Chapter Text
Shez stood in the middle of one of the final strongholds in the area. His eyes were closed as he waited for the first squad to arrive. Arval, his companion and best friend for years at this point, pondered their current situation. “While I am not doubting your strength, are you certain you want to do this?”
Shez nodded. “Don’t worry Arval, I can handle it. Berling and the others are busy guarding the goods while I handle Jeralt’s mercenaries” he said, reassuring Arval somewhat.
“Hmm…I’m surprised that you managed to convince Berling. She’s normally pretty stubborn and protective” Arval commented. It was true, Berling was stubborn. Luckily, she had a soft spot for Shez.
“You want to do WHAT?!” Berling exclaimed, giving Shez a look that implied she thought he had lost his mind. Considering what he had been through in the past, it was a miracle that he hadn’t lost his mind.
Shez rolled his eyes at her surprise. “Berling, I can handle it. You know how strong and durable I am. I can handle a bunch of stabs and arrows” he said. It was true, Berling had witnessed Shez shrug off injuries that should have killed him, or at the very least, been very fatal. They were VERY lucky that only Berling had seen Shez heal from those injuries, because if anyone else had seen them, Shez’s secret would have been out.
Berling, for the first time in a while, removed her helmet, revealing her long black hair. Berling rarely did this in front of people. Shez didn’t know the exact reason why that was, but he didn’t care too much. He did know that he was in for a serious talk. They had talks like this before, and this was just another one to add to the long list of talks.
Berling placed her helmet next to her. She then placed her arms across her legs. “*Sighs* Shez, when I first met you, I didn’t know what I was in for. When you told me that you had escaped from a lab after going through sh*t that no child should go through, I almost didn’t believe you. Then I realized that you had skills no 12-year-old should have. That’s when I knew I needed to keep an eye on you” she said, recalling the moment she realized Shez was no normal kid.
Shez raised an eyebrow. “And yet you still waited until I was 16 before finally letting me fight” he stated, not really upset about that too much.
Berling chuckled at Shez’s statement. “Kid, I am NOT about to send a 12-year-old into an active battlefield. Most people in our profession have their first actual battle at 15. You had yours earlier than that.” Berling then frowned as she looked away. “I thought that it was too early for you to experience the grayness of Fodlan. A young mind like yours probably wouldn’t be able to handle it.”
“But I HAVE seen the grayness of Fodlan” Shez countered. “The moment I lost my mom was when my view of the world was shattered. Everything else, I just got used to it over time. Trust me, I knew what I was doing even at a young age.”
Berling’s frown deepened. She knew what Shez was implying, and she didn’t like it. Still, it’s not like she could do anything about it. “Right. The point is, I still saw you as immature just because you were a kid. After a few months, I realized just how mature you were. Instead of doing normal kiddie things, you were focused on training. Anytime someone told stories, you weren’t interested at all.”
Shez frowned. “I don’t have time to read stories I already heard or read before. Besides, it’s not like most mercs are great storytellers anyway. Remember how Getz tells his stories?”
Berling snorts as she remembers the time Getz told a story. It wasn’t the story itself that was amusing; it was how he told it. Getz had NO clue how to tell a story. “Yeah, I remember” she said before her face turned neutral. “Anyway, once you turned 15, I considered letting you go on a mission with us, but I didn’t have it in me. Part of me still thought you were a kid, and that blinded me.”
Shez crossed his arms. “Then why did you let me help on that mission with the Knights of Seiros?” he asked.
Berling remained silent for a few moments, looking down into the fire. When she spoke up again, she sounded a bit solemn. “There are a few reasons…but the bigger one was the fact that most of the group thought you were dead weight. Some of them wanted to cast you aside, leaving you on your own…” she said. She looked up at Shez and gave him a sad look. “I didn’t have it in me. So, I needed to prove to them that you were worth keeping around.”
Shez nodded in understanding. He had heard the other mercs talking sh*t about him behind his back, not that he cared too much, if at all. “Well, I guess that answers that question. So, if you know how powerful I am, would you let me handle things with Jeralt’s mercs while you focus on keeping the goods safe?”
Berling rubbed the back of her head. “You’ll probably do your own thing even if I tell you no” she said with a sigh before getting up and taking a step closer to Shez. Berling found it a little annoying that Shez was a bit taller than her. Compared to most males, Shez wasn’t too tall himself, and that made it even more annoying. Still, that didn’t stop her from ruffling Shez’s hair like an older sibling would to a younger sibling. “Just don’t get yourself killed. You’ve got a lot of potential to grow. Not just as a fighter, but as a person” she said with a small smile.
