(a/n: here's an extra long update for you :) enjoy!)
"Is now really the time to be having tea, professor?"
Eve sat across from Byleth, looking intently into her teacup. She seemed troubled by the drink, brow furrowed as she examined it closely. Eve was often preoccupied in the last week, Byleth had noticed. She had intended to invite the prince's fiancée to tea much earlier, but for some reason Eve was especially hard to pin down. If she wasn't in class or in training, it was practically impossible to find her. And even Dimitri, Felix, and Sylvain, who Byleth saw Eve with most often, didn't know where she was. Either that or they refused to share which Byleth somehow doubted.
"Why wouldn't it be?" Byleth asked, taking a sip of her own tea as she thought on Eve's recent behaviour.
"Our mission." Eve answered simply.
"Is our mission today?" Byleth asked rhetorically.
"I just think that if you wanted to have tea with someone, Sylvain would've been a better candidate." Eve's eyes were still locked on her teacup. "He needs support right now whether he wants to admit it or not."
"If you didn't want to have tea with me, you could have refused." Byleth watched Eve carefully as she spoke.
"Does anyone refuse your invitations?" Eve half laughed, finally looking up from her tea to meet the professor's eyes.
"Felix." Byleth answered which earned her another half-hearted laugh.
"Well, that's no surprise." Eve smirked.
Byleth noted that Eve didn't seem to have any reaction to the mention of Felix, especially not the kind that Dimitri had had. She wondered if Eve simply wasn't aware of Dimitri's concern about Felix's feelings for her. But she quickly dismissed this thought—Eve was intelligent, there was no way she wouldn't notice either Felix's affections or Dimitri's distress.
"Something wrong with the tea?" Byleth asked when Eve's gaze returned to her cup. "I can make a fresh pot if you like."
"No, it's nothing wrong." Eve blinked a couple times before pushing the cup forward for the professor to see. "Just a bit of superstition."
Byleth leaned forward to see Eve's tea. The golden liquid shimmered in the sunlight, but what stood out was the single tea stem that had floated to the top, standing straight. The professor frowned, trying to think of any superstition she might've heard involving tea leaves. She had seen fortune tellers who claimed to be able to see your future in the leaves at the bottom of a finished cup, but nothing about a single stem.
"A standing stem is supposed to be good luck." Eve said when she noticed the professor's confusion. "And if it's just one it could mean the arrival of a stranger or… lover."
"I didn't take you for the superstitious type." Byleth mused. Eve had always seemed very much cut and dry. Byleth couldn't even remember a single time she'd seen her in the cathedral praying.
"I'm not, particularly." Eve frowned, seemingly to herself more than to the professor. "I guess I just have a soft spot for old beliefs. But you didn't call me here to discuss tea leaves, did you?"
"No." Byleth shook her head. "I've been meaning to speak to you about something."
"I'm an open book." Eve leaned back in her seat as she spoke. Byleth highly doubted that.
"It has come to my attention that Dimitri is… worried about Felix's relationship with you." Byleth spoke carefully, choosing her words to phrase it in a way that wouldn't put blame on Eve. She didn't want her getting defensive.
"I assure you, professor, my fiancée has nothing to worry about." Eve answered rather diplomatically with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"Listen," Byleth sighed, "I'm not Seteth. I'm not going to report back to Lady Rhea about what you say. You can speak freely with me, Eve."
"Like I said, Dimitri has nothing to worry about." Eve shook her head lightly. "My relationships with anyone else will not get in the way of our marriage."
"He loves you." Byleth stated, matter of fact.
"Excuse me." Eve coughed, no doubt startled that such words would come from Byleth of all people.
"I don't believe Dimitri is concerned because of how it affects your wedding." Byleth elaborated.
"I didn't expect you to be the type of professor to involve yourself in your students' extracurricular affairs." Eve quirked an eyebrow up, taking a sip of her tea.
"Typically, I don't." Byleth frowned. "But we have a very important mission coming up and I don't want these kinds of things affecting how the three of you perform on the battlefield."
"I don't get distracted on the battlefield, professor." Eve pursed her lips.
"The first time you fought with the Blue Lions you nearly died protecting Felix." Byleth retorted.
"Believe me, professor, it'd take a lot more than that to kill me." A cryptic smile formed on Eve's lips.
"And the second time you fought with us you disobeyed a direct order from the Archbishop to save him." Byleth continued.
