White Clouds
Mutual Faith
HUGE APOLOGIES FOR TAKING NEARLY A MONTH!
I have posted this on my twitter and in some discord servers but we just recently moved into our new house, it has been a tiring and time-consuming process, the fact that we slowly move our belongings to the new house after day of work certainly didn't help to give me time and energy to write.
Hopefully, I can quickly whip up a new update during the holidays along with The Bubbly and the Surly.
This story has a LOT of flashback sequences in italics! Also there's a deleted/bonus scene in the end.
30th day of the Great Tree Moon...
Despite being adept in the art of magic, Lysithea hasn't used her magic to harm anyone with serious intent except for that one time.
Lysithea's view suddenly got dark figuratively as she remembered how she tried to protect her younger brother from the men in black robes and eerie masks, how she burned one of them to reveal ghostly pale white skin and inhuman black and yellow eyes.
It was the first time Lysithea felt the desire to harm someone after her original tutor taught her that her magic should only be used to defend and protect those that mattered to her, not to actively seek someone's demise. If only the tutor was still alive, Lysithea would have scoffed at his pacifistic teaching now that Lysithea has bore witness to what real life outside the storybook fantasy she once pictured really is.
She discarded such bitter memories to focus on the task at hand.
It was the beginning of the mock battle, how time flew so fast ever since the events concerning the three house leaders and the new professor. The mock battle they are to take part of is a test intended to gauge out what the students of this school year are capable of and is quite an opportunity for the professor to see what their students need to improve on to better or increase their own set of skills.
While Lysithea has no doubt shown such strong affinity to certain schools of magic, she is also curious on what could still be improved into her in her endless pursuit to better herself. Where else can she excel?
"Eyes up." Claude said as he stood beside Lysithea, awaiting the signalling trumpets to be blared into the air of the mock battlefield. Lysithea looked at the cliffs overlooking the battlefield to see Captain Jeralt scanning the field with a calculating gaze, though his eyes were focused on where the Black Eagles are awaiting, obviously watching out for his son who is leading his class.
"I'm sure you already understand," Jeralt spoke up, his voice echoing across the field as the students listened in to what seems to be his instructions "but the house that defeats the other two is declared the winner."
Jeralt continued "As such, only training weapons are allowed. For magic users with access to deadlier spells, such spells are forbidden to be used in this battle, failure to comply will result in immediate expulsion. Remember… this is a mock battle, the intent is to make the opposing houses yield."
The students nodded, fully accepting the risk and the consequences of going over the line of harming anyone beyond rendering them unable to fight or continue on.
"Incidentally, I along with the Knights of Seiros will be overseeing this mock battle. There will be pegasus and wyvern riders flying above the field to referee the battle and carry away anyone who is unable to continue fighting, our word is law if one is bested in this mock battle."
"Time to get to your positions everyone!" Hanneman shouted out his order to the entirety of the Golden Deer who were chosen to represent their house in the mock battle.
Claude smirked, his green eyes at the direction downhill on where the Black Eagles are.
"I get to see what Teach is capable of again."
Lysithea raised an eyebrow. "Teach?" She asked, Claude only realized then that he spoke his thoughts out loud.
"It's what I call Professor Byleth, I tried calling him that to his face but he didn't even react." Claude chuckled at how Byleth simply greeted him a good morning before going to the classroom to teach the Black Eagles the other day.
Lysithea frowned at him and his evident admiration to a professor from another class, while she does understand Claude's gratitude towards the man for saving his life, she doesn't understand what continually makes her house leader curious on the said man.
Before Lysithea could berate him for his near obsession, Claude shrugged and began to leave but not before telling her:
"Get into position Lysithea, things are about to get hairy soon." He told her before giving her a wink. "Good luck out there."
Lysithea nodded at her departing house leader before steeling herself for a fight, her hands trembled at the thought of harming someone with her magic especially since they aren't enemies but her peers in Garreg Mach. She was nervous at the possibility of going overboard with her magic especially considering what lies within her could trigger at any moment.
Soon enough, the sound of trumpets filled the air for a brief moment, signifying the start of the mock battle as Knights of Seiros mounted on their pegasus and wyverns took to the skies to referee the battle and whisked away anyone who has been bested.
Lysithea knew she wasn't alone in feeling nervous right now, she was sure most of her classmates are nervous at their first time in the battlefield, that despite their training, there would still be a moment of hesitation that could cost them their chance of victory.
"Remember the plan, let the other houses go to us or just observe their movements. If the Blue Lions and Black Eagles clash, we'll split our forces and take them from behind." Claude reminded the entirety of the Golden Deer before eyeing Leonie who gave him a thumbs up for setting some tripwire in the forest surrounding them that would alert them of incoming enemies.
It didn't take long for Claude's plan to go to waste when Lorenz found it beneath himself to adhere to the Riegan heir's plan and instead chose to seek glory, towards the direction of the Blue Lions much to Claude's consternation that Lorenz was willing to put his personal feelings towards him first rather than the benefit of their whole house. The rest of the Golden Deer looked onto Claude for leadership.
Sighing, Claude had no choice but to delegate some of their members to assist and take Lorenz back to formation, assigning Lysithea, Leonie and Raphael to do so while the others remained with him.
"That fool!" Lysithea snarled as they went on their way to assist Lorenz.
"I can't believe Lorenz would do that! How can this happen now? Captain Jeralt's watching!" Leonie lamented at her possible poor show of performance towards her idol and mentor who was probably overseeing the entire battle on the cliff.
"I don't know about you guys but this is making me hungry-"
"Get your brain out of your stomach then!" Lysithea snapped at Raphael, getting more and more irritated as the sounds of metal and cries of various people began to reverberate around them, she knew from the direction it was coming from, the Blue Lions had engaged in combat.
"Lysithea?"
The snow-white haired girl snapped out of her stupor, she had her mind on what just happened a few days ago.
The Ordelia heiress glanced at the one who called her to see Leonie placing a pile of books on the table in their classroom, class ended a while ago and she decided to stay to write on her notes about economics, finding the classroom motivating to do such things than her room where she gets distracted by her treats and Ordelian, her beloved pet cat that her parents sent over to her a while back.
"What are you still doing here?" Leonie asked her classmate, sitting beside her.
"Lost in thoughts all alone when I should be finishing writing these notes that Ignatz helped me with." Lysithea responded, sighing as she saw her half-finished notes and her quill with dried up ink at the tip already.
Leonie leaned closer to look at the notes, but not too close to avoid giving the noblewoman discomfort.
"Economics?"
Lysithea nodded in affirmation. "Yes, I have to study this in my free time so I can help my parents govern House Ordelia before-"
She stopped herself, she almost blurted out something sensitive for her that others shouldn't know, Leonie raised an eyebrow on the sudden pause.
"Before…?"
Lysithea shook her head, "It's nothing, what about you?" she glanced at Leonie before writing down her notes on her notebook. "Shouldn't you be training around this time?"
Leonie chuckled. "As much as I want to, I can't. Sprained wrist I'm afraid... " She lifted her right hand up, showing the bandaged wrist.
"Captain Jeralt's son did a number on me." Leonie said half-jokingly but beneath her, she felt frustrated that she couldn't even land a single blow on the new professor all while Jeralt watched over them. It made her furious that she had nothing to show to her mentor all these years, it sparked something in her… a self-proclaimed rivalry against Byleth.
The noblewoman sighed at the memory of the mock battle.
"That was disastrous. The mock battle that is." Lysithea spoke, finding no will to continue writing on her notes as she remembered the frustration of feeling incapable.
"No kidding." Leonie shrugged before standing up from the bench she was sitting on with Lysithea in their classroom. "I wanted to tell you that the servants are going to clean the classroom now, they didn't want to disturb you earlier so they asked me as a favor."
Lysithea blinked her pinkish red eyes before looking behind her to see a pair, a man and woman holding their cleaning tools and a bucket to do their daily routine of cleaning the classrooms after all classes concluded.
"O-Oh, I'm sorry… I forgot." Lysithea apologized as Leonie left to conduct her own affairs elsewhere, the servants simply nodded and went in the classroom to do their work as Lysithea started packing her things up to go back to her room and continue her notes there, distractions and whatnot.
