"That scar," Byleth trailed off. His brow furrowed. "It's similar to ours, is it not?"

Byleth gestured to the scar over his heart, the stream from the hot spring slightly obscuring Starloon's view. He looked down at the object that reminded him of her. "Yes," he muttered. "So it would seem."

"Is this what you meant by 'progressing'?"

Starloon traced a finger along the pale line. Painful memories danced on the fringes of his mind; he saw brilliant eyes, a beaming smile—.

He cut himself off.

Don't think, don't be, just live, just breathe.

It was the familiar mantra that got him this far with his sanity intact.

"Yes," he coughed out slowly, reluctantly. He shook his head. He couldn't afford to go down that train of thought. He could already feel how his breath hitched, his chest heaved yet wished for no air.

Did he really want this type of progress? After all, it left him nothing to come back to when fate eventually claims him.

Byleth hummed darkly, leaning back and hands folded over his mouth. "I suspected as much. Don't think the strands of white hair were unnoticed." In a terrifying voice, he proclaimed, "I'll be sure to make them suffer then."

Starloon hummed in weak agreement. The twin beats in his chest were comfort and suffering, the measured, deafening "thu- thump" a reminder of the price he paid for a mere chance.

A chance at salvation.

He managed a weak smile. "I pray I'll be by your side to see it happen."

Byleth nodded stiffly, sinking out of view and into the obscurity of the steam and water.

Starloon sighed, lamenting the ruined atmosphere. "I suppose I should ask this now then. How are you holding up? In terms of the whole time loop thing."

Small sloshing noises were Byleth's initial response. "Mentally?" He chuckled bitterly. "Not quite there yet. Don't worry, we still care about life." More splashing and fidgeting. Byleth croaked out the beginning of a sentence, then seemingly stopped. "I'm more worried about you," he finally began in a soft voice. "At least our long lifespan's give us a buffer period to recover. You, on the other hand," Byleth trailed off.

Sterling sensed that Byleth was changing the subject, but did not press further. "I don't have the difficult decisions that you have," Starloon shrugged slightly. Or at least, he didn't. "I couldn't imagine choosing between you and your sister if it came to it."

"Hopefully," Byleth sighed, "we won't have to deal with said choices in the near future." A flick of water assaulted Starloon from the mist. "And with luck, you will be free to assist us too."

Much to his surprise, he could almost hear the fondness in Byleth's voice.


"Fate forces our hands!"

Through the corner of her eye, Beleth watched as Starloon's blade struck deep into a brigand's chest, the resulting bloodstain unintelligible from the many others that covered his face and clothes. As luck would have it, Jeralt's mercenaries ran across a small village who needed a bandit group cleared out; it was a simple day job that gave Starloon the perfect chance to show off his capabilities.

Snarling, Starloon tore his sword upwards, gore showering down upon him. He kicked the corpse away with unnecessary force. "The blood river flows." He swapped his chipped sword for the corpse's, shaking his head.

He seemed to be doing fine.

"Brutal," Beleth noted. She gingerly circled around the resulting mess; to be caught on slippery ground was never a good thing. "You holding up okay?"

Starloon turned back, the predatory sneer all but replaced by a charming smile. "Don't worry about me," Starloon beamed. "I can handle myself."

Dear Sothis, he still got it. Even if he was covered in blood and had the Dimitri™ bloodthirst smile just moments before, he was still quite the charmer.

Beleth briefly wondered how many hearts he could capture at the monastery.

Pushing those thoughts away, she admonished, "Don't push yourself too hard. You're still recovering."

"M' fine," he grumbled.

"Tree incident," Beleth shot back. "And your bloodlust is acting up again." She moved to position herself behind Starloon. She would be ready to help Starloon, even if some other people would take his word for his condition.

Looking at you Byleth, she thought.

Starloon shook his head. "It is? I didn't even notice." He paused, processing Beleth's first statement, and his eyes widened. "You're never going to let me live that down, huh?"

Without waiting for a response, he dashed forward to assist another mercenary, abusing the thief's distraction to weave in a clean hit where the cloth armor was thin. "We strike!"

The mercenary gave his thanks and moved on.

Byleth was a little ahead, somehow having integrated himself into the vanguard. His sword was sheathed, instead opting to use an ax that he must have looted off of another bandit. He handled the weapon with surprising grace, considering his small frame. The ax was in constant motion, momentum from blocking attacks simply being converted to an offensive swing. "Become swept in time's flow!" His ax tore through an opening, effectively ending the fight.

Starloon, lagging a little bit and drenched in sweat, wheezed out, "Warmaster?"

"You know it." Byleth paused momentarily to switch his weapon again, picking up a new ax from the bandit he just fell.

"Always your favorite class."

"Or Mortal Savant." he quipped. "Watch your voice, I can hear fatigue."

Huh. Even brother dearest objected sometimes. "He's right you know. We'll get targeted if they hear you like that."

Starloon sighed in defeat. "Fine, fine." Beleth watched him return to the rearguard.

The rest of the battle was rather uneventful. Once ensuring that Starloon really did stay at the rearguard, Beleth advanced to join her brother at the vanguard. As the last bandits were routed, Starloon reemerged from the rearguard, joining the twins to finish the job.


