The days following Byleth's little meeting with Rhea passed at the pace of a slog. She hadn't even gotten the chance to teach her first class yet. The majority of what she'd been doing for the last couple days was paperwork and preparations for classes she wouldn't even be teaching. She'd only be observing at best.
The one good thing about all of it was that it gave her time to plan. Lots and lots of time to plan.
She managed to track down an Anna who was willing to send Byleth's letters along the Anna network to the proper regions for a rather hefty fee. Byleth still wasn't necessarily convinced there was more than one Anna though. Byleth and Sothis had a running joke/theory that Anna was actually a multidimensional god older than Sothis herself, one that could appear through multiple identical vessels and for some unknown reason constantly craved money like it was a drug. Or maybe the Annas were just Annas and Byleth had been reading too many horror novels lately.
Her father always told her to lay off the late-night readings but honestly, she'd rather have a nightmare about 1000 Annas coming to bleed her of all her cash than whatever the hell kind of nightmares she and Sothis had been having recently.
"I certainly hope we can find a reasonable explanation to just... not take the Sword of the Creator," Sothis said. The two were currently sat in a tent waiting for the mock battle to begin. Gronder Field was far enough away to be a couple of days journey, even on a mount. Byleth didn't mind sleeping outside but she couldn't really hex a tent the same way she could hex her bedroom so she was stuck replying to Sothis in her mind or sounding like a madwoman. Her reputation was already strange enough considering how Sylvain had been tiptoeing around her ever since that one night.
And she'd been tiptoeing around Rhea who kept putting on that disarming yet intimidating smile and gleefully inviting Byleth to tea. Byleth had gotten trapped in quite a few tea sessions.
Rhea was being aggressive in her quest to spend time with Byleth and given the nature of her prodding questions, Sothis' theory about Rhea possibly thinking Byleth was actually Sothis with amnesia was starting to hold water. Would you tell me more about your mother, sweet child? Hold old are? Why did a priestess of Naga agree to be your godmother? Do you know much about the correlations between Naga and the Goddess? Do you have a crest, dear child? Mixed in between the constant questions was the occasional 'accidental' drop of Sothis' name.
A name which Byleth had slowly begun to answer to after she and Sothis grew close enough. It wasn't her name, but it was synonymous enough with her existence that it struck enough of a chord for her to perk up as though she was being spoken to. It was a name that she also nearly responded to on multiple occasions when Rhea said it, only just managing to hold her tongue as Rhea barely hid her disappointment and tittered out an apology for 'accidentally calling you by my mother's name again, you look so alike'.
Sure. Accidentally.
Sothis and Byleth didn't even look similar. Sothis was too expressive. And too short. "I will get rid of your kneecaps," said goddess muttered under her breath, but otherwise went back to entertaining herself.
"Hey kiddo," Byleth's attention shot to the flap of her tent as her father announced his presence. "Event's gonna start in another 10 minutes. You should get out here with the rest of the staff, get prepared and all," he said.
The only members of staff who'd either not wanted to participate or weren't allowed to participate were Cyril and Flayn. And Rhea, intent as always just to watch, but she was a special case. For the sake of the battle Gilbert, Shamir, and Catherine had all been temporarily called back to the monastery since none of them were on any particularly important missions. Once the battle was over with they'd be returning to their posts. Hanneman and Manuela would, of course, be participating. In addition, Alois and Seteth had also agreed to the battle.
It was going to be an interesting fight, to say the least. Byleth planned to hang back for the first part of the battle and feel things out. She planned to at least, but things could easily go off the rails. The problem with the staff was they lacked any kind of single leader, someone who could order the entire group and get things back under control like Edelgard, Claude, and Dimitri. No one had stepped up to play the role. Catherine and Seteth didn't want to play leader, and most of the rest of the staff didn't have the balls to order those two around even though they seemed perfectly fine with the idea.
Well, Byleth and her father did, but both of them were going to play intelligently. Which meant playing defensively until the students played their hands. The students had the advantage in both numbers and more solidified tactics. They didn't have a proper command chain, but at least they had a commander. However, the houses themselves weren't unified meaning it would be easy to make them squabble among themselves. Not to mention how their plans could inherently clash with one another without any need to step in.