On her way to her dormitory room, Lysithea found the orange haired girl with the pretzel-shaped pigtails behind her sitting on one of the benches outside the dormitories. She was reading a tome that Lysithea had previously finished a month ago but seemed troubled as if having difficulty understanding something within the tome's contents.
She knew this girl by the name of Annette Fantine Dominic, the heiress to House Dominic and the very first student she had encountered during the mock battle.
Lysithea stood before Annette as the battle between the three houses raged on, she doesn't know what has occured to the Black Eagles and her housemates at their base but she knew that with half of them separated, they would stand little to no chance should the Black Eagles focus their attack on them.
The same cannot be said towards the Blue Lions who also had half of their class engaging them on their way to save Lorenz from his own blunder.
"I'm sorry if I would hurt you." Annette apologized as she unleashed a gust of wind from her hands.
Lysithea created a dark purple sphere of magic and hurled it towards Annette's, their magic spells clashed and generated a short explosion that sent shockwaves towards them, both steadied their stance as smoke shrouded their view.
Lysithea didn't take any chances and fired multiple spheres of the same magic to hit Annette, earning a yelp from her adversary, completely catching her off guard at her onslaught. Annette found herself overwhelmed by Lysithea's magic and made way to the trees for cover with the smoke covering her retreat.
The smoke cleared soon enough, Lysithea scanned the forested area before her for any signs of Annette. The sign she was looking for came sooner than expected when Annette came out of her hiding place behind one of the trees and unleashed another wind spell only for Lysithea to offset them again with her Miasma magic spheres that she charged in one of her hands.
Annette by now is having trouble keeping up, despite Lysithea's appearance, she was beginning to show how she's league above her in terms of their magic. There was just something within Lysithea that made her stronger than any magic user she knows in their class and that would be proven true when Lysithea fired one last Miasma magic but not before a Crest manifested above her.
The Dominic heiress didn't have much time to react as her own wind spell was overwhelmed by the Crest-empowered magic. Annette screamed as she got hit by the spell, sending her to the ground dazed and unable to stand up due to the dark magic's nature of debilitating its receiver.
Lysithea breathed heavily, her hands shaking either from elation of finally winning her first ever battle or the fact that her Crest activated when she didn't even want it to manifest, she tried her best to hold it back but the heat of the battle made her lose control of her restraint.
She didn't want to rely on it yet…
"Are you alright?" Lysithea shook her head and approached her defeated opponent, Annette could only moan from pain but nonetheless showed any sign of serious injury before a Knight of Seiros riding a wyvern landed near them and wordlessly took Annette away to be treated.
Just then, the sound of a horn blared, Lysithea recognized the sound and she knew she had to get back to where Claude and the others are, she looked for Raphael, Leonie and Lorenz… only to see the latter has fallen before Sylvain of the Blue Lions...
"Oh hello Lysithea!" Annette greeted rather cheerily when she saw Lysithea watching her reading the tome. "Did you need something?"
Lysithea approached the Dominic heiress, her book and notebook being hugged to her chest.
"Nothing in particular, I just want to check up on you if you're alright."
Annette wondered what Lysithea meant, part of her mind was still trying to process what she had been reading before she finally got what Lysithea was talking about.
"Oh that? I'm fine, thanks for asking though." Annette nodded but grimaced at the memory of feeling sick when she took the Miasma spell from the Ordelia heiress.
Lysithea nodded and looked down on the book Annette was reading.
"I can't make sense of some of it." Annette commented, noticing Lysithea's gaze at the tome resting on her lap.
'Well, I did.' Lysithea thought but didn't want to say it, she didn't want Annette to think she was boasting about her prowess when she too have a lot to learn in the field of magic.
"By the way… why did you just get up and leave?" Annette asked which puzzled Lysithea on what she was talking about.
"Pardon?"
Annette frowned a little. "You know? In the bathhouse?"
Lysithea's mood darkened at the mention of that event, she had her own reasons why she left and she now has a reason to leave Annette and go on her way back to her room.
"None of your business. Goodbye." Lysithea curtly said her farewell, leaving Annette dumbfounded on what could she possibly have done to upset her.
As for Lysithea… she remembered it quite well… despite wanting to forget it.
The mock battle was almost finished, Lysithea arrived back at their home base along with Leonie and Raphael only to bear witness to the Black Eagles overwhelming the Golden Deer. Byleth was leading the charge as he fought his way through towards Claude who kept shooting arrows at him from a distance, only to miss or have his arrows parried away by the professor.
"You were such a reliable ally back then Teach… but you're scary as an opponent." Claude half-joked, a sweat dripping down his brow as Byleth approached him calmly with his sword ready to strike him down.
Byleth's expression was unmoved, unnerving Claude even more, he knew a lot of stoic people in his life but none could compare on how Byleth gives nonexistent reactions in most situations, the fact that he could keep a blank face while in the heat of battle scared and interested him at the same time or maybe it's because he's up against a bunch of noble brats (as Jeralt would put it) that are mostly inexperienced gave him confidence.
"Still no reaction huh?" Claude tried to nocked another arrow but his fingers merely touched the air around his quiver.
He had no more arrows left, all of them were either broken or littered the ground behind Byleth.
"Shit…" Claude cursed with a nervous chuckle, he drew the sword from his waist. Claude knew the ways of the sword but he wasn't as good in using it compared to the other house leaders, he was after all an archer and strategist at heart yet both failed to aid him against the stoic professor.
"Claude!" Byleth and Claude looked at the direction of the voice to see Leonie coming towards Byleth with her lance ready to hit him. Byleth frowned at the arrival of what seems to be reinforcements, he was sure the Blue Lions had kept half of them occupied ever since Petra reported to him about Lorenz' foolish move of charging ahead, he ordered the princess of Brigid to do so after discovering she had the lightest feet among all of the Black Eagles, hiding in the forest and observing the other houses.
They heard a scream of defeat as Marianne was struck by a bolt of lightning from Dorothea's hands but not before Ignatz hit her with the blunt-shaped tipped arrow on her stomach, eliciting a cry of pain from the former songstress.
Ignatz in return was hit by a wind spell from Linhardt, knocking him out and cracking one of the lenses of his glasses. The green haired nobleman yawned after his victory against Ignatz and went on to heal Dorothea until both of them were taken out of the battle when Lysithea hit them with her own Miasma spheres.
Lysithea breathed heavily out of exhaustion from the strenuous activity, she hasn't run as much as she used to and the toll of using so much magic spells in such a short interval was beginning to weigh her down, her stamina is definitely one of her biggest issues if she would assess herself and she could thank the circumstances of aiding her in defeating two members of the Black Eagles.
She looked at the direction where the remaining Black Eagles fought what remained of her classmates. Raphael has engaged against Ferdinand, using a combination of his axe and big fist to try to hit Ferdinand.
"I must admit, I thought of you as simply a brute but I apologize for such an assumption!" Ferdinand praised, blocking another blow from Raphael's axe.
Raphael chuckled "You're not quite bad yourself errr… what's your name?" the burly man asked, he could have sworn he heard the man repeat his name several times earlier.
"Well then, I am Ferdinand von Aegir-" Ferdinand proudly declared, letting his guard down which Raphael took advantage of, nearly punching Ferdinand's head off if it wasn't for the hasty block the nobleman did in the last minute.
Ferdinand's proud smile faltered "That wasn't so noble! Attacking a man when introducing himself!" He protested.
"Well… I'm not a noble so I don't think that counts." Raphael simply said, merely earning a glare from Ferdinand as they kept fighting, neither getting an advantage over each other. Lysithea was surprised that Raphael could show such cunningness, thinking that she may have misjudged him as simply a buffoon.
But more pressing matters awaited her, she knew Raphael can handle Ferdinand based on how much the latter is getting pressured and frustrated at his inability to overwhelm his opponent. Lysithea knew the real threat was none other than Byleth, fighting Claude and Leonie alone.
Having seen Byleth's skill with a blade in an earlier time, a memory Lysithea isn't really fond of revisiting following what happened to her. She knew Byleth could defeat her house leader and classmate due to his lifetime experience fighting as a mercenary, fighting was basically his life and no manner of noble upbringing, Crest and training could top the experience he possessed.
Lysithea struggled to rush to aid them but found herself slowing down midway, her exhaustion getting the best of her. Fortunately for her, Byleth was in range to get hit by her spell, she channeled the arcane energy from within her to her hands to form another sphere of Miasma, poise to launch it towards Byleth but instead, her vision blurred as her eyes began to close, her body felt limped as she collapsed from the strain in her body, landing face first on the ground.
