DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Kingdom Hearts nor Fire Emblem Three Houses characters, Square Enix, Nintendo, and Disney are the owners.
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CHAPTER 10 – SUSPICIONS.
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ADVISORY ROOM – MORNING
Byleth and Edelgard met with Seteth in the office to have the mission brief that the group would carry out.
"As you have been notified, Byleth, your mission is to subdue some bandits. Our students have been learning about combat through study, but this is a precious opportunity to provide them with practical experience." Seteth commented about their upcoming real mission leading her to understand that her students had to learn to survive by the real means of cautions.
"I'll make sure that they all have enough training to carry the mission out." Said Byleth with certainty and high self-esteem.
"The knights will support your mission and are prepared to offer their assistance if necessary. In short, this is no mock battle. You must be prepared for anything, Byleth. You will receive a message from the knights when it is time to depart. Until then, use your time wisely." He asked her to be well prepared to make sure of each and every student of hers' survival.
After giving her these advices, Seteth left the office.
"The last time we fought battles, you and Sora saved me. Maybe I can return the favor this time." Edelgard reminded her of their actions that the two did that night.
"We all did our best, Edelgard. "Byleth replied understanding her words. "As long as all of you are near me, we can take any foe down whoever we run into."
"The knights are well aware of our enemy's strength. We can count on them to keep the battlefield under control for us." Edelgard mentioned the strategy that they would all carry out in the mission. "It seems unlikely that we would lose. Still, let's do all we can to prepare."
"Yeah, our first mission is a serious matter we must take into account." Byleth nodded accepting her student's advice.
/
In the monastery courtyard, Sora was walking in the surroundings aimlessly until he was met by the indigo-haired boy.
"Oh, hey Felix." He greeted him in friendly tone.
"Hey, Sora. I heard rumors that defeated Dimitri and the others in the mock battle, isn't it that right?" he replied blandly, typical for him.
"Yes, I defeated him, he's a tough guy." Sora confirmed him proudly.
"That's what I thought, but I must warn you something, Sora." said Felix in a serious tone, something that had the keyblade wielder intrigued.
"Is there something going on?" Sora asked this question in this state.
"You see, the boar prince and I were inseparable for years, I know him better than almost anyone else." Felix began to tell him how Dimitri was really like. "So, let me give you some advice, boy, beneath all that princely polish, he's an animal, nothing more."
"An animal? What'd you mean?" Sora was intrigued by his acid tongue, he seemed so brutally honest.
"He's strong and skilled, sure, Sora." Felix kept explaining him about the future king's inner personality. "But don't place your trust in him as a human being. Take care that he doesn't chew you up and spit you out."
"Are you kidding me, right?" Sora was kind of skeptical upon hearing this statement.
"Sorry, but I kid you not." Felix affirmed his words telling him that he was not lying.
It was at this second that this inner conversation he had with Byleth in that night they recently met the three future rulers of Fodlan and the way they saw Dimitri came to his mind.
It seems the suspicion towards the future king of Faerghus was growing stronger and Sora was somewhat certain that Dimitri would eventually succumb to the darkness.
"Felix, is there any reason that Dimitri would ever behave like this?" Sora interrogated him suspiciously.
"You wouldn't like to know, Sora, this is something atrocious that happened long time ago, that's all I can say." Felix did not want to reveal their painful and disturbing past, something that the keyblade wielder understood.
"I see… it must have been terrible…" Sora intuited his words recognizing that Dimitri had a dark past.
"It's alright, you just take my advice." Said Felix a little relied. "Whatever you do, be careful with Dimitri, you can greet him but that's it."
"Thanks Felix, I owe you one." Sora expressed his gratitude.
"Don't mention it, by the way, I'd love to have a sword battle with you if you can." Felix expressed a subtly smile inviting him to have a spar with each other.
"I'll take it into account, see ya." Sora bided farewell leaving the place.
"I hope Dimitri doesn't do a crazy thing…" Felix seemed worried about his friend while watching Sora leave.
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CAPTAIN'S QUARTERS
Byleth headed to her father's quarters to speak with him regarding her performance as a teacher in the monastery.
"You seem well. Are you adjusting to life at the monastery?" Jeralt asked her if she was getting used to it.
"Mmmm not quite, everything is new for me." Byleth recognized how overwhelming her life as a teacher was.
"Well, I didn't expect it to be easy on you. When we were mercenaries, I handled everything. Outside of battle, you didn't have much contact with people, did you?" her father reassured his words about her basic social skills.
"Not a lot, father." she said understanding his words. "To be honest, I begin to feel things I could not before, when I met Sora, I felt how my own way of thinking was coming out, not quickly to be exactly.
