Chapter Thirteen

1.

"-don't understand why they let Duscur filth into the-"

A teenager steps back at the sudden presence before them. Their friend's face is contorted in pain as their foot is crushed beneath a heel.

"You know," Leonie says pleasantly, sweetest of smiles on her face, "it isn't nice to call anyone filth."

After she finishes lecturing them on diversity, open-mindedness, and the negative impacts of judging a person by their racial markers and stereotypes, Leonie watches the teens run off with a roll of her eyes. They are the fifteenth case she's taught today. If it's not hating people of Duscur, it's hating those from Almyra, or Brigid, or Dagda, or even Sreng. If it's none of those, it's people slamming other religions or dripping venomous words about going to school with commoners. It's as though someone kicked a hornet's nest, and now students and workers alike are participating in bigotry and racism.

Leonie's not too happy that her time exploring meant she missed this when it was subtle. The only good thing to come from the vocalization is that she can mark who to watch for. The Notice-Me-Not charmwith its Invisibility factor as high as she can make it means nothing can get traced back to Leonie. They can hear the distorted words but have no idea who the offender harming them, and their sensibilities, is.

Leonie glances back at the three calico cats who have been trailing her all day. Their gazes snap to hers the moment the charm falls. The human flashes a grin and gets back to walking, the cats keeping pace.

Plausible deniability and all that. If someone were to figure out who the newly rumored Phantom of the Monastery is, then just maybe a few Crest shards would go missing as well. Not that she told the cats she knows their secret, but she figures they got the point of her spiel.

Isn't it interesting, though, that the only mutterings about nobles are about adopting or marrying into nobility? Maybe a little jealousy, but no anger. No discontent. Just little daydreams about being them one day. To break those thoughts will require a little more noticeable of an effort, someone to tell them there are more commoners than nobles. Someone to say there is so much a commoner can do without the responsibility of caring and protecting and growing the large territory and people under them.

But Leonie won't be the one to seed any dissent there, not with the Church and other eyes looking for the outliers. She won't lie, but she won't push for a backbone in the commoner population. Not yet. Maybe not ever, if she can't find the energy to do so.

2.

"Morning, Claude," Leonie greets as though she isn't screaming inside, "You remember Bernadetta? And this is Dorothea. Ladies, Claude von Riegan."

Claude looks his cousin in the eye and smiles his usual meet-and-greet look, "A pleasure to meet you.

Dorothea grins back, "Likewise."

Leonie just about head-bangs the table.

They don't know.

Her letter better get to Godfrey. He better write back fast.

"Leonie was telling me you were apart of the first group of students to participate in the obstacle course," Dorothea says, warming her hands around the morning soup bowl. "I'm not doing it myself, but I am going to go and cheer on the other Black Eagle students."

After being so used to Claude at the very least loosening his guard around her, Leonie's keeping an eye on how perfectly natural his electric stare is. No emotions in his eyes, hand under his chin, "Oh? I guess I should go too. All of the future Golden Deer students are already here, just a few left to run the course."

Leonie doesn't let it show how much that shocks her. She feels the warmth draw away from her chest, knowing from the way he says it that the statement is true. There are fourteen future Golden Deer students set up in the Monastery's extra rooms. Even now, there are at least twenty Black/Red Eagles and over thirty Blue Lions. Better chances for her to get in the main class, but still. Fourteen.

"I'm running it again with Bernadetta," Leonie announces to him, watching closely. Claude's gaze doesn't so much as crack as it reasserts. Interesting. "Did you know they're allowed support items?"

His smile doesn't so much as twitch, "You would have known if you went to see it."

Leonie visibly rolls her eyes and head, "I'm usually helping Flayn tune instruments at that time. It honestly wouldn't surprise me if Seteth sets up this thing in the exact time he knows she won't be watching."

"Oh?" Dorothea mutters, intrigued. "I haven't met Flayn yet."

"She's Seteth's little sister," Claude elaborates. Leonie's just happy she didn't have to explain; perfectly fine lying about it but it would be so much funnier to hint at the truth. "I haven't seen them interact much, but he can be very protective of her. Almost too much."

Leonie snorts behind her apple. "Did you get the shovel talk, too?"

Bernadetta stutters and squeaks from between the ladies, "W-what's a s-shovel… talk?"

Leonie takes a moment to look at the curious faces from all three of them, though admittedly Bernadetta's is more fearful. "Ah, sorry. It's a figure of speech. It means, when someone in interested in pursuing a relationship with another person, the other person's family gives the pursuer a talk around the lines of 'hurt them, and no one will find your body'."

