"Well… that was cutting it close," Claude panted as they stood over the large pile of corpses they had created in the arena. "It was getting a bit crazy there with the Death Knight showing up."

"It would've been nice if we had someone capable of Dark Spikes among us," Edelgard panted as she used her axe to support herself. "Claude why didn't you take Lysithea with us?"

"She's afraid of ghosts, you think she can handle going into the Monastery's spooky basement? And doesn't Hubert know that spell too?"

"He's still in detention. I couldn't take him while Seteth was there."

"Then that sounds like his fault, not mine."

"You were there when it happened!"

"That was Sylvain not me!"

"The point is," Dimitri interrupted the two of them, "is that we've routed the enemy and ensured the safety of the inhabitants here. That's all the matter."

"The prince has a point," Yuri replied, seemingly the most composed of the four despite how fearsome the fighting had been. "Though I do believe most of the credit goes to the Professor here. He fought like quite a monster holding off the Death Knight while we routed the rest of the enemy."

If only he knew the truth of it.

Byleth winced not from the pain of healing, but from remembering his fight with the Death Knight. Twice he had died fighting him that time, only to eke out a draw in the end. Without the divine pulse he still wouldn't have stood a chance despite the training he had went through.

Don't be so hard on yourself. That thing is clearly not human, no person should be expected to win against it alone.

I can still do better. We ran out of your power early because of my deaths and that ultimately led to more injury for my students.

They're alive and none of those injuries are serious.

It's still my responsibility to at least protect them from what harm I can.

Sigh… you're always too hard on yourself. I'd chastise you for it but you're clearly too tired after what just happened here. Be proud of your students at least. They just fought an entire army of those bandits. I swear those reinforcements would not stop coming.

"Where did they get all these people?" Byleth asked Yuri while glancing at the corpses they had gathered.

"There are plenty of people who've drawn a bad life in lot. They just happened to take this option rather than a quiet life in the Abyss," Yuri replied. "As for why though, we're still figuring that out."

"I do hope they're not after the books in your extensive library, at least after I've read all of them first," Lindhart commented.

"The safety of the people and then their home takes priority. The books would be protected for the most part and even then, I don't think that's their true aim. It's something else," Yuri mused.

"Maybe Aelfy knows what they're coming for. He knows the most about the Abyss after all," Hapi commented.

"Aelfey?" Byleth asked.

"Aelfric. He's the reason the Abyss still exists in the first place. I'm sure the two of you would get along," Yuri replied.

Lysithea took a deep breath and enjoyed the smell of the ocean as stared at the horizon from where she stood. From a distance behind her, Flayn and Seteth were both crouched over a monument and giving a silent prayer. A grave, Lysithea had recently realized, and one that she gave a wide birth in order to give them the privacy that they deserved.

In all honesty the journey to the Rhodos Coast was more dramatic than the actual battle itself. Everything had gone precisely as Lysithea had planned. Everything performed their roles and exceeded what she had expected from them.

"Thank you for your assistance today," Seteth's voice called out from behind.

Lysithea turned to find that he had left Flayn to mourn alone in front of the monument. "You're welcome… are you sure you should be leaving your sister alone?"

Seteth glanced back briefly at Flayn. "I have said what has needed to be said to my wife. There are some things that Flayn will wish to speak with in private with her mother."

"Wait. Your wife… and her mother?" Lysithea asked. That didn't make sense at all… unless it involved some complicated incestuous relations which honestly wasn't that uncommon among the nobility. Producing Crests made even incest an option to be considered among nobles if they got particularly desperate.

"Ah…" Seteth let out apparently having realized the implications of his words. "I did say you deserved to know the truth at this point."

"And that truth is?"

"That Flayn and I aren't siblings, but rather daughter and father."

Lysithea froze in place as she tried to process his words. "Flayn… is your daughter?"

"She is."

It was just so hard to fathom and yet it somehow made so much sense. Seteth's overprotective nature and weary attitude which contrasted with Flayn's cheerful yet almost naïve personality, led to a clear difference between them that was much more pronounced than the two of them being just siblings.

"No wonder you're so overprotective," Lysithea couldn't help but let out. He was essentially a single father protecting his one, and likely only, child. Her own parents had given up so much to ensure her happiness so she could imagine the lengths that Seteth would go through to protect his own.

"You believe I'm overprotective?" Seteth asked.

"Well, now I mean-" Lysithea stuttered over her own words as she realized what she had just said to him.

"It's fine," Seteth sighed. "It's… interesting hearing that from another perspective."

"Sorry. I shouldn't have spoken in such a way."

"But you have though. I won't criticize you for expressing your thoughts… perhaps I do smother Flayn somewhat. But she is all that I have left. To risk losing her…"

"You have a very good reason to act the way you do and it isn't my place to comment. I'm just surprised at all of this."

"It is understandable that such a revelation would shock you. It is a secret that we've kept close to only a select few after all. It certainly helps that I have the youthful complexion to pull off being her older brother."