Rhea was stood atop a hill already by the time Byleth crawled out of her tent and joined the other staff on their side of Gronder Field. She looked elegant and powerful, flanked by heavily armored soldiers on either side. She didn't need them. She could kill a man or assailant faster than either of the two at her sides could. It made her feel all the more intimidating to Byleth. It was perhaps a bit cliche all things considered, but she looked like an ambivalent god who couldn't care less as long as things went her way.
Her eyes lingered on Byleth's retreating shoulder blades for a couple of minutes too long. Even after she eventually looked away Byleth could still feel the burn of her gaze, her presence leering over Byleth's shoulder.
The staff were in the middle of their meeting, paying little attention to Jeralt or Byleth. It wasn't disrespectful, the two just had a way of melting into the background like all good mercenaries could. Byleth hovered near her father who was currently saddling up his horse, moving close enough to tug on his sleeve and catch his attention. "Can Sothis ride with you?" She whispered when he tilted his head towards her.
He discreetly nodded. He was still a bit uncomfortable with the whole idea of Sothis, but he'd accepted it faster than Byleth had originally been anticipating. Jeralt was never the most religious man, but he still believed in the Goddess like any denizen of Fodlan. He married a nun and followed Rhea without question. Even though his faith in Rhea eventually crumbled and his fealty was shaken by the death of Byleth's mom, he'd never quite lost all loyalty to the Goddess.
Learning that the Goddess was now the other his new daughter had shaken the poor man. But if her dad was anything he was quick to adapt.
Jeralt swung himself onto the back of Mercury, his steed, and Byleth discreetly lifted Sothis up behind him. When it came to Sothis' ability to interact with objects, it was of an odd topic. Sothis could interact with any object as long as she chose to do so. This included objects thrown by other people and their clothing, however, it had to be an active choice if that object had recently come into contact with a person beside Byleth. If the object hadn't, then it had to be a conscious choice not to interact with it. The only exception was Byleth who she was forced to interact with.
For the most part, when it came to actual people, Sothis couldn't really touch or interact with them. Not without extreme effort that often left her dizzy and tired. Even then it was limited. She couldn't really touch someone, but she could sure as hell smack Linhardt when he fell asleep during lectures because that wasn't her directly touching him. It was the force of the blow acting on him even though her hand had no effect.
Jeralt didn't even so much as notice the pressure of Sothis looping her arms around his waist. Sothis would have no trouble keeping on the horse. Despite the slightly worried glance her father gave her, Byleth knew that Sothis would be fine.
The students wouldn't.
Byleth gave a wink which Sothis returned and Jeralt cantered off to take his position while Byleth lazily trailed behind Alois and Shamir as three distinct groups began to form. The two were apparently going to be her 'squadmates'. The staff had created a very loose strategy based around squads. Each squad got a leader. Hanneman and Manuela were grouped together with Gilbert who was their acting squad leader. Catherine and her father were currently under Seteth's squad. Shamir and herself had been assigned with Alois as their leader. They were being sent to the front lines first.
It seemed that they were the sacrificial lambs. Yeah, no, Byleth didn't roll that way.
A horn sounded which was an indicator of the battle starting. Byleth could already hear movement in the trees. Deeply, deeply outnumbered it wasn't long before the first scuffle could be heard in the distance. Given the sound of explosions, it was probably Gilbert's squad who'd been bringing up the rear. Byleth was well acquainted with the sounds of Manuela and Hanneman panicking and chucking whatever spells at their disposal.
Clever, clever children. Circling around back. Likely Claude's doing. Byleth was willing to wager a bet that Edelgard and Dimitri weren't in on this plan, meaning that the Golden Deer were currently split in half in groups of four. One group was attacking the back and if she had to bet on it the second group would be attacking her squad. She kept a tight grip on her sword but started gearing up a spell. Nothing particularly lethal since she didn't want to hurt her little ones, but she was taught magic by the best. It would be enough to knock any attackers on their asses the moment they emerged.
While under Claude's leadership the house was good at being stealthy, when left to their own devices they were about as stealthy as the Blue Lions who charged in to fight 'honorably'. Byleth didn't think Claude would be their leader, meaning that while she prepared herself for one she wasn't expecting a sneak attack.
