Marianne and the Forbidden Codex: A Fire Emblem Three Houses story

A latent danger

"Dorothea, Bernadetta! What a pleasure to see you!" Claude yelled as they began to rein in their horses.

"Claude, long time no see!" replied Dorothea, more relieved. "How did you know about us?"

"Let's say I have my informants," he replied with his typical mischievous smile. "More important than that, you must have a good reason or important notice to reach us."

"Is Edelgard here?" the girl asked, surprised. "What happened? Have you already faced each other?"

"No, we achieved a small truce. Now, and more importantly, can you tell me directly and to the point what advice you must give us?"

"An army of Monks of the Church of the East pursues you. The bishop himself is in charge. And that's not all; they come accompanied by..."

"Dimitri's coming this way, right?"

"But how..." Dorothea managed to ask, somewhat stunned.

"It was inevitable. Surely their anger towards Edelgard would be a hook for them to attack us and seek to keep our guest."

The girls met up with Claude and Edelgard. She detailed the situation, especially the imminence of a confrontation between their forces and those of the Church of the East, together with forces loyal to Dimitri, who accompanied him despite the complete opposition of the usurpers to the throne.

"We must know how much time we have, then," Edelgard put on an air of utter seriousness.

"They'll probably catch up with us by noon tomorrow, considering we stop overnight," Hubert replied.

"Don't tell me you already knew about this, Hubert," Dorothea asked that question, knowing a little about her partner's answer since she supposed this guy had an extensive intelligence network.

"I found out minutes before you arrived," Hubert adjusted his classic white gloves. "We could assume several things about the Church of the East... I have the impression that historically it was not up to the bishop to interfere in the codex and that what is happening now is probably an act of intrusion into the same order that protects this relic."

"That's probably the case," we could say that Claude hated Hubert; however, his sagacity stood out. "So, bringing us some surprises tomorrow would not be strange."

Dorothea sighed during that conversation. She did it both out of fatigue, and the uncertainty experienced these days. She didn't even know why or how this initiative had been motivated. She just felt a moral duty to do it, she supposed. It could also be, to some extent, something of moral sense. But her most significant motive was to avoid a confrontation between former academy classmates at all costs. That purpose would not bear fruit at all.

Suddenly, Dorothea saw how that strange young man everyone was talking about approached the group. Marianne accompanied her. She didn't have to see them much to know what kind of relationship they had. The somber expression she used to see on her was gone: a mixture of small joy and embarrassment as they talked was proof enough.

"Oh, Dorothea..." Marianne slowly approached her ex-partner, offering her a smile that threw the young singer off balance. "How unexpected to see you here. Has Edelgard summoned you?"

"Hello, friend..." Dorothea took Marianne's hands in a greeting gesture. "Not exactly, Marianne...I came to deliver some unpleasant news for the group they have formed."

"What's the bad news about?" Leonard butted in on the conversation. "Sorry for my attitude; I introduce myself: my name is Leonard Weber; Nice to meet you," the man offered Dorothea a handshake.

"Dorothea Amault, The pleasure is mine," Dorothea offered a fake smile to the subject before her as she shook his hand. "Bishop Cornelius of the Church of the East is chasing you and will come to you soon."