Shez didn’t pay too much attention to the part where he had room to grow as a person, as that wasn’t his concern. Still, he appreciated the gesture. He gave Berling the tiniest smile, which was a genuine rarity when it came to Shez. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. And…thanks for looking after me for all these years” he said. Berling kept him fed and taught him a few things along the way, and Shez appreciated that greatly.
“I wonder why she messed with my hair like that…” he thought aloud.
“She mentioned having a younger brother once. Maybe you reminded her of him in some way” Arval suggested. “But I think you have better things to worry about.”
Shez knew what Arval was implying and sent out a pulse. Sure enough, there was a small group heading his way. Shez got up and pulled out his swords. “Here we go…”
When the group arrived, they seemed like your typical mercenary group. 5 mercs were in this group, and all of them had axes. This would make them weak against Shez since swords triumphed over axes, but Shez had no need to use his swords on them. One of the mercs pointed at Shez and laughed. “This is all they’ve got?! One kid?!” he guffawed as the other mercs laughed alongside him. Shez didn’t respond, instead putting away one sword and pointing a finger at the laughing merc. The merc didn’t even flinch. “What are you gonna do, nag me to dea-“
A precise beam of fire pierced through the merc’s heart. The other mercs stopped laughing when they saw the small hole in their ally’s heart. The poor merc looked down at the hole. He then looked at Shez, who had his finger still out. Normally, magic users weren’t so precise with their magic, at least not like this. Shez was just applying his training with his conduit abilities to his magic, which is why the shot was so precise. Plus, he had another power that allowed him to fire projectiles with enhanced vision that also made things seem a bit slower than usual.
The merc fell to the ground face-first, dead thanks to his lack of a heart. The other mercs looked at Shez before three of them yelled and charged towards him with their axes raised. Shez just raised two more fingers and fired three more beams of fire. Each shot landed perfectly, causing the mercs to start burning. They all screamed as the fire melted their skin, the heat too much for them to handle.
The final merc watched in horror as his allies were burned alive, reduced to nothing but charred corpses on the ground. The merc screamed in terror and turned his back on Shez, running away like a coward. Shez rolled his eyes. “Well, I guess I should follow him. He’ll lead me to the others.”
…
“So, has anyone found them yet?” a man on a horse said. He had scars on his face and wore mostly orange. This was Jeralt Reus Eisner, also known as the Bladebreaker. He had been expecting a mercenary force to be in the strongholds, which is why they planned to attack the strongholds before going after the goods they were hired to take.
A woman, having dark blue hair and slightly brighter blue eyes. She wears grey and black robes, tights with a unique pattern, and an armor bib. This was Byleth, the infamous Ashen Demon, known for her emotionlessness when killing enemies. She shook her head at Jeralt’s question. “No, nothing. There are three other groups still looking, but they haven’t returned.”
Jeralt ruffled his hair in mild frustration. “I don’t get it. Why would Berling leave this place undefended. It’s the only way we can get to our target after all.” He didn’t know Berling personally, but he still knew that she wasn’t an idiot.
Byleth hummed in thought as the other mercs were starting to get bored. “Perhaps the mercenary known for his magical abilities and dual wielding is the only defense. He may be hiding in one of the strongholds.” She knew the mercenary had no nickname, but he had a reputation.
Jeralt snorted. “The merc that singlehandedly made a group of bandits surrender?” he asked, not really believing that one merc was enough to take on their entire squad. He had heard the rumors, but he still thought that Berling would be pretty stupid to rely on one person.
That’s when a dead body landed right in front of them. Byleth’s eyes widened ever so slightly in surprise. “Where did…?” she trailed off, looking around for an enemy. In the distance, she saw multiple mercs being launched into the air by an updraft. A purple haired teen warped between each mercenary, killing them one by one using his two swords. Byleth’s eyes narrowed slightly. “So, I was correct.”
Jeralt groaned. “This is gonna get messy…”
Back with Shez, he was mowing down the mercs with ease. One merc tried to stab him from behind, but he quickly turned and parried the attack with his sword, stabbing the merc in the neck. He pulled his sword out, causing blood to flow wildly from the wound he had inflicted. The merc choked on his own blood before falling to the ground.
Shez turned to two more mercs. The pair fired arrows from their bows, but Shez swiftly deflected the arrows using his swords, sending them right back at the mercs. The precision needed for this was insane, but Shez’s harsh training made him incredibly precise. The arrows pierced the eyes of the bandits, causing them to scream out before Shez used ice magic to finish them off, piercing their bodies with ice spikes from beneath the ground.
“BEHIND YOU!” Arval warned with urgency. Shez created a pillar of ice beneath him, allowing him to leap high into the air and avoid another attack. Shez turned around in the air and saw a few bow knights. The knights aimed high and fired their arrows at the airborne Shez. Shez created a shield made of darkness to block the arrows, causing them to bounce off harmlessly. Shez used the spell Dark Spikes to summon multiple dark projectiles around the bow nights. The projectiles attacked the knights with ruthless efficiency, causing them to perish.
