"Amazing move back there, Professor!"

"I didn't see it coming!"

"We are having the success. No doubts were had"

"My Teacher, I knew you would come through for us. I was wise to follow your plan."

"Did you see those other guys?! You destroyed them! It was awesome!"

Byleth was swarmed on all sides as the academy students and faculty proceeded up the hillside towards the monastery. Her Black Eagles beamed with pride, excited by their victory. Byleth swore she saw even Bernadetta looking cheerful.

A large hand tapped her shoulder.

"I saw how it went out there. Not bad, kid!"

"Jeralt!" Byleth turned around and smiled faintly at her father. It took some effort for her to force such an expression, but there was something about her achieved victory that made it much easier to smile. It felt good to be recognized for her efforts, and Edelgard had made sure each student thanked Byleth for her leadership. It wasn't like she had done everything out there, but then again, not everyone had a way to rewind time and learn from would-be future events. She smirked and leaned in as her father embraced her gently for a moment.

"Well, I knew I trained you right, kid. You might make a good teacher after all!"

"It's still too early to be saying things like that, you and I both know that."

Just then, Claude pushed his way through the cluster of students and came face to face with Byleth.

"You," he said, pointing towards Byleth, who looked at him confusedly.

"Either you're far more of a genius than I gave you credit for being, or there was something seriously wrong with that battle. How could you have planned for each move we made? It's unreal-agh!" he gripped his left arm and groaned. His bruised and slightly bloodied limb was not too seriously injured, but the reaction Claude gave was not fake. He was hurting.

Jeralt spoke up, seeing the boy in pain.

"You should get back to the nurse; you're in rough shape."

Over the tumult, Manuela's sing-song voice called out, "Ooh Claude...Where are you? Let's get those injuries looked after, shall we?"

Sighing, the Golden Deer leader turned to walk away but added before he did,

"There's something suspicious about this whole thing, Teach. Don't think I won't figure it out eventually. Next time, the Deer will be ready for you. Don't underestimate an outsider."

During the Mock Battle, half an hour earlier

If there were ever a perfectly applicable situation to the phrase being between a rock and a hard place, Byleth was in it. She was one hit away from elimination, and still had to deal with both Claude and Dimitri, and Byleth knew better than to underestimate them. Her plan to have Dorothea launch surprise magic attacks from Claude's flanks was going to fall through if she couldn't draw most of the attention here and now. The problem was having one hit left on her. Or was there something she could do about that...?

A pulse.

Somewhere deep in her chest, Byleth felt an ebbing and flowing of energy. It felt just like it had the last time she had experienced it. Colours flashed all around her, pulsating in negatives and varied hues. There was a ringing in her ears that lasted only a moment, and then all fell silent as the world around her faded into darkness.

As if on cue, the girl in the chair materialized out of thin air.

"How interesting to see you here," said Sothis, who stood up from her seat and slowly walked towards Byleth. "I suppose you are trying to turn back the hands of time for some reason? It had best be important, you know. I know not how your body will tolerate the strain of such power if you overuse it."

"Good thing I only need to use it once then."

She knew precisely which moment she needed to return to. It was a stretch, but having seen how her first plan played out, Byleth's perspective had changed. It was, likewise, time for a change in strategy. Her surroundings blurred, and the ringing in her ears started up again. In a moment, the world around her came back into focus. She felt an enormous pressure build up in her head, a headache no doubt caused by the strain on her body, as Sothis had warned. But she had finally arrived back at the start of the battle. All three sides stood at their respective starting points. And Byleth knew exactly what moves they were going to make mere minutes from now.

"Professor," said Edelgard beside her. "We are at your command. What are your orders?"

Byleth glanced into the distance, towards the direction from where Lorenz would soon charge.

"We need to get ourselves across the field and to that position there immediately," she said, pointing to the small forest where Claude and his forces would be.
"Engage the first enemy you see and eliminate them with extreme prejudice. Then, we will take Claude by surprise while he is fighting off the Blue Lions at a distance. He will try to retreat into the forest. We'll split into two small groups, with one assaulting them directly, and the others flanking them through the forest, cutting off any escape routes Claude plans to use."

Edelgard looked puzzled for a moment, and behind her, Hubert muttered. But in the end, they all followed the orders they were given to the letter. The Black Eagles triumphed over the other two classes, without suffering a single elimination. Byleth never let Hilda land a single hit on her, and Claude was successfully cut off by Ferdinand and Dorothea in the forest as he tried to retreat. Dimitri and Dedue were the last to go down, by the hands of Edelgard and Hubert, no less. Their instructor, Professor Hanneman, surrendered and forfeited the mock battle as soon as he saw he was the last man standing. He had absolutely no desire to visit the infirmary and was all too happy to concede.

Byleth herself raised the banner of victory. She held it high so that all could see the symbol on it, a majestic black-feathered eagle, placed against the backdrop of rich crimson. The symbol of her class. Her Black Eagles.

Lorenz didn't attend the post-mock battle meeting Claude had called together. Neither did Professor Manuela, who "had a date." The leadership of the Golden Deer was left to Claude, and Claude alone. It didn't matter. This wasn't his first experience being left to fend for himself. It was his first experience dealing with this nagging feeling of deja vu, however. He had reviewed the entire battle in his mind, from start to finish. When that hadn't turned up anything crucial, he questioned the others. No one else had noticed anything that Claude hadn't. The whole ordeal frustrated Claude beyond reason.

"Actually, there is something odd," mused Lysithea, furrowing her brow.

"The floor is yours, youngster," Claude replied, drawing a death glare from Lysithea.

"It's the weirdest thing, too. I can't remember when I felt it, but I have a distinct feeling that at some point, I felt an immense drawing of magical power. I'd tell you more, but it doesn't even feel like a real memory."

"That's worth noting. I'll look into it, and I recommend you do the same when you have free time."

Lysithea crossed her arms.

"Bold of you to assume I have free time. Some of us actually study around here, if you haven't noticed."

"I've noticed all right. That's why I trust you to be able to find some interesting leads on this fake magic pulse memory stuff. I will be studying also. We'll have a church assignment next month, and I can't have us perform the same way we did today. This loss is on me, Deer. Until I prove otherwise, at least."

The bell rang, signalling bedtime hours for the academy. Claude thought it was best to pick up this conversation another time, and so dismissed everyone. Almost everyone, at least.

"Leonie, I have something else to say, for your ears only."

The redhead stopped, and she looked sideways at him, not sure what to expect. "Oh yeah? What's that?"

Claude made sure no one else was around before he spoke quietly.

"I want you to infiltrate the Black Eagle house next month."