Confession time. I know there are a lot of Zelda games that are considered all-time greats. A Link to the Past, Wind Waker, Breath of the Wild, Twilight Princess, Majora's Mask. And they all deserve it, but my favorite Zelda game is Spirit Tracks. And I don't think any future Zelda game is going to dethrone it. I wonder what that says about me.
In any case, I decided this chapter was better split into two parts. Enjoy this chapter of buildup; the battle against the Elites in earnest comes next.
Dimitri was furious. And he was not the only one.
"How dare they?" William von Ochs snarled. "How fucking dare they?"
"This is one of the Lindenhursts' work," Grian said deceptively calmly, tilting his hat to hide the fury in his eyes. "Fraldarius, Dominic, Maurice, they kill, but not like this."
'This' being the state of Timotheos's corpse. His ears were missing, his fingers had been cut off and shoved down his throat, his intestines were tied around his neck like a noose, and the front of his pants was covered in blood, which no one wanted to check to see if their suspicions about that were right. A placard had been nailed to his chest, which read "Treason." He wasn't the only one dead either; there were a great many dead soldiers and dead villagers around. No dead children so far, but that only meant they had been taken. Whether as slaves or conscripts, no one knew.
"Great-grandmother, and Great-great-grandfather, please accept our friend Timotheos into your loving arms, and bring his soul peace," Cethleann—the one from this timeline—prayed. "And do the same for the people of this village, and the soldiers who died with Timotheos trying to defend it."
"Amen," Flayn concurred.
"They're mocking us," Dimitri growled. "Those animals."
"Oh, I agree," a deep, unfamiliar voice spoke. The Rising Sun members, plus three, turned to see two figures behind them, a woman in black with curly blue hair and a big man in a hulking suit of armor with two cleaver-like blades that blurred the line between sword and axe. "Matthias Lindenhurst is a savage with a noble title. Unfortunately, he is still my commanding officer...for now."
Annette did not bother to respond, instead simply swinging her Ancient Bladesaw at the armored man. He calmly sidestepped her blow, and when the Bladesaw was moving away from him, he hooked the corners of his swords in the wheel of the Bladesaw from both sides. For a second or two, the Bladesaw tried to keep turning as Annette tried to pull it free, but ultimately the Bladesaw broke apart. "That was quite rude, young lady. We haven't even properly introduced ourselves yet. And I was going to offer to help you."
"What the fuck are you on about?" William asked.
"William Eustace von Ochs. Crass and impetuous as ever," the man said. "I am Tribune Brom, and this is my assistant, Paula. And I'm offering to tell you where to find the Elites."
"You want to defect?" Dimitri asked.
"Not at all," Tribune Brom said. "Paula will tell you where to find them...if one of you can best me in single combat. No interference, or the bet is off."
"And you expect us to think this isn't a trap?" Linhardt asked.
"Oh, it absolutely is a trap," Tribune Brom said. "But you will walk into it anyway, because you would have a chance to kill all five of the remaining Elites on this side of the Ohgma Mountains."
Linhardt's eyes narrowed. "This guy is good."
"Of course, one of you has to best me in single combat first," Tribune Brom said. "Which you will not. I am the greatest defensive fighter this world has ever known. I have no weaknesses."
"We'll see about that," Dimitri said, as he reached to take his lance from his back. However, as he stepped forward, Dedue placed his arm in front of him.
"I accept your challenge," Dedue said. "I will be the one to face you."
"Are you sure?" Annette asked. "He's in heavy armor, and you're not a mage."
"If he was not prepared to fight mages, he would not have issued this challenge," Dedue said. "I will duel him."
"Very well," Tribune Brom said. "Everyone else, give us space to fight."
As the others backed away from the two of them, Dedue raised a green glass bottle and drank. Tribune Brom hummed skeptically. "I wouldn't advise that," he said, pointing at the bottle. "As far as I've seen, the 'drunken master' style is a myth. Alcohol will only make you slow and weak."
Dedue finished the bottle, and put it back in his bag. "Why would you assume I was drinking alcohol? Fighting in heavy armor makes a man thirsty very quickly."
"Oh, I see," Tribune Brom said. "Sensible, but if you hope to outlast me, you will be disappointed. I can fight for four days and four nights without stopping for food, water, or sleep."
"We will see," Dedue said, and he put his shield on his arm, drew his axe, and attacked.
Tribune Brom did not even bother to defend against the strike, instead letting it bounce off of his armor. It barely even left a scratch. Meanwhile, Dedue had to scramble to block the counterattacks Brom made with both of his swords from opposite sides.
"Do you understand the mistake you made?" the armored Tribune asked. "This armor is the pinnacle of Agarthan smithing, a prototype for a series of suits that will turn the tide of this war. It has no weaknesses."
