Wind flowed through Garreg Mach Monastery, its cool breeze rushing along with the bodies of every monastery resident. Every resident that was outdoors at least. This included the various felines and canines that explored monastery grounds. Always searching for food, never always getting what they wanted. For some, these little beasts were nothing more than a nuisance. Nothing aside from small little things that needed no recognition. For others, they acted as a painkiller, easing all manner of woes within an individual - if not eliminating them.
Lucas found himself tending to a cat. One with mostly black fur and a white underside. A tuxedo cat, he recognised it as. He wasn't sure what the name of the breed was in this world, but such specifics didn't matter to him at that moment. What mattered was that he could bask in the presence of a precious feline.
His eyes shimmered as he gave the cat numerous scratches. Vague recollections of a time or place long-unseen came to him. The Gautieron seemed to sense this sadness so they pulled themselves into the upset professor, allowing the human to feel the warmth emanating from them. Lucas smiled. He then intensified his petting.
After some time, he could feel something was wrong. Something was tugging at his emotions like usual. Quickly, the melancholic individual pulled out a fish he'd been carrying in his pack and placed it onto the ground a moderate distance away from himself. The Gauterion, instantly smelling the delicacy, dashed over to the fish and began chomping away at it. Now it was no longer distracting the professor. Lucas sat down on the ground. He parked his back up against the wall, then pulled his legs towards his face to enter a fetal position.
He didn't want any interlopers to see what he was doing.
Proceeding an unidentifiable amount of time spent managing teardrops, Lucas felt something soft brush against his left leg.
"Mrrow?"
Peering through the veil of wetness, Lucas could see the Gautieron continually brush its head against his leg, likely in an attempt to cheer him up. The professor smiled once more. He returned to petting the cat. Upon doing that, his vision began to clear itself. The bright collection of stones that had been laid around the secluded outward side of the entrance hall were much clearer than they were previously.
It was only then he could notice the presence of a particular student. Although he could only see her lower quarter out of the corner of his eye, it was still very clear as to who it was. Lucas rubbed his eyes with a sleeve, stopped petting the Gauterion and looked up. Petra was taken aback.
"Professor! I did not know you were seeing me," she commented.
Lucas raised an eyebrow. "How long have you been there?"
"Um...a long time."
"How long? What did you see?"
"I saw you with your head in your legs."
Lucas facepalmed.
"Alright, I guess that's what I deserve for breaking down in such a public place," he conceded, releasing his palm from his face. "Did you need something?"
"No. I was only walking around. I saw you and then I was feeling concern," Petra recounted. Her brows furrowed. "Are you okay, Professor? You have been acting strangely. Everyone, well, most of the others have been afraid to talk to you. Now I am seeing you like this…"
"You don't need to worry about me, Petra. There's enough on your plate, what with your assignments, tests, training and being a princess of a foreign land. You don't need to worry about some guy who can't even control himself," sniffled Lucas.
"Professor…" Petra knelt so that she was at the same height level as her teacher. She slowed her descent to not scare the cat. "I may be having worries about a lot of things, but that does not mean I cannot add another."
"How do you know I won't snap and try to kill you? I did that with Miklan and Aelfric. Who's to say I won't do that again? This monster, this demon inside of me is trying to claw itself out and I don't know if I can keep it in. Just get away from me. Keep your distance. I might be your professor, but I will only do what I need to do."
"I cannot do that, Professor. If you were a person of Brigid, I would command you to stop thinking that way. It will only hurt you," Petra refused, shaking her head. "There is no demon. The only thing inside your head is you. Yourself. So do not be thinking there is any evil spirit within you."
"That doesn't make me feel any better. Knowing the murderous intent lies within myself? Yeah, that's a given. Of course. Saying there's a demon was only a metaphor, a figure of speech."
"I know that," Petra claimed, a single drop of sweat falling down her face. "But that does not matter. What I am trying to say is you are not this evil person you think you are. We all have our mistakes. Things that make us not perfect. However, we do not let those things, uh, define us. You should be knowing this, Professor."
Lucas sighed. He'd heard all this before, from Sothis. It didn't help him out then, so he chose to ignore the rest of whatever Petra had to say. It wasn't as if anyone could ever understand the pain he was suffering through. None of these people had experienced any manner of dimensional transportation or displacement. For that reason, Lucas suffered alone. All of what Petra said had fallen on deaf ears.