Claude doesn't even hide his shock, "Well, that's an intense reaction."

Dorothea even looks a bit ill, "Is that… a common occurrence in your village?"

No. It's not even a common line of thinking in Fódlan. "Not nowadays. Though, let me know if I need to give it to someone for you. It's a good way of scaring off potential suitors whose heart isn't in the relationship."

"Please," rips from Bernadetta's, face hopeful. "I give you full permission to talk to suitors for me."

Claude cracks a real smile while Leonie chokes a laugh. Dorothea looks vaguely exasperated, "I don't think that's how it works, Bern."

For positive reinforcement, Leonie nods and smiles at the use of the nickname. After the episode of Bernadetta's possible split-personality that's likely based on – or represents – her abusive father, the older teens had a chat about not using Bernie as a nickname until the young Black/Red Eagle is ready. Leonie's more partial to Detta, but she isn't going to use it until the teen is comfortable hearing her full name in an outside setting with no force or expectation behind it.

She really needs to introduce Bernadetta to Raphael and, especially, Ignatz soon. It would probably go better to balance the meeting of commoners and nobles, but Bernadetta's thinking that any commoner with less visible muscle mass than her father is going to end up killed needs to be disproven fast. Having her sit next to Dorothea is the biggest jump in their relationship all week, but that could be attributed to Dorothea teaching them the motion to dislocate wrists with barely a twitch of fingers last night.

"Of course I'll help vet your suitors," Leonie assures earnestly, not looking at anyone when she continues, "for all ya'lls." She doesn't want to see their faces. "I won't let anyone take advantage of you."

There is a war to win. Who will you choose?

Dorothea huffs, "While that is sweet, Leonie, I do not want you chasing off any potential suitors for me."

She can't help the cheeky, "As you wish."

But of course, no one gets the reference. Instead, Leonie avoids looking full-on at Claude, gazing up through the windows above him to get an idea of the time. It's the calm before the mess she's been avoiding. She'd followed a thug to the secret prison that's full of civilians. One guarded by people in hooked masks like something out of the black plague.

She'd overheard the prison guards pondering the use of experimentation as a threat if no results came from the Abyss' double agent.

It took everything in her to keep the air from igniting.

"So," Leonie swallows the bite of her apple. "Dorothea, Bernadetta," the young woman's gaze scans Claude's just enough to see he's still distancing from them, "I've been meaning to ask, how is the food in the Empire?"

Dorothea rests her chin on her hand, "What do you mean?"

"I've tried a few things on the menu," Leonie motions back to severing counter, "and I've noticed a lot of the meals from the Empire are fished-based. Lysithea's used to eating them because she lived close to the see, but I was wondering if it was, like, a staple or something for the Empire. I'm used to more foraging type meals and fattier meats."

"That sounds about right," Dorothea hums. "The Empire gets a lot of trade, particularly from its vassal states. Staying with Countess Adler," she throws that context out for Claude, "I grew up more inland, but the diet was plenty of seafood." A cute laugh, "Definitely not tree fruits every day."

Leonie tosses an apple onto the brunette's tray, "I've got plenty more if you need a daily dose."

She finally looks over to Claude's perfectly friendly mask when he asks, "Do you have any other-"

He catches the pear she tosses his way. Blinks at it, then at her as Leonie takes a bite of her apple with raising eyebrows. Claude laughs and the mask reasserts, "How'd you know what I was going to ask?"

"I keep several fruits on me at all times," is the non-answer and understatement, "but I guess I kind of do eat apples more than others. I like being surprised with how sweet or sour they can be."

Also, eating an apple makes her look more like an a*****e. It turns people off from interacting with her. And, an apple a day keeps the healers away.

"Ah," Leonie squints and there's a slight breeze as she finishes the fruit. "Bernadetta, are you almost ready to go? We'll need to sign-in with Seteth if I'm remembering right."

The teen squeaks and chugs back her soup. Claude and Dorothea look to the windows, Dorothea protesting, "There isn't a need to rush."

"We're about fifteen minutes away from the hour," Leonie has a talent of reading the sky after all these years outdoor, but the bell tower here has been very helpful with how far its reach extends. "There's bound to be a lineup. From what I've, um," Leonie can't help the cough at the second-hand embarrassment, "heard about the other times, I'd rather see about us getting into a group that can do it in under thirty minutes."

Claude apparently can't help a snicker, "It's the climbing wall that gets them stuck. Seteth put on some kind of ward that makes it impervious to magical attacks."

