Wyvern Moon.

It was the month of the Battle of the Eagle and Lion. Because of that, the students in the monastery were spending the time training whenever class wasn't in session. Monica was mildly confused as to why all these worms were suddenly putting forth more effort into their training. So, for that, she pretty much dragged Edelgard over to a secluded corner to interrogate her. "Hey, what's with everyone? Is there some battle happening soon?" She sounded a little too excited about this.

"...Well, yes, actually." Edelgard rolled her eyes at Monica's tone, however. "But rein it in. It's the Battle of the Eagle and Lion, and it is not a bloody one like your eyes are hoping for."

"What? That's so lame." Monica deflated and groaned. That was her fault for getting excited over some human thing.

"Monica already knows about this...so you better keep your facts straight if you don't want anyone to question you." Edelgard responded. "And you have to take part in it as well."

"What!? That sounds like a giant waste of my time." Monica shook her head.

"But if you don't, people will ask questions. And I'm not going to have many excuses for you aside from 'she isn't feeling well'. But I also don't trust you on your own, so consider your attendance mandatory from me." Edelgard said, which Monica did not appreciate at all.

"This is stupid."" Monica crossed her arms and huffed. "You're telling me I have to fight but I can't kill anyone?"

"That is exactly what I'm saying." Edelgard said with a small, knowing smile. She knew 'Monica's hands were tied and she was taking advantage of it. "So you better prepare. If there is one unnatural injury on any of the students, people will ask where it came from. And they'll look to you."

"Grr..." Monica grit her teeth. She was steeling herself to hold out while undercover, but something like this was already posing to be a challenge. A large scale battle and she wasn't allowed to grievously injure or take a life!? This...was going to be hard. She had to endure this long moth. "I can tell you think I'm not capable of this...and it annoys me that I have to prove you wrong."

"So you are aware of your situation then? Excellent." Edelgard just nodded and walked off. There was hardly a need for her to explain anything else.

"This place just gets worse and worse..." Monica grumbled to herself. Being roped into this kind of situation... "It's fine. All I have to do is get through this month. I can do that. I will do that..."

.

.

With all the running around she was doing, Byleth ended up taking a quick break in Jeralt's office. Jeralt did notice this and decided to check in on her, wearing a bit of a smile on his face. "What's up, Byleth? I can't remember the last time I've seen you running around this much."

"It's busy." Byleth responded, but she wasn't complaining. "That big mock battle is coming up...so I'm doing everything I can to make sure my class is prepared."

"Heh, that so?" Jeralt thought it was great that Byleth was putting in so much work. Honestly, it's not something he would've ever expected, but being dragged back to the monastery did prove to have a positive effect on his daughter. He was certain that Byleth herself didn't even notice the changes she had undergone during their time here. "Those kids look to you for guidance. How well do you feel like you've been giving it to them?"

"...I'm not sure." Byleth admitted, pursing her lips while staring at a few papers in front of her. "I'd like to think I'm doing a good job. Teaching is strange, but I feel like it comes easy to me, too..." It's been months since she was assigned the role of Professor, but she felt as if she was slowly acclimating to her new job. "...I like it."

Jeralt was still a little wary of Rhea's motivates with all this...but it was alright for now. "You remember everything I taught you, right?"

"That's right." Byleth nodded and looked to Jeralt. "I've been doing my best to impart that information onto the students as well. Truthfully, they're all very capable, so I don't know how effective my teaching even is to them."

"I'm sure you're doing great, kid." Jeralt said. "I can tell you're puttin' in a lot of effort, so those kids are definitely responding in kind. So just keep doing what you're doing. It's working."

"If you're sure..." Byleth wasn't going to argue. It was nice to hear that her efforts did have some payoff, though. Being a teacher was a lot harder than she could've imagined, but she was managing, somehow. "I do wonder if Maneula will be alright to compete, though. She says her injury is fine, but..."

"Ah, she got stabbed, right?" Jeralt was informed of the situation.

"Hanneman and I are deciding what to do if she isn't able to take part." Byleth went on. "I like them. Even if they argue a lot...and they do argue a lot."

"Having some co workers to chat to really does make a place a bit mroe fun."

"I have more things to prepared." She stood up with her papers and books in hand. She nodded to Jeralt and walked off.

"I must say, I agree with your father. You have come a long way when it comes to teaching." Sothis remarked, floating next to Byleth. Byleth was the only one who could actually see her, so it was fine. "I do not think you have anything to worry about.. I've been very impressed."

"Thanks." Byleth said with a nod. Still no smile from her yet, but the emotions she felt inside betrayed her expression. She was actually happy lately, it just didn't show on her face.