"Would you have preferred I allow one of your students to die, knowing I had the power to save them?" Eve challenged with a furrowed brow.
Byleth sighed. She couldn't possibly tell Eve about Sothis and the power of Divine Pulse allowed to her. Even knowing about Eve's seemingly miraculous crest, Byleth wasn't sure anyone would believe her about her own power. Not to mention Sothis was vehemently opposed to anyone knowing about her.
"Of course not, Eve." Byleth shook her head. "All I want to say is that you seem to go onto the battlefield with your own agenda. In this upcoming mission I need to know that you're going to function as a part of the class rather than an individual because I get the feeling whatever you do will affect what Felix and Dimitri do as well."
"I'll keep that in mind, professor." Eve agreed rather quickly much to Byleth's surprise. She seemed to be troubled by the prospect of both Felix and Dimitri following her whims.
Byleth was absolutely puzzled by Eve and the circumstances surrounding her. Her appearance had been abrupt and unexpected. And just as everyone had started to familiarise themselves with her, it was revealed that her story and her reasons for marrying Dimitri were all a lie. Even now, Byleth got the feeling that Eve was still hiding some modicum of the truth from the other Blue Lions.
It was also astonishing to Byleth that Dimitri would have actually fallen in love with Eve. Though, she supposed Dimitri was the type to take his duty so seriously he would convince himself he was in love with Eve for her sake. She could imagine him saying something along the lines of Eve deserving to marry someone she loved, so he decided to love her.
But the prince seemed truly disturbed by the idea of Felix being in love with Eve. This also came as a shock to Byleth that Felix could feel anything other than contempt towards another person. She had only been Felix and Dimitri's professor for a short time before Eve arrived, but Byleth had a firm enough grasp on their personalities by that point to know it was uncharacteristic the way they acted around her. And all in such a miniscule amount of time. Byleth had never been in love before, but she reckoned it was the type of thing that usually happened over time and not in a sudden burst of chaos like she was watching unfold between her three students.
"Can I request something rather selfish, professor?" Eve asked suddenly, reminding Byleth of when Dimitri had asked something similar.
"I'll be the judge of that." Byleth answered the same way she had Dimitri.
"Dimitri needs someone who cares deeply about him—romantically or otherwise." Eve's voice suddenly dropped low, a rare sincere quality taking over it. "I fear I can't be that person. If I am unable to step up when Dimitri needs me most, I want to ask that you be there to support him."
"You care about him." Byleth said rather plainly.
"Not enough." She shook her head. "Not in the way he needs me to."
"If it puts your mind at ease, then I agree to be there for Dimitri." Byleth wasn't sure of her words herself. She felt as if she was making a promise she wouldn't possibly be able to keep. "Though, I doubt this agreement will even be necessary."
"Regardless," Eve sighed as if a weight had been lifted off her chest, "it truly does make me feel more at ease. Thank you."
"It should be in our sights soon, Professor. The abandoned tower those thieves are using as a base... Conand Tower." It was Dimitri who paused first, Byleth and Gilbert both stopping at his side. The other Blue Lions who were trailing behind also stopped to gather themselves.
"This area was the site of a massive battle several hundred years ago." Gilbert said with a glance at their surroundings. "That's when invasions from the north were at their peak. Back then, this tower was built for both surveillance and defence. It will be difficult to seize it."
"You're very well informed, Gilbert. Please, tell us more." It was rare for Dimitri to be sarcastic, but recent events had his patience running thin.
"Well, I..." Gilbert began before a pointed look from Byleth made him trail off. "Ah. You're joking."
"Professor. Did you see the local villages?" Dimitri turned now to Byleth. "They were in rough shape, no doubt because of the thief attacks. They're not going to make it through the winter in that condition. If the thieves had taken up pillaging in order to survive, that would be deplorable...but understandable. But this... This is something else entirely. It looks as though they destroyed those villages purely for pleasure. No matter what their reasons may be, that sort of behaviour cannot be allowed. Ever."
Again, it didn't go unnoticed by the others the uncharacteristic tone that took over Dimitri's voice. Many of the Blue Lions knew His Highness to have a very clear devotion to justice, but they also knew him to be extremely level-headed. But they could tell he was angry, and not just at the bandits.
"Don't bother losing your head over those lowlifes, Your Highness. It's wasted effort." Sylvain walked over to join His Highness, Gilbert, and Byleth in an attempt to dissipate the air of tension.
