Lysithea struggled to control her breathing as she began swinging her blade as the Professor had instructed. The wood of the training dummy clacked dully with every strike that she could bring herself to muster. Catherine had been right; technique wouldn't matter if she couldn't even land a solid swing with a sword.

"You think too much," Byleth commented as she stepped back and tried to catch her breath.

"I thought you said I should be thinking about how to defeat my opponents. Even with a sword."

"Think about the environment you're in, think about moving to a position where you have an advantage, but don't think as you swing. Feel it. Let your body move on instinct."

"I always seem to mess up if I just swing without giving it much thought though."

"You need to figure out what does work for you and condition your body from there." The Professor took out his blade and began to swing it lightly against hers. "You should also exercise more. Strength and stamina are much more important than technique."

Lysithea caught the Professor's sword with the flat of her blade and then subtly angled it so that the force of her Professor's swing would cause his blade to slide harmlessly off to the side.

Both Catherine and the Professor had very similar advice for her which she had begun listening to. She had even begun jogging much to Caspar's surprise though she could hardly keep up with him for long.

"Have you been doing your fifty swings in the morning as I instructed?" Byleth asked as he thrusted at her.

Lysithea put her right foot back and pivoted her waist, causing the thrust to hit nothing by air. "I… have." She tried to attack Professor only for him to step back out of her reach. He then used the extra length he had on her to lightly tap her neck with his sword.

"Switch to an iron blade then and continue jogging after your sword sets."

"Understood Professor," Lysithea replied as she stepped back and rubbed the spot on her neck the Professor had just poked. Had that been a real blade she would've been choking on her own blood.

"How has your magic training been?"

"I've been learning faith magic now with help from Mercedes and Lindhart. I believe I might be able to learn Seraphim soon. I'm also considering learning how to use Warp"

"Good. Continue your studies with them and attend seminars for your reason, faith, and authority. Sword training will be personally supervised by me or Catherine."

"You're keeping me quite busy aren't your Professor?" Lysithea replied lightheartedly. She could hardly complain about how busy she was, it was what she had wanted after all.

"Of course. Now strike me again."

By the time Lysithea was finished with her training session with the Professor she was left a smelly sweaty mess with her uniform sticking to her skin. She was in need of a bath, a change of clothes, and quite possibly a nap.

This was why she was quite annoyed to find Lorenz of all people stand in the way of that.

"Hello Lysithea, might I take a moment of your time?" he asked Lysithea just as she was about to leave the training grounds.

"I refuse to drink tea with you," she crossed her arms and replied bluntly.

"Nothing of that sort, I just wanted to attempt an experiment with you."

"An experiment?" That piqued her interest.

"Yes, with Thyrsus." Lorenze brought out his family's relic for her to see. Like any Relic it looked like it was made of a bonelike material with a Crest stone inserted in it. Though uniquely enough it was one of the few relics out there meant to empower magic. "I wish to see the difference in power that a major and minor Crest may provide a relic and since you and I happen to share the same Crest…"

"I'll give it a shot," Lysithea agreed as she held her hand out. Though she was still finding it difficult to tolerate Lorenz, even she had to be curious about the relic that he held. It was the first one that she had seen that was meant for mages and she was learning to tolerate having to use her Crests somewhat. At least in cases where it would be necessary and knowing that she could use Thyrsus could be useful in an emergency.

"Wonderful," Lorenz put the weapon in her hand. "Now show them the might that is the Great Line of Gloucester."

"I told you before, I'm not related to you in any way." Lysithea pointed the staff at the training dummy, charged up a Miasma, and fired.

The spell blasted through the wand much more quickly and powerfully than she and Lorenz and initially expected. It didn't just hit the dummy; it completely broke through and obliterated it before continuing even further. It went to the very end sparring grounds, broke through the stone walls, and ultimately exploded in a shower of destructive dark magic in the storage room where all the training weapons were kept.

It was pure and utter pandemonium as everyone screamed, stared, ran away, or a mixture of all three, as black flames lingered throughout the area even as the spell had finished casting. The distinct smell of dark magic, mainly sulfur and iron, filled the air.

"Lysithea?"

She gulped. "Yes Lorenz?"

