I have two papers due next week so before they make me hate writing, I rushed this chapter. I hope you all like it.
Garland Moon 1180:
Twenty-fourth of the Garland Moon:
The last two days had been absolutely terrible to Byleth. Keeping her emotions in check and fooling everyone into thinking that she was okay was just horrible, but she was quite good at it. Once upon a time, she wished for emotions and now that she was seemingly getting them, she wished to be free of them. The pain they brought with them was not worth it.
Seeking a distraction, she arrived at the training ground to either spar with someone or beat a training dummy into oblivion. Upon entering she made eye contact with Dimitri, who had been there with Dedue. It shouldn't have been a surprise to her to see him there, as he spent a lot of his free time there, but it did and it hurt that he immediately set about leaving, despite being in the middle of something. As he passed her, without even sparing her a glance, she was going to reach out and grab his arm, only for someone to call for her and distract her.
A girl with short, auburn hair had been the one that called out to the older woman and she had to bite back a sigh. Byleth didn't mind Leonie but she wasn't in the mood to be dealing with the student's rival spirit at that time. She glanced back at the entrance, only to discover that Dimitri was gone. Shoving down the pain in her chest, she turned to Leonie that was making her way over.
"Byleth are you free?" Leonie asked once she was standing in front of the professor. Despite Byleth wanting people to call her by her name, very few did outside of her friends, and it became a bit weird to hear her name from others.
"I am free," Byleth said, choosing to give Leonie her full focus instead of acknowledging the dull ache in her chest. "What can I help you with?"
"I want you to teach me your crest countering technique!" The professor blinked a few times, as it had been a couple of weeks since someone asked her about that, and she had just assumed that everyone forgot about it.
"Lorenz has been pretty annoying lately about his noble's duties and such." Leonie kept going on and on about the noble that Byleth started to tune her out a little. She had yet to really get to know Lorenz, but she did get a lot of complaints about him from Claude and a lot of female students. She was surprised that someone could have more female student complaints against him than Sylvain; actually, she was just surprised that Sylvain didn't have more.
"Anyway, I wanted to show him that being a noble isn't all that great and a commoner can be better than him and for that I need to know your technique!" Byleth once again gave the student her full attention. "A technique developed by a commoner to take down a noble and their stupid crest is perfect!" Except that Byleth didn't develop her technique with that purpose in mind or even thought about using it against a noble before she started teaching, but she decided to not say anything about it.
"Except my technique won't work against his," Byleth explained.
"What? Why?"
"My technique only works against physically enhancing crest. The Crest of Gloucester amplifies his magic so my technique will be useless against his." Now that she thought about it, her technique was only really useful against crest from the Kingdom's nobility. She could easily imagine how the Kingdom's nobles would try to use that fact against her and probably try to paint her as an enemy that was trying to figure out how to destroy the Kingdom. That thought only made her feel sick to her stomach.
"I see, but still. It would give me a leg up over nobles and I'll just have to use your technique as a base to develop my own against Lorenz!"
Before she could respond, a loud voice silenced her. From the other side of the training yard was a blue haired young man that she now knew his name was Caspar, and he was running up to them. A bit further back was a man with long, green hair that was slowly making his way over.
"If you are going to teach Leonie that skill than you need to teach me too!" Caspar demanded once he caught up. "I will be a way better fighter if I have such a skill under my belt!"
"I asked her first!" Leonie said.
"Well, I have been asking for a long time now!"
Byleth just watched as the two argued back and forth. She couldn't understand why neither of them bothered to ask if she could teach them both or if she was even going to teach them at all in the first place. After a minute or so the green haired man, Linhardt, she remembered, arrived, and said nothing but did sigh.
"Do you wish to learn it as well?" Byleth asked, ignoring the argument.
"Oh no, I have no desire to learn such a skill," Linhardt said, and she arched an eyebrow. "But I would like to see it demonstrated if you do not mind." She wouldn't say no to that.
With a loud clap, she silenced the bickering. All the students looked at her and she wanted to sigh at the challenging looks from the two active students. Folding her arms across her chest, she looked at the students, trying to figure out the best way to go about this.