"Sylvain... The thieves' leader...the one who stole the Relic. Word has it he's your older brother. I know he's been disowned, but..." Dimitri trailed off, seemingly having no real direction to his thought.
"He is no longer a member of House Gautier...or my brother." Sylvain said with an unusually serious tone. "He's nothing more than a common thief."
"Are you sure about that?" Dimitri frowned. "It would be understandable to find this situation...well, regrettable, to say the least."
"Regrets? Heh, you must be joking." Sylvain laughed, but it was hollow. "You know we're far past the point of regret. And it always falls on the younger brother to clean up the mistakes of their elders, doesn't it?"
Sylvain turned away to join the rest of the class and allow for Byleth, Gilbert, and Dimitri to finalise their plan of attack. Everyone else was busy preparing, checking their weapons and supplies. There was a sombre silence over the class, a realisation that this mission would be harder than any of the others they had faced.
"Sylvain." Eve called out to the redhead.
"Hey, kitten." He smirked, pushing off from the tree he was leaning against to stand before her.
"Sylvain." She said his name again, sighing. Gingerly, she reached out and grabbed his hands in hers, rubbing her thumbs in circles over the backs of them.
"Hey, now." Sylvain grinned. "You know you're so much prettier when you smile."
"You're allowed to be upset, you know." Eve said, looking up at him.
"Now how could I be upset when I've got you in my life, hm?" He winked, though Eve could tell he was struggling to keep up his usual charm.
"Stop." She said. "Your brother's made your life a living hell and you always handled it because it was just you on the receiving end of his wrath. But I saw your face when we walked through all those villages. I know it's taking a toll on you because now he's hurting others. And you think it's your fault just because you were born with a crest?"
"Sometimes I wonder if I would've turned out like him if I was born without a crest." Sylvain said quietly.
"I don't know if it's the answer you want," Eve looked down at their hands, "but you probably wouldn't exist if Miklan was born with a crest."
"You're probably right." Sylvain laughed humourlessly.
"But thinking about hypotheticals isn't going to make you feel better." Eve said softly. "What you need to focus on is the fact that none of us blame you for this. And we will all stand by you in this fight."
"You know, you're right." Sylvain withdrew one of his hands to rake it through his hair, looking off in the distance at nothing in particular.
"Hm?" Eve cocked her head questioningly.
"I never retaliated against Miklan when we were young because I understood why he did it." Sylvain sighed. "And it was only me who had to put up with it."
"I remember." Eve offered a tight smile. "It broke my heart, you know. Felix was always so torn up when you were hurt."
"Sometimes I wonder where that sweet little kid went." Sylvain chuckled, looking over Eve's shoulder at his friend who was busy polishing his weapon.
"I remember one time Miklan ended up breaking your arm." Eve spoke softly, eyes misted over by the memory. "You were pretty beat up that time. And you told Felix and Ingrid it was just an accident, that you tripped and fell into the well when you weren't paying attention."
"Goddess, that was ages ago." Sylvain blinked, remembering the incident Eve was talking about. "I remember Felix was absolutely inconsolable."
"He looked up to you almost as much as he looked up to Glenn back then." Eve smiled with a certain melancholy. "He was so broken up about it he wouldn't let go of you. It was even to the point where he hurt your arm even more just because he was clinging so tightly to you.
Sylvain started to chuckle at the memory before something odd struck him. Eve spoke of the memory as if it were her own, but Sylvain distinctly remembered the incident happening in Gautier territory at his family's home. Rodrigue had had some meeting about something or another with his own father and brought Felix and Glenn with him. Though, he couldn't exactly remember why Ingrid had been there as well.
As he thought more on it, he remembered that Rodrigue had only arrived with one servant—a young woman who followed him like a shadow.
"Now, now, Felix, I think that's quite enough."
Sylvain could hear her voice in his memory. He remembered its calming quality as she soothed a crying Felix.
"You don't see Glenn crying, do you?"
She had pried Felix's hands from around Sylvain's injured arm, hoisting him up in her arms to rest him on the crook of her hip. Sylvain remembered thinking she was beautiful, her lithe form and her long black hair that almost made her look like she could be Felix's mother.
And suddenly it hit him. Her hair had been so much longer back then, but there was no mistaking it. That Fraldarius servant and the girl who stood before him now had the same face, the same low rasp to her voice that was somehow infinitely calming.
"Eve." Sylvain felt as if hours had passed since either of them had spoken, though truly it had been mere moments.
