One more chapter until timeskip. Just one… just… one…

Chapter XXII

"So, he's finally shown his true face," Felix growled in that deadpan way of his. We had retreated to the Blue Lions common room right after the botched mission in the Holy Tomb. Dimitri, Dedue, and Byleth hadn't yet joined us. "The same Dimitri I've seen before– a beast who loves spilling blood."

"Y-you're wrong! I'm sure of it!" Ingrid objected, shaking her head as though that would dislodge Felix's truth. "There has to be another explanation…"

"I knew he'd been carrying the burden of that tragedy," Sylvain said quietly, contemplative. "I understand his thirst for revenge. His family and closest friends… all massacred right in front of him. But it still doesn't all add up. There must be more that we don't know."

"That's true," Mercedes agreed. "Dimitri didn't become unhinged until after the Flame Emperor was unmasked…"

"You don't think… there's some sort of connection between those two, is there?" Ashe asked.

"It's not important. What matters is what we do now that he's… well…"

"Acting like himself for once?" Felix interjected, his expression somehow souring even further.

"Felix, you're wrong!" Annette castigated. "If Dimitri really was like that, why did it only come out now?"

"Dimitri has always been so nice to me," Ashe added. "This isn't the real him. I know it." I avoided his eyes.

"I know what I saw," Felix affirmed, adamant and unyielding. "Two years ago, just before we picked up this one–" he jerked his head towards me– "we quelled an insurrection in the west of Faerghus. I'll never forget the look in his eyes. The joy on his face as he butchered everyone he could get his hands on. It was relief. Relief at being free to let go, to give in to his true nature. And today, I've seen it again. I was hoping I was wrong. Figures."

I grimaced. It was the right observation, but the wrong conclusion. It was relief, yes. But it was relief at being freed from the weight of a thousand thousand Navis, all screaming at him to rip and tear. As she once screamed for me to uproot myself and continue my search. As she still did. Better than anyone else in this room, I understood Dimitri. Because I had lived through his pain, although not at his magnitude. And I had managed to overcome it.

The news was broken to us later in the afternoon. Almost immediately after we had left the Holy Tomb, Edelgard had taken the crown from her father, making her the empress of Adrestia proper. Without skipping a beat, she had declared war on the Church of Seiros, blaming them for splitting the Empire to make a Kingdom, and then splitting the Kingdom to make the Alliance. She blamed them for preying on the common folk, living their lives in decadence on the backs of their labor. That, at least, was a stance that wasn't objectively incorrect. It had been Agartha who masterminded Loog's rebellion and the nobles' secession. It had been Agartha who had destroyed Duscur and caused the Insurrection of the Seven, who had committed such malfeasance and chaos in Remire. It was Agartha who had given Edelgard the Crest of Flames. And yet she had not heeded the Fierce Deity's warning. Even now, she was consorting with those twisted ones, those who had sown darkness across the continent for millenia.

Ideals alone cannot dissolve the Church, Katáktisi rumbled, like Death Mountain on the verge of an eruption. Agartha's might may be necessary for her own goals. And it is not as though the Church's hands are not drenched in blood. The Crestwraith was right, of course. But still– it felt akin to soliciting Majora to help deal with Sakon. Obviously not a good idea.

"Good afternoon, Felix," I greeted with a reasonable amount of cheer considering the circumstances, walking onto the sparring grounds.

"Go away," he snarled.

"I just wanted to spar with you."

"Yeah, well, I'm not in the mood."

Felix, not wanting to fight? Was the world ending? "Is everything alright?"

"The boar prince has revealed himself, and you ask me if everything's alright?"

"This isn't about Dimitri. This is about you, Felix," I asserted.

"Sure it isn't. You came here at the behest of everyone else to tell me that I was wrong, and that he's really perfectly fine. I'm not stupid, Link. I know what he is, even if I was hoping that I was never right to begin with."

"Felix." I took a breath. "I have no illusions about his 'true nature'. I believe you're correct in your assessment. But there is one point where I must object."

The scion of Fraldarius was silent for a moment. "And that is?"

"The boar is not who Dimitri is. Neither is the man with the friendly smile. Both of them are illusions, masks that he clings to as the moon falls upon him. I would posit that the real Dimitri died in Duscur, with your brother and the rest of his family."

"You think I don't know that?" Felix snapped. "The fact of the matter is that he's the boar now. Doesn't matter what he was before all of this."

"I can be counted among those who've died that way as well." I couldn't stop myself. The worm in the pit of my stomach had broken free of my clenched teeth, the worm that had been planted there when the Elegy of Emptiness had left my ocarina.

Felix finally turned to face me. "Don't pretend to understand the boar. Don't pretend like you're capable of the same madness."

"I'm not," I admitted. "I'll never presume that I have. But I have felt an echo of that pain, long before I met Dimitri, Dedue, and you. He stands… on the first page of a chapter of my life that I've opened and closed." Perhaps I was being overly presumptuous, overly liberal with a revelation of my past. But the words were tumbling out now, and it was all I could do to keep the subject matter clipped. "I'm not asking you to understand, Felix. All that I wanted from you was to hear me out."

"That you're…"

"It's up to you to decide whether or not to believe me," I said, my words sharp as nails. They ground against my throat, leaving bloody gouges. "I bid you good day."

I spun on my heel and marched out of the training grounds, rounding a corner and immediately colliding with the last person I wanted to see.

"Oh, hey Link– I, um–" Was eavesdropping. "I was wondering if–"

I squared my jaw and gritted my teeth. "Not. Now."

I pushed past Ashe and walked away.

Well, this was a sight.

Rhea and Seteth were busy giving Byleth her 'mission' for the moon. Of course, it was hardly a mission as the full force of the Imperial army was already mobilizing against us. The monastery had been in complete panic mode for the last couple of days and it was showing no signs of slowing down. It was probably because of the fact that many of the Knights of Seiros were off on duty elsewhere on the continent. I felt most bad for the remaining Black Eagles students, who were just kind of… there. They were torn between loyalty to their country and loyalty to the Church, as well as their own personal agendas. Probably.

