Correcting some mistakes... Thanks to cosmicblader12 for finding the "Gambit" mistake. Must have been an autocorrect mistake.

Just adding an A/N in the end that I forgot about...

Hello there. I am posting this chapter a little later than usual. I hope you are not too mad at me.

Disclaimer: I do not own FE3H or any of the characters.

Chapter 9)

Byleth walked the halls to the Audience Chamber. He had been summoned for a meeting early in the morning before class began.

Knights and nuns looked his way one he passed them. Surely, they had heard the student gossip on how he had beaten down the advisor bloody. Or how he had grown horns and turned into a demon. It was all very exaggerated, but that was the way of gossip.

He halted in front of the closed door. He sighed loudly. It might be the last time he stepped into that room. He would not care if he were to be fired from the job, but he regretted that he would have to give up live with his students.

He had learned to love them and enjoy their annoying company. Maybe he could settle in the village nearby. Then his students could be able to visit him on the non-mission weekend…

His line of thought was interrupted by familiar footsteps. "You were called in too?" His father said behind him. "Yes. I think it might have something to do with my behavior to Sethet yesterday." He sighed again.

"So it is true then?" Jeralt said eyeing him. "I do not see the horns…" He smiled. "They retracted just after I circled the sky with my bat wings three times…" Byleth said bitterly. "Hah! That one is funny." His father responded.

Byleth did not find it funny. He felt a hand on his shoulder. "Whatever happens, we will find a way to fix it." Jeralt squeezed his shoulder. "Or we both become mercenaries again." Jeralt chuckled.

"Yeah… Let us get this over with." Byleth sighed once more before steeling himself. They stepped into the room together. The Archbishop and her advisor were standing on the end of the room, waiting for them.

Rhea looked… sad, disappointed. Sethet was vivid with anger but remained still. He had a bandage on his nose and a slightly blue eye. "Professor, mercenary." The advisor greeted them with a poisonous tone. Rhea did not even try to hide her sigh.

"Archbishop, Advisor" Byleth returned the greeting minus the poison in his tone. He even bowed a show a little bit of respect. After all, he needed to stick to the plan…

Jeralt was not going to pass the opportunity to mess with the advisor. "What's the matter advisor? Have you made assumptions again and are going to accuse my son of stealing your rabbit?"

"Drop it, the three of you." Rhea said annoyed. She regained your composure before looking at the gap between father and son. "I summoned you this early today to discuss our meeting on Saturday and to discuss what happened yesterday."

Byleth crossed his arms and scoffed. "With all due respect, Archbishop, there is nothing I want to discuss about Saturday's meeting." Jeralt nodded.

"But there is. There is so much I need to tell you." Rhea said. "Will it change what you did to our family?" Byleth retorted.

Rhea looked to the ground unable to find words. "Then I do not want to hear it." The professor said finally. "But I do." Sethet said. "I still do not know what happened in that meeting."

"Then I suggest asking her about it." Jeralt said pointing to the archbishop with his thumb. "I agree with my son, I do not want to hear anything else on the matter for a while." He too crossed his arms in front of him.

Rhea sighed sadly. "I see… Then allow me to say that although I regret my past actions, I do not regret the outcome." She said hardening her voice a little. Byleth heard his father breathe in trying to control his anger. His own blood was boiling with anger.

"Is there any other reason for this meeting?" Byleth asked as calmly as he could. To his surprise, his voice was not filled with emotion as he had expected. He regarded the Archbishop with his usual emotionless face.

"There are several." Rhea sighed sadly. "The first one is to inform you that you and your House Leader are on probation because of insubordination against Church officials. Your assignments will be informed to you shortly." It is not a dismissal of the job, at least. Sothis said relieved. But why is your princess also on probation?

"My House leader…?" Byleth asked expectantly. "She hijacked a Pegasus from its original owner. That kind of insubordination has to be punished." Sethet informed him. "Ah… I had already taken measure, detention for a week after class…" Byleth started but was interrupted by Lady Rhea.

"Then that will suffice, along with the probation." She said glancing at Sethet. He nodded. "As for yourself, assaulting a Church official in broad daylight and in front of the student body…"

"Assaulting? Is that what you told him?" Byleth said to Sethet. "Did you tell her how you came to my room to accuse me of doing something to her? If anything, it was self-defense." He said as calmly as he could, he was getting angry, so he paused for a moment.

