Part 1: White Clouds

Lord Slug: Epilogue

'Would you wake up already for crying out loud?! You have been getting so lazy recently!'

"Sothis I don't want to hear this coming from you of all people."

'I have a reason!'

"And that is?"

'Just… just… ugh, you are infuriating!'

Byleth then sighed and rolled out of bed and did her usual morning routine. Admittedly with more difficulty since she was missing an arm, but she had gotten used to it as the days went by. She then walked over to her chair and grabbed her coat before putting it on and stepping outside to see Garreg Mach.

It has been more than a week since that battle with Lord Slug and his crew, and aside from a few pieces of missing bricks, you would never be able to tell that a huge battle had taken place here. She and 141 shouldered most of the responsibility and took this as a chance to get some training in for the students. It took some time but eventually they managed to make the place look semi presentable. Edelgard, Dimitri and Claude all had to return to their respective lands to get debriefed on everything that had happened, and judging from their faces, it was something they really didn't want to do.

Byleth couldn't exactly blame them. They fought for their lives this week, and the last thing on their minds was anything but political conversations.

But right now, she needed to do some fishing to get her mind off of things. But before she could even go to the pond, she was stopped by Seteth.

"Oh, hello Seteth. How can I help you? Are there any more repairs needing done?"

Seteth shook his head in return. "No, you and 141 have done more than enough. Actually, Lady Rhea has summoned you. I just came to get you, it seems that I was just in time."

"Oh… is there any reason why?"

"I believe it's something that will help you, even if just a little bit."

"I see. Thank you Seteth, I'll make my way over now."

As Byleth was about to turn around and go to where Rhea usually was, Seteth then spoke up. "Perhaps… you and your father would be interested in fishing with Flayn and I at some point? She usually likes to watch, but in case you both are interested."

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise, but then she smiled. "I think that sounds great, Seteth."

With the two sharing a smile, Byleth made her way up the stairs of the Monastery to the chambers in which Rhea usually resided, on her way there she looked around at how pristine everything still looked. Thankfully, this was the area that took the least amount of damage from the fight so aside from having to move around fallen pieces of furniture and trinkets, it looked like nothing had changed. When she walked in, Byleth saw Rhea eyeing her up.

Gods, that always unnerved her. Like she gets it, she was missing an arm, and she always got looks as people weren't used to it. But Rhea… she was different. She looked angry. Not at Lord Slug but… at her. Okay, again, she understands. She was very reckless and underestimated Lord Slug in their first encounter and Byleth heavily paid the price for it. But Rhea seemed less concerned with her and… Byleth couldn't put her finger on it. But Rhea then smiled and nodded to her.

"Hello, child. Have you managed to adjust to your…" She trailed off but Byleth knew what she meant and looked down at the stump that once was her arm.

"If I'm being honest, Archbishop. It's been a little difficult, but I am managing."

"I understand. Magic can do wonders in this world but unfortunately it cannot replace entire limbs. But that is why I have brought you here today. You see, after looking at your mothers workshop it… inspired me to try and build something that can help you."

Rhea then gestured at a box that was on a table by her side and Byleth felt confused, and the Archbishop explained further.

"Those machines that you saw back in Abyss, they were actually of the design of the Church. I have a knack for designing such machines but of course, in recent events those machines have since been decommissioned. What I tried to do was… well, open it up, dear child."

After looking confused, Byleth slowly nodded and lifted the cover of the box and was surprised to see… an arm. Made out of metal? She slowly picked it up and inspected it and looked to Rhea once more who nodded.

"Unfortunately, nothing like this has been done before, so it isn't perfect. You are literally the first person to have something like this. It can help you do day to day tasks, but I'm afraid it won't be of much assistance in battle due to how bulky it is. Please, try it on. You just clasp it onto the place where your arm used to be and the rest will sort itself out."

Byleth looked at it again, then back to Rhea, and then gently lifted it to where her stump was and slipped it into the metal arm before a giant clanking noise sounded and Byleth gritted her teeth feeling pressure and slight pain as the arm fixed itself onto her body. Once it was no longer making strange sounds, she looked to Rhea who clasped her hands to her chest and nodded.

