Chapter Text
Hubert paused to observe his opponent before approaching. The swordswoman moved like a furious storm, slashing down hordes of opponents with a blade shining brighter than the flames engulfing the city around them. It was time for him to take on Thunder Catherine, wielder of Thunderbrand. Imperial soldiers were dying by the minute as she cut through them, but Hubert knew he could not afford to be hasty. He had the advantage, wielding a long-distance weapon, but one small misstep and he would be swiftly decapitated.
Before arriving at Catherine’s location, the group of three had struggled through the flaming streets of Fhirdiad, and had almost reached the top. An inhuman roar bellowed over them, drowning out the roar of the flames. They had almost reached their final target. They made steady progress until, at the turn of the stairs, a whirlwind of activity played out in the hallway before them. The professor immediately recognized their enemy.
“Catherine... We’ve almost reached the Immaculate One. We can’t afford to have Catherine running at our backs while we’re taking her down, we’ll have to take her out in advance.” She paused for a moment to consider their options. “Hubert, do you think you can take out Catherine with your magic? I’ll scout out a different route so the two of us can proceed to Rhea’s position.”
“That sounds like a wise plan, professor,” Hubert agreed. The plan was logical, and even though he was loath to leave Edelgard’s side at this final moment, he knew it was the better strategic decision. He turned to the Emperor and fell to his knee, conscious of the fact that this could be the last time they saw each other. “Your majesty… The time has come to seize your destiny. I know you will not fail.”
The emperor followed her teacher, but turned back to say farewell to her old friend. “Thank you Hubert, I’ll see you on the other side.”
Edelgard seemed surprised that some emotion had crept into his voice. Hubert was not normally an emotional person. The professor had leapt onto her pegasus once again, eager to get going.
“El, there’s a path we can take here,” she called out.
The two women had vanished down a side street of the capital. Hubert was left facing his solitary task.
Having decided his course of action, he urged his horse forward, galloping up the cobblestone street past the swordswoman just as she was distracted by another group of Imperial soldiers. Simultaneously, he spun up his first charge of dark magic. This allowed him to reach the high ground just above where she fought, giving him a clean line of sight to where Catherine stood. She noticed him immediately, realizing that worthier prey had arrived, she spun on her heels. She raised her sword and started towards him with no delay.
However, her attack came too late, for Hubert’s spell was ready. With a decisive gesture he sent it forward, and Catherine was quickly engulfed by a vortex of dark orbs and a horrible screeching sound, knocking her off her feet. He maneuvered his horse back a few steps, making sure the magic had landed. Catherine was back up in an instant, and raised her sword again, but as she tried to lurch towards him, her face fell in dismay. It was as if a force held her back, slowing her movement forward. Hubert smiled, confirming that his incantation had hit its mark.
A grimace spread over her face, she looked determined and downright murderous.
“I will pour everything into this blade--My body, my soul,” she called out. “Thunderbrand rumbles, urging me on. I am the goddess’ servant!”
“The goddess’ servant. My, my.” Hubert quipped back. “The goddess has not seemed terribly competent, so forgive me for not putting much faith in her followers either.”
“You traitorous bastard! You and your disgusting mistress will feel the goddess’ wrath for your lies. You will taste my blade!”
Undaunted by the magical miasma holding her back, she brandished her sword towards him once more.
Readying his next spell, he urged his horse forward, closing the distance between them slightly so he could hit his mark. He spurred his horse to rear up, the animal let out a fearful bellow as Hubert raised his arms above his head, lifting the dark magic and bringing it down, thrusting it in the direction of Catherine’s head. He kept his eyes on his opponent as his horse came down, the forward momentum carrying them both forward. To his dismay, he watched as Catherine nimbly rolled out of the spell’s path: she had hit the ground and in an incredible feat of athleticism bounded right back up and into the path Hubert’s horse was heading towards. She cracked a grin as she saw him heading towards her and raised Thunderbrand in the air, clearly prepared to bring it down on his head. The horse’s momentum was too great for him to change course, and he could not avoid barrelling straight towards her blade.