She barely had enough energy to lift her head up to see Byleth hitting Leonie's wrist after performing a counterattack, disarming Leonie of her lance and beating her with another swing to her back before Byleth fought against Claude. Her vision darkening, she didn't know if she saw a glimpse of Hanneman watching from behind a tree, eyes with peaked interest as he observed Byleth, his eyes widened when a strange pattern manifested above Byleth as he swung his sword against Claude.
That was the last thing Lysithea saw before she lost consciousness, drifting away into the abyss.
Lysithea found herself with her Golden Deer classmates once again in the infirmary camp that was set up near the field where the mock battle took place, Manuela gave her the all clear signal that she merely exhausted herself in battle and thus, no longer requires any medical attention besides rest for the remainder of the week.
Class was set to resume after the weekend which Lysithea understood despite her own reservations of missing a few days of learning. She had to be considerate to those who suffered worse than her in the mock battle such as Lorenz who suffered a broken nose from Sylvain.
"He really did a number on me… owww…" Claude winced in pain as Hilda helped Marianne treat the bruises on his body with Hilda applying some ointment to ease the pain on Claude's face after he took a beating from Byleth's sword.
Standing up from the bedroll she lied down on, Lysithea felt slightly dizzy for a moment before finding her ground and approaching where the majority of her classmates were, at least those who took part in the battle.
None of them came out scot-free, having bruises and wounds to show for it, only Lysithea was the only one who didn't show any physical signs of damage, having knocked herself out of overexertion.
"He didn't hold back on that one." Hilda listlessly said, witnessing the battle after she was the first to fall victim by the professor's hand, she might as well consider herself lucky that she only sustained a punch to the gut by the professor, the pain was too much for her to handle at that point to continue fighting.
The Blue Lions fared slightly better, they weren't wiped out entirely unlike the Golden Deer but after Manuela was defeated and Dimitri was surrounded after being locked into a duel by Edelgard as a distraction after she cunningly played into Dimitri's sense of honor, a rather shrewd underhanded scheme but it was necessary if applied in real life. Dimitri knew too well that he had to surrender as there was no chance of him winning a battle with his classmates either defeated or scattered.
The Black Eagles ended up being declared the victor of the mock battle, boosting their morale and confidence to their new professor's guidance.
Lysithea watched as the Black Eagles surrounded Byleth, giving their own praises to the professor for his contribution to their victory, Edelgard herself was beaming with pride but Byleth didn't share any of such sentiment, Lysithea could feel that he wasn't impressed basing on the frown he has, even Edelgard noticed it as her own smile faded.
"While we did gain victory, there is a lot to work on concerning your capabilities, basing on what I saw and what Edelgard has reported to me in conjunction to the observations of the Knights of Seiros overlooking the battle, I have words to say to you all." Byleth began, his tone devoid of any joy that his students had.
The jovial tone the Black Eagles had ceased.
"Ferdinand."
"Yes? What is it, professor? Did I do an exemplary job?" Ferdinand presumed with a confident smirk. "Perhaps even better than Edelgard?"
Edelgard sighed while Hubert snorted from behind her.
"Cease that unnecessary introduction to your opponents in every chance you get. You stand to risk yourself getting attacked while you do so."
Ferdinand was taken aback "B-But its customary-"
"It's only customary for a noble to introduce themselves outside of a battle. You will be no better than that boy, Lorenz in terms of your bravado concerning your noble heritage." Byleth interrupted him, Ferdinand couldn't respond back and found himself retreating from Byleth's gaze.
Lorenz was thankful he didn't hear of Byleth's statement as he was still unconscious on one of the infirmary tents right after Sylvain bested him in battle. Claude however found himself chuckling as he listened in from a distance.
"Dorothea."
The former songstress of the Mittelfrank Opera Company lifted her head up to stare at the emotionless blue sea that is Byleth's eyes.
"Your hesitance earlier was noted, if you only used that spell of yours immediately to defeat Mary… Marianne was it?" Byleth tried to recall Marianne's name, apparently introducing himself to the many students of Garreg Mach has jumbled up some names in his mind.
Dorothea nodded to confirm Byleth's guess.
"If you only used it without hesitation, you might have had the time needed to avoid getting hit by Ignatz." Byleth continued. "A moment's hesitation in battle can spell doom to your life."
Dorothea's green eyes widened as she realized that despite his own situation battling two opponents, he was still able to observe her.
Despite normally exuding an air of confidence, Dorothea didn't show any of it, there was only apprehension in her beautiful face.
"I… understand that, professor… it's just that... I didn't know the feeling of hurting someone feels so… heavy…"
Byleth nodded in understanding regarding Dorothea's feelings on the matter.
"Be that as it may, you need to dispel such thoughts in battle."
"Yes… professor…" Dorothea nodded.
Edelgard softly placed a hand on Dorothea's shoulder in an effort to comfort her.
"Linhardt." Byleth called out for the green haired slothful noble.
The said noble was dozing off as he stood between Caspar and Ferdinand, prompting both to nudge him to the rib with their respective elbows.
"H-Huh? Is it my turn to get scolded?" Linhardt asked sheepishly, earning the sighs from his classmates.
"Your idleness in the earlier stages of the battle was not acceptable, you did make up for such a flaw later on by your performance in battle but I expect more proactiveness from you next time."
Linhardt merely yawned in response, earning yet another series of sighs from his classmates.
"Petra." Byleth called out for the only foreign student in his class.
"Yes? Am I needing in improvement?" Petra asked quite eagerly compared to her previous classmates.
Byleth shook his head. "You have done well but next time, try to not utter such… taunts on your opponents."
Petra raised an eyebrow, wondering what he could have meant.
"I do not have understanding…" Petra sighed, folding her arms below her chest as she thought of what Byleth was talking about.
"Just don't threaten them to show their guts or what their insides are…" Byleth sighed and Petra immediately knew what he was referring to.
"I have understanding now! I am merely speaking of a demonstration of their courage!"
Byleth let the issue pass, taking into consideration the Brigid princess' situation of still trying to grasp the Fodlan language. He then put his stern gaze over at the shortest man in his class.
"Caspar."
The Bergliez noble looked up to him with one of his easy going smiles
"You shout too much."
Caspar grinned non-apologetically. "It keeps my blood boiling, professor!" He said while clenching his fists tightly.
Byleth wasn't convinced. "It makes you more predictable. I already told you of such a flaw when we sparred days before, you leave yourself to be anticipated by your enemy easily."
The reckless nobleman was about to explain his pointless actions but Linhardt merely placed his hand over Caspar's mouth to cease his equally pointless reasoning.
Byleth then laid his eyes on both Edelgard and Hubert, both solemnly awaited what criticism their professor would throw at them.
"Edelgard and Hubert, both of you have shown cunningness and are quick thinking on the ever changing circumstances in battle. I have nothing to speak of to you besides general improvement in your training."
Edelgard flashed a smile of pride while Hubert gave the professor a curt nod, acting as if such a praise was to be expected. Meanwhile, Ferdinand was feeling offended that Edelgard was given praise yet he received none.
"Geez, even in victory… Teach doesn't even relish it..." Claude commented as he and most of his classmates bore witness to Byleth's assessment to his students.
"That's a hardened mercenary for you… I guess…" Hilda remarked after finishing the application of her ointment on Claude's bruises.
Lysithea didn't share their opinions, she actually found it refreshing that a professor like Byleth would quickly go to the point to tell his students on what they were lacking, it brings so much opportunity and time to think of improvements before any celebration can be done.
"Lastly…" Byleth then tried to look for the only student that he has not addressed yet, Caspar tilted to his side to reveal Bernadetta hiding behind him with a frightened stare towards Byleth before she hid behind Caspar once again.
"You…"
Bernadetta braced for the worst, burying her face on Caspar's back and tightly holding on to the back of his vest, she kept murmuring something incoherent that only she was capable of understanding.
"... are surprisingly good." Byleth finished and it seemed like time stopped for Bernadetta.
"Eh?"
"From what I heard, you managed to sneak behind Sylvain after he defeated Lorenz… knocking him out before distracting the other members of the Blue Lions by screaming, that effectively broke their formation as some began to chase you and Caspar away leading to Edelgard's confrontation towards Dimitri and Manuela's defeat by Hubert and Petra's hand." Byleth praised, giving what is perhaps his biggest compliment towards his student.
