Felix, unsure of exactly where Shamir was, went around to see if she was around the gardens first. Still, a sight Felix spied on his way there made him stop in his tracks. Ferdinand, of all people, trudged alone from the garden, already an odd sight so early in the day in a still deserted area of the palace. Just the sight of the fool put a bit of a pit in Felix’s throat. However, it was the way Ferdinand looked that really stuck with Felix. Far from the polished, well-groomed, alert gentleman the nobleman so often portrayed himself as, Ferdinand looked downright disheveled. His dress was unusually plain, his cloak, rough and dirty. His distinctive hair, far from flowing, seemed just as wild as Felix’s own appeared in a nearby fountain, but sporting a few stray leaves and twigs hanging on. Ferdinand’s movements seemed a bit more stilted as well, his expression, although smiling, was sullen and worn, and eyes fixed forward, mind clearly elsewhere. Felix, once again, knew little of what to make of the sight, but thought it was a surprising and unusual sight. He was sure to rinse his hair out in the garden’s fountain after that.

Felix eventually saw Shamir, walking towards the conference room, bow in hand. Unfortunately, she was not wearing the same dress of yesterday, and was instead clad in her more typical clothing.
“Shamir. I need to talk with you. Soon.” Felix said, walking up to her
“Felix? What is it?”
“That Wyvern you saw yesterday, what happened to it?”
“The Wyvern? It left. Actually, both of them left.”
“Wait, Both of them? There were two.” Yes. There was the one you saw, and there was another. One arrived earlier and left later, while the other one was only around for maybe 20 minutes.”
“Which one did I see?”
“Not sure, it could have been either. The bigger one stayed for less time.”
“Bigger one?” Felix thought for a second, trying to collate his thoughts. “Last night, I found wyvern marks in the courtyard, in the place the one I saw was in, as they were quite large, not of Fodlan.”
“Not necessarily. Both of them were far too large to be from Fodlan, one was just even bigger. Why are you so interested in all of this anyways.”
“You’ve heard about the professor’s disappearance, right? Gone, without a trace, from a high room. I think one of the wyverns you saw might be responsible.”
“I heard about it. Explains why you all were up so late last night. But that’s actually a fair idea. Show me the tracks and I might be able to tell you which one it was.”
So, Felix led her all the way around to the courtyard where, sure enough, two pronounced and deep set of wyvern tracks, spaced wide apart on the grass, marked the ground.
“Uhhh… I’d say those are probably from the smaller one”
“Really?” Felix was a bit disappointed he didn’t see the more suspicious creature, but this information was still interesting. “You should probably tell Edelgard about all this. Just leave the tracks to me, my little group needs to have something to report.”
Shamir smiled. “I’d rather not speak up. After all, it would highlight my own failure to attend her call to the search in the first place. You can report this for me, cite some citizens, if you need some reports to substantiate your claims, I was certainly not the only person to notice them.”
Felix groaned at the thought of presenting to Edelgard, but there was little choice. “Fine, I’ll announce it all if you want. But I don’t take this sort of task enthusiastically.”
“You and me both.” Shamir added. “You’ll just have to deal with the stress and the benefits, if you want to serve Byleth best.”

Felix walked to the meeting room, Shamir not too far behind, a few minutes before everyone had assembled, and took a seat near his groupmates.
“Get some good intel out of her, Felix?” Dorothea asked before Edelgard, delayed by some side conversations with others, finally sat down to start the meeting.
“We’ve got something."
Felix watched with muted interest as people presented their findings. 'Just an odd key?' he couldn't help but think as Edelgard and the Deer presented their findings. As he expected, there was not much.
Soon, Edelgard called Ferdinand up to speak.
Standing up straight and confident, Ferdinand certainly looked much cleaner and livelier than he did little more than an hour ago. Still, Felix couldn't help but feel a spike of contempt rush through him when he saw Bernadetta meekly sitting next to him. At least he had managed to get her back alive.
The noble showcased some magic dust that promised to detect spells and other incantations after they had occurred… somehow. The frivolity reminded Felix of one of Constance von Nuvelle's magical novelties, and lo and behold, it evidently was. At least she seemed to be smugly satisfied in sharing the "glory" of her old creation with her fellow noble, as long as Aegir and the Emperor showered her family name in praise for it all.

"Felix. Did you all find anything?" Edelgard eventually asked his group.
Looking across at Ferdinand, who once again, seemed not to regard his gaze, Felix quickly stood up.

"We did. Wyvern tracks, in the courtyard. Big ones. Asked some locals about it, they said they saw a few flying around last night, must have been one of them."

Having presented his information, Felix sat right down, leaning back and conspicuously kicking his feet up on the table.

Ingrid sighed and Sylvain stood up.

"Dude, you can't tell it like that. You need to put the words dramatically." Sylvain cleared his throat and straightened himself out. "Your majesty, we located clear evidence of a Wyvern in the northern Gardens last night. Unfortunately, the creature that caused them was long gone by the time we were there, leaving broad, deep, and dangerous talon marks in the sod. It was, without a doubt, a very large creature, possibly of Almyra. Afterwards, we… uh... consulted with locals, who detailed that multiple wyverns had actually been present on Palace grounds last night, coming and going at different times."

Felix sighed. The similarity to the language of the pretentious nobles was clear.

"You said exactly what I had, but took longer." He appreciated that the point was made, though.

"Wyverns? That's...hmm." Edelgard seemed perplexed. "Claude brought one on the eastern side as transportation, but multiple of similar size is unexpected. When I went up to Byleth's personal chambers, I found a broken window. What you said aligns with what Claude saw, and suggests that one was involved in their escape. A Wyvern."
'Claude brought a Wyvern? Figures.' Felix thought.

Dorothea, who had smiled along with Sylvain's sarcastic account, now spoke up with genuine interest. "What did Claude find Edie? There is so much going on. You found a knife, there is some dust, now Wyverns...and a portal."
"Claude, who is conspicuously absent right now... searched the city and its surrounding areas on his own Wyvern. While he searched, he managed to find Byleth."
Shamir, standing in the very back of the room, although remaining silent and stoic, was clearly growing anxious, her eyes darting about and hands absently fidgeting with an arrow, spoke up.
"So? Where is he then?"
Edelgard seemed hesitant to speak, indicating bad news. "He chased my husband's captors, but...they evaded Claude. Byleth is still in danger. He also found this, at the site of the portal they escaped through during their chase." She held forward a scarf-like scrap of fabric, stained dark. It was undeniably Byleth's, and silenced the room. If he was still alive, the time to fight had come. Eventually, Edelgard decided that the next place to search was Abyss, and dismissed everyone to head north to the Monastery to begin an organized search. Felix's resolve had settled, he would get revenge for his professor soon enough.

"Felix, I'm not letting you walk all the way back to Gareg Mach. You will show up on time, this time." Ingrid said, as everyone seemed to be getting up to leave. "I'm going to organize a group to ride up through Myrddyn, and you need to tag along."
Felix, looking around at everyone else around him, had little patience for Ingrid's games at such an urgent time.
"I hate riding horses, Ingrid. Presuming you're dragging Sylvain along with you, I won't be able to keep up."
"This is a trip, not a race. Don't worry, we'll go slowly." she said. 'You could probably just run along at the side if you hate riding horses so much."
"If you disappear from sight, we'll just classify you with the Professor and send out a massive search party to find you again." Sylvain added.
Felix groaned. Sylvain had been ganging up on him a bit too much recently. "Since when have you been so keen on all of her 'ideas'?"
"It's not like you're making yourself a difficult target!"
"Who else is even going with us?" Felix asked? "If it's just you two, I'll pass on third wheeling."
Sylvain's eyes lit up at that prick, but Ingrid kept composure. "Ugh. well, Ashe? Mercedes? Annette? You three in?"
"Sure thing, Ingrid." Mercedes answered, walking over with her two friends of the other group.
"See? Plus, I doubt the Leicester folks would have anyone better to travel with, so Raphael, Ignatz, Leonie, Marianne… I'd count them in. Edelgard and Hubert will probably be off doing… something secretive… and"
"Fine. I'll tag along." Felix said, bitterly.
"Alright, happy to hear it, Felix. Wait… maybe four hours for all of us who actually brought things to gather our possessions and prepare to depart. Then, gather in front of the palace."
"Okay…" Now, Felix knows he needs to have another talk with Ingrid about her patronizing ways… regardless, that conversation would have to come later.