"You certainly do," Lysithea replied. How old was Seteth anyway? He had to have Flayn at a young age… or maybe he was actually much older than he looked. "I'm assuming that you're keeping this secret in order to ensure her safety?"

Seteth nodded. "I am?"

"And you trust me enough to tell me?"

"You saved my daughter once and you helped me dispatch of the people that would defile my wife's grave. You have more than earned my trust at this point. You and your classmates have also become much more capable than I had initially expected, you've all exceeded my expectations."

"Well, we had a good professor."

"As you've said before. Though some credit has to go to you. You've clearly taken his lessons to heart. I have a few things to complain about the way you led your classmates today."

"A few things?" Lysithea asked. She would prefer it if there was none. "What do you think I should've done differently then?"

"Just a few observations. Ways you could position them in case of enemy reinforcements or if something unexpected happens. I also noticed that some of enemy had particularly close to our healers."

Lysithea would've argue that Flayn had been perfectly safe, but after recent revelations it would probably be in poor taste.

"You can tell me then once we've made camp for the night," she replied before they made their back to the rest of their group. It was a trip made much easier by Seteth's wyvern which had the strength to ferry all three of them across the ocean and back to the beach where the rest of their allies waited.

From above Lysithea had a perfect of the blood stained and corpse riddled Coast, a result of their recent battle. Many of the bodies that laid there were there because of Seteth himself.

He was much more formidable on the battlefield than she had expected. Like any flier, his wyvern had given him impeccable mobility on the sands and waters of the coast. What set him apart though was the elegant yet ruthless way in which he fought.

Whereas the Professor would often fight with a sort of calm but simple ferocity, Seteth fought with a ruthless grace. More than once the Wyvern rider would dive confidently into a group of enemies, both on the ground and in the air, as he swung his spear. Each swing of his weapon was a step in a deadly dance that cleaved through every person in front of him, which said nothing of the wyvern he rode. His mount was more than happy to take the heads off of anyone foolish or unlucky enough to be in front of it whenever it flew or landed.

Seteth that was perfectly comfortable on the battlefield, a person who had likely experienced it countless times before. It was just difficult to imagine that this was the sort of person he was but, after witnessing him fight and flying on the back of his wyvern, Lysithea realized that there was side to him that she had never noticed before.

Funnily enough, Seteth was hardly the most surprising thing Lysithea would see on the beach. No, the real surprise was the cliff where she had left Bernadetta.

"Wow..."

There was little else Lysithea could say to aptly express what she felt as she and Dorothea trekked up the cliff where the recluse had been placed.

It was an excellent spot for a sniper and Lysithea had expected even the recluse to be effective from there. The number of bodies though completely dwarfed her expectations.

Bernadetta may not have been the dead eye shot that Claude was but what she lacked in aim she certainly made up for it with the veritable volley of arrows that she had ended up firing. A good chunk of the people that tried to tread the cliff towards her had ended up looking like very bloody and messy pincushions.

"Bernie does good work doesn't she," Dorothea commented.

"Much more than I expected," Lysithea admitted.

"She's more than most people think, but thankfully most of our class has noticed this."

"No offense… but I didn't really she'd get along well with the Black Eagles."

"There are a few people, mainly Hubert, that can be quite intimidating," Dorothea admitted. "But they all mean well."

"I'll keep that in mind. I'll certainly have to think more of how we can better utilize her skills in the future."

"Don't demand too much of her though. She's still a precious young lady after all."

"You're very attached to her," Lysithea observed.

"She's a friend and I have to make sure people don't hurt her. Especially now that she's making the effort to open up to people."

If Bernedetta was indeed making that effort, then Lysithea hadn't been there to see it. The Black Eagles and even the Professor would know the recluse better than she did after all.

Soon enough the two of them would make it to the top of cliff where Bernadetta was still standing with her bow nocked

"I-is it over?" the recluse asked as her eyes continued to dart all over the place in search of another enemy.

"A while ago. You can put down your bow now Bernie," Dorothea replied gently.

"Oh okay," Bernadetta finally set down her bow. "I was worried that there might be more coming."

"I can assure that there are not and didn't you overdo it a little?" Lysithea commented as she made sure to give a wide birth to particularly broken and bloodied wyvern.

It was honestly sort of frightening. An arrow or two in the gut was usually enough to take a grown man out, but Bernadetta just kept firing into them even after she had already given them a fatal shot. Granted the recluse was apparently a naturally quick shot and her Crest of Indech only further enhanced her firing rate, but there was just so many arrows fired into these people that it had long since past of the point of overkill.

"Did I mess up again?" Bernadetta asked meekly.

"No… you did great… I just… where did you even get those arrows?"

Lysithea had kept stock of their inventory, including the number of arrows she had distributed to each person. Just a brief glance alone told her that there was nearly twice as much in the enemy then she had actually given the apparently deadly archer.

