White Clouds: The Meeting

Before starting this story off, I want to inform anyone of the other story I am writing concurrently with this one titled: The Bubbly and the Surly.

It's a FelAnnie modern AU story I am writing on the side and while it does feature the mentioned couple mainly, it also features other ships that are also present in Last Scion, especially the main pair of this story in a modern AU.

Hope to also see your support there guys!

Lysithea has heard of what has transpired to the three house leaders since she last saw Claude leave yesterday, she was enjoying a cake she baked with her own recipe at the dining hall when word reached her ears.

She arrived at the Golden Deer classroom to see her house leader being flocked by the members of the class, asking various questions about his well being and of what has happened during his outside campus training exercise with Edelgard and Dimitri who were also being flocked by their respective classmates on the other classrooms.

"I'm fine, a sleeve of my uniform got scratched from a random tree branch while we were evading them but otherwise…" Claude stretched out his arms as if flaunting his unhurt body. "I am in tip-top shape!"

"Still Claude! That's such a scary situation to be in!" Ignatz said with a concerned look, not sharing Claude's positive view of what just happened, if it was him in Claude's shoes, Ignatz probably would have been indecisive on what to do.

Lorenz scoffed at Claude's nonchalant attitude on what just happened. "I can't believe you are the one to lead the Alliance when you come of age, such blatant disregard on your life and those with you as well could have big ramifications when you take Duke Riegan's position!"

Claude merely smiled at Lorenz' admonishment, further irritating the Gloucester heir.

"You have to take that complaint to the Imperial Princess, Lorenz. She was the one who proposed the joint training exercise, if you are brave enough to march into the Black Eagles classroom that is." Claude wittily responded, smirking at the indignation that built up on Lorenz' face.

Hilda giggled at the pacification of Lorenz' scrutinization on Claude and instead was more interested in something else.

"I heard a mercenary group was there to provide aid, is that true?" Hilda asked with curiosity at Claude's daring rescuers.

The mention of the word mercenary suddenly took every bit of Leonie's attention and came near Claude to listen closely.

Lysithea has stood beside Hilda by now, hugging a book and notebook to her chest as Claude relayed his experience.

"Turns out the mercenary group we ran into and asked for aid is none other than Jeralt the Blade Breaker-"

Leonie squealed out all of a sudden, surprising even Claude who was taken aback by Leonie's outburst. Lysithea remembered hearing of Jeralt's name the other day when Leonie mentioned her but to have the man himself come to their aid, it is such a small world they live in.

"OH MY GODDESS! CAPTAIN JERALT SAVED YOU?!"

A sweat dropped down Claude's brow. "Ah yeah, but it's mostly his son who did most of the work-"

"I can't wait to see him again! I wonder if he still remembers me after all these years?!" Leonie was unstoppable in her jubilant joy. "Please tell me he's still here!"

"- he even saved Edelgard…" Claude trailed off as Leonie prattled on her excitement.

Lysithea sighed at Leonie, shaking her head in disapproval.

"So much noise due to one person." She remarked, unimpressed at the mentions of those people. She only put stock on people if she has seen for herself what they can do. "So, this son of this mercenary… what's he like?"

Claude glanced at Lysithea before cupping on his chin with his hand as if thinking on how to describe his savior earlier in better detail.

"He's quite… interesting. Never met a guy like him and that's pretty big to me considering how I've met different kinds of people." Claude looked up the ceiling with a smile. "I've never seen a man so devoid of any emotions. The way he moved… fought..."

From Lysithea's point of view, it seemed like Claude admired the man who saved him. This son of a mercenary of legendary repute… she would be lying if she thought that such thing didn't interest her, she wanted to see the way he moves, the way he fights and if he truly is devoid of any emotions as Claude claimed or were just embellished stories.

"Wow, it's not like you're the type to get so interested on someone." Hilda commented, resting her right elbow on the table while framing the right side of her face with her palm, she smiled at her house leader sitting beside her.

"I dunno, maybe?" Claude casually waved it off before standing up from one of the benches in the classroom he was sitting with Hilda. "I'll have to go and hit the sack, haven't gotten much sleep last night due to obvious reasons."

Claude then yawned, placing his right hand on his mouth as he did so.

