Fodlan Year: 1178
Guardian Moon
In the vast plains of the Varley's territories, it was not uncommon for the cold wind of the winter to blow continuously for extended periods of time. This would often result in a perfectly flat layer of snow covering the available scenery, which made the buildings stand out as they protruded from the snowy terrain.
Meanwhile, in the barn that Link had temporarily taken as a place to stay, the violent winds that managed to pass through the planks of wood which constituted the walls created a chilly whistle throughout the building, while the occasional yelling cattle broke the monotony.
Being woken up by a nearby lamb calling out to its mother, the Hylian got up from his makeshift bed made out of hay and brushed his clothes in order to remove any wisp that could have got stuck there during the night. He then looked nearby and observed the various animals who, excited by his movements, had begun to yell incessantly in wait for their morning's ration of food. They looked a bit like the ones he used to see in Hyrule, but the sheep were less dumpy and there seemed to exist a domesticated form of the wild bulls that inhabited his homeland's mountains.
Despite accepting Jonas' invitation to stay at his place for an undetermined period of time, Link had still refused to occupy one of the nobleman's rooms. Maybe if he had been isolated for longer and was desperate for human interaction, then he could have taken the free rent without much issue, but he was not at this point in his life yet.
Getting on some warm clothing from his Sheika Slate, the Hero of Hyrule then exited the badly lit barn and made his way to Jonas' home. Near it were some more habitations for the workers on his fields and for his farm, as well as probably his guard Johnathan. Once arrived, he went to the kitchen and gathered a few ingredients in order to honor a promise he had made.
During the trip from Count Varley's place, it had eventually been brought to light that Link was actually a quite competent cook, and the large noble, gastronome that he was, had insisted on tasting one of his recipes.
This morning, as the Hylian didn't feel like preparing an extra complex meal, he settled to simply do some slithered fruits and skewered meats mixed with mushrooms. Despite the simplicity of the recipes, though, the house was soon filled with the delicious odor of Link's craft. Soon, it was time for breakfast and Jonas and his guard had the opportunity to taste a typical Hylian dish.
"My, I say! This is absolutely delicious!" Exclaimed the younger Varley brother while humming pleasantly as he ate.
"You say this for everything you eat, Sir." Retorted his guard, which caused Jonas to give him an annoyed glare. "I do admit that I find this plate quite good myself…"
Hearing this, Link bowed gratefully at his two 'clients', not without some pride, as he devoured his own ration. He had made a long way, after all, since the barely edible sludge he used to make on the Plateau of Hyrule.
As the three men were eating, however, there came a resounding knock on the front door.
"Do not stop your meal, my friends…" Announced the larger nobleman as he slowly got up. "I shall see what this visit is about. I will be back shortly!"
While Jonas went to the entry hall in order to greet whoever was waiting outside, Link looked over to Johnathan and raised his eyebrows as he asked:
"Hey, since when do you and Jonas know each other? You seem to be quite familiar."
"Ah, we are old friends from school, Link. We were studying at the Officers' Academy, and he managed to convince me to transfer from the Blue Lions to the Black Eagles, and after we graduated, he made me his personal guard."
"Oh, I see." Stated Link as Jonas came back from his little errand. He was reading on a piece of paper with a frustrated frown. "Hey, buddy, what's the matter?"
"… It was the messenger of my brother." Said the noble.
"What? I thought you two didn't talk much…" Link retorted. "Why would he call up on you so soon?"
"Is it…" Johnathan began to ask, and Jonas acquiesced before he even finished his sentence.
"It is about Bernadetta, yes." Said Jonas with a loud sigh. "She's fallen sick again and he wants me to come as soon as possible. Could you go and prepare my supplies, please?"
With a nod, Johnathan got up and immediately went to the second floor of the house as Link kept glancing at the two other men in utter confusion. Seeing this, Jonas explained with a slight annoyance.
"Bernie is a very fragile girl, and it often happens that she needs medical care. At the same time, I have mostly focused my studies on medicine and usage of Faith Magic. I am not an actual doctor, but I can normally handle what she suffers from…"
"So, for Count, you are a convenient and free help for when his daughter becomes sick. What is the problem?"
"The problem, Mister Link, is that Bernie does not suffer from your typical illness. She thinks so, and so does her father, but her pain is totally different. She suffers from her anxiety."
Link's eyes then widened slightly.
"Oh." This was all that the Hylian was capable of muttering.
"Yes, 'Oh' indeed. My damned brother and all that pressure he puts on her." The nobleman then looked at his interlocutor and seemed to have just gotten an idea. "Johnathan was going to stay and take care of the property for the time being, so would you like to accompany me, Mister Link?"
"Why?" Asked Link with a raised eyebrow. "From what social clues I gathered, your brother was not exactly my greatest fan in the place, and your niece didn't seem to like me neither…"
"This is because she is always afraid of strangers. Please, Link, do you remember the story you told us last evening?"
"Yeah, the origins of the Calamity. Demon born from a man, thousands of years ago…"
"Exactly, this one! Bernie doesn't come out of her room often, and she absolutely adores tales like this! If you could tell her one, I am sure that it would make her day…" The noble began to plead, with hopeful eyes. In response, Link simply shrugged.
"Eh. Why not? It's not like I had something more important to do than to make a little girl happy, right?"
"Excellent! Johnathan will come back soon, do you want a horse, this time?" Asked Jonas with a pleased expression.
"Oh, yeah, sure. I've got some experience with those before…"
As the nobleman and his guard prepared the travel to Count Varley's house once again, Link simply finished his breakfast and got his warm clothes back before he began to wonder about what sort of story a warrior like him could tell a teenage girl…
Fodlan Year 1180
Harpstrings Moon
The early morning of the Black Eagles had debuted simply enough, as the students, Jeritza and Link quickly began the class without much incidents. Jeritza was currently busy sparring with Petra while the Hylian was coaching Bernadetta. Meanwhile, Ferdinand and Caspar wailed on dummies while Linhardt and Dorothea practiced their magic spells and Edelgard and Hubert spoke together.
