"Mother… Mother, where you taking us?" a young Bernadetta fearfully asked as she struggled to retain a firm grip on the hand grasping hers.
"I'm taking us to a better place, dearest." the mother simply replied, refusing to look her daughter in the eyes as the pair rushed through an endless series of dark roads coated under pouring rain.
"A- a better place? What does that even mean?" Bernadetta barely stuttered, her breath growing more staggered over the course of the strenuous sprint she had been forced to endure throughout the night. "I feel like I'm about to die… I just want to go back home, Mo-"
"It's too dangerous for us to remain at home any longer!" the mother loudly snapped, prompting a brief yelp of terror from the younger girl in response. Feeling a sharp pang of guilt over her outburst, she brought their desperate escape to a brief halt to take shelter beneath a nearby overpass. "Your father has fallen into a… difficult situation as of late."
"He has? Does… does that mean he's coming along with us too?"
"No… I'm afraid it will be too dangerous for him to join us on this journey."
"But why…?" Bernadetta's already downtrodden expression dropped even further. "Does he… no longer love me?"
"No, sweetheart." the mother slowly bent down to cup her child's face in her hands. "It is precisely because of your father's love that he wants you to have a chance at a better life that he can no longer hope to provide for you. "
"It's… because of me that…" Bernadetta's voice began to break apart as her mind came to a dark realization.
"Please, do not blame yourself for circumstances out of your control. You're a good child, and I never want you to think otherwise." the mother enveloped the petite lilac haired girl in a tight embrace. "Together, we will flee as far away from this land as humanly possible. All so that you can be raised well… all so you can grow into a fine, respectable adult one of these days…"
"I… I… I don't know if I can do that…"
"I know you will. I'm sure of it." the mother's embrace grew ever tighter. "For I will be there to watch you grow every step of the way… I promise."
A gentle tap to the shoulder was all it took to rouse Bernadetta from her deep slumber, eliciting a loud shriek of terror as the girl hastily rose her head up from the open book she was inadvertently using as a pillow.
"Another flashback, I presume?" Sothis curiously asked as her companion attempted to regain her bearings.
"No… no, I don't remember experiencing anything in that dream at all… I couldn't have."
"There are better places to take a nap than in the middle of the library, you know." A familiar, soothing voice warned from behind, prompting Bernadetta to turn her head to find Byleth calmly looking down upon her.
"Agh! P- professor!" the young student rose up from her seat in a panic. "You didn't come here just to check on me, did you?"
"This is hardly the first time I've been sent to receive an overzealous student in the aftermath of an all-night study session… though normally, I'd expect to be having this conversation with Linhardt instead of you, Bernadetta."
"Sorry… I just had something I really wanted to look into lately, that's all." Bernadetta apologized, closing up the open book she had been reading over the last night.
"Beyond the Borders of Fódlan, huh?" Byleth read the book's cover aloud. "I suppose Monica's story from yesterday must have piqued your interest. Have you found anything of interest in your investigation?"
"I've barely managed to make any headway here... These books have all sorts of material on nearby nations like Almyra and Brigid, but close to nothing on anything further out to sea, let alone any mention of the Veil surrounding Fódlan."
"That's hardly the sort of knowledge the church is willing to disclose publicly, you know." an aging voice informed as the librarian Tomas emerged from the shadows to greet the pair.
"Oh, uh, Tomas…!" Bernadetta fearfully stuttered as the old care keeper came into view. "I didn't think you'd still be up at this hour!"
"Please, settle your nerves." Sothis cautioned. "Tomas may be our enemy, but this may easily be our greatest opportunity to learn more of the church's inner secrets."
"What exactly do you mean, Tomas?" Byleth tilted his head in curiosity. "I'd assume that this library would have some sort of information on the lands outside of Fódlan."
"There's no doubt that the monastery's collection of books contains a vast wealth of knowledge from a wide array of sources, however, the higher authorities of the church have the jurisdiction to discard of any materials they may find… problematic."
"What could the church possibly have to hide on this matter?"
"Of that, I cannot say, though I do have something that may be of interest to your young student here." Tomas turned to Bernadetta to present her with an unmarked black book.
"Uh… why is the cover completely blank?"
"Consider this a simple ruse to keep it away from prying eyes." Tomas simply nodded as the young girl took the book from his hands. "I'd suggest you keep this a secret between the three of us nonetheless."
"Right, thanks. I really wouldn't want to get on the church's bad side."
"It's rather kind of you to risk your position just to help sate our curiosity." Byleth commented as the librarian began to make his departure.
"Please, think nothing of it. After all, it is a librarian's duty to act as a guide on the never-ending search for knowledge, is it not?" Tomas replied with a warm smile before turning to the door. "That said, I'd implore both of you to take your leave as soon as possible. I doubt Seteth will be quite as welcoming of your pursuits as I am."
"Well, you heard the man, Bernadetta. I'd say it's high time you got a proper night's sleep too." Byleth looked over to the young student with a look of deep concern.
"I- I've been getting sleep, Professor…!"
