Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem Three Houses, all rights to the owners.
I'm still trying to figure out the balance of this story. How much of everything I should focus on and whatnot and how the pacing should work. Hopefully it will come to me soon.
Hanneman taught courses on a few things. Anima magic and archery chief among them (but mostly anima magic). What Claude appreciates about the ghost's lectures (though most people hated theses parts) is how the man included generous doses of history into his teachings. When explaining a spell, he will often explain the history of how it was discovered and perfected. Being a few hundred years old and having read neary every book that's come through the library (even, he'll admit, the ones Seteth tries to remove) makes the man a fountain of knowledge.
"Meteor," the ghost explains. "Is an old spell in the history of the world. Older, in fact, than most intermediate spells. Meteor preceded Bolganone and Cutting Gale. It was a favourite of all the old, powerful magic species. Dragons, Arcanomoths, and really any creature with sufficient magical power would usually have Meteor in their arsenal. This includes things like Balors and sufficiently powerful liches. If you'll note, all of these beings have not been seen in a very long time. Indeed, any species of sufficient danger to the world at large, even if they had no intent of it, were removed by the old bloods during the Era of Ancients."
A majority of the students looks incredibly bored. Lysithea taps her quill impatiently on her desk and is making a small pool of ink there, and Linhardt stopped paying attention a good ten minutes ago.
Claude isn't even technically a part of this class, but thankfully it takes place during his free time and Hanneman hardly minds him listening in, so he pays attention from the back with notebook in hand.
"In more modern times Meteor is the crowning achievement of fire magic, but is thought to be largely impractical due to the fact that most people can only use it once or twice before exhausting themselves." Hanneman explains. "Though it's incredible range can be put to some use in niche military situations, but otherwise Bolganone is usually the spell of choice for a powerful fire mage, or Thoron if a mage wishes for a spell with a bit of extra range."
"Can you use Meteor Professor?" Dorothea calls from the middle of the classroom.
"Of course." Hanneman affirms. "I can indeed miss Arnault. I would demonstrate, however the sheer destruction of such a spell, even on the training grounds, makes a demonstration ill-advised. Indeed Meteor will be the one spell I shall not be teaching in this class due to the impractical logistics of finding a suitable training space."
Dorothea seems disappointed. Claude chuckles to himself as he writes in his notes, then raises his hand. "Hey Prof!"
"Yes Mr. Reigan?"
"You said any species of sufficient power usually used Meteor, right? Did the effects of their Meteor scale with their power?"
Hanneman considers the question, then speaks. "Well, as with all spells the power of Meteor scales with one's magical potential. If you are asking if the size of Meteor would scale, and hit a larger area… only minorly. Spells are designed to function within specific parameters, and Meteor is no exception. Only a few choice spells have built-in variability in their properties besides power. Those spells would be things like Warp or Rescue, where the effect is static and the range is variable. Fortify and Restore are the only standard spells to have variable effect size."
"Got it." Claude nods. He flips to the back of his notes and draws a line through a few of them. "Well there goes that theory. I guess Meteor couldn't have been used to make the Red Canyon."
###
Dreams aren't too unusual for Claude. He gets nightmares sometimes just like everyone else, has nice dreams most of the time, and weird dreams only rarely. Standard stuff. Tonight's dream, however, is one of the weird ones…
...because Linhardt is there.
"Hmm…" The green-haired boy yawns, glancing at the scene in front of them. Claude watches his younger self practicing the use of a bow in some woods just outside his old home. "Oh, I guess I missed my target. Shame…"
Claude himself is sitting on a log off to the side, watching his younger self shooting and Linhardt wandering casually around the clearing. He's had dreams of his younger self before, but never Linhardt. He's barely interacted with the boy, why would he be dreaming of him now? It's not like Linhardt particularly stood out. Quite the opposite in fact.
"It'll be too much effort to get to her, I might as well call it quits." Linhardt sighs.
Claude watches as the boy just… pops out of existence.
Maybe he shouldn't have drank so much tea before bed. Maybe there was something weird in it.
That has to be it. It has to be.
###
"Well, don't you two look positively cheery." Claude chirps and slumps into his seat with a leisurely grin. Hilda does the same next to him, not caring that both Hubert and Dedue are standing behind their respective masters rather than sitting. She immediately snags a biscuit off the platter in front of her and starts eating. "Heya Princess, Blue, why the tense faces?"
