Byleth:
The following morning after Byleth and the others arrived at Riegan Estate to help Claude with fighting the Imperial army making its way to Derdriu, Claude gathered everyone into his study.
"What's this about Claude?" Hilda asked.
"Seriously, it better be urgent especially since you woke us up this early" Linhardt yawned.
Byleth looked at Claude, he had bags under his eyes and looked exhausted, "Claude are you ok?" Byleth asked.
Claude nodded, "Yeah..." he sighed and rubbed his forehead, "Anyways the reason for this meeting is because we need to prepare for the Imperial army to attack Derdriu" he said.
The room fell silent.
"They made it past my Father's troops?" Lorenz asked in a quiet voice.
Claude nodded, "Yeah... They did" he sighed "The Count is fine though; he was able to retreat in time" he added.
"So, we need to ask the Kingdom for aid now, huh?" Hilda said
"Yeah, I already sent an express message to the Monastery to ask Dimitri for aid but... Who know if it will even reach them in time" Claude said while shaking his head, "Or if they'll even come" he added.
"Hey, it doesn't matter whether or not they come" Yuri said, "Regardless we're still going to fight like hell and do everything in our power to stop them" he added.
Bernadetta shook her head, "I don't know... Lord Arundel is renowned for his battle prowess in the Empire" she said quietly "He isn't going to be easy to beat" she added.
"Bernadetta, Yuri said that to burst morale" Linhardt said "It doesn't matter if it's true or not" he added.
It went back and forth like that for a while, not that Byleth blamed them. They were scared.
"Alright everyone shut up" Claude called out, and they slowly began to quiet down. "I understand that everyone is nervous" Claude said "But we have a lot that needs to be done" he added.
"How long do you think it will be until the Imperial army reaches here?" Byleth asked.
"Two maybe three days if we are lucky" Claude replied.
That wasn't very much time, and by the looks on everyone else's face, they felt the same way about it as she did.
"When do we start evacuating people on board the boats then?" Byleth asked.
Claude rubbed his forehead, "Hmm, we should send maybe two of you out as look out on the Imperial army's progress and once they get to close we start evacuating" he said "Lorenz and Yuri, you both will be lookout" he said.
"You got it" Yuri replied
Lorenz shook his head "Well I suppose someone has to do it" he sighed.
Claude smiled at them, "Great" he said "Now there will be two ships full of citizens, Caspar and Marianne you will be on one boat to ensure that the citizens aren't harmed. Bernadetta and Lysithea you two are on the other" Claude said.
"Aww man, I want to be where the action is" Caspar groaned.
Claude frowned, "Hey protecting the citizens is what matters most" he said sternly.
"Yeah I guess your right" Caspar replied
Claude nodded, "Byleth, Hilda and I will be facing them head on" he said.
Hilda frowned, "Um I didn't sign up to die" she whined.
"Hilda we aren't going to die" Claude said, "Well also have Judith with us, and Lorenz and Yuri to help as well once they arrive" he said then paused for a moment "And maybe just maybe, we'll also have the Kingdom's support" Claude added.
No one quite knew how to respond to that, Byleth personally didn't want to involve the Kingdom in this but... It didn't look like they would make it out of this battle unscathed. So, she would have to set aside her own personal feelings for this fight... well if they came, that is.
Eventually everyone left from Claude's study to prepare for the battle to come.
"Byleth, Hilda, wait a moment" Claude said as they were about to exit from the room.
Byleth stopped in her tracks and turned back around to Claude, "Yes?" Byleth said.
"I want to know, do you two think that the Kingdom army will come?" Claude asked.
Both Byleth and Hilda were silent for a moment, "I mean Dimitri did want to help us initially with coming to Derdriu" Hilda said, "So I don't see why not" she added.
Claude nodded then looked to Byleth, "What do you think, you know them best" he said.
Byleth looked at the floor.
She knew them best?
Did she really?
Because she was certain that Dimitri wouldn't have killed her friends and split their armies and yet... here they are.
Byleth sighed, "I don't know Claude... If Dimitri was serious about wanting to redeem himself to us, then think he will... But there are also a lot of factors that make me think he won't" she said "We'll just have to wait and see" she added.
Claude nodded, "Yeah, I know" he sighed.
"Any how we're screwed aren't we Claude" Hilda said.
Claude nodded, "Oh definitely" he replied then paused "You know what for what it's worth, I have a feeling that Dimitri will pull through for us" he said.