As Felix was heading out, he saw Bernadetta, standing off to the side of the room, finally not flanked by Ferdinand. She seemed a bit down, but Felix figured now was a decent time to check in with her. Shifting his scabbard around his waist to obscure it from view, he approached her. Bernadetta, seeing Felix, turned to face him.

"Bernadetta. Did everything go well for you last night?"
"Oh, Felix.” she said, in a neutral tone, surprising for the girl who always seemed so extreme in her reaction to Felix. She hesitated for a second, lost in conflicted thought, before answering. “Yeah, things went fine.”
“Glad to see you're alright. I know you’re a skilled horsewoman, so I presume-”
“Felix… can I talk to you, somewhere else?” Her sudden interruption seemed to be out of character, but she also looked a bit irritated about something.
Felix was a bit unsure of what to say, not wishing to be too blunt or rude with her.
“Alright. I’ll follow.”
The two of them left the room, stopping about 25 meters up the hall in the opposite direction most were leaving from.
“Why did you bother waking me up for the meeting? Why did you volunteer to accompany me last night?”
“The meeting was urgent, and I saw you were asleep. Anyone who cares for the professor, or doesn’t want to see the Emperor flip out over tardiness again, would have done the same. And then you requested an escort? I looked at the... offers you had been given, and figured you could use better protection than those ‘duty bound nobles’ were qualified to provide.”
“Protection? Since when have you been so concerned with my protection?”
Felix took a deep breath and answered in the way that came naturally to him. “I’m a fighter, Bernadetta, a killer. I’m not one for crawling about, fetching suspicious daggers or magic dust. I need some mission, an enemy to look out for, if not fight. Your job gave me that, so I impulsively jumped at the chance to grab it.”
Felix quickly realized this answer was not the best, as it seemed to break some boundary within Bernadetta, making her even more frustrated. “I know you’re not being honest with me, Felix! You weren’t your scary ghost self last night, and you never go looking for people to protect. I know Ferdinand loves to dance around with his noble etiquette, but I thought you would at least be honest with me!”
Felix felt an impulse to retort back, but stopped himself, helped by the surprise of seeing Bernadetta get so worked up. She was right.“Ughh…” he groaned tiredly, as Bernadetta glared at him. He looked around the corner, trying to see if Dorothea was eavesdropping from around any door.
“Fine. Remember back at the monastery? When I was so interested in your little ‘technique’? It impressed me, showed me you have unique talents you just weren’t telling anyone about. Then, I saw you again when the Professor returned and you suddenly weren’t so shy anymore. Growth I didn’t want to see squandered due to some noble’s negligence.”
Bernadetta took a breath of her own to calm down but maintained a neutral expression. “Well, I suppose it’s better to have you protecting me than trying to hurt me. Thank you for your concern, Felix.”
Felix figured it was as good a time as any to finish off. “As I was saying, I heard you were a skilled horsewoman, so I presume you’d be riding up to the monastery.” Bernadetta nodded. “A few of my ‘friends’ aggressively coerced me into joining their little horse convoy north. Join us. We’ll provide a secure trip up, and I think it’d be interesting to really see that horsemanship of yours. I’ve never ridden a horse without getting thrown straight off a minute after I get on.”
“Felix... can’t ride a horse?” Bernadetta whispered to herself giggling, reminding Felix why he didn’t share things like that. Just the sight of his face and arms tightening up stopped Bernadetta from laughing. “Uh… Sure! I know I can go with Edelgard or Ferdinand, or just on my own… but… I’m up for a little change of company! It’s just that these big trips can be hard for a recluse like me, you know, with people always watching you…”
Felix nodded sympathetically. “I get it. If you want to hang back on the road a bit or rest alone, I’ll respect your decision and do what it takes to get the others on board. After all, It’s not common you find another person who appreciates the value of a little solitude.”
Felix walked away, towards the main exit of the palace. Bernadetta, while nodding in agreement to Felix’s statement, hung back, some odd thought clearly on her mind.
“Four hours. City center. Be ready to go.” Felix nonchalantly said as he left, concealing his own racing thoughts. Why did he care so much about protecting Bernadetta? And what was that she said about Ferdinand? Something told Felix that he was a far more unusual individual than he seemed at face value.

Felix walked down to the city center, and, using some change in Gs he found on the ground, bought himself a roasted poultry leg of some sort as a meal, and waited around until a sizeable number of his comrades, all on horseback, began to arrive. Ingrid, and Sylvain were there, of course, but somehow, all those who they said would come actually did, and even more. Ashe, Annette, Mercedes, Ignatz, Marianne, Leonie, even Alois and Shamir, everyone outside of the Emperor’s inner circle of Black Eagles, Lysithea, some of the old faculty and the Abyssians seemed ready to make the journey north together. Bernadetta, however, seemed absent. Felix was a bit disappointed, but not unsurprised. She was probably a bit late, or hiding in the back of the pack.
Sylvain jumped off his steed and stepped on top of a nearby market stall of some sort to address the assembled group.
“Alright everyone. Back to Gareg Mach to get the professor. Let’s not waste any time and get going!”
Part of Felix thought it unwise to shout of the Professor’s disappearance in a public place, but the news was bound to get out anyways at this point. The large group, forming neatly into a procession, began to march northward, Felix sticking to the rear to look for Bernadetta, growing a bit more anxious every second.
‘It’s alright, she’s not showing up, she’s just going with Ferdinand or Edelgard’ he thought. Eventually, Felix did see Bernadetta, riding a moderately laden horse, darting past various pedestrians walking around the square. Relieved, Felix turned around and headed back to rejoin the main pack, still progressing slowly in the busy streets, although receiving occasional cheers and claps from passerby, recognizing the esteem of the Black Eagle Strike Force marching before them.

As the sun began to set a few hours later, the party had cleared the city of Enbarr, breaking into a sturdy trot. As some of the most thoroughly cultivated regions of Fodlan, buildings had given way to the broad hills of southern Hresvelg, shaved flat by farmland, with the occasional house or villa cutting remarkably varied shapes into the orange disk sinking beneath the skyline. Even Felix could recognize that that was a pleasant sight.

For several days, Felix walked alongside the group through the flat farmlands north of Enbarr, around the center of his group, who were making solid time north up the Road Wilhelmian. Felix, despite being incapable and unwilling to ride a horse, appointed himself sentry and lookout for the group, darting forward to watch ahead and waiting for the rest of the people to catch up. Of course, there was little to see aside from farmers starting the autumn harvest, but he appreciated the little bits of solitude and control away from the party.

