Chapter 2
A Clear Sky and a Battle
I
It was the same darkness she was used to, it was still scary but a at this point she was numbed to it. The cold floor and the rats were an usual company even though she still found them disgusting.
But the smell, that foul smell of humidity, blood, feces and death bodies were a constant reminder of the hell she was in.
"Hey, you have to wake up" she cried. Her eyes already dry up of crying and her throat hurted because of the screaming. "Please, wake up" she shook the body in front of her, it had been death for a few minutes but she hoped that if she called to him long enough he will wake up.
Suddenly a door opened letting a blinding light in, normally going out of that darkness would be an absolute bliss. But this wasn't the case.
"No!" She screamed "I beg you, don't do it!"
But it didn't matter, a skinny man dressed in a dark coat and a bird mask approached and grabbed her arm with such force she could swear he was about to snap her bones.
The man dragged her out of the cell, she was already crying when they strapped her into a big wooden table and started ripping and cutting flesh. She couldn't stop screaming from the pain and the horror.
Edelgard snapped out of slumber screaming. It took a few seconds to gather her thoughts and process everything around her. She wasn't in the dungeon, she was in her room at Garrett March Monastery, her bed wasn't soak in blood but it had a dark shadow of sweat on it.
The young lord stood up front he bed feeling her soaked pijama. She striped from it trying to not look at herself in the mirror, she hasn't look at herself naked in the mirror for years.
She dressed herself in her loungewear and taking a towel she came out of her room.
It was still two hours before dawn, half an hour before Hubert wake up.
She made her way to the baths, thankfully there was no one around so Edelgard could wash herself up without any weird glances from her fellow classmates.
But of course that was to be expected, with all her scars and stitches of course women were bound to watch her.
After a quick bath and washing her hair she went back to the dorm, Hubert was already waiting for her by her door.
"Good morning Lady Edelgard. I took the liberty to prepare some clean clothes for you in your room"
"Thank you Hubert, you can go to the classroom I'll be there in a few minutes"
Her retainer obeyed and left her alone.
After dressing up and putting up her favorite violet ribbon she was Princess Edelgard again, the always secure, always confident future Emperor.
It was the day of their first mock battle between the three houses and Professor Byleth wanted to make a strategy meeting beforehand.
When she arrived to the classroom the rest of the students were already there. Ferdinand and Hubert were discussing which of them would accompany Edelgard and Byleth in the vanguard. Bernadetta was crying on the floor since the professor had put her as last line of defense.
"Hello Eddy" came Dorothea's beautiful voice "You looked terrific today, a new eye shadow maybe"
Edelgard smiled at the comment, the songstress was really good a picking up those little details "It is, although I tried to not use so much"
"Still, it looks wonderful, you can almost compete with Ferdie here. How much makeup did you use this again?" She asked Ferdinand giggling.
"Jokes on you my dear Dorothea" He said brushing his hair "Because I didn't use makeup today, you were captivated by my natural charm"
Linhart tilt his head a little observing Ferdinand "Well I think your 'natural charm' is a little too red in one side of the lips"
"Is that truer?" Said Petra "I was thinking he had been hitting by a bad infection or something"
Caspar's laughter filled the room with his powerful voice.
Hubert cleared his throat "If my dear companions are done with their nonesenses, I believe the professor wants to say something to us."
The turned towards Byleth who was wearing his academy uniform, with hat and everything. He was drawing in a little map of the hill were the battle would take place. He raised his head when he noticed everyone looking at him "Oh, sorry, did you say something, Hubert?"
Edelgard had to hold in a laugh while Hubert let out a sight "I hope, you don't plan on spacing like that during the battle"
Byleth took the map and put it on top of the table "I'm sorry for you, Caspar and Ferdinand. But you will not be fighting today." Both students directed him a disappointing look "The issue here is that we can't think as we are facing a single army, this is a battle on two fronts which makes managing the force of the offensive a little tricky"
"Is not that complicated" said Caspar pointing at the north-west base. "We know that the Blue Lions are specially proficient in strength and defense, so I think it would be better to attack them first, with you, Edelgard and me on the vanguard."
"And what about Linhart and Bernadetta?" Byleth said. "If we perform such a strong offensive we will be letting both of them behind. They will be the perfect target for the Golden Deer"
Edelgard nodded holding her chin "I see, we could also replace Bernadetta from this battle for additional magical or physical support."
