A/N: Oh my god it's been a while. I'm so sorry for having this take 3 and a half months >.<. Basically, what happened was exams for school, followed by laptops being taken up so I didn't have much motivation to work on it on my phone, then vacation hit, then summer got busy, and now here I am, finally free for a while. Well, enough with my lame excuses for a long overdue chapter and let's get to it! And in case ya missed it, above is a promo drawing for the story!
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Chapter summary: Byleth and Dimitri are now on the run, but adjusting will be harder than it seems. Meanwhile, while gathering intel, a familiar face starts to formulate a grand plan.
Keep moving forward, don't look back. Byleth repeated to herself as she and Dimitri were blazing through the forrest of Faerghus. Although it was the fourth moon of the year and spring is well underway, snow still dusted the ground and the wind still chilled anyone with exposed skin.
Byleth never minded the cold nature of Faerghus since she preferred the cold to the heat, but having her shoulders exposed and the metal armor pads also being chilled made the journey much worse.
The horses started to slow down. It's been almost half a day since they escaped since the sun was at the apex of the sky. Byleth padded the side of the horse's muzzle to signal it to slow down. Her horse slowed down and eventually stopped. Dimitri's horse followed. Byleth slid off and took the supply bag off of the saddle.
"We'll take it from here." Byleth said to the horse. "Now return back. We'll be fine." The horse was hesitant, but Byleth nodded in insistence. Once Dimitri was off his, the two horses ran off back towards Castle Blaiddyd.
The two silently settled in a small clearing. Byleth attempted to start a campfire using sticks and fire magic, however since the sticks were wet from the snow, the fire wouldn't light. Dimitri sat on the edge of the clearing, staring out into the distance. He grazed his hand over his injured side of his face. Oh how much could change in a matter of hours.
A king without his kingdom, a commander without an army. All lost and nearly alone. Part of him fears what would've happened if Byleth wasn't there to support him. If it wasn't for her support, he would've been a lost cause.
Byleth finally managed to get a fire going. She huddled as close as she could without burning herself. Dimitri immediately noticed her shivering and walked closer to her. He swung his heavy cape off of himself and gently placed it on Byleth to give her extra warmth.
"Thank you." Byleth whispered. She leaned in to Dimitri. Dimitri held her close since she was the last person he hasn't lost. Everything else was gone.
"A king and queen one moment, exiles the next." Byleth remarked. "It's not supposed to be this way..." Her voice trailed off at the end. Her mind wandered back to the Holy Tomb incident, to the attack on Garreg Mach, to when they were framed and sentenced to death. What did they all have in common?
The Empire.
Of course! Why didn't she see that before! Edelgard was the direct cause of the former two events and Cornelia was a sellout to the Empire. It was all their doing! Getting rid of the source would rid of the problems itself!
"We must defeat the Empire at all costs, even if the price is our lives." Byleth said suddenly.
Dimitri looked up. "Are you crazy?" He countered. "Look at us! We are stranded in the wild while the kingdom thinks we're dead! Even if they don't, there is a bounty on our heads that would kill us before we even get the chance to attack!"
Byleth rolled her eyes. "You're the one that insists to go on a full frontal attack! I thought you would immediately agree with me!" She shouted.
"I do! I want nothing more than to storm Enbarr and slice that head off of the woman's neck!" Dimitri yelled. "Like you said earlier, we mustn't make rash decisions!"
Byleth threw off Dimitri's cape off of herself and got up. "Tell that to the voices then." She said coldly. All emotion left her face. Not a hint of sadness nor anger, just the face of a demon.
The Ashen Demon.
"I'm going to go scout ahead to see if there is a village nearby." Byleth said before walking off. "Don't come looking for me unless I haven't returned til after sunset."
Dimitri sat alone. Sunset would be a long time since it was only just noon. He didn't have anyone to keep him company.
No one but the voices.
Their chants grew louder and louder. Lambert and Glenn going on and on about how much a failure Dimitri was to the Blaiddyd line, Patricia had the same distant but disappointed look plastered across her face, Rufus was silently judging from afar, and Jeralt was calling Dimitri out on his mountain of mistakes and how he was a failure to his daughter.