"I'm not teaching either of you." A loud, union yell of "what" was their response. She held up a hand to silence them before they could bark out more, challenging words. She realized it was only thanks to Felix that she now knew how to deal with people like them. "It took me years of having the Crest of Seiros being used against me that I was able to develop the technique." The little, challenging glares remained but they nodded, while she seemed to have grabbed some more of Linhardt's attention. "You all are just not yet skilled enough to pull it off." They gave her looks of doubts and apart of her was tempted to beat some of their attitudes out of them in a display of overwhelming power.
"I will be willing to demonstrate the technique for you but you all will have to find someone for me to spar against."
"Alright!" Caspar cheered, and she was a bit taken back. She wished he could share some of that cheerfulness with her class. "Let's ask Prince Dimitir."
"No to Dimitri." Caspar pouted.
"And why not?" Leonie asked. "Didn't you already use your technique against his crest? Then you should have no problem doing it again, right?" And there was the rivalry that Byleth wasn't in the mood to deal with.
"First, he didn't want to do it the first time and I do not want to force him again." Not that he would even want to be close enough to her to do it anyway. She ignored the sharp pain in her chest from the thought. "Secondly, I broke two training lances during that stunt, and I have to pay for those so I'm not breaking more." And after Annette's kitchen fiasco the other day, she was strapped for funds. They nodded in understanding, to which she was grateful for.
"If I recall correctly, Catherine has returned," Linhardt mumbled. Catherine? That name sounded oddly familiar, but she didn't dwell on it for long as she quickly realized that it was a popular name. "She should prove a worthy opponent for someone of your skill level and since she posses a major crest it should be easier for the demonstration."
She nodded. "I will leave setting up the match to you all then." And with that Byleth left as she was ready for a break and she hadn't even done anything.
Twenty-fifth of the Garland Moon:
Byleth had to hand it to Caspar and Leonie, they worked fast. She would give Linhardt some credit, but she suspected he had very little to do with setting up the duel. She hadn't expected them to get Catherine to agree and so quickly too. She also didn't expect for the little spar to turn into such an event.
The duel was to take place in the courtyard because it was the only place that was open enough and could accommodate everyone. She had expected a few students to come and watch, but not all of Garreg Mach. Even the archbishop came to watch and with her came an even more expectant look in her eyes, and that just unnerved Byleth more. Tomas, too, was there but he was a bit a ways from everyone and she was wondering how he expected to get a look at the match, when she was sure his eye sight had to be bad, given his age; she decided to not think about him too much and realized that she should be grateful that he was keeping some distance. Under all the gazes, she was starting to feel a little sick.
Though the duel was becoming a grand event that she hadn't been expecting, it hadn't been the most surprising thing to her. The biggest surprise came from who her opponent was, it was the knight that gave her the most embarrassing defeat of her life during the Faerghus' Founding Day celebration in the year 1175. The memory of that defeat wouldn't leave her, and she wished she could have faced anyone but Catherine and her dumb crest.
"We set up everything like you asked!" Caspar practically shouted at her and she fought back a sigh.
"You have to clearly demonstrate your technique so that I can recreate it and improve it. Afterall, I am Captain Jeralt's number one apprentice!" Leonie bragged, and again Byleth bit back a sigh. When Leonie had first mentioned being the number one apprentice, Byleth had chose to not make a comment about it and now she was regretting not doing so.
"Catherine has a major crest so you should have plenty of opportunities to show off your technique," Linhardt said, and the professor finally gave in and sighed.
She gave them all a nod before walking over to her side of the "arena". Her students cheered for her and she knew that it was just them trying to motivate her, but it was having the opposite effect as it just reminded her of the massive crowd. Once again, she swallowed a sigh as she gave her students a smile and she felt a little better when Dimitri gave her a nod and a smile in return.
"You know, I missed you," her blonde opponent said, pulling her attention to Catherine. "I kept hoping to see you at the Faerghus' Founding Day tournament but you never showed."
"Life of a mercenary. Always on the move," Byleth said as she wasn't about to try and explain the political nonsense she went through to a relative stranger.
"Makes sense." Catherine spun her wooden sword around for a bit before snapping it in front of her. "I do hope you put up a good fight."
