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

RedRat8: Obviously, but she will speak to her mother though heart-to-heart talk somewhat.

Antex-The Legendary Zoroark: enjoy the last battle and see a returning character at the end.

CHAPTER 26 – THE WOLF PACK.

/

CATHEDRAL – LATE NIGHT

Aelfric was on his knees in front of Sitri's body who was holding the chalice on her hands at the top of the stairs to the altar to try to carry out the rite.

"Stop it right now, Aelfric!" Rhea appeared from behind warning him.

"It is too late. The chalice is filled to its brim with the blood of the four." He said with a written madness and extreme obsession on his voice. "Should their blood prove insufficient, I will spill even my own blood to finish this."

"The chalice cannot return her soul, Aelfric." Rhea reprimanded him. "It is incapable even of returning a body to life."

"Please, you have to stop!" Byleth appeared among her team to try to prevent the calamity, but he didn't cease his actions.

"Be not afraid. Today, your mother returns to us." Aelfric spoke without caring about the consequences that were to come next. "The time has come. Perhaps I am not an equal man to him… But I am here by your side, Sitri."

It was at this moment when Aelfric started to carry out the said ritual letting out an evil red aura around him, giving a bad omen to everyone.

"What's going on?!" Bernadetta said in horror. "This is so creepy!"

"Yeah… and I have a really bad feeling about this." Hubert spoke visibly frightened by that man's actions. "Something is very wrong with that man…"

The chalice started to not only try to revive Sitri, but also to corrupt Aelfric reaching the point of no return and thus pulling her body into his.

"Sitri… Si…tri…" Aelfric's voice began to become distorted for a very good reason: he was literally becoming a monster, but not one of the typical medieval monsters, he turned into a giant monster with an insignia on his forehead and a heart-shaped hole across his chest that the keyblade wielder figured it out immediately.

[KINGDOM HEARTS BGM: DESTINY'S FORCE] *Seriously, listen to this music while you read this whole part, this serves as a buildup to the battle. *

"He… He turned into a heartless!" Sora said in shock looking at the monster that Aelfric had just become.

"Into a Heartless?!" Byleth expressed the same emotion after hearing him say that.

"The chalice… it absorbed both of them!" Edelgard commented in disbelief. "Sora, you said that a heartless is born after a person give in to the darkness, right?"

"Yes." Sora confirmed her suspicions.

"Then it turns out you weren't joking after all." She replied understanding the problem. "He indeed let himself sink into the dark."

"That aberration… So this is what you call a heartless, right?" Dorothea said in the same way.

"Yes, it seems that Aelfric has completely succumbed to the darkness." Sora spoke summoning his Oathkeeper keyblade, ready to engage the final battle against that monster.

"So I see… is it just as the last time the ritual was performed." Rhea said in sadness.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on a second! Aelfric turned into… that thing?!" Balthus babbled confused and consternated.

"Ugh. It does seem some kind of sick joke." Hapi said in disbelief.

"So this is the Rite of Rising? That ritual is quite dangerous if you guys ask me…" Yuri also expressed his disdain towards the situation.

"Of course it is." Linhardt agreed with him. "This man committed the worse atrocity trying to kill us all."

"Lady Rhea! A number of dark creatures have appeared at the Cathedral!" a female knight gave the archbishop some alarming news.

"What? Could it be? Perhaps its presence drew them there…" Rhea said putting herself in alert state. "Everyone who is capable must fight this beast… now."

"Archbishop Rhea." Yuri begged her let him make up for his past actions. "Things ended up this way because of me. Please allow me to make up for it."

"But Yuri…" Rhea tried to object but he continued. "It'll give me a chance to hold up my end of the deal. Let me fight for the church."

"Aaaahahahaha! So very like you to steal the glory in the heat of the moment, Yuri." Constance spoke with a grin on her face. "Aelfric used us, he lied to us, and attempted to kill us. Despite that, he provided shelter when I had nothing. We must end things swiftly, for his sake."

"He's never going to be normal again, is he?" Hapi spoke with melancholy in her voice. "For all those years, he tried to make this happen… bring her back to life, only lose himself. That's pretty awful.

"He made his choice, fellas." Balthus made them understand that it was Aelfric's decision. "All we can do is accept it. Let's do all of us a favor and take him real quick-like, yeah?"

"We'll lay you a hand too." Sora expressed his wish to help the team. "Together we can take him out."