By the conclusion of the third day of running about, Felix was at camp on the outskirts of an Adrestian town, sun setting over a forested patch to his west, sitting down on a wooden post, when he noticed his shins and hips were actually quite sore. A stretch revealed the inner thigh to be hurting as well. ‘Oh, well…’ he thought with annoyance, knowing this could not bode well for the next week and a half of the trip. He had run and walked long distances before, but his feelings gave Felix all he needed to know about his future prospects. He needed to get up to find someone who might help, and fast. He walked over to the nearby stables, where he found Marianne, dutifully feeding her horse on her own. He hadn’t talked to her in months at least, but his need for medical assistance outweighed his social comfort, at least for this time. Felix walked slowly into the building, not seeking to aggravate his legs, which certainly felt sore when walking. The hay on the ground was a relief, both cushioning the surface while softening his footsteps. Interestingly, as Felix approached, he noticed Marianne was… talking to her horse. He had heard people talking about her doing it back at Gareg Mach, but as someone who rarely willingly set foot in the dirty, monastery stables, he had never seen it in person. Now, he knew it to be true, not only then, but now, and it made him a bit anxious.
“Are you feeling alright today, Dorte?” Marianne asks her horse. “I hope you had enough water to drink. I got some salt from the tavern, if you’d like some.”
Felix, not wanting to startle Marianne too much, shuffled his feet and hastened his approach to gather her attention. She quickly stood up and turned around to face him, but recoiled a bit in apparent surprise when she recognized who was there.
“Felix…? Wh... what do you need to do here? Aren’t you the only person who… isn’t riding a horse?”
Felix suddenly found he had no interest in talking to Marianne. Someone else could heal him this time.
"Marianne. I need to talk to Mercedes. Do you know where she is?" Felix said, quite quickly and forcibly.
"Oh, Mercedes… I think I might have seen her around the church an hour or so ago. Maybe you should check over there."
"I see. Good to know." Felix said, limply shuffling away, barely giving a still clearly confused Marianne. He had already grown tired of the stink of the stables. How people like her spend so much time in there was truly beyond him.

Felix approached the small local church with hesitance. He never felt that comfortable in these buildings, never being a particularly devout or spiritual person, even before Duscur shattered all his pretenses of faith. This one, nestled in between two residential buildings while still holding a significant presence in the center of town, looked a bit different than the hulking and angular stone churches of the Kingdom's countryside, but it's religious intent was not hidden. Above the arched doorway, Felix noticed an elaborate carving, detailing rough and crowded depictions of what was likely supposed to represent various events in Fódlan and Adrestian history, but Felix couldn't make anything out. What was instantly noticeable was the figure in the center, presumably Seiros, standing, jagged sword in hand, face haphazardly defaced, turning the focal point of the carving to rugged rock. Felix figured Ignatz would be the one who needed medical attention had he seen it. Felix hobbled up the steps and pushed open the ajar wooden door and stepped in. A large number of candles provided a decent amount of light for the hall, where Felix could make out several men and women of various ages, standing near a few clergy and Mercedes. They each seemed to be talking to a person and treating their injuries with healing magic, while others roughly cued up in a line down the aisle. Felix, figuring Mercedes was busy, took his place in the line, eventually leaning on a nearby pew to take some of the weight off of his leg. Everyone seemed to be quietly talking to each other, but Felix grew bored, occasionally moving forward as the line of locals progressed, while still keeping a fair distance from the people in front of him.
“Felix! Leave that sword outside!” Mercedes suddenly shouted at him, startling him up from his lean and his boredom. She almost seemed mad at him, an unusual and surprising emotion to hear out of Mercedes.
Sure enough, Mercedes was glaring at him, arms crossed, while pretty much everyone else was staring at him with revulsion. The shock of it all
“You-, Wh-, uh, I need to talk to you, Mercedes...” he finally stammered out.
“Well, I won’t listen until you leave your sword at the door.” she responded.
“Sir, we do not allow weapons in this place.” another clergyman added. “Please do away with it before we must take actions to remove you.
“Ugh… this…” Felix tried to protest, but he knew it wouldn’t get anywhere, face red and under the judgemental eyes of everyone else, he left the church, hand firmly on his sword’s hilt.
In the chilly night air outside, Felix, still shocked, looked around at the dark and mostly empty streets around him, and down at his sword, securely strapped to his side. How could he ever cast it aside in such a rash manner, unsupervised, right at the church gates? He looked at its glinting blade: fine shining silver. Someone could easily lean over and steal such a fine, expensive weapon, when it is left out in the open like this? Even worse, someone could take hold of it and enter the church, weapon unsheathed… he thought to himself. What would transpire then? Could Felix, with only his own two fists, defeat a foe with malicious intent, wielding one of his own swords against him, and even if he could, what… irreversible damage could he leave?
“No… I cannot be so rash and foolish…” Felix said to himself, attempting to build resolve in his position. But, he knew Mercedes was right. Churches didn’t allow swords for very good reasons, and there was no way a millennium-old tradition and convention would bend only for him. Even though his conundrum had distracted him from his leg soreness, he needed Mercedes’ medical help to continue on this trip. That must necessitate some sacrifice.
“Gahhh…!” Felix yelled, tearing the scabbard from his side. Now, his hip felt eerily light. Even as he held the sword, firmly in both hands, outstretched before him, bringing himself to drop it to the dirt below seemed physically impossible. Shadows, dangerous, unidentified, unknown people of this strange town lurked around every corner, could he bring himself to leave his sword for their taking?
“Felix? Are you alright?” Mercedes asked, softly from the doorway.
Felix looked at her, first in shock, then in anger, then in confusion, then in thankfulness, all in under five seconds.
“I heard you scream out here, and figured I should check if everything is alright…”
Felix let go off the scabbard with his left hand, permitting his right to fall by his side.
“Oh, yeah, I’m alright.”
“Are you? You’ve been acting unusually… on edge today. Has something been bothering you?”
"Actually, yes. My shins have been very sore. I was hoping that you could help heal them."
"You were running all along the road these last few days, right?" Mercedes said, with clear concern. It only makes sense that you would start to feel it after a while. Sit down on that step there, I'll see what I can do."
Felix, emotions too conflicted to respond, sat down, grateful, on the stone step in front of the church. Mercedes knelt in front of him and rolled up his leggings to see if there were any externally visible issues with his leg. Felix was content to let her do that.
"I'm sorry for yelling at you about the sword.” Mercedes said after a few seconds/ “They aren’t allowed, but I didn’t have to be so hostile in asking you to put it away. Now I realize how much it must be to you, I don't think I've ever seen you without one!"
Mercedes' comment hit Felix hard. She was right. Through all his life, he had always kept at a sword on him at all times, a stick in hand as a young child, a long iron dagger concealed in his coat at one of Lambert feasts, unknown to his father and brother, only the tip visible to Sylvain and Ingrid, even a steel blade under his desk during class at the academy. He just hadn't actually entered a church since… well, maybe the cathedral a few times at Gareg Mach, a place so large and crowded that no one really cared if you had a weapon on you. Although it was difficult for him to face it, a sword had become a necessary and everyday part of his wardrobe, and the thought of walking around in public without one made him feel more naked than the thought of walking around without a shirt or pants.
“Are you sore on the underside of your thigh?” Mercedes asked Felix, who nodded, still lost in disgust-tinted alarm at this revelation about himself. White magic would soon flow through his legs. He had never found its odd effects, sometimes cooling, sometimes warming, sometimes numbing, sometimes itchy, particularly satisfying in themselves, so even as his leg muscles seemed to wear through their bones under this healing spell, he was grateful for Mercedes, not only for healing him, but for alleviating him of the need to abandon his weapon, an act he loathed his loathe to do.
“Thank you, Mercedes.” Felix said, after she was done, legs felt better, but still a bit unstable.
Mercedes smiled a lot wider at Felix’s thanks. “I’m just doing my work, Felix, trying to heal those who have injured themselves in their work. To you and all those farmers out there, working all day, harvesting their crops. I didn’t expect to see you go out of your way to ask for any sort of help, but if anything I can do can help you heal in the future, don’t hesitate to ask me. As long as you can keep your swords out of churches, that is.”
Felix nodded in appreciation. Volunteering to help farmers she didn’t even know while on this long trip… he couldn’t fathom where Mercedes got all her motivation, but he didn’t want her to ever lose it.
“Alright. Just… don’t overwork yourself on rest time. I… don’t want to have to deal with anyone getting tired and falling behind on the road.” Felix finally said.
“Hehehe, I’ll keep that in mind!” Mercedes said, amused by Felix’s words.
Deciding to follow his own advice, Felix proceeded back to camp, legs freshly treated, and went to sleep for the night.