Bernadetta's eyes widened. "W-What? I-I did…?" The Varley heiress was unsure of what warranted such praise, she just did what she had to do to get away and survive…
Caspar glanced behind him to grin at Bernadetta.
"Way to go Bernadetta!"
Soon, her classmates chimed in their own praises to their reclusive classmate before initially expressing surprise at what Bernadetta managed to achieve despite her claim that she didn't know exactly what she did.
"I knew you had it in you, Bern!"
"You are not prey at all Bernie! You are becoming a hunter!"
"Unorthodox but it did the job right."
Bernadetta wasn't paying any attention to who said what praise, she was more concerned on how her classmates were getting closer to her, shadowing her and overwhelming her with so much praise focused on her that she began to have one of her hysterical episodes.
"STOP PRAISIIIIINGGG MEEEEEEEE!" Bernadetta screamed out in total panic, running away from her classmates and towards the direction of Garreg Mach.
Edelgard sighed, placing a hand over her head as if momentarily covering her face in shame at the eccentricities of the members of the house she was leading.
"You are all as ridiculous as always." She said as Byleth looked at each and every one of his proteges in the full year.
From a distance, Claude remarked on the entirety of the Black Eagles.
"Teach sure has his hands full… The Black Eagles are a weird bunch huh?" The house leader of the Golden Deer chuckled.
Lysithea gave him a look. "And we're not?" She questioned and looked at each and every one of her classmates, all having their own set of quirks.
Claude led out a small laugh. "Okay, maybe not as weird as us." He conceded and then looked around the infirmary camp, looking for someone.
"Speaking of which… has everyone seen Professor Hanneman?"
The same question resonated within the other members of the Golden Deer, their own professor has disappeared ever since the battle.
Before any of them can actually talk about the matter, Jeralt arrived while being escorted by the Knights of Seiros and Alois.
"We'll be breaking out camp in a short moment, I ask that all of you get ready to move back to Garreg Mach." Jeralt announced to the students of the three houses who have gathered before him.
"The professors of each house must report to the archbishop upon arrival, the rest of the students will be free to do as they please for the meantime but are required to be in the dining hall for a celebratory feast to commemorate this event." Jeralt then gave them all a nod before finishing. "Good work everyone."
Jeralt briefly gave Byleth a glance before taking his leave.
After the knights left, Hilda stretched her arms up and hummed.
"I need a bath… badly! I'm so sweaty!" Hilda complained, checking out her dirtied arms and uniform while smelling the stench of her and everyone's sweaty bodies, defiling her delicate sense of smell that was used to the fragrant scent of perfume and aromatics.
"I kind of agree." Lysithea nodded, she could feel her skin sticking into her uniform after she sweated immensely due to the running and fighting she did.
Seeing as how the other girls were also beginning to get conscious of their current hygiene, Hilda proposed an idea.
"See you girls at the bathhouse when we get back then!" Hilda announced enthusiastically at the thought of washing down the grime of battle from her body, a sentiment that all of them agreed with.
Meanwhile, Lysithea gasped at the thought of bathing together with the girls, she tugged on the hem of her skirt, trying to think of something to conceal what she doesn't want others to see.
Unknown to her, Edelgard was discreetly staring at her out of the corner of her eyes.
Lysithea has never felt so… small compared to her female peers in Garreg Mach when she entered the bathhouse. Wearing only a towel, she was surprised that most of the girls were bathing while baring everything without shame.
Only a few wore towels like her such as Marianne who was trying to slinked into obscurity but Hilda wouldn't allow it as she offered to wash her hair, apparently trying to make the reserved girl come out of her shell. There was Bernadetta, who had almost dipped her entire body to the large hot pool of water the majority of them are in, it was obvious she was hiding from everyone else. Then there was Edelgard, who was sitting on a wooden stool and was lathering her ashen hair with shampoo, she kept a solemn expression as her other peers were too busy marveling at each other playfully.
Lysithea discreetly dipped herself to the warm bathwater, releasing a sigh of relief after feeling the wave of relaxation rejuvenating any tired muscles in her small frame. She wanted to go and wash her hair first but she couldn't due to Edelgard's presence at the stools where the soaps and other objects used for hygiene where, she still couldn't bring herself up to talk to the Imperial Princess especially after she crashed into her and left after a rushed apology.
"Nothing beats a warm relaxing bath with nice people after an exhausting day…"
Lysithea looked at her side to see Annette, also wearing a towel around her body, dipped down at the warm water, she released a sigh of relief when she felt the warm water soak her entire body.
"Annette."
Annette smiled at the Ordelia heiress, acting as if she didn't feel bad for getting beaten by her.
"Hello, Lysithea." She greeted back at Lysithea before splashing the warm water on her own face.
Lysithea nodded in response. "Are you feeling alright?" She asked with a hint of concern, she knew the effects of the Miasma spell she uses and even in weaker magnitude of power, it can still make a person sick for quite a time.
"Professor Manuela gave me something to drink to get rid of most of the effects so I'm alright." Annette assured her before continuing on.
"You were so strong back there at the mock battle, I couldn't even get a clean hit on you."
"You were good too but I noticed… is this your first battle?" Lysithea asked as the girls around them got louder with what they're doing.
Annette nodded in confirmation. "Yup, I must admit… I was hesitant… I thought with what I've learned from the Royal School of Sorcery was enough but you proved me wrong. It made me realize that despite what I've learned, it's still isn't enough when you hesitate in actual use of magic especially when you're fighting another strong magic user."
Lysithea could sympathize with the feeling of hesitation, she felt it briefly when she first fought Annette but eventually learned to purge it out of her conscience to perform the matter at hand. She knew there is no time to hesitate when fighting for your life.
"Say Lysithea… I hope I won't come across as rude but…"
The Ordelia heiress raised an eyebrow at the short pause, "What is it?" she asked.
"I was hoping you could… you know-"
Lysithea couldn't hear what Annette said afterwards as Dorothea squealed out when she saw Ingrid take off her towel as she entered the warm bath.
"Oh my, Ingrid… I didn't know you were packing such… things within that uniform of yours!"
Ingrid felt the need to cover her chest with her arms when Dorothea and Hilda both looked at her with interest.
"C-Cut it out Dorothea!" Ingrid exclaimed out in embarrassment.
"No wonder you could actually make the boys fall." Hilda marveled while scanning her entire body with astute interest.
Dorothea giggled. "Oh come now, there's no need to hide it Ingrid! We're all girls here." She smirked as she and Hilda approached Ingrid with intent as the blonde female from the Blue Lions retreated through the water until she hit the edge of the bath.
Soon, Hilda and Dorothea grabbed a hold of one arm each and pulled Ingrid up despite her resistance, the two proved to be enough to overwhelm her strength.
Hilda and Dorothea found themselves making a sound of awe upon seeing Ingrid's bare body.
"I-I told you! T-They're nothing compared to what you two have!" Ingrid reasoned out.
Dorothea giggled. "Ingrid, dear. Your muscles in your arms and stomach look so well-defined!" She commented while feeling the firm muscles on Ingrid's arm.
Ingrid looked confused. "My… arms?" She asked, dumbfounded.
"Of course! You look like the most well-built woman among all of us here!" Dorothea remarked, letting go of Ingrid's arm and marveling at her body in general.
Hilda however was inclined to disagree.
"Impressive as Ingrid's muscles are… I don't think she can hold a candle to what Leonie has." Hilda said, Leonie jerked at the mention of her as she was merely minding her own business on relaxing her own sore muscles, the ones that were specifically hit by Byleth during the mock battle.
"Don't involve me with that!" Leonie said from her spot in the bath, having her own reservations of being looked and assessed at in such a way.
Ingrid sighed. "Thank goodness." She said while pulling out her arm from Hilda's hold.
"I thought you were referring to something else…" Ingrid continued.
Dorothea and Hilda looked at each other before grinning mischievously.
"Oh my, Ingrid… I didn't know you were so sensitive to THAT." Dorothea feigned surprise.
"While it doesn't compare to mine, yours are amazing as well…" Hilda grinned.
Ingrid felt like she dug herself a deeper hole than before.
