(Author's Note)
Hey guys, this took longer to form out than I was expecting. Partly due to the fact all of this just ended up being build-up to what this chapter was actually supposed to be. I would've included the following bit, but then it'd probably be a lot longer before this goes up and the chapter would've been doubled in size.
Anyways, I also wanted to say my thanks to all of the support I've gotten for this story. This... this kinda exploded suddenly and I'm just sort of trying to keep up with it all.
Onto Reviews!
To DOOT76 (Guest): I honestly haven't decided on that yet. Though it probably won't be until things progress more in the Metaverse.
To Guest: Regarding Sophia from Strikers, I don't believe I'll be introducing anything from that game here in the main story. Mainly due to two reasons, one is that I haven't had time to really sit down and play the game, even though I have it on switch, and because of future possibilities I might want to go over, I don't want to really tamper with anything like that just yet.
To Krumpte (Guest): Joker's combat style is only going to get more acrobatic when he's able to remake his grapple hook. And while I agree Joker would destroy a lot of people on the dance floor, I currently don't see him being able to get the ball to change music styles.
To Hunter of Entities: One of the main reasons I haven't had that come up is mainly due to how in the game you aren't really able to see the level of your allies like you can shadows, so trying to judge his students by that measurement wouldn't truly work since I imagine they'd be seen by Joker as allies.
To Anon (Guest): While I think he'd appreciate the irony, I don't see Joker truly moonlighting as such. Plus, with what I have planned for Leblanc, it would probably only be done as a once off, if at all.
To Argo Devillion: I will note, while I'm not happy with the rushed state of Chapter 3, I feel that the events still had to really happen as they did. Ren needed to make an informed decision about which house he'd teach and he only had so long to try and attempt to get a feel for any of them. Doesn't excuse it, I probably could've figured out a better means of doing it, but it's not too bad that I would want to go over it again and fix it.
Thank you all again for the reviews! Seeing these come flooding in always shoots my motivation in the ass to get moving so it's always appreciated.
If you have any questions or just want to say something, please leave a review! There's something brought up later in this chapter that I have an idea for already, but if anyone has any other ideas as well, feel free to leave them in the reviews! (You'll know what it is when you see it)
And with all that, let's move onto the story.
"Hm, not much to really use here." Morgana noted with a sigh, watching as Ren searched another box. "At least the last crate had some plant fertilizer if we wanted to get a house plant. This one's just full of classroom supplies, and old ones at that…"
"Not like I still can't find a use for them in the classroom…" Ren muttered to himself, picking the crate up and moving near the front door. "I'll drop these off in the classroom before we start tomorrow…"
Morgana glanced around the room again. "So, we have about… 3 more boxes left to sort through."
Ren rolled his shoulder, moving over to the next crate. "Okay, and then we just…" Ren muttered to himself as he pried the top off with his dagger. The teen gripped the side of the lid and pushed, pulling the other side of the top off of the box with a creak. He let out a breath as he let go of the lid, letting it drop onto the floor as he looked down into the contents he had just revealed. "Let's see… Huh, that's interesting."
"What is?" Morgana asked, jumping up onto the edge of the box. "Hm. Flags, huh? The design seems… a little familiar."
"This one looks like… either an old design for the Black Eagle House's insignia, or just an alternative version…" Ren said, lifting up one of the flags. He ran his hand over the black fabric that made up most of the flag, before staring down at the red insignia symbolizing the house that sat at the center. "Not as dusty as I expected."
Ren sat the flag down before reaching in and picking up the next one, another flag bearing the same insignia, only this time the colors were inverted. The thief paused, glancing down at the mostly red flag in his hands before glancing back at the black flag behind him. "...I think I can work with this actually."
"Flags? What are you going to do with them?" Morgana asked.
"If I can convince Byleth of things? An exercise for my students tomorrow." Ren said, putting the other black eagle flag with its mirrored version. The teen glanced down back into the crate. "Similar flags for Blue Lions…" He began, lifting up two flags. "As well as ones for the Golden Deer."
Ren let the flags drop back into the crate. "I should give these to Professor Manuela and Professor Hanneman when I get a chance. Though, probably after whatever happens tomorrow. Just to workshop the idea…" Ren shrugged, pushing the crate over next to the one filled with school supplies before grabbing a longer rectangular crate.
"Please stick to the trend, please stick to the trend, please stick to the trend…!" Ren chanted under his breath, popping the lid off the rectangular crate before shoving it off quickly. "Yes!"
"Uh… Joker…" Morgana began, looking down at the contents of the box. "Those are a bunch of metal rods."
"No, they're flagpoles." Ren said, picking one up. "Which means they're exactly what I needed to actually do this exercise tomorrow."
Ren glanced over the bare pole in his hands, before narrowing his eyes to let his third eye activate. There was a flash of gold along the pole, and Red moved his left hand further up near the upper fourth of the flagpole. "Ooh… Okay, so I just do…" Ren gripped and twisted the pole to the left. There was a sudden click that came from the pole, and a sudden increase of weight being held by his right arm compared to his left. The Thief pulled up, separating the flagpole into two pieces, a larger base, and a smaller segment that actually held the flag steady. "Perfect!"