"Raphael could probably punch through it," Leonie says off-handily as she slings an arm over Bernadetta's increasingly shaking shoulders. At the feeling of being hidden under an object unimportant enough for Crests to see, the youngest relaxes. Leonie's chest itches at the partial activation of the diverter ward. "We've got this. Worst comes to worst, I'll just get you over the wall and run around it myself. I'm the support item, remember? Not an actual competitor."

In the corner of her eye, Leonie catches a shift over Claude's face. She looks over in time to see him take a bite of the pear.

"Well then," Dorothea smiles like grace and perfection, "I shall look forward to seeing you two in action."

3.

"Oh, Leonie!"

The orange haired young woman and her purplette teenage possible-friend turn at the shout, breaking off their planning session for the obstacle course. Bernadetta whimpers and ducks behind Leonie out of new habit, while Leonie beams a smile with a wave, "Ingrid, Sylvain, how's it going?"

Sylvain musters up a smile from behind Ingrid, where he's just been dragged away from flirting with older students, "Hey, Leonie."

Satisfied he isn't about to start up again, Ingrid releases her stranglehold and grins at the future Golden Deer student, "Are you here to cheer on your friends?"

"Well…" Leonie risks a glance behind her, "I'm actually a support item. Bernadetta? I promise they don't bite." A head of purple hair and matching coloured eyes peek around, Leonie holding up an arm so she gets a better view. Out of the teen's sight, Leonie holds up a 'one moment' finger for the future Blue Lions. "Do you feel up to introducing yourself?"

Bernadetta takes a couple of deep, heaving breaths. Then she steps out just far enough to make a fist and do the Kingdom's greeting bow, "My name is Bernadetta von Varley! Please call me Bernadetta!"

While Ingrid is busy looking confused, it's Sylvain who steps forward and does the greeting bow back, "Greetings, Bernadetta. My name is Sylvain Gautier."

"Er, yes. And I am Ingrid Galatea. A pleasure to meet you."

"You as well," Bernadetta squeaks and then ducks behind Leonie again. The pause lasts for a few seconds. "How did I do?" comes muffled from her shirt.

"That was great," Leonie folds an arm behind her to pat the teen's shoulder. "You're a natural at this."

Bernadetta groans at how she doesn't want that.

"Are you here to cheer on your friends?" Leonie diverts the topic so the other heirs don't question the particulars of the situation.

"But of course," Ingrid's gaze still lingers on where Bernadetta disappeared, concerned.

"Yah," Sylvain sighs and crosses his arms behind his head, eyes pointedly going towards the sets of future Blue Lions being sorted into groups. "Felix would never let us live it down if he kicked His Highness' royal behind and we weren't here to see it."

"Sylvain!" Ingrid snaps, but Leonie's more interested in one of the peach-blonde future Blue Lions talking with another orange haired teen.

On instinct, before the girls' group moves to the start line, Leonie gets up on her toes, one hand cupping around her mouth while the other waves when her potential-friend glances their way, "Mercedes! Good luck!"

Mercedes waves back, shoulders shaking and hand daintily covering her mouth as she giggles.

"Sorry," Leonie turns to gaping future Blue Lions. "I wasn't able to tell her good luck this morning. So, who are you watching?"

Sylvain smirks like she told a great joke and points to a group behind Mercedes'. The group of three is staring at the four in varying degrees of emotion, but they're too far away to make it out, "Dedue is on the left, Felix is on the right, and in the middle is His Highness, the crown prince, Dimitri Blaiddyd."

Leonie blinks a few times while that processes, "Huh."

Bernadetta is making, "Please don't make me introduce myself to them," noises against her support item's back.

"Don't worry, Bernadetta," Leonie pats the girl's back. "It looks like he's a bit busy with other admirers." Turns raised eyebrows towards Ingrid and Sylvain, "What are the chances that the Crown Prince and next leader of the Roundtable Alliance are in the Officer's Academy at the same time?"

Sylvain startles, arms dropping, while Ingrid does a full double-take, "I beg your pardon?"

"Claude von Riegan," Leonie explains like she isn't setting up gossip to get back to the crown prince, "is heir to House Riegan. He's set to lead the Roundtable when his grandfather eventually retires," or dies, "so now I'm curious if the Empire's princess will also be coming."

"Huh," Sylvain looks thoughtful, though his gaze does stray to Leonie's side where Bernadetta is having a wave of jittering anxiety at the thought, "I guess she would be about our age group. Ingrid?"

"I guess we can only wait and see," the blonde is looking back at her friend group with a worried frown. "My apologies, Bernadetta, Leonie. We must be going to support our friends."

