"The Archbishop would like to see you, it's very urgent."

Cetanu's eyes passed to the messenger, a regular everyday soldier of the Knights of Seiros. He was curious about what Rhea wanted from him, as the woman hadn't been the most willing to speak to him. Their confrontation was odd for both of them, mostly because both of them expected the opposite outcome.

The Professor nodded, glancing through the training grounds as he exhaled, rolling his neck and shoulders as he turned to the Audience Chamber's balcony, his thoughts passing to Rhea. He wondered what would become of her given the fact that she wanted him dead and he wasn't planing on dying anytime soon. He'd have to come to some sort of solution, but for now, all he could do was answer her call.

"You called?"

The Archbishop stared at the Fleshcrafter, a frown crossing her features and her knuckles turning white, from a combination of strain and anger. He noticed that she was distracted, and she barely acknowledged that he had spoken to her.

The silence hung in the air, her knuckles only turning brighter and brighter shades of white as the seconds ticked away. Cetanu felt his jaw roll, and he knew that he growing tired of this.

"Either tell me what you want or start attacking. I do not take time away from my work to be stared at. I am aware that I'm a unique specimen, but please get to the point here, Your Grace."

Her angered trance was shattered by his words, surprised by the combination of arrogance and venom within them. She blinked, shaking her head and inhaling slowly in a rare show of weakness, something Cetanu watched closely with his inhuman eyes.

"I wanted to speak to you personally because Seteth is not in the right state of mind to be issuing orders." she explained, and Cetanu nodded. It wasn't often that something happened to Seteth, but it made Cetanu even more curious about the man and his past.

"Flayn has gone missing. It is your mission for this moon and the next and the next. Until she is found and returned safe, none of the three classes will be leaving." she explained.

Cetanu rose a brow, genuinely surprised to hear this. Flayn, the ever coddled younger sister of Seteth had gone missing? Surely this must have been her hiding with a friend or feigning an attempt at running away simply to escape her brother's iron grip. However, her safety was a concern of his, because he knew that there had to be something special about the girl for her hair to be such an odd color.

"Do you think that she ran away, or do you believe that she was taken?" he asked. The two of them weren't getting along, and the awkward air in the room didn't help. Servants moved about hastily to avoid the tension between the two warriors.

Rhea inhaled, wishing that would have just bowed and left. "I pray that it was only a petty squabble that led into her hiding somewhere in the Monastery or the surrounding villages. Because I would dread to think of what would happen to anyone that took her." she said, and Cetanu hummed.

He knew that she was referring to the Wrath of Seteth instead of her own, or in addition to her own. He was almost excited about the thought of the two green haired leaders slaughtering their enemies in an enraged bloodlust. It was quite the vision. However, one other important question popped into his head before his mind wandered too far.

"What reason would anyone have to take her?"

Rhea's jaw rolled and her entire body tensed slightly. It was barely noticeable, but the demon wondered if it was because she was afraid of speaking it into the universe or if she was afraid of telling him specifically. He assumed that it was the later, because the former meant nothing as long as her, Seteth and the Monastery existed to protect Flayn.

"Flayn… Flayn's blood is special. As far as our records indicate, she is the only person within the whole of Fodlan that has the Major Crest of Cethleann. It is of a much higher potency than Lindhardt's Minor Crest. It makes Flayn a very valuable asset to anyone who can use her blood against her."

Cetanu nodded, silently and trying to remain composed. His Inner Fiend, the demonic subconscious that shared his mind with Sothis, was erupting in laughter, doubled over with tears streaming down his face. This was exactly what Cetanu was looking for. Not only the last of the Four Saint Crests, but a Major Crest at that. Major Crests had far higher potency and ability than their minor counterparts.

Lindhardt's position as the resident healer of the Black Eagles would be completely dwarfed by whatever Flayn could do. It made Cetanu wonder exactly what that power would do in his hands, or Ashe's, or even Lilith's. It was quite interesting to say the least, and he dropped to one knee before Rhea, showing her the same respect as always.

"Tell Seteth he shall have nothing to worry about. The Blue Lions shall do everything in their power to find her as quickly as possible. No harm shall come to those close to you while I still draw breath." he said, and Rhea spared him the smallest smile. "Thank you, Professor."

With the Blue Lions and Ashen Wolves gathered together, along with Abaddon and Victor, Cetanu leaned against his desk and folded his arms.

"Our next assignment as a class is simply a search mission. We are to join the Monastery wide search party, as Seteth's younger sister Flayn has gone missing." he explained, and he watched as various expressions crossed their faces and glances were exchanged.