"Wyvern Knight, Wyvern Knight!" Starloon chanted.

Byleth sighed. "Do you know how expensive Wyverns are?"

"I'll feed it every day and take it on walks, I swear!"

Byleth sighed deeper."It's not a dog, Starloon."

"Meh."


"Thank you for your assistance."

The mercenary nodded in response to Byleth's steep bow. "You're doing well. We'll make a mage out of you two yet."

Byleth watched impassively as the mercenary walked away. He always considered himself lucky to have a father with so many connections. It made it easier to brush up on the basics of each weapon type.

"Ready?"

Byleth winced as he felt the weight of Beleth's arm rest on his forehead, her form towering over him. Her pockets were filled with hastily folded parchment, the barely legible scribbles showing in the corners.

"Soon," he muttered with a grimace. He tightened the crease on his immaculately folded notes a little harder. Patience, he thought. He was always taller in the end.

He got up, tucking neatly folded parchment into his pocket. Slinging a knapsack containing the rest of his materials over his shoulder, he nodded affirmatively.

Starloon was found at the training grounds, refining his lance techniques. He had this look of intense focus, grim determination creasing his face into tight wrinkles. He looked up when the twins came close, his face relaxing. "Learn anything?" He stopped his drills and propped himself on the lance, driving the butt into the ground.

Their father made it easier for them to get help from any of his many connections. Sadly, that blessing did not extend to Starloon. Instead, one of the twins usually tutored Starloon on what they learned for the day.

"Refreshed some reason magic," Byleth responded. "Just reviewing the theory."

Starloon hummed with mild displeasure. "Ah joy, theory," he scowled slightly. He flourished his lance and set it down upon the weapons rack. "Just give me a sec."


All was still, all was silent.

"Behold my power!" Starloon flicked his rod dramatically into the pond.

Most were still, most were silent.

Byleth sighed, his laser-focused stare on the buoy broken for just a moment as he closed his eyes in slight annoyance. "You're scaring the fish."

"Ah, but what's the fun in being silent?" Starloon queried. He slung a well-toned arm around Byleth's shoulder, signifying the progress of his recovery. "The world's your stage," he whispered dramatically, arm stretched out, framing a clear, blue sky.

"You were so good in competition too," Beleth lamented. Her voice held the slightest hints of flair, and her head was hanging slightly. She held her pole with one hand, freeing up the other for a novel that hid her fond smile. Her foot idly wiggled back and forth at the lake waterfront.

Byleth shook his head. Sothis dammit Starloon, quit charming his sister.

(Or himself, but that's beside the point).

"Ah, but the stakes are high there!" he laughed. He spread his arms as wide as his grin. "But here, we can only lose our dignity in front of each other."

As if on cue, his line got a bite. With surprising skill, he pulled the fish out of the water, landing it perfectly in an awaiting bucket.

Talk about dramatic timing.

Starloon sauntered over and unhooked the fish from his hook, lazily casting the line out again. "Nice," he cheered. "We'll be feasting tonight!"


"Meat," Beleth moaned.

Byleth smirked, dangling a piece of smoked meat out of Beleth's reach. Beleth was making large hops, arms waving wildly in a futile attempt to snag the tasty treat.

This is payback, Beleth.

"The joys of being taller," Byleth noted smugly.


"You back already?" Byleth said, giving a cursory glance upwards from his training. Beleth was practicing on the other end of the field, working on her spells.

"Yeah," Starloon sighed. "Crest scholars still don't take kindly to young children trying to involve themselves in their research." He brightened up and pulled out a certificate, showing it off proudly. "I passed the Myrmidon certification test though! It's a shame your father won't let you near the larger churches."

"We'll get the intermediate classes and onwards at the academy," Beleth shrugged. "The power boosts help, but we'll make do on our own."

It was true that the blessings gained from the certification exams boosted growth and progress, but Beleth knew the last thing her father wanted was to be found by the church.

"Isn't there that one guy we meet in Alliance territory?" Byleth asked. "He seemed to let you take an apprenticeship."

"Assuming everything goes to plan, yes," Starloon shrugged. "But I want to start now!" He sagged a little, closing his eyes in disappointment.

"You'll get there, I'm sure," Byleth tapped Starloon consolingly with Wind on the back. "Only have to wait a few more years."'

"Research takes more than one year, you know."

"Sadly," Beleth lamented. "If only you had more time." She trailed off, wishing that Time Pulse was just a tad bit more powerful.

Well, a lot more powerful. She would have to reverse time by the weeks or even months to get back to the start of an experiment.

Starloon caught a training sword Byleth threw at him, twirling the hilt with ease. "A lifetime!" he laughed, swinging his sword with a sense of satisfaction. "And luckily for us, we have quite a few."


Author's Notes:

Why hello there.

I have a few choices now. I have covered the key points that I wanted to cover in this phase. We can either get a chapter to wrap up the prequel phase and get straight into the Academy phase, or we can do a few more chapters of this (slice of life). Another option would be to start up another story detailing the slice of life events (preferred).

Let me know in the comments please!