DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Kingdom Hearts nor Fire Emblem Three Houses characters, Square Enix, Nintendo, and Disney are the owners

CHAPTER 27 – BACK TO THE GRID AND MORE TROUBLE

/

Thursday –7/9 Blue Sea Moon. – Garreg Mach campus.

After returning to their daily life in the monastery, Sora and the others were met with Shamir who gave them the news.

"I heard you solved the issues with Abyss, good job." She said congratulating the guys. "You guys had an excellent streak against those mysterious dark creatures, especially you, tiger boy."

"Thanks. This is something we had to do, Shamir." Said Sora with a smile on his face, even though he felt a tickle on his stomach.

"Anyway, I wanted to inform you that those western church guys were given a death sentence due to actions against our church. I take that some of you didn't like what Lonato said earlier, am I right?"

"Mmm… Lonato wanted to make justice for his fallen son, what I think is… I'm going to get lots of criticism for I'm going to say but, I'd call this a murder, I don't mean to disrespect anybody's religion but what Rhea is doing, is to oppress people who opposes this… zealous system." The keyblade wielder gave his opinion regarding the church's system.

"You call this a murder, huh? Never mind, let me know you guys that I'm not affiliated with the Church of Seiros in any way, I just do it for money, nothing else." Shamir stated that she wasn't with the Church at all. "I say this because… something is wrong with Rhea… she seemed… very creepy when she gave them death sentence without questions."

"What'd you mean?" Sora asked her a question.

"Her eyes… her eyes' usual green colors suddenly shifted into… yellow." She explained the archbishop strange behavior. "It is like she was possessed."

"Possessed?" said Byleth in intrigue.

"Sort of." Shamir assured her. "Anyway, you guys must beware of Rhea, seems that she's plotting something."

"Don't tell me you're serious." Bernadetta spoke in fright of having to face the consequences. "Think of what if we do something and she punishes us all."

"Well, you guys gotta watch your asses when you're around Rhea or any of her subordinates, that's all I ask you for." Shamir advised them to watch their backs. "I have to retire, I'll catch ya guys later. See you around, tiger boy."

With that, Shamir left the place to somewhere else, what she meant that Rhea was being possessed somewhat? Why would her eyes shift to yellow color? Is it because her heart is completely giving in to the darkness? Maybe, given on the way she executes people for opposing the system.

But the Black Eagles had to talk about something else.

"That's that, I suppose. The assassination attempt, the attack at the Holy Mausoleum… it was when you, Byleth, obtained the sword of the creator, right?" Edelgard began.

"Yep, it was when I got this weapon." The teacher remarked her words.

"It was all the Western Church's doing, but, Ashe's father wanted to avenge his son's death so… who couldn't be saddened nor angry of any child's death, right?" the future empress continued.

"My brother… I just can't handle the idea that this system goes and kills anyone ruthlessly for either questioning, or defying the system." Said Ashe trying to contain his rage against Catherine, and the whole church's system.

"We know, Ashe…" Edelgard understood his feelings. "Anyway, that masked knight who instead of leading the attack, went to fight Sora and lost, and then disappeared without leaving a trace."

"The church of Seiros clearly isn't as unified as it would hope to appear." Hubert spoke with monotone voice. "It seems the bishop of the Western Church was always opposed to the church being ruled centrally from Garreg Mach. Perhaps they hope to remove the archbishop in order to completely strip the Central Church from its authority."

"The Central Church?" Byleth asked.

"Oh, that's right. Your father mentioned that you were raised without any exposure to the church." Edelgard said giving some explanation. "In order to function efficiently, the Church of Seiros is split into several smaller entities."

"Several entities?" Sora inquired her as well.

"That's right, Sora." Edelgard assured him keeping explaining the concept. "The Central Church is the largest and leads the organization from Garreg Mach.

"The Western Church extends from Castle Gaspard, where Lord Lonato rebelled from the far west." Hubert gave them an explanation from the said place. "They can be found just beyond the most renowned stronghold of the Kingdom, the Fortress City of Arianrhod."

"It seems the knights have been tasked with subduing the leaders of the Western Church." Edelgard assumed the knights of Seiros's actions against the opposite church. "We may be given the opportunity to help them with their mission."

"To think… our professor was born in Fodlan and yet knew nothing of the church." Hubert spoke looking at Byleth and Sora with curiosity.

"I never imagined explaining something so basic to an instructor of mine. You're something of a special case, are you not?" the butler commented in a curious tone.

"Guys, Byleth and I never had an idea about the church, okay?" Sora defended her teacher. "This is something we have just learned today. Right, Byleth?"

