Author's Notes:

Happy Holidays! Hope you take some time to reflect what you've survived this year, what you've accomplished - despite all odds - and what you're looking forward to doing in the next year!

Thank you to all you readers on FFN! And to all my beta readers! And thank you to Moyou / budgie_qm on Twitter for her beautiful art and fan art - the marvelous Desi Dedue, Diwali Parvati, Chapter 3 Dimitri, and the Halloween Witch Parvati!


Chapter 4

~ An Inevitable Encounter ~


"So is this it?" asked Parvati. She blew on her coffee as she consulted Hanneman and Manuela. "This is the makeup of my three classes?"

They were in the Mess Hall since morning, and had taken charge of an entire table to lay out the foundations of their classwork. Hanneman was at one end of the table, flipping through her syllabi and lesson plans, while she and Manuela arranged and rearranged all the students in her math classes based on their performance in the pretest. There were now twenty-four students placed in Basic, Standard, and Advanced classes.

Manuela looked through the notes Parvati had on the cards for Claude and Hilda, then placed the first in Standard and the second in Advanced.

"Lysithea, Hilda, Lindhart, Annette, Edelgard, Dimitri, Ferdinand, Hubert, and Sylvain…" Manuela said under her breath. "Do you want such a big Advanced class? You could move someone down one level. Who's got the lowest scores…Hubert and Ferdinand…"

"Are these your Ancient Technology lesson plans?" asked Hanneman. "You have twenty four in each of the others, so why are there only four of them here?"

Parvati picked up the cards for Hubert and Ferdinand card. "What if we moved Ferdinand? …Then he would do comfortably…could move both…"

"Hello," said someone behind her.

"Hello," intoned Parvati automatically, absorbed.

"Parvati, why are there only four lesson plans?" Hanneman was still asking while she shushed him.

It was just as she had decided where to place Hubert and Ferdinand that she became aware that activity had stopped around her. Manuela was looking at something behind her, and even Hanneman, who had previously been flipping through papers, was standing stock still.

Parvati looked over her shoulder. Standing just past her right shoulder was the tallest Duscuri she had ever seen. She barely came halfway up his forearms. He was clearly North Duscuri. Wide in the shoulders, wide in the chest, he wore an Officer's Academy uniform that was clearly tailored for him. His glinting teal eyes met hers directly with a closely guarded expression, until Parvati squealed in delight. "DEDUE!"

Take note: no one had ever squealed his name before.

The Duscuri's eyes widened. From behind her, Manuela said, "Do you know him?"

"No!" said Parvati, grinning like an idiot and shaking his hand.

Take note: no one had ever shook his hand either — certainly never so vigorously.

When Parvati realized everyone was looking at her, she explained, "Ah! I am just — so excited! Dedue…you are the first student of Duscur at the Officer's Academy. You..have made…history. And I, Professor Parvati, am the first faculty member from Duscur. I have made history. And — the fact that you and I are together, and are here at the same time — is — " Again, that high-pitched squee! "Ohhh, I'm so proud of you! When did you get in? Did you eat? I didn't see you before."

She let go of his hand. Dedue blinked at her, clearly overwhelmed, because his answers were "yes" and "yes."

"Your hair is just like my father's! Squee! It stands straight up like his! What's with the South Duscur earring?"

"My family lived in South Duscur…"

"Oh! Of course! You've got a North Duscur build, so…" She paused and put her hands on her hips and considered him. "Huh. You look good, Dedue. Dashing! I didn't know the Officer's Academy uniform would look so good on us."

Dedue adopted a rabbit-in-the-cage look and looked towards someone behind Parvati.

"Welcome to the Officer's Academy, Dedue! I'll take care of you!" declared Parvati.

Someone started laughing behind her. Parvati looked at who it was and the smile dropped off her face. She realized Hanneman and Manuela hadn't gone quiet because of Dedue — they had been looking at the person standing next to him.

Straw-blonde hair, sparkling cerulean eyes, his shoulders shook as he continued laughing. Tall in his own right, just a few inches shy of Dedue, he had a blue cape slung over his left shoulder and a leaner build. From his right shoulder, a blue belt slung down to his opposite hip, fastening a sword to his hip.