Dimitri covered his ears in hopes of silencing or at the very least muffling the voices but it was no use. They just kept getting louder by each passing second. The words all rang in unison "Avenge us. Kill Edelgard. Bring us her head."
"Fine!" Dimitri yelled. "If bringing her head will silence you all sooner, then so be it! I don't care if I were to die on the battle field. Almost everything has been taken from me and there is nothing to lose!
"I will kill in the name of revenge, I will slaughter every imperial soldier I need to to get to her. Mark my words Edelgard, your days are numbered!" Dimitri laughed manically into the void of the forest. The voices didn't react to his monologue and never did to anything.
Meanwhile, Byleth was treading through the thick forest. She marked trees with a dagger Dedue gave her so she could find her way back. Walking through the forest gave a slight feeling of nostalgia and loneliness to Byleth. It reminded her of her mercenary days when she and her father would travel through the forests, fields, roads, and towns of Fódlan. However, this was one of the first times she ever trekked through one alone. She was always with either her father or her students of the Blue Lions. Everything felt wrong about it.
She shouldn't be here. If things were normal she would be back at the castle, living her life with Dimitri or even back at the monastery continuing her position of a teacher for the Blue Lions. Byleth finally had a grip on her life, she felt normal for once.
But of course it came all crumbling to an end.
"I swear the moment I find her and those responsible for this mess, I'll tear them to shreds and make them wish they never turned their blades against us." Byleth mumbled to herself. "I don't care what I'll have to do, I'll be sure to deliver the punishment they deserve."
As the trees got less and less crowded and more sparse, Byleth looked up to find the outskirts of a town. She sheathed her dagger and attempted to make herself a bit more presentable than she was. Byleth used a bit of dark magic to temporarily make her hair appear closer to her natural blue-green color. She stood out like a sore thumb with her bright green hair. As long as she made it out before the magic wore off, she should be fine.
Byleth meandered through the small town's streets. She was scanning the store fronts for any shop that could sell affordable food, spare clothing, or even everyday essentials. She may be living on the run but that's no excuse to stop taking care of herself. Byleth came across a fish stand and stopped. Seeing the fish reminded her of her time at Garreg Mach. Every chance she got she would fish. Flayn would always watch her and even help her cook to fish. (although most of the time she would fail miserably) Those days seemed so far off despite only being only a moon ago.
Byleth bought a couple fish mainly so she wouldn't be mistaken for a thief who was plotting their next heist. As she was wandering to the next shop, a poster on a wall caught her attention. She stopped to read it. She almost dropped the paper sack carrying the fish as she was reading it. She couldn't believe what she read.
Citizens of Faerghus:
We very regretfully would like to inform you that the King Regnant Rufus Blayiddyd was tragically murdered a couple nights ago. The culprits were later found and were none other than His Highness Prince Dimitri Alexandre Blayiddyd and his fiancé Byleth Eisner at the time. The major lords have all ruled that the coupe is guilty of regicide and hereby sentenced to death. With their death's on the horizon, the new leader of Faerghus will be none other than Cornelia Arnim, who aided the Kingdom during the plague 20 years ago.
As her first act as the new Queen, Cornelia opted for Faerghus to take the side of the Empire during the war. Alongside the new agreement, the Kingdom will now be referred to the Dukedom of Faerghus. Imperial troops are to arrive into the territory shortly to aid us.
Out of anger, Byleth tore the piece of paper off of the wall and balled it up. That dirty rat, it was all a ploy to get them out off the throne. Winning this war suddenly became a lot harder with the added obstacle.
Byleth didn't spend much more time in the town after the poster incident. She quickly bought an eyepatch for Dimitri and a whetstone to use to sharpen their weapons.
Following the trail she left behind, she walked back to the clearing she and Dimitri settled in. Part of her didn't want to see him right this moment. After the outburst, she felt both embarrassed and frustrated to show herself in front of her husband.
