Fuga, Hayato, and Rhajat had already made their way to the port. Rhajat felt a bit of a lump in her throat, for multiple reasons. One was that she leaving her family, but another was that her mother wasn't around to see her off. She couldn't help but laugh a bit to herself. She never thought she'd see the day that something like that would actually bother her.

Rhajat walked up to the boat, then turned around. "Before I go, there's something I need to tell you. I'm... going to lead the house." She finally said.

Hayato's face slowly lit up. He ran up to her and embraced her in a hug. Rhajat looked around to make sure no one was looking. She slowly hugged him back. She could feel her eyes watering, and the damn was threatening to burst.

"I'm proud of you." Fuga told her. He walked up to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. "It's a big responsibility to be a leader. You may have to make hard decisions. They're going to be looking to you for guidance. You're strong, and you need to show them that too."

Hayato released his daughter and looked at his adoptive father. He put his hands on his hips and pouted. "Don't scare her!"

Rhajat smiled. "I understand."

Fuga stepped back and nodded. Hayato was already crying, but he was smiling through his tears. Rhajat looked at them both and smiled. "See you. Give Mom my regards." Rhajat then turned around to walk onto the boat.

She didn't want to look back, but this was the last time she'd see them for a while and she knew if she saw them she'd wouldn't be able to hold back. The ship slowly started moving. Rhajat knew at this point there was no going back, even if she wanted to. As the ship began to leave, she forced herself to turn around. Seeing Fuga's joy filled grin and Hayato crying broke her. Tears fell down her face, and she prayed to whatever deity was up there that they couldn't tell. She waved one last time and walked away to the other side of the boat.

Once she was out of sight, she slid downward with her back on the wall. She let herself cry quietly. It would be a long ride. Even through her tears, she could tell it was a rather beautiful view. The water glistened as the sun hit it. It wasn't the first time she had seen an ocean, but it wasn't something she was used to. She did grow up in a desert region after all.

The officer's academy from her understanding was a neutral place temperature wise. She was used to hotter temperatures, so it should be fine. It didn't tend to snow over there as far as she knew, so she figured it would be fine. Rhajat hated snow. It just seemed annoying to deal with despite her having never seen it before. And she hated the cold. It just felt uncomfortable, she'd never understand how there were people who actually preferred it.

She was rather glad that the person manning the boat wasn't a chatty sort. It made the trip there quiet, which she enjoyed. She didn't want to make small talk. She hated that too if anything. It was so awkward and uncomfortable.

The smell of saltwater hit Rhajat's nose. It was an odd smell to her. She didn't mind it though. The sound of waves was also rather relaxing to her. She sat down on the port, lost in thought.

She wondered how she'd handle another culture. She barely was able to do her own. She knew that in Fodlan, over there they believed in a goddess. Rhajat wasn't the most religious person, so there wouldn't be issues there. She didn't really care one way or another. She also believed their society is built on something called crests. She didn't know the details, but apparently a lot of nobility had them and they gave the user special power. It sounded a bit like the dragon blood royals have in Lethe that gave them the ability to use dragon veins. From the sound of it, they could do more than that. They seemed rather sought after from her understanding.

This made her realize, she might have to interact with other house leaders, not just her own. She wondered if she really made the right choice, but it was too late to back out now. She had no idea who was leading the other houses this year. She just hoped they weren't too annoying.

She wondered if they need to coordinate anything. She hoped not, she wasn't the best at working with others. She'd much rather do her own thing. Then again she'd have to drop that hard to be a leader.

She groaned, nearly beginning to regret her decision. But she was going to stick to it regardless. She wasn't going to let anyone down. If there was anything she despised, it was letting others down.

She also wondered about their future teacher. She wondered if they were someone skilled, and with experience. She really wanted to improve her dark magic. She was already really good at it, but she was almost entirely self taught. She wondered what she could get from someone who actually knows a thing or two about it.

She also knew that tomes weren't something you'd find often in Fodlan. They didn't sell them there, most people could use magic without spell books. She could do a bit of it, but she was given a scroll from her father just to be safe. A ox scroll, she could summon a spirit of an animal to attack for her. She wondered if it was possible to learn how to do it without one. That would be impressive. Just another thing she'd have to ask her future teacher. She also figured on the other hand that she couldn't expect a teacher to know about how Lethe works. She didn't know everything about Fodlan.

After some waiting, she was pulled out of her thoughts by seeing land. There wouldn't be too much longer before they would make it to Fodlan.

"We've arrived!" The captain yelled.

Eventually, the ship began to slow down to a stop.

Rhajat left where she was sitting and walked towards the exit. She slowly descended down the ramp, and took her first steps into Fodlan. She was met by a green haired man who looked rather stern.

"Hello, you must be Rhajat. My name is Seteth. If you're here so early, does that mean you've accepted your position?" Seteth asked.

