A/N: How's it going everybody!
For the first time in over a few years, we're having a two-parter!
Great Tree Moon, 1186
Two Weeks Later
It had been three weeks since the deceit of Pallardo, and a month since Niya had reclaimed the Seiros Shield from the Holy Tomb. Before anyone knew it, the anniversary of the Battle of the Eagle and Lion was nearing, and the students knew it very well.
What they didn't know however, was what was about to transpire soon.
"To think it had been 6 years since the Battle of the Eagle and Lion." Lorenz began.
"And in those six years, we were taking part of it ourselves." Leonie added. "At this point, the next batch of first year students would've been preparing for it by now."
"Wonder what's gonna happen this year?" Lysithea wondered, as she sat with the rest of the Golden Deer by the pond, and stared ahead. The sunlight glistened the pond, and casted shadows to the figures present.
"Hey, remember after the battle, we had a big feast right afterwards? I mean, I've had a few feasts before and after, but for some reason, that was one of the bests I've had so far." Raphael asked.
"Of course, you would remember the feast Raphael…" Ignatz chuckled, as he drew on his sketchpad.
"I just know a good meal when I see one."
"Not to mention the shower afterward." Hilda daydreamed. "Ah, the precious feeling of water trickling down your body. I might as well have died, and gone to the afterlife."
"I must admit that I did enjoy that one very much." Marianne said. "It was a unique experience. Even if we didn't end up being victorious."
"The professor really was something else, wasn't she? And so were the rest of the Black Eagles." Hilda spoke out.
"The fact that she managed to take on three of us at once, and beat said three really got me motivated to train better." Leonie smiled, remembering the experience. "It almost feels like yesterday."
Flashback Start
Great Tree Moon, 1180
Gronder Field
The annual Battle of the Eagle and Lion has finally arrived, and is now going underway. The battle was reserved for all 1st year students, with one of their professors joining in as well, with Byleth being the professor who had been chosen. Professors Hanneman, and Manuela on the other hand, were to join the 2nd year and 3rd year students respectively, while the 4th year students on the other hand, were joined by Seteth himself.
As it is written on the sacred texts, only training weapons were allowed, in order to minimize both injuries, and casualties. Any student caught with a real weapon would be immediately eliminated, and would have to face consequences. Each student was also assigned a small platoon consisting of 5 Church Soldiers. No more, no less. A student is eliminated when a weapon is pointed at their body, as a way to signal a 'death'. Any student who would ignore, and continue fighting will face consequences.
As Byleth had managed to recruit a few students prior, namely Sylvain, Ashe, Lysithea, and Marianne, the four students were temporarily transferred back to their original house, in order to keep things fair and even between the Three Houses. Any transferred students would then return to their new House after the battle.
"No hard feelings professor," Claude called out, as he, Leonie, and Hilda surrounded Byleth. "But this victory belongs to the Golden Deer."
"I hope Captain Jeralt has taught you how to deal when outnumbered." Leonie readied the reins of her horse, gripping a training lance.
"Let's get this moving!" Hilda said excitedly, pumping her training axe up. "There's a shower afterwards with my name on it."
Byleth simply said nothing, as she stayed calm, readying herself for what was to come next, and how she was going to react to it.
Leonie was first, as she reared up her horse, which let out a fierce neigh, as it jumped back, before rushing forward, Leonie's lance facing forward.
Byleth leaped back, almost sailing over Leonie, before knocking her out of horse, landing on the ground with a thud, her lance sliding of her grip, landing far from her.
As Leonie was about to get up and continue without her horse, Byleth pointed her sword at the hunter, signaling her elimination.
"Leonie Pinelli has been eliminated!" Came the call of a Seiros Pegasus Knight, who was tasked with refereeing the event.
"Augh!" Leonie got to her knees, as she pulled at her hair slightly. "Damn! I'm letting the captain down!"
As it was happening, Claude began firing some training arrows, one of which sailed past Byleth, just barely grazing her cheek, leaving a small mark.
"Whoops, sorry Teach." Claude sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.
"Nice hit Claude," Byleth simply responded, before grabbing one of the fired arrows, and throwing it back. "Now it's your turn!"