"Do you understand, Professor?" She asked upon finishing.
"Yes," Lucas sarcastically responded. "I understand perfectly. The fact of the matter is this: I'm capable of sudden, extremely violent bouts of murder. I'm clearly not someone to be around. In fact, I'm surprised I haven't been fired yet."
"Professor...I have disagreements."
"Yeah, and I have disagreements for your disagreements. I'm sorry Petra, but this is a matter only I can deal with. Please, just leave me alone. I'll be fine."
Petra's eyelids narrowed slightly, indicating that she didn't quite believe her teacher. Despite that, she stood up, giving the Gautieron one final pet before doing so. She looked down on Lucas. Pity was evident in her expression. An immense sorrow hid just behind it.
"I understand, Professor. I understand more than you might think."
With that, she walked off, heading up the stairs and towards the stables. Now that Lucas was alone...no, wait, he wasn't alone. To his side, there was a-!
"Where's the cat?"
He checked all around the immediate area. The Gautieron had disappeared. A frown appeared upon him as he realised he was now truly alone. Lucas was about to retreat to his legs again, but after remembering what happened the last time he did such a thing, he chose to leave the area entirely. There was only one place in the entirety of the monastery where he could achieve total privacy.
His bedroom. A speedy trip over there later, and Lucas was laying on his bed, sorrow as well as self-deprecation clouding his very being. He remained there for quite some time. Stewing around within his own dejection. Metaphorically drowning in a river of tears.
It only ceased when an urgent-sounding number of knocks appeared from the other side of his door. Reluctant to get up; the knocks kept coming. Eventually they were superseded by the panicked callings of a certain individual.
"Professor Lucas! Come out of there right this moment!" Seteth exclaimed as he kept knocking on the door. "Please."
Curious, Lucas pulled himself out from the top of his bed and waltzed over to the door, opening it sluggishly. Seteth was indeed there, but his face, his general appearance was all unkempt. Much unlike the male Nabatean Lucas was familiar with. For the most part, anyway.
"What's wrong?" The professor wondered.
"It has happened. I...you were correct. Again," Seteth initially revealed, taking a moment to speak the truth. "Flayn is gone. I have not seen her the entire day thus far. I have taken the liberty of checking her room every morning for the past few weeks, but this morning, she was not there."
Lucas' mouth fell agape.
"Where is she, Lucas? Where is my Flayn?!"
Immediately dashing away from the dormitories, Lucas led Seteth over to a distant building that was near to the Knights of Seiros' barracks. It was a building Lucas wasn't terribly familiar with. He only knew it as the place where all the bedrooms for faculty were. Save for himself, of course. It was interesting to know that Seteth was willing to blindly follow him. Could that have been a sign he was doing things correctly? Was he...trustworthy?
Lucas instantly shook this off once he and his ally heard a faint scream coming from inside the faculty dormitories. They shared not a single word. All they did was nod at one another and then they redoubled their efforts.
Blasting through the front door, Seteth took the lead after being informed by Lucas where the scream likely came from: Jeritza's room. The two zoomed and dashed through many corridors and staircases, only stopping once they reached the door to the fencing instructor's living quarters.
Another shared nod. Seteth reached out for the handle, rapidly turning it and then forcing the door open. Inside the room was a surprisingly horrid sight. Manuela, as expected, was lying down upon the floor, a moderately sized pool of blood forming around her.
"Professor Manuela!" Seteth reacted in shock upon seeing the unconscious body before him. "It seems you were right about this one as well, Lucas. That means Jeritza must have caused this."
"Yeah, exactly. And if I remember correctly…" Lucas checked to the side of the room, where the bookcases were. One of them had been moved, revealing some manner of stone tunnel behind itself. "He must have escaped down here."
"We must chase after him. But we cannot leave Professor Manuela alone," Seteth grit his teeth. "Curse that wretched man. I wish it would have been better for us to take care of him prior to this incident taking place."
"I agree," Lucas concurred. "Go and fetch some students. Doesn't matter if they're not in my house, we've just gotta send some strong enough people down there. You might wanna take Manuela with you and hand her off to someone."