"Th-They were trying to kill me. So I just grabbed whatever I could find to shoot at them."

It wasn't just arrows that Bernadetta had apparently scavenged off the enemy to use as projectiles. Lysithea could count at least a few knives, rocks, and even a spear to the head.

All in all, the recluse had one hell of a fight or flight instinct. It was quite fortunate for most people that she normally defaulted to the latter.

"Well… good job then," Lysithea replied. "I'll make sure to your skills in the future."

"What!?" Bernadetta shouted.

"Well clearly you're much more skilled than I had ever anticipated. It would be a waste to not promote your growth nor make full use of your abilities. What do you think Dorothea, could we start taking her around in the future?"

"You'd have to ask Edelgard," Dorothea replied. "But I'm sure she'll especially if you volunteer to come along on some of our missions in the future. Everyone knows she's taking a liking to you and the Professor."

"Well I certainly wouldn't mind seeing how the Black Eagles function as a group," Lysithea replied. "I'll go and confirm it with the Professor and Claude once they come back."

"But I don't want to do this," Bernadetta pleaded.

Dorothea suddenly walked over and gave Bernadetta a hug. The difference in their height made it so that the recluse's face was buried firmly into the songstress's substantial chest.

It was something that Lysithea couldn't help but feel a pang of pity and envy upon seeing.

"I know it's hard Bernie," Dorothea said soothingly to the recluse. "But it'll be a good thing for you to try getting along with other people. Besides don't you like their Professor?"

"I guess I do… but I don't know any of them that well. And you and Petra won't be there!" Bernadetta argued, her voice muffled in between Dorothea's chest.

"All you're doing is joining their class for a mission or two. We'll still be classmates and if you do this I think I could convince Eddie to let you stay in your room a bit more."

"Really?"

"Yea. She won't be as compelled to try and take you out if she thinks you're making an effort to get to know more people."

It took quite some time, most of which Lysithea spent staring at the two of them, before Bernadetta finally lifted her head up and moved away from Dorothea's embrace.

"Alright. You're right. B-Bernie can do this!" the recluse pumped her fists into the air.

"That's the spirit Bernie!" Dorothea cheered her on.

"Just a bit of suffering and I'll be rewarded with even more time in my room!"

"What do you even do stuck in there all day?" Lysithea asked.

Bernadetta yelped, apparently having forgotten that she was standing there, and immediately leaped behind Dorothea for cover. She then poked her head out from behind the songstress and looked at Lysithea cautiously.

"Why do you want to know?"

"I'm just curious? It seems difficult to find much to do in one place for so long," Lysithea pondered

Granted it was a bit hypocritical to say that considering how long Lysithea spent in the library, but she had a solid purpose for being there and a goal that she had to work toward.

"Do you have something you can only do there?" Lysithea asked. If the recluse had something to work toward in her room, then perhaps she could understand it.

"Oh... I just read and write-"

Lysithea was quite aware of those hobbies having remembered her previous discussions with Sylvain over the recluse. What surprised her though was what Bernadetta continued to say next.

"And knit, and raise plants, and draw, and collecting cute things, and then writing and drawing about those cute things," Bernadetta continued.

"You have quite a lot of hobbies," Lysithea replied.

"Bernie's a very impressive and skilled girl. You know she actually knitted me a new scarf once?" Dorothea commented.

"I see so you spend time in your room developing the skills that are important to you. You then apply these skills to provide aid to your allies," Lysithea pondered. The recluse was more productive than she had once thought. Bernadetta gained her respect in a way.

"I guess so?" Bernadetta replied, confused. "I just don't want to be a burden. I also like to cook."

"How do you cook in your room?" Lysithea asked.

"I don't. I just sneak into the kitchen when no one's there."

"Sneak into th-" Lysithea's eyes went wide. "Do you do that at the middle of the night?"

"Yes?"

"You're the Midnight Kitchen Spirit!" Lysithea shouted before immediately realizing her error. "N-not that spirits are real or anything, but I was always suspicious of somethi- I mean someone skulking around the dining room at night."

It had all started when she had decided to get something to eat after a late night of studying. It was absolutely stupid now that the truth was revealed, but she had been absolutely frightened when she had starting hearing scurrying around the kitchens and completely petrified when she noticed the still blazing oven that a ghost could've very easily pushed her in.

"You're the reason I was so worried about going to the dining room," Lysithea accused her. It took an entire week before she could actually step back into the dining room and never again at night.

"I'm sure she wasn't trying to cause you any trouble," Dorothea replied.

"I'm sorry," Bernadetta cowered, "I just wanted to bake a cake."

Lysithea immediately froze. "Cake?"

"Yes, a cake," Bernadetta replied

"What sort of cake?"

"Um. Purple yam base with a buttermilk frosting and some peaches."

"Do you think you could make that again?"

"Um… I could. Why?" Bernadetta asked

"Well then I could forgive you for scar- I mean startling me if you were to make me one."