My Very Existence…
Wyvern Moon
Byleth delivered her first seminar as early as she could, to get it over with. All three house leaders turned up, as well as a number of other students who had an interest in tactics. A very studious girl from the Blue Lions wrote down notes at a pace so furious she may have ripped the notebook she was using. Several times. And Leonie was right up front, of course.
She thought it went well. A few remained behind to ask questions or clarifications and Prince Dimitri lingered only to compliment her. It was gratifying to hear, and did much to improve her confidence though Sothis did tease her about it, accusing her of flirting once more.
Unfortunately, this strategy meant she missed Hanneman's first seminar on Crestology, which had been running at the same time. She debated letting it go, but ultimately decided that if Crests and Relics could affect the outcome of a battle as Catherine had suggested, then it was an unacceptable gap in her knowledge, noble or not. So, later that afternoon she tracked him down to his office.
Hanneman was delighted to have a reason to stop assessing the assignments his class had turned in and expound on his favourite subject, even to a novice. And while "absolutely everything" that could be explained to a novice in half an hour wasn't much, it was enough to convince her that, Relics aside, a Crest alone wouldn't turn the tide of battle too much in one direction or other. Some people would be stronger, some recover faster, some be better at magic, but that kind of variance happened naturally anyway in her experience. It seemed to her that a Crest was just an extra dice in the roll.
"-and of course, it is entirely possible that you possess a Crest." Hanneman concluded his mini-lecture.
"I'm not a noble, though." Byleth felt compelled to point out.
"No, perhaps not, but some ancestor of yours may have been. A Crest can skip many generations before resurfacing. And, given your skill –and your Father's- it would not surprise me if the pair of you were descended from some noble line or other. Would you like to find out? I have a device here that will tell us momentarily if you do or not. Simply hold your arm out over it, yes, like so."
The magical device whirred a little as she held her arm in the space above it, mostly to appease the Professor than for her own curiosity. Very shortly the display changed
"What is this?" Hanneman exclaimed "It appears you do have a Crest, and one that I do not recognise at that! To think that there are Crests in the world that even I do not know of! What a discovery! I must consider this further, do pardon me, I cannot even begin to explain how exciting this is!"
"You're welcome?" Byleth offered, only to be waved away as Hanneman focused entirely on his instruments, leaving her to wander, bemused, back to her billet.
~o~*~o~
They set out on their mission the next day, a full week ahead of the student's departure for Grondor, towards the Holy Kingdom, and the north of House Charon –almost as far from Grondor as one could get, without turning further east to Gautier or Fraldarius.
Jeralt rode at the head of the column, Byleth and the mercenaries pacing behind, a regiment of Knights trailing them. Once they were firmly in Kingdom territory Byleth increased her pace to come alongside her father. Jeralt reached a hand down to pull her up into the saddle in front of him and set about maintaining a steady distance from everyone else.
"This is about as good as we're going to get, Kid." He murmured "Where would you like to start?"
"Are we Noble?" she began, and Jeralt startled, head jerking back slightly.
"Not what I expected. Starting easy are we? Where'd that come from?"
Byleth shrugged one shoulder "Professor Hanneman says I have a Crest. I thought that was a Noble thing. Lineage and heritage and so on."
"Sorry, Kid, there's no castle for you to inherit." Jeralt teased "I have a Crest, so I suppose it's not unreasonable that you might too, but we Eisners have never been what you'd call gentility."
Byleth nodded, but then her eyebrows drew together as another thought occurred "What are we Eisners, then?"
"Sailors and soldiers mostly, some merchants" Jeralt hummed. "There's an Adrestian Admiral somewhere back on my Father's side, before my Grandfather moved to the Kingdom... You may even have a fifth or sixth cousin of some sort from that line somewhere in the world. Nothing closer that I could think of. Both my parents were only children and your Mother had no family to speak of. It's just you and me these days."