Rhea was looking at him critically. After a few deep breaths he continued. "I apologize for my actions yesterday. I know I overstepped. But I was not the only one." He said eyeing Sethet, who took a step forward to stand beside the archbishop. Stick to the plan. "I accept my punishment."

Jeralt was looking at him incredulously. He raised his hand to scratch behind his ear and while at it he tapped his earlobe three times. It was a signal they had developed long ago. It meant 'follow my lead'.

Jeralt saw the signal, and visibly hardened his features not saying anything. "Very good, dear Professor. Now that that is out of the way, I need to inform you of your next assignment." Rhea said in a 'back to business tone'.

"It has come to my ear that the Black Eagles had been getting the more difficult mission as of late." Lady Rhea said nonchalantly. Pffftt. Really? We had not noticed at all. Byleth heard Sothis say in his mind. He had a hard time trying to repress a chuckle.

"As you may understand, we need to provide the same opportunities to the rest of the Houses." She continued oblivious to the mental conversation that just played out in his mind. "Your mission this month is to help rout some bandits from the merchant routes to Garreg Mach."

"Very well, I will inform my House." Byleth bowed and was about to turn around. "Wait, Professor. I must ask of you, not to divulge the information I shared with you on Saturday with anyone else." Rhea said softly. "I trust that Miss Hresvelg will be informed about this request of mine." She eyed him warningly.

Stick to the plan. "Of course. Is there anything else?" Byleth asked as politely as he could. "No, you may leave." Lady Rhea said. He bowed and nodded once at his father before leaving the room.

He waited until he was outside of the building to let a sigh out. It went better than expected… He said to Sothis. He headed to his House room. Yes, I agree. She wants to keep you close. Sothis said walking beside him. I am her most priced experiment after all… Byleth responded bitterly.

More than just that. She said on Saturday that she wanted to 'feel someone's love again' and that 'you could be the person she so longed for'. She said thoughtful. Byleth stopped in his tracks as he just realized.

Sothis, what if I am supposed to be a reincarnation… of you. He said his eyes widening. Me? But why would Rhea long for me? She asked very confused, considering the thought. What do we know about me, the Progenitor God?

Not much… There is surprisingly little literature about you in the library. Byleth answered honestly. But we found that child's book. With the history of the Church. Sothis said remembering the book. Byleth nodded and continued walking.

We did not read it though. He said. Maybe we should! It may give us a direction to start disentangling this mess. Sothis urged. I will borrow it. The professor promised. After stopping by Hannemann's office. He said finally. Yes, we must ask him about Crests... I know, I still do not like the idea. Sothis mused.

Byleth continued walking. Once he arrived at his House room, he found that Edelgard and Hubert were already there. "Good morning." He said to them emotionlessly. Edelgard concentrated on the piece of paper that she had in front of her, ignoring his greetings.

"Good morning, Professor." Hubert said with a sneer. "Here is my report for the last mission." He said handling him a neatly piled stack of paper.

"Thank you, Hubert. I will review this shortly." Byleth answered his student. Edelgard had been silently watching the interaction between the two. Byleth was not very adept at feelings. But even he was aware of the tension between him and his student. He could have been able to cut through it with his blade.

"Edelgard, I have just learned that we are both on probation." Byleth said turning to look at her in the eye. "What?!" Hubert barked. "Lady Edelgard on probation? Why?" He looked at the young professor expectantly. "Because of the Pegasus incident?" She asked looking at him, another question in her eyes. Unbeknownst to Hubert her sigh was of relief and not of resignation.

"Unfortunately, yes." Byleth answered curtly, responding her unasked question. Yes, I agree that it has to do with the confession she heard from Rhea. Sothis agreed with them.

"They are mad to put the future Emperor of Adrestia on probation-." Hubert started protesting. His protest was cut short by Edelgard. "Do not worry, Hubert. This is not a bad outcome." Her voice a mere whisper.

"Understood." Hubert said raising an eyebrow still very upset. "You are on probation, Professor? Because of the incident with the advisor yesterday?" She asked her teacher. "Turns out he exaggerated things a bit, but yes. They will notify me my extra assignments soon." Byleth responded.

"It could be worse." She said. Hubert looked at her as if she had grown horns and a snout. "How so?" He asked critically. "He could have been fired." She stated simply moving her hand in Byleth's general direction. "And that would mean that either the Eagles would have to be split up into the two remaining Houses or we would have gotten another Professor. Like Sethet as an example."