"If we do have classes today, can I borrow your notes to copy from, Lysithea?" Claude casually asked the Ordelia heiress who snapped out of her own thoughts before glaring at Claude, apparently she hasn't forgotten on how he treated her yesterday.

"Borrow from someone else." Lysithea huffed puffs of hot breath through her nostrils while folding her arms under her chest, continually glaring at her house leader.

Claude blinked for a bit before shrugging.

"Right… you're more inclined to fall asleep in class due to your desire to grow up-"

Claude ran back towards his room that day when Lysithea formed a sphere of dark magic that she nearly threw towards Claude, if it weren't for Hilda and Ignatz holding her back, Claude would have been in the infirmary for days.

The following day…

It was still a fruitless day for Lysithea as there were still no formal classes and a professor assigned to their houses following the attempt on the three house leaders' lives yet the first thing Lysithea heard upon entering the dining hall was that-

"Did you hear? The guy who saved the house leaders yesterday is going to be teaching here!"

"That old man with a beard and scars?"

"No! It's the guy with green hair! Apparently, that old man is a former Knight of Seiros, the legendary Blade Breaker himself! And his son is the one who will be the new professor!"

'This topic again.' Lysithea sighed, it seems it's the only thing the students keeps yapping about ever since yesterday. Lysithea is honestly getting tired that everywhere she goes, it's always that incident, this Blade Breaker and his son that even Claude seems to admire.

She was more concerned over the waste of time of not being able to learn anything from anyone except herself since she stepped foot in Garreg Mach. The lack of progress was frustrating for someone as impatient as her.

Lining up for the queue of today's meal in the dining hall, Lysithea simply kept reading at the book she took from the library, it wasn't a magical tome or grimoire this time as she has mostly glossed over anything particularly interesting in such easy books, she was reading a book about economics and frankly, she could care less about it if she had a choice… only that she didn't have one.

Lysithea sighed, if she is to help her parents govern what they can in Ordelia territory and at least give the people under them some comfort before executing her plan of renouncing her nobility, she must learn how to at least better the welfare of their people by trade and commerce being one of the ways to do so.

She closed the book, deciding to tackle on the subject later until she remembered something…

If she recalled correctly, she has classmates in the Golden Deer who came from merchant families. She quickly disregarded the big buffoon who she still felt sorry for considering what happened to his parents yet there was a superior candidate in mind on who she can ask questions and advice from regarding such a topic in trade and commerce.

The bespectacled boy with moss green hair, Ignatz Victor, he seemed like a bright young man from the looks of it, as much as Lysithea hates stereotyping people and basing people's worth by superficial looks, maybe she could ask him later after eating her meal.

When Lysithea reached her turn, she immediately grimaced at what was being served today. On her tray was a bowl of lentil soup that eerily reeks of trout, served alongside it was a loaf of bread dusted with flour and a knob of butter beside it.

While she doesn't hate eating fish in general, most of the way they are cooked aren't to her liking, though she could at least take comfort it isn't purely a vegetable dish. The Ordelia heiress knew that she would definitely take longer than expected as she eats this abhorrent dish.

And for her, time is a commodity she couldn't afford to waste.

Upon reluctantly finishing her meal to keep her energy up for the fraction of today, Lysithea offset the taste by eating some of her personally baked treats from her room before proceeding to the Golden Deer classroom in hopes of encountering her query in there.

At least today somehow skewed into her favor when she finally saw bespectacled boy in the Golden Deer classroom reading something on one of the tables, there were also other notable people in the room such as that snobby nobleman with the bad haircut: Lorenz, Hilda who was conversing with Marianne who Lysithea was surprised could even exchange words properly with someone like Hilda. There's also Leonie and Raphael talking Goddess knows whatever...

Lysithea approached Ignatz just as he was turning to the next page of the book he was reading, Lysithea briefly saw the contents of what he was reading, finding out it was a book pertaining to illustrating anatomies of people?

"Uh…" Lysithea began to call out for her classmate but Ignatz didn't seem to notice.

"Ahem." She cleared her throat to get his attention as she stood behind him yet she received no response.

Lysithea grumbled impatiently before taking a deep breath.

"Hey!"

Ignatz jerked up from his seat in response before swiftly closing the book he was reading, turning around to see Lysithea looming over him.

"Oh Lysithea! Good morning… I'm sorry for not noticing you sooner..." Ignatz greeted the young noblewoman, immediately recognizing her most probably because of his good memory and Lysithea's unusual snow white hair.

