"Are you sure this will work?" Dimitri asked her. Sylvain had run ahead, with Hanneman close behind. Claude and the rest of the students still remained atop the hill. In the distance, Byleth rose in the air, trapped behind a veil of dark energy, a light so much like the glow of a relic shining through the darkness. It was fading. Slowly. Subtly. And all too quickly.

Edelgard's hands pushed against her prison. "Do it."

Dimitri tried to meet her eyes. Instead he turned to the barrier surrounding Byleth. His hands reached down, grabbing the sphere by its base. Edelgard crouched low as Dimitri hoisted her up above his head. "There has to be another way." He muttered. "The barrier has to have some kind of weakness, some vulnerability that we can exploit without-"

Byleth's light dimmed once again. Soon, it would be indistinguishable from all the fires smoldering across the clearing. "Now."

Dimitri's grip slipped, before steadying. A few steps back, before rushing ahead. And then, Edelgard was flying through the air, hurling towards the ritual.

Her prison and the barrier surrounding the professor were the same color, the same hue, the same energy- and both were impenetrable, weapons and spells landing their blows like raindrops struck a window. Perhaps, just perhaps if they threw One against the other, they would flow into each other. A similar energy would allow the same energy type to pass through instead of crashing against each other, like throwing water at an incoming wave.

It was ridiculous, of course. Nonsense. An impossibility. But nothing else could work. And Edelgard had to try something. Anything.

She was approaching the barrier now, faster, faster. There was, of course, one other option. It was ludicrous. Insane. But no more mad than her first plan.

"The second power allows you to accelerate in time."

Edelgard closed her fist and felt the Crest of Flames burn. If it could move her limbs forward, why should it not be able to do the same for her entire body? Use the force and momentum generated by Dimitri's throw, and push through in between time itself, landing on the other side of the barrier.

It was ridiculous. Madness. Desperation. And the only options Edelgard had. The impact was approaching now. Inevitable. Unavoidable.

The wind screamed around her, and Edelgard shut her eyes. There was a terrible crack, and all Edelgard could feel was the wind on her face.

Her eyes snapped open just in time to see the earth closing the distance between her. Edelgard ducked her head and barely managed to cushion her fall with a roll.

When she finally came to a stop, Edelgard grit her teeth and hissed as a number of burns and aches sprang up across her body.

"How did this child get in here?" A gruff, angry voice shot out above the ringing in Edelgard's ears. She looked up. One of her uncle's mages was staring angrily back, with his hands facing outward towards the barrier. Another mage a few meters away turned his head to see what his fellow was shouting about.

"How did you manage to escape, Niece? How did you even manage to pierce the barrier?" Behind her, Thales' voice boomed out across the hill. Several parts annoyance, with a tinge of curiosity. "And what exactly were you planning to do now that you're here?"

Edelgard turned her head back. Thales was at the altar, dark magic swirling around him. "Of course, that matters little. The ritual is almost complete." He chortled. Byleth's body floated overhead, an ethereal glow about her fading quickly. In fact, Edelgard could see-

Something was being pushed out of Byleth's chest. Small, round. Glowing a bright orange.

"Campe, restrain her." The sting of magic suddenly closed around Edelgard's wrists, binding her arms behind her. Edelgard strained and pushed, but they did not budge. "I'm afraid, my dear little emperor, that we will succeed in destroying the church you so hate."

Edelgard cursed, and tried to stand. A cold bite of magic wrapped around both her ankles and she fell down again. A woman chuckled behind her.

"In just a few moments, it will all be over." Thales laughed. "We will have our revenge. Your armies will march through the continent, reforging the empire to its rightful dominion. And the world will remember you as the girl who delivered them from Seiros' tyranny."

Edelgard kept struggling, trying to stand up. Thales just laughed again. Byleth's body was moving now, hovering in front of him. The orb in Byleth's flesh had nearly completely escaped her body. The professor's skin was deathly pale. Edelgard tried once more to break her bonds, to activate either of her Crests.

"I shouldn't bother, but since you've gone to so much trouble, I suppose I should ask." Thales reached out to Byleth, and her body floated towards him. His eyes were disdainful. Unimpressed. With just a hint of interest, academic or sadistic Edelgard couldn't tell. The same expression he would always give her. When they were planning the beginning of the war. When he had first seen both of her Crests.