"I thought being thrown into a bunch of noble brats to teach would be a bit too much for you, daughter. It seems I was right to worry." Jeralt knew how she felt about having to teach Edelgard's undisciplined entire class. "By the way, Byleth, I heard about those bandits. Your assignment is to take them out, right?"
"Yes, father." she replied to his question. "They assigned me this mission."
"That's fairly routine for you by now, but don't forget that it's the first real taste of battle for those brats. It will be tougher for you to sleep for you at night if you let one of your little pupils die, so stay vigilant and lead them well."
Certainly, Jeralt was right, people were dying every day in many ways including inside of battlefield, Byleth had to be wise if she wanted to keep everyone including Sora alive.
"I wish I could offer you my support, but Lady Rhea won't allow it. For now, I'll try to figure out what she wants from you and Sora. I don't mind you two setting into your lives here, but don't let your guard down, my daughter. Ever."
"Understood, father… I will tell Sora about this, I promise that nobody else but us will know it." Byleth stated determined understanding her father words.
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MONASTERY ACADEMY
Meanwhile, Sora was sitting down in the library reading some kind of book, even though reading wasn't his thing he read one or other page once in a while.
But he was actually thinking about what Felix had told him about Dimitri, he looked lost in his thoughts and was intrigued for the strange and unknown reason for the future king of Faerghus to become aggressive instead of being nice and gentleman that he supposedly he was.
And then, a lot of questions came to his mind. What if Dimitri's gentle smile and humble demeanor was not more than a façade and a cover up? What if everything Felix told him was true? How Dimitri's past was like? Was it that darker and painful as he said?
"What's the matter, Sora? Lost in thoughts?" Sothis voices resounded inside his head, freaking him in the process.
"So-Sothis?!" Sora was surprised upon hearing her. "Ho-How did you find me?"
"I dunno, I just did, you see, I can not only hear and speak with your cute teacher but you as well." She said in a sassy and playful tone, making Sora shrug his shoulders.
"What? No way! How is it possible?" he articulated looking rather curious. "I mean, I have no idea how we are able to feel and hear you."
"Me neither… but I would like to believe that is because your heart has sort of bond to Byleth's." Sothis assumed the motive that could lead to believe that their hearts were bonded for this reason. "Or that's what I think…"
"Our hearts are connected… I think this is it…" Sora was thinking about the same. "Anyway, I have to speak with Byleth about it."
"About how we're able to talk each other?"
"No, it's about something else, about Dimitri."
"Well, if you feel like wanting to talk to me, just use your heart, sweetie."
OK, Sothis teased Sora with that sassy tone and made him blush a bit.
Sora stood up to leave the library and search for his teacher, once he set his feet outside, walked few steps in the hallway, until he noticed her presence.
"Byleth!" he called her out upon getting closer with each other
"Sora!" the navy-blue haired professor replied in the same tone. "I wanted to have a word with you so I looked for you everywhere."
"Me too, there's something is been intriguing me."
"Same, how about we have a tea party? So we can have this conversation privately?" Byleth invited him to go to a more private place without anyone else listening.
Sora felt strong heartbeats and his stomach tickled, but he had to talk about his concerns with his teacher without anybody finding out.
"Okay Byleth, you lead." The keyblade wielder accepted his teacher's invitation going far away from the people of the monastery.
/
After they set the table up, Sora and Byleth sat down face to face with their respective black tea with lemon.
The boy shrugged his shoulders to try to pull his blush away and clean his mind while having his beautiful professor in front of him.
"How is it? Is it good?" Byleth began after slurping a drink of her tea.
"It's very good! You really nailed it, Byleth!" Sora praised her after tasting his own tea cup.
"I'm glad you liked it, Sora." she commented with mild laughs, something that it seemed weird even for her as well. "Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about something really important, but you have to promise me that you will keep the secret from everyone."
"Okay, I promise I won't tell anybody." Sora nodded to his teacher advice. "What is it about?"
"You see, I talked to my father at his quarters, he seemed me how quite cheerful I am, but the point is…" Byleth paused shorting their distance between each other while making sure nobody else were around. "My father thinks that Rhea is plotting something that we don't know."
"What? The Archbishop?" Sora asked the question in low voice lifting an eyebrow showing some concern.
"I'm not sure, but my father asked us to be careful with her, she could be scheming something to trick us all." Byleth affirmed giving a warning about Rhea.
"I see… But we must keep the appearances, right?" said Sora understanding her words.
"Yes, Sora. We have to keep our low profiles." Byleth coincided with her student's words as well, while giving another gulp of their respective cups. "By the way, there was something you wanted to tell me, right?"
"Well, I just met with Felix in the courtyard today and he praised me for my victory in the mock battle." Sora told her regarding the current events. "However… he warned me to be careful with Dimitri."