"Yes yes, I second that option!" The purple haired archer screamed with a smile. But Byleth shook his head.
"No can do"
"Aaaaawwwww"
"We need someone to protect Linhart while giving some distant support to the vanguard, and archer is the perfect role for this one"
"Then what it is your advise on this case, Professor?" Asked Petra.
Byleth curled his lips in a small smile, very rare in him but a good signal. He took the pencil and drew and arch right in the middle of the battlefield. "We will face both houses at the same time by extending a perimeter. We will face the Golden Deer house with Hubert on the East. They are not that good fighters and most of them don't know how to deal with magic" he looked at the somber dark haired man "and you are fast enough to dodge some of their arrows. While on the other side Edelgard and me will face the Blue Lions full force, if they use and archer Bernadetta will take care of him. Linhart will have to run a little more distant to keep up with the healing on both sides but he will be safer as anyone can be on the back"
"Well I don't like the idea of running but if I don't have to use the sword is all better for me" Linhart said shrugging.
"Then it is decided" Edelgard said "This is our first test as a complete group, let's show our new teacher what the Black Eagles are made of"
"Yes!" Everyone said in unison and after touching on the details they left the classroom on to the hill were the battle would take place.
In the dressing room Byleth and Edelgard were the last ones to put on their armors. The professor always dressed in dark colors and flexible clothes like he was always ready for a fight to develop.
Edelgard snapped out of her train of thought when she realized she was looking at him for a couple of minutes now. At the same time she couldn't hold back a question she wanted to ask. But before she could even have the chance to say anything the trumpets played the usual tune announcing the beginning of the battle.
They went out in a hurry and ran towards their posts.
In that moment he finally looked at her and gave her a thumb up. "Good luck, okay?"
Edelgard smile while taking her axe "Same to you"
Captain. Jeralt appeared on top of the valley surrounding the hill "Begin!"
II
"Just my luck" Annette sighted feeling like the stupidest person on the planet. She was walking around the Monastery with a book in hand and biting off a piece of the muffin in her other hand.
Annette was known to be one of the most hard working students next to Lysithea, for better or for worse. She had borrowed some books from the library for a research in crestology Professor Hanneman had assigned them. It wasn't due till next month but she wanted to finished as soon as possible.
So she spent the whole night reading and writing, a big pack of candles at her side, by the time she finished it was already dawn outside, the day of the mock battle.
She wasn't one the fighters but her best friend Mercedes would be so she had to go to cheer on her friend and classmates. But just after having the strategy meeting she decided to have a nap.
And like a complete dofus, she overslept and missed the wagon that took the audience to the place of the battle.
"Oh Mercies is gonna be so disappointed. I'm such an idiot!"
She hurried the rest of the muffin and walked towards the knights hall. She decided to read a book since she couldn't find anything better to do. The green house was closed for maintenance and the kitchen staff had prohibited her to get near the kitchen after the last incident. She was just boiling some eggs and somehow she managed to make them explode in a raging inferno that took down a whole wall. She clearly wasn't born to cook.
When she arrived to the Knights hall she catched the sound of a wooden sword hitting something, and sure enough she found Felix training of course.
"What are you doing here?" She asked. "Did you missed the wagon too?"
"No, I just don't have interest in a mock battle" he said without taking his eyes of the training dummy.
"What! But you have to be there, who is gonna root for our class?"
"A better question would be. What does rooting have to do with winning a battle?"
"It makes them feel confident"
He finally turned to see her with his amber eyes "Would someone root for you during a battle? A real battle I mean."
"Well...no, not really" she said admitting defeat.
"And that's it, in a battle the only thing that matters is strength, if someone is there screaming and clapping it would only distract you or get himself killed"
Annette let out a sight and made her way to the sofa "You always have some come back, do you?"
"I'm just realistic" Felix when back to his training while Annette sat comfortably.
She opened the book, it was the story about a knight fighting a war against another country, but he fell in love with a major noble woman from that country. They married in secret and had a child, but when the war escalated he had to decide to fight in the final battle or run away with his family.
The story reminded Annette too much of her own story. She could still remember how her father read those books to her on a comfy night in front of the fireplace, her mother singing a soft tune. In the end little Annette never managed to stay awake for the ending but either way those were the moments she enjoyed the most.