"You wish to send students after him? Surely it cannot be safe wherever that tunnel leads. Yet, I cannot help but trust your wisdom. You are aware of what awaits us down there and I am not. I shall believe in your judgement."
Seteth applied a Concoction to the stab wound on Manuela's chest, halting the bleeding. He then carefully picked up the woman's body, carrying her with both hands.
"I will be back before long," Seteth assured before rushing out of the room.
Lucas was alone. With nary a thing to do, he decided to take a peek into the stone tunnel. There was nothing but a shady abyss within there. A vacuum for light. If he listened closely, he swore that he could hear faint murmurings coming from within. Whoever it belonged to - he did not know. What he did know was that Flayn was somewhere down there. Lucas was determined to get her out. A burning desire to rescue the petite Nabatean had ignited itself within his heart.
"How strange. Where did your earlier depression disappear to?" Sothis commented.
"Huh? What was that?" Lucas wondered.
"Nothing. Don't mind me. Focus on the matter at hand."
Ignoring Sothis' little comment, Lucas returned to patiently waiting for backup. It took some time, but eventually, Seteth returned. He ended up bringing a small army of assorted students. Some from the Black Eagles, some from the Blue Lions and others from the Golden Deer.
"I brought whomever I found first," Seteth explained. "They are all willing to help us rescue my...sister. I am very thankful for them."
"It is our pleasure, Seteth. Although I haven't spoken to her much, Flayn is a delightful person that does not deserve such rough treatment. I, no, we will ensure her safety," Dimitri declared.
"I agree!" Ignatz nodded in agreement. "Flayn is absolutely lovely. We can't let someone like that be abducted! Not for much longer, anyway."
"We've also gotta get revenge for whatever happened to Professor Manuela," Hilda added. "You said it was Jeritza that did it, Seteth?"
"Yes," Seteth confirmed. "He was sighted coming in here with Manuela. I would be surprised if it was not him."
"He's likely down this tunnel. I fully expect him to have some extra soldiers with him, so everyone, get ready for a fight," Lucas advised all the students.
Although they were mostly all unnerved by his presence, they at least listened to his words. Dimitri shot him a knowing glance as if to have an invisible conversation with the teacher. Lucas nodded back, answering whatever the house leader's question might have been. He unsheathed his Iron Sword.
It was time to rescue Flayn.
Deep within the murky underbelly of Garreg Mach, perhaps within the midst of Abyss, Lucas and Seteth's gathering of students proceeded through the unpleasantly tight stone passageway. While it wasn't incredibly narrow, it still forced everyone to stick to a one-by-one formation. Luckily for them all, the path eventually widened out to a moderately open space.
Lucas, having brought up the rear, exited the tunnel last. He immediately recognised their location. The path was split up into two. On the left was a much broader room while the right contained a strange-looking tile of sorts. Lucas' expression intensified upon seeing this. Seteth noticed the professor's reaction.
"Is this where Flayn is being held?" Seteth asked him in a low whisper, away from the students.
"Yeah. This is the place. Just be very careful. There's a lot of tricky traps and stuff here. Like this warp tile," Lucas motioned to the weird square on the floor. "Using this takes you to a whole labyrinth's worth of narrow passageways and stuff. We can either split up our forces and take out every single enemy, or we can all simply go along one path and ignore the other."
"Is there an advantage to taking one path over the other?" Seteth wondered.
Lucas shook his head. "Not really. Both sides eventually meet up with one another and it's not like one of them's a shortcut or anything."
"I see. Then I believe there is only one way for us to proceed. We cannot allow a single one of these intruders to fester within our walls. Therefore, we must eliminate them all," Seteth decided. "I will lead a team through the westernmost path. You can lead the remainder through the path that lies behind the warp tile."
"Yeah, sure. Now how do we decide who goes with whom…?"
A quick brainstorming session between the pair revealed their chosen teams. Seteth selected Hubert, Caspar, Felix, Ingrid and Hilda. This left Lucas with Dimitri, Dedue, Annette and Ignatz. While Lucas was bummed to have the slightly smaller squad, Seteth reasoned it'd be better to have a larger team in the wider open spaces. The professor realised he couldn't argue with this logic. He had to accept.
