Garreg Mach Monastery
My eyes open to the same wooden walls and I can see the sun has not even risen yet. One of the perks of being an elf now is only needing to sleep for four hours. 'That is a massive perk since we need to do a lot of tasks now.' True. First, we should get a lay of the monastery and see what's open. Wait, I should do my sword dancing while the moon is still out. It could also be a good excuse to check out the training grounds and see if they are open this early.
I gather my stuff like my daggers and helmet, and that's it. Besides my clothes, I honestly don't have much. Well, I do have my money. 'Maybe we should get something for the room or maybe at least a change of clothes.' Yeah. I hope there is someone who can give me a copy of my coat. Maybe a tailor would help. It does have some damage on the end of the coat but it could be good to get a nicer one. 'At least one with less tears.' Yeah. Maybe get a cloak to use to hide where I'm holding my weapons. 'Maybe we get those leg buckles you told me some edgy character has.' I told you that because you wouldn't shut up about Sigrun. 'Hey, I haven't given up on that inquiry. I'm just bidding my time to ask more about her.'
I end this little mental convo by opening my door and putting up some little traps on my door to see if anyone goes into my room without telling me. Thank you death note. 'What's death note.' Crap. I'm going to have to now explain that after sword dancing. 'I am excited to see that since you didn't do it on our travels here.' Well, I hope I do well then.
Felix POV
I let my sword drop as I felt the sweat all over my forehead drip down on the cold stone floor. I feel all the strength leave my body and I take just a moment of rest. I got lucky by finding out they don't lock the training hall at night. This is only a bit of rest then I need to get back to training. Maybe if I keep coming here I'll find someone to test the skill of my blade against. If rumors are true a man with the title Bladebreaker is now leading the knights. Maybe I should test my skills against him. I snap my head when I hear the door open to see an odd man. He is about 6'5 and the most striking thing is his metal helmet that covers all his face. My eyes then fall to see all the weapons he has on his person. He must be trained with a blade. If not, he is a fool to have more than one on his person.
Van's POV
I open the doors to hear the door creak as I open the door and my eyes don't need to adjust to the darkness to see that I have disrupted Felix from some late or very early training. Thank you darkvision. 'It is a boon that has helped you a lot. By the by who is this Felix? Is he one of the students in one of the houses?' Yeah. I'll explain after we are done. I look around to see some space to do my sword dancing. I walk past Felix without giving him thought. As Van, I don't ask questions if it seems innocent or if I can infer what he was doing. Even if I didn't know Felix's mentality I can see he was training. I take out the blade I don't use for fighting but for this act alone. It's a soft curved blade that is as white as the moon. I usually keep it away from my person until I sword dance. I start swinging my sword as my body already knows what to do. Whenever I sword dance it feels like my body moves on its own when I do the moves. It's almost like the dance movements possess my body and I gain control once it's over.
This is usually a thirty-minute dance but I can feel Felix's eyes on me and he leaves sometime during the dance. As I finish up I look up to see the moon out. I wonder if she can see in this world. 'She.' Sorry, it seems I was playing the pronoun game. The woman I was talking about is the Goddess Van prayed to when he left the Underdark. Her name was Elistree. She would help out the drow who wanted to escape the iron grip that her mother Lolth had on them. I wrote in his backstory that he prayed to her to leave the Underdark every night during his escape. She truly cared about each drow or Elf that wanted to have a different life than the one that was sworn to do the bidding of Lolth. The reason I or Van do this is she loves the expression of art in some way. Van does this in painting or sword dancing.
'I didn't know you could paint.' Before all this, I had no skill for it. I haven't had the chance to try it yet. 'Maybe after we get paid you can buy some paints and a brush.' Maybe. Now let's go drop this word back to our room and get a lay of the land before everyone else wakes up. 'Lets.'
Several Hours later Early Morning
After getting a good lay on the land I realized that the games did make this place just a tab smaller than it appears in real life.'When you said it took only a few minutes from the lake to the church I knew you were lying.' Hey, that was not a lie. I just didn't know the truth. Well, Byleth should be visiting Rhea right now and getting her assignment to choose which house she would teach. I should probably do some research on the land. Get a little refresher on what is happening. I start to head to the library on the second story when I remember that I can also spy on one of the people from Those Who Slither In The Dark. Will he detect you? 'Not at all. I can hide my presence in front of Rhea so it will not be that hard to hide from Solon.' Ok.
I get to the library and feel a few curious glances at me. 'You do have a very striking look, Van.' Very true. I enter in the area and the smell of old books fills my nose. Ah, how memories of my younger days in my school library come back but then are invaded by a memory that is not my own. A dark places with low lighting that had some many books on shelves I thought they would fall over. The feeling of eyes on me the moment I enter the place a Fun' El should not be. I shake my head to get rid of those thoughts. 'That was one of his memories right?' Yeah. The worst was when I killed a man a few months ago. I kept flashing back to the first person Van killed during the act. I almost got an arrow to the knee if I didn't force myself out of it.
'If it happens again I'll help Van. Just remember you're here with me if they happen again.' Thanks, Arval. I head to the shelves to read the titles of the books and find one about the lands of Fodlan. Well, I should start with this. I take the old and dusty tome off the shelf and go find myself a quiet table to sit at. Once I open it up I find myself almost bored to tears by a long-winded talk about how great Fodlan is. This is like reading The Great Gatsby all over again. I'll never forget how tired I was when I needed to read it.