Ren nodded to himself, clicking the pole back into place with a nod. The gold that had flashed along the pole quickly vanished, leaving his vision a velvet blue as he let out a breath. Just as he was about to let his third eye deactivate, a sudden flash of gold caused him to stop as he glanced over at the last crate.
"Okay then…" Ren muttered, putting the flagpole back into the rectangular crate as he moved over towards the last crate. He let his third eye deactivate, allowing him to look down at the old crate before him. The crate itself was smaller than the others had been, about the size of a shoebox, but the wood that adorned the crate was much older than the others.
"That looks… old." Morgana noted glancing down at the crate.
"Just makes you wonder what's in it." Ren said, popping the lid open. The teen blinked, looking down at the notebook that peered back at him. "Hm…"
Ren pulled the book up, flipping a page over. "...It's… English, I think…"
"You think?" Morgana asked, looking over at the first page of the book. "Wow. It's… really broken English from the looks of it."
"Or old English. Like… shakespearean or before?" Ren said, before shrugging as Morgana glanced his way. "What? I know things. Our personas literally announced themselves with 'Thou art I', it's not like I'm unfamiliar with it to some extent. That said, it should be close enough that I may be able to do a bit of translating…"
Morgana glanced back down at the page of the notebook. "Well, you might have if it wasn't for the age this thing's showing. Look, a lot of the writing is faded or just flat out gone now."
"Just how old is this thing?" Ren muttered to himself, skimming through the pages before pausing as he arrived at one that was mostly intact. "Jackpot. Actual legibility!"
"Okay, not old English. Good, I can work with this." Ren muttered to himself, pouring over the words as his brain attempted to make sense of what was written.
"Successfully recovered the object from… Something. Well, so much for legibility. The failed recreation of the… Crest Stone…?" Ren blinked, looking at the page once more before shaking his head. "Is now safe with us. I believe it best I… do something I guess, for now. For as understanding as she is, I don't believe Lady Seiros would be… knew that we found this. Best to hide it where…"
Ren let out a sigh, lightly slamming the book shut. "Well, that was… informative."
"Well at least it's something… But, what is this Crest Stone they're talking about? That have anything to do with these Crests we've been hearing about so much?" Morgana asked.
"Could be… But the fact I've never heard the term before is… Well, not really great." Ren said, before pausing as he looked back into the crate. "Hm?"
Ren placed the old notebook to the side, before reaching in to pull up a round object wrapped in cloth from the crate. "...Morgana? What are the odds this is exactly what the book was talking about earlier?"
"Joker, we're phantom thieves. The odds are always skewed when we're around."
"Point." Ren said with a shrug, before activating his third eye. He nodded to himself, noting the gold shine from before now emanated from the orb wrapped inside the cloth. "Yeah, figured as much."
Ren unwrapped the cloth slowly, revealing a strange orb made of a material that felt almost bone-like, seemingly weaved together in a strange orange and yellow pattern. The most striking part of the object in the thief's hand, was the strange emblem marked on the front of the object, as if it had been almost scorched onto it.
"Okay… So, I suppose this is what the notebook was referring to as a Crest Stone?" Morgana asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I guess." Ren said, picking the Crest Stone up with his other hand while the other let the cloth it had been wrapped around in drop to the floor. "...It is pretty, I'll give it that."
"What do we do with it though?" Morgana asked, leaping off Ren's shoulder and onto the nearby table.
"Not sure… Considering it was hidden, I doubt we'd be able to talk about it with anyone here in Garrag Mach." A buzz from his pocket, but one that went unnoticed. "I wonder if Jose would know anything about it. I mean, it's not a will seed, but he might have a slight idea about what to do with it." Ren said, shrugging.
"As much as I'd like that, I don't think we'd even be able to see him here. Especially since this world's metaverse isn't ours." Morgana said with a sigh.
"Fair… Just figured, that maybe he might've come over to this world's Mementos," Ren began, missing the second buzz from his phone at the mention of Mementos. "And if he was, then we could go and ask him about it."
[Beginning Navigation]
"Wait what?" Morgana asked, as the two suddenly felt a familiar sensation wash over them.
Ren bolted to his feet, a wary look in his eyes as he moved over to the front door of his WIP Leblanc. "...Morgana?"
"Yeah?"
"I hate the Metanav sometimes…"
Ren let out a sigh, before narrowing his eyes as he opened the front door. "Huh… The monastery is empty." He said as he stepped outside.
"Guess that means we're in the metaverse then." Morgana noted with a glance. "But where's mementos' entrance?"
"Well, considering the fact that the monastery itself isn't any taller, it's safe to assume it's not above ground…" The Thief noted, looking up at the church grounds before him.
The teen let out a sigh, glancing back down at the Crest Stone in his hand before a blue light grabbed his attention. Ren snapped his head up, staring face to face with a familiar blue butterfly before it suddenly shot off to the left. "Wait up!" The Thief shouted, running after the butterfly.
"Joker!?" Morgana shouted, running after his partner.
