Part 1 — Wyvern Moon
Officers Academy staff would come to find the missing Flayn in a dungeon hidden below the eastern wing of the Monetary. The dungeon's entrance was discovered in the quarters of the Academy's enigmatic fencing instructor Jeritza, whose previous antisocial behavior on all subjects apart from sparring became more sensible with the reveal of his moonlighting as the Death Knight.
The Death Knight critically wounded Professor Manuela on the night Byleth and the Blue Lions class stormed his booby-trapped domain to rescue Flayn. For a reason Seteth was cagey to reveal, the Flame Emperor who commands the Death Knight valued Flayn's blood. However, during the students' romp through the claustrophobic space a second girl was also found: Monica, a missing Black Eagles student from the previous year.
Jeritza could not be found anywhere on Monastery grounds afterward.
With the girls' rescue, life appeared to return to normal in Garreg Mach. Monica was reintegrated into the new Black Eagles class, and Flayn was conscripted into Byleth's Blue Lion's class to train for future attacks — much to Seteth's chagrin. The energy level of all students began to build into a fervor as the traditional Battle of the Eagle and Lion approached; promising normalcy in the guise of a three-way battle that pays tribute to Faerghus achieving independence from the Adrestian Empire.
"Please Bernie, you must come out and eat something!"
Dorothea, the wavy-haired Black Eagles' songstress, laments as she leans against the first-floor dormitory door of her reclusive purple-haired classmate.
"No!" Bernadetta squeals, her voice muffled by the mahogany door. "If I come out, Edelgard is going to make me train for the mock battle, and… Um… I-I don't even want to think about it!"
"I wouldn't worry about that," Dorothea mumbles under her breath. "Edie's too busy with that new redheaded parasite of hers."
Byleth stood behind the Black Eagles' only student of common blood with his arms crossed. He had been called in out of fear for Bernadetta's health, given his uncanny ability to make her feel somewhat more sociably comfortable.
That's what happens when you take the time to pass a few pleasantries through a wall every day, it seemed.
"We can escort you to the Dining Hall if you'd like," Byleth offers in his monotonous delivery.
Dorothea seems pleased by the idea; she flashes him a thumbs-up and a grin.
They both quickly go away as Bernadetta responds.
"No! No really, that's okay! I wouldn't want to… You know… Be a burden." Dorothea huffs as she looks back toward the muffled voice. "Perhaps you could just… Bring me lunch? Yes! Yeah, that sounds great! I get to stay in my room and also eat."
The songstress groans and rests her forehead against the door.
"I brought you lunch last week when you didn't want to come out for your exam, remember? I'm not doing it again Bernie!"
"Manuela tells me you did quite well on that by the way," Byleth adds, blatantly trying to play to her good side. "Congratulations."
"Oh!" Bernadetta's surprise leads into a long silence, during which the two people outside can hear her rustling things around. "Well… Um… Thank you!"
"I'm sure you'll be quite a challenge to get around for my students," he continues.
Dorothea steps aside to let Byleth take point at the door.
"But… But I don't… Want to fight you guys…" Bernadetta says at a much lower octave. "Isn't it silly to pit us against one another?"
The two outside look at one another. Dorothea's expression has lightened to surprise, and Byleth is implied to be doing the same despite nothing changing.
"It's just a training exercise, Bernie." As Dorothea looks toward the door again, her voice is gentler. "We're not actually out to hurt each other."
Another bout of silence follows.
"I… I know but… Um…"
They can hear her whining while trying to work through her own thoughts.
The green-haired professor sighs and lightly raps his knuckles against the door.
"Listen Bernadetta, I understand your hesitation. I'm sure Manuela won't argue if you really want to sit out the battle. She'll be sitting out with her injuries, and will probably appreciate the company."
Dorothea leans back to watch Byleth do his work and clasps her hands at her chest.
"I'll even set up a few extra training sessions for you to make up for it if need be."
While that offer is punctuated by another long moment of silence, they can hear Bernadetta sniffle on the other side before coming back to life with a stutter.
"T-Thank you, Professor." She says. Her voice was slightly louder, which suggested she was up against the door on the other end. "I'll think about it!"