When he woke up the next day, Felix felt sore. Fortunately, his legs seemed to be alright when he actually got to running a little. As the sun passed overhead, Felix’s strength, not in his legs, but in his entire body, began to wane, with thirst, soreness in his hips and torso, as well as deteriorated breathing quality gradually coming and fading over the hours. Finally, in the mid afternoon, Felix, finding a small pond near the side of the road, finally takes a break to drink. After three porous handfuls, peers ahead, and finally noticed that the party had gained over 500 meters ahead of him, and continued on at a solid pace.
Felix groaned, and, having little time to, set off to catch the group.
That didn’t do well for him. The road had several other travelers, forcing Felix to pass around the occasional cart or horse while trying to close the distance. As he tried harder, Felix knew he would not catch up anytime soon.
Dehydrated from the sun, cramped from the water he drank, and sore despite Mercedes’ magic, he had to slow down. He would have to catch up with the group overnight when they camped, or try to run ahead before they set out. It was miserable, but his only option.

A few minutes later, a horse came upon his side. Felix barely noticed, at first, so consumed by his own efforts.
“Felix!” Bernadetta shouted, a shock that made him stop cold on his heels in surprise. Chest heaving as he caught his breath, Felix, for the first time, looked up to face Bernadetta, who seemed quite comfortable on horseback, her short, tight clothing and long leather boots working well as riding clothes.
“Were you trying to get away from the everyone else?” she asked, frowning and pouting. Felix had, without a doubt, seen Bernadetta upset before, but something about her being on horseback made it seem more serious.
“Berna...detta, I… no… let-” Felix stammered, recovering.
“Why didn’t you get a horse too? If I didn’t see you back there, I don’t know if anyone would have noticed you were gone! You were the one who invited me on this trip after all.” Bernadetta said as Felix’s vision grew white and saturated for a few seconds, a sure sign of dehydration, before finally returning.
“I, uhh… I can’t ride a horse, Bernadetta, and I’m not going to learn.” Felix said, having gained enough consciousness to start stringing some sentences together. “I can’t tolerate having to deal with some dirty animal to get around, anyways, I will always fight on my own legs.”
“I used to feel the same way, Felix,” Bernadetta replied. “but then I realized, if you want to get around alone, you just need to learn how to ride a horse. Or a Wyvern, I suppose, but that’s a little bit too far for Bernie.”
Felix… had never thought about it that way. From a logistical perspective… the advantages really did seem clear. “Ehh… I’m not so sure about that.”
“The horsies aren’t as bad as you think if you get to know them! Anyways, we need to get back with the group! So… uh… jump on!” Bernadetta, hesitating in her actions, tossed a rein down to Felix.
Felix held the rope in a combination of shock, alarm, and confusion at the request. I mean… it was probably the only way he was getting back in any timely fashion, but the whole idea brought up so many questions and concerns that Felix had no interest in dealing with. The horse seemed small, the saddle was small, Bernadetta herself was small… and he didn’t even know how to get on in the first place.
“Uh…”
“Just use it to swing up and jump on. Then give it back to me! I’m steering!” Bernadetta stammered. They were undeniably making quite a scene to some of the travelers passing by, and she seemed as aware as he, unusually enough, was.
“But… Is there even enough room? Can the horse deal with it.”
“Bernadetta seemed even more flustered by the second. Yeah, yeah, just get on! We gotta get going!”
Felix ran around to the front side of the horse, and gathering his focus, jumped up and around the back end of the horse, landing on its back, somewhat painfully, behind Bernadetta’s saddle, tossing the rope back to Bernadetta, who had tried to move forward as much as she could. Felix was in a horribly uncomfortable position, so he tried to inch forward, but whatever he did, Bernadetta would be far too close for comfort.
“Alright… Felix hang on to...” Bernadetta said as the horse, alarmed by the sudden new rider, began to move forwards. Unfortunately, there seemed to be no secure things for Felix to hold on to, a fact he waited for Bernadetta to discover while dealing with his own fears of falling and imbalance.
“Wait, no, just grab my… shoulders!” she finally stammered, and Felix, still terribly stressed about it all, had to lean in even closer to Bernadetta as he securely grabbed hold of her shoulders and, as Bernadetta urged her horse on, closed his eyes, at least for a few seconds.

The whole chase back to the main group, although little more than a few minutes, felt like a blur to Felix, a blur of a dozen conflicting emotions running through him. The most memorable thing about it all was the speed. Felix had, of course, tried to ride horses when he was young in the kingdom, and recalled his father bringing him on his when he was very young, but Felix could never remember traveling this fast, ever. Even darting around and between various travelers, running up the side of the hilly road, knocking rocks and debris onto the cobblestones, Felix was thrilled, and, still, terrified of it all. The power of the animal truly outclassed anything a petty human thought was impressive, melting kilometers in a couple minutes without a second thought, and by riding, Felix had usurped just a bit of that power and will.
Still, riding was a completely different sensation than merely going fast. Felix was undeniably in pain throughout the entire experience, searing from the ill-fitting seat of the horse’s spine and rear. Still, he was fine, holding fast to Bernadetta, who stood tall with the poise of a veteran, keeping Felix from slipping off into the horse’s hooves, relentlessly slamming the cobblestones beneath. Felix did not believe this was the same woman he had essentially dragged awake to the late night meeting less than a week earlier, her body, then soft and small, now seemed firm and full of energy, will and determination. To know that Bernie von Varley, of all people, could harness such power and show such seemingly unshakeable will, Felix found admirable, reassuring, and touching, all the same. The experience gave him a different feeling, too, one Felix thought forever cast aside, if not lost, if only for as long as the ride lasted.

Bernadetta slowed the horse near the backside of the group, but Felix let go a few seconds later, realizing the sudden slowdown.
“Okay Felix… we’re back. I think you should… uhh… get off.” she whispered. “My horse needs a break.”
“Thank you for the ride, Bernadetta.” Felix said, with a half smile half smirk as he left the very specific seating position he had found in the horse’s back with a lot of pain. He jumped off the hose, landing unsteadily on his feet.
“Oh, so that’s why you don’t ride horses?” Sylvain, who was conveniently riding right at the back, quipped, getting some laughs from nearby Gareg Mach members.
Felix could have socked Syvain then and there as tried to reach his feet and make pace with the slower paced group, but the red haired flirt had vacated the area before Felix could get his bearings. Bernadetta had also rode off, leaving Ingrid to make her way to the back to help watch Felix along.
“Yeah, we’re going to get you a horse to ride. Tonight.” she said, sharply, as she rode up. Felix honestly didn’t care. The whole horse riding experience had energized him, so he had little issue keeping up with the group the rest of the day. Bernadetta had paid him back for The Professor’s wedding, without a doubt.

In the middle of the next day, the group would reach Fort Merceus, taking an hour’s break for supplies and planning. Felix was duly assigned an old, patient horse, who would hopefully be easier to ride. It was a bit humiliating, but he wasn’t surprised. No one gave him any trouble for it, to his relief. Soon they were off, Felix, uncomfortably and unsteadily on horseback, feebly bringing up the rear of the line, soon forgotten by most riders. Just the way he liked it.