"How does it feel, my child?"

She paused for a moment and looked down at the prosthetic before narrowing her eyes and tested it out, by moving the metal fingers. To her shock, the fingers actually started moving!

"It feels… strange. But it is bulky… no offence, Lady Rhea."

"None taken. Like I said, this has never been done before, so it won't be perfect. It'll do for your regular tasks but in a fight you're better off leaving it."

But Byleth now had a nagging question in her mind. "How did you do this? You said this was a standard practice in the Church but this kind of stuff isn't seen anywhere… and those things we fought looked ancient."

Rhea's face changed to a sad look as she looked down. "There is a lot about me that you do not know, child. Perhaps one day you will get to learn more. But for now, I hope that the arm will help make things easier, even if just a little bit."

"I see… thank you, Archbishop. I appreciate it."

"You're very welcome. Now I'm sure you were busy, I heard that the students were looking for you. Perhaps they wish to train just a little more."

"Yes… I think I'll do just that."

As she left Rhea, she looked at the arm and flexed the fingers and felt that, despite how uncomfortable it was in terms of weight, she could probably get used to it.

'Well, seems she does care after all. But now I'm even more suspicious of her.' Sothis chimed in.

"It's very strange… but it will be useful at least."

As she walked outside, she saw Annette and Leonie doing a little sparring session while waiting for training to start. When they noticed her, they smiled but then were surprised at what they saw.

"Wow that's… good?" Leonie tried to find the words staring at her metal arm but Annette clapped her hands together.

"Wonderful, Professor! Now you can actually bake with me and Mercie again!"

"Heh… I suppose you're right, Annette. Now come on girls, let's gather the others and start training."

"I feel bad for Edie and Dimitri and Claude." Annette said as the three walked away.

"I'm sure they're fine. It's just a meeting."

…

'Oh my goddess, how long have we been here? It was supposed to just be a meeting!'

That was the general consensus amongst the three future leaders of Fódlan as they were stuck in a room with various nobles across the land, including the round table of the Alliance, as well as higher ups from both the Kingdom and Empire. They had arrived in the morning, and judging from the position of the sun it was…. Oh no, it was late afternoon.

"We need answers!"

"This incident will cost us a lot of coin int tens of repairs and rebuilding the fields for crops!"

"Order! Order!"

They all turned to see Shamir slamming her hand on the table to quiet them all down. She volunteered to come to this meeting in place of the Church as she was one of the only ones who didn't have as many responsibilities at the moment. She then sighed and realised she may have made a big mistake. Politics weren't her strong suit, but she was here anyway.

"Okay, let's do this one at a time… let's start with our three House Leaders as they were at the main battlefield alongside myself."

All eyes were now on Edelgard, Dimitri and Claude as the latter but the inside of his cheek to quell the annoyance within him. He wasn't supposed to be doing this kind of stuff just yet! He still had a few years before he would take the place of the old man. But then Shamir spoke up.

"I understand you three want to rest and try to recover, but we need you three here as you were witnesses. And you did lead against him."

"Lead is a strong word…" Edelgard muttered.

But Dimitri let out a long sigh and straightened up. "We tried our best against this foe, and for the most part we were doing very well. We, along with the rest of 141 managed to take out his high ranking minions but when he himself showed up and started to fight we were like… like…"

"Paper against a flood?" Claude suggested.

"Yes, that."

Across the table, Rodrigue scratched his beard and nodded. "It appears that you were apart of the worst of it. We had to deal with the low ranking soldiers, if by judging the ease by which they were killed."

"Even so, we barely managed to survive." Ladislava commented. "I don't know what it was like everywhere else, but in the Empire we lost quite a few good soldiers that day. Thankfully, the citizens were evacuated quite quickly. The rain didn't help either."

"We did all we could, and that's all that matters." Judith said. "It's only good that those at Garreg Mach managed to shut down whatever was making it rain, because if the soldiers didn't kill us, then the rain would've."