"Yes, you can rely us till the very end." Edelgard also stated her will to end the nightmare. "Time to lower the curtain on this unfortunate tale."

"Are you ready?" Byleth asked all of them if they were set to finish Aelfric once and for all.

"YEAH!" Sora and the others yelled in unison prepared to fight.

"Right. Let's do this!" she spoke being more than ready to engage.

"Please, act swiftly but with great care." Rhea asked them to be safe. "By my order, stop this dark creature… no, stop Aelfric!"

Everyone nodded and then headed to where Aelfric's giant heartless was standing, ready to engage him.

"This magnificent cathedral will collapse if this continues for much longer!" said Constance worried about the place's stability.

"That abomination sure as hell isn't going to back down. We've got no choice but to go all in." Yuri seconded having the same concern as the others, while hearing the Heartless's loud roar.

"He's insolated! Let's surround him. Close the distance in one fell swoop." Balthus suggested the group, but Sora knew this was a risky move.

"Wait, that's risky. This giant heartless throw black and purple orbs and can harm anyone or all of us." he explained the reason to not go and charge at the monster recklessly. "I have faced some of them before."

"You know them?" Ashe asked him in surprise.

"Yeah, he's also capable of summoning the heartless from the ground." He assured him.

"If this is the case…" Byleth began to give her students strategy. "We have to surround this thing carefully if he starts throwing those orbs. Some of you have to fight Aelfric with everything you got."

"I'll fight him." Sora volunteered.

"You're gonna need some assistance, pal." Balthus said joining him.

"I need to make up for everything I did so I'll join you, men." Yuri expressed his will to help him.

"Guys… let's do this!" Sora said with confidence flowing through his veins, charging towards the heartless.

[CHANGE OF MUSIC] [KINGDOM HEARTS III BGM: DARKSIDE]

"We'll go too!" Byleth also willing to provide backup support.

[INFORMATION: Subdue Aelfric's giant heartless!]

Sora, Yuri and Balthus charged towards to the giant heartless while Byleth and the others surrounded it in case if the other heartless emerged from the ground.

The Aelfric's giant heartless was very slow as Sora had predicted, but that didn't mean he didn't have something to give the team lots of troubles. For example, the heartless brutally punched the floor to shake the whole cathedral.

"Whoa! What kind of power is that?!" said Ferdinand taken aback by the seismic movement.

"He's very brutal!" Caspar seconded. "We gotta stop him!"

"Will do!" Sora spoke as he turned into double form.

Sora leaped onto Aelfric's heartless to give him strong slashes while Yuri and Balthus took care of the feet. Byleth, Dorothea, Edelgard and the others dealt with the monster as well on the other side.

Just as Sora had predicted, a number of the heartless emerged from the ground to face them, and not only that, the said dark orbs appeared from above around the cathedral.

"The heartless are here!" Byleth warned them. "Be careful with those orbs, those are harmful!"

The students dodged the orbs to avoid taking damage while dealing with the heartless that emerged from the ground as they could.

"So Sora was right!" Constance replied in amusement. "Looks like he's a very crystal-clear person after all."

"Sora is an experienced warrior, that's why he told us to take precautions." Edelgard explained her. "Let's take these creatures down."

While Byleth and the others were taking on the heartless and dodging the orbs, Balthus and Yuri managed to overthrow the giant one down the floor leaving it open to any attack.

"He's down! Come on!" after defeating all of the heartless, Byleth commanded her students to approach the monster and lay a lot of slashes shared with everyone.

Edelgard gave double swing with her axe, while Dorothea did the same with her sword, Byleth used her sword of the creator to land a critical hit weakening the monster.

Sora charged at Aelfric and performed a great number of combo slash onto his heartless and then he performed a special attack. "Ragnarok!" he launched a number of missiles straight from his keyblade to finally finish him out.

"AAAAHHH!" the heartless yelled in pain right as it perished, much to everyone's relief.

[END OF THE SONG]

"We did it?" Dorothea said in doubt.

"I think we killed him." Edelgard assured everybody.

"Indeed… I no longer feel his presence here." Sora affirmed her words. "He's gone."

"It is finished." Rhea congratulated the group. "Well done, everyone. Because of you, her restless soul has finally found peace. Byleth… I imagine you have much on your mind."

"I do, it's about my mother…" she replied. "What happened to her?"

