Broken Synapse
Byleth was swiftly surrounded by a cluster of strange faces. That floating book with an attitude was but one oddity this new, bizarre world had to offer. When a new face suddenly leaned into view, his heart would have stopped had it never been beating in the first place.
The creature was like a metal skeleton with big, blank circles for eyes and a wide smile that could chill even a corpse to the bone. What made it all the more eerie was the seemingly innocent, boyish voice that seeped from behind that metallic grin.
"Hi, there! My name's Emil, and this is Kainé!"
He moved aside. A woman, fairly pretty with big brown eyes and all-white hair knelt before him. Her outfit was nothing short of revealing. Sylvain was bound to pounce any moment now if he was anywhere nearby. She looked down and snarled. "I just wanna know where the hell you guys came from. One minute I'm walking, and the next, I see all ten of you appear outta goddamn nowhere."
"Kainé," Emil nagged. "Can we let them get situated before heaping questions on them? They look even more confused than we are."
Byleth had only one thing on his mind save for the trio of oddballs looming over him. Flayn. He held up his hand and eyed the blood that stained his gauntlet.
"You're injured," came Weiss' pompous voice. "We can take you back to the village. Popola can…"
Before he could finish that thought, Dimitri marched right over Byleth. Ingrid and Sylvain advanced with him. Their lances drawn and ready to strike.
"We told you to back off," snarled the prince.
Byleth watched his students bar him from those three strangers. With how his students addressed these odd creatures, they must have been awake far longer than him. He felt that he was missing some context…
"Calm down," ordered the book. "We're not trying to antagonize you!"
"It's true," pleaded Emil. "We're just trying to help."
"Save it," demanded Dimitri. "Just tell us how to get to Gronder Field from here."
"That's the second time you've asked us that question," Weiss exclaimed. "And for the second time, none of us have ever heard of a place called Gronder Field!"
"Gronder," repeated Emil. "Is that out by Seafront?"
Weiss turned and gave his ally a firm, "No!"
That alone was enough to set Dimitri off. "So, you do know! You are hiding information from us!"
"Pah! For the last time, we…"
A hand was extended Byleth's way. Annette's dainty hand. Feeling groggy, he took it and was hoisted off the ground. He surveyed the grounds again. Rolling hills covered in lush grass expanded all around him but ended sharply near the surrounding mountains. Bridges of metal and rust lined the horizon. They were of a style and architecture he had never seen anywhere in Fódlan.
Byleth quickly lost interest in his surroundings and eyed each of his students. He took the time to do a quick headcount. All his students except Flayn and the Ashen Wolves were present. The Wolves had an excuse. They must have been far enough away to not get warped with everyone else but Flayn… Byleth felt his stomach churn.
A fateful question was written all over Annette's face. Her big eyes sparkled with the onset of encroaching tears. Her lip quivered as she tried to ask what was already on his mind.
But before she could speak…
"Incoming!"
Someone shouted. Sounded like Sylvain. Before Byleth could respond, magic cascaded down all around him. Orbs of scarlet magic were surrounded by rings of hovering runes he could not understand. They flew at an oddly slow pace and exploded when they touched ground. All around him, they landed. The Lions started to scatter.
Dimitri disengaged from his argument with the natives and aimed Areadbhar to the northern horizon where a haze of red and black started to gather. "Over there! I see movement!"
Byleth looked that way. At first, all he saw was a moving shadow. A wave of darkness headed straight for them. As it drew nearer, he saw shapes in this advancing wall of blackness. Lanky figures that almost looked like ghosts. They wobbled forward. A mix of manifested shadow and dull golden light. They cast those magical attacks in an endless wave.
"What are those things," came Ashe's frantic voice.
Weiss hovered closer to the group. He spoke with an air of calm as if these aberrations were but a normal sight for him. "Just Shades," said the book as if all were right with the world. "And a rowdy horde too. We've yet to route them and they…"
"Demonic beasts," Prince Dimitri declared, cutting Weiss off. "Yet more horrors unleashed by the Empire. Hold firm!"
Weiss, if he had a face, would have looked positively offended just then. "Did you not listen to a word I just said!? They're…"
"Hold on, son," pleaded Rodrigue, again cutting Weiss short. "We don't know their capabilities. Professor, we need your advice!"