"Thank you Lady Judith, but unfortunately we couldn't take all the credit." Dimitri shook his head at her praise. "It was only thanks to everyone sending backups that we were able to turn the tides."

But that only caused…. Confused looks across the table. Randolph spoke up. "What do you mean, Prince Dimitri?"

"Well… we sent messages to each of our respective lands requesting reinforcements."

"We never received such messages…"

Silence fell around the room as Shamir shook her head. "Does it matter? The fact that we're here and breathing is nothing short of luck itself."

"We're grateful our Professor managed to recover quickly and fight." Edelgard said. "The only other one who was able to hold this foe off was Flayn."

"Yeah, we got worried when he launched her away into the distance." Claude replied.

"Wait… was that her? We saw a green blur decimate the enemy soldiers." Judith frowned.

"Along with… OUR CROP SUPPLY!"

"We demand compensation!"

"This'll ruin my business!"

It resorted to various Nobles arguing amongst themselves yet again as Edelgard, Dimitri and Claude all groaned loudly and slammed their heads on the table with Shamir pinching the bridge of her nose in annoyance.

"Really wish I let Catherine do this instead…"

"Good going everyone. That'll be enough for the warm up." Byleth said, looking over at the exhausted masses of 141 on the ground.

"You've all done very well since we have started. You even didn't take off your weighted clothing when fighting Lord Slug. That's good, I'm really glad that you chose to keep them on. It just adds to the gains."

"So… when can we… take them off?" Hilda panted, sprawled out on the grass trying to catch her breath as each members of the class were then given water which they eagerly guzzled down.

Byleth pursed her lips and tapped her cheek in thought. "Hmmm… the day of the Battle of the Eagle and the Lion. That'll let everyone know how strong you have gotten."

"Okay, then next question is that when can we learn how to fly?" Leonie asked.

"After the battle."

"Why not now?!"

"Wouldn't be fair."

"Wouldn't be- IT'S ALREADY NOT FAIR!"

"Leonie has a point." Ashe chimed in. "I mean, how does this make things fair for the other students?"

Byleth tapped her nose. "Glad you asked. Cyril?"

They all looked at Cyril pushing in a blackboard with a deadpan look on his face. "Why am I doing this again when I could be doing my chores?"

She chose to ignore that and tossed a bag of gold to the smaller boy. "Thank you Cyril, you may return to what you were doing."

"Thanks…?"

As he awkwardly shuffled away, Byleth grabbed a piece of chalk and started to draw a bunch of smiling faces that resembled the students of Garreg Mach.

"So here, we have the Three House leaders, that already know Ki. And as you can all see, there's three more from each house that also know how to use it. So there's no advantage or disadvantage to any teams."

"Yeah, but which one are you and Flayn going to go on?" Felix said which just prompted a confused look from Byleth.

"What do you mean?"

Which in turn, caused confused looks from everyone else. And then the penny dropped because… they realised neither Byleth or Flayn were part of any houses.

"You know, I guess we just got too used with you around." Annette laughed a little nervously whilst rubbing the back of her head.

"Well, that's a relief! Now I actually have a shot at winning!" Caspar cheered, pumping his fists in the air.

"Let's not get too ahead of ourselves, Caspar. After all, you have some weaknesses that you need to iron out. Along with the rest of you. But luckily, now that Garreg Mach has been cleaned up and we can finally move forward from that battle, we can focus on making you not only stronger, but smarter."

"I am very smart, I don't need lectures!" Lysithea exclaimed.

Byleth raised an eyebrow. "Who exhausted their reserves by recklessly using their Ki and Magic and almost choked on their own blood?"

"…I suppose there is nothing wrong with extra studying."

"And besides, I have seen you all practicing your own various techniques. Petra, that technique you showed back at Abyss was quite useful. What was it you called it?"

"Eyes of the Eagle." Petra answered, puffing her chest a little at the praise. That's when Bernadetta walked up to her prodding her fingers together.

