"I don't want to die, but at least... at least I saved her. That's worth something, right?"
"You're not going to die, kid, and neither will your sister. The both of you are going to be fine so just hang in there. Wait 'til we get back to camp. We've a healer there named Marianne. Greatest and most beautiful healer in all of Fodlan! You'll love her. Don't you dare give up until then okay?"
Petra's speech is straightforward. She fights for Brigid. She fights for the Adrestian Empire.
"Does this mean you'd side with Faerghus if it were more advantageous for Brigid?" Linhardt asks without preamble.
Byleth watches as Petra's eyes flit briefly toward the front where Edelgard is sitting. The curious, self-assured student she had been is gone, replaced by a warrior who is tactful, guarded and secretive.
"No," Petra answers.
"Why not?" Linhardt asks.
"Brigid and Adrestia are the same," Petra answers. "They will not be betrayed from me."
"But we're not the same," Edelgard says quietly, her voice slightly hoarse.
"What?" Petra does not hold back her surprise.
"We are not the same," Edelgard repeats. "Is Brigid truly your only motive for fighting by my side?"
"No!" Petra exclaims. "It cannot be."
"Then, if you don't mind, could you please help me explain to the class why you believe it was necessary for this war to happen? Please, Petra."
Petra glances at Byleth as if to ask for help, but Byleth simply put on her usual, masked expression and levels an expectant gaze back at her.
"I fight in the same reason as you, Edelgard." Petra answers.
"And what reasons are those, exactly?" Edelgard pushes.
"Why are you cross-examining Petra?" Caspar interrupts. "She's fought with you for five years. She's literally killed so many people for you!'
"Shut your mouth, Caspar!" Edelgard shouts to everyone's surprise. "You don't understand anything and you never will! Isn't that what you said?!"
Instead of shouting back as might have been expected of him, Caspar responds calmly in the face of Edelgard's provocation. "I understand that you are probably the most broken person in this room."
Edelgard's expression freezes into a somehow terrifying mask of hatred, and her words become like ice. "This has nothing to do with me. Either my stance is correct or it's not, and if you knew how to think, you'd know that it's the rationally strongest position. This is my last warning to all of you, even you Professor. I don't need your pity. I don't want it, and you will not say another word about what I've revealed to you tonight to anyone. Is that clear?"
Petra is the first to speak in lieu of Edelgard's fury. "Edelgard," she says very slowly. "I fight by your side because I believe you. I believe your cause. You have my allegiance from the beginning because I know what we fight for is the right one."
Edelgard scrutinizes her ally carefully, and, after a long moment, finally relents. "I see," she replies, all traces of her previous resentment vanishing in an instant. "I am sorry for my outburst. I hope you can forgive me."
"Do you really believe that, Petra?" Linhardt asks. "Even with all the counts of death, suffering and starvation?"
"Yes, I think it is for the better of Fodlan," Petra replies seriously. "But sometimes I lose my care. And people look like animals and I just kill them and have no feeling after. I… I am not wanting to feel nothing."
"Me neither," Bernadetta whispers, echoing the thoughts of a number of the other students, and Petra gives her an understanding nod.
"I must also admit," Petra continues. "if I must choose in between Brigid and Fodlan, I will be choosing Brigid. I am sorry Edelgard."
"Don't be," Edelgard says. "What you would do in extreme cases does not define you. Until such cases occur, I have every reason to consider you a close friend and ally."
"Last questions or comments to Petra with regard to her speech?" Byleth cuts in. "Yes, Hubert?"
Hubert stands and turns to Petra. "I'm sure you understand that this agreement is mutual? If there ever comes a day where you present a legitimate threat to her Majesty and to the Empire, we will stop at nothing to eliminate you."
"Yes," Petra replies. "I am knowing."
"That is all I have to say then." remarks Hubert as he returns to his seat.
"Ferdinand," Byleth calls. "You had your hand raised. What did you want to say to Petra?"
Ferdinand shakes his head. "Hubert's already spoken the gist of it."
Byleth nods. "It seems there are no more questions. Petra, sit. Ferdinand von Aegir, you are the last. If you'd please-"
"The pleasure is all mine!" Ferdinand announces. He stands, adopting an almost theatrically measured pose. He clears his throat just as theatrically and begins his speech. "My motive is to demonstrate what true nobility means and to inspire such in the hearts of nobles and common folk alike. To that end, I live my life with character and discipline. A noble must lead by example! A noble must also know his purpose! My purpose is to help Edelgard lead Fodlan, to fight by her side when necessary and to help guide her noble path so that it may remain noble! I serve as a proud asset to the Adrestian Empire and as part of Edelgard's most trusted counsel."