Before anyone could say anything there was a knock at the entrance of Claude's study, Byleth looked and saw Judith.
"Hey boy, I heard you were having a meeting in here" Judith said with a laugh and entered into the room, "Although by the looks of it, you three are just hanging out in here" she said then shook her head. "I expected better from the leader of the Alliance" Judith teased.
Claude shook his head, "The meeting ended a while ago, you're late" he said, "Also stop calling me boy, we talked about this already" he added.
Judith shook her head, "Sorry, but not a chance" she said with a laugh. "Any ways what's the plan mister master tactician?" Judith asked.
"The four of us will be fighting head on" Claude said.
Judith looked at him with a stern look on her face "Just the four of us?" she asked "I thought this was a plan, not a suicide mission" she stated, "I mean I have a couple of men with me to bring into battle, but it is not nearly enough to take on the Imperial army" she said while shaking her head. "What about the rest of your men, why aren't they fighting alongside us?" Judith asked.
"I have the majority of them on duty of protecting our citizens" Claude replied, "I've also asked the Kingdom for aid" he said "If we're lucky they'll come to our aid and flank the Imperial army" Claude added.
Judith was quiet for a moment, "Your putting a lot of faith in them coming to our help" Judith said "I hope you know what you're doing boy" she added in a stern voice.
Claude shrugged "Even if they don't show we should be fine" he said but Byleth could have sworn Claude sounded unconvinced by his own words.
Judith frowned and shook her head, "I swear you'll be the death of me" she sighed.
Claude smiled back at Judith, "No better way to die then taking out Imperial soldiers" he said.
Hilda proceeded to smack Claude on the head with her hand, "No you dope, it's best we don't die at all" she scolded.
"Ow" Claude whined, "I was only kidding" he added.
Three Days later:
Turns out the Alliance army wasn't lucky.
It took a total of three days for the Imperial army to reach Derdriu. Lorenz and Yuri came and woke everyone up in the dead of night to alert them that the Imperial army would reach Derdriu by noon. And with that news everyone got to work with helping the towns folks evacuate the city and board on the ships.
It was day break by the time that they had managed to finally get all of the people from the town onto the ships, a lot of them were apprehensive about it, especially since the odds didn't seem to be exactly in the Alliance's favor, but... They eventually listened to reasoning and boarded upon the ship.
Claude was positioned at the ports nearby the ships, and Hilda was nearby him, if they wanted to reach Claude, they would have to go through Hilda first. Byleth was a bit further away from them in the center of the city, she could see where Hilda was from her position, and Judith was somewhere within the residential areas making sure there were no citizens left.
Byleth held the Sword of the Creator in a ready stance, In the distance there was the sound of war trumpets being blown, Byleth shut her eyes. Any moment now, the Imperial army would be attacking them.
Slowly but surely the Red flags were flapping in the wind, as the Imperial army was approaching, they stopped at the entrance of Derdriu, by the loos of it, their general was splitting their forces to hit them in two different spots. One would begin attacking and the other would sneak around to overwhelm them.
Dammit.
This isn't going to be an easy fight.
Byleth braced herself as the enemy's drew closer to where she was.
She squinted her eyes, what is that?
Far in the distance from where the Imperial army came was something in the sky, then realization struck Byleth.
It's the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus's banner.
Dimitri:
Dimitri left to his chambers directly after the meeting to discuss whether they would be assisting the Alliance army in Derdriu.
In all honesty, regardless whether or not Dimitri had the approval of everyone else, he still would have gone to Derdriu. Even if it were him by himself, it was the least that Dimitri could do for Byleth and Claude especially with how horribly he had treated them.
"Ha, you really think this will make up for your past mistakes" Glenn scoffs.
Dimitri stopped gathering his things and turns to Glenn, "No, it won't" he said "But... It's the first steps in the right direction.
Glenn frowned at Dimitri, "You idiot, you're going right into the direction that doesn't offer Edelgard's head" he hissed, "Helping them fight isn't going to make her want you again, she has Von Riegan for that" Glenn sneered.
Dimitri froze and clenched his fists, "This isn't about winning Byleth's love back, it's about regaining their trust" he said in a stern voice.
