About a couple days later, the requested letter Claude had asked Seteth to make had finally arrived to House Gloucester. A white spotted owl delivered it to the first open window it saw, and luckily, someone was there to retrieve the message. The owl stayed on the windowsill as they opened the note and revealed the contents inside.
To House Gloucester,
As requested by King Claude of Almyra and Fódlan himself, he has asked for aid into investigating a nearby village. A villager will be there to assist in tracking down a possible area/location of where the evil organization before is residing as of now. That villager was responsible for leading an attack against the monastery, but has been pardoned by the king and the archbishop. We have reasons to believe that the group may have fled the area, but you are to report back any findings you may retrieve.
"Oh my. I'll need to let Lorenz know of this," the blue haired girl spoke in a soft voice, turning to exit the room, not before giving the owl some water and a snack. "Thank you for the message, little one." The owl ruffled its feathers before taking off again, flying back to where it had come from.
She finally managed to find her husband sorting out some papers in his office, hard at work as the harvest season was approaching quite soon.
"Lorenz, we've been requested by the-"
"Marianne, not now. These two farmers really have me by the neck here. One of them requires eggs and the other requires pigs. However, even though both of them have what the other wants, they don't want to trade peacefully...Or at least that's what it says in their letters," Lorenz said with a tired sigh.
"I know you're busy...But this is really urgent. The king-"
"On top of that-!...King? Did you say 'king'?" Lorenz asked, cutting off himself as Marianne nodded.
"The king has requested for us to investigate one of the nearby villages in hopes of tracking down the evil group we faced before," She replied as Lorenz stood up.
"Evil group? You mean...No. It's impossible. We destroyed their base, killed their leader. This must be a mistake," Lorenz said as Marianne walked over, handing him the note. As he skimmed it over, he really had no choice but to believe Claude on this one.
"I know you don't like following orders from Claude, but he's the king now."
"I know. If I'm being honest, Marianne...He's too perfect in his new role."
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In less than an hour, both Marianne and Lorenz had collected some supplies and placed saddles on their transportations. Marianne preferred to ride her Pegasus while Lorenz stuck more to the ground, choosing a land Horse instead. Alongside them, four of their soldiers were chosen to aid them in case anything bad were to happen. Even then, she had a brought a small shield for herself while he had put on his old armor from the war.
It took about two hours to reach the village Claude had mentioned in the letter. Marianne and Lorenz frowned sadly as they saw how the village looked. It had been beaten by the abuse of war, and even though they were trying to recover their losses, these villagers were suffering dearly. One of them approached them with curiosity.
"Are you from the king?"
"Oh uh...Yes. We were sent by him," Marianne replied as the villager nodded with a small smile.
"Oh good. My name is Lancer. I'll be the one showing you the way," He said as Lorenz inspected him for a moment. "Is there...Something bothering you?"
"No...But I need to ask. You were the one who lead the attack on the monastery, aren't you?" Lorenz asked.
"Lorenz," Marianne stopped him before he could press more.
"No, it's alright. I definitely should answer for my actions. Yes, I was the one who lead the attack on the church, but like I told the king and the archbishop, these people and I didn't mean actual harm to come to those in the monastery walls," Lancer replied as Lorenz nodded.
"That's all I wanted to hear. I just needed to hear of it myself. Sometimes I have a hard time believing that king of ours, especially now that he has even more power over me," Lorenz said with an annoyed sigh. Lancer raised an eyebrow as Marianne giggled a bit.
"Don't mind him. They've been going at it for years now. It's just playful banter between the two. In fact, they were even in the same house together back when we were students in the monastery," Marianne said as Lancer looked astonished.
"And I won't let him get the best of me...Again," Lorenz paused before bringing his attention back to Lancer. "If you may, can you bring us to where the tracks supposably end?"
A few miles away from the village, Lancer lead the way for the king's allies. They eventually reached a clearing, and even Marianne and Lorenz could see that the tracks really did end.