Claude quickly leaped out of the way, the arrow landing to where his foot would've been. To say he was surprised to see such a thing happen, is an understatement. "Gah! Did not see that coming."
"My turn!" Hilda grunted, before letting out a mighty swing. "You might as well give up!"
However, this would lead to her elimination, as Byleth made a side dodge, striking Hilda in the gut. She then quickly grabbed Hilda's axe, before pointing it at Hilda, signaling her elimination.
"Hilda Valentine Goneril has been eliminated!" The Pegasus Knight called out.
"Aw man!" Hilda grunted, pounding a fist into the grass. "Guess that's it for me. I'll just go rest up… or something."
Byleth helped her up, before she continued onward.
"Guess it's just you and me now Teach," Claude smirked, readying his stance. "But just so you know, I won't go down that easily."
"So, I've realized." Byleth answered back, readying herself as well, and without warning, charged towards the house leader.
Claude immediately fires an arrow, before sidestepping away, narrowly dodging a sword strike, before quickly grabbing an arrow from his quiver, with the intention to strike Byleth with it. He comes close, but Byleth moves back, barely dodging the arrow.
'Impressive, and creative.' Byleth thought to herself, not anticipating Claude to do such a thing.
With some distance between them, Claude then throws the arrow like a spear, which Byleth manages to catch, although it does leave a small burn feeling, causing Byleth to grunt slightly.
"Whoa, Teach! That's gotta hurt right?" Claude said in concern, before finding himself getting conked on the head with the arrow. Since it was a training arrow, the arrow didn't pierce his skull, instead only leaving a small bump, before falling harmlessly to the ground.
The hit causes Claude to stagger, before being suddenly knocked to the ground. The next thing he knew, Byleth raised her sword to Claude, signaling his elimination.
"Claude von Riegan has been eliminated!" The Pegasus Knight called out.
Once Claude realized, he let out a chuckle. "I hate to say it, but it seems we're at a stalemate. Looks like the Golden Deer won't be winning this round…" He paused for a while before turning to Byleth. "Well, Teach. You've improved since the House Rivalry Battle when you first came here at the Monastery."
"And neither have you," Byleth smiled, before reaching a hand out to Claude to help him up. "You've improved as well."
"Hmm," Claude began, as he scanned the field. "Looks like his highness is the only one left. I'm guessing he took out Edelgard while you were busy with us."
"Looks like it is."
"Welp, I better head back to the rest. Good luck out there!" Claude waved before leaving the field, while Byleth continued onward to where Dimitri was.
Eventually
Dimitri let out a grunt, as he was forcibly taken down, before meeting Byleth's sword. "I suppose my training wasn't enough… The Blue Lions have no choices, but to retreat."
"Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd has been eliminated!" The Pegasus Knight called out. "The Battle of the Eagle and Lion has officially concluded!"
"That is the end of this year's Battle of the Eagle and Lion!" Seteth announced, having returned after supervising the 4th year students. "And the winners for this year are… The Black Eagles!"
"Also, according to the referee, the Black Eagles also scored the most eliminations, as such we are rewarding the House with both the Killer Lance, and Blessed Lance." Seteth added, before handing both lances to Byleth. "I trust that you will use them wisely."
Upon hearing the report, Edelgard smiled before turning to her fellow Black Eagles. "Thank you for your hard work everyone! I daresay that prize is as good as ours." She then turned her attention to Byleth. "But most of all, thank you professor. We couldn't have done it without you."
Byleth simply acknowledged Edelgard with a smile, causing Edelgard to blush slightly.
Flashback End
"I almost never see Claude lose a fight, but compared to the other times he has indeed lost one, this one had his biggest grin yet." Hilda said. "To this day, I still don't understand why."
"Perhaps he saw losing to the professor as some form of high honor or something." Lorenz suggested. "After all, if there is anything consistent about Claude, it's that he is unpredictable."
"You have a point there," Lysithea nodded.
"Still, I have to say, I am quite impressed that even after five years of being presumed dead, the professor's abilities haven't dwindled at all." Ignatz said, as he continued his sketch.
A few minutes later, the rest of the Golden Deer were met with Everon, who had come to the pond.
"Greetings Golden Deer," Everon began. "Miss Niya requests your presence in the War Council Room immediately."