And Flayn and I were both listening in. Not together, of course– she was behind a pillar, whereas I was standing maybe five meters away with the Stone Mask. I could feel Katáktisi retching at this barely tolerated insult.

"The fault is my own," Seteth was saying. "I failed to see the wickedness within Edelgard's heart."

"What is her objective?" Byleth asked.

"There is no question on that front. She clearly wishes to conquer all of Fódlan. And in order to achieve her own selfish ambitions, she plotted with ill-meaning strangers and defile the Holy Tomb. Or perhaps her ambitions are even grander than we know… perhaps she means to make herself a false deity by demonizing the Church of Seiros." Well, that was just uncharitable to Edelgard.

"Adrestia received its very name from a divine oracle," Rhea seethed. "To injure the goddess is a sin most foul that shall not be forgiven, or forgotten. We must stop the Empire… and quickly."

And yet, Katáktisi commented snarkily, the Fell Star was unharmed in that incident. The only thing that was 'injured' was the reputation of the Church, and the ego of Seiros.

New footsteps, almost silent against the floor, reached my Hylian ears, obscured by my hair though they were. "I have returned, Rhea," said Shamir.

"Welcome back, Shamir. Were you able to discern the Empire's movements?"

"Their main troops are marching towards Garreg Mach. It is said that they will join forces with Edelgard's army and arrive within two weeks." That was barely enough time to consolidate the forces around Garreg Mach, much less mount a suitable counterattack.

"Two weeks?!" Seteth exclaimed, clearly having the same thought I did. "That is not enough time! It would require all of our efforts just to prepare our defenses before then. We must send notice to all surrounding villagers at once, and order the residents of Garreg Mach to flee for their lives."

"It will be done," Shamir confirmed. She turned and walked directly out of the chapel, right by Flayn's position. If she noticed her, she made no sign of acknowledging it.

"Professor… listen to me," Rhea was saying. "If our enemy invades the monastery, I will have no choice but to stand upon the battlefield. If something happens to me… I am entrusting my sacred duties to you." The Immaculate One herself taking to the fight? Garreg Mach truly was in dire straits.

"Sacred… duties?" Byleth repeated.

"You must have guessed it by now. The truth of who you are… or perhaps I should say, your lost memories are surely beginning to return. I have acted all these long years as merely a proxy for you… but the duty is yours and yours alone. Only you can lead the people to rule Fódlan." I wanted to vomit at all that prose. Was the Crest of Flames, the echo of the false goddess, truly all that Rhea cared about? Regardless, Byleth nodded and exited the chapel. The two Nabateans remained.

"Rhea, please," Seteth demanded. "You must tell me all that you know. I beg of you." So he wasn't in on it. Good to know. Rhea sighed. "That one… is the progenitor god. Am I correct?"

"In a sense," Rhea admitted. "Our dear professor is… a vessel. One who carries the power of the progenitor god within. In time, the vessel will become one with the power contained within, and the progenitor god will return to this world once more."

"I see… I trust you are aware of the questionable nature of this experiment? But I suppose there is no turning back…"

Experiment? I echoed. Is that all that Byleth is to her? At long last, I understood Katáktisi's hatred of Seiros. Nobody should toy with mortal lives like that. I surmised that it was entirely possible that Rhea created Byleth to begin with. Did that mean Jeralt was in on it? I didn't want to think about that.

"I ask that you help our friend… and in doing so, help her. I am waiting and hoping for the moment that our creator rules this wayward land once more."

"I understand. As ever, I will take you at your word." Cichol opened his mouth to continue, but he was interrupted by his daughter.

"Lady Rhea! Brother! I will do my part as well."

"Flayn! Were you eavesdropping?" Seteth sounded surprised. "Regardless, I am glad to hear it. You owe your life to the professor, after all. And in the end, they may turn out to be our brethren."

"You have my gratitude, Seteth. And you as well, Flayn. As followers of the progenitor god, it is up to us to see our mission through." And with that, they were gone.

"I'll have that girl's head. Just you wait…"

The exodus was almost overwhelming.

It seemed that everyone I had known who had lived in Remire, or worked at Garreg Mach, was steadily streaming away from it towards the north. The few Knights of Seiros that could be spared were busy keeping order, so it was up to me and the other kids to ensure that everyone had enough provisions to make it the whole way, and to make sure that they were packing properly.

"But this dress was my grandmother's!" I overheard. "I can't part with it!"

"It's too bulky to bring along," Cyril stated. "Unless you're going to dump some of your other stuff, you can't bring it. It's not gonna fit."

"Cyril, let them have this," Lysithea objected. How long had she been here? Didn't she have studying to do?

"This feels like a nightmare, except you never wake up…" I heard from the opposite direction. The wail of a child's cry cut through the cacophony. If we were alone, I would have played the Goron Lullaby.

I finished helping a family stuff their meager belongings into a cart before strolling twenty-five meters or so towards Cyril. "How're you holding up?"

"I'm alright, as long as I don't think about it too much," came my friend's reply. "I just… can't understand why Edelgard would wanna hurt Lady Rhea. How she could betray us all like that!"

"She wants what she believes is best for Fodra," I sighed. "Rhea tries her best–" Katáktisi gagged. What a drama queen. "- but she's only one person. There are a lot of terrible injustices throughout the continent that have her implicit consent, because the Church does nothing about it. The Crest system comes to mind." I spared a glance at Lysithea, who met my gaze for just a moment. I could see her throat bob. As she had in the Sealed Forest, when we had cut her down. I pushed the thought out of my head. "I condemn Edelgard because of her allies, not because of her ideals. If she made friends with Solon and Kronya… then she is in the wrong." As Katáktisi and I once were. It was not something I held with pride. They had had a bow to my head and still did, effectively– one misstep and the Word would be utilized against me. As long as they held that power over me, we could not rebel against them. Even if Byleth turned back the hands of time back to the beginning of the year, which would be something that I would never ask of her, it would not change what Katáktisi had done to Monica von Ochs.