Shez landed harmlessly on the ground, cracking his neck. “This is no trouble at all. These guys must be new” he observed.
“To be fair, a lot of mercenaries lack the training you do. You can’t exactly blame them” Arval commented as Shez made his way to the next stronghold.
The next group had one big guy with them, holding two axes in his hands. He looked strong, but his massive size was something Shez could exploit. The big axe wielder grinned as he stomped the ground. “Ready to meet the goddess punk?!”
Shez didn’t respond, instead choosing to take a stance. The big man yell and charged forward, slamming his axes down towards Shez. Shez just sidestepped the attack, causing the big merc to get his axes stuck in the ground. Shez knew that he was not only physically stronger than this guy, but also faster.
The big merc pulled his axes out and tried a slash attack. Shez leapt over the horizontal slash, landing behind the big merc. Shez slashed his swords across the merc’s back, leaving 2 large gashes. The merc cried out in pain, but he didn’t go down. The merc turn around, only to be met with a kick to his face. The merc was sent flying back a bit, but he still stood his ground.
The big guy wiped some blood from his mouth and spat out a tooth. “*Growls* I’ve had enough of you! Die already!” he yelled, swinging wildly like a madman. Shez dodged every swing with ease, even parrying a few and countering with a slash attack. The wild fighter yelled out in annoyance and slammed his axes down again, only for Shez to meet the axes with his swords head on.
The big guy was shocked by this move. “What the hell?!” he exclaimed. “How the hell can a pipsqueak like you stand up to me?!” he yelled, trying to push Shez back, but it was impossible as Shez stood his ground.
Shez just rolled his eyes. “You don’t need to know that” he said before using his strength to push the big merc back. Shez stabbed both of his swords into the merc’s chest before dragging them up and across his body, causing a wave of blood to fly out. The big guy fell to the ground with a large thud as Shez wiped the blood from his swords. “Too easy.”
Shez then turned towards the other mercs, giving them a blank stare. He heard them start talking to each other, comparing him to the Ashen Demon, whose name was Byleth apparently, not that Shez cared too much. Shez pointed one of his swords at the mercenaries in a threatening manner. “I’m not letting a single one of you near the goods, just letting you know.”
The other mercs looked at each other with nervous expressions. One person had singlehandedly taken down one of their best guys like it was no big deal. What hope did they have. Still, they had a mission, and they were going to complete it. So, the mercs pulled out their weapons. Shez shrugged. “Alright, have it your way.”
Shez took a stance and pulled both of his swords back, almost as if he was preparing to draw them from a scabbard. A violet aura surrounded Shez as his swords glowed purple. “Take this!” he yelled, slashing his swords. The slash released two large waves of dark magic that sliced through the mercenaries like butter. Only a few of them were smart enough to duck under the waves. The rest were sliced in half, leaving them without their torsos. It was a bloodbath at this point.
Shez was about to finish off the remaining mercs when someone called out, “Enough!” Shez looked to his right to see Byleth, the Ashen Demon. The remaining mercs breathed heavy sighs of relief. Byleth’s gaze met Shez’s. Both of them knew that there was something special about the other. Byleth observed Shez with her eyes. ‘Interesting. He seems to be only a few years younger than me, yet he was able to do all of this on his own…’ she thought.
Shez was also somewhat curious about Byleth. It wasn’t an attraction or anything, it was a weird feeling he had. Activating his pulse, he could see something else within her. He wasn’t sure what it was, but it wasn’t normal. It was like there was another being inside of her. ‘Arval, she’s like us, isn’t she?’
“I cannot say for sure, but she’s an enemy, and she needs to be taken down” Arval responded. Arval had no idea why he was so gung-ho for taking Byleth down, but Shez wasn’t about to question it.
“It would be smart of you to surrender” Byleth said with little emotion, raising her sword in a slightly threatening manner. Looking into Shez’s eyes, she didn’t see the typical co*cky mercenary that wanted to kill her for glory, nor did she see someone who was afraid of her because of her status as the Ashen Demon. No, she saw almost nothing but apathy. She had to wonder what could cause someone as young as Shez to possess such a lack of emotion.
Shez took his stance, ready to attack. “No. I have a mission to complete, and I intend to do just that” he responded with an equal lack of emotion. The two mercenaries stared each other down for a moment. Jeralt and the other mercs watched in anticipation, waiting for someone to make the first move. That person was Shez, who threw his sword like a javelin towards Byleth. Byleth deflected the blade, causing it to vanish. The sword was actually a distraction, allowing Shez to use shadowflash to quickly close the distance and slash at Byleth with his other blade. Byleth managed to realize what Shez was up to and avoided the slash, but she didn’t anticipate Shez summoning the sword he threw back into his hands. Shez quickly changed his position to try and stab Byleth in the chest, but she managed to block it with her sword. The force behind the stab was powerful enough to push her back.
