Flourless Chocolate Cake

Ingredients: 1 cup chocolate (chopped), 1/2 cup unsalted butter, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 3 eggs (beaten), 1/2 cup cocoa powder

For ganache: 1 cup chocolate (chopped), 1/2 cup heavy cream

Instructions: Preheat oven to 375. Grease a cake pan, then cover with parchment paper. Combine chocolate and butter in microwave and heat until chocolate is soft (~1 minute). Stir until smooth. Add sugar, salt, and vanilla extract and continue to stir. Add eggs and stir, then add cocoa powder and stir again. Pour mixture into cake pan and bake for 25 minutes or until a thin layer of crust is visible at the top. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes and then carefully flip the cake over.

Ganache: Combine chocolate and cream in microwave about 30 seconds, then remove and stir until smooth. Spread evenly over the cooled cake and let set for a few hours.

Optional: Top with granulated sugar and raspberries/blueberries/fruits of choice.

What in the gods was that? Lysithea fumbled numbly with her books, placing them back in her bag. This was the first exam she had struggled with since...

Well, since ever. Professor Byleth really is a monster.

"Lysithea!" A familiar face beckoned to her. "Would you like to get lunch with us? We usually meet up at the dining hall together as a house after the exams, and I think it would be a good opportunity for you to get to know everyone else. Well, everyone but Bernadetta."

"Alright, I guess," Lysithea said. "Oh, Edelgard? Do you have a minute?"

"Of course. What's the matter?"

Lysithea's eyes darted around the classroom.

"Um...actually, let's talk about this on the way to lunch." She quickly gestured out the door, as Dorothea was still in the classroom packing her things. Edelgard took the hint and followed out the door.

"So...last night I was with the Professor and-"

"Edel! I need to ask you something!" A now-familiar voice sounded out behind them, and Lysithea groaned. Edelgard gave Lysithea a sheepish look and mouthed, Later, before turning back towards the classroom where Monica was waving at her. Lysithea shook her head and turned to head towards the dining hall.

Why is that girl always around Edelgard? And why is she so cheery? I think Hilda said she knew her last year; I'll ask her later.

"Sooo, you were with the Professor last night?"

Lysithea squealed and leapt back, jarred by the sudden voice.

"Who-Oh, Dorothea. Were you eavesdropping?" Her eyes narrowed at the girl, who held up her hands.

"No, of course not! I happened to be walking by and overhead." Dorothea's lips, bright red with fresh lipstick, turned upwards in a grin. "Now that I have, though...care to tell me about it?"

Lysithea shook her head.

"I-it wasn't like that! I just had some last minute questions to ask him, and...I don't know, I had some weird feelings after he complimented me. Like...warmth, and happiness. Like I haven't felt in a long time." Lysithea blushed at the memory.

"Why, Lysithea, you sound like you're in love with the Professor!" Dorothea fluttered her well-curled eyelashes. "And to be honest, not bad of a choice."

"I am not in love! I simply am...unaccustomed to being praised the way he does it. Yes, that is it." Lysithea folded her arms across her chest. "And anyways, there's far too much of an age gap. So that's that." They were soon at the dining hall, and Lysithea relished a chance to change the topic.

That is, until Dorothea brought up their earlier conversation. Lunch turned into endless ribbing about her nonexistent crush on Professor Byleth from the boys, and what she thought were rather jealous glares from the girls, especially Dorothea.

I really hope this doesn't get to-

"Wow, so that's why you swapped classes? So you could get in with Teach?"

Lysithea dropped her head.

"Hello, Claude." She waved halfheartedly at the tall, handsome young man who had sat down with them. His brown hair was slicked back like it always was, and there was decidedly an extra twinkle in his green eyes.

"Man, if that's why, you could have just told us, you know? We wouldn't have judged you for it. Although, don't you think you're a little young to be dating yet?" Claude grinned widely.

This is going to be a long lunch, Lysithea thought. Soon, the rest of the students from the other two houses had joined, turning the meal into a very specific roast of Lysithea and her (nonexistent, she reminded herself) feelings for the Professor. She tried to focus on the meal before her: a juicy pheasant roast with a berry sauce crushed from a mix of raspberries and blueberries picked fresh from the gardens. She took a bite and closed her eyes, satisfied; the light sweetness of the berry sauce made for a perfect contrast with the savory oils that squirted out of the pheasant roast with each bite.