"I guess. But she can't really blame Lady Rhea for it, can she? Not in good faith."

"You're allowed to think she's wrong," Lysithea said quietly. "Especially if she's made bedfellows of…" We were silent for a moment. I was trying to figure out what 'bedfellows' was supposed to mean. It sounded really unpleasant– why would anyone want to share sleeping quarters? I would hate to be kicked in the middle of the night by someone else while asleep. I decided it wasn't important. "Solon and his people."

"I don't think she's wrong. I know she's wrong. Her war isn't directed at the Church, but at the people at the top. To declare war on an ideology is wrong, but that's one thing. To declare war on one person, and Lady Rhea at that… that's unforgivable." While I didn't share Cyril's sentiment about the archbishop, I understood what she meant to him and knew that his will was unshakeable. Katáktisi would have been proud, were it not directed towards its nemesis.

Do not compare Seiros to that thief.

So, Katáktisi.

Yes?

I've been doing some thinking, and I want you to imagine a scenario for me, okay?

Where is this going?

Let's say that there's some heavy fog, I began. And I know there's three Imperial soldiers fifteen meters away.

I am with you.

But say that there's also an Agarthan in the same spot, I continued, that I don't know is there. If I were to shoot a bomb arrow that killed all four of them, would your programming prevent me from firing?

The Crestwraith was silent for a moment. No. Provided that neither of us knew that the Agarthan was there.

I nodded slowly to myself. Okay, then how about this– let's say that there's an Imperial soldier five feet away from me. There's an Agarthan twenty meters away from me, and both of them are in a line. Let's say I fire an arrow with such force that it pierces the Adrestian guy and kills the Agarthan. Would you programming prevent that?

If we knew they were Agarthan, my strength would be limited such that that did not happen. Should neither of us not know they were there, then no.

So if I wanted to kill a man, but was uncertain that they were Agarthan—

My programming will not permit us to leave such things to chance.

Finding advantageous technicalities in Agarthan technology was proving more difficult than I would have thought. Sure, I had been able to freeze Φρίκη at Zanado by losing myself in its tricks, but that hadn't been the same. In that moment, I had only been trying to stop the illusory Zelda. I just happened to fire in the direction that Φρίκη happened to be because I hadn't changed my orientation. Earlier, in Remire, you mentioned that you have a personality matrix simulating the weird rock that Agarthans have. Could we tamper with that? Remove the first three Axioms? Foolproof. The only question is–

We cannot. There is no loophole in my programming, no way to break free of these chains that ensnare us. I have devoted much of my circuitry to this end, to no avail. For your specific inquiry, that would fall within the realm of the Fourth Axiom— tampering with my programming is tantamount to eradicating it.

But Aγωνία and Φρίκη were able to abscond from Agartha. It even killed that guy Dolphinus–

Dolofonos–

–that guy who tried to stop Caiaphas from leaving Shambhala with them. Clearly, it's possible to supersede the Axioms. Do you think Caiaphas did something to it? Heck, Φρίκη tried to kill us at Zanado.

You are not protected by our programming, Katáktisi reminded callously. You are, as far as our lines of code are concerned, merely another human to be exploited and discarded. But there may be some merit to your words. Perhaps Caiaphas could be convinced to give me the same treatment. To break my shackles.

After what we did to him in Enbarr? Absolutely not. I'd die first– literally, he'd kill me.

It was… a distant and hopeful thought. We cannot suffer that man to continue to prowl this earth. We will pry the truth from his corpse.

"Link, wait up!"

I hesitated, contemplating whether to turn around. I could feel the whispers of spring in the air. The faint scent of pollen on the wind, the sound of birds chirping for the first time in months… I had missed it. Even if it made my nose a bit stuffy.

"What do you need, Lysithea?" I asked.

"Nothing in particular, I just… do you know how to read?"

I didn't know what I expected. I had to admit, I was thrown for a loop. "Um… yes. Yes, I do. Why do you ask?"

"No reason," she replied quickly. We were both silent for a moment.

"Is that all?" I prodded.

"No, there's…" her expression soured, clearly thinking to herself I don't have time for this. "Why do you keep looking at me like that?"

I tilted my head, surprised by the curveball. "Like what, exactly?"

"You're doing it right now! You're not like that with anyone else. You've always been overly evasive when talking to me, like back in the Sealed Forest. I'm your senior, and I know best."

She did not just play the age card, I hissed.

Keep your emotions in check, Katáktisi advised.

That's rich, coming from Mr 'Kill Them All'.

…

I'm not mad at you, if you're worried about that. Anymore.

Good.

"Two, three years? That's not much, honestly," I continued. It would have to be up to her which direction I was referring to.

"It's plenty enough! I just want you to stop looking at me like I have two heads, okay?"

"Well, you do have two Crests, so…"

Lysithea froze. Was I not supposed to know that? "What?" she hissed.

"I thought it was obvious," I ad libbed. "Whitened hair, evasiveness on the subject, and the fact that Professor Hanneman left his personal notes on the matter on his desk while I was cleaning it really helped."

The Ordelia girl muttered a silent curse under her breath. "I want you to stop, okay? I just want to be treated like a normal human being for once!"

That was something I felt all too well. "Alright, I… I'm sorry. I'm guessing it's too presumptuous to ask how it happened? Unless you'd rather not talk about it. Goddesses know I have some of those."

"It's… nice to know that someone understands," she said softly.

"I may not have even half the Crests that you do," I joked, "but if you need anything… well, I'll do my best. Maybe I can look into ways to help with your… issue. If a Crest can be added, a Crest must be able to be removed, right?"

"You… you would do that for me?" Lysithea whispered, mouth agape.

"I can't promise anything," I said confidently. "But if I can do anything, it'll be enough."

