"Boss? Listen we shouldn't be here."

"Shut it already will ya?" He sounded annoyed but his eyes were wide and constantly darting between the line of trees, as if expecting something to appear out of them.

"Who wants to meet at the edge of a forest, boss? This is ambush material."

"I said shut it! They're paying us good money just to be here, and we need it after what happened in Nuvelle."

"And we shoulda left that crappy place alone too!" The brigand half shrieked.

"The guy running it owed us!" Boss yelled and grabbed the smaller man by the collar, who yelped in fear, "we would've gotten away with it if it wasn't for that bitch, and if you haven't noticed, we need the money." He shook him and let go, causing the smaller man to stumble backwards.

"This is what happened to Kostas, boss." The brigand corrected his clothing before continuing, "he met with some weirdo called the flame guy or whatever and we haven't heard from him since!"

"This is different, Armin" Boss said confidently, "besides I'm not so stupid as to meet them alone." He motioned to the brigand and three other bandits slightly further behind. Upon seeing Boss acknowledge them they shifted awkwardly while one with a face covering gave a small wave.

It was then that the sounds of birds stopped chirping and the crickets hushed. Even the wind seemed to still. Noticing this change the small band of brigands brandished their weapons.

"What a warm welcome." Came a voice.

"Who said that?" Boss's eyes kept darting to the line of trees. "Are you the one who wanted to speak?"

"Yes."

"Boss…" Armin whispered. He took a slight step back away from the voice.

A lithe figure appeared seemingly out of nowhere as if emerging from a shadow and stepped just shy of the sunbeams.

"Are you Boss?" The shadows' own voice seemed to be concealing a smirk.

At this, Boss gripped his axe a little more tightly, "yeah...that would be me." Boss wasn't an expert in magic but he didn't need to be to feel all the sinister magic that was exuding off this figure. The fact he could feel it at all made him tremble.

"Who are you? You wanted to speak…" Boss asked. He found himself wishing he had listened to that idiot earlier. It had seemed like a good idea at the time to talk with this person who had paid him in advance just to be there, but this shadow just didn't seem at all natural.

"You may calm down, luckily for you, I just want to speak." At that the air shifted and became a little calmer.

"You...how did you do that?" Armin gasped. They had all noticed the darkness seem to recede to a slightly more comfortable feeling.

"Just consider it an effort on my behalf to get you talking." The shadow shifted somewhat, by now Boss could see more details and he raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Now then," they continued, "I hear you met with a little girl named Robin..?"

The Wyvern Moon. The Wyverns flock south for the winter and children catch fish and gather firewood. Note: Fishing tournament tomorrow, should try it out.

Robin finished with her notes and looked up. To her left were stacks of books she had taken from the shelves in the library she was currently residing in. It was her first free day since she started at Garreg Mach and she decided to spend it doing some light reading in the library. Appearing out of her dorm room hours before dawn she trekked towards the library. She decided to learn as much as she could about Fódlan in terms of geography and the basics of the three territories. She also found some interesting history books containing information on the first battle of the Eagle and Lion. There certainly was a long history of wars and division, and it seemed important to learn more about the Leicester Alliance's past. Turns out they are neighbours to a country called Almyra, which going by the tone of the texts she was reading, Fódlan were not allies.

She was busy jotting down some notes when she thought she saw a dash of yellow appear out of the corner of her eyes. Rubbing them, she looked out the window. The sun was fairly high in the sky and she surmised she had been in the library long enough if she was seeing flashes of colour. Plus it looked as though it was time they were serving breakfast. She placed the books back where she found them and stretched before leaving.

"I'm only saying it to be cautious!"

Byleth rubbed his hands over his face in agitation. He'd only been awake for 20 minutes but he hadn't even had the chance to comb his hair.

"Sothis," he started, voice lower than normal as it was first thing in the morning. "I am NOT doing that. Now I need to get ready." He pushed himself past the green haired girl who crossed her arms and huffed.

"Well what will happen when that girl turns rogue? This is an incredibly sinister power that is unfamiliar to me, and Rhea is a fool to be letting this girl so close to the students!"

