Their eyes were still widened. Edelgard von Hresvelg and Ferdinand von Aegir had their fierce sparring session interrupted. One of their classmates - Hubert von Vestra - burst into the training grounds, immediately informing the two of a surprise occurrence. Their weapons halted, their desire to fight instantly quelled, the pair of nobles stayed standing there in the middle of the rocky arena as they processed what they were just told.
"Impossible! Who would kidnap our professor? Does he have some sort of notoriety we do not know of?" Ferdinand speculated. "Is he a wanted man? No, could it be…?"
Edelgard and Hubert stared at him expectantly, curious to hear whatever he was thinking of. Yet he appeared to be lost in thought, so the two disregarded him for now.
They shared a gaze of understanding.
"Tell us more about the person who abducted him, Hubert. You said it was a woman he was supposed to meet. Can you describe her appearance?" Edelgard asked her retainer.
"Certainly, Lady Edelgard. She possessed light blonde hair and wore the robes of a common village person. Her skin was of a bright colour as well," Hubert recalled. "I am afraid to say I do not know much else about her. My guess is that she worked at the marketplace, but that is an unfounded assumption."
"I understand. Thank you. We should be able to use this information effectively. If we ask around, we might be able to learn something about her movements from people that may have seen her. From there, we should have all we need to determine where they could have gone to. Let us move," Edelgard reasoned.
"Should we not inform anyone else of this matter? Perhaps it would be a wise idea to notify Rhea. She can enlist the services of her knights. They are likely to be instrumental in locating our professor," Hubert suggested before his charge could initiate a walk out of the area.
Edelgard paused, considering the proposal. "Alright. That we can do. Ferdinand, are you coming with us?"
The orange-haired young boy in question broke out of whatever web of thoughts he fell into. He nodded, albeit apprehensively.
"I will. It's just...I wonder about something," he said after breaking his silence.
"What might that be?" Edelgard wondered, focusing her gaze on her fellow Black Eagle.
Ferdinand struggled with reluctance. His lips wavered. Eventually, he spoke. "Some time ago, Professor Lucas shared with me some information about himself. I do not know if he did the same with any of you, but it may possibly explain the reason behind his abduction."
"And what might that be?" Edelgard repeated. Her gaze grew in intensity.
"He explained to me how he is from a faraway land called 'Ing-land'. Or maybe it was 'England', now that I think of it. Either way, he is not of Fodlan. Neither is he from Dagda. Clearly, he's not from Duscur, Almyra or even Morfis. I fear his kidnapper might also be from the same place as he," Ferdinand surmised.
Edelgard furrowed her brows, while Hubert raised one.
"A faraway land? Hmm, that's not something you've chosen to reveal to me, Professor. I wonder why?" the only girl of the three questioned internally. "How interesting, Ferdinand. I have not heard of this 'England' place before. I suppose it is possible his captor could come from there, but something tells me that is unlikely."
Hubert gave a light nod. "Indeed. As you have said, Ferdinand, this 'England' location must be rather distant from Fodlan. If the captor was a native of that land, then it should be quite the journey to arrive here. A journey that most people may not bother to make."
"I was merely suggesting a possibility. We cannot count it out. But anyway, let us make haste for Lady Rhea's chamber. The sooner we are to get the word out, the more likely we are to save our teacher," Ferdinand stated.
"I agree. Let's hope he is safe. Otherwise, our house may need a new professor," concurred Edelgard.
Deliberations all complete, the trio ventured out from the training grounds, ignoring any looks of interest or confusion from passers-by on their way to the central building. The Adrestian princess took a deep, silent breath before going in.
Lady Rhea's mouth slowly opened the more she heard about the situation at hand. She was the only one inside the audience chamber, aside from the three students standing in front of her. They had just finished telling her about the occurrence. She frowned.
"I see. So your professor has been stolen away by some unknown assailant. That...is terrible to hear about. It is very unfortunate that it happened," Rhea lamented. "Although our personnel is limited as of now, I will put as many knights towards the task of finding him as possible. He will be found. Hopefully before you have to leave for your mission this month."
"Thank you, Lady Rhea," Edelgard bowed. Ferdinand and a mildly reluctant Hubert followed along with this gesture. "But I do not hope you believe the knights will be the only ones involved with the investigation."
