It was only after the mock battle that we got the all-clear to help Professor Byleth get all settled in. Let me just say; it's fun to mess around as a pseudo-instructor for the Blue Lions, almost as fun as messing with my brother.

Almost.

"Mercedes, you gotta focus on your aim! You almost torched the Professor!" I yell from the sidelines, cringing at the scorch mark on the stone column. Parts of the column were cracked from the impact, particularly around the indentions caused by decorative engravings, with the bottom lip of the pillar partially melted away from the scorching heat.

Said Professor had shoddily dodged out of the way, his pale face going paler as he realized just how close he'd come to being burned. The tips of his hair had been lightly singed from the flame, eyes widening at the damage caused by his eldest student.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" She calls distressedly, looking to Byleth with worry written all over her face. He puts a hand up to her, shaking his head dismissively.

"Byleth, your blank look isn't helping."

"Enough!" Felix calls, bearing his sword, a simple wooden blade attached to an equally wooden handle. An eye roll later, I can hear the two sparring. It's not hard to miss, but the presence of a particular 26-year-old is enough to draw my attention away.

"Erm, Ms. Lute?" Mercedes starts, Annette heading over as she notices her best friend's nervousness. "Just Alma's fine, Mercedes." She smiles sweetly, despite her brows arched upwards in abashment: "You said I need to focus on my aim?"

"You are a little scatterbrained Mercie!" Annette chirps from beside her, the teasing edge only making me laugh at the two. "Annie!"

"Alright, alright, that's enough." I chuckle, settling the two down before I stand. "Usually, the sounds around me are my worse enemy when I'm trying to focus. So I try to block them out as much as I can."

"But, wouldn't that leave you unaware?" Annette questions and I nod earnestly: "Perhaps, but that's why you never want to be separated from your battalion or partner. They watch your back while you watch theirs." Quickly after the explanation, I summon a small flame in my palms.

I can faintly see the red glow of my eyes on my arm, and I shut them tightly. "Alma?"

"I'm ok, just a small headache. I wasn't able to sleep much last night."

"Alright, but don't overdo it." Mercedes warns, and I smile warmly at her. "Of course, now... a trick I use is to put my thumb and index fingers 90 degrees from each oth-"

"Like a bow and arrow!" Annette cheers, the epiphany finally reaching her. I nod, setting up a dummy away from everyone to demonstrate my method on: "Observe~."

The tips of my middle and index glow bright blue as I draw the magic circle before me, muttering the incantation to myself just loudly enough for it to take proper effect: "What I seek is thunder-"

I aim both hands outwards, hands poised in the same position I'd taught them with my stance widening ever so slightly to accommodate the spell's impact. Lightning crackles in front of me, hot and erratic: "IZUCHI!"

The bolt flies off, the impact causing the wood to splinter and break apart violently. I smile, dusting off my hands quickly and looking at the two students. "Now you try."

The sun slowly descended below the horizon as the hours crawled on, the day nearing its end. Dozens of torched training dummies lie to the side of the courtyard, the damage done to the figures inching towards the center of the chest as Mercedes's practice bears fruit.

"Yeesh, if you didn't use magic, I'd mistake you for an archer!"

"Oh, you flatter me!" Mercedes cheers, eyes shutting as a smile grows on her face. My eyes, however, can't seem to move from the blackened dummies.

"Hey, Alma?"

Annette's call to attention was brief, eyes squinted lightly as she fights to shut them away from the glare of the sun. She hadn't been idle either, the slashes and tears in the stands' burlap bodies the doing of her wind magic. In her hands is a book, wrapped shut with a leather cord. The cover is embossed with a blue finish, the title scrawled in elegant script:

'Applications of Fodlani Magic in the Battlefield.'

"What's up?" I turn to the redhead, her storm-blue eyes slightly narrowed to partially shield them from the glaring sun's rays. "Well, I was wondering about the magic you use? I've never really heard incantations like that."

"Ah... well." I nervously laugh, wracking my brain of how exactly to sum up the topic at hand.

"That's a topic for another day."

-000-

The sun's rays greet me with a harsh glare, my eyes instinctively shutting at the bright light. They adjusted quickly enough, allowing my eyes to creak open cautiously.