By now, Lysithea and Annette found themselves uncomfortable not because of what Dorothea and Hilda were talking about but because of their own… inadequacy on such a thing, Lysithea normally doesn't care but she did admit that if she developed in some areas… people might actually stop treating her like a child if she appeared to look more like a young woman than a little girl.
"Not to mention, our own dear house leader is looking ravishing in all accounts as well!" Dorothea boasted while glancing at Edelgard who has just entered the warm bath after washing her ashen hair clean off any suds.
Edelgard merely smiled, keeping collected even as all eyes went on her, acting as if she was expecting such things.
"Thank you Dorothea but I must admit that you and Hilda do look better in such regards." Edelgard said with decorum, maintaining her class even in such a topic that would normally be seen as obscene by others.
Dorothea and Hilda both looked disappointed at being unable to get a rise from the Imperial Princess though they looked at their next target.
Lysithea growled at the dominant topic that was being discussed within the bathhouse, she wanted to relax but found the opposite effect of being irritated. Annette saw her change of mood and decided to do something about it.
"Don't worry Lysithea…" Annette began as Lysithea shifted her glare at her. "We're still young, we still have years to grow in those areas-"
'Maybe you have that luxury, not me.' Lysithea grimly thought, almost deciding to retort such a thing on Annette but managed to keep her mouth shut on it. She mentally sighed, she shouldn't bother herself on such meaningless trifles, she went to the academy to better herself, not to feel inferior on physical appearance-
"My goodness, Petra! You're one of the youngest among us yet you have developed so much better than almost everyone above your age!" Dorothea exclaimed as she keenly observed Petra's body.
"Thank you Dorothea, I am still doing some growing but I am glad to be developing to your liking." Petra smiled at the compliment, unaware of the context of the topic or how easily her statement can be misunderstood.
Lysithea could have sworn she heard something snapped within her, she knew of Petra's age after doing some research on her as part of her analysis before the mock battle, she was only slightly older than her in a manner of months and being so developed at such an age…
It triggered something in her.
Abruptly standing up from the bathwater much to Annette's surprise, Lyisthea rushed off of the bath to leave the bathhouse, unable to bear any of such talk anymore. In her rush, she bumped into Mercedes' chest just as she entered the bathhouse with a towel on her hand, barely concealing her body.
Bumping into Mercedes led her firm grip on her towel loosen, enough to expose more than half of her back, Lysithea was aware of this and quickly tightened her grip back for the towel to conceal her back as she left without uttering an apology towards Mercedes.
Mercedes looked on in concern as the Ordelia heiress left the bath area.
"Oh my, it's so dangerous to rush out like that on a wet floor." She murmured to herself, watching Lysithea enter the dressing room.
While everyone didn't notice Lysithea's back on whatever she was concealing, there was one individual who kept her eyes glued on the Ordelia heiress as she took her leave.
Edelgard, unlike the rest, didn't fail to notice the hideous scar on Lysithea's back. Her eyes widened in shock as if her worst fears were true after days of hoping that she was wrong in something.
Lysithea sighed as she opened the door to her dorm room with her keys, upon opening the door and being greeted by the familiar sweet smell of her quarters as well as the meowing of her pet cat with pure white coat resembling her snow-white hair color, Ordelian.
Not really what anyone would call making an effort in naming a pet but it was unique all the same.
"Hello there Ordelian…" Lysithea smiled upon her pet cat rubbing its head on her white boots affectionately. Lysithea put her book and notebook down at her table before picking up Ordelian and cuddling her head on Ordelian's head gently, the cat purred happily at the gesture of affection from his beloved owner.
If there was someone besides her parents that Lysithea truly cares about, it has to be Ordelian. This sweet loving cat that only shows such affection towards her and her only, otherwise Ordelian would hiss aggressively on anyone who dared to touch him besides his owner.
Lysithea gently put down Ordelian as she took a couple of sweet baked treats from the basket that was covered with a clean white cloth above it, she sat down on the edge of her bed, resting her tired body from today's lessons while eating the treats that she had baked for herself.
Ordelian jumped onto the bed and purred at her but it wasn't a purr of joy of being with his owner, it was followed by a needy meow that Lysithea is familiar with.
"Are you hungry Ordelian?" Lysithea asked before she mentally slapped herself silly at the question.
'Of course he's hungry, he hasn't eaten dinner yet.'
With dinner time at the dining hall ready in a few minutes, Lysithea thought it was a good time to request a fish or two from the staff so she may feed it to Ordelian.
Standing up from her bed, Lysithea gave Ordelian one last pat to the head as she decided to leave.
"I'll be right back soon. Wait for me okay?" She sweetly told her pet cat who meowed in response before she left her room once again, leaving Ordelian all by his lonesome once more.
Upon closing the door behind her and beholding the orange sky above Garreg Mach, Lysithea was met by the sight of Cyril carrying small logs on his shoulders. Weeks after Cyril had helped Lysithea with her books, Lysithea didn't get any opportunity to properly show her gratitude to the Almyran boy, he was often performing any laborious task given to him or was being trained by Shamir in the art of combat all in the service of Lady Rhea.
Lysithea has lost track on how much baked treats she made on account of giving some to Cyril as thanks. Perhaps today would be a good time to show her gratitude.
"Hmm, this one oughta do." Cyril murmured to himself as he began his trek to wherever he was bringing the small but chunky logs on his shoulders.
Lysithea approached him, wondering why such a heavy task would be given to a boy who if she remembers is a year younger than her.
"Uh, what are you doing, Cyril?" Lysithea asked as Cyril walked past her, not noticing the Ordelia heiress.
Cyril tilted his body at the side to see Lysithea. "I'm picking out logs to carry back and chop into firewood." He said straightforwardly without greeting her as if in a rush to carry out his task.
Lysithea frowned at the state Cyril was in, his shirt was sullied by the dirt on the logs and was drenched in his own sweat, she still couldn't believe such a task would be given to a young boy like him.
"You can't expect to carry all these by yourself. Let me help." Lysithea motioned, trying to reach out for one of the logs on Cyril's shoulders.
The Almyran boy shook his head. "Nah, I got it. I don't want ya getting hurt. Logs are heavy sometimes."
Lysithea sighed at Cyril pointing out the obvious. "I'm well aware. You should accept the help being offered." She said before proudly pointing at herself. " I'm older and wiser- I know best."
She felt moronic for using such a logic when even she herself hates it when someone uses that against her despite the said older person being wrong, could this be perhaps she wanted to at least act like the older one after being constantly teased by Claude and treated like a child by her other peers?
Relenting with a sigh, Cyril allowed Lysithea to carry one of the legs on his shoulders. Lysithea smiled at this and brought her delicate hands to take one until she found the sudden weight of the log on her arms to be almost too much for her as she nearly keeled over.
Still, she was stubborn and didn't allow such a thing to hamper her, she managed to lift up the log up to the level of her stomach but despite doing so, her arms were shaking due to the weight.
This worried Cyril. "Um, Lysithea, ya seem a bit shaky…" He said as he observed the struggling girl. "You okay?"
Lysithea flashed a strained smile in an effort to reassure the Almyran boy.
"Yep, totally fine. I'm just kinda losing my grip on this log… Agh!" Lysithea tried to put in more effort but her arms finally gave in and in turn, dropped the log she was carrying.
Lysithea growled in frustration. "Well, that wasn't much help. as it turned out. I didn't realize they'd be that heavy." Lysithea said with disappointed frown.
"Couldn't even walk in a straight line…" She lamented, she looked at her palms, red with sores from the struggle she experienced.
"I told ya, logs are heavy sometimes. It's hard work if you're not used to it." Cyril pointed out in a matter-of-fact tone.
The Ordelia heiress sighed. "I feel foolish." she admitted, one of the rare moments she does.
"Well, if you've learned your lesson, I'm gonna go carry the other logs." Cyril said before taking the log that Lysithea tried to carry back to his shoulder.
Lysithea's eyes slightly widened. "Hang on- shouldn't you rest for a bit?" She asked out in concern, considering that Cyril has been performing such a task since the morning.
Cyril shrugged. "Wood still needs chopping. I got a buncha other stuff needs doing before sundown too." Cyril then looked up at the increasingly darkening skies.
The Ordelia heiress still wanted to at least be of some help to repay the favor, she didn't like owning things to people, she at least wanted to keep it even no matter as her pride demands her to do so.