Shez didn’t stop his assault, leaping into the air and performing a jumping slash. Byleth rolled away from the attack and sent a fireball towards Shez. Shez made one sword disappear and, much to the shock of everyone there, CAUGHT the fireball with his bare hand! Shez held the ball in his hand for a bit before throwing it to the side.
Byleth, for the first time ever, showed genuine shock. Her mouth and eyes were opened slightly so she could not believe what she had just witnessed. Looking at Shez’s hand, she saw no burn marks or anything to indicate that he was hurt. ‘How is that possible?’ she thought. No normal person could just hold a fireball like that.
She wasn’t the only one surprised by this. Jeralt had a weird sense of deja-vu. ‘The only person I’ve seen do that is…’ Jeralt’s thoughts trailed off as his eyes narrowed. ‘No…that’s not possible. They all should be dead…’ he thought. He looks at Shez a lot closer, eyeing the purple hair and eyes specifically. ‘The eyes and hair match his, and the hairstyle resembles hers somewhat…’
Shez took advantage of Byleth’s shock and fired a beam of fire magic. Byleth was expecting him to fire it straight at her, but instead Shez aimed it at the ground, drawing a line in front of Byleth. The line carved into the earth and released a wave of fire. Byleth quickly used wind magic to blow away part of the flames, but Shez used the gap between the flames as an opening to attack with his swords. Byleth used wind magic to send Shez flying back with a powerful gust of wind. Shez recovered mid-air and threw a fireball from his palm, planning to incorporate some of his training with his conduit powers into his magical abilities.
Byleth thought that this would be easy to deal with, but she was wrong. The fireball split into multiple fireballs that scattered around Byleth, remaining stationary before they all exploded one by one. Byleth leapt away to avoid the worst of it, but she was still burned and sent flying back. Part of her cloak was burned too.
Shez had to admit, this woman lasted a lot longer than anyone else he had faced recently. Still, she was in his way, and if she wasn’t going to stand down, he would cut her down. Shez ran at Byleth before leaping and performing a cross slash. Byleth managed to block the slash and backflipped into the air. She raised her hand forward and cast a thunder spell, sending a wave of lighting towards Shez.
Shez could have just absorbed the lighting using his powers, but he had no intention of revealing he was a conduit. So, he leapt into the air, raised his swords, and caught the attack with them. While in the air, he swung his swords, sending the lightning right back at Byleth, who was shocked (literally) by the move. She cried out in pain as lightning coursed through her body. Shez warped above her and delivered a powerful axe kick that slammed her into the ground. Byleth quickly rolled up, which was a good move on her part as Shez put away his swords as he fell, pouring dark magic into his hands. When Shez landed, he created a powerful wave of darkness that sent Byleth, as well as a few other mercenaries, flying back.
Jeralt couldn’t believe what he was witnessing. He had never seen Byleth on the back foot like this, but this kid was somehow dominating the battle. Not to mention his resemblance to two people he knew in the past. ‘But there’s no way this could him…could he?’ Jeralt thought.
Byleth got up from the ground and prepared herself for another attack. ‘He’s a powerful foe. He’s the strongest person I have ever faced aside from my father. Who is he?’ she thought. She didn’t pay much attention to Shez’s appearance until now, but she felt like there was something familiar about him. Byleth narrowed her eyes in concentration, trying to place his face, but she just couldn’t. Byleth, seeing a chance to get answers and recover a little bit, put her sword down slightly. “What is your name mercenary?” she asked.
Shez, who had slowly been walking towards her, stopped in his tracks. He found it weird that the Ashen Demon would want to know his name, but he saw no harm in it. “My name is Shez.”
Byleth tried to place the name again. It sounded really familiar, but she must have heard it so long ago that she couldn’t remember it. Jeralt, on the other hand, seemed to recognize it better than her. In fact, his eyes grew wide when he heard the name. ‘It can’t be a coincidence…’ he thought. Jeralt thought about their current situation for a few moments. Shez was more than capable of defeating Byleth, and Jeralt knew it. So, he’d rather not see his daughter get killed. “Alright, that’s enough!” he called out, catching the attention of Byleth and Shez.
Byleth knew what this meant, so she put her sword away. Her gaze turned back to Shez, who seemed a little confused. “That means our battle is over. You have won” she stated, catching Shez a little off-guard.
‘I guess that means I don’t have to fight her anymore’ Shez thought as he put both of his swords away. Shez put his hands in his pockets and gave Byleth a nod. “For what it’s worth, you’re possibly one of the strongest people I’ve ever faced. I’m surprised you lasted as long as you did” he said, genuinely impressed even if he didn’t visibly show it.