Reacting instinctually, he reached for his one remaining weapon, the lance he wore at his side, the Arrow of Indra. Having participated in fencing tournaments in the empire capital, he was well-practiced at the technique of running down an opponent at a distance on horseback. Catherine was still slowed by the spell, and he hoped that would be enough to allow him to pierce her before she could dodge and retaliate. Brandishing the lance with both hands, he held it in front of him as far as possible, hoping to outrange Thunderbrand. He let out a wild laugh as the lance crackled with dark magic. As he wielded it, Catherine raised her blade as he approached, but she was too late. She let out a sickened gasp as the magic blade pierced through her armor like it was nothing, the magical spear sinking through the metal as if it were as thin as a sheet of parchment. However, even though she had been impaled, she still managed to bring down her final blow. Hubert twisted his arms to exert torque on the lance, spinning her at the end of it, and managed to slightly deflect her blow. It missed his skull and came down on his shoulder instead, catching between plates of his armor and slicing his arm.
He tumbled from his horse, clutching his shoulder, but she lay on the ground, gasping. Catherine would not rise again. He pulled the lance back, readying it for another blow.
“Are you going to torture me now? You despicable rat...” she spat at him, saliva tinged red.
Hubert looked down at his opponent, letting the lance fall to his side as he realized she was incapacitated. Coughing, her head fell to the ground once more.
“I suppose, in the end, we’re not so different, you and me. Heh.”
Hubert’s lips curled up in disgust at the woman’s words. “You waste your last words on such nonsense?”
“I assume the emperor took you in like Lady Rhea helped me… Lady Rhea… My service ends here. It’s been an honour.” she let out in a rasping breath, her gaze falling towards the central square of Fhirdiad, where her mistress was fighting.
She would be dead in a moment, and there was no need to waste time. Instead of leaving her to die slowly from the grisly wound piercing her chest, he readied a quick Miasma spell and sent it directly to her head. The spell interfered with the body’s nerve activity, and it provided a quick and painless death.
Now that he was no longer in danger, he turned his attention back to his surroundings. Imperial and church forces clashed around him, some of them his own Vestra engineers who were sending off dark spells, giving off sparks of purple glow amidst the red light of the flames. Above the din another murderous roar sounded, reminding him that he needed to hasten to his liege’s side. Using only one hand, he gripped the saddle of his horse and climbed back up, urging his steed forward and up the staircase towards where the two women fought the monstrous dragon.
As he sped forward, he observed the surrounding battle from horseback. Many bodies lay in the streets of the city, bearing both church and imperial colours. He galloped down a narrow cobblestone street with apartments looming on both sides. He wondered briefly how the inhabitants were faring, but he knew there was no time to dwell on that now. Rounding the corner, he turned to face a stone bridge across a canal. He had pored over the maps of Fhirdiad tirelessly in preparation for the battle, and he knew that this was the last stretch he had to cross before he would be at the main plaza. Most of the church soldiers had been cleared out of this area, but he did notice some falcon knights hovering in the distance. He hoped to outrun them.
In the distance, he saw an aerial battle play out. By the number of pegasi pursuing the wyvern rider, he supposed it was the troops they had sent to take out Cyril. Finally, the wyvern fell from the sky, pierced by an arrow from below. The Imperial forces seemed to be pressing steadily forward.
He could not see much due to the smoke, flames, and rubble obscuring his view, but he urged his horse to a dangerous gallop, doding the piles of debris. His mind raced, unable to be calm amidst the chaos surrounding him. What would he find when he made it to the city centre? He was certain this would be the end of their fight against the church, but who would be the victor? His horse galloped at full speed, almost passing by the bottom of the staircase that led to the main plaza of Fhirdiad. He wheeled his horse to an abrupt stop. At the top of the stairs, a huge, hulking white mass was visible, and two figures were on the ground. He leapt off his horse, crying out.
“Lady Edelgard!”
He rushed up the steps, paying no heed to his injured arm, singed robes, or slight limp, conjuring a fireball in his palm. His full attention was focused on the two figures on the ground in front of him. With relief, he saw that the Emperor was seated and appeared to be alive, the professor was lying in her arms. At that moment, all of the sense of dread in his body melted away. He was not too late. In an instant, it was replaced with the firm resolve to keep her alive. Magic at the ready, he fixed his attention on his next target: the Immaculate One. The dragon seemed to be sprawled out on the ground, he couldn’t see any signs of movement, but out of caution he sprinted to the other side of the plaza and placed himself in between the dragon and the two women.