As the young Varley picked up her training bow and readied it, she looked back at Link unsurely. In response, he gave her a short nod, indicating her that she was doing well so far. She then tended her bow and shot her first arrow. While it landed rather far from the center and barely planted into the target, Link made sure to be as positive as he could.
"That is not bad at all, Bernie!" Exclaimed the Hylian, slightly forcefully.
"No, no… It won't do…" Bernadetta's reaction, however, was not at all what Link had hoped for. "I've gotten even worse than before! I knew it, I…"
"Hey, now. Don't be like that…" Said Link in a kind tone as he walked up behind the mauve-haired girl. "You have just gone a bit rusty, that's all. With practice, it'll come back, you'll see. Now… Take a few deep breaths. You need to keep your aim steady, and panic is not really good for that, usually."
After inhaling and exhaling a few times as demanded, Bernadetta let out a heavy sigh as she picked up another arrow.
"But I'm telling you that I'm not going to be good at it, or just fighting…" She then pointed at her rachitic arms with a despaired expression. "Look at me, how could I ever become something like you?"
"I… You don't need to be anything like me…" Admitted Link, sighing himself. "But when someone is going to try to harm you, wouldn't you like to be the person that can defend herself?"
"No! I would much rather call for help and let someone else deal with it…"
Now, the pair was standing in an impasse, and the Hero of Hyrule was no longer capable of hiding his disappointment, which only further encouraged the fragile girl's current behavior.
"And yet, when…" Link then stopped, reconsidering the example he was going to give, before he resumed. "Listen, Bernadetta. You simply need to practice more. You'll feel much better about yourself when you do."
"And even if I become good… What will it do? I'll just end up ruining everything again. Like I did with you." Retorted the young Varley, which caused Link's head to drop slightly forward.
"You didn't do anything wrong, Bernie, and you will not ever." The Hylian then kneeled down so his gaze could be on Bernadetta's level. "I don't know what others have told you, but I can assure you that I believe in you. Now, please, continue your training a little."
"If I do that…" The fragile girl began to say with a slight pout. "Will you make me a meal like those you did back then?"
"If you do well, I'll go out of my way to make you the greatest plate I have ever done!" Exclaimed the Hylian with a grin. "And then, I'll just keep making better food forever!"
With a slight smile, Bernadetta then nodded and readied her weapon, much to Link' relief. As he had predicted, each one of the few next arrows were shot closer to the target's center than the last.
"Right there! That is more like it! Just some more time and you'll be a true sniper!" Said the Hylian rather joyously as the young Varley blushed under the praise. However, shortly after, Bernadetta noticed something behind Link and adopted much more nervous facial features. Curious, Link turned around and caught the sight of the small brawler, Caspar, who was observing them. The blue-haired boy had been contending himself with standing still, with two training axes in his possession, until Link would be free to talk too.
"Hey there. Wanted something?" Asked Link as his protégé glanced at him worryingly.
"Yep, I did" Said the little blue ball of energy as he stretched slightly. "I wanted to train a bit with someone who used axes, but Edelgard's busy with her friend and Jeritza's busy with Petra… I was thinking about sparring with ya…"
As he listened to the blue-haired boy, Link slowly nodded and looked down at Bernadetta before he patted her shoulder.
"Do you think you can continue a bit without me? If someone comes too close, just scream and I'll come to you, okay?" He then turned back to Caspar and smiled slightly. "You want me to use an axe as well, I guess?"
Then, as the Hylian and the boy discussed about the rules of their little duel, the young Varley took a deep inspiration to calm herself down before she resumed her practice.
"So, one training axe each, with the loser being the first one touched… Sounds fair enough." Said Link once the two finished to determine the rules.
"Yep. I don't know if I can beat someone as strong as you, but it's surely going to be a good fight. Not as if I was fighting my dad, anyway…"
"Your father is a warrior?" Asked the Hylian with raised eyebrows.
"Yeah, Count Bergliez! The Minister of War and one of the toughest men in the entire Empire! I hope I can become just as cool as him one day…" Exclaimed Caspar with pride.
"Well, being able to idolize your dad is a pretty good thing…" Link commented with slight irony as the two placed themselves on the sandy arena. Link held his weapon to his side, ready to swing at any time, while Caspar rather placed it in a defensive manner in front of him. "Ready, kid?"
"You bet!"
Then, Caspar roared as he threw himself forward, managing to take Link by surprise and making the Hylian place his own weapon in order to block his foe's attack. As his first hit was completely stopped, the young Bergliez simply swung his axe a few more times relentlessly. Each time, however, Link would either deflect the blow or take a step backwards to dodge it completely. This little game ended up frustrating the brawler, who tried to overwhelm the instructor's temporary assistant with a down strike.
"Alright, let's see how you take this!"
At the moment that his attack was going to connect with Link's shoulder, however, the Hylian moved to the side so quickly that Caspar was only able to see a blur where his opponent was supposed to be. Conserving his momentum, Link began to spin around with his axe extended away from him, and it was going to hit the young Bergliez tight in the cheek.
All that Caspar had been capable of processing was his axe continuing its route straight to the ground without interruption, instead of hitting Link, and the Hylian suddenly having the blunt end of his weapon right next to his face as a gust of wind went on his cheek. Both from shock and instinct, Caspar froze and glanced at Link, who was bearing a completely deadpan expression.
Then, as a way to end the spar, Link grinned as he performed a quite potent poke on Caspar's face with his axe which, despite the little effort on his part, sent the younger man backwards and forced him to retake his footing.
"Ow, you didn't have to do that…" Complained the brawler, rubbing his cheek.
"I abided by your own rules, kid." Explained the Hylian as he stretched and gave his axe to Caspar.
"So?" Asked Caspar with a confidant frown. "How do you think I was?"