"C-Could you maybe t-teach your Eagle Vision, Petra? I-I have some ideas of my own that c-could help."

"My… what?"

"Oh, is that wrong? I-I just thought it needed a cool name s-so I called it Eagle Vision…"

"That is… a wonderful idea! I would be grateful to teach!" Petra exclaimed and grabbed Bernadetta's arm and ran off. "Come! We can get started now!"

"W-Wait! This is too sudden!"

"And there they go." Felix sighed. "What in the world could that girl possibly hope to achieve with using Petra's technique?"

"Didn't she manage to disarm you?" Caspar asked but received a glare from the Lion student.

"I will figure out how she did it. And then she won't get the drop on me again."

"I don't know, I might ask Petra to teach me Eagle Vision." Annette said but got a confused look from Leonie.

"It isn't called Eagle Vision."

"I think it can catch on! It rolls off the tongue a lot more than Eyes of the Eagle."

Both flinched when a fleshy hand and a metal hand grasped a shoulder each as they looked at Byleth. "We can worry about debating names later. For now, I believe we should follow Petra and Bernadetta's lead and practice what we already know. So here's what we are going to do. Ashe and Leonie, you fire Ki arrows at the other students."

"Wait what-"

"And the rest will be racing to that tree over there."

"Now hold on this doesn't seem safe-"

"Are we all clear?"

Hilda desperately looked at Leonie. "Help us out here! She's gonna kill us!"

But Leonie was silent as Hilda suddenly grew nervous.

"L-Leonie?"

"Remember when we did that group project a few weeks back and you did nothing?"

"…I don't see how that is relevant."

As Leonie slowly grinned with a manic look in her eyes. "You better know how to dance, because I'm gonna make you."

"Hilda I'm scared." Lysithea whimpered, clinging to Hilda as the older girl hugged her back.

"Be strong Lysithea, we'll make it through this together!"

Ashe nervously looked at his own bow before shrugging. "I guess… if it's for training. I hope I don't poke anyone's eye out."

'How did you manage to poke that guards eye out?! Those swords aren't toys!'

'Hey, get off my back I was showing off my cool moves and you wouldn't help!'

'I am not giving you my power just so you can try and impress soldiers.'

Shez was sitting in a chair, huffing to herself as she just got one of the biggest scolding's after the incident in the training area of the Capital. She was in Enbarr now after accepting the offer of Lord Arundel and before she knew it, she was in a place she felt way out of her depth in. She wasn't right for this kind of place, there were too many fancy folk walking about with their noses in the air. She felt so out of place, and thought that if she did her routine that she thought of, maybe that could break the ice. It didn't do that.

"The guy lived." Shez said out loud.

'I am not going to let you try and justify your recklessness. Just try and behave, it wouldn't do us well if you get chased out of the main capital of the Empire.'

"Yeah, and I guess not many folk would hire me if they heard of this…"

She then groaned and slid down the chair whining loudly. "When am I getting my mission? I'm so bored!"

"Then why don't we put your skills to use?"

Shez helped and jumped after hearing a voice by her side and turned to see Arundel standing at the door.

"L-Look, about that guard, I'm so sorry!"

But to her surprise, he waved his hand and shook his head. "Water under the bridge I say. Besides, we have much to do, don't we?"

"Oh… yeah! I'm ready to whatever you need me to do!"

"Anything?"

"Yep! Anything!"

"Good… that is excellent news. Very well then, Miss… I'm sorry, what is your last name?"

Shez then rubbed the back of her head feeling oddly embarrassed. "I… don't really have one. I was an orphan who was brought in by this lady and she didn't really tell me her last name either so… yeah, I'm just Shez and… I'm just starting to ramble at this point and I can't stop-"

"That's… quite alright." He interrupted her by holding up a hand and got closer. "When you fought off those monsters, you had a strange glow about you. Would you care to show me?"

"Oh, you mean my awesome Super Shez?" She grinned rubbing her nose ignoring the protesting voice in her head.

'We are not calling it that, we agreed!'

'My body, my rules!'