As I'm reading I hear footsteps approaching me. I lift my head to see Byleth is the one approaching me. I wonder if she has decided which House she is leading. She takes a seat opposite of me and for a minute we are just quiet. It was odd at first but I realized that if Byleth didn't want to be around you she would just leave. 'Everyone needs someone that you are fine with just sitting in silence with.' That's an odd but nice statement. I look at the page I was on to remember which one it was and close the book as I put my full attention on Byleth.
Byleth says "I was given a task to choose which of the three houses I would teach. I am supposed to talk to each house leader and then make my decision. I don't believe this is my strongest skill. We both know me and social skills are not the best. Can I ask for your help?" This is odd. I'm so glad my face is covered most of the time. I don't think I would like to show all my emotions to some of the people at this school. One in particular is a certain snake-eyed individual.
"I'll help. Do you just want to talk to the house leaders or see each student as well?" Byleth puts a hand under her chin and says "Let's just go to each house leader." I nod and I get up to put my book away. Once we are out of the library Byleth and I head to the first floor. I ask as we are walking down the stairs "How did you find me anyway?" Byleth says with her dry tone "I just looked all over and asked the knight that escorted you last knight where your room was. Once I found out you were not in your room I just searched the area." 'She must have been driven to find you.' Well if she does all the lost and found items she will be doing a lot of walking around the monastery.
Once we get down to the ground floor I turn to Byleth and ask "So which one shall we go and visit? Maybe a deer of gold, an eagle as black as night, or maybe an azure lion?" 'That was oddly done poetically.' Hey, I am an elf now, and regardless of what type we all have that ability to do Shakespeare in the park. 'What in the park?' I need to stop making references to you before I explain stuff. 'Please.' Byleth takes her thinking pose and I put a hand on my hip to wait for her response. Wait is this like when she does a dialogue choice in the game?
"Let's go and talk to the deer first." Well, she is rolling with my little names for them. I nod my head and go to walk in a direction. I stop after three steps and turn back to ask "Where is he?" Her blank look on her face gets a confused look in her eyes and I try to rack my brain where he could be. Fuck.
After a minute of searching, we did not find the hidden Almyrian noble but as Felix calls him the Boar Prince. Byleth takes the opportunity to walk toward him and I follow behind. Before we can say a word in edgewise Dimitri walks towards us and says to Byleth " Please accept my apologies for the other day. You came to our aid, yet I hadn't even the courtesy to properly introduce myself. I am Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, crown prince of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus. Of course, at the academy, I am simply a student. And I've heard word that you are to become a professor here. Delightful news. I still have much to learn, but I'm confident I could benefit greatly from your guidance. Oh, I see Iron is with you as well. I was told you are also a professor to be. In any case, welcome to the monastery. I hear you're investigating the different houses. Did any of the Blue Lions catch your attention?" Byleth nods and turns to me. Ok, I'm taking over. I ask "Can you tell us who are part of the Blue Lions." I am then given the whole roster of the blue lions.
After he is done Byleth asks "Tell me about you Dimitri." Yep, blunt tone and all. She was like that when I joined to group. Dimitri is taken aback for a second and says "Me? Oh. Um. Please forgive me... It's difficult to open up on the spot, don't you think? I'm afraid my story has not been a pleasant one... I do hope that doesn't color your view of me, but I understand if that can't be helped." Byleth nods and her eyes lock on Claude who is further ahead of us. As she walks away I say to the prince "Thank you for telling us, Dimitri. Have a good day." He smiles at me as I go to join Byleth.
The others are the same as Dimitri. I start to talk then Byleth asks about the lords. Once we made the rounds we headed to a table in the entrance hall. As we sit down I ask "So what do you think of the houses?" Byleth says "The Blue Lions are the best to start off working well together since most of them grew up with each other. They also have the most knight-like fighting which helps for simple tactics. They do lack in the magical ability department and when it comes to range they can't compare to the Golden Deer. The Golden Deer all come from different backgrounds and that can help but I see the possibility of clashing ideas happening before they become a stable unit. The Black Egeals have a good amount of magic with them but they don't have a lot of people that can take a hit than other houses. They each have their strength but also a weakness. In the end, each one can be a valid option."
'Well, she got the tactics of them down fast.' Yeah, there is a reason that she is the deciding factor on who wins the war. A thought enters my head. I can possibly sway Byleth to one of the houses. Do I have the right though to try and change her mind? I rack about it as Byleth thinks. Before I come to a decision she gets up and says "I made my choice. I'll choose the Blue Lions. I am not the best at dealing with problems when it comes to their standing in society. I don't have much knowledge of magic so the best one I can help with my skills is the Blue Lions."
'Seems she made up her mind.' Yeah, she has. Well, time for me to think up some lessons. I feel a flash of the drow academy and one of its many lessons. Maybe I can use them as examples of what not to do for teamwork. Seems I got my work cut out for me.
Hey guys sorry for the wait. Work got busy and I was kinda having a writer's block on how to write for some of these guys. I'll try and do better for the next chapter but hey leave a comment. Also, I will take pairing suggestions for some people. Have a great day.