10/8 Wyvern moon
All of his students were waiting for his daily instructions in the classroom.
"Today I have the permit to use the training room so we will be practicing there. Since the day of our departure is approaching we will be training only the ones that are going to take part in it. Is that a trouble for you Monica?"
"I understand, but I think I still need the guiding of Edelgard in different matters about the monastery"
"You don´t have to worry about that. I have thought about someone that knows this monastery very well and could help you. His name is…"
"Byleth! Sorry for being late! I´m so happy you want me to help you. Let this Alois do his best for you!" Alois said while hugging him with his usual strength.
"Alois has accepted to resolve any doubts you may have about the monastery. I wish to have Edelgard to its fullest for the next battle. I hope you don´t mind"
"A wise decision Professor." Hubert said, looking at him with grateful eyes.
"Understood, I apologize if I caused any trouble" Monica mildly apologized, although the look of her eyes was cold.
"We don´t have time to waste. Take your positions now and run to the bottom of the room" He had made everyone wear heavy armor to train their strength.
"This is too heavy" complained Linhardt. "I am a healer. I shouldn´t be doing something like this"
"If we get outflanked you need to have enough strength to resist until reinforcements arrive."
"I will do my best too Professor!" shouted Flayn, that was covered in heavy armor and had a comical appearance.
"Ok, but I hope that you come fast in case that they attack us"
They started to run. Edelgard, Ferdinand, Caspar and Petra didn´t seem to have much problems running wearing armor, but the rest were having some difficulties. Linhardt was the slowest.
"Faster" he said, releasing some fire spells to them.
"Professor you are mad" Linhardt said, running as fast as he could and arriving to the frontline for a moment.
They continued like that for two hours.
…
"Good job everyone"
"That was merciless Professor. At this pace you will have to carry me to the battle. I can´t barely move" complained Linhardt.
"Another week like this and you will start to feel better"
"I´m not looking forward it"
"With all this sweat my makeup is ruined, Professor." Dorothea said.
"I´m sorry about that"
"You are sorry about her, but not about me? Favoritism is not allowed Professor"
"Rest for the rest of the day, we will start tomorrow again like this"
As the students started to leave, Edelgard approached him.
"I can understand the complaints of Linhardt, but I know you are doing this to improve the odds in our favor. I must thank you for giving me more time to rest"
"Alois is happy to lend a hand"
"He must like your father a lot if he wants to help you like that" she giggled. "When are we leaving the monastery?"
"We will be leaving this place the 20th. We only have 12 days left"
"I will make sure to use at its fullest the time you have granted me"
"Then do you want to resume your private lessons?"
"I would like to" she smiled, when she suddenly appeared to remember something. "Does it mean the swimming lessons too?" she asked, a bit blushed.
"Only if you want to"
"I will consider it. Is the 18th a good day for you?"
"It is"
"I will be leaving now, thank you for your help"
After Edelgard had left Byleth closed the gates of the training room. He was on his way to return the keys when he came across with Flayn, which was still wearing her heavy armor.
"Why are you still wearing your armor Flayn?"
"I was searching for my brother. I´m sure he will be surprised when he sees me like this"
He was sure he would be surprised, but he wasn´t sure if that could be good or not.
"I´m not sure if that would be a good idea"
"You really know my brother" she sighed. "He really worries about me and I appreciate that, but from time to time I would like to have time to hang out with the rest of the students. By the way, Professor may I speak with you for a bit?"
"Of course"
"Wonderful! I was hoping you might enlighten me about yourself"
"What do you mean?"
"You seem different to the rest. You could say that you possess an air of mystery. I am intrigued to say the least. You remind me of the sea. Have you seen it?"
"I have a few times" he was confused about the conversation he was having with her, but he didn´t want to be rude about it.