I really wish Sothis were still here... She would know what to do... Byleth thought. She was so lost without her sassy companion. Ever since Sothis gave her the powers of the goddess, Byleth screwed everything up. The Holy Tomb incident could've been a lot less frustrating if she kept her emotions in check, she wouldn't have failed in catching Edelgard if she wasn't so reckless back during the Battle of Garreg Mach, even if she kept a close eye on Cornelia while at the castle, she could've prevented this mess they were in.
I'm useless without her...
Meanwhile, Dimitri paced around the clearing. What was taking Byleth so long? It wasn't sunset yet but it still felt like hours waiting for Byleth to get back. There was nothing for Dimitri to do while he awaited for Byleth's return. He tried practicing his lance techniques against a couple of trees but that only went so far because his crest strength caused him to break the trees. He even tried hunting but the prey would easily run away or he would miss his attack.
After for what he guessed was an hour or two of attempted training, Dimitri gave up in frustration. He tried to get some sleep on the hard ground, but predictively, he wasn't able to get as much as a wink. Sighing in defeat, he sat up.
Rustling could be heard in the foliage around him. Dimitri dismissed it at first since he thought that it was his mind playing tricks on him and the voices murmuring to him. However, the rustling slowly grew louder. Inaudible whispers could be heard as well. Once again, Dimitri initially ignored it, but as the unknown whispers became clearer, he realized they were not the voices he was used to.
"Are you sure this is the right way?" One voice asked
"Yes, I swear I heard something towards this direction!" Another defended.
"Besides, maybe it could be some animal we could hunt for dinner. I'm starving!" A third voice remarked.
The first voice sighed. "We've been marching for hours and we're already in the Kingdom, you can wait until we reach camp!"
After every step their conversation became louder and louder as they approached closer to Dimitri and Byleth's makeshift camp. Dimitri reached for his lance and griped it. Anyone who gets in his way will be cut down.
Even with his newly obscured vision and through the trees, Dimitri could see slithers of red armor. Dimitri growled under his breath. How dare they invade so easily? He gripped his lance. Anyone associated with Edelgard in his eyes (well, eye now) was an enemy and must be eliminated at once.
"Guys, there's something in this clearing. Maybe it could be some prey to take back to camp!" A new solider said.
"Lemme see." Another said. He gasped. "I don't think that's an animal.."
"Then what is it?"
"I think that's... a person.."
"Should we leave it be or what?"
"Kill it." The solider Dimitri guessed was probably the general of this group. "The Kingdom is now apart of the Empire and I was given orders to take down all who oppose."
The Kingdom is now apart of the Empire again?! Dimitri yelled in his mind. His breathing became heavier, his grip on his lance tightened, his body heating up from the anger. "You monsters." He grumbled. "I'll destroy you all."
The small group of Imperial Soldiers stepped out of the foliage with their swords and bows ready. "So, you were sent by that dog weren't you?" Dimitri growled. Some of the soldiers flinched since they couldn't even tell if who was speaking to them was entirely human. He pointed his lance at them. "Whatever your reason for coming for is, I will not hesitate to strike you down."
Before the soldiers could even pull out their own weapons to defend themselves with, Dimitri lunged towards them. He drove his lance straight through the first solider, killing him instantly. He effortlessly pulled the blood-soaked lance out and the blood dripped onto the speckled snow and dead grass. Some soldiers cowered in fear while others drew out their swords. One made the deadly mistake of charging at Dimitri with his sword. When his sword bounced off of Dimitri's armor, Dimitri used the opening to deliver a critical blow to the soldier's chest.
"You're next!" He cried. Dimitri stabbed another but the blow didn't immediately kill the solider. Others attempted to gang up on Dimitri, but Dimitri used his free hand to fend them off. One snuck up on his blind spot and caught him off guard, but Dimitri quickly recovered and stabbed the solider. Just as easily as he defeated the other imperial soldiers back in the Holy Tomb over a moon ago with his bare hands thanks to his crest, the solider's neck he grabbed quickly snapped.