"Honestly?" Link asked back. The blue-haired boy nodded, prompting him to continue. "You were pretty oppressive, but far too reckless. You leave yourself wide open with your attacks. That's how you lost so quickly."
"What? I am aggressive so my enemy doesn't have time to breathe and think!" Retorted Caspar, offended. "You just got lucky and got me with the only attack you made in the whole fight!"
"Alright. I've made only one attack, yes. However, it was precisely calculated. From the way you swing your weapon around, I was able to determine the best moment to strike myself, and I was right." Explained the assistant-instructor. "Also, let's be frank. With your stature, one hit is more than enough to beat you, spar or not."
"And what does that mean?" Asked Caspar again, although with an angry glare this time.
"It means that you cannot afford to leave yourself open to attacks. You're too thin to take damage reliably, and you're too small to physically dominate an opponent. You would have to take a more defensive approach, like me."
"… You don't seem to be someone to know how it is to fight when you're smaller." Stated Caspar defensively as he began to pout. "You need to surprise the enemy, to cut off their options before the fight even starts properly!"
Link then looked down and checked himself out for a short while, noting how much he'd grown after he'd beaten the Calamity.
"Trust me, boy. I've not always been this big. When I fought with large monsters back in the day, I had to be analytical and precise. If I wasn't, then my enemies would have crushed me in a few seconds flat."
"…" The young Bergliez then sighed out and nodded slowly. "Aight, if we assume that you're right, then how could I do to be less open?"
"Let me see…" Link reflected shortly while he rubbed his chin. "Most importantly, your movements are way too ample. You need to make quick strikes so you can return to defense as fast as possible. You should put it a bit into practice. Why don't you go back to your dummy for a moment?"
After nodding in response to Link's proposition, Caspar began to walk back to where he had been training prior to sparring with the Hylian while mumbling to himself the advice that he had been given. As for Link, he firstly amusingly observed the youngster as he began to swing his axe around, trying to make less wide movements. Then, he turned his gaze to Bernadetta, who was dutifully shooting her arrows and, from the marks in the target, Link could tell that she already had gained a bit of her expertise back.
In the middle of his short break, however, Link's reverie was interrupted by Jeritza walking up behind him, startling the Hylian with his soothing, deep voice.
"How are they handling themselves?" He asked, presumably in reference to Caspar and Bernadetta. Link glanced back at the weapon instructor and shrugged.
"The boy is a bit reckless, but he's got the right attitude. He'll just need to practice a bit more…" He then frowned a little as he rubbed his chin. "Do you guys use shields, sometimes?"
"The warriors and soldiers who focus primarly on defense will often have one. Other people wear them, sometimes, but we tend not to, since it lowers our speed." Answered Jeritza slowly.
"Yeah, I said that because this blue-haired kid there could really use an upgrade to his defensive game…"
"What about Varley?" Asked the masked instructor.
"Oh, her? She's just needing some practice to get her skill back." While Jeritza found this comment strange, he did not comment on it and let Link continue. "However, she's a bit weak, physically… I'll have to do something about it."
"What is your intention?"
"I'm going to become her personal cook!" Exclaimed the Hylian. "She loves the stuff I make, so I'll give her meals that'll bulk her up in no time!"
"It is not going to be an easy feat. By all evidence, she has had a stunted growth." Observed Jeritza. Knowing the quite impressive size of her parents in comparison to Bernie, Link had to agree.
"I know, but I'm pretty sure that I will be able to make something great out of her." Stated the Hylian, determined.
While the Black Eagles were having their training session and the Blue Lions were in class for their teacher's lecture, the Golden Deer House was preparing for a totally different activity. Indeed, its members, as well as their professor, had been busy for the first class hour of the day with gathering combat material in a quite spacious cart, while the members of a battalion of the Knights of Seiros either helped the youngsters or did their own preparation.
As Byleth was bringing her old and trusted iron sword, she noticed a familiar green-haired figure discussing with the knights with his usual stern look and his arms crossed behind his back. She then approached the man and gave a formal bow as she began to speak.
"Good morning, Seteth. May I ask you what you were doing here this morning?"
Upon hearing this question, the bureaucrat merely raised his eyebrows in confusion before he responded.
"Well, if you and the knights are going to have a mock battle, then someone needs to monitor and act as a referee for it. It would be unfortunate if there was any accident, after all."
"… Fair enough." Admitted the new professor, turning her head to look at her students, who were pretty much done as well. "We are almost ready to go. You give the signal?"
After a nod from Seteth, the former mercenary walked back to the cart where her class had begun to place themselves. They had mostly sat down with their backs resting on the small ramparts on the sides of the vehicle. The only exception was Claude, who was situated at the back, with his legs lazily hanging down from the edge. Every single student present looked at Byleth as she approached.
"Alright. Everyone is ready?" Asked the new professor. Following this was a myriad of various forms of 'yes' coming from her students, except for Marianne, who didn't speak up due to her own timidity, and Hilda, who was pouting due to having to do some work today.
Right after this came Seteth's signal for the group to begin its travel, and thus the driver of the class' cart ordered his horses to pull. As the little caravan of knights and students slowly drove out of the monastery's grounds, Byleth pulled out a folded piece of paper from under her coat and smiled slightly as she looked over her charges.
"So, let's talk strategy before we begin…"
Immediately, Hilda let out a small groan as she looked away, preferring to admire the scenery instead. Claude and Ignatz, on the contrary, jerked their heads in their teacher's direction with an interested expression, as the rest of the class merely looked on with simple curiosity.
After gaining the attention of most of her students, Byleth unfolded what turned out to be a makeshift map, like the one she had gotten from Seteth prior to the first mock battle. On its south-west corner, she had drawn a red circle, representing the Golden Deer's initial position at the beginning of the battle. At the north and east of this circle were green dots representing forests and bushes, and the rest of the map had various markers of trees and enemy positions scribbled on it.