Taking a deep breath, Byleth tried to ground herself but the cheers made it almost impossible. How did she do that last time? The Founding Day tournament had a much bigger audience. Catherine looked so calm and confident and Byleth couldn't help but be jealous. A bell rang out and the duel began.
As soon as the sound of the bell ended, Catherine was on the move. Byleth could take some comfort in knowing that Catherine's style hadn't changed in all those years. It was still quick and aggressive, it reminded her of Glenn's, and she made a note to see if Felix would be interested in learning a similar style.
After a strong blow, Byleth put all those thoughts aside to focus on the match. Catherine kept her strikes centered around Byleth's torso, perfect for incapacitating an enemy when a strike would land. It was a good strategy, if not a little annoying to deal with. By keeping the blows so close it made countering difficult.
Blow after strong blow was becoming taxing and it just strengthen Byleth's hatred for Catherine's crest. Once upon a time, Byleth would be nearing her limit thanks to such strikes but she learned how to deal with them. By shifting her grip after each powerful strike she was able to mitigate the strain on her hands but that didn't mean she could last a long time by doing so; at least Catherine's strikes were nowhere near as devastating as her father's.
"What's wrong?" Catherine asked after the fifth time her crest activated. "The point of this duel was for you to show off that crest counter technique, right? My crest has given you plenty of opportunities. You should be honored. I don't think my crest likes anyone as much as it does you."
"Stupid crest," the former mercenary mumbled under her breath. She blocked one of Catherine's slashes with one for own, only for Catherine's return strike to have her crest activating again. The knight's smirk was annoying and Byleth did a wide horizontal slash to force Catherine to back up and give her some room.
The match only helped Byleth to discover another one of her technique's flaws, and that was from how dependent she was on being able to see the glow of the crest to know to prepare herself. Since Catherine's crest was most likely somewhere on her back, it meant that Byleth was unable to see the glow when it activated. Byleth didn't know this about herself until that battle but she had felt somewhat superior thanks to her technique and she only realized how foolish she was because her technique wasn't all that great unless given some very specific conditions.
Gritting her teeth, she put those negative thoughts behind her as they were not going to help her. There had to be another tell of a crest activating and she needed to find it soon before her arms gave out. Her eyes roamed over Catherine as the knight kept up her aggressive offensive.
When Byleth deflected a powerful thrust, she believed that she finally saw the tell she needed. It was an incredibly subtle one that she wasn't sure she would be able to use it in a proper fight but for that dule it would definitely work. Now the next issue was for her to figure out was how to counter when her opponent liked to do swift and close strikes.
The professor matched one of Catherine's strikes with her own. It didn't halt Catherine much, but it did allow Byleth some time to jump back a bit and dig her back foot in before Catherine was upon her again. With each strike Byleth was trying to figure out how to guide Catherine's blade away and she was terrible at the first few tries but after a few more she was able to slide her opponent's blade away from her body, and she found that that annoyed Catherine.
It wasn't long after that, did she see the tell, a small jolt along Catherine's arms, most likely from the burst of energy that her crest was providing. Byleth's blade collided with Catherine's and glided it upwards and away from her body. When the strength of the strike had dissipated, Byleth snapped her blade against Catherine's to shove it away, before quickly switching into a downward slash. Despite being clearly thrown off the knight still had enough of a reaction to jump back and avoid the first attack but Byleth didn't let up and stepped into Catherine's space and slammed her wooden sword against the knight's side. A curse slipped through Catherine's lips as she tried to bring her sword down, only for the professor to gracefully spin out of the way.
The area was filled with cheers and yells but Byleth tuned them out as it was finally her turn to go on the offensive. She didn't give Catherine a chance to recover before striking at Catherine's legs. The older woman grumbled a complaint as she awkwardly blocked the strike as well as stumbled back.
Catherine's style was all about trying to incapacitate her opponent with a powerful blow to the chest, it was difficult to take an opponent out that way as it made for easy blocks, but it was an honorable style. Byleth's style was far from honorable, as she went for easy targets to weaken her foe, like the arms and legs. She did spend the past six years fighting to survive. Sure, she knew how to fight honorably, she got many lessons on those types of fighting styles when she stayed at Castle Blaiddyd, but honor just made someone an easy target.