After a few more strikes, almost all the soldiers have been taken out. All except one. The general.
He was cowering in fear with his weapon dropped and Dimitri's lance pointed at him. "Please, have mercy!" The general begged. "I have a wife and child back home. I can't leave them behind."
Dimitri flinched at the mention of the general's wife. He thought back to his falling out with Byleth. How would she feel if he was on the other side of the lance?
"Do not think of such things! He's just trying to get to you!" Lambert's voice scowled to Dimitri. His grip on his lance tightened. He couldn't falter now.
"I beg you, have mercy. I'm just doing what I have to do to survive!" The general pleaded.
"If you knew what you had to do to survive than you would know not to side with that women!" Dimitri yelled.
"Do you have any idea what it's like for me in the Empire?! I used to be a humble general who just trained troops in case of an emergency. I had no intention to pull my blade against the Church. I never wanted to be apart of this war. This was the only job I can have to provide for my family.
"Most of us in the Empire just want to be left alone and live our lives peacefully. We don't give a damn about who wins or looses. We just want to survive. Do you even know what that's like?!"
The pure terror, fear, guilt, and regret in the general's eyes said enough. Dimitri looked down. There was no way he could kill this man. He may be from the enemy, but the authenticity of his plea was almost too much. Dimitri lowered his lance much to the dismay of the screaming voices.
"I'll let you go on 2 conditions." Dimitri grumbled.
"Anything! Anything at all!" The general cried.
"The first one is let this massacre be a warning to you and all Imperial generals of what will happen to anyone who gets in our way." Dimitri said. "The second is to resign from the Imperial Army immediately and run far away from the Empire and even the Kingdom. Take your family and do what you said you wanted to do. Live your live peacefully."
The general nodded hastily. "I will, thanks."
"And if I discover that you did not resign from the army, I will not hesitate to strike you down if we ever meet again." Dimitri's voice was low and threatening this time, almost void of human emotion.
The general slowly got back on his feet. "I thank you for your mercy. I promise on my life to this agreement." He quickly scurried away back into the forest from the direction his army came from.
Dimitri dropped his lance and surveyed the damage. Blood stained nearly the whole clearing and the corpses, some with scattered severed limbs across a small radius not far from their owner's bodies, were all piled near one side. When, or even if, Byleth returned, they would need to find a new hiding spot to camp out in to prevent getting spotted.
Out of both physical and mental exhaustion, Dimitri collapsed in the middle of the corpse pile. He still didn't know if his decision to let the general go was the right one, but he did know that he just committed to the path of darkness he wish he never strayed on to.
Byleth slowly approached the clearing and had to bite her lip to prevent her from gasping. Dimitri was hunched over a pile of red stained corpses, breathing heavily. His armor, cape, and lance was covered in blood.
"What the hell just happened here?!" She yelled. Dimitri looked up and saw Byleth's disappointment and anger. He slowly looked back down. "I leave you for a couple hours and this is what I get back to!" She yelled as she threw the supplied onto the one patch of land that wasn't covered in blood.
"Well I thought you said you wanted to get rid of anyone who stood in our way so that's what I did." Dimitri retorted.
"Right before I left you insisted on not doing anything rash but then look at this." She motioned to the bloody ground and corpses. "You are giving me mixed signals!"
Dimitri stood up. "You suggested to kill any imperial solider that got in our way, and I did that. Isn't that what you asked? I'm pretty sure I did you a favor!"
Byleth groaned. He did have her there. She retrieved the bag of goods she bought. She wiped off the snow from it and dug inside to get the eyepatch for Dimitri. Byleth threw it to Dimitri and he caught it.
"Here, put this on. It should be better than wearing a bloody piece of my skirt."
Dimitri silently nodded and carefully tore away the wrapped strip of fabric covering his right eye socket. Pain shot through his body and he winced as he slowly peeled the makeshift bandage away.
While Byleth was annoyed at Dimitri, she couldn't let him cause unnecessary pain. She may have not known how to completely heal his pain, she could at least alleviate some. Byleth approached Dimitri and extended her hand. "Here, I'll do it."
