"Alright, everyone." Claude announced, gathering the rest of his class around a large map of what would be their upcoming battlefield in a couple of hours. "You guys remember the plan, right?"
"Yes Claude, we've all committed your harebrained scheme to memory down to the slightest detail." Lorenz remarked with a show of thinly veiled contempt.
"Doubt me all you want, but we're not gonna win this fight by charging in headfirst like a mob of angry rioters."
"Indeed." Byleth added in. "Most battles are won or lost before they're even fought. If a single one of us is unable to play their role, it could ultimately spell disaster for the entire team in the long run."
"I just have… one tiny problem with the whole operation." Hilda raised her hand in an effort to voice an objection. "You can't seriously expect such a fragile maiden like myself to soak up all the blows on the frontline, can you? I'd be better off providing some much needed moral support to our newest member in the back." she gestured to Bernadetta, who shyly turned away in response.
"No can do, Hilda." Claude immediately shut her suggestion down. "Bernie here is going to be part of one of our dedicated flanking squads. She and I will attempt to sneak around enemy lines from opposite ends of the field to strike where they're most vulnerable."
"Yeah. No pressure, right?" the archer in question thought to herself as she shuddered in anticipation by the corner of the room.
"What's your problem? Surely you must remember how this battle originally went down, do you not?"
"Uh… no, actually. I kind of skimped out on the mock battle the first time around…" Bernadetta sheepishly admitted. "All I know is that Byleth's team ended up taking on both rival houses at once, yet he still managed to come out on top without losing a single unit."
"Of course you did…" Sothis sighed. "I suppose all we can do now is have faith in your professor's master plan. Perhaps it will be even easier now that we hold a slight numbers advantage over the other houses."
"I guess so… I just hope I don't screw this up too badly."
"It's okay if you're not feeling too confident in the upcoming battle. I'm not really used to fighting either." a quiet voice suddenly crept up from the side, prompting Bernadetta to briefly jump in terror.
"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to frighten you!" Marianne hastily apologized. "You just looked so lost in thought…"
"I- it's fine, really..." the lavender haired girl reassured her classmate. "At least your job is easier compared to mine. You won't have to worry about coming into harm's way while you focus on healing everyone."
"I suppose that's true… but I still don't like the idea of people getting themselves hurt for my sake."
"Believe me, I can relate…" Bernadetta hung her down in recollection. "Honestly, I don't think fighting is something anyone can fully adjust to, no matter how much practice they put into it. But it's something you have to do if you want to protect the ones you care about."
"I see… you look like you speak from experience, Bernadetta." Marianne solemnly noted as she turned her head up to the heavens. "In which case, I hope the Goddess watches over you in the coming battle."
"Oh, she will all right…"
"Relax, you two. If I was really planning on poisoning your teams, you wouldn't even be standing in this field right now." Claude threw his hands up in innocence as his rival house leaders stared him down.
"Somehow, that does little to reassure me…" Dimitri shook his head in disapproval.
"I trust you'll keep your students in line to prevent them from actually carrying out such threats, won't you professor?" Edelgard asked, to which Byleth simply nodded in response. "Ah, Bernadetta. I've been searching for you." she suddenly called out to the timid archer in question, who instantly froze in her tracks upon hearing her name.
"Wh- what does she want with me?!" Bernadetta internally panicked. "She's not on to me, is she?!"
"Don't just leap to conclusions! Get over there and see what she has to say!"
The timid girl audibly gulped before she hesitantly came to join in on the house leader's conversation. "Look, I- I'm really sorry I left the Black Eagles on such short notice!"
"No, I believe I should be apologizing for my rash behavior the other day. I truly do respect your decision to depart on your own. It must have taken a tremendous amount of courage. " the future empress delivered her compliment with a genuine smile on her face.
"Oh… so, no hard feelings, right?" Bernadetta let out a sigh of relief. "I do feel a little guilty about leaving your team shorthanded for such an important event though."