She found herself humming that same song from all those years ago and returning to reality she remembered Felix was right there. Actually, he was now walking towards her.
Oh no, did he heard me? Did I screwed up?
But the young man didn't say anything, he just sat on the other couch to her right. "Did you finish?" She asked.
"Yeah, for the morning at least"
"You're going to train again at night?"
"Of course. How do you think I'm gonna be better than Professor Byleth if I don't train?"
"I just think you shouldn't strain so much."
"And you shouldn't be up so late studying"
Annette felt her cheeks turned red "How do you know that?"
He shrugged and Annette could swear she saw his mouth curling in to a smile for a fraction of a second "I was coming back from my last training session and I saw the candlelight from your door"
"What! You were spying on me?"
"I did not do such a thing. I was just passing by and I saw it. It wasn't really difficult to see in the dark. But seriously, you shouldn't be up so late, it's going to mess your sleeping schedule"
She crossed her arms and turned her head to the other side "Pff, you sound like my old teacher. And you should take your own advice too. Besides, if you want to get better you should spar with real people, not some dummy"
"I know that, that's why I practice with Sylvain and the others"
"No, I mean somebody who can actually beat you." She put the book down "Felix, you are the best and fastest swordsman I ever seen. You don't have competition in the Blue Lions" Felix looked at her with wide eyes and Annette realized what she just said, her cheeks turned even more red if that was possible "I...I mean, you should get somebody else to spar, somebody stronger, like Professor Byleth"
"What?"
"He has way more experience than any of us and his skills with the sword are different from anyone here, plus he defeated you, I think if someone can teach you to fight better is him"
Felix crossed his arms "Well, it's not as if I haven't think about it. I don't like him that much but I'm only interested in his skill"
"That's the spirit, I guess" she said turning her attention to her book "You should ask him when he gets back"
"I will, thanks for the advise" Felix stood up but he stopped walking for a second "That's a good book you got there, although I don't enjoy the ending that much"
"You read about knights?" She asked in surprise, but Felix's expression turned somber.
"I use to read those, but not anymore"
Felix walked out of the knights hall before she can ask for more details. Annette couldn't shake the feeling that Felix was a little more than just a grumpy warrior, he was just really determined, just like her.
I hope we can both achieve our goals, Felix.
She went back to reading and it didn't take long for her to start humming again.
III
The battle started up really good, with Hubert taking down Lorentz and Bernadetta landing a nice shot on Ashe through the woods. The Black Eagles took both houses by surprise, they didn't expect them to fight from both sides from the beginning, now the Golden Deers and the Blue Lions were down by one man, Byleth had to take this opportunity to get a swift victory.
Hubert went to eliminate Ignatz on the northern side.
"Do not run too far" Byleth commanded "The longer we hold the perimeter the better"
Easier said than done, Dimitri and Dedue were already charging towards him. Edelgard jumped and blocked one of Dedue's giant fists, it was amazing that such a small woman could withstand such a powerful blow.
But Byleth didn't have too much time to admire the princess's skill when Dimitri struck with his spear. He wasn't nearly as fast as Felix but he was strong as hell.
Byleth deflected the attack trying to keep his distance.
"I see we are facing each other in the early game Professor" Dimitri said with a smile "I was eager to experience your skill first hand"
Byleth looked at Edelgard who was barely holding Dedue's blows at bay, and with an axe in hand it was taking a toll on the girl's stamina.
Byleth blocked a dangerous swing of Dimitri's spear and repositioned his feets. "Sorry Dimitri, but you'll have to wait a little more" he then jumped to were Edelgard and Dedue were fighting "Edelgard, switch!"
The girl's response was almost automatic, she made the same jump as Byleth but Dedue wouldn't let her. "Oh no, you don't"
The big man's arm went down like a hammer but Byleth managed to intercept the blow before it landed on Edelgard. The professor's knees almost crumbled with all the force of the impact, he could even feel the steel of his sword vibrate.
Dedue tried to land a second blow but Byleth dodged it, he was slower than Dimitri but his attacks were stronger. Luckily Byleth only had to dodge a few punches while recovering from the pain in his arms. He was about to initiate the counter attack when he saw something fly through the air.
Byleth rolled around the floor barely avoiding the arrow.
What the hell?!
Ashe was already out of the battle and Hanneman was way to far in the base, so who. And then he noticed, an ashen yellow blur was hiding in the woods ahead, and then another arrow came, it was Mercedes of course.
