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Byleth eventually found her father unconscious in the snow about halfway back to Remire. She hoisted him onto the horse and covered him with her cloak to give him even some warmth. They arrived back at Remire shortly after and Byleth healed him using simple healing spells that she learned while back at the castle. It wasn't enough to completely heal Jeralt, so she also used a lot of blankets and hot soup to feed him to warm him up. Jeralt slowly became conscious and saw Byleth. He was a little surprised. Was he dreaming? Was the whole ordeal a dream?
"K-kid? Is that you?" Jeralt asked. Byleth smiled.
"Yes father, it's me." Byleth answered.
"Then what about the Beast?"
"He let me go father." Byleth said. Jeralt opened his mouth to rely but Byleth continued. "He and I became friends after he saved me from the wolves. It's fine."
Jeralt slowly sat up and hugged Byleth. "I'm just glad you're safe kid." A loud and sudden knock interrupted the father-daughter reunion. Byleth, followed by a slow Jeralt, checked the door to see who it was. It was an unfamiliar man.
"Can I help you?" She asked.
"Yes, we're here to collect Jeralt Eisner." The man said. He gestured to an asylum wagon. Byleth gasped. What happened during the weeks she was gone?
"You won't have him." Byleth said firmly.
Hubert emerged from behind the asylum keeper. "Byleth, I hate to say it, but your father has become crazy, raving about a Beast in a faraway castle."
Byleth scowled. "The Beast is real and I can prove it!" She pulled the mirror the Beast gave her from her satchel she never took off after returning home. "Show me the Beast!" She yelled. The mirror flashed and showed the Beast. He looked sad and he roared with regret. It was the worst timing. Hubert saw the Beast and instantly became irate.
He stole the mirror from Byleth. "So there is a ferocious monster." He growled.
"He's not a monster, he's kind and gentle. If anything, you're the monster." Byleth yelled.
"I've always known the effects of dark magic, but this is a whole new level of sorcery." Hubert turned to the asylum keeper. "Lock both of them up. I'll go rally a brigand and we'll kill the Beast."
The keeper along with his 2 assistances wrangled up Byleth and Jeralt and threw them into the wagon. Jeralt was an easier target because of his weakened state, but Byleth showed no signs of giving in. However, she was ultimately defeated. The pair sat hopelessly in the dark wagon. Byleth was trying to find a way out. "What in the world are you doing?" Jeralt asked.
"I need to warn him." Byleth answered.
"Who?"
"The Beast."
"But why?"
"I told you, we unexpectedly became friends. He even took me to the monastery." Byleth said as she pulled out the ring she found. Jeralt gasped. "I know what happened to my mother."
"I'm sorry I never could bring myself to tell you. It was so mysterious and sudden. I had to take you a flee, that's how suspicious it was." Jeralt said.
"I understand father."
"I've been looking for it for a while now actually and forgot I left it. I planned on giving it to you one day to give to someone you love, like how I loved your mother." Byleth hugged her father. As they parted, Jeralt had an idea. "I may not be a locksmith or thief, but I do know that all locks are just gears. So if we had something long and sharp, we could bust outta here."
Byleth was way ahead of Jeralt. She rummaged around her bag to find the hair pin she wore earlier that night and handed it to Jeralt. He picked the lock and Byleth busted out of the wagon and Jeralt stayed behind to make sure nothing else bad happened.
Meanwhile, Hubert raised a brigand out of the villagers to go raid the castle and kill the Beast. Many volunteered just to see the Beast, others truly thought of him as a threat. Either way, it wasn't long before a line of villagers on both foot and horseback carving torches and pitchforks. Hubert was armed with dark magic and a bow and arrow just in case his magic ran out. He was the one determined to kill the Beast out of all of them.
When the enchanted objects heard the raid, they curiously looked out the window to check out what was going on. "Guys look! I hear something. Is Byleth coming back?" Ashe called. Everyone looked out the window and were shocked. A village raid? Did Byleth rat them out? It wouldn't have been that, she was too kind to them. What could it have been?