A touch of color made its way onto her face, and she opened her mouth to speak, but the tolling of the noontime bell cut her off. "I just remembered– I have to go work with Cyril on something. Thanks, and bye!" At a speed that belied the length of her legs, she bolted from the scene. How curious. I wondered what she and Cyril were doing together. I couldn't complain– I saw the way that Cyril eased up when he was around her. He smiled a lot more than usual.

The Blue Lions common room was quiet when I entered. Uncomfortably so. I tried to ignore the oppressive atmosphere as I swept my eyes throughout the area. It didn't help that the whole place was devoid of life, and the only sign that anyone had been here since the start of the month was the lack of dust and the handful of papers on the front desk. I was definitely in the right place at the right time.

I took a seat at one of the desks– I think it was usually Dimitri's, but according to Ingrid he hadn't been to classes at all since the revelation in the Holy Tomb. He had taken to stalking the monastery walls like some kind of ghoul, ever on watch for the coming army. She would be here any second now…

The door opened, and I was somewhat surprised to see not Byleth like I was expecting, but rather Professor Hanneman. I'd have expected the Blue Lions professor to proctor an exam for a 'member' of the Blue Lion house, but I guessed consistency had gone out the window long ago.

"Good morning, Link," he greeted. "I apologize for my tardiness– I was speaking with Linhardt on a recent paper on Crest theory that had just been published at the Fhirdiad royal school of sorcery."

"No, it's not a problem, Professor," I assured. I guessed the Fell Star was just busy right now. There was a lot to do– I barely had enough time to squeeze this exam into my schedule as is. I couldn't imagine how difficult it was for her in times like these.

"As I understand it, you're to be taking the Hero certification, correct?"

"That's right. Professor Eisner got all the papers out, so I have everything I'll need on that front."

"Excellent. It's currently…" he glanced at a pocket watch. "10:04, so when the noon bell rings, the exam will be over." I had until 12:04:29. Got it.

"Yes, sir," I said, flipping the blank piece of paper that covered the first question. An armored knight is attacking you. He wields a spear in mint condition, and 1099-era heavy armor. Using the weapons list available to you in the appendix, which weapon should you defend yourself with, and why? Hm… the Rapier could be effective against armored opponents. The Steel Sword would be the most replaceable in case of damage…

There is a better option, Katáktisi suggested. The–

Quiet, you, I admonished. Even if it doesn't say explicitly, using the disembodied voice of an artificial Crest designed for consuming the children of the goddess is probably a violation of the honor code.

Katáktisi sighed. Very well.

I looked over the page of weapon descriptions again. Aha! The entry for 'Rounded Shield' stated that it could be effectively used in conjunction with two-handed weapons. Therefore, for the best mix of offense and defense, the Rounded Shield plus the Hammer would make for the best counter. I quickly jotted that line of reasoning onto the page and turned to the next question. Two armies plan to attack a fortified enemy position from either side of a long valley. The armies can win if and only if they both attack at the same time. The armies cannot communicate with each other, except by sending a single messenger across the perilous valley with a letter. Any more would certainly be spotted, but the journey is perilous even for the lone messenger. Can the armies guarantee a victory?

My first thought was, of course they could. After all, they could communicate. It was as simple as sending a guy over with a note that said 'attack at this time, please'. That seemed very simple… wait a minute. How would the first army know that the second had received the message? The simple trick was to request a response letter– a confirmation saying 'yes, we got the letter'. But how would the second army know that the first had received that message? I quickly realized that the entire premise created an infinite series of messengers, all trying to confirm a single time. It simply wasn't possible unless either side took a massive gamble. Therefore, they could never truly coordinate, no matter how many messengers they sent.

I answered in kind, and looked towards question number three. You have been fighting for hours and are heavily injured. You suddenly find yourself surrounded by three significantly fresher soldiers. Each soldier is situated at the corner of an equilateral triangle 20 meters in side length, with you at the center. Each soldier can run at 9 km/hr, except for the northernmost one, who has taken an arrow to the knee and can only run at 5 km/hr. At time t = 0, the soldiers will run towards you. In what direction should you run to maximize the time you have to find reinforcements?

I stared blankly at the paper for a minute or four. Katáktisi was insulted. I'd… come back to that question. I didn't need a one hundred percent to pass, right?

A group of mages is about to cast a spell. In order for the spell to properly function, the mages must be in a perfect circle and be directly opposite another mage. You are the only one in a position to stop the ritual casting. In order to be successful, you must defeat exactly half of the mages before the ritual is completed– no more nor less. You know that their leader is in the coveted 6th position, and that their pair is in the 16th position. How many mages must you defeat?

Okay, this was more my speed. I assumed that the 6th and 16th people were opposite each other. That would mean that the 1st was connected with the 11th person, and they were at opposite sides of the circle. That meant that there were twenty-two total mages. Wait, no, there would be nine mages on either side of the pair, for a total of twenty. Therefore, I would have to kill ten of them to stop the spell.

You are tracking a group of elite bandits. You are able to intercept a message stating that they will be raiding a settlement in three days, and then meeting with their mother syndicate in a secure location in five days. What do you do? Explain your reasoning.

I didn't understand. Just stop them at the settlement and then raid their meeting site. Seemed pretty simple to me.

Ah, the Crestwraith commented, but in doing so, you would alert them of their intercepted message. They would scramble their plans, and you would be back to step one. Better to delay justice, swallow the loss of the village, and stop them once and for all in the end. The suffering of their victims will be sated when at last they fall.

That's only true if they're able to escape, I shot back. I guess I should clarify that there will be a 100% casualty rate in my answer.

Question six. When is it better to use a sword, as opposed to an axe? Defend your answer. Easy. Swords were more accurate, to be sure, but often didn't quite have the same power behind their swings. Axes, by contrast, were better used against lumbering opponents who were better defended. I knew my stuff. Although I would have been much more comfortable in a practical…

Before I knew it, the exam was over. I would be getting my results in a couple of days, and if I succeeded, custom-made Hero's armor within the month. The church already had my physical measurements, which was an ordeal in and of itself. It was never fun, reminding myself of the state that my body had actually been reduced to. Hopefully that would be enough time before Edelgard arrived on the monastery's doorstep, although I doubted it. I was just surprised that I was even allowed to take a certification exam, what with not being a student at the academy and whatnot. Apparently, though, all you needed was a seal of approval from Professor Byleth, a fungible resource– and, of course, to pass the exam in the first place.