It wasn't Dedue who had said hello, Parvati realized. It had been Prince!

The Prince smiled widely at Dedue as he said, "That…was the happiest reception I have ever seen Dedue get in my life! That was wonderful!" Those cerulean eyes now landed on Parvati. He bowed to her, ignoring the shock plain upon her face as he introduced himself. "My name is Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, Crown Prince of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus. I wonder, if you'll be taking care of me too?"

Parvati made noises. Manuela cut in in front of her, pushing Parvati behind her as she said, "I'm Manuela. I'm a professor, a physician, a songstress, and available. It's nice to meet you."

"Manuela, that is not what you are supposed to say to the students!" Hanneman butt in. He too pushed himself in front of Parvati as he introduced himself.

Saved! she thought to herself, her heart blooming with gratefulness to Manuela for jumping in, and to Hanneman for tagging along. Stumbling back into Dedue, however, Parvati came face-to-face with the pin on his chest. She frowned at it. "You're…from Faerghus?"

There was another peal of laughter from the Prince. He glanced over Manuela's shoulder, at Parvati, as he said, "I am pleased to meet you. A songstress, did you say?"

Wait, thought Parvati. If Dedue was wearing a Faerghus pin…she looked at the Prince. That meant Dedue and Dimitri were together.

What was a Duscuri doing with the Faerghusi Prince?

Whatever Manuela was saying back to the Prince, Parvati did not hear over a sudden, batting, clapping sound. The side doors to the dining hall, the ones overlooking the pond, were open and bouncing lightly in the wind against the walls. At the foot of the doorway, some papers were skiff-skiffing across the floor. A few white sheets cartwheeled in and out of view outside the double-doorway.

Parvati looked at the table. Her stack of lesson plans was definitively smaller. "Oh my gods!" she hissed. She sprang forward to shut the doors and reassessed the table.

This was bad. This was very bad. She taught three math classes, three times a week, and one technology class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The only way this was possible was if she had all four classes prepped well in advance. And now she just had a few sheets of paper, spilling over the edge of the table and, after falling onto the bench, split around it, and reunited into a pile on the floor.

The others were looking at her now.

Hanneman stuttered, "Parvati! Th-This is my fault! I forgot to put back the weight on the plans!"

Parvati stood open-mouthed, then dropped to her knees collecting the pages under the table. "I need to present the syllabi to Seteth!" She craned her head to see the clock behind the Prince's head. "In fifteen minutes!" She flipped through the pages in her hands. "Is it still over here?"

She was grateful to huddle beside the table. It blocked everybody out of her view, and gave her a moment to swipe a wrist over her eye while she was out of their view. It's not here not here not here not here —

She heard Hanneman say, "Ah ha! Thank goodness! Parvati — the syllabus — I have in my hands!"

Parvati jumped out from behind the table. "What?"

Hanneman shoved his papers into her hands, the ones he had been holding all this time. Three syllabi for her three math classes. But Ancient Technology wasn't here.

Nonetheless, her shoulders came down in relief. "Thank the Goddess," she said, grateful. She threw her arms around Hanneman, squeezed, and released him.

"But what about the lesson plans?" asked Manuela. Behind her, Prince Dimitri looked at Dedue.

Parvati swallowed. "One thing at a time!" she said, trying to keep control of herself. She had thirteen minutes remaining.

Hanneman made his way to the door. "Parvati! You gather what you have at the table! I'm going outside to collect what I can!"

Prince Dimitri said, "We'll help!" Dedue nodded.

Parvati made a sound of disbelief. How could she be so stupid? How many minutes had the door been open? How didn't she hear it before? Now the papers had blown in every direction — some dancing to the courtyards, diving to the fishing pond, cart-wheeling to the student dorms. She wouldn't be surprised if at least a few of her lesson plans didn't go winding and down the mountain. Algebra at the alcove, trigonometry under a tree, math analysis at the mountain pass — like titles for children's stories.