"As I have learned from Seteth, we are going to fight on a nearby plateau, where there are a lot of hiding spaces. However, while this can help us a lot, this is also true for our opponents, so we need to…" The former mercenary then paused as Ignatz lifted his hand to silently ask for parole. "Yes, what is it?"
"Right, excuse me, but… Will there be a risk of injury today? I mean, during the fight…" Asked the glasses-wearing boy timidly. In response, Byleth blinked once in slight confusion before answering.
"Yes, there will be… We are going to fight, Ignatz. There is always a risk."
Raphael, who was sitting right beside the frail archer, let out a hearty laugh as he patted his friend's shoulder.
"Hey, don't worry like that, buddy. It won't be so bad! I'll be there to protect you!"
"And besides…" Interrupted Lysithea, glaring at Ignatz. "You are probably going to end up behind the rest of us due to your role. It's people like Leonie and Raphael who are going to take the biggest of the knights' attacks, so don't cower already."
Taking a slightly offended expression upon being called a coward, Ignatz then decided to simply accept his fate and sighed as he leaned back on the cart's wall. Byleth continued her explanations.
"As I was saying, we are going to take advantage of the forests surrounding our starting point. Could someone tell me which positions would be optimal to take?"
A moment of silence then befell on the group, only disturbed by the chirping noises of the cart's wheels and the stepping sounds of the nearby cavaliers' mounts. After some individual deliberation, Claude was the first to speak out, pointing at the north of the red circle.
"Well, here I can see that a few knights are going to have a rather easy time coming down on us, since there is a clearing in the woods…" He then designated a few green dots just besides the opening he had talked about. "However, this would also be the perfect place for an ambush. I could see someone strong being a lure with an archer or two waiting right there…"
"Very well observed, Claude. We should not mobilize more of our troops there than necessary, however, since we are not that much numerous, and the enemy is going to come mostly on the line of forest at the east." Added Byleth, scrutinizing her own map with attention.
"So, for this line…" Leonie intervened. "Are we going to spread out as well?"
"This would be for the best." Said Byleth while nodding approvingly. "If we send only one or two people at the front, then they could get ganged on by the enemy, while a line would force them to fight us separately. As such, I want Claude, Leonie, Hilda, and Lorenz to advance in line. Claude, Ignatz, Raphael and I will fight at the north, Lysithea will attack from behind us and you, Marianne, you will stay behind us as well in order to heal anyone who would need it."
"Huh?" Exclaimed the tired-looking girl before she uttered a heavy sigh. "But… I'll just make the situation worse…"
"What?" Asked Lysithea incredulously before she added, chuckling slightly. "What do you mean? Your only role is literally to heal them! How could you end up doing anything bad?"
"Yeah, on that note, professor…" Added Hilda. "I was wondering if I could offer some… psychological support instead of physical, you know, cheering on the rest of the team?"
"Oh, come on! What now?" Leonie mumbled, slightly annoyed. "You'll come at the front with us and fight like everyone."
"Hey, not everyone always wants to battle like some of you!" Retorted the pink-haired girl as the tension slowly began to build up within the group.
"Everyone, that's enough already!" Everyone, including Byleth, turned their head to look at the back of the cart, where Claude now stood up. "I know that we are all very different, but there is no place for infighting right before a battle, so I suggest that we instead listen to the Professor and then stick to our roles. After all, she's done this for a long time, and she knows what she is doing!"
As Byleth thanked the House leader and resumed her tactical reflections, Leonie then felt as though there missed something, or someone. After all, Claude did not usually get to say anything without getting interrupted by…
Lorenz!
She then quickly looked around, just to make sure that they hadn't forgotten him back at the monastery. She did spot him fast enough, sitting by his lonesome at the front of the vehicle. However, instead on focusing on contradicting Claude or attempting to be the first to answer the Professor's questions like he usually did, he was instead staring at his left hand with an awful lot of concentration, as the latter glowed with a small orange light. Curious, she then began to observe his odd behavior before she asked him about it herself.
"Hey, Lorenz. What're you doing?"
"Hm?" The young nobleman lifted his head and looked at Leonie before her question fully registered into his brain, at which point he responded. "Oh, I am simply trying to use some magic… an old spell I learned long ago…"
"Magic, huh?" Leonie repeated as she focused on Lorenz' hand. "I've not seen it a lot before… will you use some during the battle?"
"No, of course not!" Said the mauve-haired boy, chuckling slightly as he did so. "If I tried to apply in battle a spell that I cannot use well, I could severely harm myself, and possibly someone else. I intend to follow professor Hanneman's seminaries in order to get some training in Reason later."
"Yeah, you need like you need to gain a lot of that…" Retorted Leonie with a sly grin. Lorenz nodded in approval and then returned to his practice. "Do you at least listen to the professor?"
"Yes, I am. I will be part of the assault line of the East. Now, please, I am in the middle of practicing…"
Shrugging and then letting her gaze wander on the scenery, Leonie then realized that they were approaching a small plateau on one of the mountains nearing the monastery, and thus she decided to begin preparing herself mentally for the battle instead.
Back at the training arena of Garreg Mach, the class of the Black Eagles had taken a short halt as came the break. The House leader, as well as her loyal servant Hubert, had taken this small opportunity to go take a walk around the dorms of the monastery. Going in the direction of the boy's room, many would have made some rather dirty presumptions regarding their intentions.
Of course, the pair was not going to do anything as scandalous as this. Instead, after they both entered the small bedroom, Hubert made a quick check outside to make sure that no one had followed them while his liege uttered a sigh of relief as she sat on the edge of his bed. Since they would have to go back to the arena soon, the dark-haired boy didn't waste time before saying what was on his mind.
"Lady Edelgard, it would appear that this outsider is going to be continuing to be a presence for a good period of time." Stated the sinister servant after he closed the door. In response, his House leader nodded slowly.
"I have noticed. Have you had any luck with your research so far?" She asked.
"Actually, I have." Said Hubert with a slight grin. "I had a suspicion that Mister Link was involved in the assault on Count Varley. Do you happen to recall?"