"Yeah, sure." She replied.

"How strange that the archbishop would ask someone like that to lead her students, and beside he would be our classmate." Said Edelgard staring at Sora and Byleth with suspect.

"Lady Rhea is pretty scary sometimes… but to execute that people just like that? It seems harsh, even for her." Caspar gave a comment about the archbishop.

"Not to mention that Shamir said that something is wrong with her and she seemed very creepy by the way she carried out their execution." Sora coincided with him.

"If one of us does something bad, I wonder what she would do to us!" Bernadetta said with fright on her voice.

"Byleth, do you agree with Rhea's actions?" Dorothea asked her if she was right with the church's doings.

"No…" she denied agreeing with Rhea's deeds. "No, I can't bring myself to just blindly follow her orders, if I understood right, Lonato was part of the western branch, and he fell in battle trying to avenge his son at the hands of the Central Church. But that's not the point, my students, the point is, that I felt sort of creepiness lurking within Rhea somehow by the time she sent us to confront Lonato."

"There you are, professor Byleth. I've been looking for you everywhere." Seteth appeared running into the black eagles' team. "Something's wrong with the archbishop."

"What's wrong?" Byleth asked him a question.

"Her eyes… her eyes suddenly turned yellow when she sent the western church's priests to die without questions… I felt a huge chill down my spine when I saw those eyes, I try to be loyal to her but this is getting on my nerves." Seteth spoke with a visible concern about the archbishop's personality.

"Take it easy, man." Caspar tried to calm him down. "We believe that Rhea is going too far, but we are not sure if she's legitimately drifting into the dark side or something."

"Anyway, we have to do what we're told to do, how's Flayn?" said Sora suggesting to follow the archbishop falsely until further notice, aside of asking him about her sister.

"She's fine, Sora." Seteth replied. "She's hanging out with Mercedes and Annette at the cathedral. Anyway, I'll keep an eye on Rhea to see if anything else happens, because she's been acting strange these days, see you around."

After saying those words, Seteth left the group to head back with Rhea to check on her if anything else happened with her, he indeed was loyal to her for many, many years until the moment when he saw Rhea's brief but creepy eye color shift into the yellow ones, but didn't say anything as he thought that his sight was deceiving him, but, he felt creeped out when he finally noticed her subtle dark side by the time she sent Byleth and the Black Eagles to go and fight Lonato and the others.

Seteth had to be careful as to not have his cover blown, also, he had to make sure about Flayn's safety from Rhea's hands.

/

Meanwhile, a man with a blonde hair and light-indigo eyes under a mask covering the upper half of his face was walking around the monastery while being far away from the people and he rested onto the corner from the church.

And then a few flashbacks from his fight with Sora at the mausoleum came to his mind, which made the man smile subtly, admiring the boy's huge strength.

"Well done, kid… I didn't expect you to have a lot of power running through your veins." He murmured praising the Sora's power.

That man is Jeritza, a teacher in charge of armed combat training, some students came to him according to their school schedule, one them was Sora, who would then attract his attention due to his huge strength and fighting style with his keyblade unlike the others.

Unbeknownst to him, his tough and stern personality began to slowly fall apart, even though it would take more than that to finally break off his cold attitude.

He would do anything to attract Sora and have another round with him, as a worthy opponent.

/

ENTRANCE HALL

Meanwhile, Byleth and Seteth went to Rhea to speak about their next mission as a house and afterwards, she went to the entrance hall to meet with Edelgard to have a word about that.

"Byleth, I heard about our mission for this month." The future empress began. "A thief with a Hero's Relic is worrisome, but with you and Sora at our side, I'm certain we can handle him. Because after all, you have the Sword of the Creator. It was allegedly wielded by Nemesis, the King of Liberation."

"By Nemesis?" Byleth asked her in curiosity.

"Yep, if the legends are true, you hold the power to stand against entire armies. A band of thieves should be nothing." Edelgard affirmed her. "Even the most elite Imperial forces, the Knights of Seiros, or, the Heartless army could not hope to defeat you."

"Why does it matter?" the professor was rather intrigued.

"I'm just marveling at the potential. Besides, your power does not solely lie in the Sword of the Creator." Edelgard explained. "You are stronger and more terrifying than you realize, and with Sora, you both are a real lethal combination."

"Am I that stronger?" Byleth murmured in surprise.

"Of course! You really teach us very well on how we fight, and we manage to survive every ugly encounter because of you." Edelgard replied making her understand her qualities as a lethal mercenary and as a teacher. "Anyway, Byleth… When we leave the monastery, will you still think of yourself as our teacher?"