As expected out of the bushes came 4 charging figures who threw the idea of stealth to the wind. Hilda, Lysithea, Leonie, and Raphael. They were being led by Hilda, which probably meant Claude had taken Lorenz, Ignatz, and Marianne to circle round. Not a bad strategy but Byleth would have sooner switched Marianne and Raphael. Claude's group was lacking in upfront offensive capabilities which was dangerous even if Manuela and Hanneman were both magic users. Gilbert was a monster to try and face by yourself, which Lorenze would be doing since Ignatz and Claude were both archers. Even if Marianne was healing Lorenz and only Lorenz, he wouldn't last long.
Alois jumped, taken off guard while Shamir tried to take a couple of steps back being the archer that she was. Leonie came at Byleth first, looking like she had a score to settle. Perhaps she was trying to prove to herself that as Jeralt's first and only apprentice she outranked his daughter. Not today Leonie.
The girl was obviously expecting a counter and some sweet swordplay while the slower members of the group rushed to dive-bomb Byleth since Shamir was notching her arrow and Alois was still stunned. In the eyes of the group, the fighters could be picked off one by one by blitzkrieg. Bad decision, deer fawns. A shame she couldn't say that one out loud, Alois would have been proud. As the girl lashed out at Byleth, Leonie's spear didn't meet sword. Instead, it met the empty air where Byleth had been moments before.
The mercenary threw herself out of the way in a dodge roll and let loose the powerful explosive blast of magic she'd been gearing up. Considering how close Leonie was the poor girl got swept right off her feet. Luckily Raphael was just a step or two behind her, allowing her to collide into him instead of the hard ground. The blast did, however, end up sweeping both of them off their feet and Raphael landed on his back with a thud.
Lysithea seemed dazed for a moment, shaking her head furiously. Shamir was quick to finally launch the dulled training arrow at the mage. The arrow plinked off of Lysithea's chest and when she finally shook off her daze she growled in agitation, realizing that the shot had struck her 'out'. While most were allowed to continue battling until they didn't have the stamina to, an obviously lethal attack like a headshot or an attack to the heart was an immediate 'out'.
Hilda with her almost unnatural strength and constitution was the only one who didn't seem too terribly affected. She stalled for half a second but continued her charge against Byleth almost immediately while Leonie and Raphael gathered their bearings enough to try and defend against Alois who'd regained his bearings while Shamir notched another arrow.
"The Black Eagles have finally come upon us. I'm going to try and cast some spells at their magic users while attempt to go unnoticed, though I make no promises. It is difficult to convince jeralt to go in auspicious directions but he seems to respond well to directional tugs on the back of his clothing. All of the Black Eagles are upon us, and I think I can hear the Blue Lions coming as well, so please try to meet up with us as soon as your little fawns have been handed their cotton tails," Sothis' voice echoed in the back of Byleth's mind through their shared connection.
Byleth acknowledged the information but didn't let it distract her too much from the task at hand.
Instead of attempting another dodge roll she met Hilda's attack with her blade. A normal person probably would have crumbled under the sheer force of Hilda's attack. Byleth didn't so much as quiver under the blow, quickly using her sword to knock the blade of Hilda's axe away. This was the thing that actually managed to momentarily stun Hilda.
With all the elegance of a woman who'd stopped caring 3 resets ago she grabbed Hilda's axe by it's shaft and simply yanked it out of her hands. Hilda, who had no understanding of what exactly just happened, let the axe slip through her fingers. Blinking owlishly at Byleth.
"Claude isn't paying me enough for this," she said, holding up her hands and backing away to show she was officially dipping out of this battle. Just as she started her own retreat Raphael began carrying away a very knocked out Leonie. How in the world did she get knocked out, these were staff members, they were supposed to know restraint. Byleth turned to Alois and Shamir, the question already on her lips.
"They did it to themselves! They tried to attack at the same time and Mr. Muscles accidentally hit Jeralt Fan 69 hard enough for her to go down cold, isn't my fault they have horrible teamwork," Alois defended himself.
Byleth shook her head. "Doesn't matter. I think Seteth's squad is in need of a little aid!" Byleth took off running and Alois and Shamir followed her despite Alois technically being the leader and she should be following him. She reached out to Sothis for an update.