He dodged and quickly though in a new strategy "Linhart, I need some help"
The green hair boy finished restoring Bernadetta's stamina and ran towards Byleth. "Looks like you're in a pickle, professor"
"You think?" Byleth blocked another fist but he couldn't do it we the second one that landed in his stomach and sent him flying a few meters back.
He stood up as fast as he could and Dedue was already charging towards him again "Linhart, now!"
The mage shot a fireball and Dedue practically ate the whole thing but he had to close his eye because of the flash of light. Byleth used this opportunity and jumped through the fire, with just a few steps he closed the distance and swung his sword hitting the big man's neck.
Dedue let out a sighted with a smile "Well, I guess you bested me this time"
"If you were holding back I don't want to know when you're fighting for real, my friend"
Dedue placed a hand on his shoulder and retired from the battlefield.
Byleth advanced toward the Golden Deer area and found Hubert retiring from the battlefield. "I got carried away and went too far" he sounded more annoyed than regretful.
"Hey, come on Hubert, death people can't talk" came the voice of Hilda, the pink haired axe user. Behind her Cloude was on one knee preparing one of his arrows.
"Hello there teach" he said with a smirk "Guess you are not going any further."
"So you made a defense by putting Hilda as a Vanguard and you as a support keeping her opponents at bay. Very clever"
"Yup, I am pretty smart" he aimed the bow towards him "Aaannd it's over"
The same moment Claude let the arrow go, another one came from the south and hit Hilda right in her chest while Byleth dodged Clause's arrow.
He ran as fast as he could, Claude let go another arrow, way faster than before and hit Byleth right in the leg, but it was too late since he managed to topple his opponent's feets.
Claude fell on the ground and Byleth point the sword at him.
"You are not the only schemer" he said directing his sight to Bernadetta who was running with shy movements.
"I did it, Professor! And Mercedes didn't look angry at all"
"Of course not, Bernadetta. She is the nicest person on the planet. Good job."
The little archer finally gave him a true smile "Thank you"
Claude let out a big laugh "You made Bernadetta take down Mercedes and then she came to help you defeat Hilda and I"
"Yes, Huber and I were just the distraction. I knew the only way you'll not notice her going through the woods was if I was at the front lines keeping you occupied. I expected to be out of combat before she arrive but she was quicker than I anticipated."
Hilda helped Claude stand up "You have faith in your students, that's a very good signal. Well, I guess we lost this round since the only one left is Manuela. But we will win next time"
"I'm sure you'll try"
It didn't take long to take the Golden Deer base, Byleth let Bernadetta and Linhart take care of Manuela and he ran towards the sounds of metal clashing.
IV
Both Edelgard and Dimitri were panting, the sweat had long ruined the blonde man's haircut.
"You have an outstanding amount of stamina, Edelgard. I haven't had this much fun in a combat since I started training"
"And your strength is almost out of this world even I am having a hard time keeping up with each blow"
The prince took a new stance keeping the spear close to him "It's a blessing and also a curse. I will use this strength to protect my friends and my people"
Edelgard couldn't help but smile feeling her heart beat a little faster. He has matured so much.
"Then show me a little more of that strength, my axe will give the verdict"
Dimitri let out a roar charging forward, the tip of the spear came dangerously close to Edelgard's stomach but she dodged in time to raised her axe and strike. Dimitri saw this coming and with an amazing show of speed and skill, he turned the spear around and deflected the axe.
Dimitri spinned on one leg and thrust the spear, he was very close and it was almost impossible he missed. But Edelgard made a dangerous move by dropping her axe to be lighter.
She almost felt the wood of the spear touching her side, she trapped the spear between her arm and body and using all her strength she broke the weapon.
Dimitri was so stunned by this turn of events that he couldn't see Edelgard thrusting the broken speed in to his chest, the blow made the prince fall but unharmed.
"Victory is my Dimitri" she said regaining her breath that she didn't notice she was holding in.
"And what an splendid combat that was"
"Splendid battle" Hanneman corrected, he was being escorted by Byleth.
"Professor Hanneman? Did they capture the base"
"I'm afraid so, young Dimitri"
The trumpets sounded again drawing everyone's attention to the clift on top of the hill "The battle is over. And the winner is the Black Eagle House" Jeralt announced.