"You fight dirty," Catherine grumbled as she had to block another strike to her leg.
"I'm a mercenary," Byleth simply said as she rushed towards her opponent, making sure to not give Catherine a chance to breathe.
"Fair enough." Catherine threw a punch that Byleth had barely dodged by leaning far back and putting her assault on halt. With wide eyes, she looked at the knight, who was smirking. She had gotten the feeling that Catherine wasn't like most knights, but she wasn't expecting the knight to adapt so quickly. Catherine slammed her sword down and Byleth had to roll out of the way, giving Catherine some breathing room.
"I have been in more than my fair share of bar fights." Byleth could believe that. She was sure her father would get along well with Catherine. After the whole duel was over with, she was thinking of asking if Catherine wanted to go get some drinks. It had been a long while since she had drunk any of the hard stuff and Catherine seemed like a great drinking partner.
With her assault broken, she was back on being on the defensive as Catherine kept up with her aggressive slashes but threw in some punches to keep Byleth off guard. The sword and fist style were a bit awkward, but it seemed to be what Felix had been trying to aim for so Byleth made sure to make a note of it.
Now that Byleth had her counter down, Catherine's crest was no longer a problem and it was clearly an issue for the knight. The knight would prove as a clear example to her students, with crests, to no rely on them, and she hoped that Felix would learn that by watching the fight. Despite having the counter, the powerful blows were starting to take their toll on her arms, and she knew that she would have to end the match soon.
Despite the ache in her arms, she was feeling lighter. In the battle she didn't have to worry about what she did to upset Dimitri or to remember about a lost friendship; she could just focus on clashing blades. Catherine was also much better for the professor to release all of her pent-up frustrations on than some training dummy. She would seek out the knight for future matches.
The more their swords clashed the more relief Byleth felt. A smile grew on her face and Catherine matched it. Everything was going great until she was given an ugly reminder.
Upon a downward slash, the thing that Byleth had all but forgotten about reared its wretched head, her crest had activated. The color drained from her face as she remained frozen in place, as if her crest's ability were also affecting her as well. Her thoughts were completely focused on her crest and nothing else.
"Hey! Did your crest affect you too or what?" Catherine yelled, snapping Byleth out of it, just in time to throw up her sword for a block. Between all the blows from Catherine's crest and her own, the strain on Byleth's training sword had been too much and it shattered, failing to stop the blonde's sword from connecting to Byleth's face.
With the added power from the Catherine's crest and Byleth's broken stance the professor was knocked back and landed on the ground. She didn't move, despite all the gasps and yells of her name. None of them reached her as she stared up at the sky in horror. Her mind was only filled with one thought, her crest activated in front of everyone!
"Byleth, are you okay?" Catherine shouted but Byleth didn't acknowledge her, but she was vaguely aware of being forced to sit up. "Jeez, it looks like I broke your nose. Sorry, about that."
Now sitting up, the archbishop came into view. There was such a satisfied expression on her face and Byleth couldn't breathe. Her mind screamed out for her father, but he wasn't there, away on a mission; and so, she was all alone.
"Excuse me, but may I speak with Professor Byleth?" asked the only voice that could pierce through Byleth's haze, Dimitri's. She finally tore her eyes away from the archbishop to look at him and his blue eyes managed to ground her a little.
"I'm sorry but I think Professor Byleth might have suffered a head injury so I should take her to the infirmary," Professor Manuela said and it was only then that Byleth was aware that the older woman was kneeling next to her.
Byleth didn't listen to a thing Professor Manuela said as she got up. She almost reached out to grab Dimitri when she caught a glimpse of Tomas. Tomas almost had a look of disgust on his face and that sent a shiver down her spine. When Dimitri gave a small gesture to follow, she had nearly latched onto him but had remained aware of enough to not grab hold of him, and completely ignored everything Professor Manuela was saying.
Once they were inside the safety of the Blue Lions' classroom, she broke down. She dropped to her knees and struggled to breathe. Trying to block the outside world, she used her hands to cover her face and tune everything out. The archbishop's and Tomas' faces flashed before her mind and she just wanted to run away but knew that she was completely unable to do so. She shrunk into herself as if it would hide her better. She needed to leave. She wasn't safe. Those thoughts ran wild in her mind and she just wanted her father.