Rhajat nodded. "Yes."

"Excellent." Seteth responded. "I'll lead you to the Officer's Academy. We figured since you're from Lethe you may have trouble finding it. We have a cart for you."

"Thank you." said Rhajat. She then tried to see if she could read him. There was a sort of kindness in his eyes. But it didn't seem like he was someone who would be pushed around either. An interesting combination. The Officers Academy awaited her as well as the other house leaders. Classes didn't start for another few days, and the rest of her class wouldn't arrive until tomorrow. She might have a busy day ahead of her. But it would be worth it if she could learn something, and get stronger. Strong enough to protect those close to her. And of course, to cause some mischief. That was important to her too.

Rhajat stopped to stare in awe at how huge the monastery was. She had seen art of it, but they didn't do it justice. It was very beautiful. The gate opened, and they stepped in.

There was a market right at the entrance. It looked like they were still preparing to open. They were selling weapons and items. They came across a soldier who gave Seteth a salute.

"Greetings Seteth! Nothing to report!"

Seteth nodded, then turned to Rhajat. "The dorms are on our left. You can probably see them from here. Yours is on the third level, on the far right. Any questions?"

Rhajat shook her looked over to her dorm room, she was eager to set up her new home.

"Once you're done there, wait in the cafeteria." Seteth pointed it out, which was about halfway between where they were and where the dorms were. Rhajat was glad at least that she could get snacks easily.

"Thank you." Rhajat said. She dipped her head and walked off right after to place her things down. On the way, she noticed a pond, and on her right some stairs. She kept walking until she got to the end of the dorm opposite to where hers was.

She climbed the nearby stairs until she reached the third level. On her way to her room, she looked downward, once again seeing a nice view. A bit further down was her room. She entered it and took a look around. There was a soft looking bed on her left. On the right was a small desk. There was a dresser on the wall, long enough to cover the entire thing. She started to unpack.

Once she was done, she decided to look around the monastery. She looked back to where she saw those stairs from earlier, and walked up them. There she found an open door. Inside of it was the aforementioned cafeteria. An excellent place to make poison if the need arose.

She noticed a young man in yellow sitting looking bored. He looked up and grinned when he saw her. "Hey, finally someone else showed up! I knew I got here too early."

Rhajat walked over to him. "And you are? Another house leader I presume?"

"That's right. Claude von Riegan. Nice to meet you. I take it you're from Lethe?" Claude had a big smile on his face, but something about it felt forced to Rhajat.

Rhajat looked a bit impressed. "How did you know that?"

"I heard that there were gonna be some big wigs joining this year." He began. "I didn't recognize you, so it only made sense that you were the leader of the Gray Dragon house."

"Ah, so you're not an idiot. That's good." Rhajat noted.

Claude couldn't help but laugh. "You're blunt, I like that."

"Looks like we weren't the first ones here Lady Edelgard.ยจ

Rhajat turned around to see a short woman around her age in red, with long white hair. The voice came from her companion, a tall man in the male uniform who gave off an intimidating aura. Her name seemed to be Edelgard.

Edelgard looked over to Claude. "Ah you must be Claude. As my companion Hubert just said, I am Edelgard von Hresvleg of the Adrestian Empire." She looked at Rhajat. She seemed to be assessing her, which Rhajat didn't appreciate.

Rhajat folded her arms in irritation. "Is there a problem?"

"No, I was just curious who you were." she explained.

"You should remember you are talking to the future Adrestian emperor. Watch your tongue." Hubert warned.

Rhajat already didn't like him. She didn't appreciate being told how she should interact with people, especially given that she didn't feel she said anything wrong. "I'll talk to whoever I want, however I want."

Edelgard immediately held her hand up to stop Hubert's rebuttal. He glared at Rhajat, prompting a sigh from Edelgard. "Apologies. He's very protective. So much so that he didn't let me come here alone. But who are you?"

Before she could answer, a young man ran in, with a taller man behind him. "You're so fast!" The young man said. He was wearing the male uniform as well, but with blue.

"Hm? I wasn't going that fast. You need to work on your skills." Edelgard bluntly scolded.

"I suppose you have a point." The boy looked and saw that the other house leaders were here too. "Oh, it seems we're all here. I'm Dimitri Alexandre Bladdiyad. This is my friend Dedue. He didn't let me come by myself." Dimitri said with a bit of a laugh.

"I'm Rhajat Hoshino. I'm from the wind tribe in Lethe. Hoshido to be more specific."

Dimitri nodded in understanding. "Nice to meet you Rhajat."

"Indeed." Edelgard agreed.

"Looks like Edelgard and Dimitri both have their Moms following them around." He turned to Rhajat. "You got one of those?" He pointed his thumb at Hubert and Dedue's direction.

Rhajat shook her head. "I can take care of myself after all."

Claude laughed again. "I see."