"Oh dear...The tracks really do disappear here in the middle of nowhere it seems," Marianne noted before she got off of her Pegasus.
"We don't have really good trackers, so when we lost the trail here, we weren't sure what else to do," Lancer replied.
"Not to worry. My lovely wife has mastered many different types of spells. I'm sure she can handle this one," Lorenz said with a small smile as Marianne blushed, hiding her smile of appreciation.
Lancer made some room for her, stepping aside as she kneeled down. Rubbing her hands together, she placed them onto the ground. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath as her hands began to glowed a light blue. After a moment passed, the light around her hands revealed more tracks heading further down into the forest clearing.
"Someone cloaked this area with a very strong spell. This wasn't the work of an ordinary mage," She said as she continued to work her magic.
"Do you know of anyone who can wield magic in the village?" Lorenz as Lancer as he shook his head. "Then...I fear that Claude was truly right. This must be the work of The Ones who Slither in the Dark." His hand clenched tighter around his lance as Marianne's magic continued to reveal more tracks. Suddenly, a destroyed fortress came into view out of thin air, making everyone but Marianne jump in surprise.
"My lady, are you seeing this?" Lorenz asked quickly.
"Y-Yes. I managed to deactivate the cloaking spell. It took a lot out of me, but I'll manage," She said as she lifted her hands from the ground and opened her eyes. Lorenz, despite the sudden danger, got off of his horse and helped her to her feet. He even helped her back onto her Pegasus before getting back onto his horse.
"There had been a fortress here this whole time?" Lancer asked in shock. This was the first time he had ever seen it, and he practically grew up around this area.
"It appears so, but even then...It looks more like a pile of rubble. It's been reduced to ruins," Lorenz replied. "Judging by how it looks, this was done on purpose. Someone was trying to cover up something, possibly from us."
"Should we go back and report this to Claude?" Marianne asked as Lorenz thought about it for a moment.
"I'm sure we can get more information. The place is abandoned. The more detailed we can be, the better it'll be for us later when we report this back," Lorenz answered as she nodded.
"Agreed," She said as the group began moving towards the fallen fortress. There was a terrible feeling around the castle and it loomed over the group. Something very bad had occurred here recently. Stopping in front of the fortress, Lorenz and the soldiers got off of their horses, and he helped Marianne off of her companion.
"Let's all try to remain close, everyone," Lorenz suggested as everyone nodded in agreement. With his lance in his right hand, he lead the group into the ruined fortress and began to scavenge for anything that was remotely useful in their situation.
One of their knights ended up finding charred remains of a book explaining the powers a crest had when experimented upon. Marianne flipped through the pages, but it was utterly useless as the flames made the text unreadable. In fact, there were many books scattered around, most with unreadable titles, but mostly burnt to a crisp.
"There must be something, even if it's small. Not anyone could get rid of so much evidence in such short notice," Marianne said as Lorenz knelt down and inspected an oddly shaped table that had been flipped over.
"Everyone, over here. I believe I may have found something," Lorenz said as everyone made their way over to their lord. "There's something...Off about this table. These slash marks here looked like they were operating on something...Or on someone."
"You think that they were operating on my people?" Lancer asked hesitantly.
"Sadly, it's possible. There is even signs of struggle and...Dried blood," Lorenz said softly as Marianne ran her fingertips lightly against the marks.
"I...No....We were too late to save any of them," Lancer said softly.
"It wasn't your fault, Lancer. You couldn't have seen this attack coming at all. We must pray for them and hoped they're in a happier place now with the goddess," Marianne tried to reassure him, and he nodded slowly.
"My lady," Lorenz called for Marianne as she came to his side and knelt down as well. "There's something else. It looks like this whole part of the fortress was one room. One operating room with only one table. Knowing how this group acts, I fear that this room was only meant to operate on one specific person," He whispered to her.
"What do you mean, Lorenz? I know they experimented to exploit people's crests...But a specific person? Who could that be and why?" She whispered back.