Suddenly, she was shoved against something and she started to push against it, only for her to be pressed more against it. "Byleth, it is okay," Dimitri's soft voice whispered into her ear and it was then that she realized that she was in his arms. "You are safe. I will not allow any harm to befall upon you." She gave in and squeezed him as hard as she could as she buried her face into his shoulder.
"I am sure it will be alright," Sylvain's voice next pierced her haze. She jolted at the sound of his voice, but Dimitri still kept his grip on her. Still in the embrace she struggled a bit to look around and saw that the rest of her friends were there, including Claude.
"We will protect you!" Ingrid said and from behind her both Felix and Dedue gave the professor a firm nod.
"We have your back By!" Claude said and patted her head. "You can count on us."
Her gaze blurred with her unshed tears and she gave them all a firm nod before going back to hiding her face in Dimitri's shoulder. With Sothis' own calming words of comfort and Dimitri rubbing circles on her back, she was finally at peace, but she didn't release Dimitri just yet. She took comfort in knowing that he wasn't going to push her away.
After a few seconds, she finally stopped squeezing him and he let her go but he didn't move away. She looked into his eyes and he was so clearly worried about her that she couldn't help but be a little happy. She gave him a small nod before getting onto her feet and he followed her example.
"Are you feeling better?" he asked. Compared to earlier she was, but overall, not so much. She gave him a small smile and a nod; she didn't want everyone to worry about her more than they already did.
"I am sure there is nothing for you to worry about now that the church knows about your crest," Claude said, and her little smile became strained. She wanted to believe Claude but the satisfied expression that the archbishop had only worried her more. Her crest proved something to the archbishop, and she didn't know what and that only unsettled her more.
"You are incredible By!" Sylvain shouted in a jovial tone. "You went head to head with Thunderstrike Catherine and you would have won too, if it was not for that little issue." It was clear that he was trying to lighten the mood and for everyone's sake, so she tried to help.
"Well I was taught by the best," she said in a joyful tone that she hoped didn't sound too fake. With a fake smile that she had perfected the last few days, she hoped that everyone could relax, and it seemed like it was working.
There was a slight grip on her hand and when she looked down at it, she saw that Dimitri was holding it. Her gaze snapped to his face and the look he was giving her had her wondering if he could see right through her. Why was he doing that? Wasn't he avoiding her? Why was he trying to tear down her façade? Her body began to tremble, and it felt like there was a lump in the back of her throat and he gave her hand a small squeeze and she felt like she was going to fall apart.
A knock on the door was the only thing that helped to keep her together. Dimitri let go of her hand and stepped back and she swallowed the sob that wanted to break free. Catherine stepped inside and gave everyone a look before settling on Byleth.
"Is the little chat over yet?" the knight asked and Byleth nodded. "Good, you need to speak with Lady Rhea." Byleth felt sick to her stomach but she did her best to not reflect it. She gave her friends a nod before walking out but stopped when Catherine didn't follow. "Oh, Prince Dimitri would you be able to gather the rest of the Blue Lions and wait for Byleth's return? It will make it easier for her to discuss your guys' next mission."
When Dimitri nodded yes, Catherine began to guide Byleth away. They walked in silence, which was perfect for the professor, who was in no mood to talk. Byleth didn't get that peace for long though.
"So, what's up with your crest?" Catherine asked, and Byleth just looked at the knight as she wasn't sure what to say. "Does it affect you too or something? Seems only fair for you to have some kind repercussion for how powerful it is."
"What do you mean? My crest isn't that powerful." Sure, the power to halt an opponent during combat can be a truly powerful thing but her crest wasn't the only one that possessed such a power.
"Oh yes, it is! I never head of a crest that possessed two abilities!"
Byleth stopped dead in her tracks to stare at the knight, like she had grown two heads. "What are you talking about? My crest just freezes opponents for a bit, just like a normal Crest of Cichol."
"Oh no, it's not." Catherine stopped to stare at Byleth. "I fought against a major Crest of Cichol enough times to know that your crest isn't it." Byleth stared at the other woman with wide eyes. "The Crest of Cichol only freezes its opponents. Your crest does that as well as strengthen the power behind your blow." Not a thought formed in Byleth's mind so she could only stare. "Not to mention it does not glow anywhere near as bright as your does."