That's an unnecessary question. He heard the two talking in sharp whispers about the church before he got here. Five minutes late and you miss everything huh?
"You are late. I would thank you not to waste Lady Edelgard's time like that in the future." Hubert growls. Edelgard holds up a hand to stop him.
"It's fine Hubert. I'm sure Claude came from something important, didn't he?" She says it kindly, but her expression is one of cold amusement. Claude gets the impression that she knows full well he was listening in on them before making an entrance.
"Of course princess. This hair won't style itself!" He says, threading a hand through his braids. "You know how it is, don't you? I won't believe you hair is naturally that silky."
"And you would be right, I do put some effort into it." Edelgard nods. "However, that is not what I wished to discuss with you both."
"Oh, really?" Claude leans back and puts his hands behind his head. He's trying to look as casual and calm as possible. "Do tell. What could have gotten your hair in a twist? And without Hubert killing it five times over?"
"It is not an issue per say…" Edelgard says slowly. She stirs her tea pensively. "Claude, what is your opinion on the Church?"
"It's big." Claude says coyly. "And religious."
Edelgard sighs and Dimitri gives him a flat look. Claude grins back at them.
"What do you want me to say Princess? That I hate the Church? That I love it?" He shrugs casually. "Why does my opinion matter in the first place?"
Claude is not going to be the first to put metaphorical cards on the table. Hilda, on the other hand… "The church is great, isn't it? I mean, it's so helpful, and they make sure everyone shows respect to the Goddess!"
Hilda says this, and then flicks her twintails over her shoulders. That's a signal between herself and Claude, saying that she's instigating. She's saying something she may not believe just to get the conversation started.
Edelgard raises an eyebrow. "Helpful? I suppose so. They do provide assistance where the three great powers occasionally cannot."
"Indeed!" Dimitri nods rapidly. "They have proven quite helpful!"
"However…" Edelgard says. "Surely you have noticed some inconsistencies though?"
"Oh?" Hilda tilts her head, playing dumb. "I don't know what you mean! I just think they're nice."
"Do illuminate us Edelgard." Dimitri prompts.
Claude doesn't change his position, but he's paying sharp attention now. Hubert seems to be staring him down, which is interesting.
"The church promotes peace, but have you noticed how uncharacteristically brutal they are with insurgents against themselves?" Edelgard offers. "Even small offences are met with brutality so long as they are directed at the church."
"I dunno, remember that guy that ranted at the door of the monastery? Seteth was pretty nice to him." Hilda says. She's blatantly choosing the most tame example she can think of, though only Claude would know that. It's not like Edelgard or Dimitri interact with Hilda on a regular basis. Claude barely has to say anything here, Hilda is handling it wonderfully. Edelgard knows Claude is clever, so she would never fall for it if he tried to insist he was ignorant about the church at large. Hilda, on the other hand, has a reputation as an airhead so she can pull it off easily and get Edelgard to talk and explain herself more than she would otherwise.
"Well yes." Edelgard admits reluctantly. "However, such a thing is only characteristic of Seteth. Rhea has historically been much less forgiving."
"Are you implying something against the archbishop Edelgard?" Claude suddenly asks.
"Of course not Claude, I am merely making an observation to gather your thoughts on the matter." She replies smoothly. "Why, pray tell, would you assume such a thing?"
"It seemed to be what you were doing." Claude shrugs. "If that wasn't your intent, you might want to be more careful about it. Considering, you know, that we're in the central church and all."
"I'll take your words under advisement." Edelgard responds. She clearly has no intent to do so. "Have you anything else to say?"
"Not really." Claude shrugs. That's a lie, he could say quite a bit about the church, but he thinks it might be a better idea to not let Edelgard know his position on the matter.
Edelgard looks unimpressed, so does Hubert. Dimiri is watching with curiosity, and Dedue… doesn't look like he cares. He's just here to watch over Dimtri.
"Well then, I see we have nothing to discuss." Edelgard frowns. She stands up and nods to both of them. "Good day."
Claude watches her leave, feigning boredom. He snags a cookie and nibbles on it. "Well, that wasn't weird at all."