Hopefully this can make lunch go faster...

It was almost an hour later when was finally released from the torture. Lysithea began making her way back towards her room before remembering something.

"Hilda!" The girl's pink pigtails swung as she turned around. "Hey, do you have a moment?"

"Sure, Lysithea. What's up?"

"You knew Monica last year, right? Was she so...cheery and carefree last year, too?"

Hilda shook her head.

"Nope. She was pretty different...quiet, liked to keep to herself. I don't recall her being close with anyone, either. But I think it's just her way of compensating; she was kidnapped in that dungeon for a whole year! Who knows what kind of weird coping mechanisms could come out of that. And she probably latched onto Edelgard as a close friend since she didn't have one before," Hilda shrugged. "I wouldn't worry about it."

"If you say so. I'll see you later!" Lysithea waved and headed towards her dorm to study, somewhat comforted. She still thought it was weird, but Hilda had known Monica beforehand, so she probably knew how the poor girl would be dealing with such a traumatic experience.

Kidnapped in that dungeon for a year with that...thing, Lysithea shuddered, remembering the grim appearance of the so-called Death Knight and its long, wicked scythe. I hope I never have to face that thing alone...If Professor Byleth hadn't been there, I'd have been toast…

She opened the door to her room, pushing the image of the Death Knight away and settling down to review the questions she had been unsure of on the test.

I can't remember the last time I was challenged like this. Lysithea pulled out the text on white magic and flipped back to the pages she had read the week before, trying to find the answers that had evaded her during the exam. A small smile flitted across her face. He really knows what he's doing.

Lysithea heard the trapdoor creaking.

"No!" Count Ordelia's scream was guttural, primal. She heard the rustling of his armor and the heavy pounding of footsteps. "Don't you touch them! Take my life instead! They had no part in the rebellion!"

The trapdoor flipped open, and a masked face peered into the room. Lysithea felt her legs start to tremble.

"Oh, I almost forgot that you have five of them." The mage sneered. Soon Lysithea and her siblings were bound, gagged, and hauled back up to the ballroom.

"Now...who should go first? How about you?" The masked mage tapped Lysithea's older sister, Elena, on the head. "You must be the eldest; you should be the perfect age for this experiment."

"No! Please...not my children…" Count Ordelia sank to his knees. "Do whatever you must do to me. Marquess. Please. I beg you."

"Hmph. As if. You are too old, too decrepit for these experiments. Only children will do. Now, little one, come here." Another mage roughly carried Elena in front of their leader. "Hm...ah, I almost forgot. We should bring your dear mother in to watch as well, should we not?" The Marquess turned to another of his masked followers. "Bring her here while I prepare." They nodded and marched out of the room.

He began muttering incantations. Lysithea saw Elena's eyes widen as his arm was slowly engulfed in black flame, until it reached his elbow. The flame continued to pulse as the mage started another incantation. There was a flash of golden light, and then a pulsating orb appeared in his left hand.

"Now...we are ready."

"Elena! No!" Lysithea's head snapped to the ballroom entrance at the new voice.

"Mmmf!" She mouthed through her gag. Mother!

"Now, let's get the Count and Countess all comfortable for the show, shall we?" They were bound and pushed to kneel on the floor. Their heads were held in place, forced to watch what was about to unfold.

The mage reached his right arm back and, with a wicked smile, plunged it directly into Elena's heart.

She screamed, and Lysithea knew she would never forget her older sister's cry. The mage held her up and, with his other hand, inserted the gold orb into Elena's chest as he chanted yet another spell. He then withdrew his hands, dropping Elena onto the floor. Her screams stopped abruptly; she managed to turn her eyes towards Lysithea for just one moment before crumpling to the floor, scarlet fluid leaking from her chest and staining the previously immaculate carpet. Her eyes were wide open, pupils dilated and unseeing.

"No...NO!" Her mother and father were sobbing, heaving in their binds. "Elena...no…"

"Hmph. " The mage kicked the corpse aside. "Next."

Lysithea watched in horror as, one by one, her siblings were used for the ritual. Each was marched up to the Marquess, who would plunge both arms into their chests. And once he withdrew the arms, the same result: a child, dead on the floor, pushed away to make room for the next test run.