The students and some knights applauded and cheered to the winners, Caspar and the rest of the class didn't take long to reach them. The cheerful young man took Bernadetta and raised her over his shoulders.
"What, Caspar! What are you doing?! Put me down!" Bernadetta screamed.
"You were our MVP Bernadetta" Byleth said "Without you and Linhart we wouldn't have been able to win, so enjoy the attention"
"But I don't like the attention! Caspar, put me down this instant!"
But he pay no heed to her screaming and took her to were the other students were making a round of horrays to her name.
Edelgard stood beside the professor and gave him a warm smile "So, are we allowed to indulge in some celebration?"
They arrived to the monastery really fast , Annette was the first one to receive them and she didn't hide much of her disappointment when he heard of the Blue Lions' defeat. She quickly cheered up when Mercedes told her they were also invited to the celebration.
They had a grand feast with all the houses, everyone was so cheerful that even Dorothea indulge them with a few songs. Truly she had the voice of a mermaid from those old fairy tales.
Edelgard wasn't so hungry so she went outside of the dining hall when nobody was looking at her. The silence of the night was comfortable and the moonlight gave the whole monastery a magical feel, the smell of the sweet air still hold the aromas of the Spring season.
She sat on the edge of the stone ladder and stood stood there for a few minutes until she heard a footsteps behind her.
"Do you mind if we join you?" Dimitri said, Claude was walking beside him.
"No at all"
Both men took a seat beside her and took in the scenery "Well, I guess you got a lucky strike with that new professor, princess" Claude said.
"It was quite the surprise seeing him in battle in more detail, and I have to admit he is gifted in arts of strategy"
"Although he is really careful showing much of his emotions" Dimitri interjected.
"I don't really think he does it on purpose. It's like he just can't express himself"
"I guess it is a good quality in the battlefield. No doubt he is such a skillful mercenary. In that regard he does remind me of Jeralt"
Claude crossed his arms as if he was thinking on another of his schemes "I still want to know what picked Lady Rhea's interest in him. He was recruited so fast, like she already knew him"
"But he says he hasn't had any contact with the church before coming to the monastery" Edelgard said.
"Well, I guess one of them is not really saying the truth"
Edelgard directed an angry look to Claude "I don't intend to listen to this arguments, you might want to undermine my trust in the Professor"
Claude let out a laugh "I'm sorry, princess. It was just my crazy mind making silly conjectures. I'll make sure to keep them to myself next time"
Edelgard didn't really care of what Claude thought about the professor or the Church, but he was smart and curious. She would have to keep a fair distance with him.
The rest of the evening the three of them spent talking about their homelands and their classes. The students started going coming out of the dinning hall, some of them chatting and laughing. Sylvain always with a girl next to him, Annette talking cheerfully with Mercedes, Ferdinand and Lorenz appeared to be discussing some matters about tea and class.
To Edelgard's surprise the last one to come out of the dinning hall was Byleth.
"Took you long enough, teach" Claude said. "Can't move with all that food?"
"I was just talking with Lysithea. She asked me to join our class starting next week"
"Oh, really?" Edelgard said wide eyes.
Claude nodded "She did have an interest in strategy. And you are the best on that field after what we saw today"
"I'm just doing what my father tough me, but I accepted her request, a new mage will do wonders for our battle plans."
Byleth walked a little bit to the edge of the stairs, his eyes were shining like blue gems against the moonlight and Edelgard was snapped back into existence when Dimitri spoke.
"Hey, do you people know that man?" He asked suddenly.
The other three looked down the stairs and sure enough, there was a strange looking person walking towards the dorms and went around the green house.
"What a strange individual" Edelgard said.
"More like suspicious" come on let's see what he is up to.
Author's Notes: Oh yeah! We are going Cindered Shadows baby! This is my big surprise, I will be integrating the Ashen Wolfs to the main plot, because I truly think their stories would had have a great influence in the main plot, more than they actually did in the game.I'm sorry if we didn't have a part focusing on Felix point of view, but I assure you, you will have a good chunk of his story next chapter.Since Cindered Shadows is kind of weird in it's placement in the storyline, I will be doing some changes to fit it better.I am still looking for beta readers that can help me with my broken grammar, if you're interested please PM me.Again thank you for reading, following and favoriting this fic. And please review, any opinion is welcome.Until next time.