Lysithea nodded and proceeded to respond in kind. "To you as well." She said, glancing at the cover of the book Ignatz was reading but couldn't see much of it as his hand blocked most of the text at the cover.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" Ignatz politely asked.

She nodded in response. "As a matter of fact, yes… you see…" She opened the book of economics she's been carrying, prompting Ignatz to stand up from his seat and waited for her to skim through the numbers and letters to find what she wants to inquire about.

"Since you came from a merchant family, I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions regarding trade and commerce? As someone who has seen and done it first hand, I would appreciate it if you can share some answers on this…"

Lysithea traced her finger on a specific part of the book she read as Ignatz went beside her and leaned closer, fixing his glasses to further have clarity on what Lysithea was pointing on.

"Hmm… oh! That's quite simple-"

As Ignatz began discussing Lysithea's inquiry regarding the book, they heard chatter around them, the two classmates looked around to see their peers looking at the doorway to the classroom to see a man they have never seen before in their short time in Garreg Mach, a man clad in a set of black clothes layered with several pieces of armor with the corresponding colors as his clothes.

At first, Lysithea wondered who was the stranger, even thought it was a Knight of Seiros sending a message but from what armor the man was wearing, it wasn't any standard issue armor… no… it seemed improvised…

Until Lysithea noticed the teal green tufts of hair on the man's head. She immediately knew who it was.

As the teal green haired man looked around the classroom as if calculating the inhabitants, Lorenz came forward and struck up a conversation with him. Being the first one to introduce himself and having the confidence to immediately propose spending time over a cup of tea with.

The man merely nodded at Lorenz' introduction, briefly speaking his name that Lysithea couldn't hear over the chattering of her peers around her and Ignatz.

Ignatz and Lysithea slightly tensed when they noticed how the stranger locked those cold and impassive blue eyes of his to Lysithea's pinkish red eyes.

Lysithea was so fixated by the blue eyes the stranger had that she didn't notice that he approached them already. She immediately thought of something to say as Ignatz was too stiff in his place to even speak, being overwhelmed by the strange aura the man was emitting.

"So y-you're the skilled mercenary who saved Claude, are you?" Lysithea spoke, her words escaping the tip of her tongue at the last minute after composing herself.

Ignatz glanced at Lysithea before forwarding his eyes back to the man with a wider eyes.

"Oh, you are?" Ignatz spoke out, surprised at the identity of the mystery man. "It's such an honor to meet you!" He continued and gave a short bow.

The teal haired man simply nodded like he did with Lorenz as his solemn tight lips slowly opened to reveal a voice that reminded Lysithea of a gentle one but greatly suppressed of any traces of emotion.

"I am Byleth Eisner. I will be the new professor of this academy." He placed his right hand on his chest before giving the two a bow of courtesy while introducing himself.

This surprised Lysithea, the rumor she disregarded earlier of a new professor turned out to be true after all.

Ignatz returned the gesture with a smile and a nod.

"Ignatz Victor. My parents are Alliance merchants."

Byleth then turned his gaze towards Lysithea who tensed up at the unreadable look he had in those blue eyes of his. Lysithea knew it was her turn to speak up and introduce herself properly to return the basic courtesy.

"And I am Lysithea von Ordelia." She smiled at him, she didn't know what her smile looked like when she moved the edges of her lips but she hoped it would have been a genuine one, she lost track of the last time she did so besides towards her parents.

"Please do not forget it." She finished while maintaining her smile, wanting to show a front of confidence to the new professor.

'Do not forget it? Why did you say that?!'

Lysithea mentally shouted at herself, she nearly sounded like Lorenz who had the audacity to brag about his identity to almost anyone he meets, expecting them to remember his name and his status as the heir of House Gloucester.

She felt dumb as she wrestled with her thoughts within.

Byleth briefly closed his eyes and nodded at their introductions before he left the two with nary another word.

"He's something alright. Claude was on point." Ignatz commented on the side as he watched Byleth approached Hilda and Marianne to introduce himself.

Lysithea didn't say anything for a moment, her eyes kept trailing Byleth as he spoke to her other classmates albeit briefly like he did to them.

"Almost on point." Lysithea murmured with a straight face.

