Dedue watches as Dimitri walks into the Blue Lions classroom, followed by a person he hasn't seen in the monastery before. Teal hair, light armor, and a sword sits at their waist.

Soon, the entire house was called to the front of the classroom, and Dedue manages to stand next to Dimitri as the prince announces that Professor Byleth is going to be their teacher for the year.

"I don't mind if you treat me as a friend," Byleth says, casually nodding their head.

"Are you sure?" Dimitri asks. "We wish to show you due respect."

Sylvain shrugs. "Hey, if the professor says it's okay, shouldn't that be enough? Unless Your Highness can't consent to such a thing."

Dedue glances at the redhead for a moment before looking around at the rest of the group, unsurprised to see Ingrid's lips pursed and Felix scowling. "I mean," Sylvain continues, apparently unafraid of death, "we're already speaking this way to our future king, so we may as well relax our speech with our professor too, right?"

Dimitri seems to think about it for a while. "Well, we're not in the Kingdom, so it only goes to follow that we should all speak companionably-"

Dedue and Felix make eye contact, and Dedue can tell that no "companionable words" will be spoken from the swordsman's lips soon.

Dimitri sighs. "I concede. If the professor says it's fine, we ought to accept that kindness gratefully."

Ingrid rubs the back of her head. "I'm not sure I can manage."

"You don't have to force yourself if it's too difficult," Mercedes says, voice light and comforting. "You're fine with that too, right, Professor?"

Byleth simply nods.

"Such benevolence is a sight to behold!" Sylvain says, before wincing in pain as Ingrid steps on his foot.

Felix immediately takes the opening in the conversation. "Come to the training grounds later. I wish to test your skills in battle."

"Moving quickly, aren't you Felix?" Dimitri asks, shaking his head. "Count me in for any such battle."

"Excuse me," Ashe says, "If it's okay to watch as you battle-"

"Ashe, it's better to join in then to watch!" Dimitri declares. "Mercedes is an amazing healer for if you get hurt."

Dedue sighs. "Please try to stick to the training weapons. And take care not to go overboard."

Dimitri chuckles. "Dedue, you worry too much! Mihail can also heal us up."

Mihail shrugs. "Sure. I'd be happy to practice it."

The group meeting turns into a big organization on when it would be best to begin training. By the time Byleth leaves to go to a staff meeting, there is still no consensus.

That Saturday is when Dedue finds out about the mock battle. Sadly, he finds this out by the frantic knocking on his door, Byleth throwing a pair of gauntlets at him, and Mihail hurriedly making sure that his uniform is in order before they have to go out to a practice field for the match.

Dedue is finally awake when he steps onto the grass, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "And why are you not fighting?" He asks Mihail, who is comfortably sitting down.

Mihail shrugs. "Only the professor and four students could go. Dimitri also has to be on the field because he's the house leader, and they chose to take you, Mercedes, and Ashe." There's a smirk on his face, and Dedue is sure that if they had been in Duscur, he would have followed with some sort of smug comment.

Luckily, Mihail cares too much about vanity right now and simply helps him organize the weapons he's using during the mock battle, strapping on some training gauntlets and slinging an axe over his shoulder. It's only a few more minutes until Jeralt, the referee for the match, calls everyone to attention and starts the battle. Byleth immediately tells Dedue and Dimitri to run forward and hold off Lorenz and Ignatz, the two Golden Deer members standing far away from their group. As they make their way over to the duo, Dedue feels the hairs on the back of his neck stand up a split second before lightning hits him, causing him to grunt in pain and stumble. He looks up to see Dorothea blowing a kiss his way, a sly smile on her face as she recognizes his lack of affinity towards combat magic.

As he ducks into a patch of trees, he hears Byleth shout some more commands and suddenly he feels like a warm blanket has been wrapped around his shoulders as strength finds its way back into his arms. He quickly waves at Mercedes to signal his gratitude and watches as Lorenz charges Dimitri, the two of them exchanging blows. Ignatz and Ashe are also squaring off, their arrows nocked and bows drawn, but not fired yet. Keeping a close eye on Dorothea, Dedue steps through another patch of trees to strike at Lorenz, his punch making a solid hit on the noble's torso that causes him to bow out. He hears an arrow whistle by his head and watches as Ignatz is distracted by a push of a training arrow, Mercedes giving Ashe the opening he needs to release his arrow and hit Ignatz in the head.

