It wasn't often that Edelgard left her room only to return, especially in the morning. He knew what likely caused her to leave, so he didn't question her. There wasn't a point in bringing up the past; he had seen how it could distract her in the Garland Moon.
In the time leading up to the mock battle, Hubert allowed Monica to stay with Edelgard while he looked into other matters—attempting to further an investigation on that mercenary proved fruitless, but he could still assure Edelgard's safety when they went to Enbarr. He always hid near whenever Edelgard met with Thales, and to say he was wary of the man would put it lightly.
Some students worked harder for the sake of winning a competition than they did on their normal studies—one or two students barely put in this amount of effort to survive their real battles. Overall, there was a lighter atmosphere to the whole monastery with no real threats that they needed to take care of. The students felt safe to joke, tease, even threaten each other regarding what the Battle of the Eagle and Lion would bring.
Every student left the monastery a couple of days before the mock battle, including some knights—guarding Rhea, despite their insistence of being there for the students' protection—and the few members of Jeralt's Mercenaries that had been at the monastery came as well. They all spread around the town closest to the field itself for the single day they had before the battle.
They all met in the section of the field that would be their battlefield, first being addressed by Rhea. Although Seteth came as well to watch Flayn, he wasn't present; the mercenaries and some of the knights had left as well. Rhea herself only wished them good luck and sent them off to plan amongst themselves, their professors—where applicable—only reminding them of tactics they had gone over in class earlier.
Unlike the mock battle in the Great Tree Moon, every single member of every single class fought here—three armies of students, where you could only identify friend from foe and barely distinguish between houses. The battle began after proper barbs were exchanged and all students had time to decide on their roles. Hubert was tasked with weakening the enemies; the indirect approached suited him well. Monica remained close to Edelgard in his stead, seeming rather pleased with the position. He's watched her closely since her arrival—Monica was capable of assisting in a victory. If nothing else, she would take a hit and fall in Edelgard's stead.
No class in particular had an advantage, nor did any have any disadvantages that were easy to exploit. With no professor to rely on for instruction, the students turned towards their house leaders, who themselves all opted to stay in one area until their help was required. It prevented the same kind of confused misdirection that had occurred during the mock battle in the Great Tree Moon.
Hubert himself stayed where few people could see him, supporting those who were more noticeable. A bulk of them focused on the Golden Deer, forcing them to split their numbers between the other two classes. Claude moved to help the others after they started taking enough losses.
As the Golden Deer lost more people, the Blue Lions turned their focus on the Black Eagles and Hubert left the shadows. Edelgard and Monica—as well as Dimitri and Dedue on the Blue Lions' side—joined the battle in earnest.
Everything went much quicker after all the house leaders were fighting alongside the others.
In a refreshing change from the mock battle with in the Great Tree Moon, an apparent miscalculation on Claude's part led to him retreating before the other two. Edelgard engaged Dimitri and managed to overpower him, falling behind the other Black Eagles before anyone could take advantage of the narrow win.
Each class was down to only a few students by then, so for a short time they reached a defensive stalemate. After a few minutes, Edelgard ordered a complete, final offensive—a dozen Black Eagles immediately followed her command. The rest of the students were routed within the half hour.
When only one class remained, the horns sounded again to mark the end of the fighting.
"That ends the mock battle!" Rhea called. "Every student performed excellently. The Black Eagles have won this year."
Those that were still on the battlefield celebrated; Edelgard even looked pleased, commending the students that did particularly well. Hubert took his spot next to her as they met back up with the knights, Claude and Dimitri catching them on their way.
"Hey! You guys did better than I thought," Claude said as his greeting.
"Did you expect me to retreat first?" Edelgard asked, a mix of amusement and curiosity in her voice.
"Not necessarily," Claude replied. "Just didn't think I would be the first to go."
"You can't say you didn't anticipate it," Dimitri pointed out, glancing at him for a moment. Claude offered a smile and shrug in return, and Dimitri looked back at Edelgard. "You did well, Edelgard. I'm glad this is the last of the mock battles. Fighting you is never something I look forward to."
"There could be real battles to come," Edelgard pointed out. "The future can hold anything."
Before Dimitri could agree or protest—although he did frown—Claude spoke up.
"Hey, before you two get too worked up over future things, why don't we just stay in the present for now?" The Golden Deer leader suggested. "Regardless of who won, it was a good battle and great practice. I think we've all come far from where we started, so for the sake of celebrating the past and progress and all that—I had the idea of having a little feast when we got back to the monastery. Get the others to talk to each other too; just one meal where everyone has fun and has conversations, setting aside all of the house and status stuff."
Hubert glanced at Edelgard, and opted to ruin any excitement now rather than later. He knew she needed the small distraction—she worked best if free time was mixed in—but first and foremost they had work to do.
"We should leave for Enbarr as soon as we're able," he reminded her.
Judging by her frown, she had forgotten among the excitement of the battle. He would have preferred that to end the conversation, but Dimitri seemed to pity her to some extent.
"It can be held after you return," he offered. "I do think it's a good idea—considering the Black Eagles won, it's only fair we would wait until you came back from Enbarr."
"You shouldn't delay anything on my account—I can manage without."
"Everyone needs to take breaks," Claude pointed out. "Like you said: we don't know what the future holds. We could all be called back to handle all the boring paperwork and stuffy nobles before the end of the school year—we might as well enjoy things a little while we can."
There wasn't much pause for Edelgard or Hubert to protest before Dimitri continued on a similar thought.
"Claude and I can present the idea to Lady Rhea," he decided. "Regardless of how the celebration is held—a feast or just praise from Professor Manuela—you should be there as the house leader. I'm sure the other Black Eagles would agree."
Edelgard paused for a moment, then nodded. "Thank you. I'll try not to let things drag on for too long so no one has to wait."
Dimitri gave her a smile. "We'll see you when you return to the monastery, then."
He offered some kind of wave of goodbye, and Claude left as well. Hubert waited until they were out of earshot to glance at her.
"You know what I want to say."
Edelgard sighed, reciting an earlier comment with near-perfect accuracy. "'There's no guarantee anyone at the academy will stay loyal after the academy—this is especially true for the other house leaders. You should try not to get close.'"
"You haven't forgotten, at least. Your impression of me has improved somewhat, as well."
"I said it before: I can't very well ignore them, or else they will side with the church simply because they don't understand my motivations. I'd rather have any of them as allies, if only because it's one less enemy I have to deal with."
"Very well."
In the brief silence, they came to an agreement—or rather, such an agreement was inferred. He would step in if he needed to, in whatever way was required; Hubert knew Edelgard was well aware of this by how.
Edelgard broke the silence after a moment.
"We can start going to Enbarr this afternoon, I just need to tell Professor Manuela we're leaving and ask if Monica or Ferdinand will watch over the others."
"I can inform everyone who needs to know. Make sure you have everything."
She nodded, giving him a grateful look for his assistance. After another moment, they both separated temporarily to take care of their different tasks.
(A/N: I did not intend for a majority of this chapter to be blocks of text. As a fair warning: that is the norm for the chapters with more fighting in it.)