"I'll go warn that Boar, the rest of you, get in position." Felix said. While Felix ran as best as an enchanted clock could to warn the Beast, Mercedes flew off to tell Annette. In dire situations like this, she would need to know and would fight. The others got in position to fight back. They were not going down without a fight to the death.
"Boar! We're being attacked!" Felix yelled at the Beast.
"What does it matter? Just let them come. Death will be more of a release than the punishment of remaining like this forever." The Beast said. Felix rolled his eyes. He wanted to argue but there was no time to. He joined the others to prepare for the attack.
The raiders knocked down the door and was greeted by nothing. They were wandering around as if they expected something to pop out and attack them. But there was nothing. Ferdinand was looking at the fancy yet aged decor. Maybe this castle was really abandoned and they took a wrong turn. A candle stick caught his eye. It was an orange brass color and had human like details. "Huh, what's this?" Ferdinand asked out loud. The candle was actually Sylvain. He was staring at Ferdinand. When Ferdinand noticed that something was off and saw the candle he was holding staring at him, he screamed and dropped the candle suddenly.
"NOW!" Sylvain shouted. The enchanted objects attacked. Mercedes flew up into the raiders faces and spreed powder on them, blinding them for a brief second. Ingrid used her many coat arms to punch the invaders. Despite not being the best at brawling, she did a considerable amount of damage and even knocked a few people out. Mr. Dedue and Ashe stood on a balcony and poured hot tea onto unsuspecting victims to burn them. Sylvain both tried to burn people and attack them up close. When Felix returned, he found a pair of scissors and used it as a sword. Though he was a clock for 5 years, he was still an excellent sword fighter. Within 3 minutes, the scissors were already colored with blood. Annette was even able to join the fight. Using ribbons, she was able to bind others and prevent them from moving. She even at one point tried to crush the invaders from below by jumping from the balcony banister.
The enchanted objects were successful in keeping back the brigand, except for one person. While the rest of the brigand was retreating, Hubert was able to avoid the objects attacks and ran up the staircase to find the Beast.
Byleth was approaching the castle, quickly unmounted her horse, and ran inside. The enchanted objects were surprised to see Byleth so soon. Byleth could tell that they were confused. "I'll explain later, make sure anyone else doesn't come in and attack." She said before running up the stairs. Goddess please help her and pray that Hubert hasn't killed the Beast yet.
The Beast was still sulking in the West Wing. He heard footsteps but didn't even bother to look up. Hubert entered the room with a dark magic tome in one hand and a bow in the other. Using the tome, he cast Dark Spikes. It hit the Beast all over due to the multiple spikes. He clearly had a low magic tolerance because the attack weakened him. However, the Beast didn't really care. This is my punishment... The Beast thought.
Hubert approached the Beast. He shot an arrow in his back. "So you must be the Beast Byleth and her father were raving about." Hubert sneered. "I'm Hubert. Byleth sent me." Hubert lied. The Beast knew it couldn't be true, but yet, who wouldn't send anyone to kill a hideous monster like him. Maybe it was all an act. He reached back to grab another arrow from the quiver on his back but found nothing. He turned around to find a determined Byleth holding all of the arrows and she broke them and tossed them to the ravine below.
"Byleth?" Hubert gasped. Byleth approached Hubert and tried to wrestle the tome out his hands. Both were strong and couldn't get the advantage off of another. Hubert kicked one of Byleth's legs, causing her to collapse under herself. "When we return to Remire, you will marry me and the Beast's head will hand on our wall." Hubert said as he cast another Dark Spikes, yet this one missed by a hair. The Beast tried to climb up the walls and castle spires to get away from Hubert.
"NEVER!" Byleth said as she stood up and ran after Hubert. However, he jumped across to another balcony towards the Beast. "Crap..." Byleth said to herself. She had no confidence in her jumping abilities.
The Beast saw Byleth standing worriedly. So she was here. "Byleth? Is that you?" He called.