According to the most recent reports, the main Imperial force had just hit Varley territory. It was only a matter of days before they arrived at the walls of the monastery. Most of the population and the surrounding villages had been emptied of their populations weeks ago. All that was left was the students of the Officer's Academy, the bare minimum staff workers needed to keep the place running, the Knights of Seiros, and the higher-ups of the church. I felt a bit bad for the former group– no doubt their parents were trying their best to get their children out of this situation. Everyone involved knew, however, that there would not be enough time. Garreg Mach would need every set of hands it could muster. There was no argument about that.

The skies usually had a handful of wyvern or pegasi patrolling the skies around the monastery, including their riders, of course. But now, they were not present. All was quiet. There wasn't even any wind… it was like the very world was holding its breath in anticipation for this clash of ideologies. Of course, whenever the bells sounded out the hour, my similie became rather off.

I was worried about my friends. I had made at least cursory acquaintances of just about everyone in the monastery over the course of the last two years. I knew that not all of them were going to survive the invasion. That was simply the way of things. But at the same time, I wanted to do everything in my power to prevent that truth. And I, as it happened, had a lot of power.

My time at Garreg Mach, it seemed, would soon be coming to a close. If the Empire was victorious today, the Church would be leveled, robbed of its political power, and the monastery where I had lived for almost two years now would fall along with it. But even if they failed– even if the Church stomped out all opposition, as it had done to Nemesis in the War of Heroes– the hunt for Caiaphas would have to begin immediately. I had already kept Thales waiting for too long, and with a defeat at the hands of the Nabateans on his plate, the Happy Mask Salesman would not wait long to rally Agartha to full-scale war once again. That was an outcome I could not afford.

"It's going to start soon," Ingrid whispered.

"You got the report too?" I asked.

The pegasus knight nodded mutely. We stood in silence for a while.

"I heard you passed your Wyvern Rider certification," I said, trying to make conversation. Ingrid already had a Pegasus Knight certification, but Byleth had her also pick up a new certification to improve her raw physical strength. "Congratulations."

"I did, thank you," she replied. "Didn't you recently take the Hero exam?"

"That's right. Haven't heard back yet."

"It's impressive that you would even try for an Advanced Certification, especially at your age," she complimented. "I'm sure Professor Eisner already told you that."

"I guess," I said, trying to steel my nerves against her most callous insult. I told myself that she meant it as a compliment. That I was wrong for feeling molten hatred at her, for not knowing something she had no right to be aware of. "I guess there were worse things to do with my time."

"Listen, Link… I wanted to thank you. For your words at Duscur." I paused. Where was she going with this? "I've been meaning to talk to you about it for months now, but… with everything that's been happening, the opportunity has slipped further away from me."

"It was nothing."

"No, it wasn't," she insisted. "I feel that I am more at peace with what happened there than I have since Glenn passed away. And it has helped me come to terms with how I have acted in the past, actions and inactions that I…"

"Hey," I interjected. "If what I said helped you, no matter how small, I'm happy for it."

"But it wasn't a small thing. It redoubled my resolve to become a knight at a time when I was unsure– I want to show others what you showed me. And I cannot thank you enough for that."

I paused. Such praise– it was foreign to me. I wasn't quite sure how I was supposed to react. "You're… welcome." A thought struck me, then. "Wait, hang on– you've been harboring doubts about knighthood? How long has this been going on?"

"A long time," she admitted. "House Galatea has never been particularly wealthy, and since I'm the only one who bears a Crest, I'm expected to rise to the position of Countess. As such, I have a duty to find a suitable husband. I fear that my father is getting increasingly desperate."

"Do you have to?"

"I feel that I owe it to my father to at least look over the marriage proposals. My older brother has said that he would be willing to take over the house if I were to pursue knighthood, but…" The blonde woman sighed. "I don't want to abandon my family– they've cared for me all my life, and I'm on good terms with them– but at the same time, I can't see myself going down that path. I want to be like Glenn was. This I know in my heart of hearts."

I pondered her words for a brief couple of seconds. That was certainly a delicate state of affairs. "That's… quite unfortunate. One the one hand, you shouldn't feel beholden to doing something that you don't want to do for the sake of someone else, no matter who that someone else is. On the other hand, knighthood isn't just about serving His Highness through thick and thin, it's about… how you carry yourself, how you interact with others, your sense of duty and pride in what you choose to do with your life. That being said…" the idea began to take root. "Perhaps you could do both. The main motivator for accepting marriage would be for finances, right?"

"Right."

"Then what if some up-on-his-luck monastery worker were to… make a mutually beneficial investment?"

Ingrid took a double-take. "What's that supposed to mean?"

I was already rummaging through my pouch, closing my hands around the spherical object. "This…" I whipped it out. "Is a hydromelon seed. It's from… Goddess knows where– far side of Almyra, for all I know. Point is, it'll grow basically anywhere– frozen tundra, flaming desert, fertile grasslands, wherever you decide to put it down, really. It grows fast– it reaches full maturity within, I want to say, twelve hours?" Ingrid's eyes kept widening. "It's full of water and sugars and fibers, and they keep for months before spoiling. Only downsides are that they drain the dirt of resources really quickly– and they're so resilient that, if you eat a seed, it'll start growing inside of your stomach and kill you. But hey– it's a crop that'll grow in even the roughest of conditions. Sounds to me like something Galatea could use." I proffered the egg-sized seed. The heir to Galatea took it, examining its hardness, its weight, its texture.

"I… I don't know what to say."

"Then don't say anything at all."

"Surely– there's something you would want in return for this."