Prince Dimitri and Dedue followed out after Hanneman. Manuela made it a point to re-shut the door and watched Parvati gather the nine of the twenty-four students cards still on the table.

What was she going to tell Seteth? She couldn't even tell him who was in what class for her mathematics class rosters. She looked back at the clock again. Five minutes!

"Don't worry," said Manuela. She came and rubbed Parvati's arms. "We'll get back to you with as many papers as we can when you come out, okay?"

Parvati sniffled and nodded.

"Now you can't go upstairs looking like this. Go to the bathroom, wash your face, and then give Seteth a performance, you hear?"

Parvati smiled. "Manuela…you're the best!"

Manuela smirked. "And don't I know it!"


Dedue Molinaro, son of a blacksmith and ardent vassal to the Prince, followed in his liege's footsteps as they chased after lesson plans in the courtyards. There were four tables for student lounging under a dome gazebo. It was empty now, so Dimitri took a spot in the shade. He examined the hand with the papers they had managed to retrieve, gauging the sunburn.

"What do you think?" he asked.

"About what?" Dedue asked. He himself was standing in sunlight. With his dark skin, he naturally didn't sunburn, and this kind of sunlight was as close to the warmth of Duscur as he had experienced in five years.

"The professor, of course!" said the Prince.

"Which one?"

Dimitri waved the papers at him with an irritated glance. "You know which one."

From the look on Dimitri's face, Dedue knew the Prince was expecting much. "She is…vibrant."

Dimitri smiled. "She has taken a liking to you."

"For the moment."

This response did not please the Prince.

Dedue said, "What?"

"Dedue. She has shown you more warmth and kindness in one minute than most anyone in Faerghus in five years. That must have meant something."

"For one minute, yes. But you should have seen her face in the next, when she saw the pin of Faerghus on my chest."

Dedue could see he had made the Prince angry. He did not mind. He was one of the few who could get away with it.

Dimitri said, "She has reason to — "

"Yes. She has. And that makes her a threat to your life."

"She is your ally, Dedue — "

"Not yet. Please. Do not coax yourself into this unfounded belief, Your Highness."

The papers Dimitri held crinkled. Oops. They were crushed.

Dedue held a hand out to take them, saying, "Your ally is my ally. Until she is your ally, she is my enemy."

Dimitri glared quietly for a long time. Then he said, "Have it your way." He slapped the papers into Dedue's hand.

Forty minutes later, Dimitri asked, "What are you looking at?"

They were in the greenhouse now, where crickets were chirping and a low-flying bird almost flew right into the Duscuri. Dedue ducked. That's when he saw it in between the lilies and carnations: a familiar note card. He plucked it out and they looked at it together. The front said:

Ferdinand von Aegir, 78.
Age: 17
Crest: Cichol
Nationality: Adrestia

On the back it listed Likes, Dislikes and Interests.

Dimitri gave a bark of a laugh. "Likes: being noble? Dislikes: nobles who are not noble? Is this a joke?"

"He also likes collecting armor, horseback riding, and dislikes slothfulness," Dedue said. "You two are alike in those respects."

From the way Dimitri was glaring at him, Dedue realized the Prince had already made up his mind to passively hate this Ferdinand. Now he didn't appreciate being likened to him.

Dedue shook his head and moved on. Stuck to the card for Ferdinand was the card for a student named Hubert von Vestra. He read through what was there as he asked, "What does it say on your card?"

"I go-o-ot it!" they heard a sing-song voice.

Dimitri and Dedue looked past the anemones, out the window, to the pond. It was Professor Manuela, in water three-foot deep. She was holding the skirt of her blue dress up in one hand, and a wilting set of papers in the other, as she declared to someone, "I found her syllabus! For Ancient Technology!"

"Very good!" came the voice of Professor Hanneman. He must have been standing on the pier. He said, "Bring it here. I'll dry it."

Professor Manuela waded out of sight behind the fisherman's shack.

Dedue returned his attention to the Prince again. "What does your card say?"

Dimitri looked at him, pretending to look unsure of what he meant.

"Your Highness. I saw you take your card off of the table."