With the team setup all organised, the two groups stood towards their respective paths. The leaders of said groups shared a final glance with one another.
"Good luck, Professor Lucas," Seteth wished.
"You too, Seteth," Lucas responded in kind.
Nary a thing left to do for preparation's sake, the two sides charged ahead, every single individual in each group desiring only one thing: Flayn's safety.
Seteth's team almost immediately encountered a cluster of enemies. Soldiers wearing some uniquely red armour flared their blades, lances and bows at the Garreg Mach group. While mostly everyone fought with their usual fervor, Hubert had been the one to recall the nature of these foes.
"I should have known they would be here," he remarked to himself, grunting as he tore apart a bow user with a Miasma.
Most of this team were cutting down the opposition with their normal frame of mind. However, Seteth was actually slicing through these nameless soldiers with heaps of energy. His overwhelming desire to push onward, while admirable, had caused some concern in the students that followed behind him.
Hilda and Ingrid were about to stop while they were free to discuss the matter, but Felix interrupted them before the conversation could occur.
"There's no time for that! Get back into the fight, you two!" Felix demanded, prior to rushing back in.
Ingrid and Hilda joined back up with their teammates, helping to cut through any future enemies that stood in their way. The two girls kept an eye out for Seteth. Much to their delight, the man never seemed as if he would snap. No matter how many foes he took care of or how many minor injuries he sustained and later healed with a Concoction, Seteth was always able to remain as his mostly calm, calculated self.
Meanwhile, Lucas' team practically collectively groaned once they saw what laid beyond the warp tile: another set of narrow corridors. Lucas led his group of five (of which included himself) through the winding, single-minded passageway, eliminating whatever lonesome enemy got in their way. Be they axe wielders or archers - they weren't alive for much longer. The fact that there was only one of them at a time proved to be an easy 'challenge' for the team.
What was more of a challenge was dealing with Dimitri. For some reason, the blonde prince was directing himself with an immensely powerful murderous intent. Just as Lucas was about to engage in combat with an axe user, Dimitri charged straight in and sliced the soldier in half using a single swing of his lance, his immense strength able to ignore the individual's durability. Lucas, Annette and Ignatz were utterly gobsmacked by this. Dedue simply carried on behind Dimitri, watching over the prince to ensure his safety. Yet the additional three couldn't shake off that image.
"What was that?" Annette inquired, disturbed by what she had seen. "I know Dimitri's strong, but to be that powerful…"
"I know. That was insane. And he looked as if he did it without a care!" Ignatz exclaimed.
Lucas frowned for just a moment before faking a smile. "Come on, you two. We need to get moving. Even though Dimitri's strength is incredible, we still need to be there to support him. After all, we can't have any accidents happen, can we?"
Annette and Ignatz nodded in sync at the professor, following him further down the passageway.
"Dimitri...you're going through your changes earlier than usual, aren't you?" Lucas assumed as he, Ignatz and Annette joined back up with the house leader in question.
The narrow path was soon blocked by the presence of several doors. Luckily, one of the archers had a key on their person, so getting through the doors wasn't as much of a problem as it could've been. Lucas and his squad eventually arrived at a square room with six warp tiles in them that protruded outwards from the main room. Although, only one of the tiles was active. Annette and Ignatz were utterly overwhelmed upon seeing them, yet the other three were confident. Dimitri and Dedue looked over to Lucas.
"No need to worry, you two. First, we've just got to-" The professor was trying to say before something happened.
Three enemies warped into the room via the only active warp tile.
"Shit, forgot about these ones," Lucas murmured beneath his breath. "Everyone-!"
Before he could hand out proper instructions, Dimitri as well as Dedue instinctively rushed in, using their combined strength to eliminate the remaining foes. Annette passed a Heal cast over them to ease their minor wounds.
"What is this, 'ignore me hour'?" Lucas sighed. "Thanks, you two."
"It is our duty to rid the monastery of these disgusting invaders. It is of no consequence to us," Dimitri stated.
"R-right," Lucas nervously nodded. His eyes darted over to the lever that was in the middle of the room. "I believe if we pull this, the other warp tiles should activate. Then we can meet up with the others."