"The sea is vast and boundless. On the surface all seems still, yet beneath that stillness it is really deep. It is full of life but seems lifeless when you see if from the surface. And yet all you have to do is to cast a line to grasp hold of all that life"
"I don´t understand what you are talking about"
"About fishing, of course. Wait it wasn´t about that right? My bad. I was talking about the sea. When the sky darkens and the storms arrives the waters become so mighty that destroy everything on their path, but when that ends it looks like nothing has really happened. It reminds me of you. You are calm, but you have a great power within you. That is the kind of power that is needed to be a successful fisher."
"I´m not sure they are related" Being a warrior and being able to fish weren´t incompatible skills, but he couldn´t understand how they could be related to each other"
"Talking about fishing Professor, I heard that you are extremely skillful"
"My father taught me"
"Oh I see. Before we leave to Gronder Field I was thinking about doing a farewell dinner, I wanted to use a particular fish, but I am afraid I can´t remember its name. I told my problem to my brother and he surprisingly accepted so we are going to hold a small fishing tournament to find the fish I am searching for. Would you like to join?"
"When is it going to take place?"
"The 17th of this month. You are the first one I am telling about it, but I hope you can tell more people about it. I will be going to see my brother now. I can´t wait to watch your fishing skills in action Professor!"
"That little girl seems to forget easily what she says, but I like her" said Sothis, inside his head. "I wonder why I feel like liking her"
"I wonder what kind of fish she wants" he said thinking about the upcoming tournament.
"If you catch them all I don´t think you won´t be having any trouble winning the tournament. Besides, I´m sure you will win it, unless your father takes part in it"
"I hope he returns soon."
"Missing your father already, you have lately been growing sentimental. I didn´t expect a battle-hardened mercenary to change like this in a matter of months."
"If you say it like that it doesn´t sound like a compliment"
"It is though"
After talking with Sothis he headed to the cathedral. From time to time he had to answer questions sent by the students there. Although they were anonymously written, Byleth could figure out some of them by the way they expressed themselves or the topics they chose. He suspected that some of them weren´t even from students, but he didn´t have other option but to answer them.
When he entered it he could hear a chorus singing that consisted of Golden Deer students. The disparity between voices was incredible. Raphael was shouting more than singing but the worst offender was Lorenz, who was singing as if he were a soloist.
"It is painful to hear" complained Sothis. "For the sake of the Goddess make them stop"
"Ey Teach, didn´t expect to see you here today" greeted him Claude when he noticed him. "Did you come to listen to us? How does it sound, by the way?"
"It´s terrible"
"You are really honest Professor" laughed Raphael.
"Goddess, please forgive us" prayed Marianne.
"Marianne, I´m sure he isn´t referring to us, right Professor?" asked Hilda.
"You are right; the most I could hear were Raphael and Lorenz"
"The condition of my throat was just a bit off today Professor. That may be why you don´t look so pleased"
"Come on Lorenz, your voice could be heard all over the place, you are just bad at singing" laughed Claude.
"Your voice wasn´t angelical to be precise"
"Touché"
"I don´t even know why we have to do this from time to time. I feel like I´m wasting my time here" Leonie sighed.
"I did have fun, though" Lysithea commented in a lower voice
"By the way Teach, I heard of your little trip to the north with all of the Blue Lions students. When are you going to bring our entire group too? It would be fun"
"We went to fight some bandits and to protect Dimitri during his trip to Fhirdiad"
"Then we just have to take care of a bunch of people causing trouble, right? Sounds easy to me"
"I wouldn´t like going out there looking for trouble" Ignatz said in a low voice.
"You have nothing to worry, Ignatz. I´ve seen our dear Teach fight a few times and he is quite powerful. Don´t treat us so harsh this month Teach. We will continue singing; you are free to join us if you feel like doing it"
"Thank you, but I will be busy over there"
"Don´t worry Teach. Lorenz, this time try to sing with us and not against us. I still have your voice in my head."
"Tsk"
Byleth sat near the entrance of the cathedral and started answering the different questions of the inhabitants of the monastery.
"There are many men in this world as stars in the sky, but you meet so few good men during your time on this planet. How does one meet a worthy partner?" he read. "I already know who is asking this" he thought. Sighing he started writing the responses to the worries of his students and colleagues from the monastery.
