Dedue spends the first morning of the moon the same way he does with all others, even with the three other people in the room. He gets up, prays to Terrae, gets ready for the day, and gets dressed. It's as he's putting on his boots that he notices the lack of black and green hair.

Sylvain yawns, getting up from his cot. "Morning."

"Good morning," Dedue says, looking around the room just to make sure that Mihail isn't in the room. "Have you seen Mihail?"

"Uh," Sylvain mumbles, still looking half-asleep. "No? Should I?"

Dedue shakes his head. "I was just wondering if he got up earlier. If you don't mind me asking, how are you feeling?"

"Like shit," Sylvain says, grinning. "So it's business as usual."

"You shouldn't say that," Ashe notes, sitting up with alert eyes. "That's not a good thing."

Sylvain stands up. "I'll be fine. When did you wake up?"

"I've been up for a bit," Ashe admits, turning to face Dedue. "Mihail was already gone when I woke up, by the way."

"Thank you," Dedue says, nodding. "If you two want to go get dressed, we can all get breakfast together."

Sylvain runs his fingers through his hair. "I'll take you up on that offer."

"Let me go get ready," Ashe says, getting up and heading towards the door with his blankets. "I'll meet up with you guys in 5 minutes?"

"Five?" Sylvain groans. "Ashe, buddy, I need at least 10 to look presentable for the ladies."

Dedue rolls his eyes and Ashe sighs at how quickly the redhead seems to fall back into his usual behavior.

"Hey," Ignatz says from a few seats over, voice perpetually unsure, "is it just me, or is Seteth really antsy?"

Dedue looks across the dining hall and watches as Seteth walks around with very pointed steps, visibly harried.

Leonie hums. "He's really on edge. I wonder why?"

"I bet it has something to do with the Death Knight," Linhardt says with a yawn, cutting into the conversation. "He has been in charge over the investigation."

Hubert's eyebrow rises. "Linhardt. How do you know about that?"

"I just do," they mutter, putting their head back down. "It's better if you don't ask questions."

Edelgard sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"My apologies," Dedue begins, deciding to speak up. "But what is this about the 'Death Knight'?"

Dorothea gasps. "No one told you about it, Duei?"

"Duei-"

Her eyes snap to Ferdinand. "Shut it, bee." Ferdinand becomes very quiet, and when Dorothea turns to face Dedue again, her eyes are much softer. "Well," she starts, "I'm not sure how much of the story I have right, but from what I do have, apparently every night people have been terrorized by a man in black armor and a skull mask."

"Yeah," Raphael exclaims around a bite of lamb, "It started sometime in the middle of the last moon."

"Wow, that's"-Ashe gulps-"that's terrifying."

Felix scoffs. "Please. The Dark Knight is nothing but a coward," he hisses. "If he actually wanted a fight, he would show up during the day."

"I think that the whole points of the matter is that he doesn't want a fair battle," Petra states. "He is acting more like an assassin than a- an honorable warrior."

Claude whistles, low and quiet. "Wow. I can't believe we have an actual assassin in Garreg Mach."

"Claude," Edelgard admonishes, staring down her fellow house leader, "You can't believe that's what Petra truly meant-"

"It is," Petra says with an assured nod. Dorothea smiles, Claude smirks, and Edelgard's cheeks gain a tint of red.

"Either way, breakfast is nearly over," Dimitri says, calmly cutting through the tension. Dedue watches as the glow of magic in both Hubert and Lysithea's hands slowly fade away. "Has everyone gotten something to eat?"

"All the Golden Deer ate!" Hilda chirps. Lorenz looks up and down the table before nodding his approval. Claude gives the group a thumbs up.

"The Black Eagles always make sure that we at least eat breakfast together," Edelgard says proudly.

Sylvain's eyebrow rises. "Then where's Bernie?"

Dorothea gives him a curious glance. "I gave her a plate of her favorite breakfast before coming back," she answers. "She wasn't really feeling well."

Dedue looks down the table, suddenly plagued with the idea that something was wrong.

