Month of Horsebow Moon - Deer In the Library
Chapter 14
"Lili-Anna! Return you have!"
I finished stretching, the hot sunlight warming me as I emerged from my room in order to make my way down to the dinning hall in search of dinner when a whirl of purple and black swung down from the top of the rain guard and plowed into me.
It was a good thing that the person crowing her joy at the sight of me was so petite, as I lurched forward under her weight.
"Oh, it is much goodness to be seeing you!" Cereza wrapped her arms around my neck as I struggled to maintain my balance with a human sized backpack slowly crushing my windpipe in her excitement.
"My grades are suffering much since you left!" Cereza continued clinging to me as her sparkling purple eyes caught sight of my face. "Oh! You can be looking sleepy. Did the travel not go well?"
"Well-" I pried Cereza's arms off from the choke hold she had around my neck. "It was a learning experience."
She dropped down on her feet, spinning in her excitement to see me.
"I hearing, I heard?" Cereza stopped and tried to get her Fodlan under control. A tiny scowl of concentration forming on her brow as she continued. "I heard you had been injured, are you alright now?"
It never failed to surprise me on how fast word had a tendency to travel in this lively academy. I sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly as I ran my fingers through my hair. "Plenty fit to return to classes."
Cereza nodded as I motioned towards the dinning hall. "Come on, I'm starving. Let's go grab some food."
We got about five steps into the courtyard when someone else called out to me. Cereza and I both turned to see Hilda relaxing on a bench among the ornate garden hedges beckoning us over.
"Ahh, welcome back Lilianna! Hello Cereza!" The cheerful pink haired second called out and I got a sudden urge to turn the other direction and head down toward the docks and greenhouses.
Cereza waves back and hid behind me a bit as I sighed. If Cereza had already heard about my return there was a good chance Hilda probably needed to talk with me. Probably to give me homework or something.
With a sigh we headed over towards my housemate. "Hey Hilda, what's up?"
"Oh nothing much! I am just trying to return these books but they are just so heavy! I am running really late for a private appointment too! I know you just returned, but you two don't seem all that busy, so could you pretty pretty please give me a hand?"
"Why didn't you return them-" I was cut off by an over-eager black shadow hovering behind me.
"We can be returning the books!" Cereza accepted the task enthusiastically, eager to lend a helping hand.
"Cereza...wait! Hold on!" I tried to protest as Hilda beamed at the small Black Eagle Recruit. The noble quickly loaded us up with several armfuls of books.
I gritted my teeth as a majority of the books were dumped on me, shot a scowl at Cereza who beamed up at me as Hilda began loading books into her arms next. Her cheerful, eager smile faltered as the stack of books quickly exceeded her line of sight.
I sighed and gave a hard smile to Hilda. "Alright, sure, Hilda. We can take these back for you, no problem."
"Aww, you're both super sweet! Thank you both so much!" Hilda waved us off as my back started to protest.
We managed to guild Cereza past the classrooms and through the study hall before we began to falter under the weight of our books. How Hilda was carrying all of them, despite having a small frame like Cereza was beyond me.
"These books have been heavy." Cereza puffed under the weight of the books as we both stared up at the stairs leading to the second floor of the monastery with dread.
"This is why you should think before offering to do Hilda's chores for her." I admonished her as I adjusted my load to grab a few more off Cereza's pile so she could see over top of them.
"Oh! Thank you! I can see where my feet to be going is." My friend put one foot in front of the other and began climbing the stairs.
I took a second to brace myself. "I'm not sure what you just said there but your welcome."
She looked back down at me and puckered her lips in concentration."I can see where...I am to be walking?"
"I understand slightly more." I grunted as we continued up the stairs to the library.
"This pile is huge. I wonder how Hilda was carrying them around all by herself." I commented as Cereza stopped at landing between two staircases panting with effort.
"Most heavy!" She panted in between breaths, setting the books down at her feet for a short break.
She leaned on her knees for breath as I continued up. Mentally lying to myself that was a short walk to the next supply closet. "Yes they are. I am going to turn these in, you can wait here for a few minutes and catch your breath. I'll be back in 5 minutes tops."
Cereza shot a worried look at me as I staggered up the next flight of stairs. "Yes! Waiting here I shall!"
I got about halfway up the stairs, my gaze more focused on where the next step was then who was coming down the stairs. A familiar, cheerful call rang out. "Hey there cutie, looks like you could use a hand?"