"Good. Let me know what you decide."
Byleth knocks against her door again before stepping away.
"And please, come out to eat with Dorothea. She could use the company."
He offers the commoner a slight smile. She runs up and gives him a tight hug in return.
"Thank you," she mouths when pulling away.
Byleth nods before turning and heading off into the Monastery grounds again.
Fódlan was deep into the fall season now, and the chilly breeze it brought kept more students indoors than usual. Those who weren't sequestered inside adorned extra layers — scarves, jackets and the like. Every time one of those wandering kids offered a polite greeting or wave, Byleth readily returned the gesture. He had become a fairly popular figure around Garreg Mach on account of the many exploits the Blue Lions had endured under his leadership.
That being said, Byleth was happy to see his crowd of casual admirers diminishing with the season. He wasn't opposed to returning their greetings, but the long-time mercenary still preferred quiet time to mull over his thoughts alone.
As alone as he could have been, anyway.
"Isn't that intriguing?"
He was so used to the childlike voice, unbefitting its thoughtfully philosophical droning, that he didn't have to look over to know Sothis had appeared.
But when he does look, he'd find the ethereal girl keeping pace by mimicking his walk cycle; despite the fact that she was walking on thin air to be level with him.
"Little miss hat back there seems to have picked up on the same thing as we have," Sothis remarks while adjusting the crown on her head as though it were Dorothea's cap. "Regarding that girl of suspicious ilk."
"I don't know about that," he replies.
A few individuals passing by the fishing pond offer Byleth strange looks as he seemingly talks to himself, but the professor is none the wiser.
"Dorothea seemed more upset by Edelgard's time being monopolized than she did about Monica specifically."
"I don't quite see the distinction there, Byleth." Sothis begins to casually brush her hair out to the right as she walks above the crystalline water of the pond. "Her presence is causing odd disruptions in the air around the school. Edelgard's attention being taken up is just one symptom of that."
He closes his eyes and nods, curiously scratching at his hair.
"I suppose so. But I see no reason to expend energy worrying about her for now."
"Too busy worrying about that Flayn girl?" Sothis' tone shifts to be slightly more teasing, and she starts to float in front of Byleth so he can see her grinning. "I've noticed you pouring over her files quite a bit recently."
"She's a new student," he brushes her off with a shrug. "It would be wrong not to prepare for her needs specifically."
"I get the feeling there's more than that." Sothis' grin only widens as she gets more in his face. "I know you find her mysterious and interesting after that whole exchange about your shared youthful appearances."
"I won't argue with that."
"And I bet if your heart beat, it would be that much more obvious how exciting you find the idea of stealing her away from that overbearing brother!" She giggles.
While Byleth opens his mouth to retort, he has no real chance to respond before a chipper voice rings out from behind the ethereal girl.
"Greetings, Professor!"
He stops and leans over slightly to catch a glimpse of the new individual without Sothis' obstruction. But of course it wasn't a new voice at all.
It was the Gatekeeper, standing at his post in front of the Entrance Hall with that happy-go-lucky grin exposed under the deep brim of his metal cap. His posture was straightened as he salutes the passing faculty member.
As usual, Byleth was quick to offer a raised-hand greeting in return.
"Nothing to report?" He asks, anticipating the usual schtick.
"Actually, I do have something to report today!"
The Gatekeeper relaxes his form and takes a step forward, as if he were about to tell Byleth a secret. However that air of secrecy is undermined as he keeps the same loud, high-energy tone the entire way through.
"Miss Marianne von Edmund was wandering the marketplace earlier, and she asked me to keep an eye out for you. Apparently she'd like to discuss something."
"Really?" Byleth raises an eyebrow and rubs his chin. "Interesting."
"Yeah!" The Gatekeeper grins. "She didn't say that in nearly as many words. Girl's awfully quiet, you know? But she did tell me she would linger near the stables."
Byleth lets out a soft snort through his nose.
"She's better when you get to know her." As he starts to walk away, he offers another raised hand to the genial guard. "Thanks."
"Of course, anytime!" The Gatekeeper enthusiastically waves goodbye. "Good luck at Gronder Field!"