"Yes?" Eve looked up at Sylvain, searching his eyes.
"How old are you?" He asked without hesitation, filled with a sudden need for the answer.
"My body is twenty-two." She answered. "But that's not what you're asking, is it?"
"Was it you?" Sylvain asked. "The servant I remember from my childhood every time Rodrigue came to see my father—that was you, wasn't it?"
"It was." Eve nodded, her voice breathy as if relieved to share the burden of this truth.
"Does…" Sylvain glanced over her shoulder.
"No." Eve answered before he could finish his question. "I haven't told Dimitri and Felix doesn't remember."
"What are you going to do?" He asked, eyes still trained over her shoulder.
"I don't know." She shook her head. "Sooner or later they will notice, but I guess I'll have to cross that bridge when I get to it."
Conand Tower was not kind to the Blue Lions. By the time they had reached the upper levels, their energy had been nearly spent. Vulneraries were few and far between and they knew the battle was only going to get more harrowing as they continued.
"The enemy is close by." Gilbert called out from where he brought up the rear of the group. "We're almost to the top floor."
"They are merely thieves, but they have a Hero's Relic. Do not drop your guard." Dimitri warned his classmates as they made their way through the passage.
"Don't hold back for my sake." Sylvain said as he ran his lance through an enemy thief. "My brother is going to pay for everything he's done."
And so, as if with a newfound energy, the Blue Lions kept plodding on. Byleth led them well, thankful that she had agreed to Linhardt's request to join her class as well as made the effort to recruit Ferdinand. Had she not had their assistance along with the Ashen Wolves she had recruited last month, she wasn't sure her students would have been able to make it this far.
Dimitri led the charge with Dedue and Sylvain by his side. Close behind him was Eve and he was thankful that the professor had asked Felix to help guard the rear with Gilbert. It gave him one less thing to cloud his mind as he cut his way through the thieves that had needlessly pillaged the surrounding villages.
That wasn't to say that it wasn't a tough fight, though. Dimitri felt the fatigue in his muscles; he was acutely aware of how heavy his lance felt in his grip. And as he moved to block an oncoming attack, he knew well before the blow landed that he had been too slow. But as he braced for the blade to glance off his bicep, he felt no pain. Instead, he watched as a wound blossomed on his assailant's arm in the exact spot he should have been hit. The thief in front of him dropped his blade in shock, giving Dimitri time to dispose of him despite his disbelief.
He whipped around, locking eyes with Eve from where she stood on the battlefield. He noticed how worn she was, much more than anyone else. She was breathing heavily, staggering to lean on Yuri for a moment as he disposed of the enemies around them. She didn't even have her weapons drawn, choosing instead to attack with the limited spells she knew.
And then it hit him. As his eyes flitted over the raging battle, Dimitri saw that not one of his classmates was injured. They were exhausted and battle worn, but untouched. Where there was torn clothing and obvious evidence of contact with a weapon, there was no blood shed.
She was protecting them—all of them.
So, this was the full potential of her crest's power. Dimitri recalled a time when Eve had said that though many would believe the fullest extent of her power was her ability to resurrect the dead, there was so much more she could do. And now he recognised what she had meant. They had cut through so many enemies at this point and yet not a single Blue Lion was injured. He could only imagine the potential this power had if she was fully protected and allowed to devote all of her strength to using her crest. Of course, none of them could have suffered fatal injuries for her to be able to do this, but being uninjured meant that all of the Blue Lions could continue to fight for as long as they had.
Dimitri then realised why the Archbishop was so intent on keeping Eve on the side of the church. He thought back to Lonato's rebellion and the waves of enemies that had come through the fog. He couldn't imagine being unable to wound those enemies. If someone with Eve's power had been on the opposing side, the Blue Lions would have only had the choice of landing fatal blows to be able to push forward. With Eve's crest, there was no incapacitating enemies or winning on stamina alone.
And at the same time, Dimitri found his heart aching in his chest as he watched Eve struggle to continue protecting their classmates. She was a formidable foe on the battlefield with her blades alone. And yet she was more concerned with making sure everyone was safe. As much as Eve wanted to seem aloof and like she only cared for her own agenda, she was a protector by nature. She protected the Fraldarius family, she protected him from Lady Rhea, she protected the Blue Lions from bodily harm. And she did all of this at the cost of her own wellbeing.
"Eve!" Dimitri called out when he saw her stagger once more, abandoning Dedue and Sylvain to rush to her side.