"I think we can agree that you should not be allowed to hold my family's relic. Now or in the foreseeable future."

"I agree." Lysithea handed the relic back to Lorenz. "So… about that invitation for tea…"

"What in the Goddess's name happened here!?" Seteth's voice screamed out in the distance.

"Is someone cooking?" Flayn asked. "It smells delectable!"

"Run?" Lorenz suggested.

"Run," Lysithea agreed.

They ran.

"Hey there Sis!" a familiar voice called out to Lysithea as she cleaned the mess hall.

"Hi Raphael," she replied briefly as she squeezed the water out of the cloth and began wiping the tables.

"What are you and Lorenz doing here? It's not even lunch time yet."

Lysithea glanced at Lorenz who also kneeled over a table with a soapy sponge in hand. "It's a punishment from Seteth." They honestly might've gotten away if not for Flayn pointing out Lorenz's bed of purple hair sticking out of a bush.

"I understand that we must suffer the consequences of our actions, but we are both nobility. There must be other work we can do aside from what is given to the common folk?" Lorenz asked as he too was kneeled over a table with a soapy sponge in hand. "No offense Raphael."

"None taken"

"Lorenz we're responsible for breaking a large hole in the walls of the training grounds and destroying most of the weapons that they used for said training. Even though we're fortunate that your family is willing to pay for the costs it'll still take some time for them to replace it all."

"How did you destroy so much?" Raphael asked.

"I suggested to Lysithea that she try using ou- my family's relic. It didn't quite work out as expected."

"Oh yea. You two share a crest."

"We're also extremely fortunate that we didn't kill anyone either," Lysithea commented. Physically, no one had been hurt, though there was probably going to be some mental scarring. Especially for Bernadetta who had been about to step into the storage room just as the spell barreled into it. She still hadn't left her room yet since that happened. An apology was going to be needed for the recluse and probably some cake. Maybe even the Professor to coax her out if needed.

"So Lysithea I was just wondering, how do you have two Crests?" Rapheal asked her. "Like I heard you do and you kinda need two if you can hold Thunderbrand and Thykus."

"Thyrsus," Lorenz corrected him.

"That one."

Lysithea knew that Raphael had no underlying intent behind his question, he was just simply curious, but she couldn't help but watch her words around him and Lorenz. "I can confirm that I have two Crests… though there is little else to speak of."

"It is it not quite rare to have been born with two Crests?" Lorenz asked.

Quite rare was an understatement. If anything, she probably was the only one suffering from the condition. "I can assure that I was not born with them."

"Then how did you acquire them?"

"Perhaps I should rephrase. There is little I wish to speak with you two about this and any further inquiries on that will be met with silence." She would've left the room right there but unfortunately there was still about a quarter or so of the Mess Hall that had to be cleaned up. Before she could get to it however, she felt a prickling in her lungs.

"Oh no," It was at least a week eariler than she had expected, she needed to get back to her room now.

She had only taken a few steps when the prickling stopped only for her lungs to feel like they had been stabbed my hundreds of needles. She could feel the strength leave her legs and she quickly used a nearby table to support herself.

"Sis! Are you alright!?" Raphael was the first to react though Lorenz wasn't far behind him.

"I'm fine," Lysithea wheezed. She couldn't let her classmates see her like this. Their mission was coming up in the next week, she couldn't have them question her condition or her ability to fight.

The arm that she was using to support herself slid off the table table and she would've hit the floor had Raphael not caught her by the waist.

"Lysithea you are most definitely not fine," Lorenz commented as he helped support her arm. "We must get you to the infirmary."

"No!" Lysithea coughed from the exertion. There came the blood again, blood that Raphael and Lorenz both clearly saw leaking out of her mouth. "They can't help."

"We can't leave you untreated-"

"Lindhart, Hanneman, or even Flayn," she gasped. "Has to… be them."

"Flayn's somewhere with Seteth and I think Hanneman's out with the Blue Lions somewhere," Raphael said.

"Raphael, I do believe I saw Lindhart napping in his room. The two of us should carr-," Lorenz was interrupted by Raphael picking Lysithea up and throwing her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"I got her. Just show me where Lindhart's room is."