Byleth returned the nod with one of her own. “You are impressive yourself. There hasn’t been a single opponent that has been able to give me a challenge.” Whatever training Shez went through, it put him above her, and she wasn’t afraid to admit that.
Shez sighed. “Well, I should check on the rest of my group. See ya” he said casually, seeing no need to get into any deep conversations. Shez walked off and Byleth watched him. She wishes she knew more about him, as there was something about him that seemed familiar to Byleth.
Jeralt walked over and stood next to her, watching Shez leave. Jeralt couldn’t help but see someone else in Shez’s place as he walked off. ‘I’m still not sure if you’re him or not, but if you are, you definitely resemble them’ he thought.
“Jeralt, why did you call it off?” Byleth asked.
Jeralt sighed. “Well, you weren’t going to win that fight anyway. Besides,” Jeralt turned away before speaking again, “I think that kid will be important in the future. It’s better to keep him around.”
…
Shez started making his way back to camp. The noble who owned the goods they were protecting should have gotten them by now, meaning his allies have their payment. Shez could feel Arval thinking pretty deeply in his mind. ‘Is something wrong?’
“I can’t put my finger on it, but I feel…upset that we did not kill the Ashen Demon. I don’t even know her, yet I feel the three of us have a shared destiny” Arval responded.
‘Well, in case we end up as enemies again, I’m certain I can take her out’ Shez thought. It wasn’t really confidence, it was moreso the fact that he KNEW Byleth didn’t stand a chance against him. He hadn’t used his conduit powers or his awakened state.
As Shez got closer to the camp, he saw something that worried him. There was a body near latched onto a tree. It was definitely one of his allies. ‘Not good’ he thought, starting to move faster. Shez passed by a few more bodies, all of them looking like they were attacked by magic. Some bodies were frozen, others were burnt.
Shez passed by a few trees before he saw the bodies of Getz and Lazley. Shez’s normally apathetic expression turned to one of slight sadness. He wasn’t especially close with them, but they had some funny times together. He didn’t have time to mourn, he had to find who was responsible for this. As he ran past more bodies, the clouds in the sky started to turn gray as rain started to pour down. The weather felt like a sign of things to come.
The rain did little to bother Shez. He was focused on trying to get to Berling. ‘She has to be alive’ he kept telling himself, not wanting to imagine the possibility that she wasn’t. He searched everywhere around the camp, but he only found destroyed tents, bodies, and signs of a struggle. ‘Come on, where are you?!’ he thought, getting fearful.
“Calm down! Try using your pulse ability to find her!” Arval suggested. He was the more clear-minded of the two, and thus, the wiser.
Shez did exactly that and activated his pulse, searching the area for Berling or anyone. He was able to find two individuals. One was Berling, and the other was… ”No…not him!” Shez yelled as he started running through bushes and trees. Shez leapt over branches and bushes as he tried to get to Berling as fast as he could. He needed to find her before she was killed.
Shez eventually found his way into a clearing. His eyes widened as he saw his worst fears be realized. Berling was being held by her neck, bloody and beaten. Her armor had been torn apart, and her bow had been destroyed. The person responsible for all of it was the man responsible for Shez’s hellish life as a child, Mirai.
Shez’s fear turned into anger as he glared at Mirai with a fury, lightning flashing in his eyes. “LET HER GO MIRAI!!!” he yelled at the top of his lungs, electricity emerging from his arms. A storm had started, and lightning crackled in the sky. Thunder roared as Shez’s powers started reacting to the storm. Some of the lightning in the sky started to become purple.
Mirai tightened his grip on Berling’s neck, causing Berling to let out a quiet cry of pain as her windpipe was being crushed. Mirai chuckled as his eyes met Shez’s. “I don’t think so. You see Shez…I’m not you’re enemy. Far from it actually” he said cryptically.
Shez wasn’t having any of it. “LIKE HELL YOU AREN’T!!! YOU’RE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE sh*t THAT HAPPENED TO ME!!! YOU KILLED MY MOM YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!” he yelled, his anger rising as electricity swirled around him. The storm was growing more and more intense as trees started to lose all of their leaves from the intense wind.
Mirai laughed at Shez’s exclamation. “Right, I’M the one that killed your mom” he said, almost as if he knew something Shez didn’t. “If I were you, I would watch my temper. You wouldn’t want those powers of yours getting out of control and hurting someone close to you, or worse” he suggested as if he was speaking to a child.
Berling tried her best to break free from Mirai’s grip, but no matter what she did, she couldn’t escape. Mirai rolled his eyes. “Alright, I’ve had enough of your struggling. Goodbye.” With a sickening *CRACK,* Mirai snapped Berling’s neck. Berling’s eyes rolled into the back of her head as Mirai dropped her lifeless body to the ground.