She guided Dimitri to sit down near a log and she examined the wound. The surrounding blood was all dried but where Dimitri's eye once stood was still a hole of half wet and half dried blood. She inhaled deeply and reached out her hand in front of the wound. Byleth didn't know much about white magic, only about enough to decently cast Heal and Nosferatu. She wasn't at all confident in her ability, but she was the only method of healing they had.
When she cast Heal, the dried blood disappeared and the remaining bleeding slowly stopped. Some pain subsided as evidenced by Dimitri's sigh of relief. Using a small part of the cloth that wasn't already soaked in blood, Byleth attempted to clean off some more blood off of Dimitri's face. She regretted not thinking about getting basic medical supplies while out in the village. That would've helped plenty in this situation.
Finally, Byleth put the eyepatch over Dimitri's right eye socket. The right side was still red as can be from the injury and remnants of dried blood. Byleth sighed. This was the best she could do for now.
"Hey, try to get some rest. It's been a long day." Byleth said.
"It really has been a long day." Dimitri mumbled. He couldn't believe that the very same day, at the early hours of dawn, they narrowly escaped death back at the capital.
Byleth had experience of camping out back from her mercenary days. She relit the fire and settled on the ground. Once she lied down, a problem became apparent: she didn't have a blanket in the cold Faerghus wilderness. Not even a big sheet. Dimitri had his large cape, but Byleth had nothing.
She sighed. That's another thing to add to her list of things to grab at the next town they came across. Byleth curled herself into a ball to warm herself. Although, that didn't work much since she started to slightly shiver.
Dimitri quickly took notice and draped his cape over Byleth. "Here. You'll freeze to death if you don't have anything to cover you."
Byleth gripped the side of it like a blanket. "But what of you?"
Dimitri shook his head. "I'm used to the Faerghus cold. Plus I'm wearing armor, you're wearing basic mercenary clothes."
"Thanks." Byleth whispered. She scooted closer to Dimitri. "I apologize about earlier. We're all stressed aren't we?"
"Stressed would be an understatement." Dimitri added.
Byleth chuckled. "I guess." She sighed and looked up at the night sky. It wasn't long before she dozed off and almost forgot the situation she and Dimitri were stuck in.
The next couple moons were a blur and the exact same. Wake up, bathe in a river if possible, hunt for food, wander through the wilderness until a town comes into sight, wander some more, find a place to camp out, and start over the process the next day. It was common for them to run into groups of imperial soldiers training or traveling between camps that seemingly popped up overnight. Every encounter ended with the same result: the camps slaughtered with no mercy.
At first, the two took out the camps swiftly and made sure the deaths were swift. However, as the encounters became more and more frequent, their humanity slowly died out with each massacre. Dimitri would often cause as much pain as possible to the imperial soldiers before they died. Byleth, on the other hand, almost completely regressed personality wise. She was an emotionless husk once more, killing anyone who stood in her or Dimitri's way. Back to the Ashen Demon persona she was known for.
Great Tree Moon, Imperial Year 1182
A bright colored wyvern landed in the back of a tavern inn in an Alliance town. The hooded ridder hopped down and patted his wyvern steed. "Alright, hang and rest here for the night." The wyvern snorted in understanding and the rider ran towards the entrance on the other side. He checked in a room before heading to the tavern. Tavern's were the place where the best gossip and rumors circulated. While most times the stories were usually false or exaggerated, there have been a couple rumors that were true.
The hooded man sat down in the nearest empty table, ordered a drink he probably wasn't even able to have still being just a little underaged (starting to grow a little bit of facial hair really did make him look just a tad bit older than he was), and started to listen in to the conversations all around him. The mercenaries behind him were arguing over which one could seduce the bartender the fastest, another group was having an arm wrestling contest, and one guy was even passed out drunk on the table.
After nearly half an hour of listening in to mostly useless conversations, the hooded man almost gave up to head to the room he booked, but 2 new mercenaries came in and joined the group behind him and started up an interesting conversation.