"Gilbert just showed up without the rest of his group. Apparently Hanneman and Manuela both went down but they managed to take out the rest of the Golden Deer. I've been doing my best to help, but I realize that casting any of the actual helpful spells would just look suspicious with no apparent source. For now I've been trying to heal Seteth and Catherine. They don't seem to notice as the children are swarming them. I think Seteth is a couple more- and Seteth has been downed. Father has been attempting to pick off as many as he can on the sidelines without risking himself. It isn't much of a tactic, but the Eagles and Lions attacking at the same time seems to be doing them some good," Sothis reported.
Sothis was right. It was a terrible tactic and on an actual battlefield Byleth would be screaming her head off at her children. This was a battle of attrition and in an actual realistic setting, this would have been about the time the leaders called a meeting to start talking. Unfortunately, that wasn't within the rules of the game, so one team would be left standing with two members left at most. Preferably Byleth and Jeralt.
The group quickly came upon the absolute mess that was almost the entire Black Eagle class and Blue Lion class just rushing the staff and hoping that it would work. And so far it seemed to be working as only Catherine and her father were left. The classes had their fair share of casualties too.
Bernadetta, Linhardt, and Ferdinand already seemed to be gone, though that was to be expected all things considered. Dorothea was playing at healer in Linhartd's absence but she obviously didn't know what in the world she was doing as it wasn't long before Caspar went down as well against Catherine's blade. Down literally as in fell. That didn't matter though because there was still background blasts of magic from Hubert (most of which missed or hit Blue Lions) as well as the combined assaultive force of Petra and Edelgard.
The Blue Lions had obviously tried to play hero as they were missing more students. Which didn't shock Byleth as in the traditional battle Dimitri's tactic was to send out Ashe as bait and hope. Dimitri, Dedue, Ashe, Ingrid, and Mercedes were all missing. That being said Annette was doing the same thing as Hubert except accurately. Her spells instantly turned on their group when Alois and Shamir came crashing through the bushes a couple of steps ahead of Byleth. And there went Alois and by extension Shamir who'd gotten caught in the backblast. Meaning it was just Catherine, Jeralt, and Byleth herself. Beautiful. Sylvain and Felix were working together and looked like absolute monsters, jumping at either side of her father with unnerving teamwork.
Byleth was a bit more cunning and managed to snag Shamir's now abandoned practice bow where she dropped it.
Unlike the other two members of her group, she hadn't come rushing out of the foliage that acted as her cover. Instead, she pulled back the string on the bow and took aim from where Annette was slowly lining up another blast.
Annette didn't get the chance as the arrow was faster than Annette's current cast time and a dulled arrow plinked off her forehead as Annette gave a yelp. Hubert turned, realizing the danger as soon as his fellow mage was downed. He didn't get the chance to get a shot off as Byleth's second air took him in the chest. While Shamir had fallen, she could take pride in the fact her legendary practice bow had taken out three mages.
That left Dorothea, Petra, Edelgard, Sylvian, and Felix fighting against Catherine and her father. Scratch that. Fighting against her father.
A well times magical attack from Dorothea caught a wearied Catherine unaware. The legendary warrior didn't know if she should look disappointed or shocked as she dropped her practice sword and started the walk of shame off the battlefield back to where Rhea was. She shouldn't be too ashamed. She'd been there since both classes started their assault. 3 against 16 really wasn't fair, students or not. Byleth was a bit shocked that she'd lasted this long, Thunder Catherine or not.
Byleth took one last shot with the practice bow, but she just missed Dorothea. Well, she was in for it now, wasn't she?
Her father was still occupied with Sylvain and Felix but between Sothis healing him and his own skills, he seemed to be faring well enough. Byleth wouldn't have time to help him, but it seems he didn't need any help. Byleth was then left on her own to deal with the three remaining Black Eagles.
Dorothea took the chance to cast a spell when Byleth threw herself from her cover just as Edelgard and Petra were charging it. Byleth countered the spell with one of her own, the backlash managing to stagger Edelgard and Petra just long enough for Byleth to pull a practice dagger from her belt and chuck it at Dorothea full force. Would saying she threw it with the wrath of God be literal at this point?
Being a wooden practice dagger it didn't draw blood, but given the thump quickly followed by a yelp it would most certainly bruise and it was a very clear indicator that Dorothea was very much out. "Avenge me, Edie!" She called as she retreated from the battle.