"How do you know that, Professor?" Annette asked, suspicion almost evident in her tone.
"Do you see any other way to get those things active?" Lucas responded. She shook her head after a quick scan of the room. "Exactly. Now, allow me to do the honours."
After pulling the lever, what Lucas had foretold came true. The remaining five warp tiles lit up, indicating their availability of use.
"You said we'd be able to meet up with the rest. Not all of these tiles can do that, can they?" Ignatz questioned.
"I'd be surprised if that was the case. Wouldn't make any sense if all of them led to the same place," Lucas replied. He retreated to his mind, addressing a certain someone. "Hey, Byleth. Remember which one takes us to the central chamber?"
"The top-left most tile," Byleth promptly pointed out.
"Thanks!" Lucas thanked his mind pal before returning to the real world. He walked over towards the one Byleth mentioned. "Okay, I'm gonna take a guess on this. Let's try this one right here."
Dimitri and Dedue immediately followed the professor, while Annette and Ignatz remained unsure. Upon seeing the other three's confident gazes, the uncertain duo's hesitation faded. They followed their fellow group members over to the tile in question.
In the meantime, Seteth's squad gradually made their way through all the rooms and enemies that were in their path. There wasn't much. Whatever damage had been sustained by the group was immediately healed with the use of Vulneraries and Concoctions, although they weren't able to heal everything. The likes of Caspar possessed scars that wouldn't dissipate right away. Thankfully, the enemies had a level of skill that couldn't quite compare to even the students, let alone the long-living Seteth.
Once they were able to open some gates, Seteth's team arrived at a spacious chamber somewhere within the middle of the entire labyrinth. A small army of around six or so enemies stood at the furthest end. Straight away, the mages had pinned down the group, forcing them to hide behind some pillars lest they get blasted by various spells.
It was at this moment when the other team arrived, one-by-one, through a warp tile that was present in the right side of the chamber. Lucas, Dimitri, Dedue, Annette and Ignatz arrived on the scene.
Only to be instantly pinned down in the same manner as Seteth's group were.
"Hey, Seteth!" Lucas called from the other side of the chamber. "We made it, just like I said we would!"
"Indeed you did!" Seteth acknowledged, returning Lucas' call. "Now all we need is for these pests to be removed. Have you any plans for this matter?"
"Nope. Well, actually, I do. You see, they can only keep this up for so long. Mages have limited access to magic. I wouldn't be surprised if they suddenly stopped any minute now…"
A few moments after Lucas finished speaking, what he suggested had occurred. The onslaught of random Reason magic spells disappeared. Peering their heads around the corner of the pillars they were hiding behind, everyone could see that the soldiers were heading their way for a full frontal assault.
"Bingo," Lucas smirked to himself as he and his allies prepared for the attack.
Since the mages were all out of energy, dealing with the pitiful amount of melee weapon users was a rather simple affair. Their unimpressively low numbers paled in comparison to the eleven that stood before them. Like clockwork, the enemies in the chamber were dealt with, though Lucas did have to use a Divine Pulse to cover a fatal mistake of his. The mages were then eliminated as well. The group then stared at the giant double doors that remained at the furthest end of the chamber.
"This must be where Flayn is. Unless there's another warp tile inside or something," Annette guessed. "There isn't, is there? I've had enough teleportation for one day."
"No, I get the impression that this is the end. It just feels like it," Ingrid reassured her housemate.
"You read too many of those stupid novels, Ingrid," Felix quipped.
"Shut up, Felix. You obviously don't read enough," countered Ingrid.
"Quiet." Seteth silenced their bickering. "Flayn is most likely beyond this door. Her captor, Professor Jeritza, is likely in there as well. We must eliminate them before we can rescue my sister. Bickering and mindless chattering will not help us with that. So please, be quiet. And let's fight."
Encouraged by Seteth's words, the students and Lucas readied their weapons for a final assault. The Nabatean opened the door using a key he had in his possession. Almost right away, a small army of those red-armoured soldiers attacked the combined group. Out from behind them came a familiar dark knight.
"You have arrived. Regardless of how well you have performed, you shall die here. Not a single one of you will be left alive by the wrath of my scythe," Death Knight threatened, displaying his wicked weapon. He pointed it at Seteth. "Especially you."