"That would have been… suboptimal." Hubert agreed placing a hand on his chin. Byleth nodded. "Well, the punishment does not end there…" He said nonchalantly. "The Eagles will take less Church-relevant missions from now on." He looked at Edelgard. "Our next mission consists in routing bandits out of a merchant route to the monastery."

"Very well. A mission is a mission, and we will prevail." She said, conviction filling her voice. "With our ability to master difficult missions, this will be quite the change of pace for us." Hubert said.

"I agree." Byleth nodded while sitting on his desk ending the conversation. He started reading Hubert's report. As always it was extensive and detailed. He was halfway through it when the rest of his students arrived at the House room.

"Professor! It fills my noble heart to see you well." Ferdinand greeted him while smiling. "Yes, Professor. It has been lonely without you." Dorothea said waving Ferdinand off. "It brings me much relief to see you alive, Professor. Welcome to the back!" Petra said overjoyed.

"'Welcome back'" Lindhardt corrected her, but she was oblivious of the correction. "You gave us quite the scare back at the camp." He continued. "It is nice to see you healed and not glowing green. How did they manage?" He yawned his last question.

Glowing green? He was confused. I might have had something to do with it. Sothis said sheepishly. I was trying to help from the inside. It seems I blocked any efforts from the outside. All he could respond was: I see. Already forming plans in his mind to test the theory out. He would not let anything to chance ever again.

"Doesn't matter!" Caspar said to him. "What matter is that we can spar again to get better in battle!" He was throwing a punch to the air. "How unthoughtful of you." Lysithea responded. "Professor Manuela probably told him to rest." She sat down at her desk. "Good morning, Professor."

"Professor, I hope you are not mad at me!" Bernadetta said fearfully. "Why should I be angry at you?" Byleth asked confused. "Oh… You are mad at me. I knew it! Oh, Bernie… You are a mess." She lamented. Byleth threw a questioning look at Dorothea and Petra. They shrugged it off and sat down next to Bernadetta to console her and prevent her to retreat to her room.

Mental Note: Talk to Bernadetta. He told himself. "Thank you all for your concern." He said with his usual emotionless face. "Now settle down, I have some announcements to share with you. We will have much to discuss later on." He said leaning against his desk.

Once his students settled down a few hands shot up. "If you do not mind, I will take the lead this time. I will answer your questions afterwards." He said raising his hands as a signal for them to wait.

"First of all, I wanted to apologize for my behavior on Saturday. I… received some personal news that I needed to process in reclusion." He said remembering what Sothis had suggested. "They must've been some hell of news by the way you were running away." Caspar interrupted.

"If you are needing assistance, we can help." Petra tried. Before anyone else could say anything, Byleth raised his hands once again to stop them. "I appreciate your concern, but the burden is now mine to bear." He said.

"But as equals, it is our noble duty to assist you in any way we can!" Ferdinand stood up leaning heavily into his desk. "I hate to say this, but I agree with Ferdie. We could share whatever burden you have." Dorothea said leaning back on her chair.

"Let the Professor be. If he wanted to tell us, he would have already." Lindhardt responded sleepily. "There is no need to be so nosy about it." He said before yawning once more. "How rude of you." Dorothea protested. "We are merely trying to help our dear Professor."

"That is enough." Edelgard's commanding voice said. "Just as Lindhardt pointed out already, whatever news he got is none of our business." She said pausing for a dramatic effect. No one dared to say a word, Ferdinand slowly sat back down on his chair.

"Thank you." Byleth nodded. "There is no need for you to be concerned." He said looking at them all n the eye, with the exception of Bernadetta, who avoided his gaze at all costs. "I promise you, once the time is right, I will divulge those news to you. But until then, I ask sincerely for your patience."

His students nodded slowly, some of them were not convinced at all. "I also need to apologize for my actions yesterday. As you might have heard in some ridiculous rumors, I had a fall out with Sethet."

"For those who witnessed it, I am sorry. To those who were not present I assure you that I did not grow horns or flew in the sky before landing again." He heard some chuckles and snickers. Good. Sothis said to him.

"Why did you react they way you reacted?" Lysithea asked. "I was outside of your room and saw how the advisor forcefully entered it. There were some unintelligible shouts and not soon after a very loud bang on the wall. Dust even came out of the brick wall!"