Eventually, the party found a fork in the road, the straight route, the main course of the Road Wilhelmian, up through Bergliez territories and across the Airmid, where Gareg Mach could easily be reached, and a way leading off through to the western regions of the empire, through Varely territory. Surprisingly to Felix, the group turned left at the fork, leaving the main route. He needed to ask what was going on Glancing down at his steed, he gave it a quick boot to pick up the pace. The horse seemed… disinterested, content to follow those in front of it. After about 20 seconds of prompting, Felix had given up on the old thing, and decided to yell.
“HEY!” he screamed, “WHERE ARE WE HEADING”
“GAREG MACH, FELIX!” Ingrid shouted back.
“NO… I MEAN, WHY ARE WE LEAVING THE MAIN PATH?”
“IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE CROWDED! HARVESTS!” she yelled back.
“CAN YOU GUYS JUST GET A LITTLE CLOSER IF YOU WANT TO TALK, INSTEAD OF HAVING TO SHOUT AT EACH OTHER FROM ACROSS THE ROAD?” Ashe asked, trying his very hardest to match their volume.
“RAAAAAAH!” Raphael naturally added. “WOOO! NOTHING GETS ME EXCITED LIKE A GOOD SCREAM!”

Ingrid eventually rode back to see Felix.
“Are you doing alright on horseback? I haven’t heard that you’ve fallen over yet, so that’s a good sign.”
“Yeah yeah yeah, so why are we getting off the main road.”
“You really care that much about how we’re getting to the Monastery?” Ingrid asked. We deferred to Bernadetta, as the local, and she told us the roads around Bergliez and Gronder would be busy with the harvest around this time of year, lots of farmers carts.” Ingrid seemed to get a bit distracted at that thought.
‘She must be hungry…’ Felix knew.
“I honestly don’t think that’s such a bad idea, but Bernadetta proposed we take a less direct path through Varley, and then a small mountain pass to Gareg Mach. Apparently she has grown familiar with the route over the last five years and thinks it could be faster around now.”
“Hmph.” Felix found that an acceptable excuse, but was more impressed by Bernadetta’s forthcomingness and leadership than anything else. Again he was proud, but after seeing (or, more accurately, feeling) a different side of her the day before, he was ready to trust it. At least with her standards, they wouldn’t have any security concerns.”

The scenery became quite a bit more lively, although not that much less drab, as they arrived at Varley Castle, a large stone fortification high in the foothills of the Ogmas ringed by another imposing stone wall, overlooking a sizable settlement, spread out underneath it. It was secluded, imposing, and probably quite secure, difficult to enter, or leave. It was no Arianhrod, but it looked like a solid, defensible fort if any invading force was crazy enough to try to attack this out-of-the-way place, a decent place to spend some time.
The party passed through the narrow and dirty streets of the town below Varley Castle, where hundreds of curious locals lined the streets, watching their once jovial procession of comrades awkwardly make their way through the city. It was a metalworking town, without a doubt, filled with blacksmith shops and sooty foundries. Carts, laden with rough-cut wood and heavy iron, were stopped on the streets, and piles of unprocessed ore and accumulated slag sat idly on the town’s outskirts. It was far from an uplifting sight or smell, but Felix supposed all that middle-grade Imperial conscript battle armor and steel weaponry had to come from somewhere.

After passing through the town, the group ascended the first bit of hillside, passing by bustling and dirty mineshafts cut into the cleared mountainside. At last, they entered a bit of remaining forest and approached Varley Castle. Soon, the group, which had grown quiet throughout the day’s travel, suddenly stopped. Felix, sore as usual, was just relieved to finally get off his horse. Ingrid, at the head of the group, stood before everyone.
“Alright everyone, listen, Bernadetta’s going to explain what we’re going to do next. Bernadetta?
Bernadetta rode before the group, most of which had dismounted their horses, helping her stand out, in a sort of public prominence and visibility that Felix had never seen of her, yet another surprise.
“Okay, so you’ve probably heard that the only way to get to Gareg Mach from the Empire is either through the west or the Alliance, right, like we took for the Battle of the Eagle of Lion? Well… that’s not really true. House Varley used to be the Ministry of Religion, right? Well, some… old relative of mine found a narrow pass through the Mountains, that goes straight from Varley to Gareg Mach monastery, for important messages and secret travel. I’ve been using it… well, since the war started, in secret, to escape all the fighting. Don’t tell Edelgard I… um… deserted, uh, temporarily deserted, the army several times, I didn’t just get lost.” This got a rise out of Felix and the rest of the group, and as the lone Black Eagle in the group, Felix doubted anyone would rather out. Felix knew it was cowardly, sure, but the will to risk her livelihood, and possibly life was brave, in a way.
“Anyways, it’s a great little path for a recluse like me, cozy, secluded, almost always empty, but it’s not good for big groups with many horses. So, we’re going to stop by at the castle for a day, then head down the path! Hopefully, we should be at the monastery the day... after that! Okay?” Bernadetta finally asked, finally breathing out in relief.
Felix was pleased to see that everyone clapped and nodded in approval, recognizing what a remarkable accomplishment it was for her, but even as the group approached Varley castle stuck to the back through the whole thing He felt like he needed to take a low profile for a few more days, let everyone’s minds take a break from him for just a little bit longer.

While Varley soldiers had been present in the city and around the countryside, the number of Imperial troops guarding Varley Castle seemed excessive for such a strategically unimportant fortification. The gate was actively kept closed and the main keep was similarly guarded, even as the group set up camp inside the castle’s walls.
“Seems like there are more Imperials here than at Merceus…” Felix quipped to Sylvain, helping him set up his tent.
“Yeah. Edelgard must take Varley’s house arrest seriously,” he said. “The man deserves it.”
“... Of course.” Felix remembered now, and all those pleasant thoughts were wiped from his consciousness in an instant. He had heard the rumors about Count Varley, the kind of man he was, what sort of stuff he did to Bernadetta, and they told him enough he needed to know about him. He didn’t know how much of it was true, but in that moment, he would have strangled that man dead. He looked around the area for Bernadetta, but she was nowhere nearby. Felix absentmindedly went about some business, getting something to drink, sharpening his sword, and taking a walk around the castle before going to sleep. On the wall, Felix looked down over the town below, the fires and lights of the mines and foundries shining late into the night. Turning around, he looked up to the keep of Varley castle, towering above him, weak candlelight shining in a few windows. Part of him would have snuck up there, into the highest rooms where that vile noble was cowering, and give the justice even Edelgard couldn’t bring herself to carry through. If only he could know how Bernadetta would react...

The “Pass” Bernadetta had talked about was little more than a hole in the side of the steep mountainside, a slot barely capable of fitting a horse, through them, typically bordered by steep cliffs and hills on both sides. The ground itself was, as would be expected, rocky and challenging as well, so much so that everyone had to walk their horses, laden with their goods, down the narrow path. This didn’t really bother Felix that much as others, as he appreciated the opportunity to walk on his own, dismounted, at a more manageable pace. Everyone was in good spirits at the start, with the promise of reaching the Monastery so easily, despite the chillier temperatures as they gained elevation. In the afternoon, thunder heralded a sudden rainstorm. An hour and a half later, the sun was beginning to set behind the mountains around them, while the rain, melting, made the dirt and rock path a muddy mess.