Ferdinand bows dramatically. "Thus ends my speech, Professor," he declares.
"Thank you Ferdinand," Byleth says. "The floor is open for feedback."
"I guess some people never change," Dorothea comments. "Must be nice."
"Contrary to what you might be thinking, Dorothea, I am not unaffected by the trials and tribulation brought about by the war," says Ferdinand.
"Is that so?" Dorothea scoffs. "You're still such a bee, Ferdinand."
"Uh..." Ferdinand's eyebrows knit together. "Thank you? I think?"
"You still haven't figured it out. Wow!" Dorothea muses in an incredibly condescending tone, and Byleth decides to cut the exchange short.
"Any other comments or questions? Linhardt. I don't think you were such an active student five years ago."
"Class wasn't so interesting five years ago," Linhardt replies. "Anyway, what I want to say to Ferdinand, with respect to nobility, of course, is: thank you for the part you played in dampening the effects of this war."
"The part I played?" Ferdinand asks. "How would you even know?"
"Oh I know," Linhardt smiles. "I've spoken to General Ro."
"Ah!" Ferdinand exclaims. "General Ro! I see! But when?!"
"Before you had him publicly executed."
"There's no way you could have... unless-"
"Aaah. Now you're thinking!" Linhardt says almost ecstatically.
Ferdinand sighs, closing his eyes as if to imagine the scene. "It had to be done."
"'Had to' is relative," Linhardt comments. "You must really believe in Edelgard's cause."
"Not as much as she does," Ferdinand answers. "But yes. Sometimes our fate is not to decide the flow of history, but to choose how to navigate its tides so that we may come out on the other side wiser and better equipped to face the next one. Isn't that right, Professor?"
"My words," Byleth says. "I'm surprised you remember."
"You do say memorable things, Professor," Ferdinand replies back. He clears his throat. "'Do not fight for the Church! Do not fight for yourself! Fight for your brothers and sisters in arms, for your dearest friends who fight beside you. Fight so that they might live to see another day!'"
"That's enough Ferdinand," Byleth chides, but her words belie the happy feeling of pride flooding her senses. "Shall we move on?"
The classroom lapses into silence as Ferdinand takes his seat. Byleth points to Dorothea, the last presenter. The young woman immediately stands to her feet. "You're so cute when you smile, professor," Dorothea's voice quips and then proceeds to deliver her speech. "I fight to give myself and Linhardt a chance to live our lives. I fight for our survival and our future together. I know some might consider that selfish, but what do you expect us to do? We're not heroes. We are simple people wishing to live out a simple life as best we can. Is that so much to ask for? Is that wrong for us to not choose a side?"
Dorothea glances around, and Byleth senses strongly the woman's hidden guilt and her desire to find its resolution.
"If you had to choose a side to fight for between the Empire and Faerghus, which would it be?"
Dorothea turns to her questioner. Edelgard regards her classmate firmly as she waits for her answer.
"Don't ask this of me," she whispers.
Edelgard's gaze remains fixed and calculative, and Dorothea is suddenly unable to meet her class leader's eyes.
"I see," Edelgard says after a long moment of silence. "The Empire has no quarrel with your neutrality, Dorothea Arnault. I guarantee you immunity from Imperial hostility as long as you do not explicitly stand against my mission. You have my word."
With that, the stalwart Emperor takes her seat.
"Questions for Dorothea?" Byleth asks. The students are still and unresponsive.
"Alright. Dorothea, you may be seated. Thank you all for sharing." Byleth turns. "You should each have at least five sheets of paper for this next portion," she explains while pointing at her chalkboard. "In fact, we're going to do the next two items in one sitting. You may start your SitReps immediately after you finish your individual autobiographies. Write as much as you're willing to share with me."
Byleth moves her hand down to the next section.
"For the SitRep, make sure it contains as much relevant detail as possible. Good strategy requires good information, and the more you can give me, the better. The Empire. The Church. Faerghus. The Leicester Alliance. Brigid. Even Almyra. Tell me everything. Understood?"
"Yes, Professor," the class responds unanimously.
"Good," Byleth says. "I'll need time to read and process everything you will be writing, so after this, I'm giving you all a break."
"What will you be doing in the meantime, my teacher?" Edelgard asks.
Byleth pauses for a moment to think. "Can you keep your class in order?" she asks.
"Of course," Edelgard replies.
"Then, if there are no problems, I'm going outside for a walk."