Did I use that much force? He wondered. Yes… Sothis answered him. "The advisor was accusing me of something directly related to the news I received the day before." He sighed. "I will make no excuse of it, but I have to admit that I could not control my anger in that moment."

"And as a consequence of my actions, I am now on probation." He said. The reactions he got from his students were mostly of bewilderment. "No fair!" Caspar whined. "The measure is a bit extreme." Lindhardt seemed awake.

"I have accepted the punishment for my actions." He said finally. "There's nothing I can do now about it." He said shrugging his shoulders. "I imagine that we will be closely monitored as a House now." Hubert said.

"Correct. And we will have less Church related missions from now on." Byleth informed. Caspar whined again, while Petra and Lysithea looked crestfallen. "What a relief." Bernadetta said out loud. "I… I mean…" She said fearfully once some students turned to look at her reproachfully.

"Calm down." Byleth said. "It does not mean we will have no missions at all." He tried to reassure his eager students. "There is something else…" He started looking at Edelgard. She nodded and stood up.

"I have been also placed on probation." She said with as much authority she could muster. "Since I hijacked a Pegasus from a Knight, the Church has seen fit to punish me as well." She said. "Along with some detention time after class." The room was silent after that statement.

Byleth cleared his throat effectively drawing attention back to him again. "So, those were the announcements that I wanted to share with you." He turned to walk behind his desk. "Returning to class, we left off at chapter 18 of your books. Can anyone tell me what a 'Gambit' is?"

The school week was nearing its end. To Byleth's opinion they had been able to advance nicely through the chapter and a basic knowledge of a Gambit was delivered to his students. Next week, he would reserve the training grounds and show them visually what a Gambit should feel like.

Most of the Blue Lions students had left the Monastery on Wednesday for their mission. They were going to search the last remnants of the Western Church rebellion and gather more information. The Church provided them with instructions to search along the Teutates River for any clues.

The Golden Deer were outside the Monastery in the valley where the Mock Battle was celebrated a few months back. They were probably already preparing for the Battle of the Eagle and Lion.

He was about to dismiss his students when they heard a lot of footsteps rushing through the hall in front of the House room. There was an urgency to them that Byleth's curiosity was awakened. He walked slowly to the door to see what was all that about.

The door was forcefully opened and Knights of Seiros in full body armors and weapons barged in. A few steps behind Sethet entered the room. He was not his usual stoic and proud self. He seemed pale and there were droplets of sweat on his forehead. His eyes were full of panic.

Byleth stopped in his tracks, raising an eyebrow. "Professor, have you seen Flayn recently?" The advisor asked, still resenting the younger man. "Not since yesterday's breakfast." Byleth answered after a few moments of consideration.

"What is the matter?" Byleth asked the advisor, who paled even more after hearing his answer. He started trembling uncontrollably, to the point that the professor had to support the man so he would not fall to the ground. "I cannot find her anywhere! I have searched every corner I can think of! I could not find her anywhere."

The Eagles were all looking alarmed. Edelgard had approached the two men standing in the middle of the room. She helped Byleth hold Sethet. "When did you see her for the las time?" She asked him, looking at the knights.

They were searching the entire room for the younger girl. Once they searched every inch, they left and continued searching elsewhere. Their footsteps were so loud that the Eagles did not notice that another person entered the room.

"Sethet! Anything?" Lady Rhea asked loudly, worry plastered on her face. "No, Lady Rhea." Sethet almost sobbed. "Please tell me you found anything." He begged the archbishop. She shook her head sadly.

"At present, all we know for certain is that she has not left Garreg Mach." She said sadly. "Flayn is not the type of person to just wander off on her own without telling me where she is going!" Sethet said while accepting a water flask from Ferdinand. The Eagles had all now approached their House leader and Professor.

"We have searched the monastery thoroughly, but have found nothing. I will have to mobilize the knights to begin searching the town." Sethet said after taking a sip of water. "There are troubling rumors that have been running rampant lately. I do not wish to consider the worst, but..." He said looking at the ground.

"Troubling rumors?" Byleth asked confused, not having heard of any rumors as of late. The Church must have kept them quiet. Sothis chimed in. And they succeeded, it seems. Byleth agreed with her.

"There are rumors of someone prowling the streets and attacking innocents, night after night." Rhea said before Sethet could say anything. "Your father and some of the knights are currently investigating the matter." She informed them. "As of yet, they have not discovered any remains, nor have they found any concrete evidence." She concluded while aiding Sethet to stand up.