The butterfly swerved left once more out of sight, just behind where Ren assumed Byleth's quarters were located. The teen moved to the side, before coming to a stop as he was met with the sight of a large hole in the wall, the edges corroded with unnerving yet familiar red tendrils. "Well, that answers my questions…" Ren said with a shrug, waiting a moment for Morgana to catch up.
"Why did you run- Ooh, nice job Joker!" Morgana said, looking over at the entrance to Mementos.
"...Don't congratulate me. Pretty sure we had someone guide me over here…" Ren said, feeling a warm smile form on his face.
The two stepped forward, and headed into the abyss.
(Play Mementos (Upper Layer) - Shoji Meguro)
There was a flash of blue fire, followed by another as the thieves walked into the main floor of Mementos. A pair of silver eyes peered out from behind a white mask, before glancing back to look at Mona, who was also in his metaverse guise.
"Here we are…" Joker said, turning around to look out at the descending path before them. Unlike the subway station the phantom thief was used to, the surrounding area took on a design that felt more in line with a crypt. Perhaps an old labyrinth would have been a better choice of words, but either way the place felt old and unnerving.
"Certainly feels like Mementos, even if it doesn't look the same." Mona noted, walking ahead of Joker. "Still has the whole, music playing from everywhere thing that the Metaverse tends to do.
"To be fair, it'd be a bit quiet if it wasn't for the background music." Joker said with a shrug. "I'm here for it."
"At least back in Tokyo it had the excuse of drowning out the sounds of subway trains… Though I suppose that considering things, a subway isn't exactly a prominent part of this world's subconscious…" Mona said.
"...Actually, on that note, can you still transform into your bus form?" Joker asked, raising an eyebrow behind his mask.
"Hmm… Gimme a sec." Mona said, taking a step back before throwing his right arm out towards the left. "Morgana…" The cat burglar began, waving his arm out to the right, before pulling it back as his left arm thrust out where his right was moments earlier. "Transform!"
Mona leapt into the air into a summersault, one that quickly unfurled as the thief dropped back to the ground on his feet. "Guess not."
"Makes sense, there's no studio ghibli in this world, so I doubt they'd have My Neighbor Totoro either." Joker said with a shrug.
"Joker, they don't have movies here in general." Morgana said with a roll of his eyes.
"I'm just saying." The phantom thief said, shrugging once more before pausing as the emblem burned into the replicated Crest Stone suddenly lit up blue. "Uh… Mona? I think we have a problem!"
"What's wrong-?" Mona began before the Crest Stone burst into blue flames in Joker's hand.
"Whoa!" Joker shouted, his arm flinching as the flames danced on his palm. In retrospect, he'd come to realize it didn't hurt in the moment, but he didn't have the time to realize that as the fire suddenly shot towards the thief's head. Specifically, his mask.
Blue flames once again merged with Joker's mask, as a feeling that was mildly familiar, yet equally strange sent shocks through the teen's head.
"Gah!" Joker grit his teeth, grabbing the side of his head as he felt the aftershocks slowly die down. Finally, after a few moments of tingles, Joker felt normal again.
"What was that?" Mona asked, looking at his partner with wide eyes.
"I… don't know." Joker said, glancing down at himself. "I feel fine at least."
"Well, let's hope it stays like that." Mona said, crossing his arms.
"Trickster." Joker blinked, turning to the left as a blue butterfly floated down near the floor before disappearing in a flash of light, leaving behind a familiar blue prison door.
"...Good news, I might just have some answers." Joker said. "Gonna be standing around looking weird while getting them, but otherwise."
"Velvet Room?"
"Yep. See you in a few, Mona." Joker said, walking over to the door. He paused as he looked at the door, raising an eyebrow at the sign reading "Under Construction" on the front. "Uh… so does that mean I can't get in or…?"
The sound of the door slamming open was what answered the thief. "Alright then, in we go."
(Play Aria of the Soul)
Joker walked into the Velvet Room, glancing around the rather bare jail cell he had spent the last year visiting whenever he arrived here. "Huh. Are you guys renovating here?"
"We are." Lavenza said, drawing the thief's attention to her, as she stood outside the open cell door still in her usual attendant attire. "This place represents your heart, and as such we felt it was in desperate need of a change."
"While it is true you may feel trapped, you are anything but. In this new world you've found yourself in, there are now infinite possibilities open to you, our esteemed guest." Igor's voice echoed through the room. "That being said, it is good to see you're handling things well on your end."
"I try." Joker said, adjusting his gloves with a smirk.
"Now, let's move onto pressing matters." Igor began, taking out a deck of cards as he shuffled it. "You've done a fine job at gaining new bonds. And now you've received a boon of curious origin."
"The Crest Stone? It just sort of… merged with my mask, like how it is when I get a new persona. Though, it does feel a bit weird." Joker noted.
"From what we know, the Crest Stone you absorbed is nothing more than a replication of another." Lavenza began. "However, it should be noted that due to your entering of Mementos, it gained some of the attributes of an actual Crest Stone."
"Think of it like how the metaverse would mistake a model gun for the real thing, and as such would make it function as if it was. A similar case occurred here." Igor said, his smile glinting in the light. "Though due to the nature of your power, the Crest Stone has simply merged with you. It should be noted that while normally someone might gain the Crest associated with a specific Crest Stone if it was taken into their body, you will not. I imagine the boons this will provide will show itself in… other ways."