"We will do everything we can to search for her. Splitting up, taking shifts, even working with the Golden Deer. However, I want it to be made very, very clear that apart from Constance and Bernadetta, not a single member of the Black Eagles is to be trusted. I could not care less if they were your schoolyard lover, they are not privy to our information."

A few murmurings spread throughout the classroom, and Cetanu exhaled.

"If you wish to befriend the Black Eagles, that is fine, but do not trust them completely. Or, to be more precise, do not trust Edelgard, Hubert or Ingrid. Flayn might have been kidnapped as she has an extraordinarily rare Crest, and I trust those three with that information the least. Are we understood?" he asked, receiving a resounding, unified 'Yes!' from all of his students before he dismissed them.

With the classroom emptied, Cetanu found himself glancing behind himself to hear the oddly soft footsteps of Victor behind him. The 'War Ghoul' had tried to spend more and more time with his creator recently, if only because of his familiarity with the demon.

"Is something troubling you Victor?" he asked, and the man sighed, glancing to the floor before glancing to his clawed hands. "When all of the students leave, what will you do?" he asked, and Cetanu tilted his head. That was an oddly heavy question, and he was starting to come to the conclusion that the cat was quite a deep thinker, unlike his creator.

"I will decide when that time comes. I shall either remain and continue along my Path of Metamorphosis to cause Growth in all of my students past, present and future. Otherwise, I will travel, and make sure that those I… care for, are well and always growing and evolving." he explained, and Victor hummed.

"I was thinking about this because I had an odd dream last night." he mused, and Cetanu found this interesting. He knew that the shift from whatever form of dreams felines had to human dreams would be quite a shock to him, but this was not what he expected.

"I… I dreamt of other War Ghouls. We were a team… friends even. It made me think… what purpose does a 'War Ghoul' have when there is no war?" he mused, and Cetanu found himself chuckling at this. It was incredibly deep, and if he didn't know better, he'd think that Victor was a poet as a cat, a feline that sits on a roof meowing and calling to the moon in the night.

"You are not a 'War Ghoul', that is just the name I found in a book. If you would like, I will find a new name to christen those whose flesh has been crafted by me. You are much like Ashe in a way, you are both a different kind of Progeny to me." he said, and Victor sighed, scratching his head and shrugging his broad shoulders.

"I'll figure it out I guess. At least my lifespan is a lot longer so I don't have to rush to do anything. Although, I do have one question about the Flayn thing." he stated, and Cetanu hummed to signal him to continue.

"Why didn't you tell them about Ferdinand? I can smell you on him." he inquired, and Cetanu sighed, shaking his head. "Because of the fact that Ferdinand is a normal human being. He's not superhuman in any capacity or inhuman either. The only thing that him being my Revenant does is make it so that I can command him via a Blood Bond. If it has any other effects, I told him to inform me." he stated, and Victor hummed.

"Is there anyone you want me to keep an eye on in particular? I feel like we need to play this safe. Something smells off about it." he said, and Cetanu chuckled. He knew that Victor was correct, and he felt rather similar.

"I agree completely. Just keep an eye on Constance and Ingrid. Constance is a frayed string that will be severed sooner or later, but Ingrid… I feel like she'll try something at the behest of Edelgard. She's very good friends with Sylvain and Felix. Keep your eyes and ears peeled, Abaddon and I are already on it but you can never be too safe." he said, and the feline nodded before disappearing like a black cat in the night.

As the days pressed on, Cetanu began to wonder exactly what could have happened to Flayn. An individual that looks as unique as she does and that has as rare of a Crest as she does doesn't just disappear. However, despite his focus being on the girl with the exact Crest he was searching for, his mind was focused elsewhere.

It was focused on the Black Eagles.

Oddly enough, the two classes had found themselves at odds more often than normal, with Hubert antagonizing Balthus and Edelgard making petty comments to Dimitri and Bernadetta about their 'engagement'. It was odd to say the least, but there was also one other constant that Cetanu paid a lot of attention to.

Caspar Von Bergliez.

The smallest member of the Black Eagles had the single biggest mouth, and he was constantly trying to call out any of the Blue Lions that he could. It was like a public confrontation was his one and only focus, above his schooling, his training and his mission to aid in the search for Flayn. Cetanu wondered if this was the boy's natural attitude, or if he was being goaded even further by his classmates.