"I understand, Sothis," Byleth deadpanned, "but I refuse to spy on her in her own dorm."

"She is only next door! I do not sense her which means she's moved! We need to find her before something bad happens."

She always spoke down to him like she's the elder, Byleth thought. But he wasn't about to become a pervert because Sothis suggested it.

"Listen," Sothis continued, "it would be for the safety of everyone here at Garreg Mach. She's already slipped by us. All you'd have to do is keep a close eye on her, goodness I thought an old mercenary like you would be used to such missions."

Byleth's eye twitched. "Sothis, if she or someone else caught me, I'd be in trouble. I agree we need to keep an eye on her if what you are saying is true, but I don't want to catch her...unawares."

Sothis looked like she was about to say something but stalled, she looked at Byleth up and down as he finished getting dressed, holding her chin in thought.

"What?" He asked.

"Oh, nothing." She waved her hand dismissively at him, "as long as you understand the importance of this surveillance I trust you enough to carry it out." She floated next to the calendar hung up in Byleth's room, "what are the plans for today?"

Byleth raised his eyebrow and sighed through his nose. "Meeting with dad today before breakfast together." He placed his gloves on and walked through the door before waiting for Sothis' response.

The morning air was crisp and slightly chilly, the winter weather slowly making itself known. He ran a hand through his hair and briskly walked towards his fathers office. It was still early enough in the morning that not many students were out.

The grey haired girl flooded his thoughts as he walked. Sothis made a good point that she was new and came out of the blue, but he couldn't sense this power she was talking about. To him, she just looked like an ordinary woman. Before he knew it he was outside his fathers office. Knocking twice he let himself in.

"Byleth."

"Good morning, dad."

"Let's head straight to breakfast, shall we?" Jeralt walked over to him and patted him on the back before steering him out of the room.

Robin was making her way towards the dining hall still rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Hey, Teach!"

Robin visibly flinched and looked behind her to see Claude waving at her to slow down while he catched up.

"Hey, Teach," Claude repeated. He caught up and the two walked in tandem. "You know, you always flinch when I call you that, should I stop?"

Robin shook her head, "I won't tell you what to do. I just...need to get used to being called that is all." Then she looked behind her at the path they've been walking. "Did you come from the library?"

"Ah, kind of. I was returning a book before eating breakfast." Claude rubbed the side of his face.

"I see. We must have just missed each other."

"Fancy breakfast with me?" Claude smiled down at her.

"That suits me, Claude." She hummed a tune as they walked into the dining hall.

It was already fairly full and the hum of different voices filled her ears. The smell of food brought her eager eyes to the cooks room, where they seemed to be serving something that smells very familiar to bacon. Filling the serving table before her and Claude were selections of fruit, some she had never seen before. Stacks of pancakes next to various syrups and a heating pot filled with porridge for serving.

She greedily filled her plate without much thought as to what went onto it. In the back of her mind she could see Stahl filling up his plates in the same manner back at the Shepherd's camp between marches.

"Hey, why don't we join professor Byleth and his old man at their table?" Claude brought her out of her reverie.

She followed Claude's eyes and saw that Byleth was indeed at a table opposite an older man. Before she could protest, Claude took his tray of food and walked towards them.

"Good morning, professor Byleth!"

At the sound of Claude's voice, Byleth and the elder man turned around. The elder's eyes seemed to narrow at Claude's presence.

"Mind if we join you?" Claude motioned with his head to Robin behind him. Byleth then noticed Robin who then winced slightly.

Claude sat down before either of the men could protest. He motioned for Robin to follow who quietly sighed and followed suit.

She bowed in greeting to the two men. "Good morning, professor Byleth." Then she turned to the older man. "I don't believe we've met, I'm the new professor, Robin." She held out her hand for him to shake.

He seemed to hesitate slightly before returning the handshake, "Jeralt. So you're the new professor I've been hearing so much about." He looked at Byleth as he drank some tea.

"Yes sir." Robin reluctantly sat next to Byleth and started eating.

"I have to say, Robin." Jeralt took another swig before continuing, "forgive me if I sound too forward but I've travelled to most corners of Fódlan with my son here, and I've never seen clothing like that before. Those aren't eyes are they?" He motioned to her sleeves.

