The Missing Stone

Prompted Accidents

A voice echoes from southward. "The center is in danger of being taken," a woman with a thick accent and plum hair runs towards the hill along with others. "We must be running to protect it!"

This time she skids down the hill to meet Annette, pushing down the urge to vomit and glancing at the others charging the demonic beasts. Sylvain eventually retreats from the eastern side, backing away from reinforcements. Ingrid flies over to assist, Ashe raining arrows down the sides of the hill.

Now that she's closer, Mildred catches a glimpse of a familiar coat. Why is the professor fighting on the ground? She darts in between forts and spots of trees, seeing Dedue rushing towards the hill. The hairs on the back of her neck stand up. The person wearing the familiar coat is a woman.

The woman shares the same features and coat as the professor, but her eyes and hair are a deep blue. She cuts down one of the soldiers unfortunate enough to be in her range and it's clear she is not an ally. But-

The shadow of a wyvern passes overhead. Their group is pressed against the wall of a defensive fort, Mercedes and the professor assisting as healer and backup respectively. That is, until the woman with the same features as the latter steps forward. The professor lands his wyvern not far in front of her.

Mildred crouches with her bow behind a tree by the fort, far enough away to not be spotted but close enough to see and hear what they're saying. The professor scowls, near invisible, the woman staring back with an impassive face. It's like the world has stopped for them, the sounds of battle fading in the background.

"Why?"

She barely hears it. The plea that falls from his lips. The woman's features soften slightly, but she shakes her head.

"Step aside, brother."

Brother?! Mildred wants to faint. The professor's hair shadows his eyes as he shakes head, the barest of movement swaying the mint strands. He grips his sword tighter in resolve, then charges. The woman meets him evenly, parrying and blocking each other like mirror visions. Mildred steps out from behind the tree, leaping onto a branch for a vantage point. She points an arrow at the woman, aiming to distract.

Just as she is about to release the arrow, a blur of yellow and brown draws her attention. Mildred's eyes widen in horror. The hill is alight with flames, and even though Ashe is safe high atop the fort, the wyvern rider with yellow and gold garb sailing towards him is what concerns her. She changes targets, lifting the bow higher.

She knows she is bound to miss as the rider is not within her normal range, but she needs to take that risk. Mildred lets her arrow fly, watching carefully as it soars through the smoky air.

She misses.

Again. She fires arrow after arrow at different angles with great difficulty as the rider keeps moving closer and closer-

Then it hits. At least she thinks it did as the wyvern falters, a noticeable hole in its left wing. Ashe launches the one missile loaded in the ballista. The rider retreats prior to receiving fatal wounds, the majority of the Alliance soldiers following. Mildred sags against the tree in relief, belatedly noticing that her hands are glowing blue.

The professor and woman are still fighting, swords clashing in sparks of orange and red. They're fighting in such close quarters that if Mildred tried to assist she would risk hitting the professor instead. She shifts on the branch, barely catching a streak of deep blue and a trail of blood and corpses until one of the mages, presumably the leading one, retreats after obtaining several deep wounds.

His Highness- Dimitri, the professor called him- charges on a rampage straight towards the white-haired woman draped in red silks on a magic tile beside a healer. A crown of horns rests on her head, a shield emblazoned with a red eagle covering most of her form, a giant devilish axe as a Hero's Relic. Mildred thinks the emperor looks intimidating, but compared to the bloodthirsty prince practically prowling toward her makes her look like a tiny mouse.