When he had finally realized she was the only person who was going to survive the experiments.

"How do you feel, now that our victory is at hand?"

A scream had been forming in Edelgard. Growing. Building itself. For minutes? Years? It didn't matter.

She had run out of tears years ago.

Edelgard could feel blood dripping down her writs. She kept struggling all the same.

Thales snorted. "Always too stubborn for your own good." The glow surrounding Byleth was fading, almost completely gone. Thales reached his hand out, grasping at the burning rock pushing itself out of Byleth's heart.

And then he stopped.

Edelgard kept struggling. Kept pushing. Maybe Byleth's Crest of Flames had somehow paused her uncle. And she could still move because of her Crest, and-

The sound finally pierced through the barrier, dwarfing all others. A deafening, all-consuming roar. Followed by the very earth groaning back, shifting and quaking. Everyone turned to look.

The creature was massive, easily twice the length of any monster Edelgard had ever seen. Dark blue scales covered its body, barely visible even in the glazing light of the fires. Long, worm-like whiskers flowed across its long snout. And a storm of dust and earth, following its every move, spreading across the battlefield. No. In the haze and fog, one long glow of red was crashing against rock and scale alike. The creature battled Nemesis.

Its torrent of sand and stone was battering against the barrier, but it held. The shield mages did not falter, no matter how distracting the battle. Only an attack from behind the wall could disrupt their magic, and Edelgard was in no position to charge in and take one of their heads-

Edelgard's eyes snapped shut as she reached deep within. A small fire spell formed in her hand. Allowed more power. More strength. Time to grow.

Edelgard opened her eyes, and let the spell loose.

Even as she fired the magic blindly, the heat of the spell still rippled across her skin. Then shouts. A shift in the air. More shouting. The earth rushed into the dome, blasting up anyone and everything in its way. Edelgard felt the magic binding her fade.

Then the wave of dust and rock came rushing in. It pelted across Edelgard's skin, ripping at her wounds, digging into the exposed flesh. She grit her teeth and bit down a scream, covered her eyes and began to run.

Thales was shielding himself from the barrage of rocks with a magic shield. Byleth remained where had been, battered but unresponsive to the torrent of earth. "Foolish girl." Thales spit out as he glared at Edelgard. "What do you think this has accomplished? Spared the Fell Star a few more precious moments? You are in no position to stop me. You can barely stand."

"Perhaps not." Edelgard tried not to think about the white hot pain burning into the cuts along her ankles as she readied another fire spell. "But one chance is all I will need." The Bolganone spell in her hand burnt white hot as she unleashed it.

Thales just scoffed from behind his barrier. Arrogant and unconcerned like always. "Prepare to teleport." Just the chance Edelgard needed. She bit down hoped-

No. Demanded, to her Crest, to herself, that this would work. That it wouldn't just bounce off Thales shield.

"It works with both physical and magical attacks."

It couldn't. She wouldn't let it.

She could feel the Crest of Flames alight.

The spell exploded inside Thales' shield, and the man let out a terrible scream. Edelgard did not waste her chance, and pushed forward, grabbing Byleth out of the air and racing down the cliff.

A hail of dark magic followed in Edelgard's wake, blasting open the earth at her heels. A roar boomed across the field. The earth shook, and Edelgard fell. The stinging in her ankles only got worse when they hit the ground. It was getting harder to keep a grip on Byleth with all the blood running down her hands. In fact, she was getting very tired. It might just be best to rest, even for a moment…

Edelgard bit out a cry, and pressed on. The blasts of magic lapping at her feet were getting closer. The ground continued to shake, making each step a battle unto itself. Byleth kept slipping from her fingers, the tremors and blood running down Edelgard's fingertips- she thought about trying to sling her teacher over the shoulder, but the stone at Byleth's heart- it looked like it would fall out with the slightest touch- Edelgard pressed on. She had to save-

A bolt exploded next to her path, and Edelgard was sent tumbling to the ground once more.

"Quickly, while they're down!" Edelgard craned her head back to see her uncle's mages approaching. She tried to move. They kept advancing, magic ready in their hands. Edelgard tried to summon up a spell of her own, but not quickly enough. A burst of energy blasted her hand, forcing another gasp of pain.

"What should we do with the princess?" One of the mages asked.

There was a snort. "Lord Thales won't bemoan a few scrapes and bruises." The magic did not fade from their hands. "And will be quite willing to overlook a few more."