She coughed into her hand before answering, "no, this is just something my mother made me before she died, I like wearing it." Damn, she got better at lying since meeting Gaius.

"I like it," Claude smiled without looking up from his plate of food. "It's different."

Byleth just grunted in what sounded like an agreement. Robin was slightly confused, Claude could have picked any table for them to sit at that were all mostly empty, yet he had to make her sit next to this guy who made her uncomfortable, yet she couldn't figure out why she felt this way.

"Speaking of different," Claude continued, "how much travelling did you do with professor Byleth, sir?"

"Now you're being nosy," Jeralt huffed and stood up. "I've had my fill, I'll see you all later." He patted Byleth on the back and left.

"And I thought my old man was easily irritable," Claude smiled into his tea.

"Byleth, was that your father?" Robin couldn't help her curiosity.

Byleth nodded, "yes, Jeralt is my father."

"Did Lady Rhea employ you both?"

"She did after we saved the house leaders lives back in Remire village."

Robin stared at Claude, "Byleth saved your life?"

"He did," Claude laughed, "and his and her highness Dimitri and Edelgard."

"Did I hear my name?" Robin looked over to see Dimitri walking over. She made a mental note to ask Claude for the full details later.

"Good morning, professor Byleth," he bowed to him, "mind if I join you for breakfast?"

"Your company is welcome," Byleth nodded.

Before Robin knew it, Dimitri, Dedue and much to her surprise even Edelgard had joined them. Edelgard gave her a warm smile and greeting before settling down opposite her. She could tell that the three heads of houses made each other uncomfortable but they hid it well enough. She just happily dug into her food while listening to their chatter, however it wasn't long before the attention was directed at her.

"Professor Robin, if you don't mind me asking you something?" Edelgard queried with tea raised in one hand.

Robin swallowed her last bit of food before giving Edelgard her full attention. "Yes?"

"Forgive my brashness, but what were you doing before you came to the academy?"

Robin looked down at the table and at her empty plate, "I was a tactician."

Immediately she could feel the energy of the people surrounding her shift, they all perked up at that, even Byleth turned to look at her.

"What a coincidence! That was professor Byleth's position too!" Dimitri joined in. "He's one of the best, dare I say."

Robin bristled slightly at that.

"Well hey now," Claude smirked, "I dare say that he's finally met his match." He looked at Robin and winked.

She smiled back at him, it felt nice to have someone in your corner, finally. Her instinct told her that Claude didn't fully trust her yet, he was much too secretive, but rather he was trying to rile the other head of houses up.

"Thank you, Claude but it's not a competition." She smiled.

"Not yet, until the Golden Deer win the battle of the Eagle and Lion thanks to your brilliant tactics," he looked down at his fingernails, "well that combined with mine."

She was about to interject when a small cough from the other silver haired lady caught her attention.

"A tactician? Tell me, professor, does that mean you were in an army?"

Robin froze, she felt eyes on her, even Claude looked at her expecting an answer.

"No, Edelgard. I was in a small group of mercenaries is all. They needed a good tactician and they just found me lying around." She felt that Edelgard was fishing around for some answers that wouldn't be good for Robin to make public just yet.

"A well respected job," Dimitri nodded then frowned at Claude who snickered.

"Well we simply must do this again," Claude stood up. "What are your plans for today, Teach?"

Robin physically had to stop herself from looking around for Vaike. "Well, let's see, um…" She spotted a brunette in the distance she couldn't remember the name of. "I believe I have someone to show me around."

She quickly stood up and grabbed her empty plates, the stares coming from Byleth were almost getting too much. "I wish you all a good day if I do not see you again." She bowed and left.

"Stop freaking her out or we won't get close enough to surveil her!" A certain voice in Byleth's head scolded. He coughed into his fist and said his goodbyes to the heads of houses before leaving as well.

Robin placed her plates into the dispensing units and made her way over to the brunette wearing a hat, from here Robin could hear her laughing with a friend but their backs were turned so she couldn't see who.

She was about to announce herself when a blonde noticed her.

"Oh, Dorothea, it seems we have company."