"I wonder why?" Hilda pondered, before she, and the rest of her fellow Golden Deer got up, and headed towards the War Council Room.
War Council Room
"Good that you have all arrived." Niya said, seeing the last of the students, namely the Golden Deer entering the room.
"Is there any reason that you have called us all here?" Lorenz began. "Judging by how Everon said the call, I assume that it must be urgent."
"Indeed, it is." Niya confirmed. "As I'm sure all of you know, the anniversary of the Battle of the Eagle and Lion is approaching next week, and obviously, due to the current situation of Garreg Mach, it cannot happen this year."
A brief pause
"However, a few of our scouts have reported that the Empire is planning to invade both the Kingdom, and the Alliance at the same time, and both the Alliance, and the Kingdom have decided to intercept the Empire at Gronder field."
"Both the Alliance, and the Kingdom? Are they on the same side perhaps?" Ingrid questioned.
"Based on the scouts' reports, there is no alliance between them. Each of them seems to be operating on their own."
"So that means that while the Kingdom, and the Alliance are fighting of the Empire, they'll be fighting each other as well?" Annette began, a sense of worry entering her thoughts.
"It's very possible."
"But who is leading the Kingdom?" Ashe asked. "I know that Claude will no doubt be leading the Alliance, but the Kindom? Dimitri is dead."
Before anymore questions could be asked, Niya turned to Dedue. "Dedue, was there anything of Dimitri that was ever found?"
"As I have said before," Dedue replied. "They were simply reports, and claims. His Highness's body was never found."
"Maybe there's a reason his body never was found." Niya theorized. "It's because he\s still alive, and somehow managed to escape detection. Perhaps he is still leading the Kingdom."
"I mean, that's entirely possible." Sylvain admitted. "All of us left before anything new could've been reported."
"Still," Ingrid began. "It does raise some concern as to why any news of Dimitri's presence hasn't been reported at all. I would've expected something by now."
"Perhaps maybe he didn't want to attract any form of attention… especially if Edelgard would've been involved somehow." Niya suspected.
"Nonsense." Felix countered. "That wouldn't make any sense at all. Everyone knew just how open he was at any opportunity to kill Edelgard."
"Maybe he waiting for the right time." Dorothea suggested.
"Perhaps he was." Ferdinand agreed, before turning to Niya. "Professor, if you do not mind me asking, is there a reason why you brought this up?"
"It's because I was thinking that perhaps we could use this as an opportunity to take down Edelgard, as well as sway more people to join us. If Edelgard is dealt with early, then we will be able to find Rhea at Enbarr without too much trouble."
"That would mean that Gronder field have four armies fighting each other all at once." Lysithea realized. "Professor, are you sure that this plan will even work?"
"I am not certain, in all honesty." Niya admitted. "Truth be told, I see this as some form of suicide mission for a lot of us. If things take a turn for the worst, I may end up having to do this myself."
"Please don't say such things Professor," Mercedes began. "Even if things take a turn for the worst, know that we have all agreed to do so willingly."
"Yeah!" Caspar punched both of his fist together. "We die, we do it knowing we could help make Fodlan better."
Everyone else also spoke their agreeance with the coming situation.
Niya turned her back slightly, to hide her smile, as well as a few falling tears, before turning back to her students. "In that case, we'll need to prepare for any scenario that might happen, and take the best path to ensure no casualties."
She then turned her attention to the board, before drawing out the scenario, as well as any given action that may occur.
A/N: Ok, so I know I promised the Battle at Gronder last chapter, but eventually, I decided that I wanted to use this chapter as a way to explain why the Battle should occur, without it being forced into the story.
Also, I wanted to write a little something about the Battle of the Eagle and Lion, which is why I added the little flashback scene.
Also, also, you may have noticed that there is no 2019 scene this round. The only reason why is because our resident tour guide wasn't around to witness any of those scenes, as such it was left out, so technically the last chapter never happened.
Also, I have done some minor rewrites to some of the chapters, mainly being fixing some grammitcal errors, as well as fixing some things that I may have gotten wrong due to me misreading my notes. So, if anything seems different, that's why.
Anyways, next chapter is the War at Gronder, so until the next chapter, BYE!