Arundel however, simply nodded. "Yes, your… Super Shez."

"Alrighty, but you better stand back, heh, because I tend to blow people off their feet with it!"

"I'm sure I'll be okay."

"Your funeral."

As Shez closed her eyes and talked to Arval. 'You ready?'

'…Only if you agree to not call it Super Shez.'

'Arval.'

'Alright, alright, fine! Sheesh, you're so annoying.'

Arundel nodded at her to start and Shez nodded back, before closing her eyes and channeling the energy that Arval lended her as her hair was now glowing with the arena starting to crack slightly from the power that was radiating off her, and Arundel grinned as he very much recognised that power.

'Yes… yes… show me!'

The markings of Arval started forming on Shez's face as she then let out a roar and expelled all the built up energy before she blew out a breath and grinned, doing a twirl.

"Well? What do you think? I know, it can be a little overwhelming-"

"The Ashen Demon is still vastly more powerful."

That made Shez actually collapse to the ground in utter shock before she picked herself up. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!"

"I mean that as you currently are, you won't be anywhere near to defeating her."

Shez visibly deflated at that very demoralising piece of news. She always knew that in reality, Super Shez wasn't enough. But to hear it from someone else…

"Turn that frown upside down, Shez. I said that it wasn't enough, but that doesn't mean that there's nothing else you can do. I have something that can help even the playing field."

"Oh? And what is that? And why have you been hiding that from me?"

"Simple. I needed to see if you were… compatible."

That's when Arundel held out his hand and there appeared a dark crystal which was pulsing with Ki. Shez peered at it and looked very unsure.

"What is it?"

"Power equal to the Ashen Demon. Fuse to this, then you can beat her and kill her."

"Power…?" She whispered to herself, as in her mind Arval hummed.

'We should take this.'

'What? Why?! I mean, I know that I specialise in dark magic and Ki but this feels just a little bit too far.'

'I can't explain it properly, but I feel a connection of sorts. This feels familiar somehow, and plus if you are to beat the Ashen Demon then you can only get so far without help, even with my power. Take it, my partner.'

"So what do you say? Will you take the first step into your victory?"

Shez looked at the hand holding the crystal for what seemed like forever, before her resolve hardened and she plucked it out of his hand and felt the sensation of the crystal. Arval was right, it did feel familiar. Felt exactly like her own Ki and magic mixed together, but a lot more potent.

"Well… if it means I can beat the Ashen Demon… what have I got to lose?"

"I still cannot believe how much of a gigantic waste of time that was." Edelgard grumbled, stepping out of the carriage provided to take the leaders back to the Monastery as it had taken a whole day to come back.

"They just kept on talking about their taxes and money…" Dimitri sighed.

"Politics. Always finds a way to take the fun out of everything." Claude shrugged, as he knew that this wasn't the end. After all, he still had to deal with… Almyra.

"Well, let's just hope this is the last of it for now. I never thought I'd say this, but I'm looking forward to just training as well as catching up on essays." Dimitri added.

"Yes, I agree. It'll be nice to have a sense of normalcy once again, even if just for a little bit."

"What Edelgard means is that she can watch Teach-"

Claude quickly ducked to avoid a swing at his face courtesy of Edelgard. "Getting slow Princess. Seems you've been slacking off lately."

"Unlike you Claude, I actually have responsibilities."

"Please settle down, you two. Look, the others are training right now… are Leonie and Ashe firing arrows at them?"

Behind them, Shamir spoke. "I don't know if I should be offended about the fact that I have seemingly been replaced as the motivator."

"M-Motivat… YOU SHOOT US WITH ARROWS!"

"And did you feel motivated?"

"I WAS SCARED FOR MY LIFE!"

"I rest my case." Shamir simply replied and walked on calling out to Leonie and Ashe which the latter had to pull the former away from shooting at her fellow students.

"Where's Bernie? Would've thought that she would be stuck to you guys like conjoined twins."

Leonie shrugged in response. "She asked Petra to teach her that technique that she uses. The one with her eyes and markings? Seems she has an idea."