Byleth's hand tightened slightly on the arm keeping her in place in response to that. The sounds of the forest and their passage settled about them like a mantle. She let the motion of the horse rock her back against her Father's chest so she could speak her next question quietly.
"Why do I need to avoid the Archbishop?"
Jeralt sighed "Rhea is…" he huffed, shaking his head "Short version or long version?"
"Both."
"I think Rhea is the reason you have no heartbeat. The reason you've always been so stoic. I don't know what she did, how she did it, or what she expected, only that it must have happened the moment you were born –but I don't trust her. Not like I used to. Not with you."
"You think she… would harm me?" Byleth asked, aware that at the back of her mind Sothis was thinking furiously.
"Not as such. She went to a lot of effort to keep you alive, and… well, when I left the Knights I may have faked your death. She was upset… devastated even, and I'm sure that reaction was genuine; but without knowing why I wouldn't trust her to have your interests at heart and I never could get her to be explicit. Rhea has a lot of secrets… a lot of secrets, whether yours plays into any of the events we've seen recently I couldn't tell, and until I figure it out… just, be on your guard with her, alright, Kid?"
Byleth nodded and settled further against his chest. It was abominable form, but none of her mercenaries would begrudge her a few moments more with her father as she processed what he'd told her.
She needed those moments as Sothis's concern and confusion roiled through her
"Me." The girl spoke her conclusion "The most unusual thing about you is this connection between us. Rhea expected me. But why? And… what am I? What has my presence done to you?"
~o~*~o~
The three professors headed to Grondor with their classes. None of them would step on the field in combat, but Seteth held the position of referee so it was natural, to help avoid bias, that Hanneman and Manuela also adjudicate.
They drew lots for the starting positions. The Blue Lions had the river, the Black Eagles the shrine and the Golden Deer the forest.
Everything else was up to the students.
~o~*~o~
Claude's scheme was simple; play to the strengths of the Alliance. To that end he, Ignatz and Leonie were going to be the star players and if it all went right, nobody would notice they were until the very end, not even the rest of his troops.
Dimitri's plan was simpler; charge the central hill and defend it against all comers; Ingrid and her pegasus would be pivotal against the magic of the Empire, and Dedue would stand bulwark against the Alliance.
Edelgard's tactic was simplest; destroy all that stood against them.
The horns blew and Seteth announced the battle was joined
~o~*~o~
Taking the central hill proved easier than Dimitri had expected. The Golden Deer had held back their first move, and once he had defeated Bernadetta, Ingrid was free to tie up Dorothea's advance while Felix engaged Petra and Ashe took over the weaponry to defend against the Black Eagle's fliers. It was a good start, but he could not rest on his laurels; Edelgard was strong and giving Claude time to enact a scheme was never a good idea.
Or… perhaps it wouldn't be, if Lorenz wasn't clearly breaking rank, forcing the Deer to move up to support him. He sent Dedue and Sylvain forward to meet their forces, holding back to break Lorenz's wild flank himself.
There was no situation she could ever have composed that would have pushed Lindhart to the front line, but that was acceptable, his range was excellent, so Edelgard was content to leave him by the shrine as she advanced in the wake Caspar had left behind him. So long as she took out Ingrid or Felix before either could get to the healer, then her support line would remain secure. Petra was duelling Felix, and she was confident that Jeritza had honed her speed to an edge the boy could not hope to match before he was ousted. That left Ingrid who had taken Dorothea already and was making a play against Flayn…
Lorenz's charge was a thing of beauty, really. The sort of thing paintings were made of; the Knight Errant, gallant, charming… and predictable.
The moment he broke the line, Claude gave Ignatz the nod and made a show of ordering everyone else forward. After all, if he was moving against the top of the field, and Lorenz was providing a flashy distraction in the middle, then who was watching the river? Especially for mousy, honest-faced Ignatz?