That was the last straw for Shez. The moment Berling’s neck snapped, he did too. He clenched his fists and started growling. His hair and eyes started flashing between violet and orange as violet electricity surrounded his body. His whole body trembled as he started to transform. “You bastard…I’ll kill you! Do you hear me?!” Shez let out a yell as he entered his awakened state. “I’LL KILL YOU!!!”
Shez, having no reason to hold anything back, blasted Mirai by sending a torrent of lightning from his hands. He wasn’t using magic; he was using his true conduit abilities. The power of the attack was enhanced greatly thanks to Shez’s awakened state. Despite this, Mirai didn’t even look scared. He just raised his hand and reflected the attack right back at Shez using a magic barrier. Shez was more than prepared for something like this to happen, creating a shield made of lightning to absorb it.
Shez, wanting to go on the offensive, turned his shield into a scythe made of pure electricity. Shez narrowed his eyes as he gripped his weapon tightly. “You’re gonna regret making us all train together. We all learned a lot from each other” Shez stated, remembering the time he spent training with Edelgard, Emmet, Eva, and Mabel. Shez swung his scythe down, sending out a wave of electricity.
Mirai sidestepped the wave. He then sidestepped another wave before jumping over a horizontal wave of electricity. Shez switched to close-ranged attacks. He turned into a purple bolt of lightning to close the distance between him and Mirai. Returning to his human body, Shez swung with precision, speed, and power. Mirai pulled out a weapon in response, a weapon Shez didn’t recognize. Mirai held Shez’s scythe back with the weapon, using magic to prevent it from conducting. “What the hell?!” Shez exclaimed.
Mirai grinned. “Oh, this is just something from a period you won’t live long enough to experience. In fact, most people won’t. It’s called a rapier” he replied before jabbing at Shez with his weapon. Shez ducked and dodged the rapier, taking note of its sharp point. Shez countered with a swing from his scythe. Mirai ducked under the swing and countered with a swift thrust. Shez tried to dodge it, but the rapier managed to graze his left cheek, not that it mattered too much since it would heal soon enough.
Shez thrust his hand forward, creating a shockwave that sent Mirai flying high into the air. Shez leapt up to meet Mirai and tried to slice him in half with his electric scythe. Mirai grinned and snapped his fingers, causing everything to freeze. The storm stopped, Shez stopped, everything stopped. All except Mirai, who warped down to the ground before snapping his fingers again, causing everything to resume. Shez swung at nothing but the air, causing his eyes to widen. “How the hell?!”
Shez landed back on the ground and turned to face the smiling Mirai, who was dusting himself off. “Curious? Well, maybe you should try attacking me again to see what happens” the time traveler suggested. Shez let out a roar and threw his scythe towards Mirai. The scythe spun in the air as it grew closer to Mirai. Mirai lifted his hand towards the flying scythe. To Shez’s shock, a gray sphere appeared around the scythe, causing it to freeze in the air. “Surprised? It’s one of my abilities as a conduit, time manipulation.”
The fact that Mirai was a conduit wasn’t the surprise. It was the fact that he had multiple abilities. Shez gritted his teeth and leapt into the air, firing multiple gigawatt hammers, or rockets, from his hands. Mirai just sighed and shook his head. Just as the rockets were about to hit him, he froze time yet again, casually walking out of harm’s way. When time resumed, the rockets only managed to hit a few trees, causing them to fall.
“DAMN YOU!!!” Shez yelled. He created two electric maces in his hands and charged towards his foe. Shez raised one of his maces and went to swing at Mirai. Mirai smirked and created a time sphere around Shez, though Shez was only moving extremely slowly.
Mirai started to speak as he circled Shez with his hands clasped behind his back. “Now now…I wish to explain a few things to you. It’s only fair that you know them before you lose” Mirai said with a smirk. “See, I have 3 abilities as a conduit. The first, as you know, is time manipulation. I can slow down, speed up, or completely stop objects and people using time itself. I can even travel to the past, present, and the future at will. I can even visit alternate timelines, one of which is where I got this rapier” he explained, showing off his rapier again.
Mirai gave a small sigh. “Of course, this has its limitations. I sadly cannot affect beings stronger than I am, which is a shame. The other versions of you that I have met are all stronger than I am. One was a war god, one was the god of the agarthans, and one could manipulate reality as he pleased.”
Shez didn’t really care too much about other versions of himself. All that mattered was killing Mirai.
