It's a calm afternoon. The sky is tinged red with the rays of the descending sun as the soldiers take their places. Today their fortifications will be brought under siege, as The Church of Seiros attempts to reclaim Garreg Mach Monastery. Taking position on the field, Byleth watches from afar as The Church marshals it's forces, mentally preparing herself to face people that in another time, had been her friends.
Edelgard approaches, "Are you ready, my teacher?"
Byleth sighs and nods, "Of course. I knew what would happen if I chose to side with you, but here I am."
The battle soon commences. The conflict is horrible, as most battles of war are. Blood flies as readily as arrows, wyverns roar across the skies, and fires rage. It is then that Byleth sees him, riding across the battlefield astride a wyvern, lance held at the ready and anger in his eyes. Seteth.
Her once friend bears down on her, fully prepared to run her through. However, a single strike with The Sword sends him tumbling to the ground, fatally wounded. As Seteth collapses and Flayn's desperate cry rings out across the battlefield, Byleth cannot help the tears that begin to run down her face.
Meeting Seteth's dying eyes, Byleth leaves him with only two tearful words of parting, "I'm sorry."
Byleth jolts awake, sitting up in her bed. Raising a shaky hand to her face, she feels the tear tracks on her face that formed in response to the old memory. Shakily, she pulls herself out of bed, she has to prepare. Today is the day, her first day on the job.
She has a Hero license now, under her old mercenary title. She had been resistant to the idea, but seeing as she couldn't come up with anything better it had been sent in with the name 'Ashen Demon'. That wasn't even the worst part about the process. No, that would be the fact that she hadn't even had to take a test to receive the license, the commission had just taken Nezu's word for it. Seeing the governing bodies just step aside for her employer was… frightening, to say the least. The amount of power Nezu holds is staggering, all legal processes considered.
Arriving at UA, she follows the lead of a robot that was sent to guide her, soon arriving at the faculty office. Upon stepping inside, she's greeted by the sight of her new coworkers, all in their Hero outfits. Technically, she should be in her own, but it isn't finished so she just showed up in her best outfit.
As soon as the others see her, a woman with purple hair, Pro Hero Midnight, runs up to her, "Hey! You're the new girl, right?! It's so nice to have another girl here! It's just been me, Thirteen, and Recovery Girl for a while now."
Byleth steps away, slightly uncomfortable, not that any of them can tell with her blank face. These people… she doesn't know them, she doesn't feel comfortable letting her emotions out around them, so she's walling them off. Until she determines how trustworthy they all are, she's as emotionless as if she were on a battlefield.
Behind her, from the doorway, someone clears their throat. Stepping forward, Seteth motions for Midnight to move back.
He sighs, "Midnight. Could you please refrain from invading our new colleague's personal space? I would like her to have a good impression of UA, seeing as she'll be working hands on with most of us."
He looks over the room, "It would seem most of us are here, all that's left is-"
"I am here! Apologies for my lateness, I encountered a bank robbery on the way here and felt the need to step in."
Byleth blinks. That's… All Might. Number One Hero, Symbol of Peace, All Might. She hadn't been expecting that.
He turns to face Byleth, "Ah, you must be the other new hire Nezu spoke of! Ms. Eisner, yes? It's a pleasure to meet you, and I look forward to working with you."
Byleth nods, "It's nice to meet you too."
Seteth glances at Byleth for a moment, most likely noticing her lack of emotion, "Now then, before we proceed to the viewing room, I do believe there is one more matter to take care of. All Might, if you would?"
All Might nods before… shrinking…
The now skeletal man regards her, "This is the form I take outside of the three hours of Hero work that a grievous injury has limited me to. Please refer to me as Toshinori Yagi while I'm like this, and do not tell a soul."
Byleth nods, taking it in stride. It isn't the weirdest transformation she's seen after all.
Without further ado, Seteth leads them to the viewing room, allowing the rest of the staff to take their seat before pulling Byleth off to the side.
In a hushed voice he asks, "Are you feeling well, Byleth?"
Byleth nods, face relaxing slightly to show her lack of sleep, "I'll be fine. I'm not accustomed to having this many people around me after all these years, so I'll be keeping my emotions to myself for a bit."
Seteth look her over, "How did you sleep last night?"
She sighs, "Not that well. Just an old nightmare coming back to me. I'll be fine though."
She gives a small smile, "Now come on, I'm sure the others would like to hear your input about our prospective students."
Seteth sighs but gives a nod as they make their way to their seats. Within moments, the test begins and the students scatter throughout the testing sites.
Observing carefully, Byleth picks out the details of how each student fights, piecing together their training and constructing theoretical training regiments for them.
Some focus on brawling, some would benefit more from an education similar to the old magic of Fódlan, and some seem as if a weapon would suit them well. For example, the boy with engines in his legs, train him to use a lance alongside those devastating kicks and he'd be quite the force on the battlefield.
Nezu notices Byleth's thinking and chuckles, "Ms. Eisner, would you like to share your thinking?"
At his words, the other teachers turn to see what she'll say.
With a nod, she speaks in a monotone similar to all those years ago, "I was thinking of how particular training could benefit some of these kids. The boy with the Hardening Quirk and the girl who can change the size of her hands would benefit quite a bit from training in brawling, and I don't mean martial arts. Martial artists may be skilled, but they're likely to fall into routines, I mean we should teach them a more… rough style of unarmed combat to shake off routine and increase their effectiveness. The one who seems to be copying the abilities of others, he might benefit from learning to use concealed weapons and training in stealth. Lastly, for those like the girl removing the robots' gravity, they could get a great deal out of items that let them weaponize their Quirks from a distance and maintain relative safety without sacrificing combat ability."
Seteth smiles and nods, "I concur Byleth, though perhaps some of them could also benefit from mobility aids."
Byleth nods in return, "Yes, thank you for bringing that up Seteth, I-"
Midnight raises an eyebrow while smirking, "Whoa there you two, first name basis? Is there something going on here?"
Seteth sighs, "No, Midnight. Byleth and I have known each other for years, and we originate from outside of Japan, so please keeps your theories to yourself."
Midnight pouts, but she keeps her mouth shut.
Nezu suddenly lets out a cackle, "Oh my! Would you look at the time? It's time for my favorite part of the test!"
Reaching out, Nezu presses a large red button, mad glee burning in his eyes.
Within the test sites, titanic enemy robots emerge, one per site, and cause a commotion, sending the students running. Most of them at least. Some, like Flayn, stay to assist other in getting away, but one in particular stands out.
A plain looking green haired boy, who thus far hasn't earned even a single point, charges the Zero-Pointer in his site before leaping the sizable distance between the ground and it's head and caving it's face in with a single punch.
Byleth's eyebrows shoot up. That was quite impressive, especially for someone who had done nothing else during the exam.
Nezu cackles away in his seat, just imagining the possibilities of the year. Even Seteth and Byleth feel a shiver run up their spines. Yes, this year will certainly be interesting.