Hubert put his face in his palm. "Are we done with this yet?"

"I'm not sure how I feel about being referred to as a "mother." I am simply his majesty's vassal. No more, no less."

Dimitri sighed, clearly not happy with the answer.

Rhajat was about to ask about that, but was once again interrupted, this time by Seteth coming in. "I see everyone has arrived. Follow me. We're going to see Lady Rhea."

"Lady Rhea?" Rhajat wondered to herself. She wasn't sure who that was, but judging by the "lady" she assumed she was important. Seteth made a following motion and started to walk off. Everyone looked at each other before following him. As they made their way there, everyone looked in amazement or intrigue at how huge the monastery was. There were a myriad of rooms and departments. Once they hit the third floor, they found themselves in front of a door. Seteth turned around and looked at everyone. "You're about to meet our archbishop. Be on your best behavior."

He opened the door, and there was a large room, that looked like a hallway. Before any of them walked in, Seteth turned around again. "Could you two stay behind?" He asked Dedue and Hubert. "This is for the house leaders after all." They both looked like they wanted to object, but Dimitri spoke up. "Come now Dedue. I'll be fine."

"Same goes for you Hubert." Edelgard gave an unreadable look to Hubert. Hubert sighed and stood down, and Dedue did the same.

The four walked inside, and were greeted by someone's back. Seteth closed the door behind them. They walked closer, as the woman turned around. She was a gorgeous tall green haired woman. She was wearing all white. The other three had unreadable expressions of their faces. Rhajat pulled herself together.

"Hello. My name is Rhea. As you all know, I'm the archbishop."

Rhajat didn't know that, but she felt interrupting her to say so was unneeded.

"I'm happy to see 3 of the most important people in Fodlan joining the Officer's Academy at the same time. Perhaps this could be your chance to get to know each other." She looked towards Rhajat. "And you must be the Lethian, Rhajat. I hope that you'll get along with the other house leaders, and your connections with Fodlan will continue to prosper." Her voice was soft and angelic. There was a warm motherly vibe to it.

"You four are, in our eyes, the most fit to lead your respective houses. I'm expecting great things from all of you. In order to be a student, you must be prepared to engage in very real battles. It's kill or be killed. And I know you're ready for it. Sometimes it'll be as simple as defeating bandits. Other times it may be more complicated. But you will fight for their nations, as well as the church. I'm expecting great things. I want you to go forth, and carve a path to the future."

Everyone nodded. Rhajat listened as the archbishop's speech went on. Normally she would have zoned out, but she found herself paying attention. Not just because she was taking this seriously, but also she had to admit, the archbishop was enchanting.

"You will all have a professor to guide you and protect you, but remember that you will be leaders as well. You will also be guiding and protecting your class. They will be looking up to you. Please do not forget this. That is all. You are dismissed. Best of luck."

The other three house leaders bowed in respect, and Rhajat quickly did the same. They walked out, and Hubert and Dedue were waiting patiently. Dedue spoke up first. "How did it go your majesty?"

"She just gave us a speech. It was rather inspirational." He explained.

Claude didn't look as convinced. "I don't know about that. Are we learning to fight or are we learning to serve the church?"

Edelgard rose an eyebrow at that, but just as quickly lowered it. "Regardless, tomorrow we'll be meeting the rest of our respective houses. We should be ready. Good luck to you three." Edelgard walked away with Hubert not far behind.

Claude waited a bit for them to leave. "...That Hubert sure is something huh? He seemed ready to fight pretty quickly for the imperial princess."

"He's just loyal to Edelgard. Nothing odd about that." Dimitri replied.

"You're much too nice if you don't see anything wrong with him. But regardless, I'll be leaving now. Bye." Hoping to spend some time working on hexes, Rhajat quickly returned to her room. The day was still young after all. However, on her way back she was stopped by Edelgard.

"Did you need something?" Rhajat asked a bit on edge. She didn't really have an opinion on Edelgard yet, but for better or worse she had a feeling that was about to change.

"I just wanted to ask about Lethe. I don't believe it has crests, does it?"

"That's a bit random." Rhajat was a bit confused. "We don't though."

"Huh. Interesting..." Edelgard looked like she wanted to continue, but decided against it. "I was just curious." Edelgard stared at Rhajat's green hair for a bit.

Rhajat started to feel a bit self-conscious. "You're a rude one. Perhaps I should hex you..." she said with a glare.

Edelgard seemed more amused than offended by the threat. "I'd like to see you try. But sorry for upsetting you. I'm just thinking."

Rhajat looked frustrated. "Whatever."

Edelgard bowed apologetically. "Sorry to bother you." She then walked away, leaving Rhajat by herself.

Rhajat felt like she had no idea what to make of her. She'd be the future Adrestian emperor. She hoped that nation would be in good hands once she took the throne. Dismissing the weirdness of the interaction, she left for her room.