"That won't be a problem for us, actually." Edelgard turned around and beckoned for a peculiar redheaded classmate of hers to come over. "As a matter of fact, I've been meaning to introduce the newest member of the Black Eagles to you. She coincidentally joined us not long after your departure."
"Monica von Ochs, at your service." the girl introduced herself with an elegant curtsy. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"Why do I feel like I've seen this girl before…?" Bernadetta began to ponder before her eyes widened in realization. A pit formed in her throat as she took another glance at the mysterious girl in question. "Oh no! You don't think-"
"I fear you may be right. That's the girl responsible for Captain Jeralt's death."
"AAAAAHHHH! She's not supposed to be here so early! I knew Edelgard was on to me! What am I gonna do now?!"
"Just. Act. Natural. We do not know that yet." Sothis slowly cautioned her companion. "You will only serve to make them more suspicious if you start panicking now."
"I'd like to see YOU stay calm in front of a murderous psychopath! I might find a dagger in my back any second now!"
"Monica von Ochs… how curious." Dimitri began to wonder aloud. "I've heard rumors of you suddenly disappearing from the monastery last year. What exactly brings you back here today?"
"My, I'm surprised you heard about that." Monica chuckled to herself. "Coincidental as this may sound; I had a bit of a family emergency to deal with right before I was due to graduate."
"One so urgent that you had to abruptly leave without a trace?" Dimitri raised an eyebrow at the redhead's overly convenient story.
"Why yes, actually. I hail from the Erebonian Empire across the sea. It's an excruciatingly long trip from Fódlan, you see."
"The Erebonian Empire? Now there's a country I've never heard of…" Sothis mulled over the mysterious girl's story in puzzlement.
"I've… actually read a good number of stories about it myself." Bernadetta commented. "I was never sure if it actually existed though. It's supposedly located on an entirely different continent from Fódlan."
"How fascinating…"
"I believe we've all had more than enough time to chat by now. The mock battle is due to begin at any moment." Edelgard suddenly cut in. "I wish you all the best of luck. May the best house win."
"Why thank you Edelgard, I'm sure we will." Claude teased the imperial princess, who merely shot a sharp glare back at him in response.
"I do so look forward to meeting you all on the battlefield." Monica looked over in Bernadetta's direction, bearing what seemed to be the faintest trace of a grin on her lips. "This is going to be so much fun!"
"I'm doomed…"
"Lorenz! What the hell do you think you think you're doing?!" Claude shouted with a mix of disbelief and annoyance at his noble classmate, who had initiated a one man charge on the rival houses almost immediately after the battle commenced.
"A true leader has no need to rely on such flimsy schemes to secure victory! We must all live in the moment, and claim the honor with our own hands! Now watch as our enemies feel the unbridled might of Lorenz Hellman Gloucester!"
"Yeah! Let's do this! I've got your back, Lorenz!" Raphael roared in approval before rushing forth to join in on the assault.
"Wha- not you too, Raph! Gah… We're off to a great start here, aren't we?" Claude sarcastically commented as his teammate's boasts inevitably attracted the attention of the entire Blue Lion household.
"This is unbelievable…" Leonie sighed, readying her spear in anticipation of the ensuing chaos that was sure to follow.
"Leonie, Hilda, you'll need to get down there and support those two right away." Byleth started relaying orders, his voice carrying no signs of panic even as his carefully laid out plan was going downhill. "I'll take Lysithea and Bernadetta with me to fend off any Black Eagles attempting to approach from the west."
"Gotcha, Teach. Marianne, Ignatz, you're with me." Claude signaled as he began to circle around to the east. "With any luck, we should still be able to salvage this…"
"Alright Bernie… it's time to show everyone what you're made of!" Bernadetta psyched herself up as she set out to join up with her professor.
The trio quickly scurried off to a small forest overlooking the battlefield, where they were given a clear view of the utter discord that had erupted between the rest of their class and the entirety of the Blue Lions.