The cheerful redhead was just starting to descend the stairs when he caught me balancing the books as I tottered up the stairs under the heavy load. The topmost book on my pile tottered as I pushed myself up another step. My eyes shot up to the wobbling book with strong feeling of distrust. My hands were already full so all I could do was stare as it tilted dangerously to the side and then tumbled off the top of the pile toward the floor.
I let out a small sigh as the book proceeded to bounce and skip back down several stairs in the wrong direction.
"I got it." Sylvain winked at me as he went after the fallen book.
"Thanks." I praised him as I continued up the stairs with my burden.
"Errr, your welcome. Say can I take anything from you?" The redhead asked as I paused on a random step, taking a moment to catch my breath.
I eyed the cheerful redhead who caught up with me in a second, holding the dropped book and looking concerned. I had a bright idea. "Actually Sylvain can you take all of these?"
I gave him no time to respond as I handed them over into his waiting arms. The shock on his face was evident as the full weight of what I was carrying ended up in his arms.
"Oh, these are heavy. Uh, no problem!" He gasped as I left him on the stairs. I skipped several steps as I headed back down the stairs to find Cereza. She was still trying to regain her own breath. I rounded the corner and grabbed most of the books from Cereza's pile and started walking back up the stairs. "Come on, we can do this."
"This type of book learning I do not like." Cereza grumbled and followed grudgingly after me.
Relieved of the majority of the books, I had enough of my breath back to respond. "Heavy weightlifting isn't my idea of a fun chore either."
"Wow this is a ton of books! How did you manage all of these?" Sylvain was still waiting on the steps where I left him. Seeing us come up the stairs with yet more left him astounded.
"Many breaks." Cereza quipped as she bounced past him, holding only a couple of books.
"Wait are all these yours Lil?" Sylvain asked as I walked next to him.
I shook my head, turning my thoughts to figuring out my next problem. Actually returning them. "Na, all mine are still holed up in my room. I have been requested to return these, preferably without the librarians knowing it was us."
We made it to the top of the landing and put the books down on the window ledges, buying me time to think.
"Oh how do you plan on doing that?" Sylvain leaned against the wall next to me as I figured out a plan.
"Very carefully."
In the end I did manage to put all the books back on the shelves without the librarians being any wiser, but it took me most of the evening. Sylvain had departed as soon as he figured out my plan, citing that he would much rather be anywhere else then what I was planning. Cereza stayed citing she really needed to study.
My plan executed flawlessly much to my delight and also earned me a small bonus lecture when I was asked why I kept coming and going from the library. I slowly brought in more and more materials, over the course of the evening, leaving every half hour or so to bring in more books from the supply closet I had stashed them in.
"I see what you're doing there." Lysithea muttered as she scratched away at her notes. "I probably never would have noticed you were doing it if it wasn't for the constant rotation of fashion and accessory books that I keep noticing."
I pressed my finger to my lips sheepishly. "Shh, you caught me."
The white haired mage rolled her sharp pink eyes in exasperation. "What are you even doing with those kinds of books? It's not like they are worth researching."
I flinched at Lysithea's crisp voice, realizing I had been discovered. "Err, Hilda asked us to return some of her books, but I'd rather avoid the lecture I got last month when I did the same thing."
The young mage snorted and flipped a page in her book. "Uggg, that's tough."
"What is this be meaning here? When one flier attacks the other and wing speed is accounting for?" Cereza anxiously pushed another homework problem under my nose as I flipped through one of Hilda's books on accessory making bored and more than a bit hungry.
I skimmed over the passage the assignment pertained to and tried to explain to my confused study mate. "It means when two flying units attack each other, the mounts wingspan and wing beats for the mount's carrying capacity need to be accounted for. For example, generally speaking a wyvern can carry a much greater amount of weight than a Pegasus."
"Why would I be caring about that?" Cereza looked at me, totally confused as to why she might need to know this type of information.
I closed Hilda's book and flipped open one on wyvern care that caught my interest."As a healer, Pegasus knights are typically faster but less armored then a wyvern rider. Add in how susceptible flying mounts are to arrows and magic and you'll realize why certain units have certain injury types. It is also useful for accounting for supply and logistics."
"Oh! That be making sense! I would want to be watching the skies then." Cereza nodded in a way I was pretty sure I would be explaining the same content at the later date. I got up and slid several more books back into the shelves.