Glenn laughed, "Yeah right" he said "How pathetic, you seek validation so badly that your willing to sacrifice our needs over it" he shouted "You promised us that woman's head, you owe it to us Dimitri" Glenn hissed. "We all died for you, your Father, Step- Mother, and I" Glenn said "We died for you, and this is how you repay us?!" he shouted "You truly are pathetic" he spat.
"Rodrigue and Byleth told me to live for what I believe in" Dimitri said.
Glenn glared at Dimitri, "You mean the man who was avenged instantaneously" he spat, "And the woman who is one of the living" he said "They don't understand, we've waited so long Dimitri" Glenn whispered creepily "You owe that woman's head, don't you forget it" he hissed the stalked off to the corner of Dimitri's room to just watch his every move.
Dimitri turned back around and began re- gathering his things. He knew that Glenn is right, if he is to help Byleth and Claude, Dimitri will have to give up his pursuit for Edelgard's head, but...
Can he do that to the dead?
Dimitri frowned, well there is still time before he needs to decide. Right now, the most important thing is saving the Alliance army.
Once finished packing Dimitri grabbed Areadbhar and left to go to the stables, most people were there already.
He stood off to the side from the others listening to bits and pieces of their conversations.
"I wonder how the Alliance is fairing" Ingrid said in a concerned tone, "I just hope we make it to them in time" she added.
Felix shook his head, "Tsk, even if we don't make it in time, they'll be fine" he said sternly.
Ingrid sighed, "How can you be so sure Felix?" she asked.
"Because, they wouldn't die by Imperial hands" Felix said in a matter of fact tone.
Sylvain let out a chuckle, "Yeah... I guess so" he said "But still let's get there in time just to be safe" he added.
"Agreed" Ingrid said.
Dimitri was waiting for Gilbert to join them when footsteps sounded behind him, Dimitri turned to face the person who was none other than Jeralt.
"Dimitri, I heard that you guys are leaving to help Byleth and Claude" Jeralt began, "I'm coming with you" he added sternly.
Dimitri was a bit taken aback by the sudden request to join the fight typically Jeralt stayed behind and handled the affairs of the monastery, such as making sure no one invades or that everything is running smoothly.
"Are you sure Jeralt?" Dimitri asked, "We could handle it, I'm certain that your assistance would be most needed here" he added.
Jeralt frowned, "I wasn't asking" he stated "I'm coming, not that I don't trust you all but... The life of my kid is at stake and I'm not going to take any chances" he said, "I already lost her once, I don't need to lose her again" he concluded.
Dimitri was silent for a moment, he understood Jeralt's sentiment and why he'd want to be there. "Understood" Dimitri said, Jeralt smiled at him and patted his shoulder.
"Good" Jeralt said, the two of them stood beside each other waiting for Gilbert to arrive and give the signal that would begin their march to Derdriu.
Eventually Gilbert joined them at the stables and they set off for Derdriu, They took a force of ten of their most elite soldiers, consisting of Annette, Ashe, Dedue, Dimitri, Felix, Gilbert, Ingrid, Jeralt, Mercedes, and Sylvain.
The Kingdom army quickly rushed to the aid of the Alliance, it took them a whopping two days to reach the Capital of Derdriu, Dimitri was certain that it had to be a record of some sort. Along the way they'd run into other cities that weren't able to fight off the Imperial army... It was gruesome to say the least.
They were at the outskirts of Derdriu when Gilbert stopped them, "It appears the Imperial army has already marched into Derdriu and engaged the Alliance" he said then paused for a moment observing the battle "It seems the Imperial advance has been stalled by guerrilla skirmishes. The Alliance forces are holding out, but they won't last much longer..." he added.
Ingrid squinted her eyes at where the fighting was, "That must be Judith of House Daphnel who joined up with Claude's troops" she said and shook her head "To think that Judith, a true hero, would find herself backed into a corner like this..." Ingrid sighed.
Dimitri shook his head, "It is not so. The Alliance has only drawn the enemy so deeply into the city to allow us to attack them from behind. Brilliant" Dimitri said.
Jeralt spoke up from beside Dimitri, "Huh, so they're planning a pincer attack?" Jeralt said.
Dimitri nodded, "I believe so" he said "He put his soldiers into position purely on the belief that we'd come... I can't believe Claude would risk everything on that belief" he added and paused for a moment "They have place all of their hope on us. Let's make sure we live up to their expectation" he concluded and turned to face the rest of their men "Here we go. Let's move!" Dimitri shouted then turned back towards Derdriu and ran into the battle.
