Claude paced the library, pinching the bridge of his nose. "What if…? No, that wouldn't make sense… C'mon Claude, get it together!" He had helped with interviews of every student and staff at the monastery. With the exception of Tomas, of course.

Hilda walked into the library. "Claude, it's time for you to go to bed. It's nearly midnight. You haven't even eaten!"

"Hm?" He looked to the plates on a table next to him, each one with different food on it. "Oh, yeah. Sorry. I've been a bit busy." He grinned.

"Look, Claude, the professor is strong. She can last for a bit." Hilda sighed.

"A bit may not be enough for her to survive! For all we know, she could be dead!" He almost yelled.

Hilda looked hurt. "I know, but the best we can do is stay healthy and fit for when the time comes to rescue her." She said quietly, which was odd from her.

"Sorry, Hilda. You're right." He apologized.

"As always. Now eat and get some sleep." Hilda turned and walked out of the library.

Claude sighed, and sat down at one of the tables, picking at the food. "I wonder if Teach is getting food where she's at. I'm sure she'd want us to stay healthy, I'd bet she'd even force us to eat and go to sleep at a reasonable time. Despite her basically never doing that."

He set his head on the table, and unintentionally fell asleep, dreaming about a peaceful memory with Byleth.


Claude had walked out of his quarters, unable to sleep for some odd reason. He walked to the front of the dining hall, hoping to get a good view of the fishing lake below.

Once he got there, he noticed he wasn't alone, Byleth sitting on the stairs to the dining hall, looking at the stars.

Sitting next to her, Claude kept silent and he gazed at the stars with the blue-haired professor.

They sat in silence for many minutes, until finally, Byleth spoke up. "You should be sleeping." She said quietly, her eyes still focused on the stars.

"You should be too." Claude countered.

"Mm, I should, but I couldn't." She said, seemingly lost in her thought and the stars above.

"Well, why?" Claude asked curiously.

"Foggy memories. And them..." She said, quieter when she said 'them'.

"Who's them?"

"The many I mercilessly slaughtered. Many had family, partners, and even children. Oh, goddess, the lives I've taken are innumerable… Yet I'm so constantly rewarded. I don't deserve what I have." She said, sadness in her voice.

"Everyone's done something they regret." Claude quietly said.

"But none of them have done what I've done, witnessed what I witnessed, and still be rewarded for everything they've done. It's not right." She tore her gaze away from the stars and looked into Claude's eyes. "Why do they haunt me? I was supposed to be emotionless, born without a beating heart. Why do I feel the way I do?" She pleaded, wanting, no, needing, answers.

Claude looked into her eyes and put on a thoughtful look. "You've seen things nobody deserves to see, and have put up with so many hardships that you deserve so much. You've made mistakes, but they don't define you. The people you've fought, they knew what they signed up for. They knew every battle they went into, they were risking everything. Those people, they brought it upon themselves."

He took a breath and continued. "You may have been born without a beating heart, but that does not define you either. You are strong, you can break past that challenge and let yourself feel. Until then, I can promise that the Golden Deers will back you up." He nodded. "You got it, Teach?"

Byleth nodded. "Thank you, Claude. I don't know what would've happened if I didn't have you and the Golden Deer."

"Well, probably nothing good!" He winked. "But trust me, you should probably get some sleep. You look…"

"Terrible?" she asked.

"Yeah, let's go with that."

Byleth stood up." Thanks again, Claude."

"Anytime, Teach." He responded.


Claude awoke from his peaceful dream by being gently shaken.

"Hmph…" He grunted, trying to fall back asleep.

The shaking continued, getting more vigorous. "C'mon, wake up, Claude."

Claude blinked and sat up, looking over at the horrendous person who woke him up. "What do you need, Leonie?"

"Well, mainly for you to wake up, but I also need to come to the Infirmary with the rest of the Golden Deer as they may have found a clue referring to the captor of the professor."

Claude jolted up, suddenly very awake. "What?"

"Well, that woke you up." Leonie said, "There may have been a clue found hinting at our professor's captor." She said with a slight chuckle in her voice.