"Two things," I said. "If I come to Galatea territory seeking asylum, you gotta give it to me." I did have to be practical– if Caiaphas somehow won, I would have to go into hiding. It would also make a convenient base of operations, and a friendly territory in the times to come. In case it came to that.

"And the second?"

I grinned. "That you never give up on your dreams, Ingrid, no matter what they may become."

"Listen up, everyone!" Alois declared, cupping his hands around his mouth to project his voice as far as possible. "The Imperial Army is upon us. If you can fight, pick up a weapon! Everyone else, hurry up and evacuate!"

The remaining Officer's Academy students and Knights of Seiros were quick to mobilize– most of them were already well beyond prepared for the coming storm. It was only the necessary staff– of which Cyril and I were technically a part of– that were trying to escape. Of course, the two of us were taking up arms to defend Garreg Mach, but there were many of my colleagues who were now fleeing the monastery.

"We have the Goddess's protection on our side. We have nothing to fear. Victory will be ours!" Alois continued. Oh, what a poor, naïve fool.

"Professor. Are you ready?" Catherine asked.

"Almost."

"Well, hurry up. I don't need to tell you that the situation is dire. We have some support troops from the local nobles and every pair of hands we could muster, but the army we're facing is immense. No matter how you look at it, we're at a disadvantage. To make matters worse, the enemy is being led by Edelgard herself. We can't underestimate how extraordinary her abilities are." Or those of her allies.

"They're here. At long last," Dimitri said, his voice flat.

"It seems this will be a battle to remember," Felix chimed in. "About time."

"We can't give up, no matter how badly they outnumber us. I'll fight to the very end!" Ashe said. I kept my gaze glued to the ground from the other side of the main hall, positioning myself on the far side of the remaining Black Eagles students. While some of them had gone to join Edelgard, others stayed behind, either not agreeing with her condemnation of the Church or for their own reasons. Curiously enough, those that had left had straight-up been permitted to leave the monastery. According to Seteth, it was their choice to make. I wondered what Rhea would have made of that. Even Katáktisi had been surprised. If I didn't know any better, I would wager that the magical murder mask was starting to warm up to Saint Cichol.

You are a fool, the aforementioned magical murder mask countered.

"Your Highness," Dedue was saying, "you do not seem… well."

"Hah! Unwell, you say? What's gotten into you? Nothing could be farther from the truth. I'm so happy I can hardly contain myself.

"My father. My stepmother. My dear friends. They want her head. They want her life. They've whispered as much to me. And the chance to answer their pleas has arrived, at long last!" Surely he was being… figurative, right? If not…

"Don't act rashly," Byleth castigated. "We're in this together."

The crown prince let loose a high, raucous cackle. "Of course, of course! But do not mistake my intentions. Edelgard will die by my hand– and mine alone. Let's move, professor. Even if it costs me my life, I won't rest until I've crushed her skull with my bare hands!" I could feel the unrestrained glee in his voice, the giddiness that all of this would be over soon. Perhaps I was wrong– maybe I was unqualified to truly aid him. I had never reacted to Navi's absence… like this. Even if it made me feel so much pain.

"Something to report!" Malcolm the normally cheery gatekeeper announced, bursting into the room. "The enemy is already within the walls. They're about to break the defensive formation!"

That turned out to be an understatement. The Imperial army was practically on the monastery's doorstep as soon as we stepped out of the main hall, the gold of the sunset reflecting off of their innumerable helms. "Both the archbishop and the defensive line require our assistance," Dedue called. "We must protect them until reinforcements arrive."

I was a bit busy wondering when Seteth got his hands on a wyvern– he was not riding one ten seconds ago. I shook the thought from my mind and joined the rest of the monastery defenders as they charged towards the front lines. Dimitri was somehow outpacing the entire rest of the army, some frenzied momentum pushing him inexorably forward. My gaze was focused not on the enemies at the ground, but towards the darkening skies. Garreg Mach's aerial forces had seemed so grand once, but now they paled in comparison to the imperial fliers plus the eagle-like Demonic Beasts that aided them. Aerial superiority was vital– or at least, preventing our foes from having aerial superiority was vital for victory. I may not have a mount, but I sure had a Hookshot.

I closed my left eye and focused, squinting into the sunlight, taking aim. I squeezed the trigger, the metal point flying upwards and striking a low-flying pegasus knight. It didn't pull me upwards, which was probably for the best, but I was able to seize the opportunity to pull it maybe ten meters out of the sky and onto the ground. From there, it was easy to put an end to the life of its rider. I probably shouldn't do that all that much– I was lucky I didn't commit friendly fire, as the Hookshot was so slow. In response to this mild bout of wisdom, I fired an arrow directly into the wing of a Demonic Beast, allowing who I thought was Cyril to lop its head clean off.

An arrow whistled by my face, mere inches from my unpainted left cheek. My eyes instinctually followed the projectile as it sailed past me, impaling itself in the sternum of an enemy mercenary maybe twenty paces away. It seemed to have originated from Shamir. I took this as a sign that I needed to keep moving. Withdrawing the Gilded Sword, I swiftly pounced on an approaching fortress knight who was sufficiently distracted by Petra. I threw myself from the parapet, stealing her kill by landing on them bladefirst. I could feel Katáktisi's wrath, running through my mind like tiny Light Arrows, forcing my body forward. Almost before I could process what I had done, I had sprinted nearly fifteen meters eastward and driven my weapon hilt-deep into an archer's midsection.

"Report!" I heard one of our soldiers call over the din of battle. "The enemy has taken the entrances where our reinforcements were heading!" The way forward became clear– as long as the enemy held the fortifications to the east and west, the battle would be impossible for us to survive.

I darted towards the central column, slide tackling a warrior that had been trying to score a devastating blow on a distracted Flayn, who was busy healing a particularly wounded Catherine. "Get behind me!" I cried as a volley of arrows rained down upon the battlefield, striking friend and foe alike. The Mirror Shield was able to block the hailstorm. Ignoring Katáktisi's complaining, I grabbed Flayn's hand and Hookshotted backwards toward the monastery. She'd be safe there, away from the front line.