Felix stands up. "And our house was the first one here, so of course we all ate. Can we go to class now so we can spar?"

"Now hold on, not everyone ate," Mercedes says, looking concerned. "Did anyone save food for Mihail?"

"Uh, why do we need to save food for Mihail?" Ashe questions, already putting his leftovers onto one of the bigger napkins to tie together. "He ate before us, right? When he woke up?"

Annette looks confused. "Uh, Mercie and I have been here since the dining hall opened," she says, and Dedue feels a cavern open in his stomach.

Lorenz nods. "I was here too. Mihail never showed up."

"Maybe he is still in his room," Ferdinand hypothesizes. "Although it is weird that he did not even come down to try and eat."

Dimitri hums. "Dedue, can you go check on Mihail for me? Feel free to take your time."

Dedue simply gets up from the table, hoping that the action didn't somehow give away how nervous he was. "I will be back as fast as I can."

Ashe stands up too. "I can come with you-"

"Ashe," Ingrid says lightly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's probably better if you spend more time training. Besides, you can just give Dedoo the food you just packed."

There's a brief pause in the room before Ashe hands Dedue the parcel of food. Dedue notices a look of anger in Dorothea's eyes, confusion in the eyes of the students in other houses, and exasperation in Dimitri's and Sylvain's.

Dedue nods at Ashe and thanks him for the food before he leaves. As he takes a step out of the door, he hears Dorothea's voice as she starts speaking. "Ingrid, we've talked about this-"

He moves twice as fast, not wanting to be anywhere near the vicinity of an enraged Dorothea.

Mihail's door is locked, so Dedue knocks on the door.

There's no answer, so he knocks harder.

There's still no answer, so he knocks even harder and says, "Mihail, it's Dedue. Wake up," thinking that his friend just fell asleep.

When there's still no answer, Dedue starts to become a bit concerned, checking the door again and again seeing that it's locked. Now, he pulls a stone away from the wall, focuses on it, and drops it into the ground.

When he hears it land in Mihail's room, he smiles.

When there is no gust of wind or returning stone from Mihail, his smile slowly starts to vanish.

Dedue looks around to see if anyone is nearby before he places the small parcel down and moves to one of the bricks in the wall. It takes some time, but soon he's able to work it out from the wall, giving him a window to see the entire room.

The room looks untouched. Mihail was never in his room ever since he showed up to Dedue's last night.

Just in case, Dedue checks again before he replaces the stone. He picks up the parcel and decides to go around the entire monastery, just to see if Mihail lost track of time.

He's not in the greenhouse.

He's not at the fishing pond.

He's not in the dining room.

He's not at the marketplace.

He's not at the stables.

He's not in the knights hall.

He's not at the entrance hall.

He's not in the reception hall.

He's not at the cathedral.

He's nowhere on the second floor.

He's not at the training grounds.

He's not in the sauna.

Dedue's heart sinks as he makes his way to the Blue Lions classroom. As he opens the door, he looks around the room while everyone turns to face him, confusion on their faces when they only see him.

Because Mihail's not in the classroom either.

It's lunchtime now. And Dedue is practically being held down at the lunch bench so he can at least eat before he gets up and spends the rest of the day turning the monastery upside down.

"Hey," Sylvain says, looking sympathetic, "Mihail probably just fell asleep somewhere weird. That last fight took a lot out of us."

"But it's not like him," Dedue mutters as Dimitri takes a plate and puts it in front of him. "He does tend to act on his thoughts before he actually thinks about them, but he lets me know. He didn't even get the rock"-His eyes widen in realization-"The rock."

Everyone at the table looks confused. "What," Felix says.

He's such an idiot. "I thought Mihail was in his room, so I engraved a message on a rock and sent it in his room, and he didn't respond because he wasn't there. I never sent one to him." He hopes that his very rushed explanation gets his point across, because he is already waving a hand and causing a stone to leap up out of the ground.

Dimitri catches it. "Eat first."