“My second ability is memory manipulation. It’s just that; I can manipulate the memories of anyone I come into contact with. A pretty useful tool for gaining and removing certain information” Mirai said with a grin. “As for my third power…” Mirai raised his hands and conjured a fireball. “I can use magic.” Mirai threw multiple fireballs that swirled around the slow Shez. The fireballs all converged to attack Shez head on, sending him flying out of the time sphere and through a bunch of trees.
Shez skidded across the ground as he groaned in pain. The injuries would heal just fine, but the damage was incredibly painful. Shez pushed a tree off of his body and got up, breathing a little bit. The storm was still intense, and he planned to take advantage of it. Before he could, he was blasted away by a ball of dark magic. Shez rolled across the ground as the dark magic lingered, causing him some internal pain.
Mirai walked out of the shadows with his hand out. “Sorry, but I’m not done with you yet” he said before firing more magic attacks at Shez. Shez barely leapt away in time to avoid the three pincer beams of darkness. Shez countered with his own pincer bolts that closed in on Mirai’s head, but Mirai, again, froze the attack using his time manipulation. Shez gritted his teeth and fired a powerful bolt of lightning, but Mirai slowed down time to avoid the attack and close the distance between himself and Shez. Mirai raised his foot and stomped on the back of Shez’s head, forcing Shez to eat dirt.
Mirai grinded his foot against Shez’s head. “You know, I did some research on those other versions of you. Turns out, all of them lost Morticia as well!” he said, causing Shez’s eyes to grow wide. Mirai laughed. “To think, no matter what life you live, she ALWAYS dies! It really makes you think…” Mirai stepped off of Shez and lifted him up by his hair. Mirai looked Shez dead in the eye. “As long as you exist, Morticia always dies. You’re very existence causes her death. You’re the reason she’s even in the position to be killed, because she wasted time taking care of you!” Mirai says before delivering a powerful punch to Shez’s gut, causing Shez to cough up blood.
Shez breathes heavily as he tries to ignore the pain in his stomach. He glares weakly at Mirai. “Shut…up…” he breathes.
Mirai rolls his eyes and blasts Shez away with a gust of wind from his hand. Shez cries out in pain as his back meets a boulder. Shez fell to the ground with a thud. He tried to get up, but it was incredibly difficult. He had taken too much damage at this point, causing his healing factor to slow significantly. He needed to rest, but he couldn’t do that with Mirai around.
‘No choice now…I have to end this!’ Shez thought with determination. The storm was great for an attack like this. Shez raised both of his hands towards the sky. The storm grew in intensity as Shez called upon the lightning within the storm. Mirai grinned and allowed this to continue, knowing exactly what Shez was planning.
Electricity crackled around Shez’s arms as he called upon every last bit of power he had left. This would exhaust him, but it was worth killing Mirai. Purple lightning flashed across the sky, gaining the attention of a few important people.
Over in Enbarr, Edelgard was sitting in her personal quarters. Her hair had grown longer, now reaching just above her shoulders. The storm had kept her up all night, but she never paid much attention to it. When she finally decided to take a closer look at the storm out of sheer boredom, her eyes grew wide. Outside of her window, she saw lightning in the distance, but it wasn’t normal lightning. The lightning was purple. Only one individual she knew had that kind of lightning. Edelgard put a hand to her mouth as her body trembled. “Sh-Shez…?”
She wasn’t the only person who recognized the unique-colored lightning in the sky. Not too far from her in a small village, three people looked up to see the lightning. One of them was a tall man of Duscur who had choppy blond hair and green eyes. His green eyes grew wide with shock as he saw the storm. The two women with blue eyes beside him were also shocked, yet also somewhat happy. One of the women had curly blonde hair that ended just below her neck, while the other had brown hair that stretched a little bit past her shoulders, covering her front and back.
The people closest to the storm were Jeralt and Byleth, who had been watching the storm closely. Byleth had never seen a storm like this, but she knew it wasn’t normal at all. Jeralt had his eyes narrowed as he watched the purple lightning flash in the sky. He was about to shrug it off and call it a day when he could have sworn, he heard a voice he hadn’t heard in 17 years. The voice kept telling him to go to where the storm was most intense. Jeralt sighed, hoping he wouldn’t regret this decision. He turned to Byleth. “Hold things together while I’m gone” he said before mounting his horse and riding out.
Byleth didn’t question it, just choosing to obey her father. She hoped the storm would not claim him.
Back with Shez, he glared at Mirai as he threw his hands down to his sides, summoning a powerful bolt of lightning from the stormy sky. Mirai was hit head on by the lightning as Shez continued to hold the bolt in place. He gritted his teeth as he held the bolt for a good 10 seconds, the sound of the bolt nearly rupturing his eardrums. Shez couldn’t hold it any longer and ceased his attack, falling to the ground. He was breathing heavily as sparks flew from his body. Lightning flashed around his body as he tried to focus on resting. Shez exited his awakened state thanks to the sheer exhaustion he had.