"Link, I will not be–"

"Don't. Just don't," I snapped. "You could have died out there!"

"I am perfectly capable of defending myself. You sound like my brother!"

I hesitated. "As you wish. Just… keep yourself safe, alright? It would hurt to lose you." I didn't give either of us time to reflect on those words– I was already surveying the carnage, trying to locate the optimal positions where my aid would be most felt. Ingrid, Seteth, Leonie, and Cyril were quad-teaming a Winged Demonic Beast high above the rest of the battle. Ashe, Caspar, and Hilda were making an offensive push towards the eastern stronghold, where I caught a glimpse of the Death Knight. Raphael, Annette, Sylvain, and Alois were forcing back the encroaching western front. Dedue and Ignatz had broken away from them to engage directly with Hubert. Dimitri was, of course, charging dead straight towards the heart of the enemy position, where he knew Edelgard was spearheading the advance. Felix, Claude, and Mercedes were trying desperately to give him any support, because he sure as hell wasn't going to give any to them. Catherine, Bernadetta, Linhardt, and Marianne remained in the backline, securing the Archbishop and insulating the rear from any potential flank assaults. Our forces had put a dent in the enemy's advance, to be sure, and if my eyes were not deceiving me, it almost looked like their numbers were waning.

Like so many before you, you look but you do not see.

What's that supposed to mean?

You will understand, I am sure.

Enough standing around. I slipped forward, passing by Ferdinand, who looked like he could handle himself at present. I used Farore's Wind to quickly warp myself straight towards the masked marauder. It was time for payback for the Holy Mausoleum. The eyes of predators met.

"This fight is but a sideshow…" he rattled, "to the ravaging of the sacred place that is Garreg Mach…"

"Are psychotic urges all that drive you, Jeritza?" I interjected, brandishing my weapon. At once, the Death Knight was upon me, the Scythe of Sariel swinging rapidly towards my cranium. I was able to sidestep the attack and duck under the following horizontal swipe. There– a momentary pause, one errant twitch. It was all that I needed. "Is this all you've got?" I taunted, launching myself forward and scoring a nasty slash across the Death Knight's chest. Perhaps I misheard, but I swore I heard his armor crack.

Not to be outdone, Jeritza swung once more. It was only with the clever use of a Deku Nut that I was able to dodge. It may have been months ago, but the memory of that sharpened point piercing my chest was all too fresh in my mind. I hated even thinking about it, although it was nothing compared to all of Hyrule or Termina.

I parried a strike, the vibrations rattling my shield arm. I expected him to press the attack, or back up to find better footing. What I definitely wasn't expecting was for Lorenz to come out of nowhere screaming "Don't you know who I am?" at the top of his lungs, thrusting his lance directly into the Death Knight's helmet and taking a huge chunk of the metal with it. Darn. That was two for three on 'cool masks that I kind of wanted to collect getting shattered'. At least I still had Jeritza's old domino mask. Take that, you sad old man.

"The time is not right…" Jeritza heaved. "I will wait for the next opportunity…"

Fortunately, that was enough to get him to retreat. Within seconds, I heard the heavy clanking of an approaching armor knight, but as the Golden Deer student and I wheeled to face the new threat, we quickly realized that it was none other than Dedue.

"Both strongholds secured," the Duscur titan said with a ghost of a grin on his face, "with time to spare."

I nodded, ducking as an enemy wyvern brigade swooped down for a hit and run– well, really just a run, as they didn't hit any of us. That was signal enough to stop having this moment of respite. Back to the front– or at least… it would have been.

A voice cut through the chaos. "Send in the reserve troops! And give my uncle the signal!"

My

blood

ran

cold.

I understood what Katáktisi meant. I directed my gaze southward, to the rushing river of Imperial soldiers pouring through the main gates, flanked by dozens of enormous Demonic Beasts. We were only fighting their envoy– we hadn't so much as tickled their main army. And with the Knights of Seiros already exhausted… they stood no chance.

Garreg Mach would fall today.

I retreated towards the main steps, mind abuzz with optimal retreat paths. There were likely still people in the monastery, people who needed to be rescued before the fighting was over. Equally importantly, where was Thales right now? I needed to avoid him– stay out of earshot, preferably, just in case he started screaming the Word and asked Katáktisi to kill Rhea and Byleth or something.

Speaking of, I found myself a stone's throw away from the Fell Star's daughter and the Fell Star's champion, at the top of the hill upon which Garreg Mach sat. Byleth had her hands on the Sword of the Creator, which was currently resting at her hip. She took a step forward, but the archbishop put a hand on her shoulder, stepping in front of the Ashen Demon. I couldn't see her face, but I could feel her determination in her gait, her stance. Seiros paused a couple of paces ahead, before turning back to Byleth.

"Everyone here, young and old, is in your hands." Byleth looked off to the side, as though debating what to do. Slowly, she allowed her hands to rest by her side. She nodded. Rhea nodded back. Byleth ran away. I hesitated for a moment before following. "No," the Nabatean continued. "I will not allow another Red Canyon tragedy to happen here."

She slowed her eyes, inclined her head, and began to shine like an emerald in the sun. The viridian star shot upwards into the sky, and I had to put my arm in front of my eyes to block the horrid brilliance. When it dissipated, and I blinked away the spots, Rhea was gone.

High above, the Immaculate One hovered. Silver of scale, she was enormous, dwarfing Ganon in his boar form. Her wingspan was nearly three times as wide as the enemy's entire column of soldiers, which looked to be at least a hundred fully grown men shoulder to shoulder. With a scream that reverberated in the very ground, she swooped down on the Imperial army, who quickly broke ranks and started running away. To be honest, that was a pretty natural reaction to such an event.

Katáktisi.

Yes?

Why didn't you lead with the fact that she was a giant dragon?

Would that have changed anything?

I grimaced. We both knew the truth. Okay, that's… fair.