"One last thing before we send you off, Trickster." Lavenza spoke up, drawing Joker's attention back to her. "Due to the differences between your world's collective unconscious and this world's, your ability to summon persona's from the compendium will prove ineffective for a time. I believe that your sea of souls will eventually acclimate, but until then you will have to do as you had done back when you first began, by negotiating shadows to your side."
"And as always, our services are at your disposal. All of them. You've proven yourself and it would be rude to hold back something from you without proper reason." Igor continued. "Our renovation of the room is also much more involved than a simple change of scenery. In this world, you are a wild card, one of which no one is truly prepared for. As such, I believed it was prevalent to grant you some extra utilities here in the Velvet Room that are separate from the usual fusing of Personas. They will be available to you when the renovations have finished."
"Right. Okay, I think I get it then." Joker said, nodding to himself before he turned back to Lavenza. "So, what exactly are you renovating this place to be?"
"That would be telling, Trickster." Lavenza said, the corners of her lips raising up into a light smirk.
"You've spent too much time with me." Joker said with an overly dramatic sigh. "Clearly, I'm a bad influence." The thief straightened out, rolling his neck with a smirk. "So next time I show up this should be done?"
"Yes, by then we should have everything set up to properly aid you in your endeavors here." Igor nodded. "Before we send you off, perhaps you'd be interested in a reading? I imagine next month will be… very interesting."
"Sure… it's been a while since I had one last." Joker said, leaning up against the nearby cell bars.
"While it is not exactly a normal reading by any means, I feel one card drawn will be enough to point you in through right direction." Igor said with a nod, before dealing out a card onto the desk. "The Magician, in the upright position. It is commonly seen as a representation of one's determination, and when in the upright position, a sign to use everything in your disposal for the tasks at hand." Igor began, before placing the deck to the side. "I believe, at least for now, that this shall be enough. Perhaps it would also be wise to not take the reading as simply what the arcana represents normally, but what it might represent to you, now or in the near future."
"The magician… That's Morgana's arcana." The teen noted, narrowing his eyes slightly. "Is it something with him? But wait, no, you said now or the future."
"I wouldn't overthink it. I believe when the time comes where it's necessary, you'll understand it then." Igor said, flipping the Magician Arcana back onto the deck of Tarot Cards.
The thief placed a gloved hand on his chin in thought, before nodding as he looked back up to acknowledge the residents of the Velvet Room. "Right. In any case, thank you both for the help."
"It is our pleasure, Trickster." Lavenza stated with a bow.
"When we next meet, it will be when our services are required." Igor said, his grin widening. "Until that time, we wish you the best of luck."
Joker smirked, turning around on his heel as he gave a two fingered salute to Igor and Lavenza. He stepped towards the blue door on the back of the cell, before moving through it, his vision going black for a moment as his consciousness returned to the Metaverse.
(Play Mementos (Upper Layer) - Shoji Meguro)
"Hey, welcome back." Mona said, walking over to Joker. "How was your visit?"
"Enlightening." The thief responded, turning around to look at the now empty spot the entrance to the velvet room had been moments earlier. "For one, we shouldn't have… too many things to worry about regarding the Crest Stone thing that happened a few minutes ago."
"Well, that's a relief. Anything about what we're supposed to do next?"
"Aside from a fortune reading consisting of one card, of which I still don't understand the meaning of, nothing much. Well, they did say they were renovating the place to better match the current state of my heart too." Joker amended, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Of course, we obviously can't have nice things, since I won't be summoning any of my Persona's I've already fused for a while. Something about the Sea of Souls being different for me compared to the rest of this world?"
"Well, at least it's nothing life-threatening. Besides, you've done this whole thing once already. A second time should be nothing!" Mona said with a smirk.
"That's what I was thinking too. For now, let's get back to… Leblanc? I'm gonna just call it that, even if it's not… really complete yet." Joker said with a shrug, turning to the stairway heading above ground. "Probably best we exit back there and not out in the open. That… would be hard to explain."
"Yeah, let's move."
[You Have Returned To The Real World. Welcome Back.]
"Okay, we're all clear." Morgana said as the two thieves arrived back in reality.
"Good. I think we should have enough time left to bring Byleth up to speed about tomorrow, I mean, we got maybe an hour before 10 so…" Ren said, nodding to himself as he walked over to the table he had left the old notebook behind on. "...We should probably hide this."
"Got any ideas?" Morgana asked.
"None at the moment, for now…" Ren shrugged, picking it up and putting it in his coat pocket next to his diary. "I'll just keep it on hand. That should be fine."
"Right then, grab your bag and we'll get moving." Morgana said.
Ren smiled. "At least now I won't have to worry about you clawing my back to stay upright."
"Hey, I was careful!" Morgana shouted as Ren headed upstairs to grab his bag. "Honestly."
A few seconds later and the teen walked down the stairs, his school bag already on. "Hop in then."
Morgana jumped up, before slipping back into the bag. "There, now we're good to go."