…..
When he ended answering to everyone´s questions it was already dark outside, the Golden Deer students had already finished their choral lessons and were nowhere to be seen. He decided to head to the library before returning to his room. Most of the students were having their dinner at the canteen, but he was interested in searching for a book about Wyvern riding. The Wyverns were ferocious beasts, but in the right hands they could cause a lot of damage in the enemy lines. Since Edelgard and Petra were already doing well on the Pegasi he wanted them to try a new mount, but before doing that he wanted to handle the basics of it too.
The aisles leading to the library were empty and a gentle breeze was coming from the exterior. He was approaching the aisle that lead to the library when he heard a voice.
"Don´t waste my time like this Kronya. Talk with me when you have discovered something"
"I can do nothing since I´m accompanied by that idiot. If I could get ri…"
"Don´t speak nonsense here. Don´t act unless being told so"
"Understood, but if we don´t act quickly they are going to find out that…"
"What are they talking about?" he thought. Carefully he took a look to the aisle of his right but he saw nothing. "How strange"
With a hand next to the dagger he had received from Edelgard he walked through the aisle until its dead end.
"What are you searching?"
"Didn´t you hear some voices over there?"
"I´m sorry, I was taking a nap, hearing that disaster of a chorus left me exhausted"
"I heard at least two people talking over there, but there is no one"
"Maybe you are hearing the echoes of the chorus inside your head or you are just tired."
"You may be right" he admitted, but a part of him was sure that what he had heard was true. Before leaving the aisle he touched the walls to both sides of the aisle to make sure there weren´t any traces of magic, but he sensed nothing. He then headed to the library.
…
10/17 Wyvern moon
"He almost discovered us" confessed Kronya standing next to her.
"I wish he could have killed both of you" she thought. "How could something like that happen?" she asked with a metallic voice, wearing the armor of the flame emperor.
"We were talking in one of the aisles near the library." Explained Solon, which was in his real form. His skin was pale as a corpse and he had a head of an abnormal size. "To be precise Kronya was trying to tell me she was useless when I sensed someone approaching. We had to hide behind a passage and I had to use my magic to hide any traces of magic. We were lucky I did that since the Professor was checking the walls of the aisle"
"Next time he may be luckier" she hoped
"We could have just killed him in that case. Two against one. It could have been easy"
"Kronya, every time you open your mouth you astonish me with the level of your stupidity" said a man with a pale skin like a corpse and eyes that were completely white. "A person who holds the power of the Sword of the Creator and the favor of the fallen star cannot be brought down so easily. Besides, even if you had succeeded the fury of the Church would have fallen over us. They would have discovered the truth and our heads would be already on spikes"
"Fallen Star? What does it mean?" thought Edelgard.
"Don´t be mean Thales. You know that I´m only good at killing. I thought you were ok with that when you gave me that dagger"
"Only use it if strictly necessary and only in life threatening situations. The less they know about our plans the better"
"If Edel had helped me more…"
"Don´t dare to speak my name like that. It disgusts me"
"Apologies Flame Emperor, for once I have to concede that we are on the wrong. Kronya your objective is to assist Solon and to gather more information. If you don´t comply you will be sent to research again"
"Everything but that. I´m really sorry Thales" Kronya apologized, who seemed really scared about the threat in Thale´s words.
"Make sure that your subordinates' mistakes don´t put at risk our plans. I won´t be lending a hand if you are discovered"
"I will make sure that that doesn´t materialize Flame Emperor. If everyone sticks to their plan, we won´t have any troubles. The fact that even Kronya has been admitted into the academy despite of the disappearance of that student proofs the lack of security within the monastery, but we cannot abuse our luck. Solon, I hope your works are advancing"
"They are advancing smoothly. In a matter of time you will hear about them"
Edelgard didn´t like a bit that.
"I hope that it doesn´t interfere with my own plans"
"You don´t have to worry about that. I wouldn´t handicap our own weapon for some research" Solon smiled to her, although the effect was disgusting.
