This turned out to be harder than I thought.

Chapter 24 – Twin Songs (Pegasus Moon)

Annette had to stop herself from wincing as Constance raised her voice in the cathedral. The blonde was shielded from the sun, allowing her pride to surface as the sorceress began singing.

"~Tra-la-laa la-laa… Sing out over peaks… Ring out over valleys… Let my lovely voice echo through the streets and alleys…"

As Constance went on, Annette wished she could cover her ears, but the blonde would surely notice this. Standing nearby, Alois clearly shared her opinion of Constance's singing voice.

Then, as Constance was about to begin another verse, a sassy voice said loudly, "Oh, my poor ears! What is that racket?!"

Annette and Alois turned to see Cia strutting toward them in her usual revealing black dress.

Turning to face the dark twin, Constance said, "Ah-ha, you must have heard my sonorous voice. No doubt an opera diva would recognize my talent for song."

"Sonorous? You?" Cia said before she burst into laughter.

"What is so funny?!" Constance snapped, realizing Cia was mocking her.

"You think you're actually any good?" Cia said amid her laughs. "You sound like someone strangling a cat!"

"H-How dare you! I will not be insulted by some shameless tart with no sense of tone!"

Cia stopped laughing as she said, "Is that so? Lemme show you how it's done."

The dark twin then put a hand to her throat and began to sing, drawing the attention of everyone in the cathedral. Her voice, honed by years of practice, filled the monastery with her deep, seductive tone.

Let all the wonders come to me

The fantasy fills…

Fills my heart

I'll never wander anymore

For all the love I have

I have for you

All the spirits of the wind

Spread their magic wings and fly

Racing at the speed of light

Through the valleys and the passages of time

When we fell in love

Destiny

Each night will never end

Our nights will never end

Eternity awaits

You and me

Now that you are here

We'll never be alone again

Stay with me, my loooove~

The cathedral was filled with the sound of applause as Cia finished. Everyone except Constance was amazed by the dark-skinned diva's performance.

"Well done, Miss Lacrimosa!" said Alois.

"That was amazing, Cia!" said Annette.

"Well, Constance?" Cia said with a smirk. "Still think I have 'no sense of tone'?"

Constance could only growl furiously as she gritted her teeth indignantly.

"I thought I heard your voice, Cia!" said Lana as she entered the cathedral. "That was from the Chronicle of Parn, wasn't it?"

"Just showing Constance how a real singer does it," said Cia.

With another growl, Constance said, "I will concede that you are the superior singer, but I am still your better in sorcery, Cia Lacrimosa!"

"Oh? Care to test that theory?"

"Now, now, ladies, there's no need for that," said Alois as he put himself between the two mages. "Especially not here."

"Yeah, if you two are gonna have it out, do it at the training grounds," said Annette.

Constance let out a short 'Urk!' at this, knowing it was sunny out.

"Guess your noble heritage doesn't make you the best at everything, does it, Constance?" Cia said derisively.

"I have better things to do in any event!" Constance snapped. "Experiments that you two would not comprehend if given a hundred years!"

"That long?" said Lana. "Must be pretty complicated, then."

"Don't encourage her, Lana," said Cia.

As Constance moved to exit the cathedral, instantly turning gloomy as she ventured out into the sun, Dorothea watched her leave and couldn't help but snicker. Hearing Cia knock Constance down a peg was extremely satisfying to the brunette.

…

Two hours passed before Lana made her way to the dining hall for some lunch with Cia. The two had been invited by Byleth, who had taken the time to prepare a meal of Spicy Fish and Turnip Stew. The two were surprised the Archbishop had both the time and ingredients for such a meal, given how short the monastery was on supplies.

"Not that I object to this," said Cia, "but how'd you get the stuff for it?"

"I caught the fish just this morning," said Byleth. "We've also managed to start growing things again in the greenhouse."

"Oh, well, that's good," Lana said with her perpetual smile.

"Go on, help yourselves."

Cia was the first to try out Byleth's creation and gave her a smile and a nod of approval.

"Not bad, not bad," said Cia. "I've always enjoyed spicier stuff."

"It's, umm… very fishy?" said Lana, but Byleth could clearly tell the blue-haired diva didn't enjoy it.