I collapsed on top of the remaining pile of study materials with a sigh as the last book was put away. "Now to wait and grab the log book when they leave."
"What does you imply by leave?" Cereza put down her book, her eyes worrying as we both heard my stomach growl.
I lay on top of the books, exhausted by my plot and hushed her "Wait a few minutes and you'll see."
Sure enough, about fifteen minutes later, the librarians exited the library.
"How did you be knowing?" Cereza whispered to me frantically as I got up and made my move.
The evening bells tolled out indicating it was getting late.
"Shift change." I muttered as I sprinted for the log book and brought it back to my desk. Knowing time was of the essence I flipped the book open and began scribbling. I scribbled down all the books that had been returned and hastily planted it on a nearby window ledge.
I slid back into my desk as the shift change completed and the evening librarians entered the library.
"That's a pretty slick little trick you're pulling off there." The voice sent shivers down my spine as I jerked my head up to look behind me.
Claude smiled at me upside down. "Hey long time no see Petal. Do you mind if I sit here?"
"Sure?" I struggled a bit with allowing him to sit down at my table, but I relented in part of my promise to be more inclusive.
"Great!" He sat down and started pulling out books and study materials as a few of the other students around us shot daggers at us. As soon as Claude got settled the other students packed up and left.
I caught some of the side whispers.
"I don't trust him."
"He's just going to cheat off us!"
"What if he steals our homework?"
I let the comments slide as Cereza tensed up next to me. "That is much rudeness."
She bristled as Claude just laughed it off. "Haha, don't worry about it. I am used to it by now. It's fine."
I propped my hand up on the table and rested my head in my palm studying the students who were leaving.
"Would you not be looking at them like that?" Cereza poked my side roughly. "You are looking like a wolf hunting prey."
"Maybe I am." I snorted in disgust and rubbed my side. "I made a promise to attempt to tolerate my classmates more, but behavior like that is so...disgusting."
Claude cleared his throat as Cereza poked me harder.
I swatted her hand away and glared at her.
"Really guys, it isn't a big deal. I get that all the time. Here, what do you guys make of this?" Claude waved his hands to bring our attention back to the table. He began hurriedly flicking through a book and showed us an open page.
"A wyvern?" Cereza glanced at the image unimpressed while I studied the rendering a bit further.
It looked familiar, familiar enough to make chills run down my spine. Slowly I glanced at the text, realizing the language was not in Fodlan's native script. My heart beat quickened as I hissed. "The Immaculate One?"
Claude glanced down at the dragon carefully etched on the page. He pointed to the dragon's forehead and tapped the symbol on the top of it's head. "That's right! Only look at it's forehead. What do you see there?"
I shifted uneasily, unsure of where Claude was going with this and what he had planned. "It looks like some sort of symbol?"
"Right again! Man your picking up on this fast." Claude nodded as he leaned on his arm in thought.
I decided to see where he was headed with this. Intrigued by the symbol and fairly certain Claude had something on his mind. It wasn't like him to just drop in without a reason.
I hesitated, glancing over the ancient text in wonder."So, help me understand here Claude. What is the significance of that symbol?"
Claude about purred with pleasure at the direction of my question. "Well this image isn't quite clear, but it looks like some kind of crest right?"
He looked utterly pleased by his finding. I shrugged and pulled out a book about crests of my own. "Maybe? I am actually unfamiliar with crests or relic weapons, so that's actually part of the reason I am here today."
Something in my voice must have set my house leader intuition off as he leaned over the table with evident interest. "Oh? Did something happen with a relic while you were out?"
I shrugged, remembering the hush order Rhea had issued and realizing I was straying into dangerous territory. Deciding to test the Golden Deer's knowledge I teased out a bit of information. "So you are aware of why we were dispatched to deal with a bandit group in Gautier territory right?"
Claude was quick on the uptake. The Golden Deer didn't miss a beat as he nodded solemnly, pressed his hands together in thought. "The rumor is that the bandit leader stole the relic from house Gautier."
"Mmmm…" I neither confirmed nor denied the rumor as Claude quickly began pleading.
"Aw come on Petal, tell me what you know. Please?"
The questioning green eyes of my house leader had me contemplating how I wanted to answer him. There were ways around the hush order, but revealing too much information could cause problems for me. I knew Claude was sharp, so it was just a matter of revealing just enough information for him to connect the dots.