Dorothea made a surprised sound and turned around to look at Robin.

Suddenly Robin remembered a time when speaking to people was difficult for her. She wasn't the type of shy that Olivia was, she just preferred to have her head in a book and spoke when absolutely necessary. Being with Chrom and the others helped her break out of her shell, it was making these bonds between people that gave her strength, and she felt she had to do the same here.

"Good morning Dorothea," she bowed in respect. "I hope I am not interrupting anything?"

Dorothea shook her head quickly, causing some hair to hit her face, "no, nothing of the sort, professor!" She motioned to the blonde behind her, "me and Ingrid were just having a pleasant catch up."

"It's nice to meet you, Ingrid." Robin smiled warmly.

Seeing this, Ingrid visibly relaxed and gave a smile back. "It's good to meet you too, professor."

"What can I help you with, professor?" Dorothea asked.

"Ah, I don't know if you remember but you said you'd show me around?"

Dorothea's hand went up to her face in surprise, "why yes, of course! I would love to!" She turned to Ingrid, "will you be joining us?"

"I'd love to, but I have...other matters to attend to. See you later Dorothea." She gave her a small squeeze on the shoulder and a bow to Robin before leaving.

"Where would you like to start, professor?"

"Well...I am already very acquainted with the library. Where do you like to hang out?" Robin rubbed her arm subconsciously.

Dorothea giggled and started walking, "I can show you a few places. Oh, I'm sure you'd like the Cathedral, it's very peaceful. The same is true for the gazebo, if none of the boys happen to be there. " She rolled her eyes and giggled, "we can have afternoon tea there!"

She continued to walk and talk and Robin was only too happy to keep up and listen. Dorothea seemed at ease around her it seemed. Robin began as easy conversation with Dorothea as the two made their way to the Cathedral, the conversation mainly topical. When they made it out into the outside Robin noticed Pegasi flying high above them, she smiled, thinking it was nice to see something familiar.

"Oh, do you like animals, professor?" Dorothea noticed. "The stables should be one of our stops then."

The bridge leading up to the Cathedral almost put Robin on edge, she felt something emanating at the back of it, almost like a tickling sensation at the back of her mind. But just like her first day here, it was gone in an instant.

"Is this the place where people come to worship the goddess?" Robin asked.

Dorothea nodded. "Yes, it is where we go for assemblies as well, when Lady Rhea or Seteth want to make announcements. But you will always find people of the cloth staying there, and even some pious students like to spend their time praying to the goddess."

As they got closer Robin tried to soak in her surroundings. This building was truly enormous and wide. Pews sat on either side where she could see heads bowed in prayer.

"Dorothea?" Robin asked.

"Hmm?"

"Forgive me, but are there other goddesses besides Sothis?" Not being particularly religious herself, Robin still wondered if the people of Fódlan worshipped Naga.

"Well…" Dorothea wondered and looked over to the back of the Cathedral, "I'm not the expert by any means, but to my knowledge there is only Sothis. However, we do have the four saints who fought alongside Seiros during the War of Heroes." She shook her head, "You should ask around if you're interested, or I'm sure there are books in the library."

"Thank you, I'll be sure to check it out."

Dorothea smiled and led the way further into the Cathedral. When Robin was too busy examining the architecture she didn't notice Dorothea giving her the side eye.

"Dorothea!" Robin looked to her left searching for the source of the voice. She saw a grey haired boy walk towards them. He almost wavered once he noticed Robin but Dorothea didn't seem to notice as she hugged him.

"Ashe!" Dorothea stepped back to give him some room, she had a small sad look in her eyes. "You frequent here so often."

"Ah, well…" Ashe looked down to his feet, "I just come here to think is all." His eyes turned to Robin.

"It's nice to meet you Ashe." Robin smiled, "are you part of the Blue Lion house?"

For some reason Ashe's face turned a light dusting of pink, "Y-yes, pleased to meet you."

Dorothea chuckled, noticing Ashe's discomfort. "I'm giving the professor a tour! Fancy joining us?" She winked.

"Uh, I actually have to meet Annette in the mess hall." Ashe nervously laughed while scratching the back of his head. "I do hope to see you again, professor. Will you be giving seminars? I'd love to attend."