Right at the entrance of Derdriu there were three Imperial soldiers lying in wake for them, perhaps they saw them from the distance and began preparations to make it hard to reach the Alliance army.
"We'll need to cut our way through" Felix said and looked over at Dimitri, "What boar, lost your edge?" he asked.
Dimitri shook his head, "Of course not" he said "Come on, we can't let them die" he added and swung Areadbhar at one of the soldiers.
Felix took down one of the soldiers besides him, and someone fired arrows from behind finishing off the soldier that Dimitri was fighting, Dimitri looked back to see that it had been Ashe.
"Thank you for the assistance Ashe" Dimitri called out.
"A thank you is unnecessary, your Highness" Ashe replied.
A fire ball fired at Dimitri, and a mortal savant came forward with his sword. Dimitri raised his lance and struck the soldier down.
"We've cleared the entrance" Dimitri yelled out to the others behind him as he entered the city.
To the right he could see Judith and some of her men engaging in combat with soldiers, by the looks of it Claude and the others managed to clear out all the citizens in time.
Straight ahead was the town square by the looks of it, but soldiers were blocking it, in that direction Dimitri heard a shout.
"Claude, Hilda, incoming Imperial reinforcements" A voice shouted, Dimitri was certain that it was Byleth.
Did she just say reinforcements?
"Felix, Jeralt come with me straight ahead" Dimitri called out and the two of them came forth to his side "Ashe, Ingrid, and Sylvain go help Judith" he said, "The rest of you go left" Dimitri added and began making his way to the town square.
Two armored knights blocked the entrance to it, Felix shot off a thoron spell taking down one of the soldiers, and Jeralt rushed forward on his steed and thrusted his lance at the other soldier, Dimitri came forward and helped Jeralt finish him off.
They entered into the town square, Dimitri saw Byleth she was standing on a healing tile fighting off some swordsman, far to the right he could see Hilda surrounded by soldiers, and to the left more soldiers were coming.
Felix rushed forward to Byleth and help fight the swordsman, she paused for a moment catching her breath "Thanks Felix" she said then paused for a moment, "Glad to see your back on your feet" she added.
Dimitri could have sworn that he'd seen a smile crack on Felix's lips, "Shut up" Felix said sternly, "It was no thanks to you" he added.
Byleth shrugged, "I told you to back down" she said while Felix shook his head.
Jeralt rode up to them, "Hey you two can talk later, we have a battle to win first" he said sternly "Felix come with me to the left, we need to drive Imperial forces back to where they came from" he said, the turned to Dimitri "Kiddo, you take Dimitri with you and go help Claude and Hilda" Jeralt said and nodded to Dimitri.
Byleth glanced at him, her expression was unreadable, but based on their last interaction he could guess that she wasn't too thrilled being partnered with him. Not that Dimitri blamed her, if he were in her shoes, he doesn't think he could forgive himself either.
Dimitri approached Byleth, "I'm glad we were able to make it in time" he said to her.
Byleth sighed and turned towards the direction of Hilda, "Come on we don't have time to waste" she said and charged off in that direction. Dimitri followed closely behind her; she swung the Sword of the Creator at one of the soldiers surrounding Hilda. Dimitri followed her lead and thrashed his lance at another soldier nearby. They fought like that until it was just Byleth, Dimitri, and Hilda standing over bodies that littered the ground.
"I told you they would come" Hilda said to Byleth is a sing song voice.
Byleth frowned at her, "Whatever" she said, "Have you seen Arundel?" she asked "We need to take him out before more reinforcements come" she added.
Hilda pointed off to a residential area to the right of her, "Maybe that way, a lot of reinforcements keep coming from there" she said.
Byleth nodded, "Alright, how's Claude holding up?" she asked, Dimitri felt a pang of jealousy.
Hilda was about to speak but someone else cut her off, "Claude is doing fine" Dimitri looked and saw it was Claude who was now behind Hilda.
"Eww, Claude don't talk about yourself in third person ever again" Hilda said with a grimace on her face, and Byleth nodded in agreement.
Claude ignored them and turned to Dimitri, "Yesh, you guys are late" Claude said "I expected better from you your Princeliness" he teased.
"My apologies, Claude" Dimitri said, "We'll discuss this later, right now we need to find Arundel and end this" he added then turned to Byleth, "Let's go" Dimitri said, she nodded and began heading in the direction Hilda said.