Byleth's mouth hung open but no words came to her. Slowly her gaze drifted away to stare at her chest as if she could see her crest beneath her clothing. Neither her father nor Glenn ever mentioned feeling two different effects from her crest. She remembered Cornelia's words about there being more to her crest, but did it really have to awaken to another power? Why did she have to posses that crest? Why couldn't it be normal? Tomas flashed before her mind and she wondered if she would be attacked again. She wished her father were there, but he wasn't, and she was feeling so alone again.
Snapping fingers in front of her face, broke the professor out of her thoughts. Her eyes focused on the fingers for a seconds before looking at their owner, Catherine. The knight gave her a look for a moment before standing straight.
"You with me now?" Byleth blinked but nodded as she didn't know what else to do. "Good. Do you know what your crest is?" She shook her head no. "I had a feeling. You should go ask Hannenman about it. He will probably know something." She nodded and the two began walking again.
Answers should be the thing that Byleth wanted most and yet she was afraid of those very answers. Ignorant bliss was what she wanted but she didn't know if such a thing was still possible. People had been attacking her because of her crest and the very last person, who should have known about it, found out so was it probably impossible for her to return a time of innocence? Was she capable of going back to a life of denial? Was it fair for her to live a life as if she didn't posses a crest, while Sylvain couldn't? She longed for a life, where things were so much easier.
Before she knew it, the two women were standing in front of the doors that lead to the reception hall. Byleth really didn't want to enter. Catherine turned to her and Byleth clung to the little distraction.
"I need to go check on a few things for a bit," Catherine said and Byleth's heart dropped but she kept up her fake little smile. She really didn't want to face the archbishop alone. "Once I know that everything is in order, I will be joining you in a bit."
Byleth stared at the door before her, frozen in place. Sothis kind words were nice but the professor wanted nothing more than a physical presence by her side. She glanced to her right to see the guard, who smiles at her innocently, completely unaware of her inner turmoil. Resigning to her fate, she took a deep breath and entered the hall.
At the end of the hall she spotted both the archbishop and Seteth and she felt a bit better to see the advisor. That comfort was quickly lost when she saw the overly pleased look on the archbishop's face. She wanted to run away, far away, and yet she kept walking forward.
"Your duel with Catherine was a marvelous one," the archbishop said and Byleth stayed silent, but she did nod her head a little. "I must admit, I am surprised to see how well you did against one of our best knights, but I guess I should not be too surprise given who your father is." Again, she gave a silent nod. "But I amazed to discover that you possess a crest and it must be a major one too, given that glow." The archbishop's eyes narrowed ever so slightly and Byleth felt so small and weak. "Why did you never share such information, with us?"
Byleth remained quiet for a few more seconds. She was pleased to discover that Seteth was giving the head of the church a questionable look, she was beginning to like Seteth more and more. When the archbishop prompted her to speak, she knew she could no longer remain quiet.
"When I was younger, I was attacked by some men because of my crest," Byleth carefully explained to avoid any suspicion or distrust being placed on her father. The smile left the archbishop's face and Byleth didn't know what to make of that. "Ever since then, I have kept my crest a secret. I am sorry for lying to you."
The small smile returned to the archbishop's face as she lightly shook her head. "That is alright, my child, I understand. But I wish for you to know that you are safe here at Garreg Mach."
"…Yes, thank you."
The archbishop returned to her usual air but Byleth didn't feel any better. Seteth seemed uncomfortable with her vague explanation but she didn't get the feeling that it was because of the vagueness and for that she was grateful. He was proving to be a support that she didn't know she needed.
"Let us begin with why I have called you here, shall we." Byleth gave the older woman a nod. "I have a new mission for your students."
"We have received reports that Lord Lonato has rallied his troops against the Holy Church of Seiros," Seteth said.
The name Lord Lonato sounded so familiar to her but she couldn't recall where she heard it. "That is the name of Ashe's adoptive father," Sothis explained and her tone lacked its normal playfulness. The color left Byleth's face as she started ahead.