"What are you doing with that book Master Riegan?!" A sharp voice snapped both of us out of our staring contest as Claude looked up.
"Oh Seteth! Fancy seeing you here at this hour!" Claude attempted to flip the page in the book, turning the page off the picture off The Immaculate One. I was fairly certain that just turning the page wasn't going to work is deterring Seteth as the text was still not written in any common language. I carefully studied Seteth as he froze, his eyes skimming the text at a frantic rate.
"Answer my question Master Riegan." Seteth's jaw clenched as he held out his hand for the reading material. "There is no way that particular book is from this library."
Claude's eyes flashed as he shrugged, trying to play it cool under the advisor's intense scrutiny. "Tomas lent me this as part of his collection."
Seteth snorted looking stern and agitated at the same time. "It must be part of his personal collection then, either way it isn't something you should be looking at. I will have a word with Tomas." Seteth promptly confiscated the book from our table. "You four should be working on your homework assignments, not looking at material such as this."
I watched Seteth leave clenching the book to his chest as Claude put his hands behind his back. "Well there goes that idea."
"Hmm?" I drummed my fingers on the table, wondering if what Rhea had said about Seteth, Flayn, Rhea, Byleth and I was true.
"Oh, I am researching Crests and Relics. I have this theory that Crests and Relics are related. Legend even has it that the Relics were gifts from the Goddess." Claude sighed heavily as he leaned back in his chair thinking.
I ignored my growling stomach as I narrowed my eyes at him. "You have my attention."
"Wait, you don't know the stories?"
"I am afraid I am woefully ignorant about some of the tales regarding faith. I might know them, but...I think it's been a while since I have heard them." I crafted my answer carefully, looking to confirm what I had read about back at the Gautier estate.
My houseleader stopped reclining in his chair, bringing it back down to the floor with a soft thump. "You definitely have a one track mind huh? I see you studying all the time but you never do your school work. You say you have traveled a lot, but yet you don't know basic Fodlan lore?" Claude leaned towards me, resting his cheek on his hand as he smugly smiled at me. "Seems like I am not the only one with some interesting secrets, hmm Petal?"
Something about the way he was smiling at me irritated me. Irked by his pointed questions, I mirrored his posture with a smirk of my own. "Yes, Master Riegan what secrets might you be hiding, hmm? "
We stared at each other for a few seconds until I felt another heavy prodding in my side.
"Uh, can you be excusing me? I will be needing some assistance on this part here?" Cereza broke the tension as she poked me again. "I am lacking an understanding on this."
I flinched away from her prodding, and turned towards her book. "Oh, hang on."
The next morning I collected my thoughts and headed down to the training grounds per my normal routine. The Blue Lions were awake and training as normal but there were now a few Black Eagles and some of my own house as well.
Surprised to see so many early morning risers I walked the training grounds looking for Navan. As I began running my warm up laps around the training grounds I managed to spot Caspar attempting to brawl with Raphael. The much smaller youth was having a difficult time.
As I finished my warm ups and started on my typical axe and spear patterns with my weighted weapons. I caught sight of Felix sparring heavily with Byleth.
Their sparring sessions were always interesting, Byleth wielding the Sword of the Creator while Felix attempted to ward off the whip-like action with a typically training sword. Their sessions typically ended with Felix biting the dust only to get up and ask for more.
I shook my head as I finished my last pattern dances and motioned to Navan that I was ready. My mentor grabbed his training weapons and dropped down into the training arena with a giant grin.
The next hour was spent with my mentor putting me through my own paces and I didn't have much time to think about how Felix was doing facing off against a Relic weapon. I didn't really have time to think about anyone or anything else for that matter. I was too busy attempting to keep my own skin intact and not eat the dust on the training floor.
It worked a bit better then normal - I felt like I was able to hold my own for longer than periods of time despite still kissing the ground a couple of times. Navan also sensed the improvement and was quick to praise me, in his own way."Oi Lass, yon is gona beat ma own skin sum day soon. Yon's training tis paying off."
I panted as I took a drink of water. The sarcasm dripped from my trembling lips as I took time to recover in between bouts. "You can tell I'm ecstatic, really. Totally thrilled the numerous beatings are paying off."
Navan's rough laugh echoed around the training yard as he promptly threw a bucket of water over me. "Yer should try scrapping with one of yer classmates! Tit'll do yer a world of good lass!"