Lysithea doesn't like stereotyping and basing people's worth just by their looks but she would be lying to herself if she didn't think that the new professor and Claude's savior was handsome, those emotionless blue eyes of him… she knew there was something more within those pair of blue orbs than just a void.

When the Golden Deer heard from Claude that Byleth is to be one of Garreg Mach's professors as well as the possibility of him being assigned to one of the houses within the very same day. Claude expressed his wish that their house will be chosen by the mysterious mercenary, a sentiment that was supported by Leonie who was elated at the possibility that Jeralt's flesh and blood would show them what he learned from the former throughout his life.

Alas, Lysithea only saw disappointment in Claude and Leonie's eyes when the door to their classroom opened to reveal an elderly man, still standing tall, his greyed out mustache and the single monocle over his faded right blue eye were his most defining features.

"Good morning children of the Golden Deer, I am Hanneman von Essar, I shall be your house professor during the entirety of your stay here."

Lysithea could only hear Claude sighed in disappointment, it would become a rare sight from the Riegan heir's normally calm and collected composure.

As for Lysithea, she wasn't bothered. She was even elated that classes could finally begin within that day, she had readied herself to such an endeavor and for things to finally start moving was a boon for her.

After classes for the day ended, Lysithea didn't go straight to the dining hall to eat dinner with most of her peers. She decided to test out a spell that Hanneman had discussed in his own separate magic class after they went to the respective specialized classrooms regarding such subjects.

She decided to go to the training grounds, the only appropriate place to practice such endeavors to avoid damage and harm to anyone or anything in the monastery.

She arrived to see the gates opened and three inhabitants are currently present at the open area upon entering.

"Allow me to join in on this." The blue haired noble from House Fraldarius, Felix Hugo Fraldarius said upon seeing the son of Count Bergliez, Caspar von Bergliez with the new professor of Garreg Mach, Byleth while he was training alone after classes.

Caspar chuckled. "Well, I got to challenge the professor first so stay put and watch from the sidelines as I beat him." He said with excitement boiling in his blood, taking a dull iron axe from one of the racks while getting a dulled sword for the professor, Caspar tossed the sword towards Byleth who effortlessly caught it.

Felix leaned his back against the wall as Caspar and Byleth positioned themselves in the middle of training grounds, Caspar assumed an aggressive looking stance with his axe while Byleth calmly stood in his spot as he seem to analyze what Caspar was about to do.

With a loud cry out of nowhere, Caspar lunged forward towards Byleth with his axe raised only to find himself bereft of it in one swift motion when Byleth waved his sword once to counter against Caspar, disarming the axe off of Caspar's hand much to his and Felix' shock.

Lysithea also bore an expression that mimics that of Caspar and Felix, she has seen knights and soldiers, who are in service to House Ordelia, train and exhibit various skills with martial weapons but she has never seen such a display of skill and finesse from an individual.

Caspar stood on his spot, dumbfounded as the axe he once held landed on the stone floor, a few distance away from him as Byleth stood tall and silent at what had just happened, not even showing any signs of revelry on the fact that he won so easily.

"You left yourself too open the moment you assumed your stance, I can tell where you were aiming to attack." Byleth commented at the lack of refinement in Caspar's fighting form.

Caspar frowned and scratched the back of his head.

"You got me there professor…" Caspair said awkwardly at the way he was defeated so easily.

Felix scoffed as he left the wall he was leaning his back against to take his turn on measuring Byleth's worth with a sword.

"Stand aside. It's my turn." Felix dismissed Caspar to the sidelines as he gripped his sword with two hands and assumed a stance.

Needing no words to begin, Felix rushed towards the new professor and waved his sword towards Byleth, pressuring him to the defensive only to find out the hard way when Byleth suddenly parried Felix' swing before doing a spinning maneuver that allowed Byleth to hit him hard at the back, pushing Felix forward before he fell down on one knee from the counterattack.

"I could have sworn I was pressuring you!" Felix remarked with a surprised look, feeling a pain on his back as he stood up.

"You did." Byleth responded plainly. "But blindly swinging your sword in an attempt to overwhelm your opponent is a quick way to get slain in battle." He stoically berated the Faerghus noble.

Felix scoffed amusingly. "Not even the boar prince could move and fight the same way you do." he commented while picking up his practice sword.