"Dimitri-"

"Dedue, you need to eat-"

"Dimitri," Dedue fumes, and at this moment, he doesn't care about how he looks. "Hand over the stone."

Dimitri's eyes narrow, and there's something dangerous in those blue eyes. "No. Now, as your house leader-"

Nothus. (Bastard)

"I order you to take a break. At least long enough to eat."

Dedue knows that everyone at the table, everyone in the dining hall, is currently staring at them. Ingrid and Felix look like they're ready to defend Dimitri at the slightest movement. Annette and Mercedes look conflicted. Sylvain looks like he's already zoned out, as if he's forced himself to ignore what is happening in front of him. Ashe's fingers twitch.

Dedue sighs, forcing his shoulders to stop being so tense. "Of course, Your Highness."

The food tastes like sand and the water tastes like mud.

Immediately after he finishes eating, Dimitri places the stone in his hand, and for a split second Dedue has the very, very therapeutic sounding idea of throwing it at the prince. But he has to try and contact Mihail right now, so he doesn't.

Instead he closes his eyes and focuses on the stone, trying to come up with a message that could get everything he wanted to say on the surface. After a few seconds, he drops the stone, and keeps his focus on Mihail as the stone travels through the earth. It takes a long, long while, but soon the stone spits itself out into an open cavern.

Mihail does not touch the stone. All Dedue knows is that he's underground.

Now he is definitely worried.

He chooses to spend some of his free time to quickly check his plants, just so he doesn't start digging up the foundation of the monastery. There are a large number of bulbs already poking out of the ground thanks to his magic, and Dedue can't help but smile at his handiwork.

There's one green bulb with a splash of black against it. The colors, along with the relative height of the bulb, are a stark reminder of Mihail.

It sparks an idea in Dedue's head, and he starts to get to work, picking up a tool in one hand and letting his other hand start to hum in magic.

He's practically done when Ashe comes and gets him for the announcement.

Seteth looks like a mess with his normally well kept hair now horrifically ratty. Dedue can relate.

It's a few days after the monastery was told about the disappearance of Flayn and Mihail. Seteth seems to take on more and more work in order to keep himself busy. Dedue just falls into an unspoken position next to Dimitri's side.

It makes sense when he's tries to rationalize it. Dimitri currently has the entire house searching for information. Besides, when Dedue went to go help, he overheard many whispers from different monks that he himself probably kidnapped Flayn. He has to hold his tongue long enough for him to stick his head in a well, make sure no sound can get out, and scream in frustration. Sylvain finds him there and pats him on the shoulder.

So for now, he's just content to just play the role of the vassal. It's quiet. It allows him to think.

It's not the healthiest state of mind to be in. He can see small glimpses of worry from Ashe, Annette, and Mercedes as he socially retreats. Ingrid seems to tolerate him slightly more now that he's perfected the art of blending into the background. Dorothea and Petra ask him if he wants to have some tea with them, and although he does decline the invitation, it gives him an idea on what else he can do.

He knocks on Seteth's open door, and the man's head shoots up, startled. "Who is it- Oh."

Dedue nods. "Greetings."

"Greetings," Seteth says, rubbing his forehead. "How may I help you?"

"I was just wondering if"-Dedue cuts himself off now that he's actually looking at Seteth and cataloging every sign of distress. The dark and heavy bags under his eyes, his horridly unkempt green hair wild and betraying the professional air the man tries to keep, the uneven buttons not properly done on his shirt (jacket?)-"Do you want some tea?"

Seteth scowls. "As you can see, I am quite busy right now-"

"You need to stop yourself from burning out," Dedue interrupts him, already seeing the signs. He sighs. "I apologize for interrupting you. But I've heard from His Highness that we have figured out who may be affiliated with the Death Knight. Think of this as a celebration."

The green-haired man is quiet for a while. "I suppose," he starts, standing up from his seat, "that I could take a quick rest right now." Dedue feels a weight slowly lessen itself from the air, making ti easier to breathe. Seteth pulls out a comb from a drawer. "Would you mind waiting for me in the hallway?"