Ren pulled the front door open and stepped outside. "Right, so considering what we were thinking of earlier today, she's either asking Jeralt if we can borrow the mercs for tomorrow, or going over notes in her room." The thief muttered to himself.
"Let's check the dorm first. It's closer and if she's with this 'Jeralt', they could be anywhere right now." Morgana said with a nod.
"Won't hurt." Ren said, making his way towards Byleth's dorm. He gave a quick passing wave to one of the students of the Blue Lions house, Sylvain if he remembered correctly, before arriving at Byleth's dorm. He raised a hand and knocked on the wood three times before stepping back to wait.
About 10 seconds passed before Ren sighed. "Well, that's a bust." Ren said. "If she's not here, and instead with Jeralt, they could be in Jeralt's office? I don't think I've really been able to see it yet."
"I mean, it shouldn't be too hard to ask around where it is…" Morgana said.
Ren nodded, before placing a hand to his chin in thought. "Though, who to ask…"
"Hey, Prof!" Ren blinked, taken out of his thoughts as he turned to face Claude. "So, this is how I'm repaid for all my kindness, huh? Didn't even have the decency to let me know yourself…"
"But where's the fun in that?" Ren said, raising an eyebrow.
"Heh, true." Claude said, shrugging. "So, what's got you roaming the monastery this late?"
"It's not that late." Ren said with a roll of his eyes.
"Hey, I'm not one to judge a man's sleeping pattern, but sleep is important Prof." Claude teased.
Ren let out a groan. "Oh God there's two of them…" He said as Morgana popped out of the bag.
"Because we're right!" Morgana said, practically smiling at Claude.
"Huh, didn't know you had a cat." Claude said, staring at the feline sticking out over Ren's shoulder.
"I am not a- Oh right, force of habit." Morgana began before he shook his head.
"We got separated a bit ago. I can only assume he was picked up by some travelers or something and was brought here." Ren said, looking over at his partner. "At the very least, it's good to have a familiar face around."
"I bet. So, back on topic." Claude continued.
"We're trying to figure out where Jeralt's office is." Ren said. "I wanted go over tomorrow with Byleth a little more and since she's not here…"
"She's probably there, right? Well, it's probably near the offices of the other professors." Claude noted, shrugging. "So, what exactly are you two gonna plan, anyways?"
Ren stared at Claude with a smirk. "Why would I tell you anything about our training for the Mock Battle? I like you Claude, but not enough to sabotage my own class."
"Well, worth a shot. Anyways, I suppose I'll see you around then." Claude said, turning around as he walked away from the thieves.
"Okay, so we know where we're going now." Morgana said, nodding to himself. "So come on! You're burning daylight!"
"What daylight?"
"Exactly!"
The walk up to Jeralt's office didn't take long, a good 5 minutes at most to get there due to the sheer size of the monastery. Making a mental note to look into possible shortcuts around the monastery in case of some kind of emergency where quick moving would be required, Ren came up to the two doors leading into Jeralt's office.
Ren tapped his knuckles against the wooden entrance a few times, before pausing to allow the knocking sound to echo down the hall for a few seconds.
"Come in!"
The two double doors were swung open as Ren pushed forward, exposing the inner decor of the room. His eyes landed on the two occupants, along with the professional expression Jeralt had adorned, and the ever present neutral that Byleth so commonly took to.
"Jeralt, Byleth. I apologize if I'm interrupting something that I wasn't planning on." Ren said, nodding to the man who was his leader.
Well, for all of 4 days really.
"No, nothing much- that you weren't planning on?" Jeralt raised an eyebrow, before his eyes caught sight of Morgana, whose head was poking out over the thief's shoulder. "When did... you get a cat?"
"Oh, right. You haven't been introduced." Ren said, before looking over at Jeralt. "This is Morgana. We were separated while out traveling. We ended up running into him in the Black Eagle classroom earlier today."
"You were separated? I'm surprised you even found him." Jeralt said, putting a hand to his chin.
"I like to think that Morgana was picked up by some travelers or merchants and brought to Garrag Mach, since it'd make some amount of sense with all the cats moving about." Ren said.
"And dogs." Byleth added.
"Honestly, they're not as bad as I was expecting." Morgana said, before grimacing. "Doesn't mean I like them though…"
"He's also very well trained." Byleth said, turning to look at Morgana. "I was not prepared to see a Cat wield a dagger."
"Hold on, what?" Jeralt asked, looking at Byleth before turning to look at Ren. "Okay… how exactly did you teach him that?"
"We had some…" Ren trailed off, thinking back on the many excursions into mementos for training. "Very strange, yet effective training measures. None that I'd be able to replicate for other cats, I'm afraid."
"Well, moving past your cat, what did you want to ask?" Jeralt asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Right, so I was first wondering if Byleth had asked about possibly making use of the Mercenary Corps for some training for our house tomorrow." Ren said, closing the doors to the Captain's Quarters behind him.
"I had asked earlier, but unfortunately they're off completing the mission we were unfortunately forced to leave ourselves." Byleth said, crossing her arms. "Which is a shame, that would have been some great experience the students could've used for the Mock Battle."
