"P-please Professor..." The voice underneath gasped weakly, "This isn't you... Stop this... Please-AGHH!!". The blade embedded in their chest jerked, and with a final desperate struggle for breath, followed by a short blood-filled cough, the voice went silent.
Slowly rising to a stand, cries of battle all around, Byleth surveyed the grisly scene. She found herself short on breath from the whole affair, taking note of her injuries. Pain shot from her side, flecks of blood covered her armour. The fighting was fierce, but it was clear her forces were prevailing. It wasn't over. So many more people stood between her and the new world she would create. For too long, she was bound to everyone else's designs. Now, with the limitless potential of the progenitor god, her will would dominate all.
One Year Ago
Leonie wasn't dreaming for once. She'd tried pinching herself, but this time it was real. She was here. Garreg Mach Monastery. It had taken nearly everything she and her village had to send her here, and she hated it, but once she graduated from the Officer's Academy and found employment as a mercenary, she would pay all her debts. It would take time and heaps upon heaps of hard work and dedication, but she would achieve her goal; to become a legendary mercenary like the man who saved her village, Captain Jeralt Eisner. Just thinking of him, Leonie felt her resolve to succeed strengthen. She had not seen or heard from the Captain for many years, but the effect he and his band of mercenaries had on her was monumental. She had learned the bow and how to be a capable hunter from her father, but it was the Captain that gave her the passion for tactics, strategy and training routines.
Finished unpacking and feeling restless, Leonie decided to get a head start on training by taking a jog around the Monastery grounds. She burst out of her room and was just about to begin her run when two mountains of books walked into the room adjacent to hers. "These sure are heavy miss, " squeaked out a small voice from beneath a quaking stack of books. "Is it all right if I just put them down now?" Leonie's curiosity in her new neighbour stoked, she leaned around the doorframe and looked in. "Yes, yes, Cyril. Anywhere is fine for now, " came the reply from the other carrier of books. It was a girl's young-sounding voice, one which Leonie detected carried slight annoyance for the boy she referred to as Cyril. " take care when you drop them, there are many delicate scripts in your stack. Losing even one of them to your carelessness would set my studies back weeks, maybe even months!"
The tan-skinned boy bent his knees and set the pile down near the girl's bed. A few leather-bound tomes tumbled over onto the ground, earning him a harsh glare from the girl, whose armload of literature was already neatly arranged on some hanging shelves. Before the girl could say a word, Cyril muttered something about a person named "Rhea," having some work for him, and he rushed off.
Alone with the girl, Leonie stepped through the door and was about to introduce herself when she saw her new neighbour for the first time. The most striking feature about her was her hair. It was devoid of all pigment, pure stunning white. The second most notable feature was her stature. She barely reached five feet high, Leonie estimated. "Well? Get on with it." The pale-haired lass ordered, already vexed by the intrusion. "Oh, I'm sorry for bothering you. My name is Leonie, Leonie Pinelli. I just figured I'd come on over and introduce myself since we're neighbours and all." Smiling, Leonie held out her hand in greeting, and reluctantly the girl returned the handshake. "And I am Lysithea von Ordelia, and far busier than you seem to be capable of noticing." Looking around the room, Leonie saw that, aside from the mountainous piles of books, Lysithea had very little in the way of possessions, much like her. She would have to get to know Lysithea better once the timing was better. With an acknowledging nod, she excused herself and shut the door to Lysithea's room behind her.
As Leonie left and began her jog around the grounds, behind Lysithea's closed door, the pale-haired girl allowed a few stray tears to run down her cheeks. She had told herself that she would be okay away from her family and that her going away would be the best thing for them. But this year of schooling would be the most difficult of her life. Most everyone here was studying for their future, and here she was studying because she didn't have one. But why should she waste time feeling sorry for herself if her days were numbered? Wiping her tears, the small girl searched her belongings for the little piece of the cake her mother had sent with her. And after one colossal bite, Lysithea von Ordelia smiled.