After the two Golden Deer members bow out, Dedue can spot Claude and Hilda saying things to each other as they back up from behind the wall that they barricaded themselves behind. Out of the corner of his eye, he spots Dorothea casting another lightning bolt and he just manages to duck out of the way, letting one of the trees he's standing by take the brunt of the force.

Byleth runs forward and Dimitri follows to attempt to stop her, Mercedes pointedly staying behind so she can support them if she needs to. Byleth bows out after Dorothea dodges an attack and tags them with a spell, only for Hubert to follow up and blindside them with another one. Dimitri starts shouting orders now, and Ashe and Mercedes nock arrows, standing on opposite sides of the three Eagles, Ferdinand stepping up to join the fray now.

Dedue understands the plan almost immediately, running in with his axe and swinging it at Dorothea, who doesn't notice him in time to avoid the flat of the wooden blade as it hits her shoulder. She smiles and bows to him as she retreats, and Dedue looks up to see Hubert clasp his hands together, ready to cast another spell.

Actually prepared to dodge it this time, Dedue finds it easier to avoid Hubert's magic than it was to avoid Dorothea's, although he has the feeling that although it was slower, it definitely would have taken him out of the battle if it had hit him. Dimitri and Ashe work on him while Ferdinand attempts to swing at Mercedes, who somehow dodges it and fires an arrow back. Dedue holsters his axe and barely has enough time to put on his gauntlets before he pulls a fist back and punches Ferdinand in the chest, quickly following it up with another haymaker. For one moment, it feels weird that his fists don't hurt as much as he remembered that they would when he would sometimes spar with Cibor, but he quickly pulls up a bit of the earth to help soften a blow from Ferdinand's lance. There's a shriek of indignation from the red-haired noble before Dedue's fist lands in his stomach, and soon he's also leaving the field, though in a less dignified manner than he would have probably hoped for.

Now finished with Ferdinand, he looks up to see that the other three have managed to take on both Hubert and Edelgard and win, uniforms ruffled from action and battle. The four took some time to regroup, sharing vulneraries and taking breathers before they make their way forward, ready to take on the other two professors, Claude, and Hilda.

Claude and Hilda have somehow managed to place themselves on the outside of the forest, but in their planning, they seemed to have forgotten that although Claude was good with a bow, he could not aim in close quarters yet. Dimitri took the advantage, running in and striking at Claude with an astounding amount of force. Hanneman blasted magic at the prince, controlling the air with a more scholarly method than Mihail used. As Ashe and Mercedes deal with him, Dedue looks at Hilda and remembers how effortlessly she swung her axe in training.

"I know we tied during the seminar, but could you please go easy on me?" Hilda asks, pouting. "I need to impress Claude so he'll give me back my bracelets!"

Dedue shakes his head, planting his foot down, pulling up a bit of the earth to cover his chest like a makeshift chestplate. "I'm sorry, but you're going to have to earn those bracelets."

Hilda's face turns murderous. "I can't believe you're making me work!" She cries, running out of the trees with a look of vengeance on her face. The amount of force behind her axe is shocking, displaying Hilda's deceptive strength. The axe cuts through the stone chestplate as if it isn't even there, and Dedue feels the weight of the swing fully settle in his chest, forcing him to gasp for air, even as he goes to retaliate, missing wildly.

There was a loud cry as Hilda suddenly backs off, the sight of blonde hair and a blue cape letting Dedue know that Dimitri is forcing the other vassal to retreat. The warm blanket feeling washes over him again as Mercedes heals him, and he again quickly thanks her before stepping into the trees, watching as Ashe places one more training arrow on Hanneman's neck.

Manuela was the last person left. And somehow, she wasn't going down without a fight. What follows are the most agonizing twenty seconds of Dedue's life as she somehow manages to avoid every single attack that he and the other Blue Lions throw at her. What makes it even more insulting is the fact that she was also counter-attacking them successfully, tagging them with light spells that didn't hurt a lot, but are just simply a nuisance. She dodges another of Ashe's arrows and brought her hands up to cast the spell again before she went pale.

Dedue hears her mutter, "Uh oh," before Dimitri's lance leaves his hand and flies directly towards her. Manuela shouts and ducks, just barely avoiding the blade before it sticks in the tree next to her. The four watch as she looks up and sees the lance buried to the middle of the shaft. "I give up."

"Well, with all strange things aside," Jeralt shouts, holding up a hand to call the battle, "This means that the winners of this battle are the Blue Lions!"