Byleth nodded. "Yes, hold on, I'll deal with Hubert." She scanned the balcony's and walkways around her to find a way to Hubert. If only she could find an opening to get across. As she was looking around, she noticed the Beast was about to jump from a castle spire. Even for someone like him, the jump was a little too far. "Wait! It's too far!" Byleth called back.
The Beast didn't listen to her pleas and tried anyways. He trusted his back legs off of the spire and jumped off. However, a spell from Hubert ruined his trajectory. The Beast landed on the balcony where Hubert was with a loud thud. Byleth gasped. Hubert cast another spell and the Beast cried out in pain. He was at his limits. Hubert laughed maliciously. "Aren't you going to fight back? Are you too kind and gentle to fight? You truly are nothing more than a Beast."
The Beast slowly brought himself up with the little strength he had left. He grabbed Hubert by the neck and dangled him over the balcony and over the ravine. "Please let me go! I-I'll do anything! I swear!" Hubert chocked. The Beast almost let him go over the ravine, yet the pain in Hubert's eyes seemed genuine and he could see Byleth looking on in fear and worry. That moment of hesitation led him to throw Hubert down back on the ground.
"I am not a Beast." The Beast growled. "Now go. And never return." The Beast left Hubert there and started to jump back to Byleth. She was now relieved. At least he was still alive and could be treated. The Beast made it to the ledge and Byleth helped him up onto the ground.
A sudden flash of light ruined the moment. The Beast collapsed in pain into Byleth's arms. She saw behind the Beast was Hubert. He was laughing and had a hand outstretched for he just cast one more Dark Spikes spell. Not only did it hit successfully, it was also a critical hit, meaning that the Beast could be killed from this attack. However, Hubert failed to notice the weakened platform he was standing on was crumbling down. The ledge cracked rapidly and the stone began to break and fall. Hubert noticed too late and couldn't get to more stable ground quick enough. The platform fell straight from under him and it took him down with it. He screamed while falling to his doom and not too much later, the air was silent again.
Hubert's unsurvivable fall was the least of Byleth's worries. Her priority was the Beast and assisting him to keep him alive. However, even she wasn't confident that she could help. The Beast couldn't even sit up due to his injuries. Byleth sat down next to the dying Beast and held onto his hand, hoping to at least be there for his final moments.
"Byleth..... You came back..." The Beast said sadly. Byleth was starting to cry. She didn't want it to end this way. Not like this.
"Of course I did. You're my friend remember." Byleth said through her tears. "I'll never leave you again."
"I'm afraid it's my time to leave...." The Beast said as he gently pushed a strain of Byleth's hair behind her ear.
"It's going to be ok. We can pull through. I'll find away." Byleth cried. Even she didn't believe her words of encouragement.
"At least I got to see you one last time..." The Beast said. His body became limp and lifeless. His breathing stoped. Byleth couldn't hold her sadness in. If only she was able to get there sooner, if only she kept her mouth shut when talking to Hubert back in at Remire. Byleth told herself that it wasn't her fault and she tried her best.
"Don't leave me... I love you..." Byleth whispered. Goddess, if you're there, please help us. Byleth thought. She didn't really think that the Goddess, if she even existed at all, would answer her call. Like anyone would help an until recently emotionless mercenary and a beast.
However, her call was answered by the Goddess.
As the last petal of the enchanted rose fell, a light from the heavens illuminated the sky. Magic surrounded Byleth and the Beast, the magic lifting up the Beast in the air. Byleth tried to reach out to prevent the magic from taking her beloved, but retracted her hand as soon as she realized that the magic was transforming the Beast back to a human. Slowly, his body changed from beast like form to more human.
When the transformation was completed, the magic laid him back down on the ground. Byleth finally got a good look at what he looked liked as a human since the only image she had was the painting from the West Wing, which was already torn and seemed like it was painted years ago. Byleth slightly blushed at his human appearance. He had shoulder length blonde hair, broad shoulders, and a strong build. Even though he only had one eye covered by an eye patch, Byleth still found that handsome.