"Yes, it was quite some time ago. He never told anyone about what happened, however. What made you think this, exactly?" Asked Edelgard again with a cautious frown. She did not want to trust a stranger blindly, but she believed that not jumping to conclusions about them was also a necessity.
"It is his younger brother, Jonas von Varley. He was not involved much in his family's affairs before the incident, but afterwards he has all but disappeared from public life. I actually had to verify that he wasn't dead…" Hubert explained his reasoning as he joined his hands together, pointing them down at every step of his thought process. "Through some questioning, I have also discovered that Jonas was housing an outsider at the time of the incident. As of now, it isn't the case anymore. It is nothing concrete, but still…"
Following her servant's explanation, the heir of Adestria's throne nodded slowly. Then, she looked up into Hubert's eyes.
"And from your observations of him, what have you concluded? Could he be a spy masquerading as him?"
Now, Hubert's expression became uncertain, which seemed quite strange to Edelgard if her slightly widening eyes and tilted head were any indication.
"It is hard to say at the moment, Lady Edelgard. He acts very suspiciously, that is sure. He is always lurking around, observing the facilities and the staff. Two days ago, in the evening, he departed from the monastery and went into the woods. I followed him from afar enough, thinking that he was going to report to superiors, or something similar, but he merely established a rudimentary camp and slept outdoors."
"Did he do anything the next morning?" Inquired Edelgard.
"No, he did not. He woke up in a screaming panic and then went back to the Academy after regaining his composure." Hubert explained, not bothering to mention that Link's cries had also awakened him, after he had failed to remain alert for the entire night. "His behavior is strange, but there is no proof that he works for… them."
"I see. So, he still is a wild card. This thing he brings everywhere, however… This is still something that troubles me much."
"His Plate, Lady Edelgard?"
"He called it a 'Slate', and he claimed it to be a magical artefact from his homeland. Have you seen it function?" After her servant shook his head, she continued. "It seems to bring to him what he desires within a short moment… Similar to the Rescue spell. I have never seen them use something like this before."
"Then, either this is the true Link and his claims are true, or this impostor strengthens the façade with one of the original's possessions." Stated the servant with an unsatisfied frown. "Still not conclusive in the slightest. What shall we do, regarding him?"
"We need to finish our little investigation quickly, that is certain. He is supposed to go help the Golden Deer and the knights when they go fight Kostas, right? If he is with them, then we will know for certain at this moment. Until then, we are going to be late, so let's rejoin Jeritza and the others right now."
"As you wish, Lady Edelgard."
Back at the arena, the students who had already returned had resumed their activities without much input from either their instructor or the latter's temporary assistant. Bernadetta was slowly but surely shooting her arrows as instructed prior, Linhardt and Dorothea were practicing their magical endurance, and so forth.
As Edelgard and Hubert came back from their slightly overly long break, almost no one in the area gave them any kind of attention, with the notable exception of Ferdinand. The ginger noble turned his head around and observed his House leader as she strolled on the sandy ground and went to retrieve her training axe. A slight grin appeared on his face as he went to meet her.
"Hey, Edelgard! You arrive just at the right time!" Exclaimed the heir of House Aegir, happily waving in the direction of the white-haired girl. She and her servant, however, were far from as thrilled as he was.
"Allow me to doubt it." Hubert stated with his arms crossed behind his back. Although his tone was calm, annoyance was fairly obvious in his expression. Sighing in reaction to the dark-haired boy's intervention, Ferdinand resumed.
"I was just now searching for a sparring partner! Since you are quite talented, I believed that you would be the perfect foe to test my abilities against!"
"While this sounds… interesting…" Replied Edelgard, trying her best not to raise her voice. "I would rather practice alone for today."
"Are you sure? Doing exercises on your own is great, but without practical experience regarding how to use your skill in battle, it is virtually useless!" Ferdinand retorted back, now sporting a frown.
"Ferdinand, stop harassing me everywhere I go. Not everything that we do needs to become a competition between the two of us."
"I don't think you understand, Edelgard. I am simply wanting to practice against someone who can challenge me properly!"
"Aegir, cease this right this instant." Interrupted Hubert, who was now scowling down at the ginger nobleman. "You haven't stopped annoying and arguing with Lady Edelgard since the day we arrived here."
"Hmph." Ferdinand, for his part, looked unimpressed by the taller servant as he crossed his own arms. "I would rather be annoyed and argued with than having an enabler and a yes-man like yourself."
As the tension was rising between the two men, the scene started by Ferdinand had attracted the attention of nearly every other student in the class, except for the sleepy Linhardt, and even of Jeritza, much to Edelgard's chagrin. Shortly, the masked instructor slowly approached the three youngsters.
"What is the matter here?" While his voice remained steady, a quick look under his mask would have revealed his annoyed frown.
"Pardon me, Instructor Jeritza." Said Ferdinand with a bow, immediately abandoning all attempt at continuing to argue with his House Leader, while both Edelgard and Hubert glared at him for trying to spin the situation as him being the victim. "I simply wished to invite her to duel."
"And what is the problem?" Asked the masked man again, now glancing at the white-haired girl. "You have not practiced much with others yet. If what I heard of your performance against the bandits is true, then you need to gain experience."
As she was about to argue, Edelgard then refrained herself and uttered a resigned sigh as she scowled at Ferdinand, who was now grinning victoriously.
"Fine. I will spar with you."
On this, both she and Ferdinand took some distance from each other before they adopted a fighting stance, with Ferdinand readying his spear as Edelgard raised her axe. Meanwhile, the rest of the group had assembled and circled the dueling pair, either curious about who the winner would be or amused by their behavior.
Hubert, for his part, had taken a reasonable distance and only looked at the fight because there was not much else to do with everyone, including Link and Jeritza, being focused on something else. For him, there was no point in observing, since he was certain of his mistress' victory. A confidant grin appeared in his face as he crossed his arms, unaware of the figure who had just taken place besides him.
"Hubert, could you do me some explanations, please?"