"Hmph. You are the one who stole Flayn, correct? The same one who's apparently been prowling monastery grounds at night? As a citizen of Garreg Mach, I cannot permit your actions," Seteth began, pointing his Blessed Lance at Death Knight. "But as Flayn's brother, I cannot allow you to live any longer."
"Yes...come at me with your rage! We shall dance around each other with our weapons, narrowly avoiding one another as scars of battle form on our bodies. This shall be enjoyable." Death Knight seemingly lavished being the object of Seteth's quiet fury.
Seteth then started to engage in mid-range combat with the Death Knight while Lucas and the students were forced to deal with the additional forces. There weren't that many of them, yet it appeared the most skilled soldiers were saved for last, as the students were all having trouble with them. Their tenacity along with their sheer strength were all far higher than the rest. Lucas was forced to use Divine Pulse three more times, saving Hilda, Caspar and Annette from certain death.
Another upside of Divine Pulse was the fact that Lucas could anticipate the specific movements of each enemy he had to use it in response to. This meant he could rush in and distract the foe with a Fire or a quick stab, allowing others to follow up with attacks of their own. Thanks to Lucas' divine power, the unusually high-powered enemies were dealt with. Only then did Lucas begin panting. His sweating dramatically increased to the point where his entire face was covered in it.
"Professor? Hey, are you okay?" Caspar checked in on his teacher. "Man, you don't look too good. Did one of those guys get you?"
"I…" Lucas could barely speak. "N-no, it's just-"
A headache soon began to form. Instinctively, he retreated to the central chamber and sat down, his back leaning against the first available pillar. Some of his students chose to follow him while others remained in the final room, observing the fierce battle between Seteth and the Death Knight.
"What the hell is going on?" He wondered internally. "Wait, I swear this has happened before."
"It has," Byleth confirmed. "Do you remember the battle in the Holy Mausoleum? When you recklessly charged into the enemy formation?"
"I only did that to take out their healer! He was making life way too difficult for us!" Lucas defended himself.
"Right. Anyway, you tried to call upon the power of Divine Pulse after being struck with an intense stab. You vomited, and then fell unconscious," Byleth reminded. "I believe something like that is occurring here."
"Oh. So I'm abusing Divine Pulse?" Lucas surmised.
Byleth shook the mental apparition of his head. "Not exactly. I believe your use of Divine Pulse is somehow limited compared to mine."
"Limited?"
"Yes. It explains why your body rejected it after it was hurt by that stab. Your body does not contain the Crest of Flames like mine does. That Crest, combined with my unique birth, was the only way Sothis could exist within my mind. Yet, she is able to exist in yours without such things. Perhaps…"
Lucas waited for a response as his rapid panting continued.
"Hmm, yes. Since your body lacks anything that truly enables the goddess' presence like mine does, perhaps yours compensates by giving mental resources to accommodate the use of such higher power."
"So..." Lucas paused, summarising all of what he was just told. "My mind expends more energy than usual whenever I use Sothis' power?"
"I believe so."
Lucas was wide-eyed and wide-mouthed. "Oh. Well, I uh, I wasn't expecting that. That's not gonna be too much of a problem, is it?"
"It shouldn't. Not unless you use more of her power."
Purely within the mental void, Lucas nodded. His vision returned to that of the physical world, finding Annette casting several Heals upon him. They helped to restore his sweating and panting issues, yet the headache wouldn't completely go away. He smiled at the Blue Lions girl.
"Thanks, Annette. I appreciate it," he told her.
"No problem, Professor. I'm just glad you're okay!" She replied with her own smile. Her gaze then switched over to the fight between Seteth and the Death Knight, which had slowed down somewhat. "I can't believe those two are still going, though."
"I knew Seteth was strong, but man, he's really going at it!" Caspar remarked, grinning at the display of physical prowess. "Go get 'em, Seteth! Show him what you've got!"
"I can't help but feel like one of us should intervene. Two versus one is always a good advantage to have," Hilda commented. "Not me, though. I'm way too exhausted."
"I am much the same way. I am no longer fit for battle," Hubert claimed.