Felix knew that conditions were growing dangerous, and they would have to find shelter soon, but with no sign of anything or any question from the tired party, he could no longer stand idly by. Leaving his horse with Syvlain, he began to advance in the long line of people, edging past Ashe, Raphael, Annette, Mercedes, Lorenz, and Leonie to reach the front of the procession, all soaked, shivering, and horribly muddy.
He tapped Ingrid on the shoulder to get her attention.
“Hey. We can’t continue on in this. It’s only going to get colder as the sun sets, and if we don’t find somewhere dry to stop, someone’s going to freeze to death.”
Bernadetta looked back at him, her soaking purple hair running flat and uneven down all sides of her head.
“I… I know, Felix.” she said, her eyes, once again scared and tired. “There… there’s a crevice, cave, thing. It’s only in a little, but we should, uh… be able to stay there.
Felix looked at Ingrid, sporting a look of genuine concern and worry, if not a bit of confusion, and then back at Bernadetta. He was afraid too, of course, but wouldn’t let anyone know that.
“Alright.” He turned around to face the group, and through the thunder and the pattering of the rain, yelled: “GET MOVING, WE NEED TO GET TO SHELTER, NOW!” There was a murmur of a response, and a few people, like Lorenz and Annette, lit torches to try to light the way, but the effect was as intended, and the group sped up a bit.

“HERE IT IS!” Bernadetta finally yelled, twenty minutes of muddy, dark marching later, outside of a gaping cave,
“Alright, get in.” Felix responded. “I’ll make sure everyone follows you in.”
“Felix-” Ingrid nearly said. “I-”
Suddenly, there was a crack of thunder right above them, and a rumble vibrating through the ground, but no lightning preceding it. Felix looked above, where he could see the vague outlines of motion in the darkness, and hear another, more persistent rumbling.

“IT’S A LANDSLIDE!” Leonie yelled, and in a second, all semblance of order had broken down in the group. With only the moonlight and a few torches providing any light, Felix could barely see who was where, but a mad scramble to get down the path and away from the falling rock was well underway. People were jumping over each other, tripping in the mud, climbing up the hillsides, and horses, already quite spooked, were neighing and running all over the place. Felix instinctively dashed into the cave. “Bernadetta?” he yelled, but received no response. He could hear the rumbling of the falling rocks grow louder above him, but just had to look a bit longer to be certain.
“Bernadetta? Ingrid?” he asked again, but there was still no reply. He was not certain, but for his own life, he ran out of the cave, wet dirt raining down on him and a large rock slamming hard into his left shoulder. Kicking up mud from around him, Felix ran northward to follow everyone else, almost tripping over several rocks and a horse on the ground, presumably struck in the landslide. Eventually, he caught up with Raphael, and could see everyone else a bit further up. He was breathing hard from the running, his wet hair all over his face. The rain was, fortunately, beginning to lighten up, but everything was still soaked, cold, and muddy.
“Did you see any stragglers?” Felix asked.
“S...stragglers? There are people still… back there?” he responded, alarmed.
“No, I… I mean… I don’t know…” Felix responded, just as flustered himself. “Don’t go back and look for any.” Raphael nodded in affirmation.

Ahead, the group had assembled on a wider section of the path, and with the rain petering off, people were trying to dry off with cloth and spare clothes. Ingrid and Lorenz seemed to be counting everyone, some people, struck hard by a rock or scratched while tripping, were being healed, while others like Annette and Sylvain were trying to start small fires or dry off the ground with magic.

Bernadetta stood off to the side talking with another person, and Felix, who sat down on a relatively dry rock nearby, couldn’t help but listen to their conversation.
“I should have never taken anyone down here,” she said. She was hushed and quiet, but the words fell out quickly, showing the stress and regret she felt “It’s just too dangerous, and now people are going to start using it. I’m so sorry, I’m a horrible leader, I already let Ingrid take over.”
“Bernadetta.” the man, now revealed to be Yuri said, cool and collected. (Yuri had not been in their party when they left Varley Castle, but Felix was not surprised by his unexplained appearance. If anyone could pop out of nowhere, it would be him.) “Look around. No one’s gone, or seriously hurt. We all fought at Tailteann Plains, a fight just as muddy, and a whole lot longer and hard-fought, than this little mudslide. This is nothing for you guys, and a single sleepless night march a few hours to Gareg Mach, you can take that too.”
Felix looked around and could see everyone, muddied, bloodied, and tired, standing around in the light of these fires, but no one seemed too unhappy. The man had made a fair point.

“That’s… true… but-”
You can’t even blame yourself for the dirty clothes, Bernadetta. No one can predict the rain, and that blast couldn't have been any run-of-the-mill lighting strike. Someone set up that landslide, but you guys just got out of the way first.”
Felix, in the darkness, nodded furiously in agreement. He couldn’t have put it better himself. He still didn’t want to put any pressure on Bernadetta until they got to the Monastery, but he needed to show some appreciation.
“Wait… someone… blew up the mountain? Uh… shouldn’t we try to get out of here… like… now? Bernadetta asked, the anxiety in her voice rising once again.
“That’s… actually very true.” Yuri Responded. “Hey!” Yuri said, raising his voice so the whole group can hear. “It’s only a few hours march to the Monastery, but for our own safety, we need to get moving now. Eat your snacks, light a few torches, and stay alert.” There was a general murmur of tiredness and disappointment from the crowd as people began to move again. Felix, looking at Yuri, gave him a smile and thumbs up after he had made the announcement, but Yuri seemed a bit less happy, upon looking at Felix. He pointed at Felix before hesitantly tapping his own right shoulder, while also raising a finger to the side of his face. Felix glanced at the shoulder, and a large hole in his coat remained in the spot where that rock slammed into it, a sizable gash dripping with a mixture of blood and mud. He barely felt the touch of his right hand as he drew it down the side of his wet face, but he could clearly see a dark substance, mixed with the water dripping down his face. The taste of rusted iron confirmed it. Everyone else seemed to look uninjured, outside of a few scratches all he needed to do was keep a low profile and stick to the back to keep anyone, especially Bernadetta, from noticing.

In a few minutes, everyone had grabbed their things, the remaining horses were ready to go, and the subdued procession continued marching down the dimly lit path. Felix left last, again, and at the back found Marianne, helping that horse, who had also been a bit injured in the whole affair, along the path. He didn’t even recognize her at first, her blue hair completely soaked and disorganized, making her look a lot less put together than normal. Great... Felix thought, partially unironically, although he would have preferred Mercedes to horse girl after that awkward encounter in the stables a little more than a week ago. At least she wasn’t talking to it…”
“Hey, Marianne.” he asked, catching her attention. When he gestured to his elbow and showed it to her, she gasped.
“Felix? Oh! That… doesn’t look good. Do, uh… you want me to help with that? And your head too?”
Felix nodded.
“Alright.” They stopped walking for a second and she cast some healing spells on his arm. All of a sudden, the numbness subsided as Marianne sprinkled water on his arm, and for a few seconds, Felix’s shoulder shot through with the pain and odd, itchy tingling of healing magic. The wound was deep, however, and kept on bleeding, so Felix had to take his wet coat and cut off his shirt arm so Marianne had to wrap it with a piece of cloth. The whole time, her horse seemed to glare at him, which made Felix increasingly uncomfortable.
“Do you want some food, for your blood sugar?” Marianne asked. “All I have is an apple. It was supposed to be for Dorte, but I think you might need it more.”
“I’m alright.” Felix quietly muttered, although he really was hungry. Something told him that that horse could understand what she was saying.
“Alright. They’re already a while ahead, so, we should probably get going.” Marianne said. She seemed oddly awake to Felix, considering they had been on the road for well over 16 hours by this point. He didn’t care though.
“Yes, we-I, can’t fall behind everyone again. And thank you, Marianne.” Felix said, with genuine sincerity. Maybe there was a side to Marianne he had never considered?