"Hey, did you 2 hear about the mysterious rouges who attack any Imperial Troops within the Kingdom?" One of the mercenaries who just joined up asked.
"What? No." One answered. "I've been working in the Alliance for the past year. I don't want to get tangled up with the war."
"You said it. With part of the Alliance taking a neutral stance, it does make it easier to make a living without getting stuck in the middle of it all." A third guy added.
"Yeah, ok. Whatever." The first mercenary said. "Anyways, I was doing some work for House Gautier since not everyone in the Kingdom fancies their new leader. 'N some even think their rightful leaders are still alive which is a bunch of bull. They publicly executed them a year ago."
"Cut to the chase man." A fourth mercenary interjected.
"Ok, ok, chill." The first defended. "So, I was doing a secret-ish job that involved gathering intel about some imperial troops, when out of nowhere, these two dark figures jump out of the foliage 'n start attacking the troops. But it wasn't just the ol' stab 'em 'n leave, it was brutal.
"One of them, a girl with bright green hair but a strip of blue, didn't have a shred of emotion. She was like an ashen demon."
The hooded man gasped lowly. He recognized that nickname. It couldn't be true, where they alive?
"And the other one, man he was crazy. He only had one eye yet could fight as if he still had full sight. He was so brutal n' careless, almost as if he didn't care what happened to him. He was also super protective of girl, took a hard blow meant for her."
"Damn." The second mercenary said. "Remind me to stay away from the Kingdom to not get slaughtered."
"Hold up, I ain't done." The first mercenary continued. "After all of them were killed, I was spotted, almost killed myself. I explained what I was doing and they seemed surprised yet somewhat relieved. They let me go as long as I promised not to get tangled in the war, as if they wanted me to stay alive." He took a drink from a shot glass. "They weird, I can tell ya that. Murderous one second, then mercy the next. Whatever their act is, just stay away from them."
"Noted." The third mercenary replied. He took a big gulp from his beer mug.
The hooded man was speechless. A girl with bright green hair, a man who has brutal tendencies yet still super protective of said girl. It has to be them right?
But it was common knowledge now that the Blaiddyd line was dead ever since they killed the king regent. He always thought the whole situation was kinda fishy. He knew Dimitri and Byleth would never do such a thing.
The hooded man smiled. "Well Teach, guess you never stop surprising me."
Wyvern Moon, Imperial Year 1182
Byleth was hiding in a tree with a bow pulled back and ready to fire. She and Dimitri were hunting for some food. Dimitri was off to the side underneath the tree. Once Byleth would shoot an arrow, if it didn't kill the prey, he would then kill it either with his bare hands or weapon.
It was strangely peaceful that morning. The morning sun beaded down on the autumn tree tops, birds were singing slightly, and the weather wasn't too hot but not too cold. If the fact that she and Dimitri were runaways, Byleth would've normally enjoyed the day.
Rustling could be heard up ahead. Byleth readied her bow and nodded to Dimitri who nodded back. A rabbit jumped out of the bush but a flock of birds suddenly flew overhead and startled Byleth. Her shot missed and the rabbit retreated.
Byleth cursed under her breath and quickly hopped down from the tree. "It won't escape!" Byleth called as she ran off. Dimitri was about to say something but didn't say what was on his mind. He followed close behind Byleth.
They were running through the forest when the trees became less and less populated. Soon, they encountered a rocky ledge and Byleth almost tripped over herself while stopping so abruptly.
Dimitri looked up ahead and gasped. Byleth turned to Dimitri. "What is it?" She asked. She turned to where Dimitri was looking and almost gasped herself. Up ahead was a familiar location.
Garreg Mach Monastery.
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(Just before I leave it here, have this FEH sprite edit I made for the AU! It should give y'all an idea how Dimitri would look like. Plus I am planing to make what I'm calling "transition" designs for most characters. Basically what would be the "in-between" from the Academy designs to the War Phase designs. Anyways enjoy! ^-^)
~The Artist Sylveon 🌸