As advertised, Byleth would find Marianne scoping out Garreg Mach's equine stables. Specifically he'd find her petting one of its resident's manes. The war-trained animal was calm at her touch, and even seemed to draw a smile from the melancholy girl as it nuzzled into her palm.
He had to take a moment to appreciate the sight before approaching.
"Marianne."
The blue-haired girl gasps as she turns toward Byleth's heavy footsteps, and then rests a hand over her heart. Typical behavior, though he would have figured she'd be used to this sort of thing by now.
"Professor. Hello." Once her breathing is relaxed, she offers him a polite bow. "I've been looking for you — I'd like to ask for your advice."
"So I've heard," he responds while trying to pet the same horse she had been tending to. It snorts aggressively and backs into the enclosure.
That draws a giggle out of Marianne, which Byleth promptly ignores.
"How can I help?"
Her brief moment of joy settles into that usual deep, contemplative examination of her own feet. She brings a hand up to adjust her hair, but somehow manages to let more of it cover her eyes in the process.
"I don't think I want to take part in the Battle of the Eagle and Lion this month."
Byleth could feel the déjà vu throb against his skull.
"After all the time I've spent assisting your class, it would feel wrong to do battle against them," she continues, voice growing meeker with each thought. "And I'm still not convinced it would be wise to keep me on the battlefield in the first place."
"It's like talking in circles with all this self-consciousness," Sothis remarks like a devil in Byleth's ear as she reappears beside him. "Don't you ever bore of it, girl?"
The instructor wisely ignores his shoulder devil and keeps his full attention on Marianne. He contemplates her questioning while crossing his arms.
"Yet you don't feel right leaving your housemates to their own devices."
Marianne agrees with a nod.
"I feel like I'm such a burden if I don't help Claude and the others, but it would also be uncomfortable if I do help." When the girl looks up at him, Byleth can see a wet gloss over her eyes behind all that hair. "What do you think Professor? Would it be wrong of me to avoid the battle?"
Byleth closes his eyes and hums softly, thinking things over. As he does, Sothis leans in to whisper in his ear.
"If you tell her no, it will be a much easier fight for your class."
He dismisses her by raising a hand to swat the air beside him. Marianne looks momentarily confused, but doesn't have the chance to ask before he speaks again.
"I think you should be true to yourself and your desires, Marianne." He offers a sympathetic look — as much as his stony face was capable of. "I can't make the choice for you. But if you feel it would be right to avoid combat, I wouldn't argue."
The girl's warm smile blooms under his thoughtful gaze.
"Of course. I appreciate that, Professor."
Marianne bows again, and then Byleth returns the gesture with a slight bow of his own. Feeling his job was done, the green-haired man starts circling around her so he can make his way off in the direction of the graveyard.
But before he gets too far, someone tugs gently at one of his jacket's loosely hanging sleeves.
"Um, Professor?" Marianne squeaks out before pulling her hand away and clearing her throat of its hoarseness. "I-I have a request. It's about your class… I, um…"
He turns to face her again with an eyebrow raised, and preempts her thought.
"Are you asking if we have an open space for you?"
She nods quickly; glad to not have to spit it out on her own.
"It's just… I feel like you and Dimitri understand the way I think better than Professor Hanneman and Claude. Not that I have anything against them necessarily, but…" She trails off again. "I believe I'd learn better with you."
Byleth smiles. Just a bit.
"I'd be happy to let you transfer, if that's what you truly desire. We can talk to Hanneman about making the arrangements."
All of Marianne's nerves evaporate in an instant, and she seems more chipper than… Well, than he had ever seen her be.
"Huh? Oh! Thank you!" She nods again and gently clasps his right hand with both of hers. "I-I should be more comfortable once I get to know the other Blue Lions better but… I'm very happy you agree!"
If he didn't know her better, Byleth might have expected a hug similar to Dorothea's earlier. Instead she simply runs off to find Professor Hanneman, holding that skirt up over her feet again.
"You sure do have a thing going with these quiet girls, huh Professor." Sothis teases with a little extra weight on the title.
He ignores the jab, watching Marianne disappear into the Monastery alongside his mouthy peanut gallery.
Maybe he would get used to her being there someday.