Caspar clapped his hand. "Looks like I have a lot to learn under your guidance professor!" He said with clear enthusiasm at the prospect of learning more under the new professor.

"Looks like Edelgard is right, you might actually lead the Black Eagles to greatness this year!"

Lysithea raised an eyebrow, she never actually found out which house the new professor chose to lead and now it was clear to her, Byleth has indeed joined Edelgard's house.

"Come at me, both of you." Byleth suddenly said which earned looks of astonishment from the inhabitants of the training grounds

Felix frowned. "While I do acknowledge your strength, it doesn't give you the right to look down on us."

Byleth shook his head to Felix' assumption. "Far from it, I only seek to teach you two a valuable lesson in battle. Now come."

Felix and Caspar glanced at each other before nodding in acknowledgement, they stood together at each other's side with their weapons and arms in their respective stance while Byleth finally took a more prepared stance, holding his sword with both hands while shifting his eyes' gaze from each of his sparring partners.

Lysithea found herself intrigued at Byleth's confidence to take on two opponents at the same time, she thought that despite Byleth's experience as a mercenary, he would try to avoid fighting multiple enemies at the same time yet…

Caspar was the first to attack which Byleth immediately deflected, Felix rushed in to avoid Caspar from getting riposted by attacking Byleth to force him to defend himself.

Lysithea watched as the three moved around the training grounds, the two unlikely allies from different houses fought together but Byleth was unconcerned by their combined strength and simply defended himself. The spectacle didn't last long as Caspar found himself on one knee after being hit on his arm after a swift counter, Felix followed suit when he locked his sword against the professor's only for Byleth to slide his blade to the base of the hilt of Felix' sword and threw it with a swing, disarming the Fraldarius heir.

"KYAAH!" All eyes turned to the direction of the scream, Lysithea fell on her hip when the sword that Felix was disarmed off headed to her direction and narrowly missed her by an inch, it impaled itself on the wall beside where Lysithea observed the fight.

"Are you alright?" Byleth asked as he approached the source of the scream to see Lysithea sprawled rather awkwardly at the floor, her skirt was lifted up and exposed the blue stockings she wore underneath, her innermost thighs were nearly visible in Byleth's view.

When Caspar and Felix arrived to checked, Felix immediately looked away from the sight while Caspar was actually concerned for the Ordelia heiress. Lysithea noticed her precarious situation and immediately sat up to cover her stockings-covered thighs, blushing furiously.

"Take my hand." Byleth reached out for her, extending his right hand for the young noblewoman to take for her to stand up but Lysithea swatted his hand away and immediately stood up to run away from the training grounds.

Byleth blinked as he watched Lysithea run through the slightly open gates, wondering what he did wrong while touching his right hand that Lysithea swatted away when she spurned his help.

"What's wrong with her? The professor was just trying to help her up but she just had to do that!" Caspar huffed, thinking Lysithea as ungrateful whilst being completely unaware of the situation.

Byleth cupped his chin with his right hand, thinking of the most probable reason.

"Perhaps she was mad we nearly injured her."

Felix deeply sighed behind them before murmuring something he could only hear.

"Oblivious fools."

He then went on his way to pull out the impaled practice sword which still surprised him on the way it was pinned there, Felix was even more intrigued at the new professor for what he has shown him today.

"By the way… what is it you wanted to show us by challenging to fight us alone?" Caspar asked, remembering the prior things Byleth told them before they engaged in sparring.

Byleth snapped away from his own thoughts pertaining to Lysithea and glanced at Caspar and Felix.

"Sheer numbers alone means nothing in a battle against skilled and trained individuals." Byleth responded plainly.

Felix scoffed before placing back the practice swords in the weapon rack from whence they came.

"I'll wait and see more of what you can do as a professor but let me tell you this…" Felix approached Byleth and eyed him with respect.

"I will strive to beat you someday, even if I must join your house to find a way to defeat you."

Byleth's impassive stare was unfazed at Felix' declaration of his resolve before the latter left the training grounds with a smirk upon his scowl laden face.

Lysithea was flushed deep red with a variety of emotions, embarrassment being the most prevalent as such emotion fueled her rapid pace towards her room. She didn't get bothered by the near hit on her by the disarmed sword but she got more bothered at how the professor and two boys saw her.

