so far I've finished Azure Moon and Crimson Flower, and my god, Three Houses is such a step up from Fates. I'm so glad I decided that Echoes was good enough to have earned the series one more chance from me. I genuinely love it. I especially love these two poor souls. They make me so sad. I had to write something for them.

Spoilers, obviously.

"Agh-!"

Death cries echoed across the night air. From where? It was impossible to say. Not only were the shadows thick and impenetrable, with all the torches choked out by an unknown hand, but a shrouding fog blanketed the forest.

"It's a monste-!" The soldier never finished his warning. A lance, protruding through his chest from behind, saw to that.

"Hahaha!" The attacker, a bitter, bloodstained man in black armour laughed madly.

"If I am a monster, what does that make you, you two-legged beasts? Devils?" He laughed, "You dogs of the Empire! You are the only creatures on this Earth lower even than I."

Without pausing even to catch his breath, Prince Dimitri continued to stalk among the tents of the Imperial camp, unseen in the fog until it was much too late.

First, a hapless soldier who had heard his laughter and gone to look for the source found his skull caved in by Dimitri's lance. Next, the other night guards, gathering in a wary circle around the embers of their campfire were torn limb from limb by a vicious whirlwind of black, blue, and gold. Their sleeping companions were run through without a second thought. Those who were woken by the noise had barely enough time to realise they were dying before the eternal flames, aided by the exile prince's fury, claimed them.

It was not long at all before the centre of the camp was a gory mess of entrails, severed limbs, and blood coating every surface as if painted in red.

Dimitri had lanced straight through from the edge to the centre, and now set out to finish his slaughter by circling outwards.

The moment he took his first step, the ground shuddered, the earth shaking as if rippling from a meteor impact.

Strange.

He hadn't seen a Demonic Beast among the Imperial troops in this particular camp. They were difficult not to notice. But there was nothing else that could shake the ground like that. Perhaps a giant wolf had strayed into the area? Or perhaps his perfunctory scouting had simply missed the titanic creature somehow.

Either way, whether a weapon of the Adrestian Empire or a beast of the woods, it wouldn't do to leave the thing alive, so Dimitri turned to face the roar he could now distantly hear, and charged.

What he found was a scene of destruction greater even than what he had wrought moments ago. Melting, poison-slathered ground, shredded and half-eaten corpses, pieces of flesh and oceans of blood scattered as far as the eye could see, and no edifice left intact. And at the centre of it all, crawling out of the fog, a reptilian creature larger than any Demonic Beast that Dimitri had ever seen before.

The beast turned to look at him, and opened its toothy maw.

"Human… I can smell the power that dwells within you. Will you be what sates my hunger tonight, as these morsels could not? Crest-bearer… A feast as I haven't had in all my years…" A horrible, rumbling, distorted voice issued forth.

Dimitri didn't let his surprise show, merely narrowing his eyes. A talking Demonic Beast? A curiosity indeed. A scholar like Linhardt or old Hanneman might have wanted to capture and study this unique anomaly.

To Dimitri, however, this only made it that much more of a monster and that much more deserving of death.

"Hah! Not this night. I have better places to die than in your foul innards. You'll just have to wait for your second chance when I join you in the inferno."

The beast lashed out suddenly, nearly tearing Dimitri in two with one vicious swipe of its claws. He was barely able to jump backwards in time to avoid the blow.

The second his feet touched ground again, he pushed forwards, sprinting head-on at the beast. The beast roared and threw its head forwards, maw gaping open. Rather than make any attempt to avoid it, Dimitri leapt into the beast's waiting mouth and, before it could close its jaw, jammed his lance up through the roof of its mouth, barring open its maw. Drawing a knife from a scabbard at his side, he began to slash at the gums, and quickly knocked out a few of the creature's teeth.

His lance began to buckle under the crushing weight of the beast's bite, and the first traces of acidic, poisonous gas could be seen coming up its throat. Wasting no time, Dimitri grabbed his lance again and leapt out through the gap in its teeth he had made as the beast's jaws snapped shut.

A second later, the beast roared, its mouth flying open again, and jets of poison gushed forth, despoiling everything they touched. Dimitri charged forwards, pushing straight through the cloud. The pain meant nothing to him. He burst out of the poison gas near the beast's head, skin burning where the acidic poison had touched it, his cape dissolving in spots. The force of his fury drove him on, heedless of his wounds.

As he rushed forwards, the closeness and angle proved just enough that Dimitri could see the beast's eyes clearly for the first time - the beast's horribly human, hauntingly familiar eyes.

Dimitri couldn't contain his surprise this time. He stopped in his tracks, staring up at an eye he knew all too well.

"Impossible-!" He snarled.

The loud crackle of rapidly-forming ice rang in his ears. His momentary hesitation had left him wide open, and spears of ice sprang from the ground, piercing through his body and lifting him up.