"The people are panicked! They all insist someone called the Death Knight is coming to claim their souls with his blade. There is no way she could have escaped unscathed if she were captured by such a fiend! Where is she?!" His voice was of pure terror. Byleth almost felt bad for the man.

"Seteth, recall that impatience begets error. Please do your best to calm yourself." Lady Rhea reprimanded the man. Much like Sothis would reprimand him sometimes. Hey! Sothis protested.

"I think of your...sister as family as well. You know that. You have my support. We will devote ourselves fully–mind, body, and soul–to recovering her." The archbishop continued. She then turned to look at Byleth and Edelgard.

"Please help us find Flayn. The knights have the town covered, so I ask that you focus your efforts on searching the monastery again. We do not have time to waste. You have your orders." She said in a commanding voice that made Byleth be disgusted.

But he nodded nonetheless. Once the bundle of nerves and the archbishop left the room, he turned to look at his students. "Any ideas where to begin?" He asked no one in particular. "This is unsettling." Hubert said with a sneer.

"It doesn't seem likely that she's simply gotten lost." Edelgard said thoughtfully. "Well then, let us hurry and locate her before anyone else!" Ferdinand said already walking past Hubert, who grabbed him by the hem of his shirt.

"I hope Flayn is OK! What would happen if... Just what would we do if..." Bernadetta choked out. "You can't think like that, Bern. Seteth would have a heart attack if he heard you." Dorothea tried to calm the younger student.

"I've heard that she has a Crest, but I suppose, for this moment, that is irrelevant." Lindhardt looked awake and alert. "Maybe not. But we can't rule it out just yet." Byleth said. "I propose that we start by gathering information. Someone must have seen Flayn recently." Hubert said looking at Edelgard.

She on the other hand was looking at her Professor. "Right. If we work together, I'm certain we'll find her." She looked so beautiful with that look of conviction on her face. Shame that it might be all a façade. It is. Sothis agreed with him.

"I suggest that we assume she was abducted. Who would benefit from her kidnapping?" There it is. The hint we all needed. Sothis said upset. You need to talk to her about this. She said to him. I will.

"If Flayn has been taken hostage, then we know she is alive. At least for now. There would be no point to abducting her if simple murder was the objective." Hubert said following Edelgard's lead.

"Reflecting on it now, Flayn has always seemed a rather odd person. She appears young, yet there's something about her that seems much older than her years suggest. And she's quite wise, but also surprisingly naive..." Lysithea said, and Byleth found himself agreeing with her.

"Maybe she's lived a very sheltered life." He offered. "Hmm, you might be right. Whatever the case, Seteth seems to care for her more than anything." Lysithea said looking the way the advisor had left with the archbishop.

"A beautiful, delicate maiden vanishing into thin air... It is like something out of a book. If it were a book, we would have no need to worry! She would be rescued presently by a dashing nobleman." Ferdinand exclaimed earning a sigh of frustration of Dorothea, Hubert, Edelgard, Sothis and Byleth.

"Alas, this is not a book." Dorothea said smacking Ferdinand on his arm. "Stay focused." Byleth warned both of them. "I just recently learned she has a Crest. If it was a particularly rare Crest, I could imagine Professor Hanneman would have quite an intense interest in her." Every one was looking at Lindhardt in shock.

"Oh, no, I'm not accusing Professor Hanneman of abducting Flayn." He quickly added. "He left the monastery with the Lions last Wednesday morning." He said. "I had a conversation with Flayn on that same night in the library."

"I must have admittance. One person...has been catching my eye." Petra said standing tall. "Shamir is a knight not like other knights. Her movements are being reminders of...no, they remind me of warriors of Brigid. Before she was here, what was she getting up to..." She continued.

"We cannot leave any stones unturned." Byleth said altough he did not think that either Shamir or Hannemann had something to do with the kidnapping of Flayn. "Fawn out, follow your gut and investigate anything that catches you eye." He ordered. His sutdents nodded hurrying to the door.

"Edelgard, a word." The professor said calmly. "Alone." He added once he saw Hubert stand beside her. The princess nodded to his servant who reluctantly left the room. "Is there something the matter, my teacher?" She asked innocently.