"Professor are you alright?"
"Oh yes, sorry that name sounded familiar and I was just trying to place it." She started to have a sickening feeling.
Seteth shook his head but the archbishop explained with no signs of annoyance, "Lord Lonato is a minor lord of the Kingdom. He has been showing hostility towards the church for some time now." Byleth pressed her lips together.
"A vanguard unit from the Knights of Seiros is already on its way to his stronghold, Castle Gaspard," Seteth returned to explaining and the more news that was shared only made her feel sicker. "Lord Lonato's army is nothing compared to the Knights. It is possible that the rebellion has already been suppressed."
"Even so," the archbishop took charge again, "I would like for your class to travel with the Knights' rear guard to deal with the aftermath."
The sickening she had felt was starting to give away to a new feeling, a far more intense one. "War zones are unpredictable," Seteth began again, "we do not expect you will have cause to battle but be prepared for the worse."
"Can I refuse?" Byleth asked and she struggled to keep her tone neutral.
"Excuse me?"
"This mission is far to advance for children." By emphasizing the word children, she had hoped to convey just a small fraction of her anger, without her having to actually express it.
"We went over this last month, coddling your students will do them no good."
"They barely handled bandits and now you want to send them to a war zone! The other classes haven't done anything as nearly as dangerous as my class has!"
"That is because I believe in your students and your teaching."
"I've only been teaching them for two months! I refused to send my students into a war! I haven't even fought in a war!"
The air in the reception hall shifted but Byleth refused to let it bother her. The smile left the archbishop's face as she stared down the younger woman. Byleth wasn't daunted and she glared back.
"Your students are going and that is final." Byleth opened her mouth to object, only to have the archbishop speak over her. "This rebellion is from a minor lord from the Kingdom and since your students are the future leaders of the Kingdom, they must learn what it means to cross the church."
"What?"
The archbishop looked down at Byleth, whose fists were balled so tightly. "They must learn their place."
This was utter madness! This was a church, not a country! Now she understood what her father meant, the archbishop was crazy and dangerous. She looked to Seteth for support, but he didn't seem all that bothered with what was being suggestions. She felt disgusted for even thinking that he was someone she could trust.
She once again opened her mouth to speak, only for Sothis to stop her. "Byleth, I understand where you are coming from, but it might be best that you go with what she is planning," Sothis said. The professor balled her fists so tightly that her knuckles were turning white. "She is an enemy you do not want to make."
She gritted her teeth and bit back her response, but she was still visibly tense. "Ashe-"
"He will be going."
She gave the archbishop her fiercest glare and her nails now dug into her palm. Sothis words would no longer reach her. "You want him to fight against his adoptive father?!"
"He must prove his loyalty."
"Prove his loyalty?! He's a child!"
"The son of a traitor." The archbishop narrowed her eyes into an icy glare.
Byleth's throat burned and it felt like a lump formed in her throat. She started to take several deep breaths as she glared at the other woman. Sothis once again tried to reach out to her but she couldn't hear the girl over the blood rushing in her ears.
"Ashe is a sweet, sixteen-year-old boy," Byleth said slowly and calmly. "He is a devout believer of the goddess, who offers up his prayers every day. He wants to be a chivalrous knight that would not dare to hurt anyone." Before the bandit mission last moon, she didn't event think he had what it would take to become a knight because of how kindhearted he was. "He is a sweet boy that only wants to help everyone he can."
"He either proves his loyalty on the battlefield or he can sit in a dungeon until everything is taking care of."
Byleth saw red and lunged forward but stopped when she realized something was off. Neither the vile woman nor heartless advisor reacted to anything, it was almost as if they were frozen. Slowly she turned around to see Sothis scowling down at her from upon her throne and soon they were surrounded by the darkness.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Sothis asked, in a tone that Byleth didn't think she was deserving of. "Honestly, what did you think you were doing lunging at the archbishop like that?" Byleth gritted her teeth as she didn't really have an answer to that. She didn't realize what she was doing until Sothis stopped her. She had never lost control like that before. She was only going to get herself killed if she couldn't control herself.
Sighing as loudly as she could Sothis collapsed against her throne. "I still have not heard a thank you for saving your ass."