It galled Felix to realise he was going to lose this skirmish. Petra was very difficult to hit and had an eye for openings that was unmatched; it was as though she could sense them forming and was already prepared to strike at them. He wasn't entirely sure what was worse; that he should have lost or that he didn't; the longbow bolt took Petra's last hit before she could finish him. It's twin took his own a moment later and he shot a glare at Leonie as he retreated off the field.
Actually, the worst thing was that Sylvain had to avenge him; sweeping the girl from her mount before she had a chance to switch to her lance to repel him. He wouldn't let Felix live this down for years.
Annette was not a match for Hubert and the distraction of her defeat was enough for Edelgard to finally clip Ingrid out of the sky. She had been too late to save Flayn, and made a note to work on her accuracy. But that could wait; Dimitri had fended off Lorenz's… spectacular, charge and would be sortieing out from the central hill soon. She would be prepared to meet him, even as Caspar charged ahead again to clash with Raphael, Ferdinand outriding him to drive off a still-fresh Hilda.
Ferdinand charged Hilda, and she smiled, remaining in place, out in the open with her axe held at ease as he approached. Once he was close enough she looked very pointedly to the side then back at him in just enough time to watch the blood drain from his face as he belatedly noticed Lysithea in the thicket nearby. She couldn't enjoy it for too long, as Dedue stormed up and she was forced to finally raise her axe in defence.
If Ashe could snipe out Hubert and Lysithea, then he and Dedue could likely weather anything the Golden Deer had left to throw at them, presuming he could first deal with Edelgard. He had opened his mouth to give Ashe the order when he felt the cool press of an arrowhead against his neck
"A-Apologies, your Highness." Ignatz said "But you're out."
"So I am" Dimitri agreed, glancing over his shoulder to see Ashe and Mercedes similarly retreating "I did not realise Lorenz had back-up"
"W-Well, to be honest; neither did Lorenz."
"Help." Lindhart called, lackadaisically, as though he'd really rather not be helped so he would have an excuse to go nap but knew exactly what Lady Edelgard would have to say to that, and so called regardless. It was particularly infuriating to Hubert, but he whirled around anyway, aiming a bolt that would stop Sylvain (and how had they missed that he had gone so deep?) before he reached their healer. A volley from the weaponry on the central hill kicked up a cloud of dust and Hubert's spell went wide. When it cleared, it was apparent that Sylvain had knocked the healer out of the battle "Oh, what a shame." He said and Sylvain laughed even as the rider acknowledged Hubert's second spell and followed Lindhart off the field.
~o~*~o~
The trouble with taking out the Blue Lions was that it left nothing between his fawns and the Black Eagles. He'd done the best he could to account for Lorenz's inevitable… well, betrayal was the wrong word; insubordination? Foolishness? But it would really have been better to have him now to back up Hilda and –yep, there went Marianne, mere moments before he could land the final shot on Caspar. Edelgard had taken the hill so he could assume Ignatz was out as well.
Dedue had ousted Hilda and then took up a desperate suicide charge against Lysithea, softening her just enough for Hubert… and then Claude realised he had done what he had promised himself he wouldn't do.
He'd lost count.
He knew exactly how many of his own yellow-fletched arrows had been hits, and Leonie had kept a pretty straight path before Sylvain got her, so her orange-fletching was easy enough to pick out. Ignatz's green though? Not so much. Should have asked for white.
And now it was down to him against Edelgard and Hubert.
If he could beat the pair of them, then hands down that would be the Golden Deer's victory.
Claude was not stupid.
Against one he stood a fairly decent chance, if he could keep his range, but both? Not on this battlefield.
He couldn't win. But if his maths was right (and it was a paper-thin margin) he could notlose.
And him not losing would probably piss her Highness off, so he'd count it as a win anyway.
Edelgard was advancing. While Hubert hung back waiting for the play –smart enough to know that Claude had one, but hopefully too late to do anything about it. Edelgard would never consider stooping to conquer, she was far too straightforward, but he suspected Hubert would see through his scheme if given the time.
