Chapter Nine – Connections

I threw my shirt back on and hurried out of the room, glancing back and forth around the area as if the person who left this note would appear before me. Dimitri followed me out a moment later still holding the letter and put a hand on my shoulder. I shrugged him off and stepped down the stairs in front of my room. Not even students walked around now, as they had probably gathered in the dining hall for dinner by now.

"By. By! Byleth!" Dimitri called as he followed me. I didn't know exactly what my plan was, but I needed to be where people were. It hadn't yet been an hour, so my friends wouldn't be in the dining hall yet. But there would be plenty of people there for me to observe.

I stopped only when Dimitri closed a hand around my wrist, probably stronger than he meant, and I turned back at him. "You're hurting me," I told him.

He let go of me then as if my skin had started to burn. "My apologies."

"Do you think it's true?" I asked.

Dimitri looked down at the parchment in his hand and said nothing for a moment. "I… am unsure," he responded finally. "The Agarthan man who appeared before you has been fairly forthcoming with information thus far, but I also suspect he wants to sow seeds of doubt among our allies."

I tried to run through my mind all the interactions of the past several hours. Had anyone been acting unlike themselves? No one had ever suspected a thing of Tomas, only retrospectively, but Kronya as Monica had been a different person entirely. There had to be signs nonetheless if there was an imposter in our ranks, right?

Felix and Sylvain. They had come with us from the Oghma mountains, and there was nothing about their personalities that seemed suspect, aside from Felix's smile at Annette. But that had to be him, right? Sylvain wouldn't have confirmed Felix's interest in her otherwise.

Annette. No, she seemed herself. Though it had been a long while since we last met, I recognized her bubbly personality, and would she have talked about what she knew from Lysithea if it was an Agarthan in disguise?

Mercedes. I suspected nothing when we met her last, and still I saw nothing out of the ordinary now.

Dedue and Ashe. They had a conversation back in the dining hall about gardening. Most people found Dedue unapproachable, but he and Ashe were good friends. An imposter wouldn't have known that, would they? Unless they had been watching us for years.

Ingrid. She was as serious as ever, still skeptical of Felix's and Sylvain's disruptive behavior. That seemed perfectly normal.

Claude. I had to include him. He was one of my greatest allies at the moment. Given his interactions with my kids and Hilda, I did not suspect him.

That left Dimitri. But no, the way he kissed me back in the room was very much him.

And anyway, if someone had replaced one of our allies, that would mean… that whoever it was had been murdered. Both Tomas and Monica had "disappeared" before returning to Garreg Mach—Tomas himself had retired from his service at Garreg Mach eight years before my arrival and only reappeared when Edelgard enrolled at the Academy. Monica had vanished during her own schoolyear the year before, and reappeared unexpectedly when we rescued Flayn. Given that these were merely "borrowed looks," according to Kronya, didn't that mean they had murdered the actual humans Tomas and Monica?

I couldn't accept that someone had been able to defeat one of my allies. We survived five-and-a-half years of war together. It seemed impossible that someone could show up in times of peace and murder one of my friends without anyone noticing.

And yet… what if?

"My beloved, put it out of your mind. It would not bode well to be doubting our allies now. Should it come to that, we will have to face the impossible. But until that time, it would only serve to divide us at a time we need to be united," Dimitri said, holding the letter out to me. "In the meantime, I think it best to keep this between us. We don't need anyone else getting suspicious."

I took the parchment and crumpled it in my grip. "All right."

He smiled at me, his attempt to be reassuring, a brushed a loose lock of my hair behind my ear. "We still have time before dinner. Shall we take a walk?"

I nodded and took his hand. I felt badly that I interrupted what he had started earlier, but I was glad he hadn't suggested we continue. I hardly felt in the mood now.

We walked hand-in-hand around the monastery. The sun had lowered behind the walls surrounding us, casting us in shadows below a twilit sky. With the students mostly at dinner now, we had the area almost entirely to ourselves. Only Knights who had not been dispatched and merchants remained, but they left us alone save for a bow or respectful greeting.

"Dimitri," I began as we stopped by the fishing pond. "I know you will do whatever it takes to protect Fódlan. To protect me."

"Of course, my love."

I crouched at the edge of the fishing pier, observing a fish swim away as I got nearer. "But I think this is a terrible idea. I'm not one to be critical of Claude's schemes—most of the time. The ones involving poison are the ones I'm usually critical of," I corrected when Dimitri looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "I just foresee this ending with someone dead, whether it's you or Annette—or Felix while he's babysitting you two."

"Annette is a skilled mage," Dimitri countered. "Aside from that, I am aware of the risks. But given that we know not where the Agarthans are centralized nor how many there are, we have little else to go on except that they want revenge on the church and the progenitor god. And we have the people of Fódlan to consider, not to mention my position. Claude is right—this whole situation looks scandalous for the government, so the only way to kill two birds with one stone is to convince the people I am against what happened in Hrym by taking the front lines against the Agarthans."

