I don't own fire emblem.
Summary: We take a step back and trace the steps of our future emperor.
Log 45: Ring, Ring 3 - The Middle
The Flame Emperor was not amused.
In the middle of something entirely different, they had answer a phone call. Said phone call was with the one person they had hoped to avoid talking too. At least till next month, which would serve as a curtain call for this piece of shit.
"I feel like the answer should be obvious here." they screeched, hoping to god the person on the other end understood how much they fucked up. It's one thing to commit to invading Gareg Mach, it was another entirely different thing to ask permission to use the Death Knight for the sake of collecting "If she was really so precious, you would've been a good fucking father and husband. But you weren't."
The person on the other end just grumbled, probably muttering something homophobic. Not that our mysterious stranger was really listening to that. Especially under the heavy mask and voice changer they had to wear to accomplish the effect. One of these days they would find a lighter material that could withstand arrows and/or stones. Today wasn't that day, tomorrow just as unlikely.
"Sucks to be you." they announced and hung up. A deep breath followed. "You would think he of all people would get it."
For now, their phone could be stashed away along with the mask in it's secret spot - a small crevice in a wall that could be easily covered up to prevent people from getting nosy and finding out their secret. But as glad as she was to have a place to keep all this stuff, it made having to walk a fine line to not get caught. Something that Edelgard preferred to avoid for the moment. Especially as she shifted her attention away from the hiding spot and back to the task at hand - finding her girlfriend. Which meant digging out her other phone to check for any messages. The possibility of leadership of an entire territory was not something to be taken lightly, especially when you might need to face down your own father and all that he inflicted on you.
"Crud."
Staring down at the screen, the house leader found herself bombarded with unread text messages. While Bernadetta was not one to really to send long strings of text, this was one of the few times she did. Of course, most of them consisted of some variation on 'where are you' or 'I need you right now' with a bunch of internet speak and misspellings to boot. But nothing on where exactly she was currently. More of a guessing game now.
So Edelgard did the natural thing in this situation - call her. This is becoming quite a pattern today. Though considering that Lilith had to teach my former employer not to eat hers, guess that goes without saying. That was a very long day. But I digress.
"Bernadetta?" she inquired, only to be greeted with the sound of a dial tone for the moment. Someone forgot they needed to wait. But in a situation like this, that's expected. Even more so with the foresight of future events on my mind at the moment.
Yet the house leader waited. One ring. Typical of most phone calls. Two rings. Okay, there's a chance that this won't work out. Three rings. You're going to have to leave a message.
"Bernadetta," what one can only assume to be Bernadetta's answering machine on her phone. "Is not available. Please leave a message after the beep. *beep*"
Edelgard sighed, taking the time to look about. Then it's right back to the phone.
"Bernadetta, it's me Edelgard. I'm trying to find you for the moment. If you can, call me back?" the house leader remarked, thoughts of possible fates threatening to break through and flood her mind. "I just got your texts and I'm just… worried about your safety. Okay?"
Ending her call, the house leader took the time to stuff this phone on her body (not going to go there) and let out another deep breath.
"Get out of the way!" a voice screeched, Lysithea barreling on past. Not even giving any time for Edelgard to get out of the way. Even if she had, the red on her hands was a cause for concern. Even if it could be all sorts of things - raspberries, strawberries, red paint. Lipstick, cool-aid. Stuff like th-
No Mozu, I don't want any of th- Okay, you can make up some lemonade. Just pour me a glass once you're done. Where were we? Right, the possibility of a dead body. From the looksie, Edelgard was already making a beeline for the front of the Academy. The bell is still ringing in the background. Doesn't get any softer or louder with each passing ring. More annoying would be the right word to describe this. Let's go with that. Especially as our house leader tries to get her thoughts in order. In between a certain person's 'request' and Bernadetta's panic, her own plans looked to be changing in a way that the house leader could ever dream of. Whether this is a sweet dream or some twisted nightmare, remains to be seen.
Yet, Edelgard pushed forward through the entrance hall. Her destination was right in view, but something was off. Sure it's morning, but shouldn't there be people manning the little campus shops? Heck, even the gatekeeper is off somewhere else for the moment. What if someone tried to sneak their way into the academy. Maybe some infiltrator who wishes to cut to the chase and bring an end to the conflict before it starts? Possible, but unlikely. No, there was one more thing in particular.
"Fuck."
The moment Edelgard's gaze met the dead body of Jeritza, a million different things went through her mind. For starters, how did this happen. Sure, we've paid little mind to the 'best' 'swordsman' of Gareg Mach, but now is the time to get to know him. What remains of him, at least. There's little blood loss, but what's there shows a purple wound of all things.
"You idiot." she muttered, trying to resist the urge to just slap her fallen comrade in the hopes of somehow reviving him. But no such harm was inflicted to the fallen instructor. Instead, she pulled what looked to be papers of some kind. Incriminating evidence? Probably. Then it's time to pretend this is that one game series. What was it's name? Dugun Runpu? Don Gon Ron Pa? Mozu, can you help me out there?
Oh. Danganronpa. Thank you. And no, I will not play that one song. It freaks me out. Okay? Such sounds should not play out of a speaker. Not that this matters as Edelgard approaches Seteth of all people.
"Seteth, there's a dead body." Edelgard explained and got a double take from the headmaster. Or whatever his title supposedly is for the moment. "It's Jeritza."
A nod, followed by our house leader trying to sneak away at the moment. A look from Seteth brings an end to that.
"So you just found the body?" Seteth remarked, getting a nod from Edelgard. "No sign of the culprit?"
"Correct." the house leader answered as she pulled her map out. "I'm going to go inform Byleth on this."
Not even waiting for an answer, Edelgard was off. Mind going a mile a minute, hopefully things would work out.
Notes:
Originally, Ring, Ring was going to be four parts but the 'before' got spun off into it's own fic. Outside of that, I was at one time a dangan ronpa fanfiction writer. Not a very good one though.