The Princess was five paces away from the patch of forest he'd claimed as his sniper's nest during the last stand when he dropped to a knee before her.
"I surrender."
"You- what?"
"I surrender" he repeated and glanced over to where Seteth was hovering nearby and obviously not blowing the horn that would signal the end of the battle. Did he have to convince her to accept the surrender too? Was this punishment for the mushroom incident? Because he really hadn't known –not important just now. "I can't take the pair of you. Well, maybe I could, but the most likely outcome if I try it is getting my pretty face scuffed up, or worse, yours, and then still losing anyway; so, I surrender. What do you say Princess; do you have the heart to spare my pretty face?"
He turned a charming smile on her, very aware that some paces further back, Hubert was scanning the ground –He'd caught on to the scheme and was doing the maths.
Edelgard sighed "If it will cease your prattling mouth, then I will-" "Lady Edelgard!" "-accept your surrender."
Seteth blew the horn. Claude's smile transformed into a grin and Hubert buried his face in his hand with a groan.
"The Battle of the Eagle and Lion is over!" Seteth proclaimed in his best parade-ground voice, carrying over to those who stood arrayed around the edges of the field "Victory belongs to the Black Eagle House… The prize goes to the Golden Deer."
~o~*~o~
"Well that was… unexpected" Dimitri commented as the three of them each approached the rendezvous to confirm their respective house was prepared to set out. "Congratulations are in order though. Well done Edelgard –and you, Claude."
Claude hummed a little but said nothing, though he was smiling and bouncing on his toes, eyes practically alight with mischief, he kept his lips pressed firmly together. Edelgard scowled at him.
"I appreciate what you're doing, but you are just as insufferable silent as you are normally. You may as well speak."
Claude's smile split into a grin, bearing teeth as he winked at them "Ah, my dear Edelgard, I have to thank you for valuing my pretty face so highly. I know it's my only redeeming feature but I figured there was really only a fifty-fifty chance you'd agree it was worth-"
"I take it back!" she exclaimed "Your silence is infinitely more preferable."
"I'll tell you a secret then, honest truth, no tricks; the easiest way to silence me is to put me in front of a grand feast. The sort where everyone gets to mingle and chat, celebrating each other's triumphs, ignoring the walls between houses and stuffing ourselves silly. Although I suppose you could try to elicit the same effect with a fairly regular feast in the dining hall."
Dimitri laughed "While I doubt anything as simple as a meal at Garreg Mach could silence you, the idea itself has merit –yes, why not celebrate the day, together?"
"Well, if I can't celebrate annihilating you entirely I suppose I can still celebrate the victory we did earn. Very well. Let's make preparations once we return to the monastery."
Dear Readers,
For those of you want to see the workings, here is the Maths. Assume all unnamed units work out evenly:
Dimitri takes Bernadetta
Ingrid takes Dorothea
Dimitri takes Lorenz
Sylvain takes Leonie
Ingrid takes Flayn
Dedue takes Hilda
Sylvain takes Lindhart
Blue Lions: 7
Hubert takes Annette
Edelgard takes Ingrid
Caspar takes Raphael
Hubert takes Sylvain
Caspar takes Marianne
Edelgard takes Ignatz
Hubert takes Lysithea
Black Eagles: 7
Leonie takes Petra
Leonie takes Felix
Lysitha takes Ferdinand
Ignatz takes Ashe
Ignatz takes Mercedes
Ignatz takes Dimitri
Claude takes Caspar
Lysithea takes Dedue
Golden Deer: 8
When it comes down to the final three, if Edelgard or Hubert take Claude they would draw even and as the last class standing the draw would go in their favour. The margin is paper thin.
I should know, I had to write it out on paper to get it right, after realising I'd forgotten to account for bloody Lorenz! Even despite him doing the whole charge ahead thing. And that if Ignatz actually hit Lindhart with the ballista the Deer would be too far ahead, and it would have to be a Lion who took him out.
Ignatz still wins MVP though.