"I was there the day she brought you forth into this world." Rhea told Byleth about the moment when Sitri gave birth to her. "Your mother, Sitri, had always been frail. Giving birth proved to be too much for her in the end… On that fated day, it looked as though neither of you would survive. In those final moments, she spoke saying: My heart… Give it to my child."

"My… My mother's heart gave me life?" Byleth expressed curiosity after learning of her mother's death.

"This is correct. The heart that lies within your chest, is not other than hers." Rhea confirmed her suspicions. "It was the only wat that you could be saved. But Sitri loved others, much as a human might… and I loved her in return."

"But, why wasn't she buried?" Byleth asked for the reason of her mother still being exposed.

"Sitri looked upon me as though I was her mother, and I wished for her to have a bright future…" replied the archbishop in sadness. "I would not have her buried in the cold, dark soil. Prior to her funeral, I arranged for a fake burial. Afterward, I brought her body to Abyss, where I would sometimes visit her. I never thought that anyone… especially Aelfric… would find her. I did not expect for such tragedy to ensue…"

Meanwhile, the black eagles and ashen wolves were having a talk with each other.

"Boss, there's something you gotta tell me." Balthus asked him to confirm them something. "Was Aelfric using us all this time?"

"How should I know? I mean, he always acted that way around me… like we were a means to an end." Yuri defended himself from his accusing glare. "But the church records indicate he founded Ashen Wolves 15 years ago. He mentioned he found Sitri 10 years ago, so it seems he really did mean well, at first…"

"What's done is done. He's gone, and we're here." Hapi said mentioning how important was to have survived the nightmare. "That's what matters now."

"You're always so quick to adapt to change, Hapi." Constance said praising her. "I should follow your example."

"Heh, yeah, you always get to heart of things quickly. Right, then. I've got a lot to take care of now." Said Yuri telling his friends about his actions he would take from now on. "I need to explain the church everything how things actually played out. And with my people freed from the monastery prison, they'll need to me accounted for.

"Good luck with that whole mess. I'll be rooting for you from afar." Hapi wished him luck on his adventure.

"Surely you'll let us know if there is any way at all we can help. We'd be just thrilled." Said the blonde wishing the same for him.

"Hell, if you want, your people can be my people. I could use some good mercenaries to watch my back." Balthus expressed his wish to train the people from Abyss.

"Enough already, I get it, man." Yuri spoke looking annoyed.

"It's not less than you deserve."Hapi said in nonchalantly.

"What have you sown, now you shall reap!" Constance seconded messing with him.

"You made your bed, now shut up about it, pal." Balthus kept joking with him.

"Heh… Anyway, what to do you figure will happen to Abyss? The church will want to step in, no doubt."

"You got me. After everything that's happened, things can't stay the same." Yuri admitted the consequences of the problems they went through. "The church will probably assign an official to oversee things. Hopefully whoever they choose know how to get along with the Abyssians as well."

"Let's worry about all that some other time, ok?" Balthus suggested them to leave the subject aside. "I could really use a tall drink and a long sleep."

"I'm with you. I hurt in places I didn't know could hurt." Hapi agreed with him.

"It has been a terribly long night, indeed. One I won't ever forget." Said Constance acknowledging not only the Black Eagles, but specifically Sora, who felt a tickle on his stomach and his cheeks mildly blushed after feeling her coquet glare.

The Ashen Wolves turned around to see the sun shining through the cathedral windows.

"A terribly long night, but a beautiful morning." Yuri laughed with a smile.

/

AUDIENCE CHAMBER – DAYTIME

Everyone went to the audience hall to receive some news regarding the Ashen Wolves' fate from Rhea.

"You mean to say that you're disbanding us?" Constance questioned the archbishop in surprise.

"Yes. After speaking with the cardinals, my decision is final." Rhea answered her confirming the news.

Rhea had spoken to the people from the church and she concluded that the Ashen Wolves house would be disbanded altogether.

"The Ashen Wolves class was originally established for youths who were in need of the church's protection." Rhea mentioned them. "Somewhere along the way, that intent was corrupted, and it ultimately became a cage for you. The Ashen Wolves are officially disbanded. You can consider this as a graduation, sort off."

"You can doll this up by calling it a graduation, but you're the one who sent to the Abyss to begin with." Hapi questioned her looking confused. "Now you tell us to go and live our lives as if none of this ever happened?"

"You can continue living in Abyss, of course." Rhea gave them the permission to continue living in the depths of the monastery. "Abyss will always be a refugee for those who need it most. Your chains have been unbound. You are free to live as you wish now."

