"AAAAUUUGGHHH!" Lysithea let loose a battle cry as she swung her sword at the archer's bow. Infused with Soulblade, her weapon cut straight through the bow and deep into the archer's body. The woman collapsed without a sound, dead in a near instant, as Lysithea's blade nearly bisected her in two.

She barely had time to appreciate her handiwork though before she was forced to run by the sound of footsteps behind her.

The suicidal charge that Leonie and Cyril forced her to participate in had actually worked well… at first. They had ended up cutting down at least half the archers with only minor injuries before reinforcements suddenly came.

They ended up getting cut off from each other and split off to avoid being overwhelmed, with Lysithea having to haphazardly throw out the biggest spell she could in order to draw the attention of the enemy. She presented as a dangerous yet vulnerable target and hopefully that would allow the two of them to escape now that most the people were chasing after her

With her one good arm, Lysithea sheathed her sword as quickly as she could before channeling magic into her hand. Taking Hubert's advice, she skipped the safety mechanism of the spell and went straight into creating the structure of it. It was an incredibly dangerous thing to do without much practice, especially with just one hand, but she needed every second that she could save with her magic.

Once the spell was ready, she turned around and released a wave of dark flames behind her. The flames spread quickly, burning and corrupting everything they touched. At least a few of the people chasing had been burned by it and hopefully it would slow down the rest of them.

Lysithea let out a brief confident smile at her handiwork before she suddenly felt a sharp pain followed by a strange trembling in her arm. She looked down and her face paled once she saw the patch of grey and pale skin that had appeared on her forearm. The spell hadn't been as successful as she had liked, a small bit of the darkness had seeped out and was now corrupting her flesh. It was minor enough that she or someone else could treat, but it would take time that she didn't have at the moment.

She gritted her teeth and forced herself to ignore the trembling of her arm. The corruption was mild for now, but it would continue to spread once it was left alone for too long. If she took too long to treat it then she could easily lose her arm. That was assuming that she didn't die beforehand.

Unfortunately, the chances of that happening became much more likely as she emerged from the forest and skidded to a stop at a cliff's edge. She was nearly a hundred feet from the ground if she were to jump and the only way around was being blocked by the men that were rapidly converging on her location.

Lysithea sighed as she turned and grabbed her sword once more, despite the state of her arm. This had become a very familiar situation to be her, so much in fact that she wasn't even afraid at this point. Just damn tired and very annoyed of being constantly trapped like a rat.

"Well come on then!" she shouted at the enemy as they emerged from the forest. Two soldiers, an armored knight, an archer, and a mage. She would only get one or two more uses before her blade broke. Best to make use it while she could.

The archer fired first, but she was able to avoid it by strafing sideways like Shamir had taught her. She then pivoted on her feet, channeled Soulblade into her sword, and then charged at the armored knight.

"Are we in range yet?" Byleth asked Flayn as he carried her by his waist.

"I believe so Professor, you can set me down now."

Byleth did so promptly and stepped aside to let Flayn cast her spell. "You'll be able to bring her here even though you don't where she is?"

"As long as they're an ally and within my range I can cast Rescue on them Professor," Flayn confirmed as she raised both hands in front of her.

"I wonder about the offensive and defensive capabilities of your Rescue and her Warp."

"I'd imagine it'd be quite useful. Though I leave the strategy up to you," Flayn replied cheerfully as she cast the spell and light began to gather in front of her.

I'd imagine your owl will be in for quite a shock.

The gathered light exploded.

Lysithea barreled through with her sword pointed in front of her. It all happened in an instant. Before Byleth even had a chance to move, his student had already driven her blade straight through Flayn's gut.

Oh, by the Goddess!

You're the Goddess!

Fear, guilt, and anguish plastered Lysithea's face one she realized what she had done and as the life faded from Flayn's body.

We don't know that yet! Now reverse time before it's too late!

Byleth rewound time to the point just as Flayn had finished casting her spell. He moved quickly, grabbing her by the arm and quickly pulled her away.

You share her name and you have control over time. You're definitely some form of deity.

Says the child who was convinced he was a demon when we first met!

"Professor! Is there something wrong?"

Flayn was immediately answered by Lysithea and her sword barreling through where she had just been.

"Oh."

Byleth let out a brief sigh of relief. His relief however was short-lived as he heard a splash from the lake next to them. He turned his head and glanced at the rippling water where Lysithea had clearly fallen into.

Oh, Sothis damnit.

What did I do!?

Lysithea had just thrust her sword forward when a beam of light surrounded her. It blinded her vision as she ran and by the time it faded her sword was going through nothing but air. That was surprising but not entirely unpleasant to find that there were no longer any enemies in front of her. Her eyes went wide though once she noticed the lake that replaced them.