Dedue nods. "I would not."

As soon as the taste of ginger hits his tongue, Dedue feels his muscles loosen, the tension in them softening from stone to clay.

Seteth also seems to enjoy it, taking a long draw from his mug. "Hm. Lovely tea. One of my favorites."

"Thank you for the compliment," Dedue says, putting his own mug down. "I'm glad you enjoy it."

"It does have a strong taste that I enjoy," Seteth says, a small smile on his face. "This is a lovely little break."

The two simply sit there, sipping tea and eating snacks. It's a comfortable silence, and Dedue is content to just spend the time like this.

Seteth clears his throat, looking across the table. "Do you mind if I ask a question?"

Dedue looks at him, trying to see if he could figure out the man's intentions in his eyes. "Am I allowed to refuse the Archbishop's Hand?"

"You are," Seteth asserts, nodding his head. "I would be appalled at myself if I ever used the power of the Church in such a manner. You should be allowed to at least be listened to if you are ever uncomfortable about an issue." His eyes narrow and Dedue shudders at their sudden change in intensity. "Do you feel silenced by people at the monastery?"

Not necessarily. Not all the time. So, of course Dedue says, "No. But if it is a concern to you, I will let you know if that does happen."

"Please, feel free to," Seteth says, shaking his head. "I worry so much over my own d- sister. At times it feels like I am adopting a few of the students as well."

"I understand the feeling," Dedue utters without really thinking about it. "At times it feels like I have a sibling again." The words leave Dedue's lips before he can stop them, and Seteth freezes for a moment before rolling his shoulders and grabbing one of the snacks.

The silence continues until the Archishop's Hand takes another sip of his tea. "I would like to apologize for the Church's lack of action when it comes to Mihail," he says, sincerely, and there is an emotion there that not many people use when speaking to Dedue. "And for our inability to properly vet our instructors, apparently."

Dedue nods his head, remembering Annette talking about how Jeritza has suddenly disappeared. "I accept your apology. But how are you feeling? You and Flayn are close."

Seteth sighs, and some part of Dedue's brain tells him that his sigh is a lot older than it would be if he was simply an older brother. "Flayn is rather dear to me," Seteth simply says, and Dedue fully understands the sentiment. "We actually ran to the monastery to avoid people who were after us for our Crests."

Dedue hums in acknowledgement as he takes a sip of his tea.

"Flayn's in particular is very rare. There have been incidents"-Seteth's face morphs into an unreadable expression as he says the word-"in which people have tried to harm her. So now I believe I am just constantly weary."

"That sounds right for what you two have gone through," Dedue says, wondering about how Seteth was like before he came to the monastery. Did Mihail know him? Was he ever in Abyss?

"But what we've gone through is nothing to what you and Mihail went through," Seteth says, visibly concerned again. "I wish not to bring up any bad memories, but again, if either of you need anything-"

"Thank you," Dedue interjects. He doesn't really know what to think about the green-haired man, but he appreciates the current sentiments that he's sharing. "We'll find them soon," he promises. "Alive and well."

Seteth nods, looking off into the distance as he takes another sip of tea. "I hope we do."

That night, as Dedue makes his way down to Abyss, he feels footsteps following him from a far distance, not anywhere close enough to visibly see him in the winding tunnels. He puts a hand on the wall and tries to feel how many people were also on their way to Abyss. He's not truly surprised at the count of seven, especially with Byleth's casual stride, Dimitri's near perfect walk, and Ashe's quick steps recognizable in the random rhythm of the group.

He makes sure to sneak into the Duscis' room before the group from the Academy is close enough to spot him. "Salvete."

"Salvete," Rius says without looking up, currently reading a book. "The others are currently somewhere in Abyss right now if you two want to talk to everyone."

Dedue sighs. "Rius"-His voice sounds tired, and Rius looks up to see that their earlier greeting was wrong-"we need to get the others. Mihail is in trouble."