"Or you could just come out in public and condemn the events in Hrym." I pulled off each of my shoes and stockings and dipped my feet into the water. "We could release a joint statement from the church and government if you think that would be better. Claude only said no to that because he wants to use you."

He sat down next to me cross-legged and put a hand on my head. "It's okay."

"No, Dimitri, it's not. I lost my father to these people. And if… if they played a role in the events in Duscur, then you lost yours to them, too. I refuse to lose you to them."

Dimitri grabbed my hand the moment I mentioned Duscur, and I looked away at the water to stare at him.

"Duscur? What about it?"

I shook my head. It was but a theory I crafted. "Well, you recall Cornelia, don't you? What Sylvain told me about her was that she kind woman who saved the Kingdom from the plague that claimed your mother's life. But the woman we met… she wasn't like that. What if she was replaced, like Tomas and Monica, by the Agarthans? She said that she helped your stepmother with the Tragedy of Duscur. What if they were part of it all?"

I hated to bring it back up. Every time it was, Dimitri got that crazed look back in his eye. I flipped my hand in his so that our palms touched and squeezed. But his fingers went limp as the weight of my words set in, and he began to laugh. It was that haunting laugh that I so desperately wanted to never hear again, but every now and again, Dimitri would talk to the voices in his head.

"All the more reason that I go out there, then," he growled. He stood up and pulled me with him, and we faced each other on the edge of the pier. Just a step further and I would go tumbling into the water. "Perhaps I need not be bait. I may very well kill them on my own."

"Dimitri…"

He touched my hair again, letting a lock slip slowly between his fingers. "It's time for dinner. Let's go."

I leaned down and grabbed my shoes and socks, pulling them on hastily and then looking back up at my husband. I had hoped that mentioning Duscur would keep him from joining the fray because of his terrors associated with it, but that had been naïve of me. I shouldn't have expected anything less.

After all that, we were the last ones to arrive in the dining hall. There were a few straggling students finishing their meals, who eyed us with slacked jaws as we walked past, but otherwise the room was mostly empty. The Blue Lions, Claude, Cyril, and Seteth sat at one long table nearest the counter, with a gap between Sylvain and Mercedes meant for the two of us.

"Felix," I whispered as I walked by to take my seat next to Mercedes. "I need to talk to you privately after dinner."

He traced me until I sat down, an indication that he heard me and nothing more.

"Professor, you'll be pleased to know that several of my students cooked this meal special for ya. When they found out you'd be here for dinner, they begged," Cyril announced proudly.

Now that the Kingdom had absorbed the Alliance and Empire, the houses of the Blue Lions, Golden Deer, and Black Eagles were no more. The Academy still utilized the house system, but the designations had become simply Blue, Gold, and Black, with students from different regions intermingled rather than confined to a house based on their home. Cyril taught students from the Gold House, he explained, which boasted of superior archery skills and wyvern riders.

I lifted some of the food to my mouth for a taste. "It's delicious. You'll have to introduce me later so I can give my thanks."

"How did you find your accommodations?" Seteth asked.

While everyone told Seteth what they thought, I listened and watched. Was that always how Ashe used his utensils? I thought he held his knife in his left hand. Was Sylvain always so quiet at meals? He usually had so much to say. Did Ingrid always eat so delicately? I remembered her shoving her face with food.

Stop it, I told myself.

"Professor, you look like you're bothered by something. Is everything all right? Should I prepare some tea?" Mercedes asked, touching my arm delicately with just the tips of her fingers. I snapped back to reality and noticed every pair of eyes on me.

"Just tired," I assured her.

"You'll want to catch up on your rest before the plan is put into motion," Seteth told me. "We will need you at your best."

I nodded. "I will be ready."

"The people of Fódlan are counting on you. And I cannot begin to emphasize how important you are to the Church of Seiros. Without you, the church would crumble. I hope you are aware of just how necessary you are," he continued. I nodded once more, mostly just hoping that this would make him be quiet.

"Hey, Professor, I wanted to ask," Annette began. I had a feeling she was trying to help me out. That was definitely Annette, no imposter. "You don't look any different since the day we met! I mean, aside from the green hair and eyes. What's your secret?"

Did I look the same? I never paid any attention to that. I was lucky if I splashed my face with water in the morning to clean it.

"The kids just keep me young, I guess," I said.

"Funny, His Majesty looks like he's aged an extra ten years just since Katrina was born," Felix said. Ingrid shot him a look from opposite him.

Dimitri blinked. "Thank you for that."

"Do you have any kids, Ashe?" I asked.

"Oh. Um, no, Your Grace."

I frowned. "Ashe, you don't need to call me that."

"S-sorry."

