Chapter Text
Everything was hazy.
The battlefield spun around her as the sounds of clashing metal began to fade away, her breath catching as she grasped desperately for any solid form to hold. Even the pain in her ribcage was starting to numb, her knees buckling underneath her as she collapsed. A flash of pink dashed into sight just as her vision started to slip away, her whole world going black…
“Marianne!”
Hilda was at her side in an instant, barely managing to break her fall. The infected villager Marianne had just dodged was advancing quickly, but no matter how many times Hilda shook the blue-haired beauty, she just wouldn’t come to. She didn’t have time to inspect Marianne’s wounds as the villager loomed just a few feet away, lifting his arms to strike. Hilda laid her friend down gently before raising her axe, steeling herself as she lunged forward.
“That’s enough!” she shouted, slicing his abdomen. The villager staggered back, letting out a sickly groan. Even as blood began to pour from the wound, he advanced again, leaving Hilda with no other choice. She swallowed back the burning bile that built in the back of her throat, reminding herself this was for her friend’s safety — for the safety of the entire village.
She swung again, closing her eyes just as her axe made contact with the rampaging villager, tearing cleanly through the center of his neck. She heard two distinct thumps as the villager’s body fell to the ground, right beside the decapitated head. Tears welled in her eyes as Hilda turned away, the death toll never getting any easier. She had only been with the Blue Lions for a little over two weeks, and already the Professor had sent her into several gruesome, unrelenting battles. Had she known she would have been forced to do the unthinkable when she decided to follow Marianne to the Blue Lions, she would have strongly reconsidered. Oh, how she missed her days of slacking…
“Is… is he gone?”
Hilda opened her eyes at last, following the direction of a weak, timid voice. A young villager poked his head out from behind a nearby wall, terror in his eyes as he stared at the bloodbath before him. She nodded, trying her best to smile in spite of the agonizing guilt that was eating away inside of her. “You’re safe… Now go, get out of here!”
The villager did not so much as hesitate as he fled from his hiding spot toward the nearest clear exit. When she was finally alone again, Hilda let out a deep, hollow sigh, and dropped to her knees beside her unconscious friend.
“Marianne? Come on, now’s not the time to sleep…”
She scooped the armor-clad girl into her arms, silently wondering to herself why Marianne had even decided to become a mercenary. Just three weeks ago, her friend was still hiding amongst the shadows of the monastery, keeping to herself, and barely so much as looking at a physical weapon. But ever since they’d both joined the Blue Lions, Hilda had noticed a different side to Marianne, one that appeared eager to always throw herself into battle and fight at the front lines. It was admirable, for sure, but Hilda could not help but fear that Marianne was getting a little too far in over her head. It was why she had chosen to switch houses alongside her in the first place.
The enemies were dwindling, now. Hilda could hardly see past the ash and rubble around her, but the sounds of fighting were becoming few and far between. She knew she needed to get Marianne to safety, but even as strong as she was, she did not have the energy to carry her all the way back to the monastery. She lifted Marianne onto her back and moved forward, beginning to search for any of her comrades.
“Hello?” she called out, following the drifting sounds of battle. Somewhere toward the front of the village a horse neighed, and one of their accompanied knights let out a loud cry. Definitely not that way, she thought to herself as she turned back the way she’d just come.
“Hilda!” The voice came from the western edge of the village, urgent and concerned. Dimitri emerged from a thick wall of smoke, coughing as he stopped to catch his breath. He glanced up at her, his eyes wide with shock as he spotted Marianne. “What happened?! Are you alright?”
Upon seeing a familiar face, Hilda’s heart nearly collapsed. She blinked away the remainder of her tears, hoping Dimitri didn’t notice as he approached her. “I’m fine… But Marianne, she—”
“Is she..?” he started, an unusual crack in his voice. His shoulders tensed as he lifted a hand to the unconscious girl on Hilda’s back.
“No, no ,” she assured him with a breath of relief, actually allowing herself to smile. At least she could say for absolute sure that Marianne was still alive. But there was no telling to what extent her current injuries had affected her. “She had quite the fall, and I think she may have hit her head. She hasn’t so much as stirred since I found her.”
Dimitri nodded, his lips setting into a hard, serious line. He moved beside Hilda, shifting half of Marianne’s weight onto his own back. “We need to get her back to Professor Maneula.”
He started to move back in the opposite direction, Hilda moving with him to keep Marianne’s body stable. “Isn’t the exit the other way?” she asked him.
“Flayn is just up ahead. We can have her fly Marianne back by pegasus.”