None of them survived. Lysithea's throat burned from screaming, and her eyes stung with tears. She couldn't bear to look at the corpses of her siblings, who just one hour before had been playing and laughing with her.

The mage's eyes shifted to her, and she knew it was her turn.

"Well. I really had higher expectations. But, if your family's potential is merely this…" He snickered. "Then I can hardly call this a loss."

Lysithea could do nothing but struggle against her captors. She tried her best not to look at the flaming arm that was advancing inexorably towards her heart, instead focusing her gaze on her parents.

They were slack-jawed, eyes blank and bodies weak from the horror of one's children dying in front of their very eyes. The invaders, ever ruthless, continued to hold their heads up and eyes open, forcing them to continue watching the nightmare.

Father...Mother...I love you, Lysithea mouthed.

Then the fire entered her chest.

Lysithea shot up, her chest heaving. Drops of sweat spattered down onto her blanket, mixing with the tears that were starting to come and leaving stains on her blanket.

Elena...everyone...I will avenge you someday, she thought. But how...I don't even know who those mages were, or who they were with. Were they Empire? Faerghus? Leicester? Church Seiros? Something else entirely? How would I find out…

She climbed out of bed and threw a nightgown over her smallclothes.

I need a walk to calm down. She turned her door handle and stepped out into the early morning breeze. The sun had not risen yet, still waiting for the moon to finish its turn in the sky, but growing impatient as the first rays of golden light began to pierce the monastery. It wasn't long before she caught a familiar figure sitting on a bench, staring out at the fishing pond.

"Professor," she said cheerily as she approached his silhouette. "What are you doing out so late again? Surely not something else going on at the monastery?"

Byleth shook his head and chuckled, though there was no mirth in the laugh.

"No, not this time, Lysithea. Well, not at the monastery, at least."

"What does that mean?" Lysithea plopped herself down on a seat next to Byleth. "Is something happening?"

"Our next mission. It's at Remire Village. Apparently something is happening to the villagers there, and Manuela says it can only be explained by dark magic. And Tomas has disappeared, as well."

"Tomas...the old librarian?" Byleth nodded. "Is this related to the missing students, Professor?"

Byleth put his hand to his chin.

"It could be. The Death Knight, whatever happened with the Western Church, Flayn and Monica's disappearance, and now this...it could be someone trying something here at Garreg Mach. Or...it could all be unrelated. We just don't know."

"What happened with the Western Church? I had heard rumors about it, but no details."

"It was during the Rite of Rebirth. The Black Eagles were in charge of security, due to the assassination note found on Lord Lonato. But when the Western Church soldiers showed up, there were some mysterious mages with them, as well as the Death Knight. I can't help but think they're all connected, somehow."

"Mysterious mages...were they masked? Wearing dark robes?" Byleth nodded.

Could it be…?

Footsteps interrupted them, and a tall, well-built man with scars drawn throughout his face ran towards them.

"We've got to go. Now." His voice was clipped and urgent.

"Of course." Byleth got up. "I will rouse my house and meet you at the gate as soon as they are ready."

"Hang on, what's going on, Professor Jeralt?" Lysithea asked, confused.

"The situation at Remire village has changed," Jeralt said, running a tired hand through his beige hair and beard. "Drastically. Buildings are burning, villagers are attacking each other...that's all we know for now. Regardless, we need to move. I will be waiting at the gate." Without waiting for a reply, the man left as suddenly as he had come.

"Villagers attacking each other…" Lysithea covered her mouth in horror. Byleth placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Do not worry, Lysithea. All of your classmates will be with you. And...well, I will be with you as well."

Lysithea turned away, blushing.

Well, he has a point. If I could face the Death Knight with him, then I can face anything as long as he's by my side.

So this was more of a filler chapter, I figured I needed something to help Lysithea connect more with the Black Eagle students initially, but also set the table for events to start in motion. The flashback was my take on what happened in Lysithea's past; the names of her siblings are all taken from other Shakespeare works, as her name is also. Flourless chocolate cake was what I used in the past to ask out a boy, so since Lysithea's feelings are getting more developed, I figured it would make sense for this chapter.

Strange Fang: Glad you're liking it! Hope you stay along for the ride :)

As always, please R&R, and enjoy!

-elementaryprincess