The prince's eyes slowly opened and saw Byleth crying. "Byleth?" He said. Byleth nodded and couldn't believe that her friend was alive. "Byleth, it's ok, I'm ok." He said. He wiped a tear off of Byleth's cheek. Byleth smiled and hugged him.
"I'm so glad you're ok and alive!" Byleth cried. She realized she never knew his name and just referred to him as the Beast. Clearly that name would not be needed anymore. Byleth was about to ask him what his name was, but was interrupted by a sudden kiss from the prince. After the initial shock, Byleth embraced it and the kiss turned a little more passionate.
Once they parted, Byleth awkwardly asked the prince what his real name was. She looked down in embarrassment but the prince lifted Byleth's chin with his hand. "It's Dimitri. Forgive me for not telling your earlier." He said.
"Dimitri..." Byleth repeated. She ruffled his blonde hair. "Cute." She said.
Back downstairs, the enchanted objects were also transforming back into their original selves. Sylvain was a tall redhead that was wearing grey armor. Felix was an average sized man with dark blue, almost black hair, tied in a small ponytail. Sylvain rested his elbow on Felix's shoulder. "Haha! I told you the spell would be broken!" Sylvain cheered. Felix scoffed and brushed Sylvain's shoulder off of him.
Annette was a short girl with wavy orange hair that went to her shoulders. Mercedes and Ingrid both had short blonde hair, but Ingrid's was more of a yellow tint. While Ingrid wore armor, the other 2 girls wore casual long dresses. Mr. Dedue was the tallest out of all of them, even taller than Dimitri. His skin was darker in contrast to his silver hair that was tied up in the back. Ashe was the second shortest and youngest with silver hair and freckles.
Dimitri and Byleth approached the courtyard hand in hand. Everyone turned and gasped. Their prince has returned. "Your highness!" Sylvain said.
"Hello my old friends." Dimitri said. They were all together and human again. In the days following, a celebration was held at the castle to celebrate the triumphant return on the kingdom's rightful heir, along with the marriage of Dimitri and Byleth. All was well in the kingdom for the first time in 5 years, and everyone lived a Happily Ever After.
"And that's the end." Byleth said as she shut the book. She glanced at the grandfather clock in the room. She was startled at the time, for it was now almost midnight. She should've known it has been a long time since the sound of the storm calmed to that of just a nightly shower. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry for keeping you this long."
Dimitri chuckled a little. "It's fine professor. In truth, I rather enjoyed my time with you." He said. Byleth put the large book away and picked up the books she planned on reading before she and Dimitri got lost in the story.
"Well then, I guess we should head out. It doesn't sound like it's raining as hard anymore, so it should be safe to head out to our rooms." Byleth said as she stored the books she was borrowing into a small messenger bag.
"I supposed you're right professor." Dimitri said as they left the library. "Do you mind if I escort you to your room? I wouldn't want you walking in the rain all by yourself at this hour."
Byleth laughed a little. "I'll be fine Dimitri. However, the company would be nice." They headed down the stairs to the first level of the monastery and to the dorms. Byleth really did enjoy this night though. Maybe it won't be so bad to get lost in a book every once in a while.
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A/N: Thanks for sticking around if you did. :) This is my biggest short story yet and I'm finally glad to have it out. Anyways, I hope y'all enjoyed and have a great day :)
~ The Artist Sylveon 🌸
https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pixiv.net%2Fen%2Fartworks%2F77392770&redir_token=QUFFLUhqblFpYmxqMzBhVXdnMkRhT2ZvSGJIODNUYXNoUXxBQ3Jtc0tsMU90QWJ1R1ZJUEd0SnhBOEowN1BIaFRCSzFJM015SnN2LUZLaGRjYzdYTHN3NEREeTJld3RpNTBUajhYVmFqV2U3dzBTU2tJc3BvbnJiUGwyZ2RmTjVlb2lqZzY1TU9hbkVTQ0lWQmpuYnh0UEEtbw%3D%3D&v=jQGC1yu0S_E&event=video_description (Link for the art of ya want it)