"Same," Ingrid added. "I spent a lot of my energy taking on those soldiers. We can't expect Professor Lucas to jump in either. So who will-"
At that moment, Dimitri ran into the room, lance at the ready. Dedue reached out his arm, as if to stop him.
"Your highness!" The Duscurian called out, but to no avail. "No! That masked knight is much too dangerous for any of us to battle. What is he doing?"
"Yeah! Get in there, Dimitri! Help out Seteth!" Caspar cheered on the Blue Lions' house leader.
Dedue sighed. "That is not helping. Never mind. I will intervene, if only to save His Highness' life."
"Actually, I don't think you need to. Look!" Ignatz pointed to the battle.
Everyone followed the artist's gaze, observing how Dimitri was approaching the Death Knight's horse from behind. Seteth had it turned around so its backside was facing the room's entrance. Whether done intentionally or not, nobody knew. It at least provided Dimitri an opportunity to strike the Death Knight's steed with an immensely powerful, Crest-infused stab with his lance, striking the horse deep within its leg.
Such a move caused the horse to begin thrashing around at a speed not even the Death Knight could control. He was thrown from the horse, his heavily-armored self crashing against the floor. The horse then galloped further into the room, uselessly attacking some walls and rocks. Before the Death Knight could even get up, Seteth and Dimitri had their lances pointed at his helmet, ready to enact a beheading.
"You...this will not be our final encounter. I shall retreat. Not because you have me at your mercy, but because you were not able to defeat me by yourself. You acted cowardly, thus souring the taste of the sweet dance," Death Knight disappeared in a flash of purple light, reappearing by his berserk horse. "We shall meet again."
He then warped away entirely, this time taking his horse with him. Seteth shared a glance with Dimitri. Neither smiled. They turned back to the students, who had entered the room following the Death Knight's departure. Lucas was right behind them all.
"Your Highness! Are you safe?" Dedue asked his charge.
"Yes, I am," answered Dimitri, firmly. He grit his teeth. "He escaped. That damned snake!"
"Dimitri. Calm yourself. It would do you no good to be riled up by that man's words. He knew he was defeated, so he unleashed a final set of words upon you that have caused you to act in this way. Do not fall for it," Seteth advised the prince.
The blonde student remained silent. Annette, Ignatz and Ingrid began to scour the room while everyone else stood around the doors, basking in an awkward silence. Felix's expression was that of disgust as he stared at the boar prince. His displeasure of the house leader was as clear as day.
But before Felix could say anything, the search party reported something.
"Seteth, everybody! Flayn's over here!" Annette informed her allies.
"So is, uh, someone else. We don't know who it is!" Ignatz added to the report.
Lucas and Seteth shared a glance.
Following their mission's success down in the labyrinth beneath Professor Jeritza's now-old room, the group of eleven returned to the surface with the unconscious bodies of Flayn and the blood red-haired student. Seteth and Lucas silently agreed to play dumb on the matter. They acted as if they truly believed this to be the previously lost student Monica, yet they definitely knew otherwise.
The bodies were hauled off to the infirmary, where several church clerics who had temporarily taken over Manuela's position were present. They immediately began working on the two new people added to the ranks of the injured. At this point, all of the students had gone their separate ways. Lucas was right by Seteth's side as they were both asked to leave the infirmary to stop crowding the room. The two decided to talk in Seteth's office as it was close by.
"Lucas, I…thank you for helping to save my daughter," the male Nabatean thanked the mortal professor.
"You're welcome. I'm glad she's safe," Lucas smiled.
"So am I."
The two males shared a chuckle.
"Yeah, I imagined you were. Being a father must be…" Lucas trailed off.
"No. Do not go down that path of thought," Byleth advised.
Lucas internally nodded. He tried to distract himself with all sorts of thoughts, anything to get that infernally depressing ideas out of his mind. "Hey, so, uh, h-how's the weather?"
"Well, I would say it's been quite adequate," Seteth commented, mildly confused upon hearing the teacher's question. "It is certainly better now that Flayn is safe. I hope so, at the very least. She was merely unconscious when we found her, so I have confidence that she will be alright. Yet I cannot help but fret."
"Right. That makes sense." Lucas desperately tried to steer the conversation in a different direction. "So what about that 'Monica' person? She's here now. We can enact the plan."