This was what brought Cetanu to the here and now, his eyes glancing across the moonlit tea table, the steam from a fresh brewed pot of tea the only thing between the Fleshcrafter and his Revenant.

"It's not going to look good if we're seen here, Professor." the orange haired noble had said, something that Cetanu paid no mind to. With the constant agitation of the Black Eagles grating at his nerves, Cetanu noted that he was coping by subconsciously adapting Asmodeus' traits. Cetanu simply waved it off before leaning back in his chair.

"If anyone asks, I was simply asking you to show me how to brew tea. If I'm going to be spending the rest of my life in the presence of nobles one way or another, I need to be able to impress them." he mused, and Ferdinand sighed at the ridiculous sounding statement.

"What is it you wished to speak to me about at such an odd time?" he wondered, and the demon glanced about before looking to the student.

"Is Caspar always so oddly pigheaded? He's challenging my students to physical duels in broad daylight on a regular basis, and it's only a matter of time before someone gets injured. Is there someone goading him into being more bold and brash or is he just having a bad week?" he asked, and Ferdinand seemed to hesitate.

Cetanu simply stared with his dead looking eyes and waited for the young noble to answer him. He wasn't particularly worried about how much time he took. After all, Cetanu's lifespan was much longer than Ferdinand's own. He watched the young man open his mouth to speak, and Cetanu simply continued to wait.

"Unfortunately, I cannot tell you. I am aware that I willingly bound myself to you, but on my honor as the future Lord Aegir, I can not bring myself to betray the secrets of my future Emperor." he said, and Cetanu nodded, smiling as he inhaled.

The young lordling wondered if he angered Cetanu. His features seemed almost unmoving, inhumanely so even for the demon. He watched Cetanu exhale before leaning forward and sighing.

"Your loyalty to your homeland is very admirable, Future Lord of Aegir. However, your loyalty to me is far greater." he said. Ferdinand blinking, wondering exactly what he meant by that.

The next thing he knew, Cetanu's hand was in front of his face, a black gloved limb in the moonlit night that look like the tendrils of a dying tree. Long, nimble fingers rolled until the index ever so slightly brushed against Ferdinand's nose.

Ferdinand felt his mind go blank, his eyes and brain still processing Cetanu's dead blue eyes, which seemed to glimmer in the moonlight with some odd emotion that he couldn't read.

"Tell me what is going on with Caspar."

"Hubert convinced him that he can be given an artificial Crest if he prevents at least one member of the Blue Lions from participating in the Battle of the Eagle and Lion."

Ferdinand took a huge gasp of air, sweat starting to form along his brow as he blinked rapidly. He realized that he just spilled his secret without a single threat or any physical violence. Just a simple phantom graze of Cetanu's finger and he folded.

"Thank you Ferdinand. I am very appreciative of your honesty. Do enjoy the tea, it's not my favorite drink." he said, smiling as he departed.

With his breathing slightly labored and his brow coated in sweat, Ferdinand watched Cetanu leave, his body quivering ever so slightly at the fact that he didn't even have the chance to resist. Was it a physical manipulation? Mental or magical? He couldn't tell which kind of hypnosis it was, but he didn't like it.

He thought that he understood exactly what Cetanu was talking about when he Blood Bonded to the Fleshcrafter, but he was sorely mistaken. He was completely at Cetanu's mercy. He was a glorified, noble Thrall to the demon, and he was worried what that meant for him and his homeland in the future.

Cetanu glanced to his right as he headed back towards his quarters, noticing that Victor was again following him. The War Ghoul was taking quite a liking to his creator, and had pestered him on a regular basis about a new name, as 'War Ghoul' made him feel… like a tool. It was understandable to the ebon mercenary, who was simply just the 'Ashen Demon', a creature that Jeralt's Mercenaries could use as an intimidation tactic.

"He's going to be scared of you for a while." Victor stated, and Cetanu hummed as he nodded. "I am aware of this. However, he needed to know that he can't resist the compulsion of a Blood Bond, and that it can not be broken unless I am slain." he mused, and Victor nodded in return.

"What are you going to do with Caspar?" he asked, and Cetanu tilted his head. That was infact a good question. The boy was being lied to, being told that he could be given a Crest to improve his power and noble standing at the cost of injuring his fellow students. It was incredibly odd to the demon, who wanted a chance to speak to Caspar without having to fight him personally. The Professor's mind wandered briefly, wondering how he was going to accomplish this.

Then, he had an odd idea. If Cetanu was using his authority, he could manage this. All he needed was to convince one person to play along with him.

"We give Caspar the fight that he wants."