As the feminine voice appeared out of nowhere, Hubert flinched slightly as he looked to see just who had spoken. His alarmed state calmed down slightly when he realized just who had startled him: Petra, recognizable by her magenta braid and her imperfect speech patterns. At the same time, the servant also cursed himself for letting himself be surprised by anyone closing in on him, whoever they may be.
"What do you need explained?" Hubert asked back, looking down at the youngest member of the Black Eagles with his usual cold stare.
"Yes, it is about Ferdinand. He always provokes Edelgard at every time. Why is that?"
"I could not tell you myself." Hubert responded as he shrugged and looked at the ginger nobleman with contempt. "Some people simply need to try and prove their superiority to others, I suppose."
"Oh, I am seeing…" Then, as Jeritza announced the start of the duel, the two opponents' weapons began to clash. "Who are you thinking will win, then?"
"It is not even questionable." Responded Hubert, lifting his chin in pride on his leader's behalf. "Lady Edelgard will win with little trouble."
As he said these words, indeed, Edelgard had begun to push back on Ferdinand's assault and even managed to get a good hit in. Meanwhile, as the young man was focused on regaining his footing, the House leader attempted a second attack at his torso, but the heir of House Aegir managed to take another step back to evade the blow and immediately came back to the offensive. Becoming disinterested in the battle, Hubert turned his head around and addressed Petra once more.
"I hope that your stay at Garreg Mach is enjoyable, so far?"
"Yes, it is!" Answered the braided girl with a little nod. "It is much different from Brigid, however."
"I suppose so. Your situation isn't truly an enviable one, but you seem to be handling yourself well enough so far." Stated the dark-haired boy, shaking his head as he looked down in regret.
At this moment, the training arena found itself filled with applause following a winning hit on Edelgard's part, accompanied with the various comments of the onlookers.
"Wow, that's what I call a fight!"
"Can I go to my room, now?"
"No, you can't, I promised you a meal, remember?"
"Good battle. Now, go back to your training."
"You go, Edie!"
"That wasn't worth interrupting my nap for…"
As the rest of the class dispersed in order to go back to their previous activities, Edelgard dusted herself after her victory and solemnly walked towards Hubert, who bowed in an almost exaggerated manner at her arrival.
"Lady Edelgard, your triumph was nothing else than assured."
"Calm down, Hubert." Edelgard chuckled slightly at the praise, then sighed out. "And besides, he didn't fight badly either. I actually had to try if I wanted to win."
"But of course, Lady Edelgard."
Now that the lunch break had come around, the two Houses who were still in the monastery had gathered in order to get a delicious meal, and the trio formed by Ingrid, Sylvain and Felix was no exception.
Right after the three childhood friends sat down to eat, though, Ingrid noticed that the expressions of her two companions weren't exactly joyful. Getting slightly worried for her two friends, she spoke out as they ate.
"Hey, guys, what's gotten into you lastly? You're always so moody."
To her surprise, it was not Sylvain who responded first, but Felix, the eternal taciturn.
"Hanneman's class is boring, that is what. We are always talking, and talking, and we never do anything practical."
"We do have the training sessions, like everybody else, to be fair." Retorted the blonde, causing the young Fraldarius to scowl at her.
"Yes, but we have the worst deal of the bunch. The Black Eagles have just gotten an excellent fighter, the outsider, at their disposal at almost all time. As for the Golden Deer, they have a reknown mercenary as a professor who actually cares about their strengths and who has just brought her class to a supplementary battle today!" Then, Felix pointed at himself and Sylvain with exasperation. "What do we have? A decrepit old man who can do nothing but ramble about Crests and a psychotic boar who could snap at any minute."
"Maybe if you were not always focused on how much you hate Dimitri and how chivalry is overrated, then you could see that there's more to his lectures than Crests." Retorted Ingrid, now pointing at Felix with her finger.
Silence fell on the trio as Sylvain uncomfortably continued to eat. Sighing in reaction to Felix's rant, Ingrid then turned to look at the red-headed boy.
"And you, what's your reason?"
Shrugging dismissively, Sylvain contended himself with continuing his plate as his blonde friend became exasperated with him.
"Don't tell me it's because of the girls again?"
Now that his secret had been uncovered, Sylvain let out a small 'hmph' and looked to the side.
"Yeah, well with your little outburst the other day, almost everyone's giving me funny looks and cold shoulders, so it's not really easy to approach women anymore."
"I would be embarrassed too if someone called me out for being a pervert in front of the whole academy." Admitted Felix with a half-amused smirk. "Why don't you yell again the story of how he flirted with your grandma?"
"We don't need that, alright?" Asked Sylain, before he shook his head with a soft sigh. "Listen, Ingrid, I am just a little down at the moment."
"Why don't you switch classes, then? You would have a pretty teacher and I wouldn't have to endure your stupidities anymore."
"Don't say anything stupid, Felix." Interrupted Ingrid, now leaning back in her chair in resignation. "I just worry a bit for you two."
"You do not need to." Retorted the young Fraldarius as he finished his plate and got up from the table. "Now, if you need me, I'll be at the training arena."
Since she also was almost done with her own meal, Ingrid decided that she would get out as well, and she waved at Sylvain before she left.
"See you in class."
Now alone on the table, in the middle of an emptying dinner hall, the red-head had some time to reflect on the discussion that had just happened. Yes, it was dumb to be in a bad mood just because he couldn't flirt as easily with girls anymore… However, it still didn't help the fact that he couldn't flirt as easily as before.
Then, his mind wandered off to the other points made, especially Felix'. Not the part about flirting with Grandma Galatea, but rather the part about switching classes. It was dumb to think about it, but at the same time… He would finally have either Manuela or Byleth as a teacher, which would be quite nice, all things considered.
Though, even if he wanted to make a demand, neither of them would accept this soon in the year. It meant that he could try his luck and, if it didn't work out, he simply would contend himself with staying with Hanneman…
No, it was definitively worth trying.