"Hmm," Robin had been going over the papers Seteth had given her, one had been an application to fill out in order to lecture at seminars. She wasn't sure what type she could find useful. "I plan to, I need to speak with Seteth about that."

Ashe nodded to both the ladies and wished them a good day before leaving. Robin watched him leave before Dorothea got her attention.

"Let's keep moving, shall we professor?" She smiled.

Robin found herself enjoying Dorothea's company. This lady had a warm presence to her that Robin liked. Along the way other students had made themselves known to Robin, or she made a point to introduce herself, mostly those outside of her class. They questioned her like Ashe did about the seminars and her odd choice of clothing. At one point Dorothea must have taken pity on her because she disclosed the information that Robin had been something of a hot topic amongst the students lately, those from the Golden Deer getting pestered the most about their mysterious new teacher. Robin laughed inwardly, this was why she made the point of introducing herself to anyone she could. She knew from first hand experience that people who were suspicious of you would let you sleep less well at night. Though these were mere students, they were already being trained to kill, and for the life of her she still did not trust Rhea. Or Byleth. And both of these people held the trust of the students more than she did at the moment.

Their tour had eventually taken them to the stables, where Robin could see stable hands carrying hay and water buckets in and out of the stalls. She marched over to the closest one and barely hid a gasp. The horse who had been curious enough to trot over to see this newcomer had what looked like a beard right under its chin. Robin could see other horses behind this one with the same look. She blinked when the horse nudged its snout into her open palm. She eventually giggled and gave him an apple from one of her pockets.

"These horses are so cute!" She told Dorothea.

Before Dorothea could speak a noise brought their attention.

"P-professor?" They turned to see Marianne, who looked uncomfortable to see the two of them.

"Good afternoon, Marianne" Robin fully turned to her.

"Did you come here to the stables to see your horse?" Dorothea asked when Marianne seemed hesitant to speak.

"Y-yes, I've been tending to Dorte." She motioned to the horse behind Robin.

"Nice to meet you, Dorte," Robin stroked his snout gently. He whinnied and started to eat a strand of her hair closest to him. "H-hey! My hair looks nothing like food!"

"You have a way with animals, professor." Dorothea snorted.

Robin snatched her hair away from Dorte and tried to wipe the saliva off of it, "well, I did have some pretty good teachers."

Memories of Sumia and Cordelia rose to the surface. They had taught her how to act around Pegasi, stating they were not too different from horses, only that they felt safer around women. They taught her how to properly take care of them as the idea of Robin becoming a pegasus rider floated around for a while. Even bold and brash Sully, who didn't think twice about how roughly she treated her enemies, or some of her friends for that matter, took great care of her horse and was at her gentlest when looking after him. Robin gave Dorte a scratch behind the ears before looking up at the sky.

"I'd say it's time for tea, wouldn't you? Marianne, I'd love for you to come."

"Oh, um, I wouldn't want to be a bother." Marianne said to the ground.

"It wouldn't be a bother!" Dorothea spoke up and walked over to a terrified looking Marianne while linking arms with her. "Come on, you don't have a choice now. Come with us."

"Um, I…" Marianne stuttered.

"It's ok, it's only for tea, right? Just us girls." Dorothea winked and led the way, still linked with Marianne.

Robin smiled and brought out her journal and jotted something down while following behind, listening to Dorothea's chatter.

Behind them where no one noticed they were being watched, was Claude. He was leaning arms folded and against a wall, half hidden by shadow. This time he didn't bother plastering a smile on his face, no one here could see him after all. His stern eyes never left Robin.

"I'm sorry, I don't really know what to say. I'm not very good at talking to people." Marianne sighed.

They sat under the gazebo and while it was still chilly, the weather was temperate enough that it wasn't freezing. Robin had decided to try a new flavour of tea out, while Dorothea chatted about this opera she wanted to write.

Robin looked up when Marianne spoke and placed her cup down. "It's fine Marianne, I just want you to feel comfortable with us is all. And don't worry about not knowing what to say, either it will come to you or it won't. Personally, I still find silence comfortable."

