless times she used her skills in the past hour or so…" Laura recounted.

"She was in serious mode ever since we went to rescue the prince," Fie added. "Now that she's out of battle, all the recoil from her skills must've hit her at once."

"Morgan did all of that…?" Princess Alfin stroked the hair out of Morgan's sleeping face. It was at that moment that she reached a decision.

"Y-Your Highness, be careful! You just woke up!"

"I'm fine, Elise." The princess dusted off her skirt. "Instructor Valestein and Captain Rieveldt. Can I ask a favor of you?"

Both adult women snapped to attention.

…

"Escorting the Imperial princess and one of my unconscious students to the Vander School headquarters with my mortal enemy…" Sara mumbled to herself in the front passenger seat. "Didn't think I'd be doing this today."

"You could stand to make your contempt for me less obvious," Claire replied. "You DO know that the RMP had no involvement in the guild's withdrawal from the capital, right?"

"Oh, really?" Sara squinted her eyes at the captain. "I mean, your boss and that 'brother' of yours could hardly make their opposition to the guild more obvious if they tried."

Claire grimaced. "Well…"

"Gah, you know what? Forget it. We've had this discussion too many times already."

Sara looked behind her and the captain to the back seat of the vehicle. Separated by a layer of soundproof glass were Princess Alfin and Elise, both of whom were watching over a sleeping Morgan. "You sure the higher-ups are okay with you doing this?"

"My orders were to make sure the princess and her attendant were delivered to safety. They didn't specify where I had to deliver them, though. I'm sure no one will complain if I left them in the hands of the Vanders."

Sara snorted. "Heh. So you CAN be flexible, Miss Icy Maiden."

"Well, it's not like I can disobey a direct Imperial command. I may be an Ironblood, but I'm still just a captain."

"Emphasis on JUST a captain."

"Yes, in the same way that you are JUST an academy instructor."

"Grrr…" Sara pouted. "Don't remind me."

Claire made a right turn. "...That girl's a real trooper."

"Huh? Which one?"

"Who do you think?"

The violet-haired instructor frowned. "Ohhh no. Don't you go thinking about scouting her. Besides, the Imperial family wouldn't let you lay a finger on her even if you wanted to."

"I wonder about that…"

Instructor Sara raised an eyebrow.

"If Morgan really is as close to Her Highness as it seems…" Claire explained. "Then why aren't they together now? Why send her to Thors instead of keeping her at her side?"

"You're suggesting she was let go intentionally," Sara inferred. "Is that your intuition speaking or years of research?"

"..."

"Alright, then let me rephrase that…" Sara crossed her arms. "Were those questions just now rhetorical?"

Claire's expression remained unreadable even as the armored vehicle came to a stop. "There's only one thing that I know for certain…"

Sara remained silent as the Icy Maiden opened the side door and said, "At the end of it all, the only person who really knows is the princess herself."

Author's note: Thank you for being patient with this. I missed my usual 13-14 day deadline because I'm back in school, and I was fortunate enough to squeeze in some time to finish this before the end of the month. All of the action was packed into this chapter, so it's safe to assume that the Heimdallr arc will resolve itself smoothly.

So a lot happened in this chapter, from giving Cedric and Kurt their brief time in the spotlight to the first encounter with C. I tweaked the latter event to make it a one-on-one duel instead of the three-on-one battle that it was in the game, though that was admittedly more due to my own laziness as opposed to a deliberate artistic decision, but I still think I managed to get the most out of it. And in case you're wondering: "Chain Slash" is indeed taken from specific technique from a specific game that isn't Fire Emblem. Does this mean that I'll be starting to cross over materials from other games? No; I just thought that it would be a fitting move for Morgan to learn at this stage in the story. Also, the move she does afterwards is a stab that breaks the opponent's guard. Sound familiar? Try to imagine the guard as a shield and then you'll get what I mean. (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

And speaking of learning moves, I can say with full confidence now that Morgan has completed her first S-Craft! Given all the references to the Triangle Attack in this chapter, it should come as no surprise that Morgan would lean to that as her point of reference. Yes, it isn't a conventional Triangle Attack with three people, but it IS an attack with three hits that makes the shape of a triangle, and there has been evidence of a person doing the attack by themselves in the Fire Emblem series. Ergo, I can justify giving Morgan this technique, especially since the flashbacks reveal that she has some experience with pegasus riding. (•_•) ( •_•)⌐■-■ (⌐■_■)

With all that said, does this mean that the Heimdallr arc has come to an end? No, not quite. There was one last scene that I wanted to include, but I felt that here was a better spot to end things, so you'll need to wait until next time to find out what it is. Either way, I hope you enjoyed reading this! See you next time!