In the late afternoon, the carriage that had brought the Golden Deer to its training battlefield was now beginning its travel back to the monastery of Garreg Mach in a slow pace. Its charges, who had been, for the most part, eager and energetic this morning were now sitting in silence, with some of the students having gained new bandages in the mock battle that had occurred sooner in the day.
While Byleth had gotten on horseback and discussed with Seteth about the progress of the students and to possibly organize another fight soon, the knights who were travelling near the cart adopted uncomfortable expressions as the Golden Deers argued among themselves. Leonie spoke out first, rubbing her scratched arm.
"Seriously, people! You could have made at least some effort and tried to advance at the same rate as me! Now, the knights have all gone on me on the spot and it's your fault!"
"Hey, don't put all of the blame on us!" Retorted Hilda, who pointed an accusatory finger at the redhead with an offended frown. "You just ran off and practically offered yourself to them! If anything, it was you who was too zealous!"
"And why should we have waited? They were already coming in our direction!" Exclaimed Leonie.
"Becauuse, we could have just waited for them to come and beat them up when they approached, like I proposed. They saw you because you were moving too fast." Stated the pink-haired girl, crossing her arms.
"You don't get it? I was trying to keep the advantage of the forest! If we got them before they could enter, then we would have had the cover for ourselves."
"Yeah, see where this 'advantage' got you…" Added Hilda with a mocking smirk.
"While Leonie's strategy was reckless without doubt…" Interrupted Lorenz, raising a finger up as if asking too late for parole. "She does have merit to have tried to get the enemy in a disfavorable position. Especially since you, Hilda, tried to stay away from the fight."
"Come on, Lorenz, I was just trusting you guys. Isn't this the right attitude to have?" Complained the pink-haired girl, rolling her eyes.
"Not if it causes you to not assist your teammates. I do not understand wy you would not help us out, however. From what I have seen you accomplish in the second half of the battle, your skill with your axe are quite formidable!" Lorenz responded with a questioning look on his face.
As the three frontliners were arguing, Claude uttered a heavy sigh, getting slightly annoyed by their banter and readying himself to interrupt while Marianne shriveled up in the corner of the cart as she looked down in shame.
"This is all my fault… if I had done better, then you could maybe have beaten them…"
Then, the blue-haired teen flinched as a muscular hand gripped her shoulder and gently shook her. Turning her head around, she saw the imposing form of Raphael, who was smiling at her as Ignatz, who was sitting besides him, looked at her with pity.
"Don't be so hard on yourself, Marianne! If you hadn't been there, then I and Ignatz would have had a lot more trouble with our own guys."
"But… you still lost…" Retorted the timid girl as she loked away from the mountain of a man sitting besides her.
"Yeah, but only after we went on to help Leonie out. I'm serious, you were a lifesaver!"
"…" Marianne could only sit in silence as she tried to ignore Raphael's praise, while the giant blonde turned over to Lysithea, who was pouting alone.
"Hey, nothing hurt? Did you need bandages or something?" In response to Raphael's well-intentionned questioning, however, the little white-haired girl scowled at him.
"Why do you ask? Of course I'm not hu-Hngh!" At this moment, a quite vicious hit at her abdomen dealt earlier caused her to curl up in pain, which only exacerbed her frustration. "And even if I was, I can handle it perfectly on my own."
"Are you sure? You seem kinda hurt…" Retorted the blonde man, to the young girl's exasperation.
"Can you just stop it? You act like I'm some sort of child who needs to be protected! Who do you think you are, my big brother?"
"I… yeah, maybe a bit?" Hesitated Raphael. "How old are you again? Weren't you, like, fifteen or so?"
"This is completely irrelevant!" Shouted the youngest member of the Golden Deer. Decidin to let this subject go, Raphael did not speak further, letting the argument between Lorenz, Leonie and Hilda fill the air.
"And if you think my tactics were good, then why didn't you come? We could have handled them!" Exclaimed the redhead to Lorenz, who quickly defended himself while lifting up his chin.
"I was waiting for Marianne to keep up with us after she had to help Raphael and Ignatz. With a healer to support us, we would had fared much better!" Oblivious as to how this new statement only worsened Marianne's guilt, Lorenz then looked at Claude with contempt. "At least, we didn't follow his idea. Did you truly believe that the knights would have fallen for such an obvious trap?"
"Better than just waiting for them, Lorenz." Argued the tanned archer. "In this case, we would have had a slight surprise advantage."
Just as the violet-haired nobleman was about to argue back, he suddenly stopped moving as he looked at the back of their vehicle. As everyone else noticed his staring, they turned to see as well and realized that their professor, Byleth, had just got off from the horse she had borrowed from some knight and climbed onto the cart. Scrutinizing every student present, she then took in a deep breath and spoke up.
"Alright, brats. Today, I think that you all saw for yourself why I am planning to make you practice so much. Am I not right?"
"Excuse me, professor…" Ignatz said, blushing heavily as everyone's attention was turned on him. "We did follow your ideas… We all worked with the same strategy."
"Well, yes, but actually no." Responded Byleth, to the green-haired boy's surprise. "Everyone had a good idea of what they had to do, but after this you simply fought on your own. While Lorenz and Hilda waited for the enemy to come, Leonie went to attack, and Lysithea tried to take them by the flank. Except for the basic strategy, only Raphael, Ignatz and I actually cooperated at the north."
Then, the cart found itself in complete silence for the first time since it departed, which let Byleth continue.
"It is important that we keep doing mock battles like this, since it will allow you to know of your teammates' antics and synergize with them. Tomorrow, I will give you a break from class and you will do chores in teams of two instead." As everyone else present either sighed or slowly nodded their heads, Byleth decided to give them some encouragements. "I will say, though, that you all did a pretty good job today. Two waves of knights defeated is no small feat for beginners, even if they were holding back. So, tonight, I will organize a feast for everyone here. What do you say?"