"What do you mean, 'he's missing'?" Cibor says, his voice shaking with anger.

"Cibor, take a breath," Adrista pleads, as if the light glowing from her eyes aren't because she's also furious. "We need to think carefully about this-"

"This is my cousin we're talking about, Dris," Cibor interjects, still pacing around the room. "We don't even know where he is right now."

"No, we know he's underground," Towen says, taking notes on scrap paper. "That's a start."

"Right," Cibor turns to the door, small sparks of lightning jumping off of his hair. "I can probably run around Abyss-"

A small fire forms in front of the door. "Cibor," Bryn draws, eyes red as they focused on the flame, "I love you, but that's a dumb idea."

"What they mean," Rius declares, stepping in front of the electrified teen, "is that Mihail is probably under watch. Even if you find him, you'd be in trouble too."

Cibor looks around the room for a few moments, and the sparks start slowly fading out. Baila holds up a pillow. "Want to scream in it?"

Cibor nods. She tosses it to him, and he holds it up into his face and screams an ugly scream into the feathers. Dedue pats his shoulder. Bryn extinguishes the fire in front of the door.

Adrista sighs. "Now, what should we do?"

There's a knock on the door before it opens, showing Yuri on the other side of the door with a bored expression on his face. "People are trying to break into Abyss again," he says in a flat voice. "Deal with the stragglers."

Towen nods, taking the point. "Got it. How soon do you want us out there?"

Yuri looks confused. "Where's Mihail?" he asks, before shaking his head. "Doesn't matter. I need you guys right now." Yuri simply walks away, the door still open. Everyone in the room pauses, taking a few moments to share many different looks with each other before they all start moving, grabbing tools and weapons.

Dedue takes a pair of training gauntlets from Bryn, sitting down on the floor to strap them on. "Excuse me," a familiar voice says, and Dedue becomes deathly still, his back towards the door. "Have any of you seen where Yuri is?" Ashe asks, audibly curious. "He hasn't return-'' The silver-haired student goes silent, and Dedue can feel the teen's eyes focus on him like the light of the sun beaming down onto a stone roof.

Adrista sighs, the first to react as she puts her lance to the side. "Quick, come inside," she orders, voice pleasant. "Make sure you get the door behind you."

Ashe slowly walks in, closing the door behind him. Dedue turns to face him with an embarrassed smile, his face warming up very quickly. Ashe looks confused. "Dedue?"

"It's for the best that we talk about this later," Dedue says, seeing all the questions on Ashe's face. "Please don't let anyone know."

"Sure," Ashe agrees without missing a beat. It seems to shock everyone in the room, but there's no denying that he nods his head anyway. "I won't tell anyone else." He takes a few moments to look around the room and smiles, awkwardly waving at everyone in the room. "I should probably go see if Yuri is somewhere else now."

Dedue nods, trusting Ashe as he seems to steel himself. "Right," he says, waving back. "I guess I'll see you in the morning?"

"We can have breakfast in my room if that's okay with you," Ashe mentions. "Something tells me that you're going to want some privacy." He opens the door, quickly glances around, and starts backing out of it. "Stay safe everyone."

Everyone awkwardly watches as Ashe leaves, closing the door behind him.

Baila smiles. "I like him."

"You like everyone who shirks authority in front of you," Towen mutters, grabbing a bow. "Remember-"

"Say a name," Baila starts, staring her sibling down with a training axe in her hand, "and I will backhand you."

Dedue fights with Cibor by his side, calmly tossing his combatant off balance so that the shorter man can simply put away a dagger and shock the man at his temple. He falls down like a sack of flour.

Dedue nods at Cibor. "Impressive."

Cibor grins as he shakes out his hand, an errant spark zapping the stone floor. "Pretty shocking, I know."

Thankfully, Dedue is too busy dealing with a second bandit to groan at Cibor's joke. He dodges the head of the axe before he lands a smooth uppercut to rattle his foe. Cibor sneaks up behind the man and tags him with a powerful lightning spell that lights up the dark space of Abyss.