"I've got her covered, don't worry." Yuri said, slashing through an enemy as they pushed forward.
"You're wearing yourself out, Eve." Dimitri ignored Yuri, watching Eve's face intently.
"We're nearly to the top." Eve's breath was laboured as she jerked her head towards the stairs before them. It was true; just up the stairs and across the landing was the highest point of Conand Tower where, no doubt, Miklan would be waiting for them.
"Drink this." Dimitri shoved his last vulnerary into her hand.
"No, you need it more than me." She shook her head and tried to give the bottle back to Dimitri.
"I know what you're doing, Eve." Dimitri pushed the potion back into her hand. "If resurrecting someone once takes your full force, you're going to kill yourself from the effort of protecting all of us from injury for this long."
"I don't know what you're talking about." She gritted her teeth. But the glow of her crest betrayed her, and Dimitri watched an arrow graze Mercede's calf without leaving so much as a scratch in its wake.
"Miklan!" Sylvain's shout brought both Dimitri and Eve's attention back to the matter at hand.
They had finally made it to the top of Conand Tower. And standing before them was Miklan, wielding the Lance of Ruin.
Eve rushed forward to stand at Sylvain's side, her exhaustion forgotten. And when Dimitri joined her there, he found himself becoming part of a tense standoff between the two forces.
"Why have you come, you Crest-bearing fool?" Miklan grimaced at his brother. Dimitri watched as Eve's hand flew out to rest on Sylvain's arm—whether in comfort or to hold him back, though, he wasn't sure.
"I'm here for the Lance of Ruin, Miklan." Sylvain held his ground, a rare frown tracing lines into his forehead. "Hand it over. I don't want to humiliate you, but I will."
"Hurry up and die already." Miklan barked back. "If not for you... If it hadn't been for you..."
"Shut up! I'm so tired of hearing that." Eve's hand on Sylvain's arm squeezed as he faced off against his brother. "You've always blamed me for something that isn't my fault."
Though it was painful to watch, Dimitri was grateful for the brief standoff between the two Gautier brothers. It gave the rest of the Blue Lions time to gather at the entrance to the large room. And it provided a long enough pause for vulneraries to be uncorked and healing spells to be cast. They were all a little worse for wear, but Dimitri was confident they had enough left in them to end this here and now.
Or so he thought, so they all thought, until something no one was expecting occurred. As they fought, a darkness erupted from the stone within the Lance of Ruin. They all watched on in horror, friend and foe alike, as the tendrils enveloped Miklan until he disappeared within them.
"What the hell." There was true fear in Eve's eyes when Dimitri turned to her.
Where Miklan once stood, there was now a Black Beast—a demonic thing that towered above them all.
"What the- Miklan?!" Sylvain's eyes widened in horror. "Is that you?!"
"So, this is the power of a Hero's Relic. To create such a sinister beast..." Dimitri trailed off, looking at the monster before them." It has gone too far. I fear all we can do now is put an end to it."
"Get back!" Byleth called out to her students as the beast swiped at them.
Without hesitation, she drew the Sword of the Creator against what had once been Miklan. Dimitri watched as she unleashed the power of the Relic she wielded, burying the glowing blade deep within the Black Beast.
And just as quickly as it had begun, the chaos was over. The beast fell with a mighty roar and the darkness that had consumed Miklan dissipated—leaving only the man and the Relic behind.
"Goddess…" Gilbert turned his head heavenward, allowing the rain to fall upon his face. "The beast is gone, yet Miklan and the lance remain."
"It's over…" Dimitri said, though for whom he wasn't sure. "Let's retrieve the lance and leave this place."
"Miklan…" Sylvain staggered, leaning against his lance for support. "My brother…"
Dimitri moved to join his friend, intending to offer whatever comfort he could as Gilbert and the professor retrieved the Lance of Ruin. But as he stepped forward, he was pulled back by his cape. He turned around to see Eve with a fistful of the blue fabric, clinging to it with desperation.
"Eve?" His voice dripped with concern as he noticed just how pale her complexion was.
"…safe?" Her words were muddled from exhaustion.
"What?" Dimitri's brow furrowed.
"Is everyone safe?" She tried again, this time a little more audible.
"Yes." Dimitri nodded, looking around at the tired yet unharmed Blue Lions.
"Good." She smiled weakly. And before Dimitri had time to berate her for her recklessness, she collapsed into his arms—a peacefulness he had never seen before settling into her features.