Hilda frowned, not particularly fond of the idea of leaving her friend, but she knew Flayn was their best and quickest chance of returning Marianne safely to the monastery. She continued on at Dimitri’s side, occasionally glancing back at their unconscious housemate in case she started to wake. Her breathing was heavily labored, and even through the armor, Marianne’s chest seemed to feel unusually deformed. Hang in there, Mari…
When the smoke finally cleared and they reached the western edge, they found Flayn flying above the ruins, searching for wounded villagers. Mercedes, who had been using magic to heal the injured, immediately took notice of the trio, and rushed over with a large, splintered plank, laying it at their feet. “Oh my! Set her down, let her rest.”
Dimitri removed Marianne from Hilda’s back, lowering her gently to the plank. “Thank you, Mercedes.” He turned his gaze up toward the sky, seeming to gauge the distance between them and Flayn. “I will be back,” he asserted before running off in the pegasus knight’s direction.
“Are you alright, Hilda?” Mercedes asked as soon as Dimitri was out of earshot. Hilda hadn’t been with the Blue Lions for very long, but she had easily found a kinship with the kind, softhearted Mercedes. She was also a wonderful singer, and Hilda quite enjoyed attending choir practice with her and Annette every weekend. But right now, in the middle of a destroyed village, dead and injured civilians and soldiers scattered throughout the ruins, Hilda felt more alone and distraught than she had since leaving the Golden Deer.
She knelt down at Marianne’s side, reaching for her friend’s hand. “I’ll be okay as long as she pulls through,” she whispered to Mercedes, a somber smile just barely meeting her lips.
Hilda couldn’t explain exactly what it was that had drawn her so much to Marianne. But ever since the first day they’d met at Garreg Mach, since she’d first seen the meek and downcast girl huddled in the back of the classroom, Hilda had made it her mission to become her friend. She had never met a more clumsy and disorganized individual, and although those types of people usually gave her immediate pause, there was something about Marianne’s genuine, almost frail demeanor that Hilda found quite charming.
So when Marianne announced a few weeks earlier that she wanted to join the Blue Lions, Hilda was admittedly a little heartbroken, if not slightly taken aback. She had wondered if one of their housemates had said or done something wrong, if she herself had scared the timid girl away. Claude had done everything in his power to make everyone feel like they belonged in the Golden Deer, although sometimes his tactics lacked sensitivity. But Marianne had assured them all that she appreciated and admired their kindness, and that she looked forward to still attending classes with them. She simply wanted a different change of pace, and she believed that the new Professor would provide her with what she desired.
Now, there she was, lying unconscious on a makeshift stretcher surrounded by the dead and broken. Hilda couldn’t help but feel like they had both taken the wrong path, that none of this would have happened had they just remained with the Golden Deer. Why, why , of all classes, would Marianne have chosen to become a mercenary? She had never expressed interest in fighting before, had been quite passive to battle up until she’d started spending time with Dimitri outside of class. Had she joined the Blue Lions because she was smitten? Had he been the one to put her up to it?
She shook her head. No, Dimitri seemed just as surprised when the two of them had shown up to the Blue Lions homeroom that first morning. He had been closely watching Marianne ever since, seeming just as concerned as Hilda about her sudden, almost reckless decisions. If Dimitri had any influence on her behavior, he certainly was oblivious, and Hilda couldn’t help but admire him for it. There truly was nothing the boy wouldn’t do for his fellow classmates, Blue Lion or otherwise.
Mercedes kept Marianne’s breathing stable with a healing spell as they awaited Dimitri’s return. “She’ll be just fine,” she assured Hilda in that sugary sweet voice of hers. It was absolutely amazing how calm the woman could be in such a disaster, even as the Professor, the rest of the Blue Lions, and the Knights of Seiros fought an unknown force several streets ahead. So many lifeless bodies, so many injured, so many ruins scattered all around them, the once peaceful Remire Village now reduced to nothing but rubble and ash.
“I’m here!” a voice called from above before Hilda could allow her thoughts to lead her too deep into a place of despair. Flayn swooped down and landed her pegasus, walking it over to the three girls. Dimitri appeared a moment later, once again out of breath.
In just a few minutes, all four of them managed to secure Marianne to the back of the pegasus, and Flayn took her place, gently leading the winged horse away from the village. Hilda watched as she flew away, finally releasing a heavy sigh.
“We should clean up and find the others,” Dimitri instructed Hilda and Mercedes. “It sounds like the battle has almost ceased.”
And so Hilda did just that, following her new comrades further into the village, Marianne’s condition never leaving her mind.