Dedue did not answer, as he was too busy trying to avoid the rain of blows coming from Tribune Brom. He blocked or dodged most of them, but one slipped past his defenses and caught him on the arm. His armor held, but it hurt. Thankfully, right after that blow, Brom paused, allowing Dedue to put some distance between himself and the Tribune.
Not dropping his sword, Tribune Brom pointed at Dedue with two fingers. "You cannot hope to scratch me. Meanwhile, how long before I break through your defenses? Two more trades? Three?"
Dedue grit his teeth and searched for a weak point in the Tribune's armor. He could not find one. "How are you fighting so effectively with two swords? I have it on good authority that dual-wielding does not work."
"Fifty years of practice," Brom answered. "But it was worth every minute, because it allowed me to develop one of the greatest fighting styles in the world! Observe!"
Tribune Brom attacked Dedue, who had to stay on the defensive throughout the entire sortie. And it was far from easy; the Tribune had the strength of a bull. It was a testament to how much Dedue had learned in Hyrule that he hadn't died yet. Even as it was, he took multiple hits, thankfully on his armor...for all the good that did.
Then Brom paused again, and Dedue got away once more. There had to be something about the armor; he hadn't encountered armor this troublesome since...Zimmer and Flagg's men...
Dedue started laughing.
Brom pointed at him. "Have you gone mad? You're already bleeding badly. It won't be long until I cut you in three."
Dedue dropped his shield to the ground and extended his own hand towards Tribune Brom and casted a spell. "Silence."
Angered, the Tribune lashed out at Dedue, but Dedue skillfully avoided his blows. "I figured out the weakness of your armor. It requires a power source. You have been casting spells to power it after every trade."
He dodged a blow that shattered the wooden wall of one of the houses. "Without your magic, you cannot fight once your power runs out."
He dodged three more blows in rapid succession, then parried a fourth, which wasn't quite as strong as the previous ones had been. "I would not have been able to defeat you a year ago. But then I met someone."
After a few more blows, Tribune Brom began to slow. "This is as much Flayn's victory as it is mine," Dedue said. When Brom stopped, Dedue drew a second axe. "I will finish you with this technique I used in the land of Hyrule to pierce Darknut armor."
He placed the hook of his right axe on the right side of Brom's armor, and the hook of his left on Brom's left shoulder, and pulled. Cracks formed beneath the axes, and he kept going for one second. Two. Three. And the armor shattered, revealing...nothing inside?
Then two blades tore through Dedue's armor and left gashes from his shoulders to his waist. "Good thing the Agarthans thought to put an emergency escape in the armor," Tribune Brom said from behind where the shattered remains of the armor had been. He was a man of Duscur, like Dedue. He was big and muscular, and his hair was shaved off, leaving only stubble atop his head. "I do wonder how you figured out my armor's secret so quickly. Regardless, I must thank you. I see now that I was depending on it too much. But I promise you, I would not have been given it if I was not a deadly warrior without it."
"Nosferatu," Dedue cast, only for Tribune Brom to ward his spell, denying him relief for his wounds.
"You won't succeed twice," Brom said. "My two-sword style has no weaknesses!"
And unfortunately, Dedue couldn't see any way to contest that claim. Brom was still stronger than him, he was now faster than him, and he could cast Thunder spells while Dedue could not. Dedue could barely keep up, and he was only taking more wounds.
"You are better than me," Dedue admitted. "You are stronger, and faster, and more skilled." Then he met Brom's eyes and grinned. "Which is good for me. Because to overcome you, I will have to become stronger than I am!"
"Oh?" Brom asked. "Then show me that new strength!" He aimed a blow at Dedue's side.
Dedue let it hit him. The armor there was crumpling, but it held enough to save his life. Instead of parrying, he cut Brom's arm off at the elbow.
Brom's eyes widened, and he tried to cut Dedue down with his other sword. Dedue caught it on one axe head, while burying the other in Brom's chest.
For a few seconds, all was still. "I hope that was enough," Dedue panted. "Because that really was the last of my strength."
Then Brom fell. As Dedue's eyes closed, he felt Mipha's Grace healing him right before everything went black.
"He will survive," Marianne assured her friends.
"Well, I guess you won," Brom's assistant said. "A deal's a deal." She marked a location not far away on a map and handed it to Dimitri. "That's where the Elites are waiting. Go get your soldiers. Maybe I'll see you again there."
She turned to walk away, but she only made it a few steps before she looked down to see the tip of Dimitri's spear poking out of her chest. "I don't think so," Dimitri said as he withdrew Remembrance of the Fallen from her back and let her body fall to the ground.