“*Breaths* Serves you right…you bastard…” he heaved as he kneeled on the ground. His healing factor was significantly slowed because of the attack he just used, but it would go back to normal in time. Some parts of his clothes were damaged and ripped thanks to the attacks from Mirai, but it was all over now.
*Clap* *Clap* Clap*
Shez’s eyes grew wide as he heard slow clapping. ‘No…no way…’ he thought with a bit of panic. He slowly looked up to see Mirai clapping with a small smile on his face. Mirai’s cloak had been torn off, revealing his scarred chest as well as his unique-colored arms. Other than that, he had taken absolutely no damage from the lightning strike.
“I gotta say, you did better than I expected” Mirai praised, slowly walking over to the kneeling Shez. When he got close enough, he sneered down at the mercenary. “But you still failed” he taunted before kicking Shez in the face, causing the kneeling merc to fall onto his back. Mirai stomped hard on one of Shez’s knees, causing him to cry out in pain. “That’s all you’ll ever be. A failure. You failed when your mom died” he taunted as he used magic to lift Shez into the air. He started beating Shez’s face with his fist, causing the mercenary to start bleeding from his nose. “You failed when Edelgard was recaptured” Mirai continued as Shez’s face was now a complete mess. Mirai stopped and leaned in to whisper in Shez’s ear. “And you failed when you couldn’t stop me from killing Berling and the rest.” Mirai kicked Shez into a tree, satisfied with the beatdown he gave his fellow conduit.
Shez had gone completely silent. He was barely moving. How could he? Mirai was right; he has failed. He failed too many times for his liking. His first failure was when he was a child, the second was when he escaped with Edelgard, only for that to go wrong at the very end, and the third was just recently, when he failed to save Berling.
Shez clenched his fists tightly as something flared up within him. “No more…” he muttered. The storm grew even more intense than it already was. Multiple lightning bolts hit the ground around Shez. “I’m done failing…” he said as the purple lightning in the sky turned into a light blue. Electricity of the same color started crackling around Shez as he slowly stood to his feet. “I’m done losing!” he yelled. He looked up to glare at Mirai with pure hatred and focus. “I’M GONNA END THIS, HERE AND NOW!!!”
With a powerful roar, lightning from the sky struck Shez head-on. The lightning was so intense that Mirai had to shield his eyes. The impact of the lightning hitting Shez also blasted away a few trees. Mirai watched as the lightning vanished, revealing Shez in a new form. This form wasn’t as drastic as Shez’s awakened state, only having a light blue outline around his body. Also, his pupils were gone, replaced with glowing light blue eyes. In his hand was what looked to be some sort of fork made of electricity.
Mirai didn’t even flinch. “So, you’ve got a new power…” he said before shrugging. “Well, it’s not like-“ he was cut off by Shez blasting him with a torrent of electricity that was more powerful than anything Shez had used earlier. Mirai was sent through about 5 trees as pain coursed through his body. When the attack ceased, he was out in a more open area, writhing in pain as lightning coursed through his body. When the pain subsided, he got up with a huff. “That was rude” he grumbled before lightning struck the ground in front of him, revealing Shez.
Mirai was about to attack when Shez bashed him in the side with his electric fork. The force was so strong that it sent Mirai flying to the side, only for Shez to appear in his path and launch Mirai into the air with an upward swing. As Mirai flew into the air, Shez raised his hand and fired a stream of bolts from his hands. Mirai wasn’t able to block or dodge, so he took the stream of lightning head-on, causing him to cry out in pain. Shez appeared above him in a flash, slamming his weapon down with a lot of power that sent Mirai into the ground with a lot of speed, creating a small crater in the process.
Shez landed beside the crater as Mirai emerged from it. Mirai was burned in a few places and had a few bruises as well. Mirai growled. “Well, you actually managed to hurt me…” he muttered. Mirai was about to counter when he realized Shez wasn’t attacking him anymore.
This was all because Shez’s brief power trip had run out. The outline around his body vanished and his eyes returned to normal. Shez fell face-first onto the ground, unconscious and injured. Mirai laughed as he started to heal from his wounds. “Well, I guess you’ve got what it takes after all” he praised. Mirai turned away and started to walk off. “Well, I guess my goal has been achieved. We’ll meet again soon kid, so don’t go dying on me” he said before vanishing into the forest.
Jeralt arrived not long after, surprised to see Shez on the ground. Jeralt got off of his horse and tried to check for a pulse, only to pull his hand back as Shez shocked him accidentally. Whatever power-up Shez gained had some effect on his body. Jeralt winced as he felt the pain in his hand. “Ouch…” he groaned. Jeralt looked down at Shez and sighed heavily. “I never imagined we would meet again like this…fate really is strange.”