"In that case, let me help you carry the chopped wood!" She stubbornly pushed on.
Cyril frowned at her unrelenting nature. "You know how rough firewood is? You'll get splinters if ya carry it with your soft hands." He said in an effort to discourage her, not wanting for someone else to get hurt on his account.
"You can't be serious!"
"You're just not cut out for this kinda work. Look at your hands, they're like a princess's." Cyril pointed out at the unbesmirched skin on her hand save for the dirt on the legs and the redness of it.
He continued. "No point in you learning to chop wood, is there?" He asked rhetorically, "You don't need to know how to do that stuff. You and me live in different worlds. There's no point lowering yourself down into mine." Cyril said without reservations, wanting to make it clear to Lysithea on their status.
This didn't really sit well for Lysithea as she didn't care too much on status, she would rather even get rid of the concept of nobility if she was given the chance to do so. "Our worlds aren't so different. We're together right now, aren't we?" She asked.
"Sure, we live in the same places now, but that's not gonna last forever. Don't see how it could." Cyril bluntly said, sounding like he was resigned towards his low status not that it bothered him that much, he was simply satisfied working and being useful to Rhea while in her service after all.
Lysithea sighed, relenting in defeat that she couldn't do anything to help Cyril and repay the favor. At least she managed to think of something to at least repay it.
"Wait here for a second, I'll give you something." Lysithea said before rushing back to her room, Cyril did so despite wanting to finish the task at hand.
Upon returning, Lysithea was bringing with her a small bag made of white cloth that Lysithea firmly tied together.
"Here, I want to at least give it to you as thanks for helping me the other day." Lysithea smiled and handed over the small bag.
"What is this?" Cyril asked, letting go off the logs on his left shoulder and taking the small bag.
"Its some baked treats I made for myself as a snack, it's the least I can do."
Cyril took the bag of treats and smelled the sweet aroma coming out of it, for the first time within the day, Cyril smiled.
"Thank you, Lysithea. I'll try these out once I'm done." Cyril said, nodding his head in gratitude before pocketing the bag of treats, he then lifted the logs back with his shoulders before continuing on his task as Lysithea watched him leave.
Satisfied that she managed to at least repay the favor in her own way, Lysithea set off to the dining hall to check what's for dinner and to get a fish or two for Ordelian.
The following day…
Lysithea was irritated at the fact that her class was being obligated to go to the cathedral and pay reverence to the Goddess to start the first Sunday of the month of the Harpstring Moon, they didn't do such a thing during the Great Tree Moon but that was probably because the Church of Seiros wanted the students to familiarize themselves at their new learning environment and home for the whole school year.
All students were required to go to the cathedral to attend the mass and just as Lysithea emerged out of her room with an irritated scowl, wanting to spend her entire day reading into her books as well as the library's while gorging herself over sweets and Ordelian's company, she was greeted by Lorenz who just descended down from the second floor of the dormitory.
"Why hello there Lysithea." Lorenz greeted her. "What a fine morning we have."
Lysithea's scowl grew even deeper at the sight of Lorenz.
"Lorenz." She greeted him back dryly.
"You seem to be in a sour mood." Lorenz pointed out before a smile graced his lips. "Perhaps after the mass, I can invite you to tea? Nothing does defeat the evils of stress more than a cup of tea on a fine day after all."
"You're wasting your breath on me, I'm not interested." Lysithea flatly said, having little patience on dealing with members of the nobility like Lorenz, in her opinion, Lorenz represents mostly what she hated in the nobility in general. Pompous, acting all high and all knowing and hiding behind honeyed words.
Lorenz chuckled, Lysithea raised an eyebrow up as she maintained her frown. What could Lorenz find amusing in what she just said?
"Oh come now, I insist. There is something I would like to discuss with you concerning the Alliance and future of Fodlan as a whole-"
The moment Lorenz mentioned the word future, any semblance of what remained of Lysithea's patience on Lorenz disappeared. She didn't want to deal with him today out of all days especially since her day started with the thought of being obligated to do something she has no interest in.
"Look, Lorenz. Let me make this clear to you. I am not interested." Lysithea pointed out, her tone going higher as more sharp words escaped her lips. "I couldn't care less what you want to discuss. If there is something to discuss, it's that stupidity you pulled back in the mock battle!"
Lorenz was taken aback at the mention of the mock battle that he was intensely admonished by from his classmates, his desire to display to one-up Claude got the better of him and went off to seek glory that may have ended in his death if it weren't a mock battle.
To hear Lysithea, the genius and star pupil of the Golden Deer personally berating him meant something.
Seeing Lorenz stunned, Lysithea left him with a huff.
Lorenz rushed to the direction of the Blue Lions, wanting to show to everyone that an heir of House Gloucester does not require the schemes of someone from House Riegan to gain victory in battle. He didn't realize how important tactic are for now… and also teamwork and coordination regardless of personal feelings are what wins battles.
He emerged out of the forest only to be met by a certain redhead, Sylvain Jose Gautier of the Blue Lions.
"Woah, I knew you were a self-important ass but I didn't think you would actually go as far to charge alone in enemy territory." Sylvain mockingly whistled, picking up his impaled lance on the side.
"Ah Sylvain, the nobleman who brings shame to the nobility in general. I shall relish this chance to deliver justice to the hearts of the fair maidens that you saw fit to break!" Lorenz then charged at Sylvain with no regards on the possibility of Sylvain being backed up by his allies.
Sylvain scoffed amusingly. "I don't want to hear that from someone who fails to even ask a girl out for tea."
The two noblemen and heirs of their respective houses clashed, matching each other blow for blow with their skill in the lance, something that surprised both due to their varying opinion against one another.
For Lorenz, he thought that Sylvain slacked off of any form of training in his endless pursuit of flirtation. For Sylvain, he thought lowly of Lorenz for his arrogance and pampered life as a noble.
"Has anyone ever told you that the first time a girl sees a man with a face like you, regardless of status, would want to run away as far away as possible?" Sylvain mocked with a smirk, drawing the ire of Lorenz.
"How dare you! The audacity!" Lorenz exclaimed as both pressed the pole of their lances to each other, hoping to acquire dominance over the other in their fight.
Sylvain chuckled at his reaction. Using his insults as a means to provoke Lorenz into making another foolish move seems to be working and despite Sylvain's reputation, he was actually adept in the art of fighting owing to the training he experienced with Dimitri, Felix and Ingrid in their youth.
Sylvain glanced behind him to see some of his classmates rushing towards him, apparently on their way to lend aid.
"You are nothing but a disgrace to the nobility for your flamboyant ways-"
Lorenz was forced to shut up when Sylvain countered his lance thrust and hit his head with the pole of his lance, strong enough to knock the Gloucester heir out cold just as Lysithea, Leonie and Raphael emerged out of the forest only to be met by the sight of Lorenz falling in battle.
Sylvain grinned over the fallen nobleman, feeling the desire to impart more words of insult to his adversary before moving on to fight the newly arrived Golden Deer as Annette, Dedue and Ingrid went ahead of him to fight the three.
""Maybe lessen the lecturing and bravado for a bit there? Also, big talk from someone who keeps getting rejected by girls when you invite them to tea-"
"Sylvain, watch out you fool!" Felix shouted from a distance, his eyes widening at the sudden arrival of an unexpected participant.
Sylvain didn't even finish or react to Felix' warning as he found himself losing consciousness and falling down to the ground face first much to the surprise of everyone including the new arrivals from the Golden Deer.
The person responsible for Sylvain's state?
"I-I did that correctly… R-Right?" Bernadetta nervously asked as she tightly held on to her bow, the same bow she used to whack Sylvain's head.
Everyone present and not wrapped up in their own battle looked at her with dumbfounded expressions, they were many questions ringing in their minds on what has just happened such as how in the world did Bernadetta sneak up behind Sylvain?
"Bernadetta… I don't think that was what the professor said when he told you to hit anyone with your bow…" Caspar emerged out of the forest while scratching the back of his head.
"B-B-But he said…"
Caspar looked around him, despite his general obliviousness and hotheadedness, he wasn't dumb enough to stay in their current predicament, once he saw Felix and Ingrid rushing towards the Varley noblewoman, he knew they had to get away as Bernadetta risked harm as the archer of their class.