Edelgard drew in a breath. Byleth's body had fallen just next to hers, expression unchanged from the start of the evening. Unchanged from the moment she had jabbed the needle into her teacher's neck.

She turned back to face the mages. Her other hand was still working. "Come on then. Earn my death, I you can manage that."

They just laughed, preparing to strike. Edelgard braced herself for impact-

"No!"

A hand landed on her shoulder, covered in something warm, sticky, and all too familiar. Hanneman lay on his belly, blood running out of his mouth. The dying sparks of magic running across his fingertips. "They won't-"

A blast of dark magic burst into Hanneman just as a light enveloped Edelgard- she shouted out, stretching her hand out to him, but in the next instant, Edelgard was gently falling onto the grass of Garreg Mach.

It took a minute for Edelgard to look away from the empty spot of earth and realize that there was something ragged and uneven pounding in her ears, and another to realize that it was her own breathing. She managed to push herself up, despite the aches and pains. Hanneman had managed to send Byleth with her, who was laying next to her. In the distance, she could hear roaring, smell the smoke wafting through the air. It was…surreal.

The medical wing was up a few flights of stairs from where they were. Byleth would need some sort of medical attention. As for Edelgard…

Blood dripped down her limp hand as the dust and gravel dug into her feet. And a ringing in her head that was fading, before ringing louder, and back again.

She needed to find Hubert. Surely he was still alive. Surely.

The air was thick with magic as a beam of light burst open a meter or so away. Edelgard grunted and forced both her arms to pick up Byleth. Surely this was Hubert, having spotted her escape and deducing where she had been teleported to. Her wounds ached, but Edelgard forced the pain down, and prepared to move. The teleportation ended, and a dark Figure emerged.

Thales' expression was twisted into an inhuman rage. "You stupid, insolent child!" He spat. "Did you really think-"

Edelgard turned and ran.

Ducking behind the short alleys only did her so much good. The wounds on her legs forced Edelgard into a shamble, and while rage made for poor aim, Thales was closing in on her. Even with her pounding heartbeat and explosions of magic crowding Edelgard's ears, she couldn't hear any guards coming to save her.

Another blast ripped through one of the classroom walls. There was nowhere Edelgard could escape too, no wall she could hide behind. She needed-

Edelgard changed course, hobbling past the kitchen doors. Another explosion rocked the doorway behind her. Edelgard kept running, kept hobbling, kept moving. The door to her escape was near, she just had to pass one final hurdle-

"GOODBYE, NIECE!" Thales shouted. The air seemed to melt and ionize behind Edelgard. She did whatever she could to speed up, to move, to escape. The doorway was just ahead, just a meter, a step, a hair's breadth-

Her back exploded into agony as the spell Thales threw at her impacted. Edelgard felt a pain she hadn't felt in years erupt from all over her body. It was no use. Even with the doorway just before her, it was pointless. Edelgard didn't have the strength to go on. To stop her uncle. To save anyone.

"I hope you appreciate this, my dear creation." Thales crooned from the hallway behind her. His eyes would land on her broken body in just another moment. "All your struggling is in vain, all your feeble attempts at defying me pointless." He snorted. "You can lay down and die now, if you like."

It was just a hair's breadth. She only needed to reach out, and soar away.

As soon as her finger brushed against the glowing green sphere, Edelgard's world shifted to the strange throne room.

She took a moment to cough up something slightly warm. Dimly aware of Byleth in her arms, Edelgard shuffled forward, doing what she could not to drop her. After a few minutes of blurryness, Byleth was once again sitting on her throne, barely any worse for wear than at the beginning of the night.

Edelgard took a moment to look around her. Thales and his minions were nowhere to be seen. She allowed herself that moment of satisfaction as her field of view fell to the cold stone ground and darkness consumed her.

As always, thanks to dox for beta reading!

Well. It's been a minute. Apologies for the delay. Part 1 is completed, just in time to watch the wake of Three Hopes pass! And…nothing too much has changed? Claude has joined the war crimes olympics in several very silly places across the internet, and I'll argue that the endings were all bad, bar none. But some cool stuff was added, with magic users finally getting relics. A shame there are virtually no story bits for any of them (if relics are made out of dragon bones, are spellbook pages made out of dragon skin?)

In any case. I'll see you all again much sooner. Till next time.