"Oh, yah, no worries. Thanks for stopping to chat. Hope to see you all around sometime, maybe at dinner or something."

Sylvain chuckles and waves at Bernadetta's peeking head. The teen yelps and ducks back, though does offer a wave. Ingrid flashes a strained smile, "Of course. Sylvain, let's go."

Only when they're a great distance away does Bernadetta step out with a heaving breath.

"I'm proud of you," Leonie tells her, gently steering her towards the assembling Black/Red Eagles.

After a long moment of fidgeting, Bernadetta hangs her head and mutters, "It was not as horrible as I thought it would be."

"That's great to hear." She lets the younger one stranglehold her arm. "And, hey, practice only makes things easier. Soon, you probably won't even need me around."

"T-that's not true!" but Bernadetta is smiling a bit after she catches Leonie's joking expression. "I'll need you! Especially for riding lessons."

Leonie laughs, "I told you I'm not that good."

"But you know how to ride a horse. That's more than Lysithea or- or Dorothea. And- and you can find someone to teach us how to fly!"

"I'm glad you have faith in me," Leonie's face pinches in thought, not noticing her sarcasm isn't picked up. "Maybe I can see if Claude or Hilda can offer any tips. Their families are known for training wyverns; I just wouldn't want to risk getting any bad habits from teaching ourselves."

"That sounds good to me," Bernadetta then ducks back behind Leonie as Seteth appears to begin directing newer students into lines. At least she's coming along with her courage when facing her peers.

4.

The wait to begin the course takes longer then expected because someone apparently stumbled into and through the weak point of the climbing wall. Leonie's resolved not to exploit that part of the structure left by Lysithea, and Seteth sternly tells them they can go only if they promise not to charge through the wall like the last group. As she lines up with Bernadetta on her back, Leonie can name the other three students lined up even if she doesn't know them. Judging by how beautifully plain they all are, not a one will be in the main class for the Eagles.

Leonie's very curious where the other main class students are at the moment.

At the signal, she takes off in relatively the same pace as last time. Only, this time the students also running it don't seem nearly capable of keeping up. It bothers her, knowing Seteth placed her with the assumed best cases. Leonie and Bernadetta are over the bars before they're through the through the second obstacle.

Bernadetta, holding on strong enough to strangle a person who isn't using Durability, grins and giggles against the wind. She quietens when they reach the wall, looming bigger than Leonie's first go. Mutters to herself, "Oh no, how are we going to get over it?"

"Give me a second," Leonie strides confidently to the bricks. She places a hand on it and silently Investigates the magic sown into it. She grins and lifts her palm, fingertips holding. Whatever ward is on here prevents spells meant to cause harm, nothing else. "Okay, I'm going to begin climbing."

Bernadetta whimpers and tries to hold tighter. Leonie makes sure to place her fingers in grooves to make it look good. Climbing down is, in fact, harder than going up. Especially since Durability promises her legs won't sting on impact if she jumped. The rest of the course is easy in comparison, Seteth congratulating Bernadetta for passing the test with, "great ingenuity."

Claude and Dorothea walk over – side by side and yet so apart – congratulating Bernadetta and Leonie for making it so fast. They all ignore the students not even over the bars yet.

Claude slings an arm over Leonie's shoulder, "How was it this time?"

Dorothea has Bernadetta's hands clasped in one of her own, wiping the tears her praises cause the younger teen.

"About the same," Leonie gently nudges his side, shooting a grin, "though I missed having a helping hand."

His smile widens before reasserting back to the friendly look, arm sliding off as he moves to tease Bernadetta a little. Leonie shakes her head and follows after to defuse anything if Bernadetta takes it the wrong way, already the girl is gripping Dorothea a bit too tight.

Leonie really should be assisting all her time to Bernadetta's adjustment period.

If only the feelings of friendship were there instead of the closest thing to protectiveness she's ever felt this life.

It would be so much easier to care about their futures if they were her friends.

But Fire Emblem was never about the easy path.

5.

"Alright," Claude interrupts the small debate happening between Leonie and Ignatz about dawn vs. sunset paintings, Raphael and Hilda's conversation about strength training exercises, and Marianne, Lorenz, and Lysithea's noble doctrine discussion, by dropping his tray of food rather dramatically and standing a moment longer than necessary, "who here has been waylaid Phantom of the Monastery?"

He looks surprised as Hilda, Leonie, and Lorenz raise their hands.

"I got a lecture on trespassing and rules keeping me safe after I stumbled into an out of bounds area," Leonie explains her lie. Always have a cover, after all.