I scowled at him as I shook the water out of my hair and took another drink. I wanted to yell at him for hosing me with cold water, but it felt a bit too good after a strong training session for me to complain.
"Ya! How about you try fighting with me! I'm ready to go!" Caspar jumped down over the rail in front of me with a pair of training knuckles yelling his excitement. I looked my opponent up and down and I grabbed my weighted training axe while issuing a warning. "Are you sure what to try me Caspar?"
"Sure I am! I am always ready to fight!" The excitable Black Eagle recruit was new to our morning sparring sessions, but he still looked fresh and ready to do. He bounced back and forth on his heels as he punched into the air.
I nodded and put my water skin away, moving into the middle of the arena. "Alright, make sure not to pull any punches alright?"
"I'll come at you with everything that I got!" Caspar nodded, his excitement was echoed by his eccentric lunge towards me.
The fight between Caspar and me was closer than I thought it would be. Caspar was similar in size and probably weighed a bit more than me, but his weapon was light and fast. He closed our gap quickly, normally getting two hits in to my one. The Black Eagle's hits were definitely lighter than Navan's ax though so I was able to power through the half dozen or so I managed to receive before I managed to land a decent hit to his shoulder knocking him off balance.
Following up, I planted my boot on his torso and shoved Caspar backwards on to the ground. Even before his back hit the ground I was running forward with my axe held high only to have my opponent roll neatly to the side and spring back onto his feet at the last second. I felt two more hits on my dominant arm a second later and was forced to drop my weapon.
Deprived of the feelin in my hands, I kicked out at the brawler and dropped to the ground to attempt to pick my weapon back up.
"Hey! You're pretty good at this! We should spar more often!" He praised me as he closed the distance between us within the blink of an eye. I managed to get my axe up in time to guard against another double fist combo.
The metal on metal rank out in the arena as Caspar's knuckles collided with my Axe. On the second hit I gritted my teeth and used the momentum to shove him back. Caught off balance, I managed to dodge his attacks and bring my axe up between us. Caspar's eagerness worked against him as he swung to hit me rather than put up his guard. He wasn't quick enough to avoid my next attack.
My ax slammed into his side and I pushed him further off balance. The short noble yelled as he headed towards the ground a second time. This time, I followed him down, jumping on top of him and landing heavily on his chest.
My knees hit the stones on either side of him as I held the handle of my ax across Caspar's neck as he fought to break free.
"Yield!" I panted as he slowly stopped moving.
He started to turn pink as he turned his head to the side. "Alright alright, I give up already. Now get off me already you brute."
Satisfied with my win I tossed my ax to the side and rolled over onto the ground next to him exhausted. "Ah, that was great Caspar!"
I panted, doing an inventory of my bruises as he sat up next to me. "Huh? You really think so?!"
I gave a halfhearted laugh as my hand found a large bruise on my rib cage. "Ya! Caspar that was amazing! You're so light on your feet! I need to learn that!"
He looked away, turning pink up to his ear tips. "Well gee, I'd be happy to give you some pointers sometime."
I flashed him a thumbs up as Navan threw a bucket of cold water over the both of us. "That's about enough of that lass, yer gona be late for brekkers if yer keeps layin about."
I bolted upright and started scrambling to take care of my equipment. "I am starving! Come on Caspar! Breakfast!"
"Oh yay! Breakfast!" The mention of food was enough to motivate both of us and we sprinted to get cleaned up before the morning meal concluded.
I sat with Caspar and Raphael for breakfast, doing my level best to eat as Caspar ate half of my plate plus three more of his own. I didn't even bother to keep track of how much Raphael was able to eat.
"Ugg, doesn't it just make you sick watching them eat so fast." Linhardt sat down across from me looking greener than normal.
"Good morning Lind, it's nice of you to join us for breakfast." I paused in eating my scrambled eggs to welcome the healer to our table.
Lind's voice was sleepy and grumpy as he watched the pair next to us eating. "I had no choice. Hubert is making us report in. He is going around knocking on all our doors."
I took another bite of my breakfast, processing this information and realized that Cereza had not yet entered the dining hall. "Oh...oh no. I got to go guys! Can one of you take care of my dishes please?"
I bolted from the dinning hall and raced for the Black Eagle's commoner's dormitory rooms. I heard the tail end of Caspar's yell and Linhardt's groan.
"Sweet more food!"
"Haven't you ate enough already?"