She forced herself to a stop only to trip on her own legs and tumble straight into the lake. Her body hit the water hard and she flailed her limbs as she tried to reach the surface.

There had never been a chance for her to learn how to swim though and the weight of her clothes caused her sink even more quickly into the lake's depths. No matter how much she thrashed her limbs she would never reach the surface. She was too late to realize this as her strength rapidly faded.

The last of her breath left her lungs lungs and she grasped they began to inhale water. Just as she had resigned herself to her fate, she felt something grab her arm. It was the one that had been shot by an arrow, but she could hardly register the pain as she they used it to drag her up. She was then grabbed by the waist and with one last pushed her head broke through the surface.

Lysithea coughed violently, trying to expel the water from her lungs, and blindly grabbed her savior as she did so. They swam with her to shore and once they reached land, they would set her on the ground.

They then proceeded a sharp blow on the back. It stung, a lot, but it effectively emptied her lungs and finally allowed her to breath again.

"Lysithea are you ok!?" Flayn called out.

Lysithea could hardly let out a word before collapsing forward. Her face would've hit her ground had she not been pulled back and held against someone's body.

Flayn appeared in front of her and kneeled down to heal her.

Her body finally stopped shuddering as the warmth and relief of the healer's magic penetrated her body. The last few moments had been particularly stressful her, but at least she was alive.

"I apologize," Flayn said as she shifted her hands toward the wound on Lysithea's shoulder. "I should've released Rescue away from the lake."

"It's… fine," Lysithea replied as she caught her breath. "Saved me… that's all that matters."

"Thank the goddess the Professor knew how to swim."

It was then that Lysithea finally glanced and finally took a good look at the person who had dragged her out of the lake.

It was the Professor.

Without a shirt. With his toned muscular arms around her waist and her back leaning on his bare chiseled chest.

"Professor!" Lysithea tried to scramble away only for her to grab her more firmly. "This is... improper!"

"Healing first," the Professor demanded. "You're going to run off and collapse otherwise."

If there was ever a possibility of dying of shame, this would be it. Lysithea didn't have the strength though to escape and could only flush furiously as Flayn continued her ministrations.

Not only was there a significant age difference between the two of the, or at least she assumed so, but they were also professor and student. Flayn was fine, but if someone like Hilda to catch sight of this… She shuddered to think how quickly the news would spread.

There was also that the fact that Byleth was the first person, that wasn't her father or Raphael, that ever held her this way. His warmth was also comforting and he was clearly very attractive, like seriously she could understand where Edelgard was coming from now, but that only made things worse.

"There is no need to worry," Flayn commented. "I can assure you that the Professor has no lecherous intent while embracing you. None whatsoever."

That didn't make her feel any better. If anything, it made her feel like he was treating as a child rather than the young woman she was.

"What happened to Leonie and Cyril?" Lysithea asked once her emotions calmed and she was reminded of more pressing matters.

"Safe with Hilda's group," Byleth replied

"That's good then," Lysithea sighed. She then noticed that the fog surrounding the lake had disappeared. "You dispatched of the mages conjuring the fog."

"We did," Byleth confirmed as he finally let go now that she could support herself. He then went to grab to grab his coat, shirt, and weapons that he had tossed aside on the ground. "Now it's just a matter of finding their Bishop."

Lysithea shuddered as she felt something being drawn out of her arm. She looked back at Flayn to find that the healer had begun the process of the drawing the corruption out of her flesh.

"There will be some minor scarring, but you should have full use of the arm," Flayn commented. "They must have had a skill dark mage for their magic to overpower your own."

"If it was dark magic cast by someone else the damage would be more severe," the Professor replied as he walked over with his gear equipped once more. "What really happened?" he asked her.

"I… messed up with my magic," Lysithea admitted.

"How?"

"I rushed to finish my spell without something to contain it. Some of it released and contaminated me."

The Professor crossed his arms and shot her a stern gaze. "You were in a precarious situation. I understand that, but this type of recklessness has been a recurring issue with you recently."

"I understand Professor and I assure you that this won't happen again." She would practice as long as it took, night after night if needed, until she was at full command of her magic.

Flayn finally finished her healing and Lysithea took that as a sign to stand up. She wobbled a bit and had to be supported by the healer to keep straight.

"Are you sure you should be moving?" Flayn asked. "Perhaps you should rest a bit longer"

"I'll be fine," Lysithea replied and noticed a small group of their class further down the lake. It seemed that they were making good progress now that the fog was gone. "Don't have much time to waste anyway."