"Look. This blood, although dry now, isn't very old. In fact, your fingers smudged it a bit. That means that whoever destroyed their fortress may very well be in this area."
"Then that means....We have to get out of here now, Lorenz."
The two got up quickly and before they could alert their knights, a bloodcurdling scream pierced the air.
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Back at the monastery, Byleth was busy in helping the new students get a grand tour of their new home for the time being. Without proper house leaders, she would have to aid them more than usual to help them adjust to their studies and living quarters.
Even though he wanted to assist his fiancé, Claude was actually doing some royal work. He had to go and proper meet everyone in the monastery, including the dining hall workers, the priests, the marketplace shopkeepers, etc. Afterwards, he had to keep up his training regime with the Knights of Serios and the troops he had brought along with him. Presumably done for the moment, he snuck off to the dining hall and requested a special meal just for the two of them to have back in their quarters.
After answering what seemed to be a million questions from the students, Byleth returned to her quarters with a tired sigh, finally relieved of her duties for the day. Luckily, there was plenty of daylight left for her to enjoy. She just needed to get out of her church robes first. Opening the door, she was greeted with a wonderful, and familiar, smell.
"Hey there, teach. I thought you could use some lunch right about now," Claude said with a smile as Byleth smiled back. "I got your favorite. A creamy white rabbit stew with fresh vegetables and a side of warm bread."
She closed the door and went straight to the changing sheet, not before giving a quick peck on Claude's cheek. He blushed for a moment and chuckled.
"I'm taking you liked my gesture?"
"A wonderful gesture indeed. I'll have to repay you back somehow," Byleth said as she changed into a normal shirt with matching pants.
"You don't have to. You're my fiancé after all. I love treating you with things like this," Claude replied, even getting out of his chair and helping her into hers. He returned back to his seat and began to serve her a bowl. "So, how was your work today?"
"Not as bad as yesterday. I at least managed to finish earlier today," Byleth said before taking the bowl Claude offered to her. "It's nice to have time for myself."
"Indeed. I can imagine your stress right now. I've been working too, and I'm sure it's not as bad as your workload," Claude replied as he finished serving himself.
"You're the king. I'm sure you're more busy than me," Byleth said as she took a spoonful of her stew.
"As the new archbishop for the Church of Serios and overseer of the Officers Academy, I can't imagine the amount of work you have to be going through. I would love to help if you would let me," Claude said right before taking a bite off from his portion of the bread.
"You would aid me in my work?"
"Of course! Anything for you, teach. You helped me when I was a student here and you still do now. It's the least I could do for you," Claude said with a smile as Byleth chuckled.
"Alright, fine. How about you teach a seminar to the archer students? I'm sure they would love to hear from the king himself of his tales of shooting down enemies."
"I'll mention you slaying down the enemies whenever we were back to back with one another as well. Don't you worry," Claude replied, giving her a reassuring wink. Byleth shook her head with a smile before continuing with her meal.
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"I-...I-Impossible. Is that really..."
Lorenz couldn't even finish his statement as Marianne gasped and covered her mouth in shock. One of their knights was impaled from behind his back to his chest. He struggled to keep himself from being pushed further down the lance. The other knights and Lancer stood their ground, but were obviously shaking at the sight.
"K-King...King Dimitri?" Lancer asked softly. Yes, the one who had impaled the knight and was holding himself a few feet off of the ground with his lance, was the presumably dead king himself: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd.
The sun briefly glossed over him, making him appear to be a dark shadow for a moment. His pale skin glistened with sweat, his long blonde hair messy and stained with grease and possibly blood. Marianne and Lorenz both noted his one good eye had changed color as well. Pitch black, with a red pupil.
With a single flick, Dimitri smacked the knight off of his lance, causing him to fall to the ground with a thud, his blood slightly splattering onto Dimitri's face. Blood trickled down his relic weapon as he stared at it for a moment, eyeing the liquid from his fresh kill.