My heels clicked on the pavement as I ran directly for Cereza's room, down a line of stairs on a back alley and pushing over a hedge. I was almost there when I noticed Hubert heading in the same direction.
The tall, dark, and brooding noble scowled down at me as I cleared my throat. "Ahem, Good morning, Hubert! What's up?'
His glowing yellow eyes slid over me like an oil slick on water causing me to falter in my steps. The second's cool voice was annoyed as he sniffed. "Nothing that concerns you."
My face froze as I tried to keep up a cheerful appearance. I dusted a couple of sticks and twigs off my uniform and picked a few of them out of my hair as I attempted to keep up a conversation. "So you're just going around doing casual wake up calls for all students?"
"Of course not, I am waking up those who report to Lady Edelgard. She is wanting to have everyone awake and prepared for class early this morning." Hubert narrowed his eyes, guessing something was up. "What are you doing?"
I ignored his question, stalling for time and trying to figure out a plan so that Cereza wasn't scared out of her wits end. "That's really admirable Hubert! It's even more impressive that you managed to get Lind up before noon."
He paused and I hurried to stop next to him. Hubert stroked his chin in thought. "Ah, so Linhardt did made it to the dinning hall then. Excellent, I will continue to employee that method of wake up."
I got a shiver wondering what Hubert had done to motivate Lind into actually moving first thing in the morning. "Ah, he was barely awake, but yes?"
The noble glared down at me hard enough to make me flinch. "That still does not answer my question Miss. Lilianna, what are you doing here?"
I stood my ground and glared back up at him, an excuse already ready on my lips. "I was just on my way to drop off a study book to Cereza. Have you woke her up yet?"
Hubert folded his arms and continued staring menacingly down at me, perhaps sensing my lie. Apparently that was his way of appraising me however, as a few agonizing seconds later he relented. Flipping the hair out of his eyes the tall male gave me a clipped answer. "It was on my to do list."
We apparently headed down the same line of thought as he paused and then gave me another pointed glare. "You are that one who is studying with her are you not?"
I fidgeted this time under the pointed glare, shifting from one foot to another. What I did on weeknights in the library was hardly a secret. "I help her study a few nights a week, yes?"
"Why do you go out of your way for her?" Hubert's narrow yellow eyes flashed as he pinned me with the question. "Your schoolwork is barely passable, and there have been certain rumors that Claude's leadership and handling of the Golden Deer House are causing you to distance yourself from your peers.
That's a newer take on that rumor, more pointed. I thought as I lean back and put all my weight on my back leg. I waved one hand to my side, trying to be nonchalant."Why do you go out of your way for Lady Edelgard hmm?"
He looked ready to pounce as I stood my ground. The air around us grew cold, an ominous aura building from the Dark mage at the barest mention of Edelgard.
"She interests me and I find her to be sincere and cute. So I lend a hand where it intrigues me. Unlike you," I added the side retort unable to hold back my snide remark. "Who seems to only play games with people lives."
I was unaware of how my statement would affect the mage, nor how sinister Hubert could actually be. My gut clenched as warning bells went off as Hubert loomed over mage's voice was a soft hiss as he leaned in and whispered into my ear. "And what games might that be?"
I gulped as there was a hand on my shoulder. The strong grip held me in place as I realized I was pinned between two people. My panic rose as my hands started to glow with magic. "It's alright Hubert, you can leave her alone for a minute? I would like to speak with you before we assemble everyone."
"As you wish my lady." Hubert pulled away from me and waited for instructions.
I saw my opening and jumped in. "If you don't mind, I'll just be on my way…"
I sidestepped away as they both watched and bolted.
I ran down the dormitory courtyard rubbing my arms. "Cereza's right, he certainly has a creepy aura. I feel like I was about two steps from having a dagger thrust into me. "
I took the stairs two at a time and made a beeline for Cereza's room. Just before knocking I stopped to push my hair out of my face and to get my breathing under control.
I knocked roughly and a muffled groan came from inside.
I called out waiting to see if I could hear footsteps from inside. "Cereza, it's Lilianna! Come on open up."
There was a muffled hissing as I knocked again.
"Did you just hiss at me?' I pulled the door open to reveal a dark room.
The only light in the entire room shown in from the doorway I was standing in, so it took my eyes a second to adjust. 'Cereza, you're going to be late! Get up!"
There was no response from her after I entered the room and gave her a warning, so my next move was to get her out of bed by force. Time was of the essence, and unless she really wanted Hubert to march in here, she would forgive me later.