Weiss groaned. "For the love of… Would you please listen to…!"
Dimitri would hear none of it. He didn't wait for Byleth and he spared that talking tome not another second of his time. He took another step forward and gave his final order. "The Empire twists flesh into whatever perverse ways they see fit. Kill these monsters… KILL THEM ALL!"
But before Dimitri could so much as charge, Ingrid collapsed in front of him. On hands and knees, she looked like she was about to throw up. Her skin was pallor. Her eyes were wide and her stomach sunk and rose as she dry-heaved.
"Get up," snapped the prince without a care. His eyes were locked on the advance of the supposed Demonic Beasts as he addressed her.
"I can't," Ingrid breathed.
"No step back…"
"I said I can't! My legs gave out! I can't stand anymore! We haven't had rest since we left the Monastery. I haven't eaten in days! I can't keep going!"
Dimitri pulled her up by the collar and shoved a spear in her hands. "You can either fight like Glenn or die like him! It makes no difference to me!"
Ingrid was shoved toward the enemy. Her expression twisted into offended fury the likes which Byleth had never seen from her. She clenched the lance and stumbled into a clumsy charge. Dimitri ran ahead of the group.
"Hold on," they heard Weiss call out but none dared defy Dimitri's order. "You people are in no condition to fight! Let us…!"
"Cut them all down," Dimitri shouted from ahead. "Cleanse the field of this inhuman filth!" He lunged forward and buried his lance into the first abomination that ventured his way. It spurted with scarlet gore but then dissipated as if it were an incorporeal spirit.
Byleth nor his students were given time to question this oddity. There were so many of them. Byleth perched atop a rock and scanned the mountains in the background. They poured from those higher boulders and hills. The bulk of them formed a wave of shadow and writhing limbs of gold. The professor watched as his students struggled to hold an effective line against this new enemy. Some spewed that odd scarlet magic but at least it was easily avoided. Others swung weapons as dark and vaporous as their bodies.
An idea formed in Byleth's mind. A favorite maneuver of his when the odds were so heavily stacked against them, as they often were…
"Form a pincer!"
Sylvain ran his shimmering relic through the chest of a towering monstrosity and stumbled back a few feet. "How," he shouted. "We have no mounts!"
Byleth froze and tried desperately to think of a solution when time had already passed him by. "Ranged units flank! Everyone else get ready to push!"
Ashe and Annette moved on opposite sides. It took a while for them to clear out enough space to circle to the back of this horde. The rest of the students gradually spaced themselves out. Byleth slashed at any shades that tried to worm through the gaps. The professor was almost surprised at Dimitri's ability to wait at the center for the rest to fight their way into formation.
That talking tome hovered to his side. "Incredible show of prowess! I, Grimoire Weiss, commend the skill of you and your soldiers. Or students… Whatever they are."
Kainé bolted right past them both. "Why don't you make yourself useful and lend a hand!?"
Emil seemed to have the same idea and rushed behind her. They attempted to enter the fray, but their help wasn't needed.
All his students were in place. "Move up," Byleth commanded. He lunged forward himself. His relic fragmented and whipped at the earth as he moved up to aid Dimitri.
In a flash, the whole of the Blue Lions forced their way deeper into the crowd of ever-tightening monsters. They slashed and slaughtered their way to the heart of this swiftly dissolving horde. The creatures fought back but their movements were slow. They shambled and flailed where the lances of Faerghus pierced with precision and discipline. Gradually, his students started to learn how they moved and adjusted their efforts accordingly.
A few of the smaller creatures broke away and managed to flee into the tall grass. Apart from stragglers, they were all that was left. Byleth was almost content with a surprisingly quick victory when…
"Mages," Dimitri shouted as he tore through another towering aberration of shadow. "Burn them out!"
Annette, Mercedes, and even Sylvain rushed to the lengthy fields of grass. The litter creatures were small enough to disappear in the brush, but that didn't discourage Dimitri's ravenous thirst for blood. The mages took up different positions and shot fireballs into the field. The flames spread across the plain and surrounded the few stragglers that had almost escaped. Byleth slowed and watched as they crackled and boiled. Tiny, dark arms almost bubbled like boiling water as they tried to claw their way out of the flames. After the passage of a few agonizing minutes, they dissipated into nothingness.