"Is something wrong, Lana?" asked Byleth.

"No, no, nothing! Thank you for the meal, Lady Eisner."

"If you want, I could get you something else."

"It's fine, it's fine."

Byleth opened her mouth again to speak but couldn't find anything to say. In truth, she was doing this not just out of congeniality, but also to confirm something she had heard from the others. No matter where Lana went, and no matter what the situation, the girl always seemed to be in a perpetual state of happiness. While Byleth had no personal issue with it, some of the refugees and soldiers had been bringing it to her attention, claiming her constant cheer was disturbing them.

It seemed their claims were true. Even being served something she clearly disliked wasn't changing her mood at all. She kept up her smile as she forced herself to eat the spicy meal.

Upon finishing, Lana said, "Well, that was… filling, at least. Can you excuse me? I need some water."

Lana got up and went over to the kitchen as Cia turned to Byleth and said, "Is there something you want to ask?"

"Maybe," answered Byleth. "Your sister didn't seem to like my cooking."

"Lana just doesn't like spicy food. Just like I don't like sweets."

"She could've told me that."

"Lana just didn't want to disappoint you, that's all. Besides, you already knew she doesn't like spicy food, didn't you?"

"You noticed."

"I heard you talking with Linhardt about her. About how she's creeping people out with her non-stop cheer."

"That's…" Sighing, Byleth looked toward Lana said, "It's true. Some of the refugees and soldiers have voiced concerns about her. But I don't want to tell her to stop being so positive."

"You couldn't get her to even if you tried. Lana's… weird like that. She's always got her head up in the clouds. That's why I've had to look after her all these years. She's always getting herself into trouble."

Byleth was silent for a moment as she and Cia watched Lana drink a cold glass of water. Then, hearing a disturbance in the kitchen, the bluette went inside and asked how she could help.

Cia then said, "Oh dear, maybe I should stop her. She's no better than I am at cooking, and I'm absolutely terrible."

"Don't worry, Dorothea's there. She can handle it."

"If you say so. But I don't recall Dorothea ever being a good cook either."

"She's gotten a lot better over the years."

"Is that so? Heh, maybe I'll need to ask her to whip me up something at some point." Cia paused for a moment before continuing, "You know, I was a little jealous when Dorothea got her spot at this place. Even if I had wanted to come, I don't think I could've buttered up anyone enough to sponsor me."

"You don't?"

"Nah, I'm more of a one-night-stand kind of girl."

It took Byleth a moment to realize what Cia meant, and the Archbishop's cheeks flushed when she did.

"O-Oh… You mean–"

"Yeah, sleep with 'em once and then never speak to them again. Or at least that's the idea. I'm not ashamed if people think I'm a slut or anything like that. Who are they to judge me when they're busy getting it on too?"

"Eh, uh, I don't think this is an appropriate topic to discuss here," Byleth stammered.

Before Cia could say anything more to Byleth, the two heard a loud clatter coming from the kitchen, accompanied by Lana letting out a yelp. Seconds later, clouds of smoke were billowing strongly out of the kitchen, alarming everyone in the dining hall.

"Oh no, not again!" Cia said loudly. She ran toward the kitchen as she shouted, "Lana, what did you do this time?!"

Byleth broke out in a flustered sweat as she decided to help deal with whatever catastrophe the blue-haired Lacrimosa twin had caused.

…

"Well, that was pretty… exciting," Lana said happily as Cia, Dorothea and Byleth stood before her.

All four were dirtied by soot as a result of Lana's mishap in the kitchen. The bluette had accidentally added smoke powder to a boiling pot, mistaking it for another ingredient. The whole thing made Byleth think back to the first time she had tried cooking with Dorothea.

"'Exciting' isn't the word I'd use, Lana," said Dorothea.

"You really are a disaster sometimes, Lana," said Cia as she rubbed a wet cloth over Lana's dirtied face.

"Hey, no one got hurt, right?" said Lana. "You can't really call that a disaster."

Cia had to groan at her sister's naïveté.

"Lana, I know you meant well, but please be more careful," said Byleth. "Someone could've been injured."