Yeah, that was Ashe, all right. No doubt in my mind about him.

"That was absolutely delicious," Ingrid announced. So much for eating delicately. She certainly had been eating like a proper young woman, while at the same time not coming up for any air. Her plate was spotless.

I looked down the table. Most of the others still had food. Felix was almost done. Dedue seemed to be savoring his meal because he was eating it in very tiny chunks and still had a mound on his plate. The food might have been a little too spicy for Mercedes because she had hardly touched it.

"What are the plans for after dinner? Anyone want to head into town and pick up some girls? And guys—you ladies are more than welcome to join us," Sylvain offered to a chorus of groans. "No? No one?"

"I may head to the training grounds to work off the meal if you would like to join me," Dimitri told him.

Mercedes shook her head. "I have to plan for my service tomorrow."

"I think I'm going to head to the library to see what new additions they have added," Ashe said.

Annette raised her hand. "I'll go with you."

"Me, too," agreed Ingrid. "I've been wanting to get my hands on the new series about Pan, and I've heard rumors the library has it."

"You people are so boring. What is wrong with you? Are you still students?" Sylvain cried, banging his fists on the table and causing a clatter. This earned him a stern look from Seteth. "Come on… Dedue? Felix?"

"Got plans," Felix said.

Dedue also shot him down. "I will accompany His Majesty to the training grounds."

"Professor?"

I stared at him. "I'm married, Sylvain."

"And marriage has made you so boring!" He hung his head, but only for a moment before resting his chin in the palm of his hand propped up by his elbow. "I'll just go alone. I'm used to it."

"On that note." Felix stood up and grabbed his plate. "See you."

The rest of us followed suit. We brought our dishes to the kitchen and dumped them in the sink, leaving them to soak overnight and to be cleaned tomorrow.

Then we all went our separate ways. Annette, Ashe, and Ingrid headed down the hall towards the stairwell to the second floor; Dimitri and Dedue walked out the back entrance of the dining hall that would bring them to the training grounds. Mercedes waved us off and sat back down at a table with a notebook, and Sylvain sulked away out the south entrance.

I followed Felix to the stables, the quietest place the monastery offered except the cathedral, and I didn't want to be caught in there given my position—I would be swarmed by clerics.

"What's this about?"

I grabbed one of the brushes sitting next to a bucket on the ground and hung it up where it belonged.

"You need to watch Dimitri. Make sure he doesn't slip. I told him that the Agarthans might have had something to do with the Tragedy of Duscur, and now he's got it in his head that he's actually going to be doing battle with them," I warned.

"Why would you tell him that?" Felix asked, as if I had just said the dumbest thing he had ever heard. Maybe I had.

"I thought he would be scared," I explained. "He gets upset about his night terrors, and he gets especially anxious when the ghosts of his past start talking to him. I thought he would be too afraid to face them again, that he would be too afraid of wanting revenge and letting them get to him. And if he was scared, he wouldn't go be the bait for my sake."

Felix sighed. "I'll keep an eye on him. That's apparently what I'm here for anyway," he grumbled. But then he gave me a small smile, just a little one that anyone else might've thought was a grimace if not for the way it reached his eyes. "Professor, you're not going to be able to convince him. So don't tell him anything else that might make him lose it again."

"Sorry. I won't."

"And how's your head these days? Aside from the obvious lack of forethought?" He flicked my forehead, and I smacked his hand.

"My head?" I repeated.

"The dizziness?"

Oh. I hadn't felt dizzy in days. Maybe it had all been some sort of subconscious warning from Sothis that I didn't know how to read. Then again, Sothis had felt the same way I did those many years ago. Could it have been triggered by whatever connection we had with the Agarthans?

"I've been fine. Thank you for asking," I said, and he shrugged. Was it like him to ask about how I felt? Well, only if he needed to make sure I was prepped and ready for battle, but I wasn't heading into it right away.

How easy would it be to impersonate one of my friends? Well, to the average observer, maybe they all seemed rather one-dimensional at best. Felix was grumpy, Sylvain made eyes at anything with a pulse and occasionally things without, Dedue was Dimitri's lapdog, Mercedes was sweet and devote, Annette was a little childish but also incredibly hard-working, Ashe was the most earnest person you'd ever meet, and Ingrid was serious and principled.

But to truly understand each of them meant to look deeper. And I liked to think that I would recognize in a moment if one of them had been replaced.

Dimitri was right. There was no use worrying over it. Making me doubt them was like letting the enemy in. The enemy hidden amongst my friends could very well just be my own mind.

"Are you going to go join Dimitri and Dedue at the training grounds?" Then, with a smile, I added, "Or would you rather join Sylvain in the town and pick up some ladies?"

Felix scowled and put one hand on his hip. "Please."

"Haven't you any interest?" I asked a little more seriously. "Anyone ever caught your eye?"