"You ask me, this feels like a good morning." Balthus said in satisfaction. "This sound very all right, Rhea."

"After all I have been through, I must say I feel immense gratitude at the prospect of living freely." Constance was glad to have been granted freedom she didn't have before.

"You're just going to let me go? When I was working for the church, I did unsavory things…" Yuri questioned her for not giving him a proper punishment for his past criminal actions.

"You have already been judged for your transgressions, Yuri." Rhea made him realize that he was already been sentenced. "You have slain the underserving. The weight of that is yours to bear. You have time to contemplate your actions now. That is the punishment enough."

"What's with the 'woe is me' act?" Balthus lead him to understand that he wasn't supposed to feel guilty anymore. "She's saying you're a free man!"

"True enough. It's up to me to determine how I'll live my life now… how I'll make up for what I have done." Yuri understood what he had to do to make things right.

"You made up your mind quickly, despite having ample time to think it though." Said Edelgard.

"Aaaaahahaha! Someone of many talents must make decisions in short order… I'm in high demand after all." Constance affirmed her quick choice. "The Fhirdiad Royal School of Sorcery demands my presence posthaste. How could I deny them? Soon, the name Nuvelle shall be removed all throughout the Imperial capital, prepare yourselves!"

"Didn't you already attend that school? Leaving and going back seems…" Linhardt tried to ask her when he realized that he wasn't watching his mouth. "Eh, well, good luck with that."

"Maybe I'll try to see my family again." Hapi said her future plans. "It's been forever, but now seems like as good a time as any to do that. The whole thing might be a drag, though, so maybe I'll come straight back to Abyss."

"I think I'll…" Balthus also mentioned his future plans. "Yeah, yep! I'll find a way to hit big… make tons of money! It's about time the indebted King of Grappling finally paid down all those freaking debts. What are you going to do now, Boss?"

"Eh, who knows. For now I'll take some time to think." Yuri replied. "My main concern at this point is to take care of my people back in my hometown."

"You mean you'll continue your former line of work?" Ashe asked him.

"No need to beat around the bush, dude." Yuri affirmed him. "And yes, that's the plan. That's what I'm best at. But I can approach things differently now. Change how I live…find ways to thrive for peace, you know?"

"Makes sense to me. I wish you all the best." Ashe wished him luck.

"Thanks, friend. Right back at you." Yuri thanked him in a nice gesture. "We both deserve to live our lives freely. I may end up back home after this, but I worry about how my rogues will fare without a boss."

"Worrying about everyone but yourself. Cut it out, will ya?" Balthus asked him to stop.

"Yeah, you don't need to be concerned." Byleth agreed with him.

"There you go again being cute again." Yuri recognized her kindness. "Though I'm certain if you are around, Abyss and everyone in it will be fine."

"We'll keep an eye on Abyss, as well. Isn't that right, Sora?" Edelgard stated her promise to watch over the depths whenever she and her team could.

"Of course, we'd use it as a shelter in case we need to hide somewhere for any reason." He said with enthusiasm.

"That doesn't sound bad… Anyway we promise we will protect the Abyss in your absence." The future empress expressed her will to watch the underground.

"Boss! Boss! You can't just leave us high and dry like this? Where will we go? What will we do?" a rogue came in along with another one.

"I should have known…" Yuri said realizing of his mistake, only to have his face written in a motivating smile. "Humans are adaptable creatures. You'll sort it out just fine."

"Heh, relax, will ya?" Balthus asked them to calm down. "We all know Yuri's not the type to abandon his pals. He's a guy who always turns up when he's needed. Hell, we should all be taking notes from him."

"The world's a dreary place. We could all use a little help now and again." Hapi commented.

"As long as we're all here for each other as true friends, we can live our lives to the fullest." Yuri stated very emotive words, much to the professor's amusement.

"Friends…" she said in that state, beginning to understand that meaning.

"You heard me. You're all my friends… you matter. You always will." Yuri gave the Black Eagles a heart-warming message. "And that includes you, Sora."

"You guys will always welcome here if you ever wish to come back." The keyblade wielder responded in the same tone.

"That seems like a good note to end on." Hapi said giving them a farewell.

"Sure does. Catch ya latter, pals. I mean friends." Balthus seconded in the same manner.