Well, regardless of the fact that Rhea was a massive silver lizard, I wasn't doing any good standing here staring at her. I couldn't stay put. If the Agarthans– or worse, Thales himself– were around, I had to make myself effectively nonexistent. I departed, sprinting down the hill away from the airborne Saint, rushing past a very confused Claude and a very, very angry Dimitri.

The thundering of heavy footsteps caught my attention, and I paused to see a sextuplet of gold-masked Demonic Beasts throwing themselves at Rhea, who had landed. The first two were cast aside, batted away like mere insects despite the fact that they were each the size of a house. The other four were able to grab onto her, throwing the full weight of the huge dragon against the outer wall, beyond which I knew lay a sheer drop. There wasn't enough time to worry about Rhea right now– it would take more than that to kill Saint Seiros herself, especially with Cichol and Cethleann still kicking.

I clambered over a pile of corpses and kept running deeper into the demolished remains of the little village that once clung to the monastery. I had spent a lot of time here. Now it was all gone. I pushed the thought from my mind. Letting my mind wander during a firefight was an excellent way of getting myself killed.

A nearby building was reduced to rubble, as a seventh Demonic Beast was thrown straight through it, nearly crushing me under its weight. I skidded to a stop as its eye locked with mine. It got its feet under itself and took a swipe at me, which I backflipped out of the way of. I didn't have time for this– I threw myself to the side, down a cramped alley as the giant creature gave chase. To my dismay, the sheer amount of rubble that had been scattered throughout the town rendered this a dead end, in more ways than one.

I could feel the heat of its breath as the Demonic Beast unleashed a fiery exhalation, but I didn't feel the same pain of death that I had experienced with Jeritza long ago when it connected. Instead, all I could feel over the searing pain in my side was the wind rushing past my face, and the sensation of my feet leaving the ground, hanging by the sharp claws that were currently digging into my shoulder.

I dared to look up at my captor, and past the wyvern that was holding me, I could just barely make out a shaggy lock of black hair.

"Cyril!" I exclaimed lamely. It felt like an understatement.

"You can thank me later!" he called over the sound of pandemonium. I noticed that he was flying back towards the monastery, which was actively being targeted by ballistae and onagers. We weaved into a hole in Garreg Mach's walls, and I immediately recognized the location as the second floor, near where the staff dormitories were. Cyril's wyvern let go of me, and despite the floor shaking and the ground quaking, I took a moment to get my breathing back under control. I had danced with death before, but that had been a particularly… intimate waltz.

"We can't stay here," I managed to say through my haggard panting. My left side, which had previously felt pretty numb, was starting to sting something fierce. I made the mistake of looking down– it turned out that my friend hadn't quite gotten me out of the blast zone in time. I had been caught in that fireball after all, and so my flank was burnt something fierce. I would live if I used Heal on myself, which I did. The scar tissue didn't disappear immediately, of course; it was far beyond my ability to fully patch up, but I'd done what I could while maintaining a bit of my magic.

"I know, but with all the fire coming in, we'll be shot down in seconds," the Almyran argued.

"The monastery is fit to collapse!"

"It's a better chance than getting shot out of the sky!"

"Guys, this isn't helping!" a third voice cut through. I whirled to see none other than Claire and Annika, wide-eyed with fear, tucked in a corner for relative safety. I was glad they were still alive, but why were they still here? Were they not able to evacuate in time? It wasn't relevant now. The greatest concern at present was simple: survive.

"Y-yeah! But regardless of the situation outside, we can't stay here!" Annika chimed in.

I thought for a moment. Then, like a thunderbolt, an idea came to me. A great and terrible idea, an idea that could see all four of us outlast the bombardment of Garreg Mach.

"How far are we from Professor Jeritza's quarters?"

AaaaaAAAAAAnd we're done with White Clouds.

God, I still have post-timeskip to do. And pre-post-timeskip. And post-pre-timeskip. I'm still in this for the long haul, but geez.

Review please!

Louie (FF): Link currently has his Fairy Ocarina, the one gifted to him by Saria– not the Ocarina of Time. While he can play a lot of his songs right now, he can't use, say, the Inverted Song of Time.

DraconicGreed (AO3): Oh, I wouldn't say anything of the sort! There are plenty of better Zelda stories out there (Acheronta Movebo, Dimensional Links, Birds of a Feather), and plenty of better Fire Emblem stories out there (there's this really funny one where Seteth reads a bunch of reviews of his books in the modern era, but I don't remember what it's called, and then obviously there's 'sort by kudos' on AO3). Still, I'm very flattered!

CuddlyManaki (AO3): See, that's the funny part. I skipped no time.

quadjot (AO3): That's very sweet!

Equilized Enigma (FF): Seeing different houses' perspectives is one of 3H's greatest strengths! I'm not sure how good CC is going to be on that front considering how different the mid and post timeskip is shaping up to be. Still, glad you're along for the ride!

Bravenwolf1 (AO3): True. Their interactions are fun.

DarthFlores (AO3): Weirdly enough, I don't read fanfictions by other creators very often. I'm sure they're great and I wish them all the best, but I rarely have the time to set aside to read them. (Especially with Stormlight Archive Book 5 on the horizon!) Regarding the second part of your comment, yes and no. Byleth is indeed out for the mid-timeskip, but so much important stuff ends up happening in between 1180 and 1185 that it wouldn't be in good conscience for me to skip over it. It ended up stretching to just over half the length of the pre-timeskip (~100K words compared to pre-timeskip's ~160K; post-timeskip is chugging along at a comfortable ~45K, having just reached year 1186.) Hopefully I'll have the story finished by 2025, but no promises.

Mr_Twisty_Boi (AO3): It might not be 100% accurate, but I see Link's physical dysphoria as a pervasive sense of wrongness as opposed to just being too small for what he's used to or vice versa. If you jump bodies that many times, you're going to be pretty messed up with your body image regardless of what your meatsuit looks like. While Link does come to peace with his situation in the mid- and post-timeskip, he's still going to have similar problems throughout the future of the story. Thank you for your other kind words!