"Indeed." Dimitri agrees. "Quite odd." He too stands up, and bows slightly to Claude. "I must be off, good day Claude." The prince walks off, and Dedue follows.
Claude and Hilda wait until the others are gone, then Claude speaks. "Well, that wasn't suspicious at all."
"No kidding?" Hilda grabs another cookie and munches on it. "So? What did you pick up?"
"Edelgard wanted to gauge our opinions, and not out of idle curiosity." Claude murmurs. "That was a test."
"For what?"
"I have no idea." Claude admits reluctantly. "But that was a very specific question, pointing out the church's inconsistencies. She didn't choose that arbitrarily."
"Why?"
"She probably has something against the church." Claude ventures. "Something, but I don't know what."
"Well, that's something at least." Hilda murmurs.
"Not enough though." Claude mutters. That whole interaction doesn't sit well with him.
###
Due to being foreign royalty, the attention from Petra dating Ashe never really went away. That said, it's not longer brought up at every opportunity now… except by Sylvain. At first Claude thought he was jealous (and maybe he is to a certain extent), but now Claude is fairly sure Sylvain is just messing with Ashe because he thinks it's funny.
"Hey Ashe, have you heard?" Sylvain asks with a wide grin. Ingrid instantly glares at him, silently warning the boy not to say anything. Sylvain predictably ignores her. "You know the thing wildborn do when they want to get married, right?"
Ingrid is already trying to stop him, but Sylvain manages to grab her arm and fend her off. "Don't listen to him!" Ingrid warns Ashe.
Ashe tries to do so, but Sylvain makes sure to say his bit. "You've heard about how they tie people up and drag them away, right?"
"What?" Ashe asks despite himself. Felix, who usually doesn't care about these things, is now giving Sylvain a withering glare as well.
"They don't get married in the normal way, when they decide they want to marry they tie up their chosen partner and drag them off, and they get no say in the matter." Sylvain says cheerily. "So, hope you're prepared for that in a few years.
"Don't. Listen." Igrid hisses, but Ashe already has a horrified look on his face. Felix has now joined in wrestling Sylvain and Ingrid manages to slap a hand over Sylvain's mouth.
"I-Is that true?" Ashe squeaks, glancing at everyone else.
All of the other Lions, of course, reassure him that is isn't. Claude, who is listening in, knows that what Sylvain said is not entirely wrong. The whole "tie up and drag off your partner" thing is an old Brigidine tradition that, from what Claude is aware, the ruling family has been trying to stop, so Ashe is in no danger of that whatsoever, but it does still happen in the more traditionalist parts of the country.
Claude knows this from the extensive study he's done on every country he could find information on. Also, he's talked to Petra a few times. She's fun.
So yes, Sylvain is totally fucking with Ashe just because he thinks it's funny.
Claude, now watching Ingrid choke Sylvain while the boy laughs and while Mercedes calms down a somewhat freaking-out Ashe, absently wonders if he should tell Petra about what Sylvain is doing and just let her beat him to a pulp instead for misrepresenting Brigid, the wildborn, and for messing with her (maybe, possibly, it's unclear) boyfriend.
###
"Hilda, I am not helping you skip class. I don't care if I owe you one… or three. If you have a good reason for skipping class, fine, I'll cover for you, but if you just want to be lazy, no." Claude huffs.
"Hey, I helped you when you were exhausted from sneaking around at night!" Hilda pouts. "You could at least help me with my vice!"
That is a good point, but… "Come on Hilda, if you want to use your favor for something reasonable, fine, but not to skip class because you can't be bothered. I won't let you waste your favors like that."
"Gee, thanks." Hilda huffs. "See if I cover for you again."
Claude is fairly sure that's an empty threat. "Come on, I'll get you a cake instead."
"I'm not Mercedes or Lysithea I'm not a sugar nut." Hilda huffs. "What makes you think you can bribe me with cake?"
"Come on, you were snacking on those cookies as soon as you could get your hands on them. I know you like sweets." Claude smirks. He even dares to poke her in her side, prompting a glare.
"I have a different idea for how you can repay me for one of my favors." Hilda huffs. "I am going shopping on the weekend, and you are coming with me."
"Goddess above, anything but that!" Claude gasps in mock horror. "I've heard horror stories of your shopping trips. Hours and hours of nothing but clothes and accessories!"