"Do you wish to aid them? You are more than welcome to do so. In fact, it would make me most overjoyed if you did. To know that he has had such a positive impact on his students, enough so that it's enough for them to wish to help him in a time of need - I feel as if he would appreciate that sentiment," Rhea smiled.
Edelgard paused, falling to a silence as she looked at the floor, thinking about the Archbishop's words. She smirked.
"You're right. He would," the house leader agreed.
Rhea's grin broadened; it was a response Edelgard and Hubert noted. Their personal speculation regarding the powerful woman was cut short when the third student cut in with his own line of questioning.
"Lady Rhea, have any of the guards reported any suspicious sights as of late?" Ferdinand inquired. "Has anyone seen this woman?"
"There has been nothing of the sort. I am not informed of every individual that enters our walls. I have faith that our well-trained guardsmen and women have enough sense to determine who should be entering. You should have more luck asking that manner of question to them," advised Rhea, her smile faltering to a more serious expression. "Edelgard. Since you are the leader of your house, I will entrust you with leading your own investigation. If you find anything notable, please report it to me as soon as you can. I am counting on you."
"Yes, Lady Rhea. I understand," Edelgard nodded in confirmation. "I do not presume to tell you what to do, Archbishop, but I believe it would be wise to call upon a pegasus rider or two so they may stay on standby, ready for whenever more information is found."
"I was already planning that. Regardless, I thank you for your advice. It is comforting to know that Professor Lucas has such caring students," Rhea flashed another appreciative smile. "Is there anything else the three of you wish to share?"
"No, I believe there is nothing else. We have told you all that we know as of now. As soon as we find something useful, we will be absolutely certain to report back immediately," Edelgard replied. "Come, Hubert, Ferdinand. I don't think we can do this on our own."
"You mean to call upon the rest of the Black Eagles. A suitable decision, Lady Edelgard," Hubert complimented the princess.
"I know where mostly everyone is. Assuming they haven't moved from where they were when I was looking for someone to spar with," Ferdinand added. "Perhaps it would be best if we split up to cover more ground."
"Excellent idea, Ferdinand. We will do precisely that," Edelgard turned back to the Archbishop one more time. "Hopefully, it will not be long before we all return to you, Lady Rhea. Goodbye for now."
"Indeed. Goodbye, Edelgard. May the Goddess shine upon you."
The white-haired Black Eagle internally grimaced. Instead of prolonging the conversation, she took her two allies and promptly departed from the audience chamber. As per Ferdinand's recommendation, the three of them split up upon learning where the Aegir heir found their friends previously.
As she walked around the monastery, Edelgard's pace gradually increased.
Quite some time later, all of the Black Eagles commingled within their classroom - an agreed meeting point. Most were intrigued to hear whatever it was Edelgard, Hubert or Ferdinand had to say. Their intrigue only peaked when they all started to come together in the classroom. The composed natures of both Edelgard and Hubert were difficult to discern, yet Ferdinand's notable mild sense of panic had made for a useful discussion point.
Everyone turned to the classroom's entrance once the three in question arrived. The Aegir boy closed the door behind them, flooding the room with an almost overwhelming sense of dread. Bernadetta even twitched in place. Evidently, something important had occurred. Those that were not in the know soon found their answer.
"I'm glad you all could make it here. Thank you, everyone," Edelgard began. "But I am sad to say that I bring unfortunate news."
Her listeners listened pensively.
"You may notice that our teacher isn't here. That is no coincidence. Professor Lucas...has been abducted. By an unknown woman."
Nearly everybody gasped. Linhardt was the only one that didn't, yet his mouth made the motion. His attention was brought entirely away from the desk he'd been resting on.
"What?! How could that even be possible? Professor Lucas has so many techniques! How'd he get kidnapped with all that knowledge of his?" Caspar wondered, a frown coming to him.
"He's not the strongest person around. I wouldn't be surprised if this woman simply overpowered him," Linhardt suggested. "Or maybe she got him with a sneak attack. That's likely, too."
"Oh no, not a sneak attack! That sounds horrible! I wouldn't want someone to get me from behind! Hey, wait-" Bernadetta cut herself off by checking the area behind her back. Nobody was there, allowing her to sigh in relief. "Phew! I'm good!"