Marianne's eyes widened in surprise, "R-really? My presence isn't...uncomfortable?"

Robin shook her head, "I've been around a lot of people for the past two and a half years, I've encountered a lot of different personalities. I wasn't sure how I fit in, but…" she looked up at the sky, in a daze as if remembering something. "They made me feel welcome, and I will always be grateful for that. I could have easily been an outsider and that would have made me very lonely, I could have been a very different person otherwise."

She inhaled and smiled, "if I am to be your teacher, Marianne, I need you to trust me. I think that trust should go both ways, don't you agree?"

Marianne looked into her cup of tea before answering, "I-I agree, professor."

Robin couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl. She knew how important it was to give people space to let them be themselves, but Robin couldn't help but wonder if Marianne did want to be someone else but just couldn't do it for some reason.

"Both of you are magic wielders, correct?" Robin asked, trying to remember her notes.

Dorothea nodded, "currently I'm more adept at using Reason, but I'd like to expand."

"And I can use Faith, b-but not very well just yet." Marianne added.

"Then I think I know what kind of seminars I can teach, there's two slots to fill out, meaning if Seteth lets me teach magic, I need to figure out what else I can do." Robin scribbled on a piece of paper.

"You'll find something, professor." Dorothea encouraged.

"My, what do we have here?" Came a male voice.

Dorothea rolled her eyes, "Sylvain."

"Hey, anyone would think you're unhappy to see me," he laughed and saw Robin. "Professor Robin!" He bowed.

"It's good to meet you, Sylvain." She caught Dorothea mouthing the words 'skirt-chaser' to her.

"I hope I'm not interrup-"

"Actually, we were just having some girl talk." Dorothea crossed her arms.

Sylvain raised his arms, "Ok! Ok, I'm sorry, I just couldn't pass the chance to say good afternoon to beautiful ladies while on the way to the training grounds."

"Why would you head there?" Dorothea scolded, "it's not like you train."

Sylvain laughed and rubbed the back of his head, "I am heading there. Professor Byleth is training with his old man there, and I just know Felix and Dimitri are going to try to get a piece of him before he leaves, like they always do. It's amusing to watch. Ah, you ladies are welcome to join me."

"I'll join you." Robin finished off the last of her tea and stood up.

Sylvain looked genuinely shocked, which somewhat matched Dorothea and Marianne's faces.

"Professor, uh…" Dorothea grabbed Robin's sleeve.

"It's ok, Dorothea," she patted her hand. "I just want to see how Byleth performs. Might be good for the upcoming battle." She winked at Marianne. If she could slip in she could make notes on anything Byleth does, from how he thinks while fighting down to his battle stances. Was this kind of cheating? Yes, but she didn't care.

"Well, in that case," Sylvain raised his arm ready for him to escort Robin away, "may I?"

Robin giggled, "you may not, Sylvain," she patted his arm, "are you both coming?"

Dorothea also downed the rest of her tea and got up, "I will, just to make sure he doesn't try anything."

"Hey!" Sylvain looked genuinely hurt and Robin felt a little bad for him.

"Um, professor, if it's alright, I'd like to leave now." Marianne fiddled with the hem of her sleeve.

"Yes, of course. Thank you for joining me." Robin smiled.

Marianne got up and gave a small genuine smile to Robin before leaving. Behind her, Sylvain gave a low whistle.

"I can't believe you got her to sit down and have tea with you!" He rubbed his chin in thought, "heh, the real challenge would be Bernadetta though."

"Let's go, Sylvain." Dorothea pushed past him and the three of them set off.

"Y'know, I'm not sure I'm comfortable letting the professor of a competing house watch my professor while gathering intel." Sylvain didn't sound annoyed as he looked at Robin though.

"Relax, I am just there to see what professor Byleth is capable of," Robin hummed, "I have heard of this sword and it sounds powerful. Just colour me curious."

"You've gotten stronger since training these brats." Jeralt spoke with his back to Byleth as he placed his training lance away.