"Thank you," Byleth said and even bowed. "I have never lost control like that before. I do not know what came over me."
Sothis eyed her for a moment. "I do not blame you, that woman is infuriating but," she paused to sit up properly, "you will not be able to help anyone if you make the archbishop your enemy." The former mercenary scowled at the floor but remained quiet.
"Look it is clear that that woman is determined to send your students out on this mission with or without you. It will be better for your students if you are there with them, do you understand?" A quiet curse spilled from Byleth's lips, but she nodded anyways. "Pretend to be the good, little professor so that you can protect your students. They are going to needed you, especially Ashe."
Her nails dug into her palms so hard that she could feel the warmth of blood on her fingers. Reluctantly, Byleth nodded yes and got ready as Sothis returned time to its normal flow. The archbishop's icy stare bore down on Byleth but she didn't glare back, no matter how much she wanted too.
"Do we still have a problem?" the archbishop asked in the tone that Byleth believed fitted her. Unable to trust her voice the former mercenary just shook her head. "Good." The archbishop began to relax a little and she just wanted to spit at the older woman for doing such a thing.
The doors to the reception hall were opened and Catherine walked in. She walked to the group with a little pep in her step that didn't suit the mood. Byleth's eyes widen as she put two and two together and she wanted to laugh at thinking at how she wanted to get closer to the knight. The church really knew how to lower her guard and play her like the fool she was. She glared at the knight, until Sothis reminded her to stop that and so she stared at the floor instead.
"I'm sorry for being late," Catherine said, when she stood next to Byleth. "I was making sure everything was ready for us to leave tomorrow."
"Catherine will be leading the knights whom you will be accompanying," The archbishop said as she easily switched to a lighter tone, and Byleth had to force herself to not scoff at it.
"I look forward to working with you." Biting the inside of her check, Byleth just nodded as she still didn't trust her voice. The rest of the briefing was explained without her uttering a single a word. As soon as the briefing was over, she left the reception hall without sparing any of them a single glance.
Byleth returned to her classroom with a boiling rage still deep within her. She chewed on her bottom lip until it bled as she thought it was best that she didn't speak to anyone. Everyone she passed by were offering her words of praise and even though they were all innocent she wanted nothing more to do than scream out at everyone and everything.
Taking a deep breath, she pushed open the doors to her classroom. Her students had been chatting happily and she just felt sick to her stomach. They all cheerfully ran up to her, so eager to hear about their next mission. She hung her head and bit her lip until it bled again.
"Professor?" Annette was the first to call for her. "Is something wrong?"
"Our next mission is to suppress a rebellion in the Kingdom," Byleth said. She lifted her head and discovered that all the cheer was gone. She looked at all of her students before her gaze settled on Ashe, she didn't want to say the next part but knew she had to as it would be better for him to hear it from her and not someone from the church. "The leader of the rebellion is Lord Lonato…"
"No!" Ashe screamed and he ran up to her. "He wouldn't do such a thing!" She shut her eyes tightly as she couldn't bring herself to look at anyone. "Professor, he wouldn't! Lord Lonato is a good man!" She pulled him in for a tight embrace, and he clung to her chanting over and over that Lord Lonato was a good man.
A/N: I have some thing I wish to ask you, my lovely readers. I have been going back and fixing some of my grammar mistakes in past chapters and I recently fixed up chapter 5, where Byleth and Glenn have a duel. In that duel I was careful to explain where the swords were and how each were striking. It's a lot more detailed than this duel with Catherine.
I didn't describe swords strikes so much in this duel because I am trying to convey a sense that Byleth has gotten a lot more skilled that she doesn't need to worry so much about how Catherine is striking and such, but I am worried that maybe this duel wasn't that interesting to read because of its lack of detail. So, what I would like to ask you all is in future duels/battles would you guys like me to put more of emphasizes on sword strikes? Or were you guys able to get a clear enough picture with the duel from this chapter?
As for the other story that I mentioned in the last chapter, I realized that I had a lot of moments that I wanted to write for that story but not an actually plot, so until I figured that out I won't write that story.
Lastly, as I mentioned in the beginning of this chapter that I have two papers due back to back, so expect a delay for the next chapter.