"Hey!" Adrista shouts, grunting as she's engaged in combat. "No sudden lights without warning us!"

"Accepi!" Cibor shouts back, nodding at Dedue as he starts making his way to Bryn and Rius, the two of them cornered by a few bandits. "Este sanum!" (Got it! Look alive!)

Dedue closes his eyes as he heard the buzz of static and the shouts of bandits. When he opens them, there's a group of them around Cibor who look nearly fried, swaying on their feet. Bryn and Rius are safe behind a glowing symbol, Rius holding up his staff and yelling something that Dedue can't make out amongst the fighting.

Towen sighs as they run up next to Dedue, wooden rapier and leather shield up and at the ready. "Macero ei." (I worry for him.)

Dedue just chuckles as they start cleaning up the rest of the stragglers.

In all honesty, his second meeting with Bernadetta is much better than his first meeting.

He's watering his plants in the greenhouse, keeping a close eye on the plant that represents Mihail. It looks weak, but its roots and stem are still strong and healthy, and that lifts a heavy weight off of Dedue's heart. He nearly jumps when he feels a tug at his jacket, almost breaking the speed carrot he was pulling out of the dirt.

Bernadetta is instantly apologetic. "Oh my gosh I am so sorry, I didn't mean to scare you I just wanted to ask if you could bless my tomato plant since the greenhouse lady isn't here oh good job Bernie you've messed it up again I can't believe-"

Dedue feels his eyebrows go higher and higher as the girl doesn't even seem to breathe when she tears into herself. Concerned, he simply turns and hums a quick prayer to Tellus, keeping a close eye on how much magic he's actually putting in the soil this time. When he's done, he turns around to see that Bernadetta looks like she's running out of breath, her tirade starting to wind down as she takes more and more pauses to breathe. When she finally finishes she looks at him and blinks, and by the look of shock on her face, she's seems to be surprised that Dedue just didn't leave her.

He calmly points to her plot of the greenhouse. Bernadetta's eyes widen as she sees the light glow of magic illuminating her flowers. "Uh," she starts, looking down at the ground, "th- thanks."

He simple nods. "You're welcome." He turns around and starts walking when there's another tug on his jacket. He looks down at Bernadetta, who looks nervously back up at him.

"What do you want?" She asks shakily.

"Excuse me?"

"What do you want?" She asks again, and she's looking down at the ground again. "Money, supplies, marriage is probably off the table for you-"

"I want nothing," Dedue says, choosing to ignore the last thing she said. That was a conversation for later, hopefully for someone else. "Why are you asking me this?"

Bernadetta bounces from foot to foot, obviously nervous. "There's always an exchange of stuff, right?" she squeaks. "I pat your back, you pat mine?"

"I don't think there needs to be any patting," Dedue quips, somewhat sarcastic and somewhat concerned. "I am simply helping out a fellow classmate, that's all."

Bernadetta hums to herself, hands clasped together. "Right," she mutters. "Thank you." Then she speeds right past him and back into her room. Edelgard looks at the slammed door before she gives Dedue a questioning glance. He shrugs and she seems to sigh before she takes a seat by the door.

The day before Jeritza kidnaps Manuela, the Blue Lions find their lesson interrupted by a very determined Lysithea and a very tired Claude.

"I want in," Lysithea demands tone certain and cutthroat.

Felix scoffs. "We don't accept wayward children."

"I'll show you who a child is-"

"Teach!" Claude shouts, standing in front of Lysithea before she can start tearing into the Fraldarius. "Sorry to just burst in here, but Lysithea heard your mission was to try and rescue Flayn and Mihail from the Death Knight and she practically fought everyone to get here."

"That's not very ladylike," Ingrid chastises.

Sylvain snorts. "Since when did you care about acting like a lady?" he asks. Ingrid hits him.

Byleth sighs as they look into a journal. After a few moments they look back up and nod. "Lysithea, feel free to stay and join us."