The Prince gave a sheepish smile. "So I was not inconspicuous?" He pulled his card out of his pocket and looked at it, surprised when he read it.

The front said, Blaiddyd, 94. He had done well. He turned it over. Nothing.

The back of Dimitri's had nothing.

He frowned, then flipped it back over. Not only did the back of his have nothing, the front of the card didn't even have his full name.

He looked up to see Dedue watching him. "Okay," he said. "Not an ally. I got it."

Dimitri put his card away, and followed Dedue out of the greenhouse.


When Parvati came back out of Seteth's office, she breathed a huge sigh of relief. Seteth had been quick to approve the syllabi and seemed distracted about something else. He didn't even ask her about the syllabus for Ancient Technology…and she decided not to bring it up until she recreated it. Oh, by the way, I had forgotten to bring this other syllabus from my office! That's what she'd say to him.

She trudged into her office, rubbing the side of her head as she sensed the beginning of a migraine. When she stepped into her office, she froze.

Prince Dimitri was perusing her bookshelf. He turned when he heard her enter. "Professor!"

Parvati blinked. "Hi."

Dedue, who was standing in the middle of her office, motioned to her desk.

Parvati gasped. There were several large piles of papers stacked upon her desk. She rushed forward to see them. Dedue stepped aside as he continued sorting them.

"I think we've gotten most of them," said Prince Dimitri, "or at least more than half." He pointed past bent pages, to ones at the end that were crinkled. "Professor Manuela fished them out and Professor Hanneman dried them. The ones that had landed in the water."

Of course, thought Parvati, thinking of Hanneman's fire anima magic.

"They're not completely illegible," said Prince Dimitri. "He suggested recopying them."

Parvati scoffed in disbelief. "The four of you did this for me?" She took a shuddering breath and cleared her throat. "It wasn't necessary…certainly not for a Prince."

Dimitri looked at her. "I like to think I can be a decent human being before I must be the Prince of Faerghus."

Parvati's brows went up. "That's…good," she said. Remarkable, she thought. She never anticipated this from royalty. Or nobility in general, for that matter. And…certainly not from him of all people…

"Thank you," she said to them. "This will save me tremendous time."

Dedue nodded, his expression unreadable. An awkward silence fell upon them.

Wait 'til Randolph hears the first students I had in my office were

Parvati's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a tummy rumbling. Prince Dimitri looked at Dedue with a blush. "You haven't eaten?" she asked. "It's three o'clock already." She was astonished: it had just occurred to her that even royalty could have rumbly tummies.

"We got overexcited," explained Prince Dimitri.

Parvati looked at Dedue. He didn't look overexcited. She couldn't tell what he was thinking at all…

The sound of a tummy rumbling happened again.

Prince Dimitri said, "That was yours, Professor."

Parvati flushed.

"Why not join us for a late lunch?" he asked. "I know we only just met, but, I hope you will consent."

Stay away from him, came Randolph's voice. Be wary of the Prince.

Parvati scrambled for a reason why she could not go. That reason came in the form of a series of thuds, then a key being inserted and unlocking a door. The sound of something metallic rolled across the stone hallway floor. Through her doorway, she saw the door across from her office was opening.

"Aelfric!" whispered Parvati. It was time to meet her neighbor!

Professor Aelfric was a mousy-haired fellow with a timorous expression. He was on his knees with his arms wrapped around something on the floor. Set on the ground behind him was a travel bag, and behind that, a strange silver contraption.

When Professor Aelfric saw Parvati and the students pop out of her office, he dropped whatever he was holding again in surprise. It was a globe. Or at least, the ball part of a globe. It resumed rolling thunderously away from him, in the direction of Hanneman's office. Dimitri skipped over and stopped it with his foot.

"Hah! Professor Parvati, you must be!" the professor said. He had an amiable voice. He came up from his crouch and looked at the students, his eyes lingering on Prince Dimitri — then Prince Dimitri's foot.

Aelfric did a sort of semi-bow that managed to be directed at absolutely none of them. He then said, "The Professor of Ancient Technology! Hanneman's talked about you for months!"