I treaded into dangerous territory with that question. But I also knew that Felix preferred to be asked directly rather than beat around the bush, so there was a small chance he might respect that effort enough to respond. I hadn't ever gotten so personal with him like this.

He looked at me with a relatively blank expression. He wasn't scowling anymore, but the way his eyebrows drew over his eyes made him seem slightly annoyed. "You really want to have this conversation, Professor?"

"If I said yes?"

"Then I would say no. See you later, Professor."

He turned away and began walking away, leaving me to wonder if the no was in reference to having anyone catch his eye or to wanting to have the conversation.

It was worth a shot.

Felix apparently chose not to head to the training grounds, since I found Dimitri there sparring with Dedue and no one else. The two were sweaty and silent. Dedue tended to be more talkative with Dimitri than anyone else, myself included, but the two of them were all business when it came to training.

But when Dedue glanced up and noticed me there, he stepped back from Dimitri's swing and bowed in my direction. "Her Majesty is here, sir."

"Oh?" Dimitri turned and lowered his lance. "Where did you run off to?"

"I wanted to ask Felix about Annette," I told him, figuring it was better to tell a half-truth than an outright lie.

"And how did that go?"

I picked up a training sword and gestured for both men to come at me. "About as well as you'd expect. He wouldn't tell me anything."

Dimitri jabbed at me with his lance, which I parried with the tip of my blade. Dedue swung the moment Dimitri pulled back, leaving me no time to prepare another parry. I had to roll out of the way, balancing on my knee to swing at Dimitri's legs. Dedue was there to defend him before he had even recoiled from my dodge.

"He surely likes Annette," Dedue said as he swung again.

"Dimitri… my dear husband," I grumbled as I swung again. "Did you hear that? Dedue thinks Felix likes Annette."

Dimitri twisted his lance around his waist, knocking me back with the wooden end as it hit me in the gut. "Who is even getting this impression?"

Dedue knocked the sword out of my hand with his axe as I stumbled back from Dimitri's hit. But I lifted the heel of my hand up into his wrist and grabbed the throat of the axe with my other. With a simple twist, the weapon slipped from his grip and fell into my hands, which I swung immediately at Dimitri as he prepared another jab.

"Anyone with eyes," I grunted as I lifted the axe, which was a lot heavier than Dedue made it look.

"That stings, my love," Dimitri said, but he was smiling, so my joke did not lack taste.

Dedue threw his fist in my direction and snapped the wooden belly of the axe in half as he made contact when I lifted it like a shield. "I will not tolerate such disrespect to His Majesty."

"That could have been my face," I warned, dropping the axe.

"Do remember that this is just training, Dedue," Dimitri said.

"My apologies."

Dimitri turned his attention back at me. "Are you going to cheat again and use magic?"

"You should prepare for it. I am sure the dark magic of the Agarthans is stronger than my white magic."

Even so, I stepped back and retrieved my sword from the ground without casting a spell. Dedue could fight well without a weapon, and Dimitri had yet to lose his lance. Against the two of them as a team, I was at a disadvantage. And there would be no one to save me this time when I was ganged up on.

But instead, Dimitri lowered his weapon, and upon seeing this Dedue rested his fists.

I kept hold of my sword, still held up in front of my body in a defensive position. "Forfeiting?"

He nodded. "One of the things I will have to keep in mind next week when we meet the Agarthans on the battlefield," he explained, "is that I have to know when to quit."

I raised my eyebrows. "So, you're not going to try to kill them?"

"Do not mistake me. If I have the opportunity to destroy them, I will do it. Especially thinking about what you told me." He passed his lance to Dedue, who walked over to the weapon rack and leaned it against the wooden post with the other battered lances. "But should I be unable to, I will surrender myself to them. I am the king, after all. I have to protect my people. It can easily be both a sacrifice for you and for the citizens of Fódlan."

"I know I won't be able to say anything to change your mind. But it's reassuring to me that at least it seems you've thought this through. And yet…" I passed Dedue my sword when he held his hand out for it. "I doubt they will hesitate to kill Annette, Felix, or Dedue—or any other soldier out there protecting you. Just because they won't kill you doesn't mean they won't kill everyone else to get to you."

Dimitri took my hand and then looked at Dedue as he lined up the training weapons. "I'll do what I can to protect them, too. I swear it."

I knew better than anyone that words were cheap. My father assured me a thousand times that he didn't plan on dying, and yet he left me prematurely. And what Sothis claimed was fate… well, I might have agreed with her then, but now that I had the entirety of her powers…

I would try and try again to get time right, even if that meant stretching my powers and myself to the limits. At the end of the day, the only thing that mattered was that I controlled fate. And the hands of time would spin only as long as I allowed it.


Author's Note: Happy early update! And no mean cliffhanger for you this time either. Guess you could say I'm feeling generous tonight. ;)