They trudged over large rocks, through muddy puddles, and under the trunks of fallen trees, exhausted, cold, and wet, until streams of orange sun once again shone above the mountains. It was only then the grey spires and walls of Gareg Mach finally came into view. As the group walked through the now-bustling town, through the monastery gates, and into the familiar market square, they couldn’t help but sing and cheer, relieved and grateful alike to have made it. Felix, although he stayed silent, was too tired to deny he felt the same. It had been a tough and dangerous little shortcut, for sure, but they would have more than a few days of waiting and recovery until Edelgard and the other Black Ealges would finally arrive, and the serious business of rescuing their Professor, would have to resume. Until they found him once again, these cherished halls would never feel complete.

Felix wanted to tell her so much, how he couldn’t forget his pale bloody face, muddy blond hair, guts rinsing away on the stone. How he remembered seeing his father for the last time, dead and cold, arm severed clean off at Arianrhod, before his body was reduced to dust as the fortress was blown to oblivion without warning, on what he now knew were the orders of Edelgard’s “uncle”. Sometimes, he even thought of Dedue, kneeling over on that muddy soil transforming into a beast before him, only to be slain in his inhuman form, or Catherine’s body, broken and burning in the ruins of Fhridhiad. He wanted to ask her why it had to be this way, why they all had to die, and why they weren’t out there, standing and dying alongside them.
But with just that expression, just those few words, he knew she knew all that, she asked those same questions with him, and so longed to share the same memories as he. Neither of them needed to hear that.
“Thank you, Ingrid.” he finally said, smiling.
“Thank you, Felix.” she responded with a nod and smile, before starting to walk off for her chambers.
Upon seeing that Felix didn’t move, Ingrid turned around, addressing him one final time.
“Hey. There’s no use getting stuck in the past. We can’t erase it, or forget it, but we can use it. Good night, Felix.”
“Night, Ingrid.” Felix responded, but he really was not sure what to make of her last comment. How was he supposed to use this sort of past for anything? How did she think she can “use” this sort of past? It sounded like empty encouragement, a simple plea for self-improvement. It was a bit disappointing, honestly. He would have expected something more constructive out of Ingrid.

About an hour passes. Felix, finally ready to go asleep, makes his way back to his room. Bordered on either side by Dimitri and Claude, it was, and is a constant reminder of the war. The only silver lining is that his room is always quiet and very private As he unlocks it and begins to slip in, he hears a slight creak as a door opens, Lorenz’s just on the other side of Claude’s. Felix instinctively ducked into his room barely looking out into the hallway, where Lorenz, wearing an uncharacteristically drab black cloak, walking with an even more constipated gait than usual. All of a sudden, Felix didn’t feel as ready to go to sleep. Out of pure curiosity, Felix snuck back out of his room without a sound, down the stairs, and into the moonlit lanes of Gareg Mach. There, he saw Lorenz, a hood over his head, making haste northwards, Felix following behind. He went around the training building before darting down the steep stairs going under the bridge to the cathedral, so Felix watched from above as he mounted a horse and set off northwest. Felix watched for a second, as the horse and its rider disappeared over a hill. Slowly, Felix slowly descended the stairs in the dark, lacking the magical light Lorenz had used. Felix had never gone down here at night, but seeing the heights of the cathedral and monastery, dark above him on low, was an interesting perspective that he had never experienced. Felix looked around for a few seconds, admiring the loneliness, the cool, and inspecting the hoofprints on the ground, when he heard the light patter of another horse running along the small road. Felix jumped into the dark shadow of the bush to let the next rider pass. To his surprise, it was yet another on a black horse, with a back cloak, and a hood covering their face, making the utmost haste northward, on a similar path Lorenz had taken. Then, after a glance around, the rider took off their hood, revealing, much to Felix’s shock, the unmistakable locks of Ingrid’s golden hair, shining in the moonlight. Felix, breathless in surprise and alarm, had a dozen questions burning in his mind. There was only one thing he could do to answer them, and so he set off along the road, attempting to trail Ingrid’s horse over the broad and open vistas of the Ogma mountains.

His shoulder, aggravated by his attempts to keep sight of Ingrid and her horse, grew sore again, so Felix couldn’t run as hard as he wanted and had fallen pretty far behind her. Still, he remained on the path, eventually leading to the wide-open Red Canyon.
'Why would she come here?’ he wondered, walking out into the darkened ruins. This was a dangerous place. A holy and powerful place, for certain, but still a dangerous one, with a record of wild beasts and bandit camps. After a few more minutes of walking through the ruins, trying desperately not to trip over some ancient goddess-crafted brick, Felix caught sight of an odd white light, faintly shining across the otherwise empty and dark canyon.
Cowering behind the ruin of some old stone wall, the curving form of the Crest of Flames engraved on its edge, Felix, calling upon all his experience being stealthy, peered through a hole to spy on the odd gathering. Actually, odd would have been an understatement to Felix. Four figures, dressed in dark cloaks, sat in a circle in all of the cardinal directions, around some odd white lantern, talking about… something, quite seriously. Felix had never seen anything like it before, but it seemed to have all the earmarks of something secret, if not occult. He looked harder, to identify the people engaged in this secretive gathering. Sure enough, Lorenz and Ingrid were there, leading Felix to wonder what those two people, of everyone, would have anything to do with each other, and why they, she, needed to keep it a secret from him. The other two, on the closer side of the circle to Felix, silhouetted by the lantern, were harder to distinguish, that is, until the one closest to him stood up, moving his distinctively long red hair into Felix’s view. It was unmistakable, their “Chancellor”. Still more thoughts, impulses, and assumptions, raced through Felix’s mind, but curiosity still held the wheel. He could hear talking, and pressed his ear up to the hold, to catch a breath of what he was saying. It seemed as if he was talking to Ingrid specifically...

“... for it is our duty as nobles, to uphold justice, prosperity, and freedom, both within our lands and our empire. Those men died honorably fulfilling their duty to their lieges and country, and although we were foes, I have the utmost respect for them and their will to stand by their duties, as much as I respect and admire the courage in your willingness to stand by your beliefs.”
Felix’s confusion was, at last, beginning to give way, but not to understanding, or pleasure, or anguish, but a righteous fury. “Noble duty?” “Honorable death?” “Standing by your duties and beliefs?” He was more than familiar with the true meaning of what was being said, deduce the vile purpose of this meeting. Now, the other unidentified individual, apparently Constance von Nuvelle, was speaking.
“I propose that we agree to recognize Ferdinand as our informal leader, and be willing to defer to his judgement on contentious issues, or if he has reason to believe the secrecy of this arrangement is under threat.”
It was a sentence more shocking than the last. A leader? Judgement on issues? Threatening their ‘arrangement?’ His initial thoughts and fears, that of conspiracy, secrecy, some shadowy organization, rushed back, all but confirmed. Assasination, sedition, deception, insurrection, all seemed to be well within the realm of possibility now. It all scared him, shocked him, angered him… but not more than Ingrid’s presence.
‘Why is she here? Did she agree to this? Does she agree with this?’
Ferdinand replied with some basic platitude, too faint for Felix to hear, but then, her voice, an assent that made Felix collapse to the pebbly ground, erasing any and all doubt-and hope-from his mind:
“Makes sense to me.”

Felix vainly attempted to listen further, but Felix just couldn’t bear to listen to it any further, learn any more, lest his worst fears continue to be confirmed. He was content with what horrible secret he now knew of: a cabal of seditious nobles, dead set on perpetuating the ideas of “nobility” that had cursed Bernadetta to a life of social shortcoming and psychological scarring, the notions of “chivalry” that had killed his brother, his father, and king, the corruption and division that had led Fodlan into the misery and war they had just supposedly overcome. Who would lead such a group but Ferdinand von Aegir, who alongside his fellow “nobles” stand proudly either ignorant or uncaring of the ramifications of their beliefs? Yet somehow, among them, Ingrid Brandl Galatea has found herself. She who had suffered so much as a noble, seeing her dreams crushed and her fiance die, now seeks to reinstate that old, rotten kingdom vassalage and knighthood that she foolishly admires idealizes. After more talk of finding “allies” among the landowning nobility, Felix could bear no more of it. Gripping the rocky soil of pebbles, bricks, and small wooden branches strewn across this ruined canyon, he crawls away, as silently as his emotions let him.