"What do you mean?" Byleth asked her in puzzle.

"Never mind. I'm being thoughtless with my words." Edelgard denied her words she said earlier. "For now, let's just focus on the problem at hand. Shall we?"

/

Meanwhile, Sora was exploring the hall to clean up his mind from any concern in regards to Rhea or any of his friends, knowing that he would have to face the consequences in the future if this should happen.

There, he saw a worried Ingrid standing against one of the columns of the hall.

"Hey, Ingrid! Are you okay?" Sora greeted her in concern.

"Sora, hey." She replied in the worried voice. "I need to tell you something, it's about Sylvain."

"Why? Is something wrong with him?" He asked her the question.

"The thing is… if you meet with him, don't pick a fight with him. The bandits' leader who stole the Relic… is Sylvain's disinherited older brother." Ingrid gave him an explanation which made Sora react in shock.

"His brother?" he said expressing this feeling. "Why would he do something like that?"

"It's because… he was born without a crest unlike Sylvain, I must confess that the culture I come from is very… very… how can I say it?" Ingrid replied while pausing the sentence due to her reluctance.

"You mean… Toxic, right?" Sora finished her sentence, much to her amusement.

"That's… You're correct. The Faerghus culture has a lot of restrains, and the crests being a big deal is one of them. That's the reason that Sylvain's big brother was disinherited and kicked out of his own house, that's why he became a bitter and ruthless thieves' leader." Ingrid gave him some information about the Kingdom's culture, and the reason of that older brother's dark turn.

"I see… I don't understand the big deal with the crests, it's not like they are pretty rare or something, but anyway, it's incredibly sad that the brothers have to fight each other." Said Sora showing empathy.

"Yeah, this is why I ask you not to pick a fight with Sylvain, if he doesn't have a choice but to defeat his own brother, don't object him." Ingrid advised him.

"Okay, Ingrid." Sora understood her words. "That's what friends are for, right?"

"You're very kind, Sora." said the future female knight praising him for his kindness. "I know that we may not save everyone, but I feel like you have a way to save lots of lives, mainly the ones who respect you and appreciate back."

"Thanks, I've been through this many times. "Sora replied remembering his experienced with his friends he saved long time ago. "If you need help or something, you know who to speak to."

"Thank you." Ingrid replied giving him a kiss in the cheek, blushing him in the process.

"We-Well, I gotta go. See ya!" Sora gabbled taking his leave, making her subtly laugh.

What caught Ingrid's attention, was his way of being, he didn't have that bitter and personal attitude like Felix nor plumber behavior like Sylvain's. Sora was the first person ever to listen to her.

It's not that she hates her childhood friends, on the contrary, she loves them for who they are, but she doesn't like their attitude they have and is well aware how screwed up their lives and hers were due to the Faerghus strict and toxic culture.

At least she was happy for Sora to choose to carry a less severe culture like the Black Eagles do, and… she began to think about doing what he does, breaking free from the constrains she had being part of Faerghus, but she would have to think carefully before doing so and consider the consequences of her own actions.

[SORA AND INGRID SUPPORT REACHED LEVEL C]

/

Meanwhile, Byleth was having a conversation with Edelgard and Hubert about the moment when she picked up the Sword of the Creator.

"It's unheard off." Said the future empress intrigued.

"For a Hero's Relic to be stolen… it's rather suspicious." The teacher seconded in the same tone.

"And just yesterday during afternoon, the sword of the creator was almost stolen too." Hubert spoke with dry but frank voice.

"Also quite unheard of. What impudence." Said Edelgard putting a sad face for this reason.

"For House Gautier to invite us on to their land, they must be desperate." Hubert replied showing the same posture. "But at least we'll have the stalwart knights ready to stand around and watch us do all the work.

/

Sora was walking around the monastery when he found Sylvain, who was visibly disconcerted about his older brother.

So he decided to have a speak trying to cheer him up.

"I'm sorry about your brother, Sylvain." Sora lamented about his classmate´s older brother's actions.

"It's alright, Sora." Sylvain said in a sad voice. "I take it that you must have known the news, didn't you?"

"Yeah, Ingrid told me that." The keyblade wielder affirmed his words. "It's terrible that siblings and friends do bad things like this."

"I can't believe that my own brother became the thieves' leader. The Gautier house is our home." Sylvain expressed disdain and displeasure towards his brother. "Please, Sora. He really is one of the worst people I've known, but still... we share the same blood. We're still family."