Raphael had begun struggling hand to hand with Dedue, Leonie had engaged in a one on one duel with Felix off to the side, and Dimitri skillfully warded off a combined assault from Lorenz and Hilda. As luck would have it, the sheer confusion of the battle at hand gave Claude's group ample opportunity to sneak up from behind and strike from the Blue Lion's exposed flanks, even managing to take out a few of their adversaries before they could retaliate.
"It seems like not the only ones with some hardheaded glory hounds on our side." Lysithea pointed over to an advancing Ferdinand and Caspar, who were both readily eager to join in on the preexisting skirmish.
"R- right, I've got this." Bernadetta announced as she took up her position by the edge of the forest and readied her bow. She let lose a single arrow in the direction of Ferdinand's carrot colored hairdo… and only succeeded in hitting a nearby boulder. Embarrassed, the archer took another shot at the opposing noble, which wound up grazing Caspar's heel instead.
"What is going on with me?!" Bernadetta wondered in bemusement. "I used to be able to take shots like this all the time!"
"All those years of experience won't exactly matter much when you're stuck using a much less developed body. You'll never hit your targets at this distance."
"You've got to be kidding me!"
"Aha! You thought you could get the drop on us, didn't you?" Ferdinand was quick to taunt his former classmate for her poor aim. "Come Caspar, our quarry awaits!"
"Great, now they know where we are!" a ball of dark magic narrowly sailed past Lysithea's head as the young mage lamented their situation.
"I- I'm sorry, I swear I'm not always like th- UAGH!" Bernadetta attempted to explain herself, but was disrupted when a bolt of lightning struck the land in front of her, spooking the poor girl off her feet.
"Sorry Bern, it's nothing personal!" Dorothea hastily apologized from behind the safety of a wooden barricade as she began to ready her next spell.
"I'll hold off these two! Bernadetta, I'll need you to put a hamper down on their ranged support!" Byleth calmly ordered, sliding down the hill in order to face Ferdinand and Caspar head on.
Bernadetta nodded before heading off to support Lysithea against the Black Eagle's myriad of mages, though it quickly became apparent that neither side could gain a significant advantage over the other due to the large difference in terrain between them.
"We can't just hole ourselves up here forever!" Lysithea protested as another bolt of magical energy whizzed right by the pair.
"I- I know that! It's not like we can just ask them to get out from behind those barriers though!" Bernadetta retorted, having grown increasingly frustrated at her deteriorated aiming skills. Try as she might, the archer was lucky to be able to land her arrows past the barricades, let alone land any shots on the enemies lurking behind them.
"…I think I have an idea."
"Well, I'm open to suggestions!"
…
"Lady Edelgard, it appears they've stopped firing upon us…" Hubert cautiously observed as he peered his head out from behind cover. "Shall we advance upon them now?"
"Wait." the imperial princess held up her hand in a signal for her allies to cease fire. She adeptly scanned the horizon in search of her attackers, but then Edelgard's eyes quickly widened in realization when she looked up into the sky, revealing a volley of flaming arrows burning as bright as the sun heading in her direction. None of them had managed to actually hit any of the Black Eagles, but that was hardly their intended purpose…
"Clever girl… the entire thicket has been set ablaze." Linhardt noted, sounding much less urgent than the situation would imply.
"We need to regroup, right now!"
…
"Huh. Not bad. Not bad at all, Bernadetta." Lysithea looked upon the spreading inferno with awe as she genuinely applauded the archer's efforts.
"I'm just glad that actually managed to work…" Bernadetta breathed a sigh of relief as she sauntered back to rest her head against the trunk of a tree.
"Excellent work, both of you." Byleth called out, having managed to reunite with the two after finishing his duel with Ferdinand and Caspar. "Now come, we must finish up the remaining Black Eagles before they have a chance to reorient themselves."
"Right, let's go, professor. This battle has gone on for far too long." Lysithea readily agreed with her professor and began to descend from the hill to aid in his upcoming attack.
"W- wait, I'm coming too-" Bernadetta set out to join back up with the rest of her group, but was quickly stopped in her tracks by the sound of rustling leaves in the trees above her.