Carrying Bernadetta on his arms much to her panic, Caspar made a beeline back to the forest as Felix chased them, Ingrid tried to join in only for Leonie to block her way.
"I'm your opponent!"
Meanwhile, Bernadetta's scream caught the attention of the other Blue Lions, distracting them just as Edelgard led her own party to attack them while their professor had his own on the other side to attack the Golden Deer.
"PUT ME DOOOOOOOWWWNNNN!"
Lysithea found herself stopping at the bridge leading to the cathedral of Garreg Mach, she contemplated moving forward to do what is obligated but a large part of her urged her to just turn her back and go to the library, not caring what the consequences would be if she did so.
She had no reason to show reverence to the Goddess despite her parents being pious and believing in the teaching of the Church of Seiros not out of obligation as members of the nobility but because they held out faith.
With a scoff, Lysithea turned her back on the path leading to the cathedral and instead made her way towards the library, hoping to hide herself there as the mass progressed, at least she knew she'll be undisturbed for a few moments as the sole occupant of the library barring Tomas the librarian if he didn't attend the mass.
On her way back into the main building, she encountered Seteth's younger sister, the young Flayn who seems to be nearly the same age as Lysithea or older by a slight margin.
"Oh! Lysithea." Flayn gasped as she nearly bumped into the Ordelia heiress just as she emerged out of the gate leading to the bridge linking the cathedral.
"Flayn." Lysithea acknowledged her with a short nod.
The green haired girl noticed Lysithea's direction was the opposite of where she was meant to go.
"I must ask, why are you going towards the opposite direction of the cathedral?" Flayn politely asked. "Could it be that you have not been informed of the mass today?"
Lysithea frowned. "I'm going to the library to spend my time there instead." She responded, despite appreciating the politeness of Flayn, Lysithea honestly didn't want to bother with her, she knew that Flayn is one of the most pious among the inhabitants of Garreg Mach as expected of the sister of the archbishop's principal advisor. Lysithea knew she would try to convince her to go the other way.
No manner of politeness and soft words would deter her however, she wasn't like her parents and despite her love for them, they find their continued faith to the Goddess and the teaching of Seiros as a whole to be such a meaningless engagement.
"But Lady Rhea deems it important for every student to attend the mass every first Sunday of the new moon. Why, I am on my way there as well… Might you want to accompany me? Mass is only going to take a short moment of your time." Flayn said, offering her hand towards Lysithea with a warm smile.
Lysithea was beginning to lose her patience at Flayn's insistence, polite or not, she didn't want to be obligated to attend something she has no interest in.
"Flayn, how many times must I tell you that I intend to go to the library? I don't want to waste time in the cathedral when I can use the time to learn something else." Lysithea grumbled, her short fuse that is her patience was beginning to thin out the more Flayn insisted. Her day has been soured far too much as it is.
The green haired girl however didn't get the hint and tried to convince her once more.
"But we must show reverence to the Goddess-"
That was the last straw for Lysithea.
"Why must I show reverence to a deity who abandoned her most faithful during their time of need?!" Lysithea snarled angrily as her own reservation against the religion of the Goddess and her resentment for the deity she used to fully believed in was unleashed like a floodgate opening.
Her belief in gods and religions was severely broken when the tragedy in her life happened, despite praying to the Goddess to come and save her and her siblings, no aid came, their prayers grew more desperate until there was only silence as Lysithea remained the only one alive.
If surviving what she went through was the Goddess' way of saving her, she wants nothing to do with her despite the reverence her parents continued to display even after such a tragedy.
"Report me, don't report me to your brother. I don't care! Just leave me alone and stop wasting my time!" Lysithea harshly shouted at Flayn, leaving the latter shocked as Lysithea stormed past her in a fit of rage.
Just as Lysithea reached the corner that she would turn to in order to reach the stairs, she bumped into the person she least expected to see… again for the second time. Lysithea bounced off after bumping into Edelgard once more, almost falling off on her back until Edelgard managed to save her by grabbing her arms and pulling her towards her.
"Are you alright?" Edelgard asked out in concern, letting go of Lysithea's arms as Lysithea looked up to her with an unreadable expression. Lavender eyes to pinkish red eyes locked in a gaze.
Lysithea didn't have the energy to even show any form of gratitude following the stressful situations she had to deal with the moment she set foot outside of her room, she simply gave her a short nod before wordlessly leaving the Imperial Princess behind. Edelgard watched as Lysithea climbed up the stairs to the second floor of the main building.
A look of concern etched on her face.
Lysithea finally reached the destination she had been intending to spend her entire day on as planned, though she lost a lot of her drive to learn something due to the stress she's felt, she knew she was still capable of properly absorbing any form of knowledge with the solitary feeling of the library.
Only to see that there was another occupant in the library and one that actually surprised her upon seeing him.
It was Professor Byleth, poring over a book he just took out from one of the shelves, looking at its written contents with interest. It wasn't what he was doing that surprised Lysithea but the fact that he, the homeroom professor and advisor of the Black Eagles was in the library and not in attendance to the mass when he should be was in the library as well, seemingly neglecting his duties as a role model for the students to follow in his example.
Growing ever curious on the mysterious but effective professor of the Black Eagles, Lysithea approached the man clad in black armor and coat, he was too absorbed in his own reading that he hasn't noticed Lysithea was beside him, watching him read a book with stoic interest.
"Professor?" She called out for him.
Byleth blinked upon realizing he wasn't the only one in the library anymore, he looked to his side to see Lysithea staring at him. Azure blue eyes met with her pinkish red eyes once more.
"Lysithea." He spoke her name, apparently not forgetting it despite not talking to each other for weeks now, he then returned to reading the book.
"Why are you not at the cathedral?" Byleth plainly asked, not looking at her as he flipped the page to the next one and traced the page word by word with his finger as if trying to specifically look for something.
Lysithea raised an eyebrow at the rather hypocritical question that was hurled at her.
"I should ask you the same thing, professor. As the professor of the Black Eagles, shouldn't you be there to attend as part of your job?" Lysithea questioned him with a matching look, folding her arms over her chest as she did so.
"And as a student, isn't it your obligation to attend the mass as well?" Byleth countered back, making Lysithea flinch at how he turned the question against her.
She didn't expect the professor to be quick-witted in his response yet he delivered it with no trace of emotion whatsoever and it bothered her on why he fails to show any hint of emotion in anything he says or do, she didn't think a person like him could exist to be so numb.
"I…" Lysithea didn't know how to respond after being taken aback by Byleth's reply. Still, she didn't know how to respond to the professor's question, would it be blasphemy in his ears if she would say that she doesn't want to actively worship the Goddess?
Byleth noticed her hesitance, glancing at her and seeing her downcast eyes, he lightly frowned at the sight of the girl before he sighed.
"I came here to avoid attending the mass." Byleth said, returning the gaze of his azure blue eyes onto the content of the book he was holding again.
Just when she thought nothing could surprise her about the professor, she finds out another surprising fact about the newest professor of Garreg Mach.
"Why?" She asked with curiosity.
Byleth responded immediately. "My father didn't teach me nor showed me any text pertaining to the teachings of the Church of Seiros."
'Could Captain Jeralt possibly be someone who didn't care for the religion?' Lysithea thought, she found it weird that an esteemed and legendary figure among the Knights of Seiros wouldn't impart the teachings of the religious institution he fights for towards his child.
She was guessing that could Jeralt have experienced something that would shake his faith?
"I have no reason to attend a mass of something I don't have an understanding on." Byleth continued.
"I guess we are both the same in that regard, professor." Lysithea said.
Byleth knotted his eyebrows, taking his eyes off the book again to glance at the Ordelia heiress.
"How so?" He asked, Lysithea could have sworn he was interested judging by the short lapse of emotion she saw through him.
"While our reason for not attending isn't the same… I just find it similar that we'd rather spend our time doing something else rather than attend something just because we were obligated to." Lysithea replied, something that Byleth understood as well.
"I must apologize in advance." Byleth started, earning another questioning gaze from Lysithea.
"I am simply surprised that a daughter of a prominently pious noble wouldn't share the same amount of faith he has." Byleth said while wondering out loud.
'You don't look surprised.'
Lysithea just stared at him, not because of getting offended by his assumption but shocked that the professor even knows of her parent's faith regarding the religion of Fodlan, she didn't think that the professor would actually go out his way to research about her and probably the other students of Garreg Mach which she could guess that he now knows about the history of his own students.