Sylvain, Felix, Ingrid, and Mihail combined cannot pull the spear out of the tree. Dedue gives it a test and is terrifyingly surprised at how much purchase it has in the lumber. Dimitri simply walks up and pulls it out, the Blaiddyd crest lighting up behind him.

After the feast, Dedue watches everyone else leave as he and Mihail are still eating. Claude slides into a seat on the other side of the table. "Good job during the mock battle today, Dedue."

"Thank you, Claude." Dedue says, sliding his plate over a bit so Mihail could reach the piece of fish he was trying to grab off of it. "You caused Hilda to put up a strong fight."

"Yeah," Claude says with a shrug, "Hilda's great, but she just needs a bit of motivation to get her moving."

Mihail laughs. "You did a great job. I don't think I've ever seen anyone move so quickly in my life."

"Thanks. I'm glad I can entertain you…"

"Mihail. And you're Claude right?"

"Yeah, that's the name, don't wear it out!" Claude grins and Dedue realizes that this conversation was suddenly on a different level than he thought it was. "I like your hair."

"Thanks." Mihail offhandedly rubs his chin twice before he gives the house leader a small smile. "I'm about to head to the library, and I've been trying to get someone to go with me," He says, his hands clasping together and thumbs twiddling. "Would you mind if-"

"Oh no, I would love to go to the library," Claude says, smiling back at him. "I've actually been planning to go there soon, and there's better time than the present, right?"

"Right."

And so Dedue watches as Claude von Riegan and Mihail Vessyl both get up from the table, the look of a scheme present in both of their eyes. He briefly worries about the chaos that the two could cause together before Byleth takes a seat in front of him. "Hello."

Dedue respectfully nods. "Hello, Professor. What can I do for you?"

"I just did a favor for someone else, and they gave me some Duscur Bear," they say, and Dedue's stomach is suddenly empty again with the thought one of his favorite meats to cook with nearby. "I just passed by Mihail and he told me that you were the best cook between the two of you. Do you mind helping me?"

"I would love to."

"I enjoy cooking," he tells Byleth as the dish cooks. "You seem to know what you are doing."

"Thank you."

It's when they're eating shares off of the platter that they made that Byleth tells him they want him to lead a battalion in a practice battle. Dedue accepts, although he can't help but worry that he's not going to do a good job at leading others.

The battalion is rowdy until Dedue punches out one of the "enemies" in the practice battle. Then all thirty battalion soldiers are ready to pay attention and listen to him. Mihail gives him a thumbs up as he runs by.

Dedue later spots two soldiers that are making their way towards Annette and quietly points them out to his battalion. The soldiers around him nod before they quickly get into formation, waiting for the command.

He waits until the "enemies" are right in front of him to give the order. "Let's do it. Now."

The onslaught goes off without a hitch.

On the 25th day of Harpstring, Dedue watches as the monastery transforms for Saint Macuil Day. Streamers drape along the walls and towers, and banners adorned with Mihail's Crest are everywhere.

Mihail looks tired of it all during breakfast. "I have already had several monks walk up to me with congratulations."

"Shame," Dedue says, taking a bite of his food. "Have they been treating you any better today?"

"Of course not!" Mihail groans. "It's always, 'Oh, you're so blessed to have Macuil's favor!' or 'You should be grateful that the Strategist has chosen to bless you!'. I've even heard the occasional whisper about Duscur."

The two look at each other and sigh, going back to their meal. After a while, when the two finish eating, Dedue notices a group of monks enter the dining hall. He fake coughs once to get Mihail's attention as the monks spot them. Mihail looks up and quietly groans before putting a passive smile on his face.

The monks approach, and the one leading the group points at Mihail. "You. The archbishop requests your presence in her chambers before the ceremony."

Mihail's smile brightens, and Dedue can tell that he's faking it like he would sometimes fake being the stoic vassal. "If she requests it, then who am I to refuse her?"

The monk smiles, her hair braided with silver thread in honor of the saint. "That's right! You learn rather quickly, don't you?"

"Thank you for the compliment." Mihail gets up from the table and steps towards the monks. Dedue watches as he tugs at his earlobe before he leaves and internally groans when he realizes that Mihail wants to meet up with him later.

He waits for the monks and Mihail to leave before he picks up his own tray and puts it in the pile to be washed. He has to get to the cathedral early to find seats for them.

Somehow, he finds himself standing by Ingrid and facing the choir director. Other choir members lean away from them as they struggle through the song.

For a brief moment afterwards, Dedue turns to face Ingrid and sees the same weariness on her face that he feels. And then Ingrid scowls at him and turns away.