He paused. The dragon did not seem to stir. Cautiously, he turned back to Edelgard.
“Is she...” he gasped, out of breath.
“She’s dead, Hubert. It’s over”
He let out a sigh, and the magic flame extinguished itself in an instant. He turned to face the emperor where she was crouched on the ground. With relief, he saw that she didn’t seem to be crouched over in pain, he saw no blood on her, and she seemed to be unharmed.
“And the professor?”
“I’m still alive,” came Byleth’s voice, managing to lift her head from Edelgard’s lap and giving a weak grin.
Hubert let out the last of the breath he had been holding. “I’m glad to hear that too.”
“Where are the rest of our troops?” Edelgard asked, “Cyril was holding down the fort to the East, should we advance...”
“Cyril is dead,” Hubert interrupted. “And so is Catherine. I suggest we order the troops to withdraw. We should attempt to evacuate some of the citizens that remain in the city as well. While the troops return to our base they should accompany any citizens they find and help to find a safe path through the debris.”
“Thank you Hubert, yes, we’ll proceed with that plan,” Edelgard nodded. She turned to Byleth, whose back still rested against her arm. “Well, I suppose we should get going then, professor? And try to find some of the officers...” she asked softly, slowly withdrawing the support of her arm.
“Yes,” Byleth replied as she made a shaky effort to stand up. “I should really get to helping Dorothe---agh!” Her attempt at speaking was cut off as she swayed dangerously, losing her balance. Edelgard caught the professor’s arm, holding it steady.
“You can barely stand,” the Emperor pleaded, “Let me assist you!”
At the sight of Edelgard struggling to stand, Hubert stepped forward. He knew she wouldn’t be happy if he cut in ahead of her, but his fear about her health was too great to allow him to stand back.
“Lady Edelgard, you’re injured as well. It would be a disaster if you overexerted yourself after the decisive battle. Allow me to assist you, I can help the professor.”
“Hubert, don’t be ridiculous, you’re barely standing yourself, and what happened to your arm?” Edelgard countered. “I’m the less injured one between us two, I insist.”
Neither of them had noticed that Byleth had already begun walking away from them.
“I’ll manage on my own,” she muttered, shrugging them both off. She walked towards the edge of the plaza, looking around. “Where is my pegasus?”
The two left behind watched tensely. Edelgard released a deep sigh as the professor seemed to find her footing. At the same time, Hubert realized the absurdity of the situation, how they had fallen so quickly into bickering while they were still in the midst of wrapping up this battle, his own obsessive nature in conflict with her wishes. He turned away from both of them to resume his survey of their surroundings. Edelgard set off to follow the professor. Hubert stole another glance at the dragon’s corpse, looming large behind them.
“Hubert, are you coming?” the Emperor asked, looking back from just ahead.
“We’ll need to secure this area promptly,” he gestured at the looming body of the Immaculate One. “I’ll need to oversee the preparations. You two should go on ahead.”
“Will you be alright here by yourself?”
“Yes, I think it’s quite safe. All the enemy generals have been defeated. And, I’ll need to direct my sorcerers after all.” He gestured at the battalion of sorcery engineers that had caught up with him. They waited at the bottom of the steps. “There are several cloaking spells we need to prepare and-”
Before he could finish, Edelgard turned to face her old friend, and then grabbed him quickly in a tight embrace.
“I’m glad you’re okay, Hubert.”
His cheeks coloured, but he knew the flickering light from the flames would camouflage that fact. The moment of physical contact gave him confidence. Edelgard was really alive, a tangible physical form, and Rhea was really dead on the ground in front of them. “I… I can’t quite believe it’s finished. Not that I ever thought you were incapable-” he quickly corrected. “But to see our plans come to fruition…”
“Yes, I’m so glad it’s over.”
“Well, partially. Now we’ll have to see if our gamble paid off...”