"Well, then I suppose this is where I come in." Ren said, moving over to the table near the left of the room. "Jeralt, I don't know how much you remember of the areas around Garreg Mach, specifically the ones that we're able to utilize as Professors… Hopefully enough to help, seeing as about 30 or so minutes ago I was doing some cleaning at my Quarters and I found something that I feel would be an excellent exercise for the students. Only problem is I don't entirely know a good place to do it."
"What did you have in mind?" Jeralt asked, moving over to stand across from Ren at the table.
"I found six flags, two for each of the Houses. They aren't the same, so in theory, we could fully set up and run a… Advanced version of Capture the flag tomorrow." Ren explained, looking over at Byleth. "I figured we'd split the class up into two, choose a leader and allow them to pick who else is on their team."
"From there, it's a matter of seeing how they follow orders and how they can work together to accomplish this goal." Ren said with a shrug. "It'd be two rounds, with the first being the normal standard: Capture the enemy flag, you can't capture the flag without your own still in base, and so on and so forth. Since they'd also want to practice their combat skills, they'd also have access to their practice weapons..."
"The idea has merit…" Byleth nodded, walking over to the table with a hand on her chin. "But how would we split the teams up?"
"I was thinking…" Ren paused to think before nodding as he pushed his false glasses up onto his face a bit more. "We have Edelgard, because she's gonna be there with us anyways for the mock battle so it's beneficial we see how she'll handle things."
"She is the Imperial Princess." Byelth noted. "We don't really need to fully test her like this."
"True, but it was more because I wanted to test Hubert." Ren continued.
"Hubert?" Jeralt asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Hubert is Edelgard's vassal, and trusted ally." Byleth supplied before pausing to store at Ren in thought. She nodded to herself after a moment and pointed at the thief with her index finger from her cross armed position. "You want to see how they fair without the other."
"Partly." Ren said. "If I don't put Hubert as Leader of Edelgard's opposition, I won't see how they can handle situations on their own. I know if I nominate one and not the other, they'll probably pick each other."
"Or I only nominate one, and Hubert joins the enemy team and purposefully sabotages his team so Edelgard will win the exercise." Ren continued, pursing his lips. "Either way, if we do this they can't pick the other, and hopefully the position of leadership will mean Hubert won't attempt any sabotage, though it might be best to give him a warning about that…"
"While I don't doubt the possibility of someone of his nature doing such a thing, I don't believe you should be worried about it." Jeralt said, resting a hand on his hip.
"Then I suppose what we should be worried about is the location. If there was something like it, I'd like to do this in an area with a forest between two 'Strongholds' that would house each team's respective flags." The Thief looked up at Jeralt. "Is there somewhere like that we'd be able to use?"
"Possibly, there was one place though I'm not sure if it's still there. It has been some years…" Jeralt said, closing his eyes. "That's also assuming it survived the fire as well. The Indech training grounds might have been spared, but Seteth might be best to ask regarding the location."
"Excuse me." Ren blinked, turning to look at Seteth as the Chief Advisor of Garreg Mach stepped into the room. "But what's this about asking me about a location?"
"I'm going to assume that's Seteth?" Morgana asked, earning a slight nod from Ren as the teen spoke up.
"Perfect timing. Byleth and I were going over tomorrow's plans and part of the idea I have hinges slightly on the location." Ren said, before glancing back at Jeralt. "You brought up somewhere that fit what I was looking for… what did you call it again?"
"The Indech training grounds." Jeralt said, before glancing back at Seteth. "I remember it used to be used as a substitute for the Mock battles that were sometimes held by the Officer's Academy. I just don't know if it's still around after all these years."
Seteth paused, glancing down as he ran the name through his head. "Hm, the name is familiar. Do you have a map of the monastery nearby?" Seteth asked, looking at Jeralt.
"I do. Haven't had a need to open it up though. Even if it's been many years, the layout of the monastery still seems to be the same." Jeralt noted, stepping aside to fetch the map.
"What exactly did you have in mind for your lesson plan?" Seteth inquired, glancing over to Ren.
"In the most basic of explanations. A modified version of Capture the Flag." Ren said. "I was doing some cleaning and I found a few flags that I assume were either old variations of the banners that adorn the three houses of the Officers academy, or alternate takes that were never utilized. I figured splitting the class up into two would be a good way to see how they would be able to work together on a task like this."
"Well, I suppose we'll see how successful this idea of yours is then…" Seteth trailed off, finally taking notice of the cat sitting in Ren's bag. "Professor, why exactly is there a cat in your bag?"
"Oh, you haven't been introduced. Seteth, this is Morgana. Morgana, this is Seteth." Ren said, motioning over his shoulder at his partner.
"I…" Seteth paused, glancing at Morgana in confusion. "What I meant was, why is it in your bag?"
"He finds it more comfortable than my shoulder." Ren said with a shrug.
"Right, here it is." Jeralt said, moving back to the group with the map in hand. He spread it out over his desk, as the five present in the room looked down at the map.
Seteth nodded, before pointing at a spot east of the monastery. "The Indech training grounds are located here. Aside from the time we used it a few years ago as a substitute location for that year's Mock Battle, it's been mostly untouched." Seteth stated, looking up at Ren. "There are three structures, so you'll have something to work with. Between each is mostly forest, with some sections that are more open."