"Silence." He wispered. "You know, well what I want to know." He said turning to his desk. He wanted to retrieve his sword and gear. He heard her sigh. "It is not my plan." Edelgard said dropping her mask for a second. "That is why I need to stop them." She added.

She is telling the truth. Sothis said to him. He nodded. "Your allies then." He said dissapointed. "Yes." Edelgard's voice matching his. "Why?" He asked her stepping in front of her. "Probably her blood." She said defeated.

"And before you ask, I do not know what they plan to do with it." She added. She tried to take his hand in hers, but Byleth took it away before she could. He heard Sothis scoff. "We have to find her." He took a few steps back.

Edelgard's expression was hurt. She sighed one more time before she visibly steeled herself. "That we must. There is no time to waste." She turned on her heels and left the room.

This is ridiculous. You want to be with her, you want to hold her hand and kiss her. Sothis reprimanded him. You are hurting yourself and you are hurting her. She continued. I know. He simply said, walking to the door. Then why do you keep insisting...?

Because I do not think she will prevail with me at her side. After all I am a Church experiment. If her allies win in the end, then they will not let us live. He explained camly. If Hubert acted on his threat, then we are already a target.

You should clarify it with her. She must think that you don't love her anymore. That she destroyed the bond you two shared with the information she shared. Sothis sighed. Please promise me that you will fix things. She pleaded with him. And I thought that you would not care for her. He shook his head. I care for you.

Byleth had a feeling that he had to start his search by checking the library. He knwe that there was an enemy spy infiltrated there. He hurried but once he arrive he found nobody there. He stopped for a moment to scan the room.

Nothing seemed out of place. The books were neatly organized in their shelves. He walked slowly alongside them looking carefully for any kind of clue. He stopped in front of one of them. Something had caught his eye.

The shelf in front of him contained very old books. The kinds of books that never get borrowed and had been dusty for at least a decade. But there was one that had been moved recently. It still had the imprints of the fingers that had taken it out. It was almost innoticeable and it was very subtly hidden from first sight.

Byleth slid the book out carefully, deciding to check it before he dismissed the feeling forming in his gut. The title read 'Adrestian Empire: Ancient History'. The tome was heavy and old. He could see that the cover was once a rich red and gold but it had faded with the years that had passed.

Before he could inspect the content of it a loose sheet of paper fell down. Byleth knelt down on one knee to grab it and heard a light woody sound above him. Thinking nothing of it he stood up looking at the paper. It was blank.

He placed it again inside the book and turned to see if the shelf had any other indications on it. He was surprised by a very thin needle embedded to the wood of the shelf he had taken the book from. Must have poison on it. Sothis said. "Hm…"

He carefully took it out and placed it inside the book for safekeeping. He wanted to examine it later on. He walked out of the library book in hand. He needed to go deliver it to his room before anyone noticed it gone.

He was about to exit the second floor when he heard someone calling his name. "Hey, Professor, have you seen Manuela? I saw her running off somewhere in a terrible hurry. I wonder if it has anything to do with Flayn's disappearance." Dorothea said to him jogging to him worry plastered on her face.

He had to avert his gaze; the sight of her jogging to him in her normal uniform was... impressive. But this time for once, he did not think that she had done it on purpose. He cleared his throat. "You're on first-name terms with Professor Manuela?

"Oh, yes. Didn't you know? She was the senior diva in our Opera Company." She said looking around. "I cannot find her." She said frustrated. "You say that she was in a hurry?" Byleth asked. "Yes, she was running. I could not believe my eyes." Dorothea exclaimed.

"Running?" Byleth said surprised. She nodded. "Where was she headed?" He asked his student. "I thought she would be headed for the infirmary. But I was mistaken." She said shaking her head. "She had something in her hands. I could not see what tough."

"Where did you see her?" He asked her. "She was running from the direction of the training grounds to the reception hall..." She said thinking about it. Byleth nodded at her. "Can I trust you with something?" He asked her.

She looked surprised. "Anything, Professor. I am surprised that you even need to ask!" She said getting angry. "Would you deliver this to my room? Please be very careful with it, there is a needle inside that might contain poison." He instructed her.

"Of course. What is this anyway?" She looked at the book. "That is something I still need to find out. Do not show it to anyone." He said. "When you are done delivering it, go search for the rest of the Eagles ant tell them to gear up just in case. Meet me in our House room." Byleth ordered while walking to the stair to the first floor.