"I will not let everyone's sacrifices be in vain," Edelgard said as she and Petra started to advance on Byleth. Byleth was unperturbed by it though. Byleth twirled the practice blade in her hands, watching Petra and Edelgard's hesitant approach.
Petra was the first to lunge at her. Of course, fatigue made Petra slow and sloppy where Byleth was just warming up. Even before Fodlan, she'd fought in wars. Actually wars, buried in trenches for hours while she tried to out wait dragons created and bred just to fight wars. She'd spent anywhere close to a day straight with a blade in her hand, staggering home after the fight covered in scratches but leading an overall victory.
Petra was sloppy, but Byleth was carefully measured in her approach. She jumped to the side and brought her blade right into Petra's midsection. If it hadn't been a practice blade the princess' guts would have been scattering across the earth. Petra wobbled forward and allowed herself to collapse a couple of feet away, turning to watch the rest of the fight instead of retreating. She was probably too tired to walk by now. Byleth couldn't really blame her. They were all still children.
Edelgard went in for the kill, assuming Byleth distracted. Byleth was not distracted.
Her free hand had been casting a spell during Petra's entire change. Edelgard's attempted attack brought her way too close. If Byleth was fighting to kill, the future emperor wouldn't survive this next attack. Before Edelgard could bring her axe down Byleth's free hand pressed against her chest and Edelgard soared backward. Edelgard just so happened to crash into Sylvain who was the last one left fighting her father after Felix got unceremoniously smacked on the head with a stick.
Crushed under Edelgard, it was evident this battle was over.
Sothis hadn't gotten the chance to get off more than just healing spells from the looks of things. Better safe than sorry.
Instead of some cheesy line, Sylvain allowed his head to fall into the earth. "Get off," he growled at Edelgard. Petra finally got up and attempted to help up Edelgard while Felix helped the crushed Sylvain get to his feet. In the distance, Byleth could hear a horn signaling the battle to be over. She didn't quite fully drop her guard. But it did make her feel a little better to see Sothis swing herself of the horse and pitter towards Byleth with a smile.
"We had such an advantage, and yet the two of you defeated all of us without so much as breaking a sweat," Edelgard said as she looked between Byleth and Jeralt. As much as Byleth would have loved to save whatever was left of Edelgard's pride after such a display, there wasn't any real denying it. Sylvain, Felix, Annette, Hubert, Dorothea, Petra, and Edelgard. Handled like they were children, in no small part because of just how severely overpowered Byleth and her father were from their own travels prior to Fodlan. The remaining four were absolutely drenched in sweat while Jeralt's skin barely had a sheen to it and Byleth looked utterly dry. While Sylvain was leaning on Felix and panting Byleth's breath came at the same even pace it always did.
"You fought well for kids, but your cooperation was entirely terrible. If my kid or I ever led a group like that, we've had been fired. On top of that, you have to keep in mind that Byleth and I have a lot more experience than any of you. I'd even wager Byleth has more experience than Catherine or myself at this point," Jeralt said with a quick glance in Byleth's direction. Sothis was hanging off of her arm, recounting the details of the battle from her perspective while Byleth struggled to pull her gaze away from the droplets of sweat dripping down Edelgard's neck.
She bit down on the inside of her cheek and sharply turned away before her cheeks flushed up. She's still 17. She's still 17. She's still 17. She's still 17, and she's probably straight.
"She's staring at your ass," Sothis muttered, still facing the direction of the students. "She and Petra both are. Well. Petra is more admiring you as a whole. But Edelgard is definitely staring at your ass."
Byleth ignored her gremlin sister for the time being as well as the claims. "Come on," she told the group, only glancing behind her for half a second to look at her father. "We should meet up with the rest of the student and staff. I could use a meal and maybe a bath." She pulled off her cloak and tossed it at her father, only just remembering not to pull her hair up into a bun to allow some of the heat to flee her body through the back of her neck. HIding her new ears sucked because even if she didn't break a sweat she was definitely feeling a little warm. And it wasn't just because of the physical exercise.
"A bath? Where are you going to take a bath? The river? And risk getting perved on? Oh, I get it, maybe it's you who wants to perve. Are you going to invite Edelgard to your bath?" Sothis continued to be an absolute menacing ignoring all the reason Byleth wouldn't ask because Edelgard would say no.