Hilda crosses her arms. "How is that a horror story? It's fun Claude. Just because you get your kicks sneaking into school offices doesn't mean some of us don't have normal preferences."
"Normal? I've seen the armfuls of clothes you bring back then never wear." Claude says accusingly. "How is that normal?"
"Look, if you don't want to come, fine-"
"No, no, I'll come." Claude chuckles. "I'm just messing with you Hilda. Saturday or Sunday?"
"Saturday."
"I'll be there."
###
Thankfully, Hilda does not make Claude carry all the things she buys. It seems that she just wanted someone to talk to and to give opinions on things to buy.
"It's boring to go alone." She explains. "I'd take Marianne, but… you know how she is."
Yeah, Claude can't see Marianne enjoying a day on the town. Her natural shyness would mean she would barely comment on anything. She'd probably just say "do whatever you want…" when Hilda asks for an opinion.
Poor girl. Weird girl too. In fact…
"Speaking of Marianne… have you noticed anything else odd about her lately?"
"No more than usual, why?"
"I was creeping around last night-"
"Of course you were…"
"-and I saw her going back to her room really late. Probably around midnight." Claude recounts. "What is it with Garreg Mach and people going out at night? First Mercedes, now Marianne. I hear Bernadetta sometimes sneaks out too, and I wouldn't put it past Hubert to be up to something."
"You forgot yourself."
Claude shrugs unapologetically.
"I really don't know." Hilda sighs. "But that is weird. She seems so tired all the time, so maybe that's why. Maybe she's going to pray or something?"
"Maybe…" That doesn't seem right to Claude. It certainly fits Marianne's usual actions to pray a lot, but to sneak out at night just to do it? Unlikely. He might have to do a bit of spying. "Another question. What about that necklace of hers?"
"Huh? That?" Hilda blinks. "She said she got it from her mom."
"Her mother huh? Wasn't she adopted by Lord Edmund? Her mother was probably common, or close to, so that necklace couldn't have been cheap for them."
Marianne's necklace is a sapphire gem on a metal chain. It's not very fancy to be honest. The chain is simple, and the gem rough and not properly cut. The gem is held in place with string. It's a basic necklace at best, which makes it all the more odd that she would have it because it was probably really expensive to get. Sapphires are not cheap.
"Oh! Lysithea did mention she could feel magic coming from it." Hilda offers. "So it's probably a mana gem."
Claude's brow furrows. A mana gem? Why would Marianne need one of those? Maybe it's just to store backup mana for emergencies, but it still seems off. And a sapphire too. They're pretty potent in terms of their ability to hold mana. Her mother gave her a crude but powerful magical aide despite probably not having a lot of money at the time, and having no reason to assume her daughter would ever get mage training (unless it was given to Marianne after she was adopted by Lord Edmund).
"Maybe she has some natural magic?" Claude muses under his breath. That would explain it a bit. "Maybe she's not human? Or has a superpower?"
"Well duh, who doesn't in Garreg Mach?" Hilda huffs.
"Ashe, Ferdinand, Alois, Catherine-"
"Wait, Ferdinand? Really?"
"Yep."
"But he's a noble."
"Yep."
"That's so weird."
"Yep."
Claude follows Hilda around for several hours. He'll never admit it to her, but it was actually rather enjoyable. It's been a while since he's taken time to relax, go out to a restaurant, normal stuff.
Even having Hilda ask his opinion on every accessory or piece of clothing isn't that bad. She takes forever changing into each outfit and staring in the mirror to see if it looks good.
Claude will also never admit, despite Hilda teasing him about it, that he was staring at her in all those different outfits. Sue him! Hilda is an attractive girl, what was she expecting?
Well, it's not like she minds. Claude will just have to put up with her poking fun at him for it from now on.
###
Everyone else is freaking out, but Dedue really doesn't seem worried. He just got stabbed in the chest ten times, and is bleeding profusely, but all he does is grimace and obliterate his three opponents with harsh swings of his axe.
"Orcs are tough, geeze…" Claude mutters. Mercedes fusses over Dedue after he's done, and Marianne looks like she's on the verge of panic. The Blue Lions don't look too concerned, hinting to Claude that this might not be uncommon. Dedue's armor is punctured in multiple places, but he dives right back into the fight.