Byleth sat down near him, a little winded. His training with his father never lasted too long, but that was on purpose. If you could kill your enemy quickly like they had to while mercenaries, then you've done a good job. He trained longer with his students, some of whom were slowly catching up to him. He knew Felix would arrive soon, as he does at this hour of the day, and once he sights Byleth he straight up demands a battle. Dimitri could occasionally stop by too, but sometimes Felix would deliberately avoid the prince. Byleth had made a mental note to start getting those two to talk again, as Dimitri would look sad at the mention of his old friend.

"You're thinking of your students aren't you?" Jeralt huffed, "that's almost all you think about these days. Why don't you think about things normal men your age do?" He crouched down to Byleth's level. "What about that new professor? The grey haired girl, kinda cute right?"

He snorted at his son's reaction as he tried to get up, but playfully pushed Byleth back down on the floor.

"Ah, you're too easy to rile up." He chuckled.

Byleth huffed and tried not to think about it. His dad was the only person alive that could elicit any emotion out of him, only he knew how. He shot a look at his father before standing up.

"I take it to mean you've finished?"

Byleth found the source of the voice and turned to see Felix. He had to wonder how long he had been standing there.

Jeralt laughed dryly. He knew hanging out with his son these days meant the students would be close behind, they had grown too attached to him.

"He's all yours," he said gruffly, "I gotta go take a bath." He ruffled Byleth's hair before leaving.

"Have you been practicing the move I taught you last time?" Byleth turned to face his student.

Felix nodded, "but I won't tell you when I plan to use it."

Byleth chuckled. Felix was one of his best students when it came to swordfighting. He would not back down from a strong opponent and Byleth knew he wouldn't stop until he had surpassed his teacher. They stood three feet apart from each other, sizing each other up, swords in hand but before either of them could make a move, a voice brought stopped them.

"Oh, did I miss the fight between you and your old man?"

"Sylvain!" Felix shot.

"Heh, sorry." Sylvain walked into the training grounds, followed by two women. "You can't be mad at me though, because I brought these two lovely ladies."

Byleth watched as Dorothea shot Sylvain a look before being closely followed by Robin, who had her head in her notebook. She eventually looked up though when she heard Felix give a noise of disapproval.

"Oh, we're here already?" She said as she snapped her book shut and placed it in her pocket.

"Why did you bring them here, Sylvain?" Felix had his usual scowl on. "Don't tell me you managed to drag them here with your incessant pleading."

"No! Actually they wanted to come! Uh, well professor Robin did anyway."

Byleth narrowed his eyes at Robin who only giggled.

"You got me," she said, "I've heard about your skills, Byleth. I only wanted to come and see them for myself."

Sylvain mouthed 'see?' to Felix and motioned to Robin while Byleth had to take a step back due to the high pitched squealing in his head.

"Why does she want to know? She could be after the sword!" Sothis yelled.

"You came all this way to watch me train?" He asked.

Robin nodded, "I think it wise to know what I'm up against. Most of your students are confident they will win the Battle of the Eagle and Lion due to your ability and this sword I've been hearing much about."

Sothis was practically thumping against his skull now and he mentally told her to stop and calm down, using a few choice words with her. Yes, asking about the sword could be perceived as suspicious, but for all he knew Robin was just as competitive as he was.

"Oh, you mean the sword of the creator!" Sylvain interjected before he could speak. "Yeah, the professor got that not too long ago, and it's-"

"Thank you, Sylvain," Byleth held a hand up to stop him from talking. "Yes, I do have a new sword, but I do not take it out with me wherever I go, not even when I'm training with my students."

"Understandable." Robin nodded. "Now, are you going ahead with practicing with your student, or should we just discuss the sword further?"

Byleth narrowed his eyes, he felt she was goading him somehow. She must know she was playing a dangerous game here. He nodded to Felix to get back in position and turned to Robin.

"You're welcome to watch, but stay out of the way."

She said nothing and let him get on with it. Sylvain leant against the wall with his hands behind his head, meanwhile Dorothea had taken a comfortable position on the floor next to Robin. She saw Byleth take a sideways glance at her with his ever unreadable expression when she remembered something that was mentioned earlier. She brought out a piece of paper and quickly scribbled on it.