"Sylvain… I know how you feel… I had a friend who went through the same path." Sora said a comment remembering Riku's past actions. "But I still consider him as my best friend."

"Did he go through the same thing?" Sylvain asked him realizing they both had something in common.

"Yeah, and I had to fight him in order to bring him back to normal." Sora replied. "If Riku succeed, maybe your brother can."

"I don't think this is gonna work, Sora." Sylvain showed signs of pessimism. "My brother's always been like that as far as I can remember. He has been making my life miserable and blaming me for anything I didn't have to do with. I guess don't have a choice but to confront him if necessary."

"Are you sure you want to face your own brother?" Sora asked him a question.

"I have to Sora, my brother's gone mad so I feel like it's my duty to stop him." Sylvain stated his reason to fight.

"Sylvain, if you're thinking about facing him, I got your back." Sora decided to provide him support.

"Would you really do it for me?"

"Of course. We can deal with enemies together."

Sora and Sylvain fist bumped agreeing to take that big risk facing that bandits' leader somewhere.

"Now you've convinced me. I think I have to change classes to join yours." Said Sylvain with a smile on his face.

"Well, although you gotta tell Byleth to get you recruited." Sora laughed jokingly.

And then, the two searched for Byleth to get him to join the Black Eagles House around the monastery.

/

Elsewhere, Dimitri was outside of the monastery lazing around, he had a slight pressure on his chest, he somewhat was feeling a sort of darkness invading his heart at a slow rate, something that frightened him.

"Wha-What is this?" Dimitri clenched his teeth trying to resist the darkness.

At his moment, Young Xehanort appeared in front of him emerging from the portal.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Dimitri interrogated him wielding his lance in warning.

"I'm Xehanort… And I'm here to take your heart and recruit you." He replied introducing himself and stating his intentions.

"Take my heart? To recruit me? What business do you have here?" Dimitri questioned him having a very bad feeling about this.

"I can sense you are hiding a dark secret of yours…" Xehanort expressed his observations walking few steps closer, creeping the blonde boy.

"I have nothing to hide, you monster!" Dimitri exclaimed angrily not willing to believe every word he said to him. "If you keep doing this, I'll tell everyone to kick you out of the monastery!"

"You think so?" said Xehanort summoning his keyblade, much to the boy's shock.

"What the deuce? You are able to summon a weapon as Sora?" Dimitri spoke in shock.

Dimitri couldn't believe what he just witnessed, Xehanort summoned the keyblade in front of him, and he didn't know what was going on with that guy.

"Yes, this little punk humiliated me in front of everyone and I want to have a revenge on him." Xehanort expressed visible grudge against Sora.

"So that's why you want me to join you to do evil things?" Dimitri talked him back becoming upset by his words. "Don't be ridiculous! I'm not willing to do your evil deeds!"

"Let's see if you are match for me." Xehanort challenged him a fight, even though he had another plans…

Dimitri figured out how powerful that guy was and it was obvious for the future king that there were absolutely no way he could win against him, nonetheless, as a knight of Faerghus, he was not allowed to back away.

He tried to land a hit with his lance, but Xehanort was able to dodge the thrust like it was nothing and performed a strong slash across his chest easily, defeating him in the process.

"I'll spare you for now… then I'll come back to check if you consider my offer." Said Xehanort leaving him alive before disappearing through the portal.

Dimitri couldn't help but to clench his teeth in anger, but way deeply within him, he was scared, he really was frightened by the darkness that Xehanort was holding, not only that, those mysterious ghostly voices were resounding through his head. He needed to do something with this problem before he had a huge mental breakdown or else… there would be devastating consequences not only for him, but for Fódlan and everyone else being unfold.

He managed to barely stand up due to his injuries and had to hurry to the infirmary to get himself treated…

/

END OF CHAPTER 27

A/N:

OH CRAP, THINGS DON'T LOOK GOOD FOR DIMITRI, YOUNG XEHANORT PLANS TO MAKE HIM THE NEXT VESSEL TO REBUILD THE FALLEN ORGANIZATION XIII AND HAVE A REVENGE AGAINST SORA AND HIS FRIENDS.

ALSO, I'VE BEEN PLAYING WARFACE ON MY NINTENDO SWITCH SO IT WOULDN'T BE BAD IF I WROTE A CRACK OMAKE ABOUT THIS AND ANY GAME I MENTION AT THE END OF EVERY UPCOMING CHAPTER IF YOU GUYS WOULD LIKE TO READ IT.

ANYWAY, SEE YOU NEXT CHAPTER.