"Well, let's go then!" Claude stood up swiftly, looking slightly ruffled.

"Fine, fine." They speed-walked out of the library to the infirmary only about a hallway away.


When they arrived at the Infirmary, accompanied by the other Golden Deer and it's student allies, Jeralt and Alois were already there, looking around.

Jeralt noticed them first. "Ah. You all have arrived. Good job, Leonie, on gathering them all."

Leonie grinned. "Anytime, sir."

Jeralt nodded. "So who all knows why they're here?" Everyone rose their hands, except for Linhardt.

"Leonie probably told me… But I forgot." Linhardt said. Marianne looked over and whispered to him. "Oh, yes. I remember now."

Jeralt nodded. "Just be warned. The conclusion you come to is likely the same as ours and may be disturbing to those who were close to them."

Everyone nodded, Ashe, Marriane, and Claude nodding slightly slower than the rest, having some suspicions.

"You all have accepted the risks? Good. We need all the help we can get to fight them. Clue one. The magic they used. Dark Magic. Well rehearsed Dark Magic at that. The spell used is a forgotten one, only found in the forbidden part of the Monastery Library. Next, the sounds heard by me and Manuela before the… Yeah. It sounded like a cane. Lastly the fabric that got caught on the broken window." He held up a scrap of white fabric with a black highlight.

"You kids are smart, I'm sure you can figure it out from here." Most nodded, but others who had never met the man looked confused.

"But why would Tomas do that? I can't believe he would!" said Mercedes.

Claude shook his head. "Everyone can be a threat. We should've been more aware. But now…" His eyes filled to the brim with determination and barely hidden anger. "He will pay."

"That's right! We'll get the professor back!" cheered Hilda, throwing her fist in the air, encouraging the other people in the room.

"That's right!", "We won't fail!", and "Woohoo!" were cried out among many of the people inhabiting the infirmary. Claude stayed silent, oddly enough, running strategies through his head.

Hilda nudged him. "What's wrong, Claude?"

"Hm? Oh, just thinking. I'm not going to celebrate 'till we get Teach back, which will hopefully be soon." He said, irritated at the man he once called a friend.

"We will. For sure," said Hilda, oddly serious.

Jeralt looked over the ragtag bunch his daughter was teaching. There was an odd connection between all of them, and they all seemed to care about Byleth so much. He gave a small smile, proud. Despite her being approximately the same age as them, with some other and other younger, she had built a strong bond throughout each of the people in front of him.

His gaze flickered over to Claude, their house's leader. He seemed lost in his thoughts, a slight frown on his face. "Claude seems to care a lot. Seems pretty protective of her." He remembered looking at Claude's file not long after Byleth chose his house.

"It said he was 19, right? Byleth is about that age, I think. It's hard to remember, but it'd certainly make sense. She is nothing younger than 18, though. That's for certain. Since they're such a similar age, they probably got on great. So seeing as he's her friend, I shouldn't be surprised by how protective he is." Jeralt scanned the room again.

"Byleth made a good choice. They may be a ragtag bunch, but they work together nearly flawlessly. They'll save her. I know it." He thought, absolutely sure of himself.


A/N: Well, I'd say I'm proud of this chapter, but I don't know. I'll see from the reactions. I changed Byleth and Claude's ages in this, aging Byeth down from 21 and Claude up from 17, as far as I remember. Also, in case you sere wondering who the recruits are, they are, Bernadetta, Ashe, Linhardt, Caspar, Sylvain, Mercedes, and perhaps Dorthea. In other news, I have a new fanfiction I want to start, and I know people who follow all of my stories will be saying, "You're putting off Pain, again?" and the correct answer is, not on purpose. The inspiration for that is like a little trickle of water, and the others are like a huge river. In other words, it has a few chapters ready for posting, but I need to revise them a LOT. They need a bit of love and a ton of work. Anyways, speaking of that new fanfiction. I have a Persona 5 one all ready to right, but I need help on deciding whether to use the name Ren Amamiya from the Animation and such, or Akira Kurusu from the Manga. I have a poll on my profile, so if people can please fill that out, that'd be great. Or you can comment here. It'd work either way for me. Thanks!