Lorenz nodded before leading Raphael to their destination. It only took a few minutes for them to barge into Linhardt's room, wake the green hair noble up, and deposit Lysithea onto his bed.

"This fit is even worse than the previous one," Lindhart commented as he provided his ministrations to Lysithea's chest. He had quickly woken up upon seeing her condition.

"It is," Lysithea admitted as the pain in her lungs dissipated somewhat.

"I believe that this is due to you overusing your Crests recently."

She grimaced. It was a very sound hypothesis all things considering but it was still disheartening that even now she was being punished for the mistake she had made in the Mausoleum.

"You're saying that her Crests are the reason for her current condition?" Lorenz asked.

Lindhart looked at her as if he was silently asking if he had the permission to speak.

"Keep it simple," she permitted.

"Yes, her Crests are the cause of her condition. Her body simply cannot handle the strain of both of them."

"I was not aware that Crests could do harm to their owner's body," Lorenz said.

"Well most people don't have to deal with more than one," Lindhart replied plainly as he shifted Lysithea to the side so he could apply his glowing hand to her back.

"Will she be okay?" Raphael asked.

"She will after a few hours."

"You seem quite knowledgeable about this. How many times has this happened so far?" Lorenz asked.

Lindhart stayed silent.

"Lysithea how often has this happened to you?" Lorenz asked her.

Lysithea could lie, but she knew that both Lorenz of Raphael would be keeping a close eye on her from now on. If she lied and they found there was a good chance they would prevent her from going out to a mission ever again. "Every month or so."

"Every month," Lorenz commented wide eyed as Raphael was actually silent in disbelief. "You go through this every month?"

"Yes."

"Sis…" Raphael started speaking once more, "you can't be going to train or fight then if that's going to make you use your Crests."

Lysithea steadied her breathing. "This will only last for the rest of the day at most. By tomorrow I will be perfectly ready to go on our class assignment," she was able to inform them without having to cough.

Lindhart was a quick learner. It was only his second time doing this and he had already figured out what needed to be done to stop most of the pain in her lungs. The issue was that he would have to continuously heal her during this time, and she knew he only had enough magic for about an hour or so of continuous feeling. The shortest a fit had ever been was two hours so there was going to be a period of time in which she would have to suffer through the pain.

"But the more you use your Crests the worse it's going to get," Lorenz replied.

"Then I'll stick to Gloucester and avoid using Charon. If I only use one for a few times, then I should be fine."

"Lysithea. Rarely do events on the battlefield go as planned, much less give you the reprieve you seek. We are going to be in a situation where you likely won't have the liberty to pace yourself."

"I know. I knew this ever since I joined the Academy, but I'm prepared to deal with it. I refuse to sit aside while the rest of you fight."

"We nobility have a responsibility to ensure the future of the Alliance and our houses, I can't under good faith see you throw your life away at such a young age."

"Well maybe I don't have a future!" Lysithea shouted. She couldn't help it. She was tired of Lorenz's talk of the nobility, of the future of her house when she wouldn't even have a part in that soon enough.

The strain on her lungs was too much and she began coughing once more.

"Try to keep your voice low," Lindhart suggested. "Or you know stop talking altogether."

"What do you mean you don't have a future?" Lorenz asked in confusion.

Ironically it was Raphael of all people whose eyes first lit up in epiphany and looked at her with grief sketched on his face. "How sick are you?"

"Sick. Very sick Raphael," Lysithea closed her eyes and admitted.

"How long?"

"After we graduate? Ten years, maybe even less. I can't afford to slow down or sit back, I need to do something with my life… while I still can."

Despite the sadness on his face, Raphael seemed to accept her words. Lorenz on the other hand looked completely horrified as if he couldn't believe what she had just said.

"Could you two just… give me some space?" she requested the two of them.

"Lysithea are you cer-" Lorenz was interrupted by Raphael's hand on his shoulder. It only took a single accepting look from the commoner for Lorenz to stop speaking and follow him out of the room.

"Well… they took that better than I had expected," Lindhart commented.

Lysithea couldn't help but bundle up and shove her face into his blankets. She was in no state to face anyone now.