Harpstring Moon
In honor of the saints whose births or deaths took place under this moon, the people perform music once beloved by those divine beings. Whether by harp, by flute, or voice alone, joyous melodies are shared between farmers as they sow their seeds across the vast plains of Tailtean and Gronder.
The Advisory Room was quite dismal despite the glow of the morning sunlight. The dark stone walls gave the room the impression of being stuck in a cave, and the only window was small and positioned on the far corner. Seteth's face bore his usual stern expression, and although Byleth had won the mock battle, he did not seem too happy about it.
"I'm sure you are eager for congratulations. However, that was only practice. The real battle is that of the Eagle and Lion, held on Gronder field during the Wyvern Moon. As for your mission," he cleared his throat. "Your class is tasked with disposing of some bandits that have been causing quite a bit of trouble recently." Bandits? That's the best you can give me? At least it will be an easy battle to train my students, Byleth thought bitterly. "As I'm sure you've already figured out, Rhea and I will assign your class a mission at the end of every month. You must train your students so that you can complete the task before the deadline. I will provide the necessary details later."
"I'd prefer if-" Byleth started, but Seteth interrupted her quickly.
"No. If I told you now, you'd only forget, and I despise repeating myself. Now go, prepare for the coming month ahead," he dismissed her with a quick wave and waited until she was out of the room to shut the door.
"Bandits, hmm?" Byleth nearly jumped several feet in the air when Sothis' voice echoed in her head. "You have learned from last time, I hope?"
"I thought I imagined it…" Byleth whispered, her head pounding. She is there, inside my head. I didn't dream it. She's real.
"How rude! Of course you didn't imagine me. I have always been here with you, I just decided to give you a chance to prove yourself without my guidance." She sighed audibly. "You must not fall so shamelessly again, alright? No carelessness." Byleth merely nodded and left the building, eager to quiet Sothis' chirpy voice once more.
"This will be our first real battle. There are no chances for carelessness. No opportunities for mistakes. This is our chance to prove our worth to Lady Rhea and Seteth. We must not fail," Byleth said to her students. They clustered together in the classroom, eager to hear about their newest mission.
"I am excited to fight alongside all of you," Dimitri said, his face slightly grave despite his happy words. Byleth made a mental note to pull him aside later.
"But… we'll actually be killing… people…" Ashe's face was pale, his eyes wide as saucers. Annette looked the same.
"We could actually be hurt," she said, thinking aloud.
"Don't worry, I'll protect all of you! No one will be hurt under my watch." Mercedes spoke with such confidence that Byleth nodded.
"As will I. As long as we remain diligent and focused, nothing should happen. That being said, we must still train to our fullest potential this month."
In response to Byleth's words, the students trained harder than ever, working themselves past their limits. On the ninth, everyone brought in flowers for Annette's seventeenth birthday, and she clapped her hands together in delight. On the eleventh, during their free day, Byleth took them to the marketplace. The merchant had looked at the large group in surprise, his expression shifting to fear when he saw the pile of weapons they purchased. I'm finally settling in. Developing a lasting routine, Byleth thought while planning her next lecture. Every Monday, Byleth prepared lessons and drills that her students would practice during the week. This week, defense drills for Mercedes. Every Saturday, Byleth assigned group tasks which included flying practice, plucking weeds from the rough grass, and stable duty. Her days were filled with Annette's chatter, Dedue's insistence on protecting Dimitri, and Sylvain and Felix's bickering. She hosted seminars, taught lessons, ran mock battles, and worked with her students. By the end of the month, she was tired. But I must keep pressing on.
Then the fateful day arrived. Byleth gathered her students together before they departed for the Red Canyon.
"Remember what I said before. There is no room for mistakes. These bandits will not hesitate to cut you down. In fact, I'm sure they'd love to clear out some of the monastery's prized students. Do not let them have their way." She spoke with such conviction that they listened, nodding their heads while she talked. Both Annette and Ashe looked as though they had just seen a ghost, and Byleth was concerned they might start crying. Everyone else seems to be holding up pretty well, she thought with a sigh. The cathedral's bells rang, signaling them that it was time to depart.
The rough winds ruffled Byleth's hair, sending it flying out behind her. The wind whistled through the canyon, creating an eerie wailing sound. Creepy. They stood on a rocky area surrounded by open air, with nothing but a crumbling bridge connecting to the next island. They had ridden wyverns just to get to the canyon, which Byleth wanted to use for battle. However, Seteth did not allow it and forbid her before they left.
"Your students do not know how to maneuver those animals in battle. They barely know how to fly them to the destination." His words echoed in her mind. Never mind that now, she thought, I must prepare them for the slaughter ahead. I must prepare myself, as well. Dimitri walked up next to her, shading his eyes with his hand from the bright sun.
"The Red Canyon…" he murmured, staring off into space for a moment before turning to her. "This is the first time I've been here. It reminds me of the ruins that were pictured in the old fairytales I used to read as a child." He opened his mouth as if to say more, but then a shouting erupted from the other side of the bridge.
"Look at that, they're just little kids," a taunting voice called. Byleth whipped her head around to find two bandits awaiting them, cackling at the sight of eight children approaching. She watched the student's hands tighten on their weapons, and Felix's eyes narrowed to fearsome slits.
"There's a back road to the West. If we can keep our wits about us, we might be able to sneak past the bandits up ahead and go straight for their leader. But first, we must cross the bridge," Byleth said quietly to the students. They nodded and charged forwards toward the bandits who had taunted them just seconds before. The men stumbled backwards but held their ground against the onslaught. Annete and Ashe stood a safe distance away, flinging magic and arrows. Ingrid and Sylvain drew their new steel lances and began to attack, and Byleth was proud to see familiar maneuvers and tactics. Even so, her jaw dropped in surprise when Dedue slammed his axe straight into the bandit's head, causing the body to fall to the ground. Without hesitation, Annete closed her eyes and, with a shout, lobbed another strong gust of wind at the remaining enemy. It knocked him to the ground and his skull connected with a nearby rock. Annette looked horrified.