"I am not thinking this is a good time for jokes, Bernadetta. Our professor is gone and we must find him. But where was he taken?" Petra queried. "Do we know anything about the woman?"
Dorothea had been lost in thought, but upon hearing Petra's last question, something lit up inside of the former songstress. "You know, I'm pretty sure Professor Lucas mentioned something about having met a nice woman recently. Caspar, Bernie, do you two remember that from right before the Battle of the Eagle and Lion? When he said he was into women, for my information?"
"Oh yeah! He did say something like that," Caspar confirmed. "He was acting all different that day, being incredibly happy and stuff. Pretty weird, but in a good way!"
"I remember, too! That was when he complimented my archery! Not that he doesn't do that, but it did feel different that time for some reason. Was he really acting that way all because of this woman, though?" Bernadetta questioned.
"Potentially. I know that when I meet a good guy, I start feeling a lot more positive about myself. I think the professor was feeling the same way," assumed Dorothea. She huffed a little. "I never did get to hear about this woman. I only know that he called her beautiful, so he was probably enamoured with her."
"Truly?" Edelgard asked rhetorically. "To be honest, I wasn't sure if the professor felt that way about anyone. I do suppose it would be a good distraction for him from all of his self-deprecation."
"And then he was emotionally betrayed by the very same woman he set his eyes upon. Hmph. How poetic," Hubert smirked. Edelgard glared at him, causing him to cease his smugness. "In any case, all that we know regarding this woman's physical traits is that she possessed blonde, yellow hair and was likely attractive in some manner. We know nothing else about her. Other than the fact she may be a mage."
"A mage? How are you knowing this, Hubert?" Petra asked out of curiosity.
"I observed Professor Lucas as he entered the village and met with the woman. Unfortunately, they disappeared as they went around a corner. I could then see a small flash of light coming from said corner, which indicated that a Warp spell was used," Hubert recounted.
"Hold on a moment," Ferdinand interjected. "If the woman can use Warp, then wouldn't that mean she and the professor would be quite the distance away from the monastery by now?"
"Unlikely. Warp is a very limited spell. It takes quite a lot of energy out of the user. Depending on how far away this woman's destination is, it could be that she is able to use the spell all the way there. But there is a reason mages and clerics typically do not use it for general transportation," Linhardt refuted.
"So you're saying there's a chance we could catch up?" Bernie proposed.
"That could only happen if we were to learn the direction in which the woman escaped into. Once we figure that out, we can provide ourselves with a rough estimate of her path. Lady Rhea's pegasus knights can then use that information to find her," Edelgard stated. "Which is why we must search the area for clues. Any piece of information that may indicate where they could have gone, no matter how minute that information may be. Hubert, can you lead us there?"
"Of course, Lady Edelgard. Follow my lead, everyone," the Dark Mage accepted his role, temporarily taking on an instructive tone.
"Heh, Hubert's gonna be leading us? Never saw that one coming," Caspar jested.
Hubert leered at the comparatively tiny boy, who only shrunk underneath the mage's malicious gaze. Bernadetta reacted in the same way, even though she wasn't the intended target. Edelgard addressed everybody before they all left.
"Everyone. Our goal is to find out anything we can regarding Professor Lucas' abduction. Anything that we find will be reported back to Lady Rhea. If we are fast enough, we may be able to save our teacher from what is likely to be an unfortunate fate. We must not let this chance to rescue him slip out of our grasp. Do you all understand?"
They all nodded.
"Good. Then let's move out."
Vacating the Black Eagles classroom, the eight students ventured through Garreg Mach Monastery, intending to leave the place as a whole. They informed the Gatekeeper of the reasons behind their temporary departure. After doing that, they were then granted permission to do what they needed.
Hubert led the group - as had been decided. He brought everyone else down the singular staircase leading away from the monastery while also following the lengthy dirt road. All so they could get to that village. Their journey continued even as they entered the locale. Hubert persisted with his brief leadership, bringing his allies down the exact same path he saw Lucas take not too long ago.
Then, the corner. The same corner the professor disappeared behind. Peering round it and into a tight alleyway, there were absolutely no signs of anyone's presence. Several students frowned.
"This is where I last sighted our professor," Hubert asserted. "It seems our culprit has enacted their scheme with finesse. They must not be any average ruffian."