"Oh, don't be such a worrywart!" said Lana. "If anyone had gotten hurt, I'd just heal them, and they'd be good as new!"

Byleth was stunned at how carefree the blue-haired twin was compared to the others.

…

The twins soon left Byleth and Dorothea to go train with Lysithea and Flayn. Byleth and Dorothea were now in the main hall, helping themselves to some tea. Even with all the rationing, they still had enough Albinean Berry Blend to go around.

Setting down her teacup, Dorothea said, "Sorry about what happened in the kitchen, Byleth. I didn't see her with that powder until it was too late."

"It's not your fault, Dorothea," said Byleth. "I'm sure she didn't mean any harm."

"Lana never does. She's as pure-hearted as they come."

Byleth smiled and nodded to this. Then, giving Dorothea a moment to arrange her hair, Byleth asked, "Dorothea, can you tell me about Lana and Cia?"

"Hmm? What do you want to know?"

"I'm just curious as to how they ended up in the Opera."

"Oh, Cia didn't tell you that part?" Byleth shook her head, so Dorothea answered, "Alright, but Cia doesn't really like people talking about their history." Dorothea took a deep breath and said, "The two of them are orphans, like many of us in the Opera Company. They were born on a farm to a commoner family. Not a drop of noble blood, but they both have the Minor Crest of Macuil."

"That must be quite rare."

"Yes, but… not for the reason you think. See, noble families in the Empire really don't like it when they find out about commoners born with Crests. It threatens their status quo. So, when House Ochs found out about it, they tried to get rid of them. Their parents were murdered. Their uncle died getting them to safety. Eventually they were brought to an orphanage in Enbarr, but they didn't stay there for long before being forced to live on the streets. By the time I joined the Opera, the two had already been there for a year."

"I see. That must've been hard for them."

"They had to keep their Crest a secret from others. I found out about it on the night when… when I killed someone for the first time. That singer I told you who jilted that noble? That was Cia. Their boss wanted her and Lana for their Crests. I don't know how he found out about it, but I suppose it doesn't really matter now. They're all dead. Cia killed them to keep us safe."

"Did Lana kill any of them?"

"No, of course not. Lana could barely hurt a fly. She's always been the more vulnerable one, so Cia's always stepping up to protect her."

"It must be tough for her."

"Yeah…"

"Can you tell me more about Lana? Why is she always so… um…?"

"Cheery? She's always like that. Even at times when she shouldn't be smiling or happy, she's always got that big smile on her face. It's not like me when I'm putting on an act. She really can't help it. I don't even know if she can be sad or angry at all."

"I see…"

Byleth was silent at this, thinking how similar Lana was to how she had been years ago. Back before she started teaching, Byleth had found it difficult to express her emotions. But thanks to Dorothea and the others, she could express herself so openly now.

She wondered if she could do the same for Lana. She then wondered if she should, when it would mean introducing her to anger and sorrow.

"Dorothea, I need to thank you for something," said Byleth.

"What is it?"

"For… for helping me learn to feel. Before I met you all, I could barely express myself. I was… like a statue. Emotionless, cold, indifferent. But you… you all helped me learn to smile, to laugh… even to cry. I don't know if I can ever truly repay that, but…"

Dorothea paused for a second, and then said with a smile, "You're welcome, Byleth."

Sorry, this chapter was a bit shorter than the last one. It's hard to come up with good "Support" situations.

Between the two twins, Lana is honestly the harder one to write due to her compulsive cheerfulness. Like Dorothea said, it's not an act for her; she genuinely cannot help it, so it's hard to write her in situations where someone else would be cross or dismayed.

Cia, on the other hand, is considerably easier to work with. I know both characters are basically pulled from Hyrule Warriors, but I hope to make them differ from their source material enough to be distinct. After all, Cia isn't lusting after some Hylian hero in this. ;P

By the way, Cia's song comes from the Record of Lodoss OVA. Look up "Fantasia of the Wind" sung by Lisa De Simone to get an idea of it.

Next chapter will focus on Brigitte. Hers is a bit easier to write than Lana, but I hope to still make it interesting.

EDIT: Made a slight change to Lana and Cia's history since Three Hopes revealed that the Ochs family is connected to Macuil's bloodline.