"Did… you just hear that?" the purple haired girl fidgeted in place as her eyes darted all around in a desperate search for the source of the mysterious noise.
"Be careful. I fear this may be a-"
"Surprise!" Sothis's words of caution were rudely broken off by the sudden appearance of an all too familiar bundle of red hair, who dropped down from a hanging tree branch to deliver a swinging kick to Bernadetta's midsection, briefly knocking the frightened girl off her feet.
"Curses! I was wondering why I couldn't spot Monica among Edelgard's group!"
"Wh- what am I going to do now?!" Bernadetta internally panicked as she picked herself up and slowly backed away further into the thicket, her mind racing with fears as a cacophony of rustling leaves sounded off in seemingly every direction.
"For starters, don't make any sudden movements… There's no telling where that girl will strike from next, or when…"
"That's not very reassuring!"
Bernadetta's fears only continued to grow upon hearing a playful giggle from Monica, who was all but toying with her chosen prey at this point. Swallowing a gulp, the archer readied her bow in anticipation of her attacker's next move. Her heartbeat grew more labored with each passing second as the sounds of the leaves only continued to grow in volume…
Before she knew it, Bernadetta's body surged with excruciating pain when a stray throwing knife flew into the back of her neck, forcing the girl to drop her bow in shock before she fell to the ground face first, unable to utter little more than a strained whimper as the blood in her throat quickly started to pile up.
"I can't… I don't want it to end like this… Not while I still haven't…" her mind began to drift as memories of the life she'd lead started flashing before her eyes. "Byleth…"
...
Bernadetta's thoughts were brought to a halt in an instant when a blinding flash of colors swept through her eyes and she abruptly found herself back on her feet, completely unharmed.
"What…? How am I…" the girl reached for the back of her neck to find that the knife that had struck her was nowhere to be found.
"Did you forget already? I have the power to turn back the hands of time." Sothis was quick to remind her confused companion. "This very power has saved your professor and his allies from the jaws of death countless times in the past... or was it the future?"
"That's… going to take some getting used to." Bernadetta noted, her heart still racing and her body frozen in place as her eyes scanned the environment around her.
"Well, you'd better get used to it quickly." the goddess within her mind grimly stated. "These flimsy training weapons shouldn't be capable of drawing blood… That girl is clearly using real weapons in this fight, and some rather deadly ones at that."
"Gee, thanks, I think I figured that out after her knife tore a hole in my throat."
"Is it too much to ask for gratitude after I literally just saved your life?"
"Er, right, sorry…" Bernadetta hastily apologized. "But what am I supposed to do now?"
"For now, the flow of time has been stopped. It shall proceed once more the moment you move your body. Not that you have knowledge of what's to come, you should be able to prevent your untimely demise and react accordingly."
"Got it…" Bernadetta took a moment to calm her nerves, tightening her grip on her bow before she swiftly leapt to the side. This time, the knife meant for her head had harmlessly embedded itself into a nearby tree. With no time to waste, the archer immediately turned around and fired an arrow in the opposite direction, eliciting a surprised cry of pain from Monica.
"My, your reflexes are quite impressive, aren't they?" a steely grin flashed across the redhead's lips as she retrieved another blade from her pockets. "Well, that just makes things even more exciting!" she cried out with a sense of sadistic joy in her voice before making a mad dash for her frightened target.
Screeching in terror, Bernadetta hastily fired another arrow at her rapidly approaching assailant, who avoided the projectile with relative ease.
"Too slow!" Monica returned the favor by throwing another knife towards the archer's face, who narrowly managed to duck underneath it. With little time to prepare another arrow before her foe could come within striking distance, Bernadetta took hold of the knife embedded in the tree behind her in a bold attempt to fend off the assassin's oncoming strike.