Jeralt rode up alongside her. "Come on," he said, offering her a hand. It felt so oddly reminiscent of their typical post mission routine that she took it without hesitation and allowed herself to be pulled up onto Mercury to sit in front of her father. This is how they'd always go home after completing a job. Byleth would be tired, usually a little battered from fighting on the front lines, and her father would just pull her onto the horse in front of him without question. Usually, the saddle was more than big enough for the two of them, but oftentimes there just wouldn't be a saddle.
Her father had made certain Byleth knew how to ride a horse. With or without a saddle.
Per their typical regulations for a 'battle', Mercury was currently properly saddled. Her father kept the horse at a slow walk since the other four students were trailing along behind the pair.
Even after Byleth got her own menagerie of mounts, she'd still crawl up onto her father's horse after a battle. She'd never admit it, but it was one of those childish comforts she'd never quite let go of. She had a couple and that was a big one
By the time they finally made their way back to the little camp the school had set up for the trip, Byleth could already smell the scent of cooking food. It would be a couple of days before they got back to the monastery. She could already hear some of the young nobles complaining about the conditions, unused to sleeping in tents. Byleth was well acquainted with the idea and then some, and she wasn't one to turn up her nose at bear stew like Lorenz and Ferdinand had the other night, gasping to each other about noble this and noble that as their excuse not to eat.
Admittedly no one had taken particularly well to the bear stew except for Byleth and Jeralt who at one point did in fact work with the Shepherds and their bear meat loving tactician. The same tactician that had tutored Byleth, going so far as to take her out into the woods for three months and teach her wilderness survival.
Bears were good eating because they provided a lot of meat for the hunter who was cunning enough to kill one. It kept well if you jerky it and there was enough it could be eaten multiple nights in a row without anyone going hungry if you prepared and spaced out your ingredients properly.
Bear was probably one of Byleth's favorite wild meals to catch because just how many animals she felt like she couldn't eat anymore. The idea of fox or wolf made her sick. For reasons. Rabbit has long since become unappealing. For reasons. Most types of bird, especially herrons, hawks, and ravens were completely off the menu. For reasons. She could stomach it in a life or death situation, but it always made her feel ill.
After you've met someone who can turn into an animal, you stop feeling like you can eat that kind of animal. Despite Panne's constant insistence over the sharp difference between a Taguel and your average rabbit, Byleth still avoided taking such meals as desperately as she could.
"What's cooking?" She asked as she allowed herself to slip off of Mercury and joined the rest of the staff while the remaining four students joined their houses. "Rabbit stew," Manuela answered and Byleth didn't have the energy to hide her flinch.
She drowned everything else out after that point. At one point Seteth wandered over the students with the three main teachers, her father included, to debrief and go over everything they did well or did poorly. Rhea was nowhere to be seen, thank goodness. With the battle finally fading so too did the final remains of her energy. She didn't really feel like trying to sit through any conversations. She certainly didn't feel like trying to choke down any of the stew. So she found a quiet corner not too terribly far from the camp to curl up in.
She was just about the doze off when a voice caught her attention. "You should go back to camp professor, it could be dangerous out here. Best leave it to us guards!"
Byleth tilted her head upwards catching sight of... "Locke?" She asked.
"Ah, you know my name? Most people just call me the Gatekeeper, so that's a little surprising!" The sunshiny smile he gave her definitely made it worth remembering. "It's okay to go back to camp and sleep though professor. I'll make sure to come to you first if there's anything to report!"
This was an interesting opportunity. She didn't know Locke could actually leave the gate, but it somehow made sense he'd be here. "Actually I have something to report to you. The dragon has two heads and a poison fang," Byleth really hoped that this phrase worked.
A long time ago she'd actually taken the time to befriend the Gatekeeper. And he turned out to be a lot more than he was letting on. He had skills, but they were unrefined. His combative capabilities weren't that bad. But when Byleth sided with Edelgard she'd discovered that where Locke really outshone most was as a spymaster of all things. He actually had no troubles keeping his eye out for suspicious activity, it all depended on the kind of job you assigned him to do.
He never had anything to report because he was in charge of guarding the gate. On the gate. And until the battle, nothing ever got past that gate. If Byleth gave him specific tasks to keep an eye on, it would become a different question entirely. As it had after she sided with Edelgard and told him to keep an eye on Those Who Slithered.