"We will end our meeting here. Everyone, return to your positions" Thales said as he disappeared in a cloud of purple mist. Solon and Kronya quickly followed suit, leaving Edelgard alone.
After making sure no one was around her she took of her helmet. The world around her was still dark, but she knew that she didn´t have too much time left until the sun appeared in the sky. She hid her armor and changed to her usual clothes before returning to the monastery.
She passed through the gates when she made sure no one was watching and arrived to the lower end of the monastery. She was about to head to her room when she noticed a familiar teal hair next to the fishing pond. Her Teacher was carrying a fishing rod and a pair of buckets. The size of the buckets made her wonder how much he was planning to fish as she approached him.
"Good morning, my Teacher. What are you doing so early in the morning?"
"There is going to be a fishing tournament today. I was preparing everything to make sure I don´t lose any time searching for more buckets. And you?"
"Oh, you have been telling us about that. I´m sorry I´ve had forgotten about it. I was just taking a morning walk."
"You are free to stay if you want to"
"I will come later, but first I will return to my room" she promised.
….
"The little Princess is an early bird" observed Sothis. "She remembers me of you"
"You, on the contrary, enjoy spending your time taking naps"
"Is there something wrong with that? I quite enjoy it. I wonder how many people are going to take part in this tournament"
"I told most people I know"
As the sun started to rise the first participants started to arrive.
"Good morning Byleth. You are already here" Alois smiled. "I´ve been training since the last time I fished with you. Even if I don´t have your fathers level I will make sure to give you a good fighting"
"I´m looking forward it"
"I thought I was going to be the first, but both of you are already here" Catherine greeted them.
The rest of the participants were starting to arrive. Some of them, like Raphael were already talking about how they would cook the fish they were going to catch.
"I will catch the biggest fish of the pond!"
"I will do my best too Professor" Ignatz said walking next to his friend.
"I´m not too used to fishing, but I will give it a try" Ashe said accompanied by Ingrid.
"Oh Ashe, happy birthday" He said giving him a book of tales of chivalry.
"You did remember, thank you!" Ashe happiness was evident.
"When you finish reading it can I give it a try too?" asked Ingrid
"Of course Ingrid. I know you also like chivalry stories"
"Good morning Professor. I´m so happy to see all of you here" smiled Flayn, accompanied by Shamir and Seteth. "I´m afraid I still don´t remember the name of the fish I want all of you to catch, but I think we will have fun searching for it"
"Flayn has asked me to act as the judge of the competition so I will be the one to decide who the winner is." Shamir said. "Since this is going to be a competition we will be providing the fishing hooks. All of you will have 50 fishing hooks. There is no time limit, but the first to catch the fish that Flayn wants will win"
"I will be taking part in this tournament too. I can´t let Flayn down and I have experience in fishing. I won´t be an easy adversary" Seteth promised looking at him with a defiant look.
"This guy really has a sister complex" Sothis commented inside his head. Hearing her comment he couldn´t avoid smiling a bit.
"It seems that you aren´t taking me seriously. Well, that will be your undoing"
"Participants, take your positions!"
…
When Edelgard returned to the fishing pond most of the monastery was already there. She made her way through the different students until she arrived to the stairs in front of the fishing pond.
"Good morning Edie, are you here to watch the battle of our time?" greeted her Dorothea with a charming smile.
When she looked to the fishing pond, she quickly realized what she meant. Her Teacher was fishing next to Seteth, but judging by the look of their eyes they were in the middle of a battle. The baskets of both of them were dangerously full, but they were still fishing. Flayn was cheering both of them. She saw other students with half-filled baskets around the pond, but they weren´t competing anymore. Apart from the two of them Alois was still fishing, although by the way he was shouting it seemed that he wasn´t very successful.
"They are really doing their best"
"I fear that at this rate we will be eating fish for the rest of the month"
"I´m sure the cats will enjoy it, look around them" Claude said approaching them.