"Gear up? Do you think we will be fighting the Death Knight again?" She asked concerned. "If my gut feeling is right, then yes." He said before speeding as fast as his legs could carry him to the training grounds.

Once there, he saw only one lonely person training by his own. Felix, a young swordsman with dark blue hair and brown eyes, was destroying one of the training dummies with his training sword. Byleth took a moment to see the student's technique.

For the most part, the young man slashed the dummy with precision and deadly accuracy. He did not waste any effort in unnecessary movements. HIs foot work could be better, but the young man handled his weapon nicely.

"Are you going to stare all day, or do you want to spar?" He asked the young Professor. He is perceptive too. Sothis mused. "Actually, I was looking for Flayn." Byleth said. "Why are you not searching, too?" He asked the student.

"Not my mission and I need to keep my reflexes sharp." The student said approaching the Professor. "We have never spared against each other, and since Jeritza seems to have vanished out of thin air..." The student raised his blade and took position.

"Not here to spar, Felix." He said. A split second later the student launched an attack in his way. Byleth moved away again and again as the student tried to land a hit on him. After a few more slashes, Byleth decided to disarm the student and stop this one-sided sparing session.

He waited patiently for his chance. He dodged the student's attack by stepping into his personal space. The then waited to see what the student would do and landed a clean hit with his fist against the enemy's forearm. As predicted, the student released the training sword.

Byleth then kicked the student's supporting leg throwing him off balance. He pushed his chest effectively sending the student to the ground. He landed with a heavy 'thud' and scrambled to get his sword. Byleth merely kicked the sword out of reach and the session was over.

"You are good. But you have to work harder on your foot work." Byleth offered him an arm to help him up. Felix accepted it. "I would appreciate if you were the one to train me." Felix said nonchalantly.

"My priority is to train the Eagles." Byleth responded. "Then let me join the Eagles." Felix insisted. "Tell you what. I will consider transferring you to the Eagles if you help us find Flayn." Byleth offered.

"Deal." The student said with conviction. "I didn't think that you would agree at all." Byleth said raising an eyebrow. "I have been benched from the current mission, just because the old boar did not want me in it." Felix explained.

"The boar?" The professor asked confused. "Ah, yes. You are not familiar with the nickname." Felix eyed him. "You really only focus on the Eagles. I meant Dimitri." The student crossed his arms. "Dimitri benched you. Why?" The professor was curious.

"A tale for another time." Felix said uncrossing his arms. "Now, how can I help?" He continued. "When was the last time you saw Jeritza?" The professor nodded. "Today morning, we were sparing." The student answered.

"I do have suspicions about Jeritza. There's something about how he's handling his blade lately. It seems more...impulsive than usual." Felix offered. "And Manuela?" Byleth asked. "She came in for a short bit. I did not put much attention on what she was doing." The student shrugged.

"She left in a hurry." He concluded after he tought for a moment. Byleth nodded. "Gear up. Meet me at the Eagles House room." He turned to leave. "Have you figured something out?" the student called back. "Maybe."

Byleth hurried to his room. He needed to put his gear on and head to his house room. He found his father sitting on his chair. "Dad, I thought you were in the village gathering information." Byleth said to him.

"Because of Flayn's disappearance, all of the knights are searching nonstop. But we haven't found a single lead." He sighed while standing up. "Seteth's face is getting paler by the minute. It's hard to watch." He continued while watching his son strip to put his armor on.

"You seem to have a lead. Mind sharing it with me?" He asked. "Just a gut feeling. I think Manuela is involved in this mess." Byeth informed. "What's that? Manuela? Well, I did pass by her earlier. She was carrying something. A mask of some sort..." Jeralt said putting a hand to rub his chin.

Byleth stopped in his tracks. "Jeritza's mask?" He asked his father. "I'm not close to the guy, so I can't say for sure. But come to think of it, you could be right." Byleth hummed to himself. "Where is Jeritza's room?" Byleth asked his father.

"Three doors from my room by the knight's hall." Jeralt said narrowing his eyes. "You figured it out." He said. "I might. It would be good to call the Knights back." The young man said. "Will do, be careful." Jeralt hurried to exit the room.

Byleth finished gearing up and was about to exit the room when he remembered to look for the book he had fished out of the library. Sure enough, it was on his desk. Good. He thought. He exited his room and made his way to his House room.