The resulting clash threw Bernadetta off balance just long enough for her enemy to reach in and deliver a single precise cut to her arm, forcing her to drop the knife she had retrieved to the ground as she cried out in abject pain. Faced with few other options, the archer fought through the pain to ready her bow for one last desperate strike. Yet as she reached for the bowstring, a familiar sigil briefly flashed before her eyes, seemingly halting Monica's next attack long enough for an arrow to fly into the redhead's chest with more force than a training weapon ought to be capable of.
Though it was still unable to draw blood, the unexpected power of the attack was more than enough to send the bloodthirsty assassin off her feet with a surprised yelp.
"Was that…" Bernadetta wondered aloud, looking over to her arm to find that the bleeding had miraculously stopped. Whether it was from fear or pure adrenaline, she even felt slightly more energized than she had a moment ago.
"We'll talk about that later, just run! Run for your life and do not look back!"
"You don't have to tell me twice!" Bernadetta immediately heeded the Goddess's words of warning and fled from the thicket as fast as her legs could possibly carry her.
The girl's eyes widened in astoundment upon entering the clear, as she suddenly came face to face with Byleth, who was idling by on the edge of the hill looking somewhat lost in thought. Unfortunately for the two of them, Bernadetta was sprinting far too quickly to stop at this point, causing her to collide with the professor at full force and send the pair tumbling down the hill to the field below.
"Bernadetta?" Byleth asked, raising his brow in confusion and seemingly unaware of the suggestive position he had found himself in as his student laid on top of him. "Where have you been? I've been looking all over-" his words were cut short when the girl in question instinctively wrapped her arms around him in an awkward embrace.
"S- sorry, force of habit!" the lavender haired girl shortly realized her mistake and hurriedly sat herself up.
"What is it with you and running into people?" Sothis shook her head in disbelief.
"It's not like I'm doing it on purpose!"
"Ooh la la!" the sound of another voice nearby prompted Bernadetta to look up in horror to find Claude watching over her with a wide grin on his face. "You know, I had a feeling this was why you wanted to join the Golden Deer, but I never thought you'd be this bold."
"Ah, I swear this isn't what it looks like!" Bernadetta struggled to lift herself off the ground, much to Claude's amusement.
"Hey, I won't judge." the house leader chuckled to himself as he walked over to help up his professor. "Though I must say, it might not be the best idea to get down and dirty in the middle of the battlefield."
"Bernadetta…" Byleth began to ask, but his attention was promptly drawn towards the gash of red on the girl's right arm. "You're injured… did somebody attack you while you were still up on the hill?"
"Whoa, and the cut seems pretty deep too." Claude walked over to examine his classmate's arm up close.
"Oh, this?" Bernadetta had nearly forgotten about the wound due to the rush of adrenaline she used to escape the forest. "It's just a little scr- ow, it still hurts!" she yelped in pain when Claude briefly reached out to grab her arm.
"I recognize this sort of wound all too well… it's from a dagger commonly used for political assassinations." Claude's expression turned grim. "You're lucky it didn't hit anything vital, but we should still get it looked at just in case."
"If only you knew…" Bernadetta thought to herself as she caught Dimitri and Edelgard approaching from the corner of her eye.
"Ah, professor!" the Blue Lion's leader happily called out. "I'd like to congratulate you on a job well done. Your ever adapting leadership skills were truly remarkable."
"I simply have my students to thank for our success." Byleth humbly stated before turning to Edelgard. "Would either of you mind helping us bring Bernadetta back to the monastery? She has an injury that needs taking care of right away."
"Bernadetta…"Edelgard's voice was one mixed with concern and a slight tinge of anger. "Who did this to you?"
"I… I don't know if I should say." Bernadetta hesitantly answered, deciding to keep her near lethal encounter with Monica to herself, at least for now.
"No matter, I'll ensure this never happens again." the Black Eagle's leader solemnly bowed her head before setting out to depart from the group. "Please, stay here. I'll retrieve Professor Manuela as soon as possible."
Bernadetta carefully watched the Adrestian princess as she ran off to find help, feeling quite unsure of her intentions. Whatever thoughts were stewing in her mind was a mystery to be sure…