Felix walked back to the Monastery alone, through the patchy mountain woodlands and well away from any roads, trembling with pain and fury.
He came upon some meadow clearing, where the cold night air blew a bit sturdier, a bit harsher, than in the woods. Felix looked around, and seeing no one, took to his knees, placed his hands on the ground, and screamed down:
“DO YOU REMEMBER HIM? OR GLENN? RODRIGUE? DO YOU?”
He kneeled over, digging his fists into the soil, before punishing down into the ground to bring him to his feet. He took a breath, looked up at the moon, then forward at those woods ahead. Felix knew that he must be resolute, for the sacrifices of Glenn, Dmitri, and Rodrigue, the abuse of Bernadetta, denigration of Sylvain, the plight of Lysithea and Marianne, and for all people, of yesterday, today, or tomorrow who bear the curse of life in this damned Fodlan, he would put a stop to this, he must. He just hadn’t the faintest idea how…

---

Felix awoke, fists still caked in grime, atop a bed. A made bed, meaning it wasn’t his. In alarm, he rolled onto the blue-carpeted floor, and walked towards the door, cracking it open to look around. It was the familiar hallway, but only one door, Sylvain’s, was on his left. With a combination of disgust and shame, upon him, Felix lightly shut the door and frantically began brushing off the top sheet of the bed he was resting in, before grabbing his coat and swiftly slipping back into his room. Having walked back to Gareg Mach so late at night, he must have been tired and absentmindedly plopped himself down in another room’s bed. But… why in the world would anyone keep that room unlocked? Desperately ignoring this little hiccup, he recalled that they were going into Abyss that day, to retrieve the Professor, a worthy enough duty. He got dressed and set off downstairs, silver sword in hand. He would take no chances down there.

Felix approached the entrance to Abyss, which was, a bit unexpectedly, blocked by some guard. Felix had no time for any frivolities. He approached the and, conspicuously keeping his left hand right next to his sword, talked before he could say a word: “I have business in Abyss. Let me through.”
“Alright. Don’t cause a scene.” the guard said, stepping aside. A bit rough and disheveled himself, Felix seemed to have effectively intimidated the guard, who quickly stepped aside. Frankly, he was surprised Abyss was guarded at all, but it wasn’t like that guard would be stopping anyone from getting by.

Abyss was a dark and dingy little place, but Felix was expecting that. “He strolled into the large central room, where most of his old classmates had already begun to assemble themselves with their weapons, for the day’s exploration. A bit short of sleep and not in a mood to talk with anyone, Felix found a decent cardboard box on the other side of the road and settled on it.
“Hey, Felix. You ready to find the Professor today?” Annette asked.
“Of course. I would hope that all of us would be ready to find him any and every day.” he said right back, without even making eye contact.
“Uhhh… well, I suppose.” she responded. After a few more seconds of silence, she walked away.

After a few minutes of mulling and waiting, the Flame Emperor, back in all his armored old form, walked in, flanked by Ferdinand, the ringleader himself, looking as proud and assured as usual. They seemed surprised, proud to see all their classmates assembled in honor of their professor. Seeing that man, standing next to the Flame Emperor like the deputy he clearly so wanted to be, brought back a few of last night's emotions, with a bit more fear than before. Government infiltration isn’t necessary when your leader is already at its innermost circle. Bernadetta, still looking away, seemed oblivious to the Flame Emperor’s return, but the Flame Emperor, creeping up behind her, seemed intent on changing that.
"How was your trip through Varley?" the distorted voice asked, and Bernadetta, still regrettably ashamed of the travel issues that were not her fault, started talking, still oblivious.
“No, no, no, no…” he muttered to himself, getting up and stepping forward. He would not let this callous prank add a bit more anxiety to Bernadetta’s life. But he was too late, As he emerged to the front of the group, Bernadetta’s eyes made their way to the Flame Emperor’s emotionless mask.
"The Fffffflame Emperor! He's right here! Kill him! Kill him Ferdinand, Felix, anyone! Just save me! He's come for little Bernie! Oh merciful Goddess, forgive me my trespasses!" Bernadetta stammered, falling backward towards Felix, who reached out to catch her. She fell safely into his right arm, pushing it back in a way that stretched his shoulder muscles, causing a sharp spike of pain, silencing Felix’s attempt to inform her of the situation
"Bernadetta! It's just me, Edelgard!" the Flame Emperor boomed.
"You- you ate Edelgard?” Bernadetta, clearly delirious, asked. “You monster! I cherished her companionship...when she wasn't angry..."
Ferdinand, noble that he was, finally stepped in, presumably to assist, or at least look like he was doing something productive.
Just looking at the guy made Felix annoyed now, and seemed to scare him enough to back out. Typical.

The Flame Emperor finally took his mask off, showing their Emperor’s pale face.
"Bernadetta, I revealed to all of you the Flame Emperor's true identity. You were there. Did you pay attention at all?" she asked Bernadetta.
Felix helped Bernadetta get back up, looking at Edelgard now. He couldn’t understand why she would attempt such a prank on Bernadetta without expecting this sort of result. Did she really just not realize? Or even care?

Bernadetta, Edelgard, even Dorothea kept on talking about stuff, but Felix couldn’t really listen. Edelgard was right there. He could tell her, pull her aside about what he saw last night, what they were planning, but he knew that could not be done. It was too dangerous, she was callous and cruel to any opponents. Felix would rather have been burned alive in the embers of Fhirdhiad ten thousand times over than have Ingrid’s blood on his hands.
Edelgard soon entered the local tavern to find some information about Byleth’s location, and a good number of the group idly followed her through its narrow doorway. Felix looked inside, it looked like a rough, wild place, with plenty of big pots, suspicious characters, and aggressive alcohol sales tactics. Not something he wanted to deal with today, but it made sense why Balthus loved it down here. Bernadetta, too, opted to stay out. A good choice on her part. Standing back on the other side of the road, he wondered if gambling was even legal in the Empire. He knew it was technically banned in the Kingdom, but that wasn’t really enforced on anyone outside of the army or nobility. A few minutes later, some shouting came out of the tavern, and Felix, curious to see what was going on, walked up to peer through the door, but the mass of people on their feet, facing the central bar, was too dense.
A few minutes later. The Flame Emperor walked out, the rest of the entourage filling out of the tavern in tow.
“What happened in there?” Felix asked Sylvain, as he exited the building.
“Edelgard nearly choked some guy to get information about the Professor.” he responded, in a whisper.
“Choked him?” Felix asked, a bit confused.
“Yeah. She picked him right up and started choking him when he wouldn’t say anything.”
“Wait, so this was some interrogation?”
“Yeah, basically. It was pretty crazy to see, almost started a brawl.”
Felix sighed. Edelgard must be losing her mind now that Byleth’s gone, no one to temper her emotions. Weren’t they all? Others talk of some graveyard, some secret tomb, deep in Abyss, where information of the Professor was sure to be. Felix thought that was all well and good, but his thoughts lie elsewhere. Stuck between some unknown magical foe intent on bringing some destruction upon them all, a dangerously unhinged Emperor, and a senseless internal plot to wipe out what little progress has been made the future of Fodlan seemed to be heading in a very bleak direction, very fast, unless something was done. If he could not trust his professor, his emperor, or his friends, Felix knew he only had one choice: do that something, on his own, if he must.