The smell of the freshly caught fish was attracting all the cats of the monastery to the fishing pond. Even some dogs were approaching the two adversaries. One of the cats was climbing her Professor and sat on his shoulder, but her Professor didn´t appear to mind.
"Teach is really popular" Claude laughed.
"You are right, you have another rival Edie"
"What are you trying to…" Her question was interrupted by the sound of a giant splash. When she looked to the fishing pond a giant shadow was moving in its depths. Her Teacher was trying to take if from the water, but it was resisting.
"What kind of monster is that?" Alois shouted surprised.
Everyone was catching their breath until the monstrosity from the depths left the pond impacting against her Teacher. The impact made him fall, but he didn´t release his grip from it. A few seconds later the fight had already ended.
"The winner of the tournament is Byleth. Congratulations. I didn´t expect to see something like that lurking beneath the surface of this pond" laughed Shamir.
"Is this the fish you wanted Flayn?"
"Yes Professor. I´m so happy, thank you! You did well too, dear brother"
"Byleth! That was impressive, that fish is almost of your size. You truly are a fishing legend" Alois laughed patting her Teachers back with his usual strength. And then he fell into the pond.
Everyone grew silent the moment they saw that.
"Oh, I did it again, wait for me Byleth, I will rescue you!" Alois shouted jumping to the pond too.
"Alois, you are wearing armor…" but he didn´t hear Shamir´s words as he jumped into the pond.
"This is too heavy, please help!"
"What an idiot" Shamir sighed.
In the end Byleth was the one to take Alois out of the water. She rushed to the pond and helped him getting out of the water.
"Thank you Edelgard"
"That was a close call, thank you for saving me Byleth"
"That could have been considered an attempt of suicide. It looks like fishing ponds are not your terrain" Shamir sighed.
"The good news is that everyone is safe" Flayn smiled. "I will make sure to prepare a good dish with the fish you caught for me"
"Flayn! I think it would be wiser if I do the preparation"
"Then let´s do it together, brother. I will make sure that our stomachs are full when we leave the monastery in a few days. Help me taking it brother"
"Of course Flayn. Professor, you have to take the rest of the buckets to the kitchen"
"Understood, Edelgard, Dorothea, please help me"
"Teach, I will lend a hand too"
"Thank you Claude"
The four of them headed to the kitchen with the buckets full of fish. It was such the amount of fish that the personal working at the kitchen let them have a bucket for themselves due to lack of space.
"What are you going to do with such amount of fish Teach?"
"I will give it to the cats"
"I´m sure they will love that" Claude laughed
The moment they left the kitchen a bunch of cats were already waiting for them. They sat next to each other at the stairs in front of the kitchen and started giving the cats fish.
"They really love you Teach" Claude laughed.
Cats were climbing on his back and one was on his head. His appearance was so strange she couldn´t about laughing.
"I must agree with Claude on this matter"
Looking at her he smiled.
"You can take one if you want" he said offering her the cat on his head. Caressing it she continued feeding the cats around it.
"I didn´t think you would get along with cats"
"I don´t really hate them and the ones around here are really mild"
"That´s very cute coming from you Professor" Dorothea smiled.
"You have lots of things hiding under the surface Teach" Noticing that Dimitri and Dedue were approaching them, Claude took one of the fishes, catching the attention of one of the cats. Hiding behind a wall he waited until Dimitri was next to them.
"Professor your skills in the fishing tournament were…"
"Your Majesty, over here!" Claude shouted, throwing the fish to Dimitri. The moment he threw it the cat jumped to Dimitri.
"Ah!"
"Your Highness!"
Dimitri and Dedue started to chase a laughing Claude around the pond. Watching the ridiculous situation unfolding in front of them she laughed.
"Edie, when you laugh you are so cute. You should laugh more often, right Professor?"
Looking at her, he gently smiled.
"You are right. I like seeing you happy"
Feeling warmth inside her heart, she continued feeding the cats and watching the chasing of the two house leaders and Dedue.