"Yeah, no kidding. This place looks untouched," Caspar commented, scratching his head. "How are we gonna get anything out of this?"
"Our best chances lie with the populace, it appears. Perhaps if we ask the villagers, we may be able to learn more about what Professor Lucas was doing with this girl at the time of the kidnapping," Ferdinand suggested. "We should split up so we can talk to more people at the same time."
"Ferdinand is right," Edelgard agreed with the plan. "We shall split up into pairs so more ground can be covered. Hubert will be with me, obviously. Caspar and Linhardt, you shall be with one another. That leaves...Ferdinand with Petra, and Dorothea with Bernadetta. We will all head into different sections of the village so we can get a wide range of sources. Is that understood?"
Nobody seemed to have any problems with this arrangement. With everything cleared, the four pairs were created. They all split up into differing quarters of the village as per the house leader's instructions. Edelgard and Hubert surveyed the end that was nearest to the village exit, Caspar and Linhardt took the area closest to the village's entrance from the monastery, Ferdinand and Petra checked the northernmost portion while Dorothea as well as Bernadetta received the southernmost section. All of the village was covered.
Upon the start of their respective investigations, the four groups took to talking to as many people as they could. Most, if not all, of the villagers were receptive to their questioning, likely as a result of the identifiable student uniforms they were all wearing. Some of the students were not quite adept with speaking to other people. Students such as Hubert and Bernadetta weren't quite cut out for this task. Fortunately, their partners were able to pick up the slack. This meant that all of their investigations had gone rather smoothly.
In terms of purely speaking to people. With regards to the actual gathering of useful information...their endeavours fell short. This had been reflected in their mostly downcast facial expressions as they all met back up with one another by the same alleyway Lucas had been taken away in.
"I assume that none of you have been able to happen upon anything useful?" Edelgard asked her classmates, frowning upon seeing their visages.
"I am afraid no. Nobody we were talking to had anything helpful to say," Petra answered, shaking her head.
"Same with us," Dorothea added.
"We did get some people telling me and Linhardt that they saw the woman and Professor Lucas run through the village. Her hand was on his arm and it looked like they were having a good time. But that's all we got," Caspar also chipped in.
"I see. So not much, then. How infuriating. There must be something, some indication of where the culprit disappeared to…" Edelgard said, sighing heavily.
The Black Eagles all mulled their information in silence, nobody having anything to contribute to further the investigation in any meaningful way. Their faces were full of vexation and worry as they stirred around their thoughts and theories.
Ending their silence was the arrival of a guard wearing a typical iron armour.
"Hey, you're the students of the Black Eagle House, right?" The guard inquired about the group.
"Yes. That is us. How may we help you?" Edelgard wondered in return.
The guard smiled. "Ah, great. I've been looking for you. I heard that several groups of students from the monastery were going around, asking the villagers about some woman and a professor. I understand there's been a kidnapping?"
"Yes," Edelgard repeated. "Indeed there has. Are you able to provide us with any assistance?"
"Of a kind, yeah. Listen, my buddies and I were patrolling the area beneath the mountain, checking for any unusual and/or suspicious things. Earlier today, we found an empty carriage that had a lone horse attached to it. We reported it, but nothing ever seemed to come out of it," the guard explained the situation. "Until now."
"What happened?" Edelgard probed further.
"Our boss told us to check on the carriage about an hour later. So we did," the guard continued. "When we got to the spot we last found it at, it was gone."
The Black Eagles raised their brows.
"Th-that's gotta be it!" Bernie exclaimed. "That's gotta be what the evil girl used to get away from the village after she teleported out!"
"Indeed. Looks like we've discovered her method of transportation," Linhardt grinned. "I'm glad to know my theory ended up being correct."
"Shall we be on the move, Lady Edelgard?" Hubert asked the princess.
"Yes. Let's," Edelgard faced the guard again. "Would you be able to lead the way, sir?"
"Sure, why not? I've got nothing better to do today. This is way more exciting than watching the damn gate for the millionth time," the nameless guard accepted. "I sure hope you get your professor back."
Edelgard nodded. She simply allowed this individual to lead her class away from the village, down the endlessly winding path that kept going, even as it hit the ground below. The group diverged from the dirt road once they departed from the mountainside, heading towards the leftmost side of grass. The guard brought them through several trees and bushes until they all eventually came to a small clearing. He spread out his arm, as if to show off the complete lack of anything notable within the area.