"Why? What did he tell you?" Byleth inquired him intrigued for his words.
"He said that Dimitri may look like a real knight prince for outside, but inside, he is…" Sora was telling her about the future king's inner personality but he paused at the last word, fearful for his teacher's reaction.
"Trust me, Sora, you can tell me, don't be afraid." Byleth encouraged him to get his trust up.
"Right… Dimitri is an animal for inside, Felix told me that a horrible tragedy happened long time ago and made Dimitri snap and insane just as like as he told me." Sora explained her the reason of Dimitri's true personality.
"Aren't you saying...?" Byleth was about to question him when suddenly, she remembered that night they observed Dimitri after saving him among the other leaders. "Wait a second… Sora… Do you remember the observation we have made to these guys? To the future rulers?"
"I do, I remember perfectly, Byleth." Sora recognized Dimitri's problem. "You said that there was a darkness lurking beneath his face, right?"
"It's true that I said that, but it's because I have a slight suspicion towards him too, aren't you thinking the same as me?" Byleth asked him being thoughtful.
"For what I'm aware about suspicions, I'd say yes." Sora stated agreeing with his teacher's opinion.
"Right, if this is what Felix told you it's true, then we have to be careful about Dimitri, and Rhea as well." His teacher gave him instructions he had to follow. "Anyway, changing the subject, I would like you to tell me something about you."
"About me?" Sora was taken aback for that statement, but he decided to tell her nevertheless. "It may sound crazy what I'm gonna say but, I'm a keyblade wielder, as you can see here."
Sora summoned his keyblade impressing and made his teacher curious.
"Wow, you're capable of making your sword appear." Byleth expressed surprise in this mood. "Would it be nice of you to let me see it?
"Sure." Sora gave her his weapon letting her have an eye on it.
"The girl looked at the keyblade with determinant, she was more than curious for the weapon's shape due to not having a typical sword appearance that everybody used, actually, it looked like a toy but what attracted Byleth's attention was the keychain, the same as that crest that Hanneman had figured out, thus, it wasn't an ordinary weapon.
"Where did you get this, Sora?" Byleth asked him his question with curiosity.
"Well… it's a long story, but everything began when the Heartless invaded the Destiny's islands and I tried to rescue Kairi and Riku, but they were swallowed by the darkness, when I was about to be the next one, my keyblade appeared from nowhere and it was how my journey began and I started to slay the uncountable dark forces I encountered." Sora tried to tell his story in an easy way as possible so his teacher could understand his motives.
"It must be admirable on what you have done and I can tell you fought to protect what you love." Byleth understood his reasons to have that initiative. "And who are Riku and Kairi? Friends of yours?"
"That's right, they are my best friends that I have met since my childhood." Sora said it cheerfully. "What about you? Have you had a friend or something?"
"Ah… I only was with my father, I have never interacted with anyone outside of battlefield, but since I met you and the others, I'm starting to experiment things I never felt before." Byleth showed for the first time a genuine smile, a true smile she never expressed until now.
She never had experienced sort of emotions until she met Sora and the others, upon having him as his student, Byleth came to realize about the sense of life and what interacted with people looked like.
"I see, I never spoke with anyone else besides Riku and Kairi at my home, until this heartless incident made me speak with people of…" Sora was about to reveal the top secret world traveling subject and had to hold his tongue, he almost had his cover blown again. "Around the world."
"You know, Sora? I think that we are very alike." Byleth stated making his student blush.
"You think so?" Sora expressed his dumb smile in that state looking quite nervous.
"Yes." Byleth replied changing his demeanor into a more serious manner. "Anyway, to go into a serious business, Seteth just assigned us a new mission, but I want you to know that this is a real battle and not a game."
"A mission?" Sora inquired her lifting an eyebrow, but showing serious manner upon his teacher statement.
"Yes, they assigned us that mission to take down some bandits, but to be honest, it isn't an easy task for me alone, and I don't want to let my students die." Byleth was showing anguish upon worrying about her students' lives.
"Byleth, don't worry, I'm not gonna let anyone lay a finger on them, we'll do everything to protect ourselves and ensure our survival." Sora said it with encouragement, inspiring her trust in the process.
"Sora…" Byleth grabbed his hand in a more-than-friendly way. "Thank you for encouragement, I wouldn't know what do without you."
"You're welcome, B-Byleth." He replied melting himself due to her smile. "If you need something, you can count on me if you need me."
"I appreciate it." She said sitting up and the boy did the same. "Let's go talk to the others."
"Yeah."
[SUPPORT BEWTEEN SORA AND BYLETH HAS REACHED LEVEL C]
END OF CHAPTER 10