'Sunset already? Goodness, the stone floor is much more comfortable than I initially gave it credit for.'

The book I'd been leafing through was nothing spectacular, a simple volume titled 'A Guide to Strategem and Tactics' by a man named Henry Green. It discussed many a situation, from the siege of cities to the invasion of a building akin to the monastery.

'All strategies have flaws if you look hard enough. Everything does.'

The tired, heavy footsteps of a student approach from the right, the metals of his arm-

'Armor?'

My gaze is met with the Crown Prince, Dimitri, as he tiredly makes his way to the weapon's rack, placing his wooden lance down. The spear has cracks all along with the handle where he had been gripping it, unlike Sylvain's or Ingrid's... curious.

̹̫̇͝M̷̯̑ȋ̵͇N̷̮̮̋̈́ö̶̢́R̴̞̾ ̶͓͋C̴̪͔͒r̷͖̞͋e̴̬̻ṣ̸̗̾̏ṯ̴͍̔͗ ̴͇͇̾o̸̜̜̍f̵̲̻̃̈́ ̷̼̘̒B̷̥͙̏͘L̴̛̬A̷̼̎Ị̷̊d̷̬͝d̷̫̦̂ỷ̵̜̀Ḏ̸̳͂

Nonetheless, he tracks his way over to me, back annoyingly straight as despite his apparent fatigue: "May I sit?"

̵͔͗W̵̭̭͛o̷̞͠L̷̗̑̚F̸̘͎ ̵̟̓L̶̯̹̄̄o̷̗̗͑̕R̶̬̤̐̍d̸̢̈̉.̵͔͐͘ ̶͓̤̅

The prince's posture tenses up in tandem to my own, hands opening up as he takes a step back. To give me some space, I presume.

Breathe, Jack. Breathe.

"Greetings, your Highness."

I chuckle at the prince's response, which is somewhere between a disbelieving sigh and huff of defeat: "You are almost as stubborn as Dudue."

His arms cross, head shaking in dismay: "Please, call me Dimitri."

"I shall endeavor to do so, Dimitri, but I make no such promises." My response is curt, eyes trailing down to the book that had kept me occupied for the latter half of the afternoon, closing it and laying it on my lap. "Who am I to tell you no? Do as you like."

"You are my comrade and have every right to do so. I thank you, nonetheless." The prince sits rather lackadaisically, plopping onto the stone slab and leaning back on his arms slightly as if to relish in the breeze that passes over his sweaty face.

A comfortable silence pervades, the rustling of the tapestries affixed to iron nails by the door frame offering an excellent white noise to concentrate. "If I may be so bold, where from Faerghus do you hail?"

"I was born in Fhirdiad, like my father, and his father before him."

"Where's that, exactly?" I ask, brow quirking in question.

"Well, it is to the north of Faerghus, in the heart of Blaiddyd territory. It is close to the sea, though I wouldn't reccomend swimming."

"Faerghus is truly that freezing?"

The prince nods, and the silence of his voice invites the internal chatter to rile back up.

S̶̡̜̆ṱ̷̌r̸̜̯͐o̶̹͐n̸̠̳̄͂ğ̷̝,̶̨͙̈́̄Ṫ̸̠̦̇o̸͕̍͗O̶̖͑ ̴͖̰̐̊s̵̲̆͛t̵̡̨̒̑r̶͓͎̈̊ó̶͕̑n̸̪̈̈g̸̩̱̃.̸̢̪̆

I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to tune them out. "I have never seen the snow; perhaps you could describe it to me?"

"It is both a blessing and a curse. The cold makes the land hard and barren, but freshly fallen snow makes everything still and quiet."

"It sounds peaceful."

Another nod, another voice pipes up as blood rushes to my head: 'MiNoR Crest of BLAIddyD'

I squeeze my eyes shut, muffling a grunt as best I can by digging my teeth into my lip. Not hard enough to do damage, but enough to hurt.

̷̘͐r̶͚͗Ų̴͑n̵̡͛͆!̷͙̪

"I... need to take care of a small matter that slipped my mind, a report of the strategem for the mission we are assigned. I wish you good day, High- Dimitri."

I bolt, the tirades of Wilheim screeching over the concerned calls of the crowned prince.