Most of his students were there, including Felix who was leaning on the far wall geared up and ready. He nodded at him. "I might be wrong, but I have found out that Manuela and Jeritza have been missing too." He said loudly.

Everyone was looking at him. "We know that Manuela was not in her room near the infirmary." He looked at Dorothea, who nodded in agreement. "And Jeritza has not been seen since today morning." Byleth looked at Felix.

"I would like to head out to look a-" He started but he was interrupted by Caspar who came in in a hurry. "Everyone, hurry! I heard a scream from Professor Jeritza's room!" Byleth was the first one in motion, closely followed by Caspar and Edelgard.

"Be alert!" Byleth shouted orders while running. "We do not want to be surprised by anything." He said. Once they arrived to Jeritza's room, they found it locked. "I say we barge in." Caspar said already taking a few steps back to force the door open.

"No! What if we hurt Professor Manuela?" Dorothea stepped in front of him. "She is right. We need to be smart about our approach." Edelgard said. "Hubert, can you melt the lock from inside?" She asked her servant who nodded readily.

After a few tensed minutes, the door opened ajar. The sight was disturbing. The furniture was tossed and partially broken. Everything was at a state of disarray, clothes tossed out and broken glass on the floor. Byleth entered first, the Sword of the Creator in his hand. There was a garderobe blocking their path.

He walked slowly in looking around. He stepped into something sticky. He looked down and saw blood. He sheathed his sword and lifted the wooden garderobe that blocked his way. It was heavier than he thought. "Help me." He said to no one in particular.

"Mind your step." He said once he saw Ferdinand and Felix come to his aid to lift the heavy piece of furniture. They placed it aside and once the view was free, he heard Dorothea gasp and rush into the room. Byleth turned to see what had upset his student.

"Manuela!" He herd her exclaim. "Is she...dead?" Byelth asked fearing the worst. "No, she's unconscious. Someone clearly attacked her." She said feeling the pulse on the professor´s neck. "Look at her hand. It looks as though she is pointing at something... There."

They all looked in that direction. There was a shelf that had been recently moved. Edelgard approached it carefully. "There's an opening behind that shelf. Perhaps a secret passageway..."

"What is the meaning of... Wait, is that Manuela? What happened here?" A knight arrived at the entrance of the room. "We know as much as you do. She needs to be taken to the infirmary." Edelgard said commandingly.

"Yes, of course–and quickly. Give me a hand, will ya." The knight said moving to gingerly pick Manuela up. "Understood. I will support her head. Professor, I will be back shortly. Please be careful." She pleaded.

She seemed unhappy of the situation; she clearly was concerned of what they would find inside the passageway. Byleth nodded. "I will take care of them." He told her.

Once Edelgard exited the room Caspar and Ferdinand moved the shelf, revealing a large manmade passageway. "Does this mean Professor Jeritza did it? Could he also have kidnapped Flayn?!" Caspar exclaimed.

"Do you have a torch on you?" Byleth asked his students. Petra nodded and handed hers to him. Byleth stepped inside after lighting it up and looked at the structure of the passageway. It seemed old and it stank that way too. "We should start by investigating this passageway. Do you agree, Professor?" Hubert stood behind him.

"Yes, let us investigate." Byleth said to them and stepped further into the passageway holding the torch in one hand and his sword in the other one. "That settles it! We'll take the offensive. Here we come, you monsters!" Caspar shouted.

"One more shout Caspar, and I will personally deliver you to the Death Knight." Dorothea hushed him. Byleth stopped. "Silence is key. And discipline too. You will follow my lead." He told them all sternly specially looking at Caspar and Ferdinand.

"If we are up against the Death Knight, we will have to function as a unit." He said turning around to walk the passageway again. "Did you understand?" He asked them. Byleth smiled once he heard a murmured few 'Yes, Professor'

"Petra, if anything happens to me during the mission, you will take the lead." Byleth said. "Do not try to be a hero, get them all out of here." Byleth instructed her. "I will do my best, Professor. You have my promise." Petra bowed slightly.

Byleth heard scoffs from Ferdinand and Hubert but he decided to ignore them. Careful, my friend. Sothis said to him. I will. Please have the Divine pulses ready. He answered. Already ahead of you. She smiled.

I am not missing a chapter. I purposetly left he meeting in the Goddess tower out. I just could not come up with an idea for the meeting that would it into this chapter.

Would love to hear your comments.

Until next time & Stay safe.