"That look in your eyes tells me you've barely been getting enough of it. Worse still, our class's first official mission was only yesterday, and that's not to mention the important lecture coming up tomorrow."
"You can… tell just from looking into my eyes?"
"You can tell a lot of things by staring into a person's eyes, or the windows of the soul as they're often referred to as. Take the dark circles forming around your eyes and the faint streaks of blood running beneath the surface for example."
"Er, I didn't think it was that noticeable…"
"You've just woken up from a nightmare as well. Has this been happening often?"
Bernadetta instinctively cringed at the accuracy of her professor's claims. "I- it's nothing too serious…" the purple haired student deflected as she began to make her way towards the library's exit. "I've mostly been dreaming about you, but it would be best to leave out the details on that end…" she silently added just as her balance gave way, nearly causing her to collapse to the floor if it weren't for the nearby table she'd managed to catch herself on.
"That simply won't do."
"What are you- AAAAGHHH!" Bernadetta had little time to question her professor's next move before she was effortlessly lifted up into the air and firmly perched onto Byleth's back. "P- professor!"
"We can't have you collapsing on the way back to your room, or Goddess forbid, in the middle of class. Just hold on tight." Byleth calmly stated, completely unfazed by his pupil's shrieks of protest.
"D- don't you think I'm a little too old for this sort of thing?!"
"I'd also assumed you were old enough to understand that your body needs ample rest, yet here we are. Mind your head under the door frame."
Bernadetta couldn't help but groan in embarrassment as she continued to ride atop her professor's back through the empty halls. "Don't you think someone's going to see us parading around like this?! You'll ruin both of our reputations in one fell swoop!"
"Nobody else is up at this hour, though your noisy objections might just change that sooner rather than later."
Groaning in defeat, Bernadetta simply resigned herself to tightening her grip and burrowing her face into the nape of Byleth's neck to reduce her presence as much as possible. "…This actually feels rather nice."
"What was that?"
"Nothing, nothing! Just… don't feel the need to rush. You can take your time if you want…"
"If you insist… although I may not have planned out an optimal method of bringing you down the stairs."
"Please don't drop me!" Bernadetta fearfully tightened her grip on her professor even further.
"That was a joke."
"Right, I knew that… You've really gotta work on your sense of humor, By…" the girl added under her breath.
With that, neither of the pair uttered another word on the long trek back to the student's dorms. The only sound lingering through air was the occasional deep breath of Bernadetta as she continued to cling onto her professor's back.
Though relatively content with the intimate position she'd found herself in, it still took all the self-control she could muster to resist the urge to plant a kiss onto her future lover's neck. To simply run her hand through the professor's thick teal hair without him batting an eye was the most she could reasonably pull off at this point. For once in her life, the lavender haired girl was actually hesitant to return to the safety of her room; only wishing that she could re-experience this familiar warmth forever.
"…The difference in your demeanor on and off the battlefield is rather striking." Byleth's voice eventually cut through the silence like a hot knife through butter.
"It doesn't feel all that different to me." Bernadetta nervously refuted. "I'm still the same old Bernie deep inside, you know?"
"It's pretty clear that your general anxiety doesn't exactly go away in the middle of battle. In fact, it's almost as if you're drawing upon that feeling as fuel for your resolve."
"I guess I can't deny that…"
"Yet what perplexed me the most was the cold look in your eyes I witnessed after you killed your first enemies yesterday… Those weren't the eyes of someone who had just taken a life for the first time, but those of someone who's already grown accustomed to bloodshed."
"I mean…" Bernadetta had to cover her tracks carefully at this point. "It's not like I was the only one who had some prior combat experience during our last battle. You did see the devilish glee on Monica's face while she was out slaughtering bandits, right?"
"With Monica, that hardly surprises me, but as far as you're concerned…" Byleth paused to look up at the night sky in recollection. "I've only ever seen such cold eyes from myself, and that only ever came from my many years of life bloodshed as a mercenary. I can't even begin to imagine what you must have gone through before joining the academy."
The sheer accuracy of Byleth's assessment left Bernadetta at a lengthy loss for words, one which the professor didn't dare to interrupt until the girl allowed it. "…I'll admit, this story of mine is probably really hard for anyone to believe."
"I won't pry the details out of you if you're not comfortable enough to share them yet." Byleth quietly stated as he finally came to a halt to bask in the moonlight shining down from above. "Just know that I'm willing to lend an ear whenever you might need it."
"…Thanks, Professor. I think that's just what I needed to hear."
"So I'm sure a lot of you must be wondering why we've gathered you all here today."
"Uh, yeah. I don't think these tiny classrooms were ever meant to house two classes worth of people at once, Claude." Hilda snarkily commented as she struggled to wade her way through the legion of Blue Lions students that had suddenly clamored into the room. As if the surprise visit from a squad of the Knights of Seiros wasn't already enough on its own.
"What the- somebody just tried to grab me!" Lysithea's voice suddenly protested in anger, an outburst that was shortly followed by an ear piercing slap that echoed all throughout the classroom.
"Ow! It wasn't me, Ingrid!" Sylvain loudly claimed, cradling his newly reddened cheek with his hand. "We were on opposite sides of the room!"