She had watched Chrom and other sword masters train all the time back when she was with the Shepherds. Chrom was especially light on his feet, and he dealt swift but powerful blows. She could see that Byleth was in a class of his own, he practiced with Felix who, while an excellent hand at the sword, still was heavily outmatched against Byleth although he could still hold his own and even get a few hits in. Byleth even took the time to guide Felix when he made small mistakes, and Felix took them gladly. It looked like Byleth really cared about this young man's training as she knew some of these tips that helped save her life on the battlefield, they were the same ones Chrom gave her when she practiced the sword. It became apparent very early on that while she was no joke when it came to using a sword of her own, she couldn't match what Byleth could do. And that was something she needed to think about if she was going to face him in the Battle of the Eagle and Lion.

"Excuse me, is professor Robin here?"

They all turned to see a soldier peeking his head around the door.

"I am here," Robin got up off from the wall and went over to the man.

He quickly saluted, "I'm here to tell you that Lady Rhea has sent for you."

Robin quietly gulped but turned around to the others, "I'll see you all later."

Busy. What a busy day she has had. The tour of this enormous place wore her out. Rhea had sent for her, but she was glad for the news that followed. Rhea had sat her down in her office with that all too serene smile on her face. Robin was worried what Rhea was up to when Seteth came in. He was quick to tell her that they both needed to discuss last month's events with Robin.

There had been the disappearance of a previous teacher named Jeritza who was at the time stationed at the training grounds, apparently he had been the one to stab professor Manuela. The Death Knight made its appearance and the description of him had made Robin's skin crawl. Unfortunately, he got away along with another mysterious figure. By this time, Robin had more questions than answers, but Rhea assured her that it was being looked into and that she would like Robin to help. She told Robin that she would be giving her monthly missions and that hers this month was to prepare the student for the battle, while looking out for this Death Knight and his whereabouts.

Robin was rubbing her head when she eventually got to leave.

"I hope you will not fail?" Seteth had silently managed to glide up to her without her noticing.

"Ah, I do not plan to." She tugged at one of her pigtails to stop her swearing at the sudden appearance.

"Good," he nodded, "that will be all then. Flayn and the other girl are in safe hands now." He closed his eyes and breathed deep through his nose.

"Before you go," Robin brought out a piece of paper to show him, "I've finished the application, I think I'll be able to teach these classes."

He looked at the paper and nodded, "I see. These will be useful for our students. I'll file this immediately and you can start seminars starting next Sunday."

"Thank you, Seteth. I'll see you around."

"Likewise. Have a good night."

Robin bowed and left to go to get dinner. She rolled her shoulders to relieve some of the pent up tension she had been carrying. Maybe a nice warm bath tonight would do her wonders. After that with a good book before bed and she would have a wonderful night. She was going through in her mind what books to get from the library when she heard a shrill voice, followed by a calm one that she recognised. She thought to ignore it until she heard her name.

"-that's why you should hide it."

"I see no reason for that just yet." Byleth said.

Robin tiptoed towards the voices and peeked out from behind a pillar. In front of her she could see Byleth, but he was half hidden behind a pillar too, on the opposite end of the room.

"What will you do when that girl gets her hands on it?" Came a female voice.

Robin frowned, were they implying she wanted something? She immediately felt a presence unfamiliar to her.

Byleth was about to say something before he was interrupted, a small hand shot up to his mouth making him shut up.

"Wait," came the voice. "She's here."

Robin widened her eyes and tried to sneak away before the voice spoke again.

"Over there!" Someone squealed. Robin panicked when she heard running.

"Shit." She started to run too. She wasn't the fastest runner but if she could find someplace to hide she could-

A large hand grabbed her from behind and before she knew it she her back was forced against the nearest pillar.

"Hey!" She yelled, struggling against Byleth's hand. "Let me go!"

Then she noticed the green haired girl staring daggers at her behind Byleth's back. She had immense power radiating off of her, and Robin couldn't believe her eyes when she noticed she was floating. She panicked and pointed.

"What in Naga's name is that?"

Why yes, I do plan on finishing my dissertation soon.

I haven't played the DLC for this game yet, having said that, if you guys want me to, I'll squeeze it in this story. Robin would love to have more students to teach. Please let me know!