"We must keep going," Dimitri called out, but even he looked slightly sickly at the sight of the bodies. They crossed the bridge in a flash, only to find many more bandits awaiting them. Per Byleth's orders, they split up. One group to the West, one to the North. We can attack their leader from both sides, and gain the advantage.
"We're outnumbered, Professor!" shouted Sylvain, who was attempting to hold his own against a large bandit. The man backed him into a corner between two rocks and began to raise his axe for a fatal blow.
"Sylvain!" Byleth shouted, rushing forward. But she was not fast enough. The bandit brought his axe down in a large arc, aiming straight for Sylvain's chest. However, something happened and his body slumped to the ground. Before Byleth could process what happened, she saw Felix standing triumphant before Sylvain, bloody sword in hand.
"That'll teach you not to get backed into a corner," he said with a smirk. Sylvain merely rose shakily. Mercedes danced about the battlefield, healing whoever she could find. She only stopped a minute to heave a breath and then continued. She's certainly learned a lot this past week. Byleth ran down the stairs to her left, leading her group behind her. The other four did the same except rushing down the Northern steps. Sure enough, a burly man stood watching the action. As her students fought around her, Byleth walked forward towards the man. Wait… that face… It can't be. Can it? She studied the man's face as she approached, and found it was the same bandit leader who had pursued the house leaders before.
"You fool. You can't kill me on your own." He smirked at her, showing his teeth. She only narrowed her eyes.
"I let you escape once. It won't happen again."
"This time, you don't have your precious knights to hide behind. My men will kill all of your little entourage. But I will make your death very painful." He chuckled at the thought, but Byleth charged at him with her sword drawn.
"Byleth!" She heard Sothis' voice in her head, shouting her name, telling her to be careful, to watch out. But this was not the time to be careful. This was time to end the battle. She spun backwards, performing one of her favorite moves from childhood. Except, these past few days, she had modified it to kill. He looked surprised to see her retreating, and laughed again. But then, Byleth used her momentum to fling off of the ground, jumping high into the air and slashing downwards with her sword. It cut clean through his shoulder, just missing his heart and instead imbedding itself in his arm. She pulled it out as quickly as she could and danced back again, but the man lashed out with his axe. It connected with her side, causing pain that coursed through her. Byleth shouted in fury, charging him again and again and again, slicing and slashing and cutting. It was only until his body dropped to the floor that she allowed herself a moment to breathe. But the battle is not finished, she thought. Clutching her side tightly, she ran back into the fray to aid her students.
"You're hurt," Dimitri said after rushing to her side. Byleth only nodded, making sure no one got away. Mercedes was frantically healing everyone's many wounds. Bodies littered the ground. My students did this. I did this. For some reason, the thought made her happy. It went well. We accomplished quite a bit this week. However, when she turned to Dimitri to congratulate him, his face was ashen.
"We won, Dimitri. There's no need to worry."
"Professor, I have a question." His voice shook slightly. "Does it ever get easier? The killing? These people had families, jobs, lives, before we came and slaughtered them. They did bad things, yes. But was the only option to kill them? Could we not have used words to make peace?" His eyes were filled with a deep sadness, one that Byleth herself had faced many years ago.
"My father used to say that it doesn't get easier. But we need to push through and think about the outcome. We kill so that more can live peacefully. Don't forget that." She followed his gaze to the horizon where clouds began to gather.
"The rain will wash away the blood that bathes this land now. Their lives will be forgotten, meaningless as time progresses." He was silent for a minute before turning back to her. "I apologize for being quite dark. We should return to the monastery," he said with a small laugh. But his reassuring smile did not reach his eyes.
"Dimitri, you can go now. I can take care of the report to Lady Rhea." Byleth said. They had arrived at the monastery just before the rain had begun to fall.
"Alright." He turned to go, but hesitated. "I wanted to thank you, Professor. What you said to me before we left the battlefield… it gave me a lot to think about. I… I think I understand now."
"Good, I'm glad. Now go! You've worked hard enough today already." Dimitri smiled at her, a tinge of pink on his cheeks. However, before he was able to leave, Edelgard approached them, accompanied by Manuela.
"Edelgard?" Dimitri said.
"Do the Black Eagles have a mission to attend to?" Byleth asked curiously.
"Yes, in fact we do." Edelgard's response was very curt, leaving Byleth with that same annoyed sensation.
Dimitri, however, seemed unfazed. "Do be careful. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you." His voice was sincere, nothing like Edelgard's mocking tone. Byleth eyed him curiously. Why does he care?
"Why the concern? Do you doubt my abilities?" Edelgard said angrily.
"No, of course not. That's not… what I meant. I hope you'll accept my apology," Dimitri said, looking slightly saddened by her rude response.
"Professor Manuela, we must be going." Edelgard brushed past him and Byleth, not replying to Dimitri's apology. Manuela followed behind, waving to the both of them. Once they were gone, Byleth turned back to Dimitri.
"Why are you so worried? I'm sure the Black Eagles will be fine, if what we witnessed during the mock battle was a correct view of their skills." She did her best to reassure him, but he still seemed upset.
"I'll tell you all about it… Some other time." He smiled, and Byleth couldn't help but find his answer peculiar. Some other time? Why is he so concerned? They are competitors. They shouldn't like each other. Unless… no. Now is not the time to be thinking of such things, she scolded herself, and went to go give the report to Lady Rhea.