-000-

My rapier meets the Fraldarius's sword as my stance widens, the sound of metal scraping wood harsh on the ears as we push against each other. My eyes flit over to the prince and Jack, both of which seemed to be chatting about something.

The distraction causes my blade to slip, my head almost cracking against the pavement as Felix knocks me to the ground with a practiced sweep of his leg.

"Alright, alright... you win Felix."

"You trust the boar?" Felix, completely ignoring my earlier statement, holds his hand out to me as he speaks, Sylvain looking over at us from behind as I get to my feet.

It's more like he's looking at my behind, hazel eyes focused downward, but the point's been made.

"Sylvain..." I growl, elbowing the taller man in the gut as recompense for his staring. After a satisfying whine from the redhead, I look to the swordsman: "What's it to you, short stack?"

I look again, and this time, the prince's calm face contrasts my brother's, which is pale as a sheet and damp with a cold sweat.

"Nothing. Just don't come crying to me when your baby brother bites the bullet."

I instinctually growl at the man, brows furrowing as my hands find purchase on his shirt collar. Pressing him against the pillar behind us was easy enough: "Watch your words, Fraldarius."

After a beat of uneasy silence, my hands burning up and almost setting his clothes alight, he rolls his eyes and lets out a small scoff.

Another silence.

"Kill the whelp. Who could deny you the pleasure?"

"Hey, ok, break it up you two!" Sylvain's nervous laugh sounds out from my side, his calloused hand grabbing one of my wrists. His face is deceptively passive, his brown eyes holding a hard edge to them despite his easy smile. I drop the noble, stepping back.

"See? That wasn't so hard."

I roll my eyes, crossing my arms and staring at the pair. Felix picks up his blade, turning away to get back to his training: "Just watch him. The Boar prince isn't the kind gentleman you think he is."

...Noted, asshole.

I turn my attention back to the pair, my brother getting up in a hurry and running off to who knows where. Judging by the sweat on his brow and shifty eyes, I can guess the cause is the handsome house leader... who looks like a kicked puppy.

"You guys ok to keep practicing on your own?" I ask the two males, and with their nod, I head over to the blonde: "Dimitri!"

"Oh, Alma. How are you?"

"A little miffed, thanks to Felix. But what about you, you seem upset." He shrugs, a nervous chuckle escaping him. I elbow him when he falls silent, urging him to talk: "Well, it is more that I am confused."

"About Jack, I'm guessing? I saw you two talking earlier." He nods affirmatively, eyes becoming downcast as he thinks back on the conversation: "We spoke of my home and such, but suddenly ran off in an uneased hurry. Something about making a report?"

I laugh loudly, the prince's eyes blowing wide with shock and shoulders slumping in dismay. I nod at him, smile damn near ear-to-ear: "Yeah, he does that. You g-"

"Oh, it didn't bother me at all. Quite frankly, I found it refreshing to speak to someone of home to someone who had never been there."

"Ah, then you're wondering why he ran away from you?"

His silence spoke volumes, and I placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder: "Well, to put it in a way that makes it simple, he's a hot mess around men. You can blame my mother for that." He raises an intrigued brow, and I shake my head. How the hell does one explain what my mother's like to a stranger?

You don't.

"I... see."

I nod, the bell chiming the end of the hour and thus the end of training. Byleth stands in the center of the grounds, sword sliding into its sheathe as the students gather 'round. I stand, stretching as Byleth motions to me. I cock my head, not quite sure what he's getting at, but his side-eye to the students makes it clear enough.

"Time already huh?" Ashe's voice cracking is a little surprising, causing a nervous chuckle to ripple from him to the rest of his classmates. I nod, looking at the time.

"Our first taste of combat. I look forward to it."

"I'm a little nervous, to be honest."

"I'm sure we will be alright, Annette."

"Thank you, your Highness!"

His discomfort went unnoticed by the class. The sun was about to completely dip beneath the horizon, about an hour of daylight left. "Get some food in your bellies, and some rest. If you four have any questions... Direct them to Byleth because I need to go tend to Seren before she wrecks the stables again."

I can hear Ashe mutter out an "Again?" before the large wooden double doors close behind me.