Dedue sneaks down to Abyss alone that night, Mihail far too tired to do anything but sleep. He's more used to the tunnels now, the stone and earth surrounding him a map to his friends.

When he shows up at the entrance, Cibor and Baila are waiting for him, talking to each other. Cibor sees Dedue and the bag that he's carrying first and bursts into a big smile. "Hey! What'd you bring this time?"

"Jeez, Cibor, let Dedue breath before he thinks that you only care for his gold," Baila teases, giving Dedue a hug. "Where's Mihail?"

"He's tired. It was Saint Macuil Day."

Cibor frowns, having always been the most protective of his cousin. "Oh. Well I hope he's okay."

"He looked fine when I talked to him after the ceremony," Dedue says, leading the way to the Duscis room. "He's really done a lot today: he helped me with gardening-"

"He always does that."

"-Practiced his magic-"

"He always does that."

"-He spoke with the archbishop."

"He always does-" Dedue can see the sparks nearly falling out of Cibor's ears as he actually listens to what happened today. "Wait, what?"

Adrista looks up from her book as they enter the room. "What is Cibor talking about?"

"Mihail apparently had a talk with the archbishop."

The book fell out of her hands as she stood up. "What? Is he okay?"

"He's fine," Dedue assures, holding a hand up to calm her down. "He's just really tired from the day. Having the only Crest of Macuil on the day for Macuil meant that he was very sought after."

Adrista still looks unsure. "If you're certain about it, I trust you."

Baila claps her hands together. "If that's taken care of, habesne quid?" (What do you have?)

Dedue rolls his eyes as he takes the bag off his shoulder and hands it to her. She gives him a smile and a curtsy as she takes the bag and pours out its contents on her bed. "Oh, these are nice." She picks up a training sword and twirls it in her hand. "I can work with this."

Rius yawns, sitting up in his own bed. "Hey, be careful before you poke someone's eye out with that."

Towen and Bryn enter the room as Baila pouts. "Please, I'm a Resiti," she says as she puts the sword down anyway. "I don't make mistakes with weapons."

"That's right!" Towen says with a smirk, joining their sister to look over the weapons.

Bryn and Adrista work together to make the room brighter. Rius groans as he covers his eyes. "Too bright."

"Sorry," Adrista apologizes. Bryn laughs. Cibor throws a blanket over Rius' face. The Resitis look at Rius and shake their heads. It feels like home again.

Dedue enters the cathedral and spots Mercedes at the front of the altar, looking up at a statue of The Goddess. He pushes past the shivers that start to crawl down his spine and makes his way towards the blonde woman. "Mercedes?"

She turns around and he sees that her hands are clasped in front of her. "Oh, hello Dedue, Was there something you needed?"

"His Highness sent me to collect you," Dedue answers, whispering to make sure that he doesn't bother anyone else while praying.

"I see," She hums, more to herself. "I'll be with you in a moment. I'm almost finished here."

Dedue waits, taking a seat in one of the pews as Mercedes turns around and continues praying. She smiles as she turns back around, finally finished a few minutes later, and Dedue stands up to walk with her. They get out of the cathedral before Dedue's curiosity moves his tongue. "You were praying?"

Mercedes chuckles. "I was," she admits. "Praying for everyone's safety. And praying for good desserts tonight, and that the greenhouse flowers will bloom."

"The Fodlan Goddess will accept prayers of any sort?" Dedue asks, wondering how one deity is responsible for so much.

"Yes, it's true. I've thought the same thing myself," Mercedes says with a giggle. "That reminds me, Dedue. Weren't you born in Duscur?"

Dedue quickly glances over at Mercedes, trying to see if he can figure out what her intentions are. He doesn't speak until they finish crossing the bridge. "Yes."

"Do the people of Duscur pray to the Goddess too?"

Many stories and songs told by grandparents and elders fall into his head at once, but none of them are appropriate to say right now, so Dedue opts for a nicer route: "Duscur had a very different view of religion."

Mercedes looks interested. "Oh?"

"In Duscur," Dedue explains as they draw closer to the courtyard of the Officers Academy. "There were many gods. The sky had a god-" Caelum "-the earth had a god-" Terra. Or Tellus. "-we made an offering to the war god for victory in battle-" Bellum "-and held feasts for the sea god to calm the waves." Unda. Or Aqua.

"So your people prayed to different gods depending on what they needed?"

There's a lot more when it comes to it, but Dedue thinks that Mercedes has the big picture understood, so he nods. "Correct."

