I wanted to write something with a different tone to my other fic, so i started writing this. I apologise for the short length relative to how long it took, this was sort of hard to write and i kept changing it, so i'm sorry if it feels short and/or unfocused.
31st of the Lone Moon
Lysithea sat down on the ground next to her former professor, taking in the sunset.
"Its beautiful isn't it?" Lysithea asked Byleth as she gently set her bouquet down next to her.
"Sitting here… It reminds me of that one time here, when we…" Lysithea felt herself recalling.
Lysithea tapped her foot impatiently.
Professor Byleth had asked the Golden Deer class to meet on a hill just outside the monastery at 4pm, yet so far they were still missing 3 people. Claude, Raphael and Byleth himself had yet to show up. Raphael had probably forgotten about being asked to meet here during the lunch rush, and Claude was no doubt at Professor Byleth's side, with the fascination he seemed to hold for the stoic Professor.
But why would the very person who requested the meeting at this time, show up late for it?
She began to grow more impatient.
Don't they know that not everyone has time to waste?
As she finished that thought, movement caught her attention from the corner of her eyes. She turned her attention towards the movement and saw the three missing members of their class meet-up stepping through the trees up to the clearing atop the hill they were on.
Before she could open her mouth to berate them for being late, she saw them carrying something between the three of them, and what they were holding quickly drew her attention.
Knives, Bows and Arrows.
Several question ran through her mind at once.
Why would they need weapons? And why only Knives and Bows? While she was capable of accurate shooting with a bow, and Professor Byleth had been tutoring her in Swordplay, many of the other members in the class trained with other weapons. Before she could ask, Byleth addressed the Golden Deer.
"You're probably wondering why I asked you all to meet here in the evening on a Saturday." The Professor asked the students as they placed the weapons on the ground.
Lysithea heard Hilda whisper something to Marianne just out of earshot.
"The answer is that I'm going to teach you all how to survive. We're going to do an exercise where the eight of you will build a camp, hunt for food and do everything you can to manage out here."
There was now murmuring between several member of the class, not just Hilda.
"OK, so Professor, when you say 'all' you don't mean… 'all'…do you?" Hilda asked nervously
"Yes Hilda. I mean all. And don't think this will be just a simple survival mission. I will be here as well, but not as your ally. Do what you can to survive the night." The professor answered before immediately jumping back into the tree cover and out of sight of the group.
Lysithea looked towards Claude, only to see his signature smile on his face. But looking closer she could see in his eyes that he was nervous. He clearly didn't know what the professor was planning when he helped carry all those weapons out.
She looked towards Ignatz and Raphael, the former looking very nervous while the latter looked excited.
She glanced towards Lorenz, who looked baffled as he watched Leonie immediately reach for a bow and start inspecting it.
Finally, Hilda looked like her soul had left her body while Marianne shyly tried to comfort her.
As Lysithea observed those around her she came to a simple conclusion that anyone who knew her would immediately expect.
"I don't have time for this. I'm going to study." She said as she walked into the tree cover back towards the monastery.
"Lysithea wait!" Claude called out when he noticed her leaving, but she ignored him and continued back towards the monastery.
Claude went to chase after her, but after a moment decided against it. Noticing his pause Lorenz looked at him.
"Will you not go after her?" He asked him.
"No. Teach will deal with this. He's always prepared for all of us and our tendencies. He will have seen this coming." Claude replied while staring into the trees she left through.
"Be that as it may, You are our House leader. You should be managing and rallying our classmates." Lorenz fired back at him.
"You're absolutely right Lorenz, which is why I'm focusing on the seven of us still here, and not making it more difficult for us by wasting everyone's time chasing after someone more stubborn than you when you're pursuing a lady." Claude answered, leaving a stunned Lorenz behind as he began walking towards the equipment Byleth left for them.
"Golden Deer, our Professor has issued us a surprise test, and I don't plan for us to fail. So what we're gonna do is…"
Lysithea continued her march through the small forest back towards the monastery.
Hmph. Making us sit outside and do nothing for a whole day. I thought he understood that I have bigger priorities than- Her thoughts were suddenly cut off as she felt something sharp and warm touch her throat, causing her to freeze in place. A red glow emanated from the object now resting at her neck.
"I figured you would return to the monastery." Byleths voice came from behind her as held the Sword of the Creator to her throat.
"P-Professor? Lysithea asked, a small stutter in her voice. she felt the legendary blade move away from her neck as she released a breath she didn't know she had been holding. She turned to look at Byleth.