"Hopefully good things!" Parvati said, feigning a cheerful smile. She was unsure of what to say; Hanneman had not said anything about him. She settled for the only piece of information she had gotten from Seteth: "You must be Aelfric!"

Aelfric nodded. He swept the knees of his red monks' robes. Dimitri picked up the globe and dropped the ball into his hands. The professor made a hurgh! noise, dipping slightly under its weight and pedaling backwards. His feet knocked over the silver thing — the globe stand. Parvati and the Prince exchanged glances. She had a feeling she was seeing why Seteth too had said almost nothing about him…

"Did you just get in?" she asked.

"I'm afraid so…" he said, using an elbow to swing open his door.

Parvati stepped back the moment the door had opened. It smelled quite powerfully of…mothball packets.

"Did I hear you say something about lunch?" came Aelfric's voice from his dark office. For some reason, he had blackout curtains covering the windows. "If you're going, I'll come with you. I am famished!" He emerged back out to retrieve his travel bag. "I would suggest the St. Cichol Inn for lunch. Or for dinner. Or anytime. The best food available at Garreg Mach."

"St. Cichol Inn! I know of the one!" said the Prince, enthusiastic. He turned to Dedue. "I had told you I would take you there. That was where we always went with Glenn."

Parvati hadn't seen an inn inside the Monastery. "How far is it?" she asked.

"It is actually down the mountain," Aelfric said. "Ah, sorry, it actually isn't in Garreg Mach." He had retreated back into the dark of his office, and they listened to his disembodied voice as he somehow moved about the room.

"Oh, in Saleh Mach, you mean?" Parvati looked out the windows at the end of the hall. It looked to be past three already, and nights came swift during the winter. It would take over a half hour to get into the trade city. "The cafeteria downstairs would be faster," she said. "We're all famished, aren't we?"

They heard Aelfric stop moving. "Oh. The cafeteria downstairs is…" There was a moment of silence. Then he said, "No. St. Cichol Inn it is. I will see you there, Professor. It seems I have forgotten something." And with that, he closed the door. Almost in her face. Kind of. Not exactly though. But kind of.

Parvati blinked. That was…surprisingly decisive of him. And sudden. She hadn't said that she was going…but apparently, he expected to meet her there. She looked at Dimitri. What was she going to do? She couldn't just…

Behind Dimitri was Hanneman's door. All right, if she was going to get lumped in with these three, she would at least acquire some allies of her own!

But Hanneman wasn't hungry. Whoops.

"Wait!" he said. "That's a Blaiddyd! You must have a Crest! Allow me to do research!"

"Uninvited!" Parvati retorted, horrified to hear Hanneman refer to the Prince like some zoo animal. That's a giraffe! That's an elephant! That's a Blaiddyd!

"He's hungry," Parvati covered for Hanneman. "You're not allowed to do Crest research on him."

Hanneman looked relieved that they were on joking terms again.

She softened. "Hanneman…thanks."

He nodded. Then he gave directions to the St. Cichol Inn.

Across from his office was Manuela's. Manuela said she wasn't coming either. "I have a hangover," she stated.

"Hangover?" muttered Parvati as she exited the physician's office. She shook her head. "When did you even manage to drink?"

Dimitri and Dedue, who had been waiting outside, exchanged glances.

Parvati looked at the students, the two of them towering over her. No way, she thought, filling with dread as she tried to wrap her head around what was happening. It was just her. It was going to be just her. And at some point, Professor Aelfric, but…from what she had seen of him, she wasn't about to count on him.

It makes sense, Parvati thought with a sinking feeling. She couldn't possibly ask for shielding forever. She had to deal with these kids.

All right, she thought. It's time to put on the face. She couldn't make it seem like she was not in command. The first thing she did was walk to her office. She fished for the keys in her green cloak pocket and, for the first time in her professorial career, locked the door to her office before the day had come to an end.

She could feel Prince Dimitri and Dedue's eyes burning into her back. No unexpected visitors. Message relayed.

"Let's go," she said, not looking back as she led the way.