I spotted my ammunition on her desk. I grabbed a textbook, of moderate size, and tossed it up into the hammock nest I knew she slept in above the rafters.
The dull thud ensured my aim rang true and a second later glowing purple eyes popped up on the edge of the hammock with a low hiss. "Ouch! Why does you be throwing a book at me?"
"You're late for training. You need to get up." I stood below her, hands on my hips.
She snorted at my confession and made the mistake of dropping the book onto the bed next to me. I reached out my hand and caught it. "Nooo. I will be staying here in nest. Come back later."
I posed the book, ready to throw it back up and thought better of it. I had a better threat than a textbook. "I will go get Hubert."
Panic issued from the hammock as it started swinging and the purple eyes popped back up to glare down at me. "You would not be."
"Oh I would." I grinned evilly as I set the textbook back on the desk where I had got it and leaned over the chair.
"You is being most mischievous." She growled from the safety of her nest.
I rolled my eyes in response. "I can't help it. Your team is calling a mandatory meeting in the dining hall. I only just got word of it and managed to stop Hubert before he marched in here to wake you up himself."
"W-What did you be saying!?" Her alarm and panic was now visible as she crawled out of the hammock and into the rafters.
I snorted as the morning bell chimed in denoting it was almost time for morning classes to begin. "I am telling you to hurry up or you'll be late!"
Cereza's small form dropped from the rafters and onto the floor with an almost catlike grace. Her veil was off and her hair was in complete disarray as she grabbed my arm and pulled. "Out! I must be dressing"
She shooed me out of her room and slammed the door shut behind me as she gathered her hair into a messy bun.
"Well least she is awake now." I shrugged at the closed door. Feeling the need to stretch, I bask in the sun's warmth. My stretch was a little too ambitious as I felt a sharp stinging pain in my side. Realizing it was probably bruised from sparing with Navan and Caspar this morning I rubbed it gently. With about half an hour before classes started I decided to head to class early for once.
Author Note:
Oh-my-gosh guys you really made my day with all the nice comments and support I have received over the last few days - and to thank you I hurried up and edited this chapter and I hope to have another one out this week! I may or may not be motivated by nice people…(OwO) (Yay!) (I honestly would love to reply to some of you individually but I am a shy bean. Oh oh - Also want to say that I have loved some of the ideas you guys have dropped on me and watching you guys play connect the dots is so encouraging! I hope you look forward to more chapters! -I don't want to rush anything and I just want to have fun - so I hope you enjoy my fuzzy head canons and stories-
Anyway on to the chapter review! Nothing really big happened here today mostly just a bunch of cute fuff and stuff - Cereza is very happy to have her study partner back while it seems that the deers are welcoming her home in their own way. Hilda is quick to take advantage of Cereza's more helpful nature while Lili realizes what's going on and grudgingly gets caught up in returning the noble's long overdue library books.
We see Lili employing some crafty schemes of her own in order to not get chewed out by the librarians, which seems like it might be a more common occurrence for her so she's looking to avoid it. Cereza does not particularly mind as she is getting help studying.
Which leaves the question - was getting Lili into the Library a set up on Hilda's part? Or was it less than intentional that Claude just dropped in and started asking questions about what happened when she was gone...along with finding a book that quickly catches her eye? Poor Lili is trying not to panic when she realizes the books in her native tongue and hoping Claude isn't picking up on that!
Seteth certain does though! He removes the book and Claude is left trying to get information out of Lili the old fashion way.
We also have Lili resuming her normal training - Spears and Axes - She still strongly favors that Weighted training Axe - and takes on Caspar! The energetic youth proves to be a decent match for Lili - Caspar is lighter on his feet and makes her work for her victory. His one mistake was his over-eagerness and Lili took full advantage of that opening.
We then move into a cute breakfast scene where Lili is concerned for Cereza and in an effort to help her friend, takes on Hubert. Lili realizes she has bit off a bit more than she can chew distracting the dark mage. She does - with some help - succeed in waking Cereza up who is downright terrified of Hubert.
Chapter 15 preview - *whats a spoiler?*
Chapter 15 sees Lili continue to re-adjust to school life - making a more conscious effort to be a better student while still having Lili moments. So it shouldn't surprise anyone when she ends up back in the infirmary after a small 'accident.' -Figure out why is Lili asking Claude for Poison in the next chapter!-
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