"Don't worry, I won't report you for being here." Byleth suddenly said, reassuring the girl he won't tattle on anyone.
"Just as you don't do the same to me. I merely sneaked out." Byleth admitted.
Lysithea was finally realizing how the man was full of surprises despite his impassive exterior, it seems like it was all just a front and he holds something within all that stoicness after all. At least that's what Lysithea wanted to believe.
"Thank you professor…" Lysithea didn't notice that she was finally smiling for the first time in the entire day after feeling stressful ever since departing her room.
Byleth nodded and resumed at his book. Something that still made Lysithea curious about what the professor is so absorbed by, she already her own guesses that it was a book to better her teaching or for making a lesson plan for his students to follow on.
Still, she peered closer at the cover of the book, the spine and some parts of the book were partly concealed by Byleth's fingers and palm that was holding the book.
She could only make out the words "Spirits" and "Rituals.".
"Professor, what is that you're reading?" Lysithea couldn't handle the growing curiosity welling up in her, she won't be able to get it out of her head if she just let him be.
Byleth didn't look at her as he kept reading.
"I'm reading about spirits… lost souls and any methods of expunging them from a person they have latched to-" Byleth suddenly jerked his head back, perplexing Lysithea as her eyes blinked at the sudden action of the professor as if something or someone loudly yelled in his ears judging by how the way Byleth was checking his ear.
"Are you alright?" Lysithea asked out in concern, thinking that the professor might have suffered an internal injury in his ear, thinking of a possibility that someone must have hit at the ear in the mock battle.
Byleth nodded. "I'm alright. It is nothing of note." He assured her despite having no emotion attached to his assurance.
Not wanting to ask why Byleth would even read a book about spirits and exorcism because of her fear of the supernatural, Lysithea decided to part ways with the professor to pursue her own goal into going to the library in the first place.
"I… see… well then, if you'll excuse me, I'll be going to read my own books." Lysithea said as she distanced herself to conduct her own business in the library.
Byleth watched her leave to go a shelf of books but not before saying something.
"Lysithea."
The Ordelia heiress glanced at him.
"Yes, professor?"
"You did well at the mock battle." He praised her, surprising Lysithea once more at the sudden compliment. She didn't know if he was flattering her or not but basing on the nonexistent emotion in his words, he meant what he told her.
Lysithea found herself smiling again, normally compliments wouldn't have any effect on her considering how everything was attributed to her natural Goddess-given talent but coming from perhaps the most stoic professor of Garreg Mach seems to hold some weight for her.
It didn't take long for Lysithea to feel stress once more despite having a decent moment with Byleth at the library as after a while that she spent blissful silence with Byleth in the library, Cyril arrived and informed Lysithea that Hanneman was looking for her in his office, Cyril also informed Byleth that Rhea was looking for him.
She knew of the repercussions of what her absence in the mass would entail, she readied herself to be reprimanded, she entered Hanneman's office with her will steeled but it soon came crashing down as it wasn't what she expected on about.
"W-What?" Lysithea stuttered out in shock, she wasn't sure if she heard right.
"I have been observing you since the mock battle, Lysithea." Hanneman began as he stood before her, a hand on his chin while looking at the young girl with interest.
Shock was soon replaced with anger but she kept her mouth shut out of fear of saying something out of line towards her house' professor. She finally knew what she saw wasn't just her exhaustion playing tricks on her when she saw Hanneman hiding and observing them back at the mock battle.
But more importantly, she was angered at Hanneman prying into her family history without any permission from either her or her parents.
"When you fought Annette, your Crest finally manifested for me to see it." Hanneman began, ignoring the growing indignation in his student's eyes. "I was certain when I saw it, you possessed the Crest of House Gloucester, a major one to be exact!"
Despite the growing anger in her eyes, fear began to also mixed in, she feared that such a day would come that her Crest would be discovered but she didn't know that it would come so soon in her academy life.
"Yet, when I looked into your family history. None within your family married any member of House Gloucester or were descendants which begs to ask how did you acquire their Crest when by all accounts, have no drop of Gloucester blood running within House Ordelia's members?" Hanneman asked but Lysithea kept her mouth shut, not wanting to reveal to him anything that might endanger her and the secret she intends to keep with her in her grave.
Expecting Lysithea's silence, Hanneman took out the Crest analyzing device he invented and took out a vial with a few drops of blood from his pocket, prompting Lysithea to knit her eyebrows together in question and frustration.
"This is the blood sample I got from you while you lay unconscious at the infirmary tent after the mock battle-"
Lysithea felt violated instantly at the thought of the elderly professor extracting her blood without permission as she laid unconscious, she knew Hanneman was quite driven on his research on Crestology but to even go as far as to take her blood and investigate her family line sent shivers down her spine.
"While I only managed to extract a few until Manuela arrived in an inopportune time, it was enough sample for this device." Hanneman then inserted the vial of blood into the device as it made sounds of operation.
"It was enough to determine what Crest you possessed." The device then projected an image above it as Lysithea's eyes widened in horror at the Crest symbol that manifested.
The Crest of Charon.
"I see now on why you kept on avoiding me all these weeks, Lystihea." Hanneman said as he pieced together every fragments of the puzzle that was Lysithea.
"You are the first known individual to possess two Crests simultaneously. The Crest of Gloucester and the Crest of Charon flows within your veins… are they not?"
Lysithea started breathing heavily as what she feared all this time has finally occurred. She knew there was no point in keeping silent in light of the damning evidences laid out against her.
"What do you want from me?" Lysithea nervously asked but inwardly cursed the 'blessing' bestowed upon her, a blessing she considered to be her curse.
Hanneman stroke his mustache. "I wish for you to aid me in my research, I want to discover the mystery on how such a phenomena happened, doing so would benefit the science of Crestology!" He said excitedly, something Lysithea didn't share.
Lysithea knew she had no choice but to comply. She clenched her hands into fists at the turn of events in her life in Garreg Mach. If she intends to keep her condition a secret to prevent others from using her, then she must buy Hanneman's silence with her agreement.
With a heavy heart, Lysithea could only respond with a nod.
Deleted/bonus scene:
Still, she peered closer at the cover of the book, the spine and some parts of the book were partly concealed by Byleth's fingers and palm that was holding the book.
She could only make out the words "Spirits" and "Rituals.".
"Professor, what is that you're reading?" Lysithea couldn't handle the growing curiosity welling up in her, she won't be able to get it out of her head if she just let him be.
Byleth didn't look at her as he kept reading.
"I'm reading about spirits… lost souls and any methods of expunging them from a person they have latched to-" Byleth suddenly jerked his head back.
"How dare you think of me as a lost soul?!" Sothis screamed within his mind, angry at the audacity of the mortal she is inhabiting.
'Then what are you doing within me?' Byleth mentally asked, Sothis huffed at him, crossing her arms as she sat on her throne.
"How should I know?! Still, your insolence irks me! Is that how you show gratitude? The lost soul you are trying to expel out of your miserable husk of a body just happened to save your life!"
"Are you alright?" Lysithea asked out in concern, thinking that the professor might have suffered an internal injury in his ear, thinking of a possibility that someone must have hit at the ear in the mock battle.
Byleth nodded. "I'm alright. It is nothing of note." He assured her despite having no emotion attached to his assurance.
"If that is how you keep on regarding me then maybe I will allow you to meet your demise next time you make such a foolish move! Honestly! The impudence of mortals! Treating you like a parasite after aiding them!" Sothis ranted on as Byleth's conversation with Lysithea carried on.
And that ends what is currently the meatiest chapter in this story!
There were actually rewrites involved in this chapter as I finally realized that detailing the mock battle would be fruitless, I am ashamed to admit that I do suck at writing large-scale battles in full detail compared to smaller scale fight scenes. That's why I figured out telling specific parts of the events of the mock battle in flashback sequences.
I felt like Edelgard has this stalker-ish feel in this chapter, judging by how she keeps a discreet eye on Lysithea every chance she could get XD
Also gotta admit, a certain part of this chapter totally drained me because I absolutely detested writing the scene and the character involved specifically.
Things are going to start picking up the pace soon next chapter!
Anyway, kudos and comments are very much appreciated! Thank you for the time and have a Merry Christmas to y'all!