"Lorenz...Marianne...It has been a long time."
"Long time?" Lorenz asked softly, speaking for both himself and his lady.
"Yes. Quite frankly, I was beginning to wonder if I would see any of my old mates back from the academy. Well...I suppose 'war' is a more fitting term," He responded as Lorenz stepped in front of Marianne for protection after feeling the type of tension they were dealing with.
"You're suppose to be dead," Lorenz bluntly stated, Marianne not stopping him this time as she knew he was right. They both had seen him die many months ago. They all did.
"Is that right? I'm afraid your...'King'...Didn't make sure he killed me properly," Dimitri said with a frown as Lorenz cocked an eyebrow.
"You mean Claude? He didn't kill you. Edelgard's guards did."
"No. I remember clearly. I went after Edelgard's head and Claude got in my way. He proclaimed that he wanted to take my victory, take the spoils for himself! You know what that bastard did? He trained his arrow and let it pierced through my heart. That professor aided him. She finished the job with that...Cursed blade," Dimitri responded, his frown deeper than it was before.
"It wasn't them, Dimitri! Whoever manipulated you and told you those things, were wrong!" Marianne argued as Dimitri's grip tightened on his weapon.
"No, you're wrong. Both of you! For allying yourself to the false king, you'll die here to my own hand!" Dimitri roared as he rushed toward the pair. Lorenz quickly revealed his lance as his three remaining knights rushed towards their attacker. Lancer held up his ax as he stayed back with the pair, being their last line of defense.
The first knight swung his sword, but Dimitri merely evaded it with a quick sidestep. He swung his lance and it pierced through the right side of the knight. She cried out in pain as he kicked her roughly off of his lance. He delivered the final blow once she was on the ground, stabbing the lance right through her spine. Gritting his teeth in anger, the other two knights trained their bows at him. He quickly spoke a quick spell under his breath, his left hand glowing a light purple as the two arrows fired at him. The spell casted a purple hue around Dimitri, and before the archers could react, the arrows bounced off of his casted spell and straight into their flesh. They fell to the ground as the only one standing in Dimitri's way was Lancer.
"M-My lord...I can't believe you're alive."
"Step aside if you value your loyalty to my throne."
"I...No, I won't."
"Hm?" Dimitri cocked his head to the side for a brief moment. "And why not?"
"You're...You're suppose to be dead, your highness. We mourned for you and yet...You were...Alive? You never returned to us....So...We pledged our loyalty to the new king...The rightful king who liberated this land," Lancer responded as Dimitri grunted in annoyance. "I know in my heart that King Claude didn't do this to you...And neither did Lady Byleth!"
Lancer turned back towards Lorenz and Marianne, giving them a small, sad smile.
"Please...Leave this place and warn them. I'll hold him back the best I can."
Before Lorenz could object, Lancer rushed toward his opponent. Lorenz had no choice but to quickly grab Marianne's hand and rush them toward their animal companions. Lancer swung his ax, but Dimitri would just jump back and invade his attacks, almost making it seem like it was all just a game. Marianne rushed the other lone horses away, knowing that they would make their way back home. Both she and Lorenz hoped onto Marianne's Pegasus, knowing that it was going to be their fastest way to the monastery.
With a small dodge, Dimitri grabbed Lancer by his neck and hoisted him a few feet off of the ground. Dimitri's lance was still lodged in the knight's body, but he had other means of taking care of his unfaithful civilian. He began adding pressure, small at first, but more aggressive with each passing second.
"Y..You...Won't win..." Lancer stuttered out before Dimitri narrowed his eyes.
"I hope you'll rot in Hell with them once I mount their heads on my fireplace," Dimitri replied back before clenching his hand tightly on his neck, hearing a satisfying snap afterwards. He let the body drop to the ground as he stepped out of the ruins. Looking towards the sky, he had watched the pair get away, being too far for any of his known spells to reach him.
"They'll be back...And I'll be ready for them."
"They won't know what's coming to them."