"Professor, are you sure?" Dimitri asks, looking concerned. "I would hate for Lysithea to get hurt-"

Claude chuckles as Lysithea pointedly looks at the prince and holds up a ball of writhing miasma. "No one's gonna hurt Lysithea," he states confidently. "Trust me."

Dedue's eyes widen as Lysithea's magic practically eats through one of the mysterious soldiers in the cavern. Her magic has always been vicious, scaring him with its might, but right now, to him, it seems like she's wielding her magic in revenge and malice, felling foes unlucky enough to be in her sights.

He doesn't understand why until the Death Knight is teleported away by a stranger who calls themselves the Flame Emperor, and he spots Mihail chained to the wall. He's at Mihail's side in an instant. "Mihail," he whispers, cupping his friend's head, "dice." (Mihail, say something.)

A small groan leaves the Vessyl's lips as his eyes flutter open. Dedue starts whispering thanks to Ventus, to the Rising Flame, to Terra and Tellus, to any Duscis deity that he can recall. "Noli exire me." (Don't leave me.)

After wiping away a tear, he takes stock of the situation. Mihail is awake, his eyes are tracking, he's still dressed in his sleeping clothes, although they're filthy now after being down here for weeks. There's an especially dark spot on his side, and with revulsion Dedue realizes that it's blood from a wound that has already been healed over, and the fact that it goes from under Mihail's arm to the top of his thigh really concerns Dedue. He hears Byleth moving around and ordering everyone to help work with the recovery effort as he spends all the time he can with Mihail, noting all the small scrapes and scars until Ashe can come over and pick the locks to release him.

Ashe gasps, and Dedue looks over his shoulder to see what's wrong. The thief's face looks pale, even in the low light, and Dedue notices that his eyes are fixed on Mihail.

Dedue looks back down and double checks the younger student. Dark skin, greying out thanks to a lack of sunlight, steady pulse, comfortable breathing, open brown and green eyes that track, stark white hair, all fingers intact-

The thief joins him when he refocuses on Mihail's kinkier hair. Where it used to be black, and then black with a mint green stripe, it's now fully white, with dirt and clumps of blood speckled through it. The color is alien to him, only something that he would see in a mirror and on his own head, and the rows that Mihail and he regularly rebraided every 5 or so weeks are ruffled and ruined, with entire sections undone and hair sticking out and horribly treated.

As Ashe does his work, Dedue feels Mihail's hand worm into his and he makes eye contact with his childhood friend. "Dedue, esne tu, frater?", Mihail croaks out and Dedue shushes him, quickly grabbing his canteen and carefully giving the now white-haired teen some water while whispering words of comfort. (Dedue, brother, is that you?)

"I'm done," Ashe tells him, backing away and giving them space. "Do you want any help with moving him?"

"Thank you," Dedue practically rejoices, making sure that all of the cuffs are off before he starts situating Mihail making sure that he's comfortable. "I don't think that I need any help, but can you ask for one of the healers to come over, just in case?"

Ash nods and dashes off. Dedue works to comfort Mihail and try not to jostle and bother any issues already present. There's the feeling of light and quick footsteps scurrying over to them, and Lysithea approaches, her magic appearing in the air as an array of many glowing shapes before they sink into Mihail, working to heal him and allowing Dedue the room to breathe and carefully lift up the kidnapping victim, glad that there are no groans of pain to accompany the movement.

"Thank"-Dedue freezes as he looks over at Lysithea, who's looking at the scene with a very specific expression on her face.

It's the same expression Dedue had years earlier as he stared at the burning remains of his town. As a survivor of the Murder of Duscur. As a survivor of something horrible. With her hair as stark white as Mihail's now is.

There's a thud, and Dedue comes back to reality with Lysithea looking back at him, her gaze focused and her foot tapping against the ground. Dedue clears his throat. "Thank you," he voices, and Lysithea nods, turning around and going back to the rest of the class. After a few moments, he follows, moving carefully to make sure that he didn't aggravate anything.