Mercedes' smile seems to grow even brighter. "Your beliefs sound so different from ours! Would you mind telling me more later?"

"Why?" Dedue asks, stopping as the two stood in front of the Blue Lions' classroom. "Duscur is a ruin now."

"Duscur may be gone, but you're still here." Mercedes' voice is soft, and Dedue notices sadness plant itself into her smile. He wonders about Mercedes and her life before they met. Did she have any tragedy? A burden to bear? He's still thinking about it when Mercedes recovers from her thoughts. "Excuse me. If it makes you uncomfortable, I won't push, but I would love to learn more about your beliefs."

"If you insist."

"Really? That would be great! I'm looking forward to hearing more soon," Mercedes says with a cheer, waving as she enters the classroom, a cheerful smile back on her face.

Dedue is left reminiscing over her words. "Duscur is gone, but I'm still here…"

The mission for this moon is very straightforward: Take out the leader of the thieves that attacked Dimitri and the other house leaders a while back. They had tracked the man and his band of thieves near the monastery, in a place called the Red Canyon.

As they come upon the Canyon, Mihail's eyes betray his curiosity before he starts talking. "Why is it called the Red Canyon?"

"We don't know," Sylvain says, "There are many theories though. My personal favorite is one about The Goddess and her con-"

"Sylvain"-Felix snaps, voice as sharp as his blade-"Do you still really believe that stupid wives' tale?"

"Hey, those old ladies sitting in chairs were very wise," Sylvain argues. "Maybe they knew the Goddess personally."

During the battle, Byleth orders Ashe and Dimitri to go to an abandoned chest in the middle of the bandits' camp. After dealing with the few bandits in the area, Dedue raises an eyebrow as Ashe darts around him and kneels in front of the chest. "Ashe, I have the key to the chest."

Ashe freezes for a moment, shoulders tense. "I don't need it," he says quietly, and Dedue realizes why his fingers sometimes twitch in class and Ashe looks slightly mortified about it afterwards.

Dedue decides to not push for more. "Alright," he says, turning away and checking the wrap on his gauntlets. "I'll keep watch for more bandits."

The last time they go into Abyss this moon, Dedue and Mihail find the other Duscis in a repurposed training ground. Towen is busy training Rius, their wooden sword crossing with his wooden staff as they dance back and forth. Baila and Cibor are also sparring, with Baila wielding an axe while Cibor has-

"How did Cibor get training daggers?" Dedue asks, and Bryn laughs as they roll out of their hiding place near the door.

"Towen took away his actual dagger after he accidentally stuck it in the ceiling," they explain, and Dedue can definitely see that happening. "He complained for practically forever until I found some scraps of wood and burned them down to make those daggers."

"You're practicing your fire again?" Mihail asks, fake concern in his voice. "You have a bucket of water nearby, right?"

"That was one time! Cibor's eyebrows grew back, and Adrista's hair was perfectly fine," Bryn states, crossing their arms. They're slightly pouting, their dark red afro practically smoldering. "But yeah, there's a bucket of water where I'm practicing my magic."

"Wouldn't let them practice without it!" Rius shouts, parrying Towen's thrust. "But it's lovely to see you two again!"

"Stop talking during a fight!" the siblings shout, and everyone in the room becomes silent as the spars continue.

Towen and Baila both win their respective fights. As Mihail and Cibor heal everyone, Dedue looks around and notices that one person isn't in the room. "Where's Adrista?"

"Oh, she's with Hapi," Cibor says. "She wanted to learn how to ride a horse."

"But Adrista hates horses," Mihail says, just as confused as Dedue is. "She's hated them ever since that one festival-"

"I have my reasons for what I do," Adrista interjects, walking in through the door and side hugging Mihail. "Besides, I was nine when it happened, I'm pretty sure I've gotten over it."

"Possibly emotionally jarring events aside," Towen interrupts, "How was it? Is Hapi doing alright?"

Adrista smiles. "It's great! Hapi is really funny. We had a very lovely conversation about Duscur."

"Oh yeah," Cibor taps his temple. "She's of stars. I wonder how it's like in the mountains."

"She'll probably tell you if you ask her," Adrista says, creating a small ball of light to help illuminate the space more. "She's a sweetheart. Provided that you don't make the Fodlan joke about her name, of course."

Dedue makes it to his room after catching up with the other Duscis. He gets into bed and sits there for a few seconds. It's quiet. It's peaceful.

He prays to Terra, then to Tellus, and after a quick thought, he also prays to The Rising Flame before he falls asleep.