A Blizzard spell. Another oddity, another feat beyond the animalistic mind of a Demonic Beast. But perhaps less of a surprising one, now that he had recognised the eye of the beast.

A sudden impact in his side sent him flying. The beast had taken advantage of his helpless state, suspended above the ground by the icicles impaling him, to land a blow, ramming him with a swing of its head.

Dimitri hit the ground hard and bounced further, slowing to a roll and then a stop. Forcing himself to his feet was an exercise in agony. The blow had no doubt broken some bones, his acid-burnt skin strained, and there were still two broken-off icicles impaling his thigh and side. As it was, he was barely able to push himself onto his knees.

The beast lumbered toward him, snarling and spitting.

"Damn you-!" Dimitri growled. It was kill or be killed - what did a little bit of shattered marrow and some torn flesh matter on that scale? Gritting his teeth, ignoring the pain, Dimitri forced himself to stand.

This pain was nothing! The dead knew no hurt, and the prince of Faerghus was nearly five years dead. As if a few broken bones could forestall his revenge, the vengeance of the grave!

Leaning heavily on his lance, Dimitri glares defiantly at the approaching beast.

"This is nothing! You'll have to do better than that to kill me."

He attempted to step forwards, and nearly fell as his leg gave out beneath him.

The beast snorted.

"Cease the bravado, princeling. Your end has come. Join your family in the grave, Dimitri!" It roared.

Dimitri did not close his eyes as the creature's jaws began to close around him.

Even now, unable to so much as move, he was still convinced that he would survive. He had lived this long only that he might fulfill the vengeance of those who had died for him. Nothing could yet kill him while the murderers still drew breath.

Edelgard… he would stop at nothing to see her dead.

In last moment of desperation, he drew his knife again, jabbed it into the beast's approaching tongue, and pulled. The blade sliced across the tongue, creating a long thin line across it.

The beast reared backwards on its his legs, roaring in pain. It slammed back into all fours, still roaring in pain. It glared at Dimitri with nothing less than utter hate in its eyes.

The knife fell out of Dimitri's hand. He no longer had the strength to hold it.

His grip on his lance faltered, and he slid a little further down. He no longer had the strength to keep himself properly standing.

The beast approached again. There was nothing left Dimitri could do to forestall his demise.

Light cut through the fog. The first rays of sunlight, shining from the edge of dawn, struck the beast, which seemed to burn away in the sun's light. Its scales crumbled into ash as the burning spread across its body, eating away its monstrous form.

Roaring in panic, the beast turned around and fled with greater speed than Dimitri had imagined the hulking creature to be capable of. Within moments, it had disappeared back into the fog.

Dimitri reached out after it.

"Marianne, wait-!"

And at last his strength gave out and he collapsed to the ground.

The sun was nearly at its peak when Dimitri stumbled into the nearest town. A vulnerary had restored his wounds just enough to walk away, if not enough to call himself truly healed. From there, it had been a long and difficult hike, and one he wouldn't have made if he were less wounded. But now he was in too sorry a state to hunt food for himself, and he had already gone too long without eating. A visit to an inn or tavern was an unfortunate necessity at this point.

He stood in the town square for a moment to get his bearings, unheeding of all the wary eyes on his ragged, blood-soaked form. Once he was satisfied that he knew where to find a place he could buy food, he continued on his way, followed by the eyes of the townsfolk, fearing what might have brought this terrible revenant to their home.

Dimitri nearly fell through the doors of the inn. He staggered to the counter and slammed a bag of gold coins on top of it.

"Whatever you have. And lots of it."

Without waiting for a reply, he turned away and made for the farthest table, falling heavily, as if his skin and bones had become a sack full of rocks, into the chair. He stayed like that, still as the grave,

Some small cinder of life seemed to return to his body when a large plate piled with steaks and roasts and a stein of beer were set in front of him. He sat up a little straighter and picked up a knife and fork.

"Will ye be wanting a room as well?" Asked the innkeeper.

Dimitri scoffed, "No. I'm sure I'll be able to find some suitable gutter to pass out in."

The innkeeper shrugged and left Dimitri to his food, which he began to tear into with a rare enthusiasm. Even with as much food as there was on his plate, it wasn't all that long until Dimitri had picked it clean in his ravenous hunger.

It all tasted like ash to him, as most everything did.

He fell over forwards, propping himself up with his elbows on the table. He was so tired… it felt as if he had not slept in decades. Certainly he had not truly rested these past five years. He'd not had the time. Every waking hour, every second of every day, was spent dragging his bloody corpse towards the vengeance that the souls haunting him demanded. Nearly five years, and it still felt so far away.

He began to mumble to himself, a dark murmur heard only vaguely by the inn's other patrons.

"Glenn, I would never. You know that. I will give you peace… but I… Father, would you have me break an oath? I know, I know. I won't rest until you've been avenged. But that girl, I-"

His mad rambling was interrupted. The door creaked open, and a face he had not seen in nearly five years staggered into the room, in at least as much of a sorry state as he had been.