The phrase that Byleth had just parroted was one that he'd taught her. On a whim during a random conversation, he'd admitted to believing in time travel and he'd told Byleth that he had a special phrase for himself or anyone else to use. Multiple actually, depending on what kind of future they came from. Byleth had asked what phrase he used for a dangerous bad future that someone needed help avoiding, and that was the phrase he'd told to her without hesitation. She'd memorized it immediately.
Maybe it was about time to cash it in.
Locke was quiet for a long, long second and Byleth started to worry that maybe the phrase didn't mean anything to this Locke. Maybe the made-up phrase was recent? Before she could back out though the guard put his hands up to his face and practically squealed. "Oh my Goddess I was right! Okay, okay, okay. Uh. Alright. At your immediate service professor! How can I help you?" Locke jumped to attention like an excited puppy, his mind evidently going faster than his words if multiple fumbles and stutters were any solid indications.
Byleth thought for a minute, chewing on her bottom lip. "I actually have a special job for you. A job that only you'll be able to do. I want you to keep an eye on the entire academy. Especially the students. You're going to become one of my spymasters. And with your help, we're going to root out a very bad group of people called Those Who Slither In The Dark," she told the guard in a quiet voice. She motioned for him to sit down next to her. She couldn't use her typical hex to mute any delicate conversations, but she could use some basic illusions mixed with some sound scrambling spells to make it harder.
Magic was a wonderful thing if you managed to fumble past the typical combative uses and got yourself a proper teacher. Byleth got to double-dip seeing as she also had god magic at her disposal.
Locke immediately sat down, looking at her enthusiastically. "From now on, you're a member of my personal circle. You do not report to Rhea or Seteth or even Jeralt and Alois. When there's important information you report directly to me, okay? I'll tell you what to do after that. There are also from now on going to be important people reporting to you with letters and messages." This would actually work out rather nicely. She had her own network which would hopefully be arriving as soon as Anna finished sending out the majority of her letters.
The problem with that was getting the information to her. It would be a risk to have any of her agents trying to get inside the monastery without notice. There was always the Annas, but even with her typical discount that would get expensive after a while. Locke was a gatekeeper though. It would be easy enough for him to get reports and send them along to Byleth without raising any suspicions, especially if she worked fast to build up a visible friendly rapport between the two of them.
No one would bat an eye if she went out drinking with a good friend who just happened to pass her some paperwork.
"Alright, I can do that! Gather reports, keep an eye on the students and faculty, keep an ear to the ground for that one group! But, uh. How do I tell you that I have something for you? I'm pretty bad at being sneaky, if I came up to you with a report it would look suspicious." He was remarkably self-aware.
"Simple. Tell me that you have nothing to report. Just like you always do. That'll be the trigger phrase that means there is something to report. I'll either invite you somewhere as we are such close friends or you can sneak into my room after dark," she said. Illusion spells were tricky, but nothing Byleth wasn't unfamiliar with. She could make it look like he'd never entered the room. The only one who might pose a problem to that plan would be Hubert. She didn't know how good he was at recognizing and seeing through illusion magic. Edelgard's lapdog could still be distracted though if Byleth was clever enough.
Locke's smile grew, shining all the brighter. "Ah, perfect idea! And when there's actually nothing to report I can just tell you something simple I noticed. Maybe something happy. Oh! Like the new litter of kittens that was born the other day."
"Lady Gremthe of Cuddlsnup finally had her kittens!?"
And so a friendship was born.
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We've done it, this story has well over 500 kudos! And we've still got a ways to go. Thanks to everyone who's left comments and kudos so far. The next chapter is also going to be a special bonus chapter in honor of the achievement!
The bonus chapter shouldn't mess with the regular updates for the week.
As a quick sidenote, I've started a twitter account at AconiteWolfe so that I can post important updates regarding chapters. In addition I'll be posting about any new stories or one shots I've started so those who'd like to can keep updated on what's in the works or had been recently posted.
In addition if you'd like to support me I've started a ko-fi the link to which can be found in my twitter bio because this site hates links. This is only for if you have a little extra cash lying around and you feel like supporting me and what I do on here. No shame if you can't or simply don't want to.