"Well, here you go. It's gone, like I said. Don't really know what else you guys want from this place, but hey, do whatever you want," the guard presented the clearing.
"Thank you, good sir. Your assistance has been invaluable," Edelgard thanked the man. "Black Eagles, let's inspect this area. There may be a clue of sorts."
Listening to their house leaders, the Eagles did as they were told, fanning out to scan the entire environment for anything that stuck out. The guard watched while they did so, scratching his cheek and holding in various attempts at a sneeze. Edelgard and Hubert immediately went for the pile of mud seemingly in the middle of the clearing.
Their eyes locked upon the sight of vague footprints and straight lines imprinted onto the mud.
"Lady Edelgard, this-!" Hubert pointed out.
"Yes, Hubert. The guard wasn't lying. These lines suggest there was indeed a carriage here. And these footprints…" Edelgard interrupted her retainer, tracing her finger around the prints. "Likely belong to the woman."
"Which direction do the tracks point towards?"
Edelgard traced them again. She looked back towards the mountain Garreg Mach and the village were on before checking the direction the tracks pointed in.
"East," she concluded.
"You cannot suppose to mean…"
"Yes. It's likely them. And if that is the case, this woman's most likely bringing him to their base of operations."
Hubert grit his teeth. "If they are involved, then we must intervene."
"No, we cannot. It would be far too suspicious if we were to do as we please. Rhea and her knights will be able to follow up on this information much more efficiently than either of us ever could."
"You wish to rely on the church?"
Edelgard grimaced. "It is our only choice. For now. I have confidence that Rhea wants Lucas back as much as I do, which is why I feel I can place my faith in her resources for this matter. We have done all that we can, Hubert. It's time for us to return and report to the Archbishop."
"As you wish, Lady Edelgard."
Now that all of their investigations were complete, Edelgard and Hubert recalled their classmates and informed them of what they just found. Everyone then ventured back up the side of the mountain. Along with the guard, of course. He was happy to have learned that he had actually been useful in an important situation.
Once the students returned to the monastery, they soon got to work reporting the information back to Lady Rhea. The matter was then taken out of their hands and into the grasp of a small group of pegasus knights. All of the students were forced to sit by, to hope for the best.
Vision. Sight slowly returning. Consciousness coming back. A vague, brown...thing in front of him. Hands and legs bound, movement impaired. He shook his head to help regain his senses. It barely helped. But it did clarify things for the trapped professor. Such as the fact he was facedown.
"Where...where am I?" Lucas wondered internally, checking his surroundings. "Is this the inside of a carriage? Wait, that sound. A horse?"
The sound became clearer, as if on cue. Galloping.
"Yeah, that's a horse alright. But how did...Sophia!" He remembered what occurred. "I was with Sophia last. Now I'm here. Why? What happened?"
Although his movements were miniscule, they had been enough to alert his awakened state to the carriage's driver. A woman turned around, peering into the carriage through a hole behind her head. She leered at the human inside with only the corner of her eye.
"You're awake. Maybe now you can finally answer my questions," the woman grunted.
"W-what? Who are you? Where's Sophia?" Lucas stammered.
A chuckle emerged from the evidently female carriage driver. It evolved into a full bout of laughter.
"Sophia's right here, foolish human," the woman insulted her captive.
"Wait, what? Foolish human? Sophia, that's not…"
Lucas fell silent, his body and mind freezing up entirely.
"It is. But you should know something. Sophia was just a false identity my master created for me. I have no attachment to that self other than the purpose it served for my mission."
A brief flash of darkness engulfed the woman's face. Lucas observed this out of curiosity, recalling a familiar incident that occurred some time back. His eyes struggled to keep themselves open. His mind wished to reject the image he saw before him. But he chose not to look away, for it was reality.
Replacing the paragon of beauty he once knew was a pale-grey visage. An Agarthan.
"You may refer to me as Pittacus."
Author Notes: Shit's gettin' real. The students went out to look for clues and Sophia's true identity has been revealed. Next chapter will be the end of this admittedly short arc. If you're disappointed by that, don't be. Chapter 24 will be very important.
And with that, I hope you have a good day.
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