Constance walked few steps towards Sora saying this: "With that, I bid you farewell! Aaaahahaha! Sora…" she then proceeded to give him a kiss on his cheek, leaving stunned and everyone speechless. "We may meet again, you handsome boy." With that, Constance headed to the recently open to leave the church among the Ashen Wolves.

"And so it is. Until next time, friends." Yuri gave his farewell to everyone before taking his leave with his friends.

The Ashen Wolves finally set a foot out of the church and left the monastery to go somewhere else, but they made a promise that they would come back sometime in the future, especially to reunite with Byleth and the others in case they needed to.

After closing the doors, Byleth and her students decided to head back to their daily activities and take a break before resuming their school time.

/

SOMEWHERE IN THE WOODS

Somewhere from afar of the monastery, the red-black masked man met with a middle-aged man with elegant clothes and long black hair.

"The archbishop lives." The man with black hair gave him news. "Not that I had ever placed much faith those swine from Western Church."

"I have news, both good and bad." the masked man replied giving him updates. "The remains of Seiros were not in the tomb. However, something else was. The sword of the Creator."

"Oh, the weapon wielded by that thief, the King of Liberation." The black haired man said recognizing the relic.

"Thief? Hm. At any rate, it is now in the hands of the academy's new professor. All thanks to that brat whom that man in black told me about." the masked man stated somewhat remembering the way that Byleth obtained the said weapon. "I doubt you will be surprised to hear that the Crest Stone had already been removed from the sword when it was found."

"Hmph. As expected. It would be foolish to keep both in the same location." The middle-aged man agreed with him.

"There's more. The professor was able to awaken the sword's true power." The masked man told him further news. "Even without the Crest Stone, the sword glowed red. The professor Crest is compatible. There's no mistaking it."

"What? That's absurd. Using a Relic without its Crest Stone should be impossible…" the middle-aged man was surprised by the news and rather curious. "The king of liberation's bloodline should not even… Hmm."

A dark portal appeared in front of the two and emerged a young man with black clothes, brown skin and large white hair.

"Who-Who are you?" the man asked him in shock.

"I just come here to see how is everything faring." the white-haired man said dryly ignoring his question. "I guess that woman did a good job wielding that mysterious sword."

"Yes, Xehanort… Seems that kid helped her obtaining that sword." The masked man confirmed him.

"I suppose I was right… that kid is stupid if he thinks he can get away with cheating death or even defying his destiny. What should we do, mister masked man?" he said with evil voice, trying to figure a way to finish Sora.

"They must be allowed to keep it, for now. I do not have enough information about the professor to act." The masked man ordered him to not lay a finger on the sword and Byleth for the time being before turning to the middle-aged man. "As for your request. The Death Knight is at your command. Use him well."

"Good. I believe I will enjoy this a great deal…" the middle-aged man was happy with his statement.

"I remember you said that you wanted to capture that boy that wields that mysterious key-shaped sword." The masked man mentioned.

"I was, but I think I have a perfect candidate to make this person our next vessel." Said Xehanort letting out his reasons to spare Sora, having his face written in malice.

That's right, Xehanort tried to make Sora the last member of the new Organization XIII, but he failed when Riku and the others went to save him and this left Xehanort a bad taste on his mouth.

But it seems that he just found a new person who had a lot of darkness within his heart, he no longer had a reason to get Sora, on the contrary, he found a way to give the keyblade wielder lots of troubles as a revenge for beating him down long time ago.

"And could you tell me for what purpose?" the masked man interrogated him.

"To rebuild my fallen organization… rename it as Neo-Organization XIII, and to take revenge on that brat who humiliated me long time ago." Xehanort expressed his grudge against Sora and his friends.

"Interesting…" the masked man replied giving him some praise to his statement.

Xehanort was really serious in seeking revenge against Sora and his friends. What is he plotting? What retaliation is he willing to take?

END OF CHAPTER 26

A/N:

That's right, Young Xehanort is here! And he's not happy with Sora's actions and the way he defied his fate, and he's no longer willing to take his heart, but he will try somebody else's to rebuild the fallen Organization XIII.

Also, Fire Emblem: Three Houses turns 1 year old since its launch, what I liked about the game is how accessible is for newcomers and veteran fans for its gameplay.

One more thing I have to let you know is that there's gonna be a few more fire emblem characters and not only that, the final fantasy 7 cast is gonna join at some point too, given their role at kingdom hearts 1 and 2 so that would make sense for them to appear at least one more time.

Anyway, see you later.