Those deep blue eyes of his kept looking at her, devoid of any emotion… she doesn't know if she should feel violated at his stare (when in reality Byleth was just concerned) nor would she feel stupid for rejecting his help even though he technically didn't do anything wrong.

'It's so embarrassing! Embarrassing!' Lysithea mentally repeated at the near peek she unintentionally provided to the professor.

Lysithea kept on running towards her room, her mind lingering on what just happened that she didn't notice someone in front of her.

The shriek of two girls permeated the air around the dormitory as Lysithea found herself on her hip again and her head in pain for crashing on someone while blinded by her current emotions.

"Ouch…"

Lysithea blinked before looking ahead of her to see the ashen white haired girl, the Imperial Princess of Adrestia and its heir to the throne of Emperor: Edelgard von Hresvelg.

Purple eyes reminiscent of that of lavender's blinked upon her pinkish red eyes, Lysithea's eyes widened at the thought of bumping into the Imperial Princess of all people, the heiress of the nation that has brought so much misfortune to her family.

Lysithea immediately felt the need to scurry off of Edelgard's presence.

"I-I'm sorry!" Lysithea apologized at her latest blunder as she stood up and continued her rush to her room, leaving Edelgard to herself as she stood up, touching the lower part of chest where Lysithea crashed into.

Edelgard dusted her clothes off of dirt with her gloved hand before she glanced at the running Ordelia heiress with an unreadable expression.

"What could possibly be the reason for her haste?" Edelgard murmured to herself but something else caught her attention when she laid eyes on Lysithea.

"That hair of hers…" Edelgard mused, a gloved hand on her chin as if in deep thought.

"Interesting." She said as she took the right side of her hair framing her face, ashen white hair laid on her right hand as she thought of Lysithea's own snow white hair.

Unknown to Lysithea, who is probably near tears in her room from the embarrassing situations she was involved today, Edelgard's lips curled downwards and mumbled something about hoping she was wrong in her immediate assumption.

Thankfully for Lysithea, the day after came fast, hoping she could at least put what happened yesterday behind her by burying herself in her studies.

Yet, fate wasn't kind to her the moment she arrived at the classroom, only to see the Golden Deer's house professor, Hanneman, holding what seemed to be a small device in his hand.

"Before we start class today." Hanneman cleared his throat as all eyes of his students went to him.

"I wish to use this personal device of mine that I invented." Hanneman waved the handheld device around for his students to see. "I wish to use this to scan all of you for any signs of Crests be it dormant or awakened. Such properties of your Crests might aid me in assessing what each of you can excel in the future."

While most students were confident in what lied or not lied within their blood, there was one such individual who despised it.

"Next, Lysithea von Ordelia." Hanneman called out the name of the next student he would use his portable Crest analyzer with.

There was no response to his call.

Claude and his other classmates who were acquainted with her, looked around before settling their gazes at the unoccupied table and bench that the Ordelia heiress frequently sat on since the days of the academy started not too long ago.

While her classmates and Hanneman looked around for her mysterious and sudden absence despite being in the classroom earlier, Lysithea hid within the reception hall of Garreg Mach, breathing heavily from running so suddenly.

"No one must know… no one must know…" Lysithea frantically breathed out in between breaths not just from exhaustion but from distress as well.

For no one must know of the curse that has plagued her body since that day, the curse that inhabited her body in the form of two Crests.

Yeah... that SCENE was a Lysithea fanservice shot if this ever was an anime hahaha *Sirens blaring in the background*

Credits first!

Thanks once again to my friend Lazy Raichu for being a good listener and suggester of various things related to this story. To my readers as well, thank you for the kudos and whatnot! Also keep note of her hilarious tally on Bernadetta, Sylvain and Lorenz XD

Now, I actually enjoyed writing this chapter compared to the previous one. Maybe its because I am done with most of the boring introductions and I can finally write something concrete, not to mention, Byleth and Lysithea finally interacting and the latter's thoughts of the former!

I plan on submitting a new chapter every week or bi-weekly in order to keep propelling this story forward so please bear that in mind! Also, I cannot set an estimate amount of words per chapter, one chapter can be short while one can be lengthy depending on the flow of the story and in accordance to the outlines I write for each chapter.

With that being said, thank you for reading and for the time spent! As always, kudos and comments are appreciated! Especially comments! Stay cool!