"True enough. We can indeed enact it. However, it might be too soon for that," Seteth suggested. He raised a finger before Lucas could speak, indicating he had more to say. "If she were to suddenly disappear immediately after being 'rescued', would it not be strange? There is a possibility the students may find such a sudden move to be suspicious. If we were to suspend it until later, it might be more believable that we would have been able to find out something strange about her, or whatever cover story Rhea and I decide on."
Lucas shrugged. "Makes sense to me, I guess. I'm fine either way, as long as we can get rid of these rats."
"Me too, Lucas. Me too."
A silence fell between the two. There wasn't really anything else either of them could think to say. Instead, they sat together in the office, waiting hopefully for any kind of positive news regarding Flayn's state.
Living proof of her stable condition soon came through the office door. The green-haired, petite Nabatean wandered through, the door slamming itself shut behind her. Seteth stared at her, completely mesmerised by that smile he was so familiar with. He stood up and walked over to his daughter.
"I'm okay, brother!" Flayn presented herself to her 'sibling'.
Seteth said nothing. Instead, he picked the girl up and hugged her, locking her in an embrace that seemed to last an eternity for the embarrassed, currently-pouting young woman. He eventually put her back down as per her command.
"Thank you, brother. You know I despise it when you do that," Flayn huffed. She noticed Lucas' presence. "Oh, hello there, Professor! It is nice to see you again! I am so sorry you saw what happened between myself and my brother just now."
"Flayn, I…" Seteth looked between his daughter and the professor. Lucas nodded, as if he understood what Seteth wished to do. "I do not believe you need to act in such a way around Lucas. He is already aware."
"Aware of what?" Flayn wondered.
"Of our true nature. Not merely as father and daughter," Seteth lowered his voice to a whisper. "But as Nabateans. Lucas is also aware of much more than that. He possesses knowledge of future events."
"Future events?" Flayn repeated incredulously while also lowering her volume. "H-how is that even possible?"
"I am unsure. Though Rhea and I believe it to be a gift from the goddess," Seteth answered. "He has been using that gift to foretell the major events that have been occurring these past months. Including your capture."
"My capture? But how...I am so terribly confused!" Flayn exclaimed.
Lucas smirked. "That's just how it works. I know things. I don't really know why or how, but that's how it is. You can ask Rhea about it if you want. She can verify the things I've said."
"Okay," Flayn seemingly calmed herself down. "If that is the case, why did you not prevent my abduction? I would have been saved from all that physical trauma!"
"My sincerest apologies for that, Flayn. But you see, the three of us have a plan. It involves that other girl we brought back alongside you," Seteth divulged the details of the plan to her. "I shall tell you more later. As of now, I shall escort you to your room. You need your rest."
"I am well aware of the necessity of sleep, thank you very much!" Flayn pouted again. "I know where my bedroom is, father."
"Please, Flayn. Allow me to ensure your safety."
Flayn eventually relented after seeing a shimmer in Seteth's eyes. "Fine. You may do as you wish, father."
"Thank you, Flayn."
With the differences between father and daughter sorted out, the two Nabateans began to leave the office. Lucas followed right behind them, finding no need to remain in that room. Before departing the central building's first floor entirely, Seteth turned around to Lucas for one final time that day.
"Again, thank you very much, Lucas. You have done us a great service. You shall eternally be within my appreciation. Do not forget that."
Seteth and Flayn then left. Lucas was left standing in the middle of the corridor, right by the four rooms belonging to different members of faculty. A single tear dropped down his cheek as a war emerged within his mind. A clash of opposite emotions.
"Why the hell can't I accept a simple compliment?"
Lucas decided to go rest as the war raged on.
Author Notes: Another long one! See, I thought this was gonna be quite short, but nope! Hopefully y'all liked this one!
Also, I wonder which house Flayn will be joining, if any? Be sure to tune in next time for the answer to that question you may or may not know the answer to!
Don't forget to join the Fanfiction Treehouse Discord server! I'm there along with a whole load of other cool writers! Here's the invite code: 9XG3U7a.
See y'all next time!
EDIT (01/12/2021): How about another episode of "Fun Facts With ModernHog"?
Lucas prefers Android phones over iPhones. That's it. That's the episode.