"Although, you could stand to do with a few improvements. Nothing I cannot help you fix." That was the typical Sothis attitude. "When it comes to this battle, you have most things taken care of. But you should let me give you some advice when it comes to interacting with people."

"I'm not...that bad at it, am I?" Byleth furrowed her brows. She wasn't sure if this was Sothis being Sothis, or if this was an issue she really had trouble with.

.

.

Shez was doing some training. The Battle of the Eagle and Lion was practically around the corner and she wanted to be prepared. "Can't slow down..."

"What exactly is the bar you're setting for yourself?" Luke was watching, leaning against a wall with his arms crossed. Shez fascinating to him in terms of her fighting style. "You're training harder than before."

"Professor Byleth." Shez said calmly. "She's the one I have to beat. And I've been getting a lot of reminders lately about the gap in our power. That has to change!"

"Uh. You know you can't fight your own Professor in the Battle of the Eagle and Lion, right?" Luke said with a sweat drop.

"Well, duh!" Shez replied. "But if I train with a target in mind, that means I'll be able to knock down anyone else who tries to stand in my way. The Death Knight...or uh, Professor Jeritza, I guess, was a lot stronger than I thought. So I have to aim really high if I want to be able to beat someone like him, let alone Professor Byleth."

"Normally people take a step by step process when it comes to these sorts of things." Luke pointed out. "They don't try to leap to the top as fast as they can."

"It's always worked for me." Shez shrugged. Luke rolled his eyes in response.

"Don't lose sight of the people around you. Tunnel vision will be the end of you." Luke said calmly.

"Hah, are you trying to say you're gonna surprise me?" Shez said with a challenging look.

To that, Luke had a coy smile. "Who knows. But if you don't watch out, anything could happen." With that, he turned and made his exit, leaving Shez to her training. He already saw most of what he wanted to.

"Did you adopt him as your next rival, or something?" Arval asked after that interaction.

"Hm. Maybe." Shez shrugged. "I know I can't keep my guard down around him...or anyone here, for that matter. But I gotta shoot high if I want to get to Byleth's level. I haven't forgotten about our goal."

"As long as you work with that goal in mind, that's fine. At the end of the day, we're going to defeat the Ashen Demon." That was really all Arval cared about. That, and Shez's wellbeing for obvious reasons. But when it came to Shez's combat prowess... "You're growing stronger by the day. The Sword of the Creator will be a problem, but I'm sure we can find a work around it...somehow."

"Yeah, that's not really giving me a lot of confidence." Shez said with a sweat drop. The gap between Byleth and everyone else was insane and Shez truly felt like she was no closer to closing it. In fact, it was only getting wider and it frustrated her. "...But I'll figure something out."

.

.

Balthus was in a bit of a panic for one reason or another. There was only one person he could turn to during this time. After asking around a little bit, he tracked Byleth down to the entrance hall, where she watched Constance and Yuri head off together. "Oh, Professor Byleth! You're still here. That's great."

"Hm?" Byleth turned to Balthus, tilting her head curiously. "Is there something you needed from me, Balthus?"

"Hold on..." Balthus saw Constance and Yuri off in the distance. "Where are they going?"

"To Enbarr." Byleth said. "Someone wanted to meet Yuri there and Constance tagged along. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, that's great. Okay, so...this works out for me. It's about Hapi." Balthus' tone lowered. Byleth was giving him her complete and undivided attention. "She was taking a nap earlier, but she ended up doing so in a box! And, well...nobody noticed her in there, so they ended up packing the box and they're heading straight to Enbarr with her in tow! She's gonna get sold if we don't hurry up!"

"...Huh?" Byleth blinked a few times from what she was just told.

"The absurdtity of this tale is baffling. Do you actually believe this?" Sothis questioned.

"You saw all this happen?" Byleth asked. Balthus, needing Byleth to believe him, just nodded.

"Yup! You can trust me! It's actually a good thing Yuri and Constance are already heading in that direction. If we can grab a few more students we can catch up to them in no time!" Balthus said.

"Why do we need more people...?" Byleth wasn't sure what Balthus's angle was. It was clear he was in a hurry.

"Just trust me on this! I'm gonna go ahead...!" With that, Balthus just ran off.

"...O...Okay...?" Byleth was at a loss for words...

.

.

Baron von Ochs, a man beside himself since his daughter was kidnapped. He was working on a special mission to get her back, one he was told to fulfill if he wanted her back: Obtain a Hero's Relic and Monica would be returned safe and sound. The Black Market was in Enbarr, and through many means, some dubious...he finally did it. In his hands were the gauntlets: Vajra Mushti. He didn't have a Crest, but it didn't matter. He'd done it. "I did it. I finally did it! Now...Monica...I'm going to save you!"