"Half-orc actually." Dimtri corrects. He grunts and swings his spear wide, smashing the point into a bandit's skull, but he overswings and accidentally dents a tree with the sheer force of the swing. "Those strikes were imprecise, and his armor stopped most of the force. Do not worry, Dedue's wounds were superficial."
Claude shakes his head. It's kinda worrying that they can be so nonchalant about this.
"Actually," Claude thinks, watching as Dimtri cuts down bandits with renewed vigor. His strikes are more forceful and reckless, and the blonde-boy's neutral expression is verging on a snarl. "Maybe he's not as calm about this as he's pretending to be…"
The battle is mostly a curb-stomp. Beyond the scare with Dedue there's no other major injuries. Claude tries not to make it obvious that he's watching Dimitri, trying to get a hint of his superpower, but he has no luck detecting anything. The fighting isn't dangerous enough to bring it out Claude guesses, and Dimitri must not be keen on showing it off in the first place.
Ah, whatever. There's plenty of opportunities for him to figure it out in the future.
###
"Claude, why are you so fixated on history and figuring out everyone's species in the first place?" Hilda asks one day. She's never really thought to ask before, but in hindsight it kinda seems important to know, especially since she helps him out all the time.
"Can't a boy just be curious?" Claude asks. "I'm an inquisitive young man, exploring and learning about the world around him."
"Don't give me that bullshit."
The boy snorts and laughs. "It wasn't entirely a lie. I am curious, but I have my own goals that require knowing a lot of stuff."
"Don't give me vague bullshit either." Hilda huffs.
"Come on, can't a man have his secrets?" Claude asks.
"Sure, just don't expect me to help anymore."
"Hilda, what prompted the change of heart?" The boy frowns. This seems rather drastic. "Is something wrong?"
"No, it's just… I have no idea what you're doing. I'm taking your word for it that you're doing something important, or important to yourself at least, but it'd be nice to know what that is if I'm this involved." Hilda replies. "I'm not a pawn that exists just to cover your butt."
"I never said you were!"
"I know, look, I just want to know what's up. I think I deserve to know, right?"
"I guess." Claude agrees reluctantly. His eyes flick side to side, making sure there's no one else listening in on their conversation. "It will sound kind of foolish though."
"Whatever, I want to know." Hilda insists. "Stop being paranoid Claude, I'm not going to stab you if your idea is weird, just tell me."
The half-elf sighs, and leans in to whisper in her ear. "I want to unite Fodlan and end its isolationism, and that means knowing as much as I can about it's history, it's issues, and the people in charge or soon-to-be in charge so I can convince everyone I need to make it a reality."
He leans back, schooling his expression into neutrality. Hilda knows better though. If he was actually calm he would be leaning back in his chair and grinning, or doing something other than sitting straight up in his seat and waiting for her response.
"Well…" Hilda says after a moment of consideration. "I won't say that sounds realistic from my perspective, but I'm not big on politics. If you want to try, I've got your back. Foolish or not, you of all people might be able to make some headway."
"Me of all people? What does that mean?" Claude huffs. He's clearly relieved, and he leans back in his chair while fiddling with a fork. "Hilda, you think I'm odd?"
"Duh." She snorts. "You're weird Claude. If I wasn't around to cover for you, you'd have gotten detention five times by now. Still, you're charming, if a bit manipulative. I think you could do well in politics if you applied yourself."
"Right back at you." Claude grins. "If you just put a bit of effort, you could be a political force Hilda. Brains, brawn, and charm? Deadly combo."
"Pff, there's no point. I'm stuck in my brother's shadow." Hilda waves off the suggestion. "I'll settle for letting you do the hard work."
Claude rolls his eyes. Of course that would be her answer. "Well then, I hope I can count on your continued help, if you can bring yourself to actually do work."
"Enough to get you out of trouble." She retorts.
"Aww, you do care." He says mockingly.
"Well duh. Who said I didn't?"
Some plot, some fluff, some hints. I don't know why I've decided Sylvain is a douche, but he is. I still don't have much of an idea on how the plot is going to go down, I want Claude to have an overarching goal and not just be reacting to the events around him, but "unite everyone" is pretty vague and I'm well aware that prying into everyone's species/superpower doesn't match that goal perfectly. Still, it's a start. I'll figure out something.