"Which should be perfect for what I have in mind." Ren said, nodding to himself before turning to Seteth. "Thanks for the help, Seteth."
"It was nothing." Seteth said, turning around to head to the door. "I await to see the results at the mock battle."
Ren turned to face Byleth as Seteth left Jeralt's office. "Right. We should discuss the plan in detail now, then get everything set up in advance tomorrow morning." The Thief said.
"The first round is mostly normal, as you said. But because you specified the first round, that also means you had something in mind for the following round." Byleth noted. "What's your idea?"
Ren smirked before looking down at the map. "Well…"
"...Something's different." Byleth said as the two left Jeralt's office.
"In what regard?" Ren asked, turning to look at the swordswoman.
Byleth paused, glancing at Ren with that blank expression that she seemed to always wear. "...You seem different." She began before coming to a stop as she shook her head. "No, you feel different."
"Feel?" Morgana asked, poking his head out of Ren's bag.
The thief blinked, before looking down at himself. "I… don't follow?"
Byleth narrowed her eyes at Ren in concentration. "You feel… familiar." She said after a moment. "You didn't during class today. This is new."
"That's…" Ren trailed off, moving a hand over his face as his fingertips rested on his false glasses. "I don't feel any different from then."
"Well, I suppose it's not entirely important." Byleth said, as she began walking again. "I'll see you in the morning."
Ren watched as Byleth walked down the hall. "...I seem familiar?"
"Hey, could it have something to do with that Crest Stone thing from earlier?" Morgana asked, turning his head to look at Ren. "It did kinda merge with you. It's the only thing that I could see causing that feeling Byleth seems to have."
Ren nodded to himself. "Could be… But why would that have anything to do with her?"
"...Well, no use trying to figure it out now." Morgana said, slipping back into Ren's bag. "Now hurry up! You'll need to be up early tomorrow for classes, right?"
"At least let me get back to my room before telling me to go to bed." Ren said with a chuckle.
'Interesting location to bring us to.' Edelgard thought to herself as she looked around the stone room she stood in with the rest of her House. 'They said this would be a team building exercise, but not much more than that.'
The Adrestian Princess glanced over her professors, letting her gaze linger over the two. 'Byleth Eisner. Age unknown, though seems to be around late teens, early 20s. Birthday, 20th of the Horsebow Moon. A sellsword working in her father's mercenary company. Known otherwise as 'The Ashen Demon" on the field of battle. She most certainly lives up to her namesake, as I've seen personally when she gave her assistance against those bandits.' Edelgard continued in her head as she looked at Byleth. She let out a light sigh, though one quiet enough to go unnoticed. 'She really would have made an excellent ally, and she was even willing to. Though, her becoming one of the Black Eagle house's two professors is not a bad outcome either.'
Edelgard's eyes turned to look at her other Professor. 'Ren Amamiya. Age 17. Birthday, 15th of the Horsebow Moon. Foreigner, though from where is unknown. Was a member of Jeralt Eisner's mercenary company for around 4 days before joining the Officer's Academy as my house's second professor.' Edelgard narrowed her eyes ever so slightly at Ren as her Professor wrote something down in the notebook he was holding. 'No information was able to be found about him. All that we know about him dates back to when he was found by Jeralt Eisner. He is skilled in combat, moves fast and appears to take a more acrobatic style of movement when engaging opponents.'
Edelgard's eyes flicked over to the cat perched in his bag. 'He was also able to teach a cat how to wield a dagger.' She noted, somewhat impressed. 'Hubert is wary of him, and I agree with his questioning of how he was able to secure his spot as a Professor here seeing as how little information is available for him. But…'
Edelgard broke her gaze and placed a hand on her chin in thought. 'But… something seems different about him today.' She thought to herself. 'He seems almost… familiar. Like seeing an old friend after many years.'
'For now, as much as I'd like to get to the bottom of this, I should focus on today's lesson. Including today, there's only 4 more days of classes before the mock battle.' Edelgard continued, finishing her train of thought as she looked at her Professors.
"Now, let's get onto why we've come here today." Ren began, looking out at his students. "With a quick show of hands, who here knows the rules of, or has played capture the flag before?"
Not everyone raised their hand up, but it was enough for Ren to be able to work with. "Alright, today, we'll be partaking in a modified version of the game today. The purpose of today is specifically to see how effective you all are at working together."
"It is also a way for us to see how each of you manage situations that are not what you were prepared for." Byleth continued. "Which is why before we fully explain the rules, we'll be splitting the class in two. Or more accurately, we'll be choosing two of you to act as leaders for your respective group, and then they'll decide who to pick to join their team."
"With the exception of one choice from us Professors. We'll go after each leader's first pick and then it'll be the normal pick and choose." Ren continued. "With that said, Edelgard, if you would stand next to me. You'll be acting as captain of the Red Team."
Edelgard nodded, moving up to stand next to Professor Amamiya. 'It would be prudent to think of how to formulate my team. There are two choices that I am able to make, so the first pick is important. If I had to choose immediately, Hubert is an obvious choice, seeing as I'm well aware of his capabilities and-'
"Hubert, You'll be the captain of the Black Team. If you'll stand to my left." Byleth said, snapping Edelgard out of her thoughts as Hubert nodded and moved to stand next to the swordswoman.