The fight was almost… an anticlimax. Byleth checked his surroundings but he saw no enemy reinforcements. No formations he hadn't noticed yet. No ambushes. Nothing. What was left of this inhuman foe lay squirming at his feet, but that alone was enough to set Dimitri off.
"Kill them off! Put the rest of these abominations out of their misery!"
With battle decidedly won, everything finally simmered down. Dimitri and the rest of his knights started plunging their lances into any abomination left squirming on the ground. They seemed more willing when the enemy wasn't human. Byleth raised no complaints this time. He saw the grief at Flayn's supposed loss in their eyes as they twisted their bladed weapons deeper into their wounded foes. He witnessed the frustration at Dimitri's relentless orders. All that emotion funneled through their weapons and manifested in the alien blood that spilled at their feet.
The professor turned his attention to the trio of strangers who stood and observed his group from a distance. They seemed perplexed and impressed all at the same time. Byleth was not the only one curious. Rodrigue, ignoring the after-battle slaughter, came running up to Byleth's side.
"I feel proper introductions are in order," said Rodrigue with a bow. "My name is Sir Rodrigue Fraldarius. This is Professor Byleth of Garreg Mach Monastery. We're with the Church and are on a mission of liberation. We seek a road that will take us…"
As he went on, Byleth became aware of something that Rodrigue had not exactly caught on to. Words like Garreg Mach and the Church just caused their eyes to glaze over. Rather, it made the woman's eyes glaze over as she was the only one who truly had normal eyes. The skeleton and the book gave off their own vibes of ignorance and confusion.
"And I," said Weiss dramatically. "Shall tell you what I told your hot-headed prince. We know not this Fódlan you hail from, nor Faerghus, and we know nothing of any church. What I do know is that you and your allies have fought valiantly. You crushed that Shade horde! They've been giving us trouble for weeks! We haven't been able to make any progress on our own little crusade because they were using hit-and-run attacks constantly on our village."
"Nier getting himself wounded didn't help," added Kainé. "I told that idiot not to let his guard down!"
"Yes, well," Weiss resumed. "While we know not of your plight, our village owes you a debt of gratitude. If you would follow us, we can take you back there. We have not much to offer in these trying times but we can feed you and give your troops quarter. Perhaps Devola and Popola can help you find what you're looking for. They're very knowledgeable about the region. Especially Popola."
Byleth and Rodrigue exchanged looks. A silent conclusion was reached.
"Guess that's our best lead then," Rodrigue said with a smile. "But we don't want to impose…"
"You just spared us a massive headache," said Weiss. "It would be imposing if we did not return the favor. Besides, your knights look like they're about to collapse at any moment. Please, come with us!"
Kainé nodded in agreement. "At the very least, I wanna see what happens when we stick Nier and that asshole prince of yours in a room together."
"Silence, hussy," exclaimed Weiss. "Watch your tongue in the presence of knights!"
Rodrigue glanced back at said 'asshole prince.' Dimitri was lazily stabbing one of those 'Shades' to death. His back turned to them.
"If you insist," Rodrigue concluded. He then turned to Byleth. "Convincing him will be another matter entirely. I'll need your help. Your word does still carry weight with him, Professor. It's just a matter of getting through."
"Do let us know when you've reached a decision," said Weiss. "My colleagues and I shall await your response."
Kainé rolled her eyes. "Colleagues… You're not fooling anyone, book."
"Do not embarrass me in front of these fine soldiers!"
Byleth and Rodrigue ducked away from the group to evade the brewing argument between the woman dressed in nothing but underwear and the talking book.
As they walked, Byleth got increasingly sucked into his own thoughts. A familiar presence came over him. A feeling he had not sensed in what felt like forever. Her voice… almost startled him.
"You're not in Fódlan anymore…"
Byleth stopped dead in his tracks. He knew that voice anywhere. The only voice in his head other than his own. …It had been so long. He couldn't help himself. Behind his subdued frown, he bubbled up with excitement. Forgetting where he was, he couldn't help but say the name out loud.
"…Sothis."
"What's that professor?" Rodrigue's voice snapped him back to reality. "You look pale."
Byleth jumped and came out of his daze in an instant. He felt himself lose balance. He started to sway. His vision blurred. Rodrigue's voice grew distant.
"Professor!"
Everything went black.