At this, most of the visages present suddenly lightened up and smiled, especially Raphael and Claude's. For the rest of the group, the sudden joy was less from the promise of food and more from the praise from their deadpan teacher.
"Well, looks like this day won't end up being so disastrous, now will it?" Asked the House leader, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.
As the monastery came into view, however, Byleth gave a look at her class, now more joyous, and grew slightly worried. While they had made significant progress in the last days, she was not sure if they really could hold on against a real enemy, like they would have to soon.
She quickly composed herself again, however. After all, the solution for this was simple: She was going to give them the hellish training they definitively need.
Later, during the night, the ambiance at Garreg Mach was quite festive, with one of the Houses celebrating their almost victory with a feast while another was testing out the cooking genius of a certain outsider after they had heard of it from their classmate.
However, in this dark place far from the Academy, illuminated by eerie and artificial blue light, the atmosphere was quite different. The small office would look fairly mundane if it were not for the unnatural and black metal-like material the furniture was made of and the lines of flowing blue energy passing through the floor.
In this strange place were two men. The first, who was fairly tall, wore a dark robe, which was quite similar to what a bishop would wear. His skin, which was of a deathly white, as well as his white hair and massive beard contrasted quite a lot with his choice of clothing. He was looking expectantly at the second man present.
The latter, unlike the first, was small and frail, always crouched over and using a cane to walk without exhausting himself. His own robe was of a darkly red and extended slightly past his legs to drag up behind him. His most defining feature, however, was his head. Without a hint of hair, the entire top half of his cranium seemed oversized when compared to his face and body which, coupled with the protruding veins that ran through all of its skin, made it look like it was inflated. On top of this, his right eye, which was almost completely black, was surrounded with flesh that had appeared to corrode, causing dark stripes to appear as well. Even next to his taller fellow, this man seemed like he came right out of a freak show.
"How is your operation going so far, Solon?" Asked the bearded man solemnly. In response, his companion chuckled and smirked.
"They are not even doubting a thing yet. They have no reason to suspect me so far."
"And what sort of information have you gathered on these newcomers, the mercenary and the outsider?" The taller man turned around to look at a few occult books in his office's library and looked through them, more out of habit than anything else.
"They are both quite intriguing so far. From what I heard of this Hylian vermin, he is quite talented in combat, and as such I will keep an eye on him. There is something about him that particularly interests me, however." As the bearded man looked back at him with a curious expression, Solon continued. "It is a magical object that he brings everywhere, he claims that it can invoke other things to his position on a whim. However, I have observed him a little more and I have discovered that it also capable of showing images."
"Do you believe that you could steal it?"
"No, he seems far too vigilant for this. Luckily, it will only be a matter of time before this Hanneman takes interest in it and shares his discoveries with anyone who listens. At this point, I will be able to know more of its capacities." Then, Solon's grin turned sinister as he thought of what the Hylian could be hiding about his little Slate.
"Good. You are right to remain careful. Even with our current plan, it is better to stay undetected until out dominance is assured. And what about the mercenary?"
"Oh, her case is somehow boring and extremely interesting at the same time. You see, her father is Sir Jeralt, who disappeared a few decades ago in a fire at Garreg Mach. When she was discovered by the church after she helped to save the three lords, the archbishop immediately gave her a teaching position, despite having absolutely no credentials for it. She also ignored Jeritza as a more proper replacement."
"In this case, this means that Rhea probably has a very specific reason for keeping this girl near her. I wonder why." The taller man then brought his hand to his chin as he reflected on this.
"Furthermore, she has tasked the new professor with dealing with the thugs that the Flame Emperor left in Zanato."
"!" Now, the bearded man nodded slowly. "On this note, I want you to go and monitor those bandits, Solon."
"What?" The disfigured fellow gave him a half-surprised, half-annoyed glance. "And why?"
"After the Flame Emperor left them to their fate, I believe that they could be capable of anything to save their own miserable lives. They could even try to denounce the Emperor to the Church."
"Even if they did so, then what would it change? It would still not lead them closer to discovering us in any way." Argued Solon.
"Maybe not, but it would give them an idea of what they are dealing with. Even if they only know of the Flame Emperor's existence, then it will give them more of a lead than none at all. For this reason, you will make sure that if they try anything, then they will not survive."
"Oh! This reminds me…" Solon then grinned again as he chuckled. "The new professor and the Hylian are supposed to be present, along with the Golden Deer. If an 'accident' was to happen, then we would be able to retrieve the Slate, on top of getting rid of witnesses and potential trump cards of the church…"
Then, the taller man's face lightened up at the sinister idea as well, and he turned his head around to give a nod of approval at his disfigured underling.
"This is quite an excellent idea… I suppose that you can handle this on your own well enough?"
"Of course, master Thales."
Author's notes:
Hello everyone! I hope that you had a good read. However, there are some things that I feel are needed to be said about this story.
Firstly, I must recognize that I am a novice writer, and that Fire Emblem: Three Houses has way too much characters for me to give them all the spotlight they deserve. Link, The Golden Deer House and a few other students and staff members will be notable, but I fear that a lot of the game's cast will end up being relegated to being background characters, as much as it pains me.
Secondly, the reason for which I did not include the mock battle against the Knights of Seiros is because it is just another generic fight, and because action scenes are not the ones I prefer to write. Instead, I go for the character banter afterwards, which does a decent job at explaining the battle anyways. When a fight becomes more unique, like against Kostas or Lonato, then I will put it into more detail.
P.S.: So, Byleth has made it into Smash! I will say, this was a bit of an odd timing for adding them, but I do think that it is quite an awesome day for TH! Also, the 4rth DLC looks quite epic.
Let's just assume that the Ashen Wolves are hanging out in the Abyss doing nothing during The Legend of Fodlan, like they do in every playthrough before their inclusion. If I ever do a sequel to this fic, though, they could be fun to integrate in some manner.
Once again, if you have questions, remarks or anything else, feel free to post a review!
Until next chapter, y'all!