'I should have known. They want to see how we react to situations out of our control, and this is exactly what they'd be looking for.' Edelgard thought.
"I hope you'll forgive me if this comes off wrong, Hubert. But I would like to just confirm this before the two of you begin choosing your teammates." Ren said, turning to look at Hubert. "I don't know you well enough to know if you'd use this opportunity as an opponent of Edelgard to sabotage things so her team wins the exercise. So, I'll be blunt and state that between the two of us," Ren continued, motioning to Byleth with his hand. "We would prefer it if you participated at your best."
Hubert smirked. "Then I assure you that you'll have nothing to worry about. A false victory would be nothing more than an insult to Lady Edelgard." Hubert responded.
"Alright, then we'll move onto team choices." The thief said, turning to face the rest of the class. "We'll decide who will get the first pick via coin flip. Byleth?"
Byleth pulled out a coin from her pocket before flipping it into the air. Catching it in her palm before opening it to look down at the face of the coin. "Hubert will get the first pick."
"Well, I suppose in that case… Dorothea, if you would." Hubert said, looking over at the brunette. Dorothea nodded before shrugging at Edelgard as she walked over to Hubert's side.
'Two magic casters on his side. Both of them being our offensive casters as well.' Edelgard noted as she considered her options. 'That on it's own puts me at a disadvantage. However, even for practice battles like these, healers are also important.'
"In that case, I choose Linhardt." Edelgard said, turning to face the tired student.
Linhardt yawned before nodding, moving to stand next to Edelgard. Ren glanced towards Byleth, raising an eyebrow in a silent message between the two. Byleth looked out at the remaining 4 unchosen students before nodding to herself. "Caspar, you'll be with Hubert." She said after a moment, looking at the blue haired teen.
"Got it!" Caspar said, moving up next to Dorothea. Hubert narrowed his eyes slightly at the new addition but otherwise didn't make any show of displeasure.
"Bernadetta, you're with Edelgard." Ren followed up, looking over at the archer.
"O-okay!" Bernadetta nodded, before moving over next to Linhardt's right.
'This is manageable. All things considered, Bernadetta is not a bad pick. She's proficient with her bow, and while she has some social issues, she'll manage on the battlefield.' Edelgard thought to herself. 'Caspar might cause Hubert some amount of grief when deciding how to engage. I can work with that. And seeing as I get the next pick…'
"Petra, you'll be joining us." Edelgard said, looking over at the girl. 'Petra's skillset from her upbringing will aid us greatly. She should have no trouble navigating the forest to capture the enemy flag, and it also keeps our class' other archer out of Hubert's team. If he wishes to monopolize the offensive casters, then I suppose turnabout is fair play.'
"Then Ferdinand is with us." Hubert said, nodding to himself as the remaining students walked over to their assigned teams.
Ren and Byleth stepped forwards, turning around to look at the assembled Red and Black teams. "Alright, now that you both have your teams put together, I'll go over the rules in full." Ren began, letting his eyes sweep over the students. "Each of your teams will be stationed in one of the other two strongholds here. They are mostly the same, though there are a few key differences between the two. You'll have fifteen minutes to get a feeling for your home base before the first round begins. From there, your objective is to capture the enemy flag. You may use any method of reaching the enemy base, any method of moving the enemy flag away, but you can only score if both flags are in your base."
"However, because this is also combat training, there is something that we need to specify about these rules though." Byleth continued, picking up a wooden practice sword. "We will mostly be using the same rules that you'd be following in the Mock Battle, only with a stipulation. If you are struck by an attack that would be considered fatal if the weapon was live steel, you are out and must return to your base before you can rejoin the battle. As an example." Byleth pressed the tip of the practice blade against Ren's chest, right over where his heart is located. She moved the blade back and swung at his neck, stopping just before she slammed it into him. "Even if these attacks are not live steel, they can still cause severe damage depending on where you're aiming. Take care not to kill your classmates, please."
Edelgard nodded to herself, staring at the neutral expression of her professor as the swordswoman continued speaking. "Getting hit in the head by an arrow also counts as this, but if you're struck anywhere else, it does not. If you are injured to the point you'd normally be considered out of the practice match, you will also head back to your base before you can head back out." Byleth said, putting the practice sword away as she picked up one of the practice arrows, running her thumb over the padded arrowhead. "Archers, try not to take out an eye."
"Byleth and I will be stationed in either base to confirm when the game has concluded." Ren said, leaning forwards. "Also, if you are taken out while attempting to bring the enemy flag back to your base, the flag has a 15 second grace period where it can be picked up by one of your teammates before it is to be brought back to the enemy base. During this period where it is brought back to the enemy base, it is not obtainable until it is reset. Otherwise, I believe that should be everything. For now, you may head to your respective home base to prepare and familiarize yourself with your location. Once that's done…"
Ren smirked, pushing his glasses further up on his face to let the sun reflect off the lenses, reflecting the glare to light them up white. "The game can begin."