"Is that so? Interesting."

As they kept talking, the three house leaders all collectively sighed and shedded their uniforms to reveal their training outfits underneath.

"When is she gonna let us take this off? It's been months at this point!" Claude exclaimed.

"In fairness, it doesn't feel as heavy anymore. It's actually quite nice not feeling like I'm lugging boulders about on my back."

"Dimitri, you easily have the greatest strength out of the three of us, I don't think you can complain."

"Strength comes in different forms, Edelgard." Dimitri replied, whilst they did some stretches. "It still is a struggle to carry heavy weight."

"Well, I trust in Professor Byleth. There has to be a reason that she hasn't told us to take off these weighted clothes. Speaking of the Professor…"

Edelgard trailed off as she noticed Byleth's coat hanging on a wall as she and Claude looked at one another.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Ladies first."

Dimitri shook his head watching the two slowly sneak towards Byleth's coat and continued doing his stretches. "This is a really bad idea."

"I lift the pocket and you grab it, you have the smaller hands." Claude suggested as the pair got to the coat and Edelgard gave him a very unimpressed look.

"You really think I'm stupid? You will just take it from me while I'm pulling it out."

"Edelgard I am hurt! I would never do something like that!"

"You lie as naturally as you breathe Claude." As she reached in the coat, with the two not noticing something flying towards them at blinding speeds-

CRACK!

Both yelled in pain as they held their heads in agony after two rocks struck them in the side. They then noticed the coat was gone and frantically looked around. Before they then heard a voice behind them.

"You were too focused on the prize, that you didn't pay attention to your surroundings. I expected better from the two of you."

It was Byleth who was holding her coat and tossing the bottle up in the air before catching it again and placing it back in her pocket. "I put it there on purpose to see if anyone would take the bait. I expected Caspar or even Annette."

"But I suppose when you're desperate to prove yourself, you will resort to anything. Good work Dimitri for not falling for it."

"Of course, Professor." Dimitri nodded, feeling a little smug that his hunch was correct while Edelgard and Claude gingerly rubbed the bump on their heads. But that's when Byleth cupped her hands over her mouth and called everyone in the area over. Everyone except Petra and Bernadetta lined up, but that was okay. She can tell them later.

"Alright everyone, I know it has been a very strange couple of months. And yes, strange doesn't even begin to cover it. But for now, we have a bit of breathing room finally, and with that comes something else. The Battle of the Eagle and Lion. So with what has been happening, we have been slacking off on training a little too much. That's going to change. From now, until the battle takes place, we will be training hard and developing new techniques. Bernie and Petra have the right idea right now, and you should all have the same thoughts. Because I will be judging how you all get on. Any questions?"

Several hands rose up.

"That don't involve when I'm going to teach you how to fly."

Several hands went down.

"Of course… okay then, shall we begin?"

*Song: DBZ Ending Theme*

Finally, after many months of hardship and trial, we are finally at a time of peace. How long will it last now that Thales is making his move with his new Mercenary Shez? Find out next time on the next chapter of, The Ashen Saiyan!

Nice little epilogue to shot what's going on after the Lord Slug. It has been nice to do an original arc but it's time we went back to the canon chapters and focus on the battle of the eagle and lion. And yes, the Monastery is mostly rebuilt which helps when you have a bunch of super powered students to help.

And like I said in the other story, losing Toriyama sucked, but I shall keep on writing and creating since I know he loved to do that. But Rest in Peace Toriyama, you really did inspire a lot and that's not even an understatement.

Seems that Bernie has her own idea on a technique, I will give you one clue. It's a game mechanic in a very popular game series that helps with aiming shots.

Lastly, thank you to everyone who has stuck around, it really means a lot that people still read the chapters as they come out. I do get ideas here and then for other stories, like Hazbin Hotel. As well as the brand new Mirrorwatch event in Overwatch. But whether I go through with it is another story.

Anyway, thank you all for sticking around and ill see you all in the Battle of the Eagle and Lion arc.

Catch you later!