"Sorry, that was my bad. There's hardly enough room to breathe within this mass of human bodies." Annette raised her hands in innocence as she made a vain attempt to back away from the livid mage she'd offended.
"Gods, this is a disaster…" Bernadetta muttered from the furthest possible corner of the room, wanting to keep as far away from the commotion as possible. All the while, the two house leaders present were completely drowned out by the clamor of the audience before them as they attempted to organize their plans together.
"Could you at least try to settle your housemates down, Claude?"
"I'm pretty sure over two thirds of these folks aren't mine, Dimitri."
"Everyone! Your attention, please!" Byleth finally roared out at the top of his lungs. In a last ditch effort to grab the attention of the rowdy crowd that had gathered, he proceeded to scrape an old, rusty blade against an equally eroded suit of armor. The unbearable screeching sound that followed caused nearly everyone present to cover up their ears in pure discomfort.
"Now then… Dimitri, if you would do us the honor explaining the situation at hand."
"It would be my pleasure, Professor." the blonde house leader gratefully stated as he walked over to the front of the class. "To get right to the point, the Blue Lions and Golden Deer have been tasked with overtaking a joint operation with the Knights of Seiros to suppress a noble uprising in the western reaches of the Kingdom."
"This sounds like a rather drastic measure for dealing with a simple uprising. Why does this particular situation require such a large force, exactly?"
"It… truly pains me to tell you this, Ashe…" Dimitri started, his gaze directed away from the silver haired boy as he took in a deep breath to steel himself. "The head of this rebellion is none other than your adoptive father, Lord Lonato." he finally stated, prompting a much expected expression of shock from his younger friend in the process.
"Unfortunate as it is, insurrections against the church such as these have become increasingly common in recent years." Hanneman sorrowfully spoke up. "Under ordinary circumstances, a coup such as this would never last long enough to pose more than a minor threat to the church, but Lonato's movement has been picking up traction at an alarming pace."
"We don't know how he's doing it, but the old Lord's been cutting down swathes of knights with each passing day. There've been rumors flying around of him making use of some terrifying secret weapon to accomplish all this, but regardless, we're going to need all the hands we can get to put an end to his rampage." Claude continued on, his arms sternly crossed as he looked over the restless crowd before him.
"If the situation is really this dire…" Ignatz shakily raised a hand into the air to signal for his leader's attention. "Shouldn't the Black Eagles be coming along on this mission too? From what it seems, the Knights of Seiros must be really short on available units at the moment."
"From what I've been told, they've already been tasked with aiding a separate faction of the knights on another mission further west, though they have offered to lend a single student of theirs to aid us in our coming expedition." Byleth calmly explained.
"Oh no, don't tell me!" Bernadetta couldn't help but mentally shudder in dismay at the implications of her professor's words.
"It seems that redhead will be following our every movement from now on." Sothis concluded with an exasperated sigh. "I'm more concerned with the increased threat of Lonato's rebellion here. The situation wasn't nearly as perilous the first time around… and so the church's first reaction is to throw as many students as it can at this raging inferno in the hopes of forcefully smothering it out? Just what is that daughter of mine thinking?"
"I have a really bad feeling about all of this…" Bernadetta lamented, her gaze slowly turning towards the adoptive son of the man their classes were set to put down. "I still remember that remorseful look on his face like it was yesterday."
"Ashe was…"
"The first hostile student we encountered during the war, yes. Even though I barely knew him myself, it felt like he shared so many of the same ideals as the rest of our army, and yet…" Bernadetta continued to watch as the boy silently wallowed in dread at the prospect of the month's upcoming mission.
"Ashe's death was a harsh wake-up call for all of us, especially By. I'll never forget the moment I walked in on his room, shortly after the battle at Ailell. Gods, I haven't seen him cry so freely since the death of Captain Jeralt… It was a side of himself he never wanted anyone else to see, and it only got worse with each new casualty."
"Such is the brutal reality of war, but that is exactly what we are here to prevent."
"Yes… yes, you're right." Bernadetta briefly nodded in agreement as a faint spark of hope flared up in her mind. "Tell me… was Ashe present for this mission back during our original timeline?"
"Ah, it seems you may be on to something…" Sothis was quick to catch onto her companion's budding idea. "No, I believe the entirety of the Blue Lion house was occupied with a different mission at the time."
"Then that's perfect! We can try to have Ashe talk some sense into his father! If all goes well, we might actually convince him to step down peacefully!"
"That's not a bad concept on paper… but do you remember what the church does to those who openly take up arms against the Goddess?"
"I… I'll think of something!" Bernadetta audibly gulped at her companion's grim reminder. "This is where I can finally start making a difference…" she resolutely announced as her gaze lingered on the emotional centerpiece of her new plan, who was visibly struggling to hold back his tears in a secluded corner of the room. "I have to, no matter what."
Though the wheel of fate may have escaped the uneasy girl's hands in the days that have passed since the start of her journey, she was more determined than ever to correct its course to ensure the future she desired for everyone.