There were a lot of soldiers there, Dimitri and Byleth had to fight their way through, further in the distance Dimitri could see Felix and Jeralt closing in on the opposite side from them, meaning all soldiers in between them are trapped
In the corner of Dimitri's eyes, he saw a familiar shade of brown hair, he turned and saw Arundel. He was still a distance away from them, but he was sitting atop his steed heading their way, and then he saw it. The start of a miasma ball.
"Byleth get down" Dimitri shouted, and leaped at her wrapped his arms around her to cushion the fall as he tackled her to the floor.
The miasma ball few overhead, narrowly missing them.
"Are you alright?" Dimitri asked as he released Byleth and helped her up.
Byleth nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine... thanks" she said and turned towards Arundel.
Arundel glared at Byleth, "Fell star" Arundel hissed, "Your very presence foils our plans" he snarled at Byleth then shot aimed another miasma ball at her.
Byleth dodged it with ease and lashed the Sword of the creator at him, Felix and Jeralt were approaching him from behind to help Byleth fight, then it hit Dimitri that he needed to be helping. Dimitri swung Areadbhar at Arundel, he somehow managed to avoid the hit and glared at Dimitri.
"You would raise a weapon against your Uncle? You've grown into a savage of a man, just like your Father" Arundel spat.
Dimitri frowned at him, "You're rather clam for one in your position. Or did you forget this is a battlefield? Dimitri retorted, "Perhaps this is no time for words, Uncle. There will be time for that after we have settled things here" he added and lunged at him once again, from behind Felix was casting thunder spells to weaken him but that didn't seem to really do much.
After a bit of fighting Arundel finally stopped fighting back and Dimitri raised his hand at the others to get them to stop, "Uncle I need to know. That incident nine years ago... You were involved, weren't you?" Dimitri questioned as he walked up to him, "You know something..." he added.
Arundel shook his head, "You are not qualified to look into the darkness..." he spat then a creepy grin fell upon his face "You and Edelgard... Do your best to kill each other... You are family after all" he said. Dimitri lifted his lance to strike but the familiar glow of a warp engulfed Arundel and in his place was nothing.
Dimitri clenched his fists and stood there looking into the space where his Uncle is no longer. He got away, if there was a chance to clear Edelgard's name for the Tragedy of Duscar this was it and he now missed it.
"The Imperial army is retreating" Dimitri heard Byleth say.
"Finally, I'll go check on the others" Felix said and turned away.
"I'll come with you" Jeralt called out and rode after him
Dimitri stood there still in the same spot, "Dimitri he's gone" Byleth said from behind him.
Dimitri sighed and turned to face her, "I know..." he said softly, "It's just... There goes our chance to gain more information" he said quietly.
Byleth was silent for a moment, he looked at her, she seemed to be in deep thought, she shook her head "We could think about that later, for now just revel in victory" she said.
"Byleth is absolutely right. We should take this rare opportunity to let off some tension" Dimitri turned in the direction of the voice and saw Claude walking towards them.
Dimitri nodded at him, "Claude, I am glad to see that you're safe" he said.
Claude smiled, "Same, I haven't seen you since the nightmare that was Gronder" he said while shaking his head, "You really did come to help us... You soft- hearted sucker" Claude said with a laugh.
Dimitri laughed, "If you really felt that way, you would not have set up a defensive battle in the hopes we would come" he said "It worked out, only because we made it in time... Were you really so confident that we would answer the call?" Dimitri teased.
Claude shrugged, "Our thoughts on that were split" he replied then shifted for a moment "Personally, I knew you wouldn't hesitate to put yourself second and come running to our aid" he said, "Anyways thank you Dimitri... Truly" Claude said and paused for a moment "We need to celebrate, come with us to the Riegan estate we deserve it" he said excitedly.
Dimitri was a bit taken aback by Claude's hospitality, "Are you sure, we'd hate to intrude" Dimitri said.
Claude shook his head, "Yeah I'm sure you guys did just save our asses, it's the least I can do" he said.
"Alright then, we would be honored to accompany you for a celebration then" Dimitri said while nodding his head.
Author's note:
Hey guys, sorry for the delay in this chapter I meant to get it done the other day but got distracted with the Fourth of July, Also I had a hard time writing Byleth's part which was a bit weird since it's normally one of the easiest ones for me, but oh well the chapter is done. I'll try to get the next one done soon, well hopefully. Anyways thanks for reading!