The years hadn't changed Marianne all that much. Her hair was the same barely-contained disaster, the shadows under her eyes still looked large enough to swallow the continent. No, perhaps they had deepened - it didn't take a stroke of genius for Dimitri to guess why. Her clothes, beneath her riding cloak, were much finer - or clearly had been once, but now they were worn ragged, as if she had been wearing them for weeks in the wilderness.

When he saw her, he involuntarily leapt to his feet, hands slamming on the table to support his weight as he leant forwards. The sound attracted her attention, and as her head turned and she saw him in the far corner of the room, her face contorted in shock and horror.

Her jaw, slackened by surprise, hung open, and Dimitri could see that there was a hole in her smile - a few teeth, the same ones he had knocked out of the Demonic Beast last night, were missing.

She staggered backwards and, barely three steps in door, proceeded to turn and flee back outside.

Dimitri did not hesitate to follow, knocking over chairs and tables as he rushed after Marianne.

He burst out of the doors just in time to catch her ducking into an alley out of the corner of his eye. He rounded the corner at full speed and found her standing, facing towards him, some metres ahead. She was breathing heavily, unmistakable fear in her shaking eyes.

"Stay away from me!" She shrieked.

"Marianne, I-"

She thrust out her arms, magic circles forming around them, and a wall of ice lanced up from the ground, blocking off the narrow alleyway and separating her and Dimitri.

"I'm sorry, Dimitri! Please, stay away, for your own sake. You know my curse, you've seen it. I've hurt you… and that's the last thing I ever wanted. I can't let it happen again!"

Dimitri crossed his arms, even though he knew Marianne couldn't see him, and snorted.

"I will not."

"But-"

"I told you before, didn't I? I will-"

"I'm nothing but a beast! A monster! You've seen what happened to me! You can't save me from this." The despair in her voice hurt Dimitri more than any wound he'd suffered during these long years ever had.

"Marianne," he said, voice low and hoarse, "Whatever you think you are, I am worse. If you are damned, I am a demon."

The sound of footsteps on cobble told him that Marianne had already left and would not hear him, however.

He lay one hand on the icy wall with such softness, as he might've held Marianne had she let him.

Suddenly, he felt the warm feeling of healing magic flowing through his body, closing his wounds, mending his body. A Physic spell, a parting gift from Marianne. Or an apology, rather.

Dimitri sighed heavily. By now, Marianne would be far beyond his reach. Most likely, she had fled back into the woods. He ventured a guess that she had only been in town in the first place for the same reasons that he had.

The forest here was vast. It would take no small degree of luck to find one woman in the foggy sea of trees.

Dimitri turned and walked away, unsteady and clutching at his head.

"I'm sorry, Glenn," he mumbled, "I'm sorry. I- I won't let myself be distracted any longer. But I…"

He cast one last mournful glance over his shoulder at the wall of ice, which was already beginning to melt away.

"Forgive me, but I will be there for you. Whether you want me to or not."

Those words from five years ago… were they an oath so easily broken?

True to his words to the innkeeper, nightfall found Dimitri on the filthy ground against the wall of some alleyway, his cape wrapped around him for warmth. Even the likes of him still had to sleep sometimes.

Marianne crouched in front of him, softly stroking his cheek with one shaking hand.

"What happened to you, Dimitri?" She whispered, tears in her eyes.

This was dangerous. She shouldn't have taken this risk. Even now, she could feel the beast inside of her clawing its way to the surface.

But…

"I… heard you were executed. I think I cried for days. I can't tell you how happy seeing you alive made me. Yet I…" she sighed sorrowfully, "It made me sad, too. Life hasn't been kind to you."

She gently ran her fingers through his unkempt, matted hair.

"Is this… is this my fault? I told you. I'm cursed, I'm bad luck. I told you! Why didn't you listen!?" She sobbed, and immediately clamped a hand over her mouth.

Dimitri stirred in his sleep for a moment, but Marianne's outburst did not wake him.

Slowly, she removed her hand from her mouth. She could hold back her tears no longer, and they now were streaming down her face. She clasped her hands in front of her chest, head bowed, and weeped for the exiled prince of Faerghus, for the leader of the Blue Lions, for the poor boy who had understood her as none else in the Academy had. The tears slid down her cheeks and off her face, splashing on Dimitri's chest like raindrops.

"Aghk!" Suddenly, Marianne seized up, gasping and choking, clutching at herself.

There was no more time. She needed to flee, to be far away, to be deep in the forest when the beast took hold.

"I'm sorry. Farewell, Dimitri. I don't think we'll meet again. I'll say a prayer for you." And, with one last longing look, Marianne forced herself to her feet and walked agonisingly away, vanishing into a fog rolling into town as if from nowhere.