"I'm sorry for leaving Professor, but I need to continue studying faith magic before our next mission." Lysithea said to him, before she began turning to leave.
"No. You will be working with me." Byleth responded simply. Lysithea spun back towards him.
"I'm sorry?" She asked him, surprised by his blunt denial when he was the one giving her faith based study material.
"Its time for a practical assessment. You can use Nosferatu." Byleth stated with a hint of certainty in his voice.
"I… Yes? But I haven't learned how to cast Seraphim yet like you asked. That's why I'm going to study." Lysithea said, trying to convince him to let her return.
"I know. I'm asking you to assist me now to gain more experience in the material we're currently working on." He answered in turn.
"This assignment was planned for each of you to use and train each other in your strengths. If you cant teach someone something in this, then you can be trained and improve you teamwork in the process." Byleth continued.
"If that's the case, why am I helping you?" She asked him.
"Because you learn exceptionally well through practical application, so as they learn and adapt, so will you." Byleth answered in a slight tone of finality.
He's right, as much as I love to study, I do learn quickest through application.
"Very well. What will we be doing?" She asked, now curious as to her Professors plans.
"Then we used hit and run Nosferatu tactics to wear them down and drain their energy. They put up a good fight, Claude was a good strategist for sure. But they couldn't win against our skill and strategies." Lysithea reminisced.
"I remember that was when I started taking you seriously. At first I thought you didn't pay enough attention to us, but I was clearly mistaken. You were keenly aware of all our strengths and weaknesses and how to exploit them." The white haired girl praised.
She looked around, remembering many of the positions in the clearing. She pointed towards a large bush.
"That was where I observed them before the first attack." She recalled fondly. She then pointed towards a withered tree.
"That's where I missed a Nosferatu on Hilda and struck the tree." She said with a small smile as she remembered how Hilda leaped out of the way with incredible skill and reflexes, betraying her delicate maiden persona.
"After that more and more crazy things started happening. Flayn got kidnapped, The closest place you ever had to a home before Garreg Mach was burned to the ground in front of you and your Father-" She cut herself off, her smile vanishing.
"Your Father… You only rarely expressed emotion before he passed… But when he did, I don't know if I've ever seen someone look so lost… You seemed… Broken." She nearly whispered. Eyes locked on her feet.
"You seemed so alive at the dance, and then at the Goddess Tower we…" She trailed off as she blushed at the memory of the event.
"Then not even a full day later…" She trailed off again as she looked back towards the sunset.
A sigh escaped her lips as she recalled the hours he spent locked in his room. Normally he would be out with the students, be it eating, returning lost items or just speaking with them. But for a full week he didn't even leave his room. Not that anyone saw at least. Some of the students left food and water at his door, and it would disappear, but only after no one was looking.
When he did return to teaching class after that week, his lessons totally lacked life. Normally he was catering every minor detail to each student and assisting them all along the way, but during that period, her work got noticeably easier, and he wasn't moving around the class and assisting anyone.
"After Claude spoke to you you seemed to begin to heal, but what really happened was you found a purpose in revenge. Of course I helped you, no one was ever going to hurt you like that and get away with it. Not if I had anything to say about it. You're… important to me." She recalled as she brushed some of her white hair out of the way of her face.
After she finished brushing her hair away, she noticed how low the sun was getting. A sad smile made its way across her face.
"I have to leave now Professor, its getting dark and this place is still enemy territory." She said as she picked up the flowers at her side.
"But we will bring down the empire someday professor. And then you will be able to rest in peace." She said as she placed the flowers at the headstone at her side and clasped her hands together in prayer.
"I hope wherever you are now, you don't have to fight anymore. That you can know peace for once in your life." She whispered, feeling her eyes grow damp, she quickly wiped her eyes.
"Goodbye Byleth. I hope I'll see you next year too." She whispered out as a lone tear escaped and ran down her face.
As she was walking away, she took one last look back at the headstone.
In loving memory of Byleth Eisner.
1161 - 1181
Beloved son, and valued Professor.
May he rest in peace in the gentle embrace of Sothis.
So yeah i felt like writing something a bit more angsty. (Thank Kenji and Quill in the Church of Lysithea Discord) I already have a strong idea of the direction this story will be heading, so hopefully it will come quicker, or maybe ill just go straight back to Visions of a Changed past. Who knows.
See you when i creep out of my den again.