Lorenz clears his throat, irritated, and offers, "I was thrown into an empty classroom and was explained why insistence might become a deficient trait."

His lecture was on no means no, but close enough.

"I was told not to foster character building activities onto other people," Hilda makes a face. "Judgy creep. Why do you ask?"

"Seteth wants a headcount of who's interacted with the person," Claude – probably – lies. In the interest of fairness, he got a lecture on not insulting his hosts the day before because Leonie found him talking smack to himself about the Church in a deserted part of the Monastery. "I think they're planning to crack down on whoever is pretending to be a ghost just to yell at people."

"Good," Hilda decrees.

Leonie keeps eating dinner and nods and smiles where appropriate. She can't decide whether Claude suspects one of them and is warning them, or if Seteth has even spared a thought to the haunting reports with all the paperwork he has. In better news, the sword exam begins in two days. Tournament-style knockout where the top ten are guaranteed extra marks on their Master Class exams.

Which means it's time to get her affairs in order.

6.

Once Leonie finds an entrance to Abyss, the search for Bernadetta's Nabatean goes smoothly. He is in a coliseum-like room with three Crest-bearing humans, the Nabatean being called Yuri by them as they all hack and slash at monsters. In the end of it all, the young woman with vibrant red hair thanks them for allowing her to sigh. There is another lady there, all haughty and with a laugh that sounds too fake to be real. The last and biggest guy there could probably give Raphael a run for his money with how strong he looks.

'Yuri' urges them to return without him, saying he'll deal with the looting and fading bodies. Once they're gone, and Leonie's tied a rope to the strongest support beam she can, the young woman slides down from the ceiling like a spider. She watches him dig for a while in the dissolving bodies of Reason magic before ending several spells and a charm, letting out a, "So."

That's all it takes. He's spun around, dagger flying so fast no magicless human could see it. Leonie catches in her hand, a little blood spilling as the dagger stops the healing of whatever touches it.

If there was any doubt of his lineage, he can see through the diverter ward just fine. Thankfully, he does not attack again. Slow, swaggering footsteps her way. The air grows colder, "Who. Are. You?"

Leonie's normal grin never abates as she drops from the rope, tossing him the dagger hilt-first, "No one important. I'm just bored enough to go looking for a fight, and I'm hoping you'll help me find one."

He snorts, his continually even tone reflecting how bland he feels towards her, "I don't believe we've ever met, so why would you think I could deliver you a fight?"

Leonie. Keeps. Grinning. The feel of his Crest strands is that of a skating rink, cold and condensed. One wrong move to end up falling. In a strange way, it's rather exciting to be doing something unexpected. She's a lot more open to the option after years of monotony. "I happened to stumble across a prison filled with civilians. The guards were pondering if they might be able to motivate a Yuri by threatening to experiment on the prisoners."

He isn't blinking with how still his rage is.

"I don't like suffering, less so their kinds of experimentation," Leonie is sure all her teeth are showing with how wide her grin stretches. "So I wanted to make sure I wasn't screwing anything up for their double-agent if I went ahead and killed all the non-prisoners."

He blinks. Blinks again. Smiles. Throws his head back with an insane laugh. The air is filled with a cold so sharp, it could be a murder weapon. When he calms down enough to show her frozen purple eyes, the smile is thinned, "And what do you want in return?"

Leonie holds out a hand, "You don't tell anyone about me."

If it weren't for Durability, he would have crushed her.

7.

Here are the things 'call me Yuri' tells her:

His 'mother' is one of the prisoners.

If his real boss ordered him to attack now, he would have to. In doing so, his 'mother' would be lost.

There is an important Church figure working for the people holding the civilians captive. He isn't important, just another pawn for the real enemy: Those Who Slither in the Dark.

None of the head figures for the evil organization are currently here, so it's the sympathizes she'll be taking out.

She'll need to take them all out at once in order for the civilians to escape.

He has a plan for that.

Here is what he doesn't tell her:

He loves the person he calls 'mother', possibly more than Sothis.

He doesn't elaborate as to who his real boss is.

Who the important Church person is and what they get out of double-crossing Rhea.

When she is going to stir-up trouble.

What his plan is to save the civilians.

"Do you really care to know?"

"Mmm, not really. Not if you're going to deal with the Church traitor personally."

Call-me-Yuri's thin smile stretches to reveal sharp teeth, an understanding passing between them, "I will."

8.

Even though she had appeared from the cavern's roof without him noticing, Yuri still made it clear he didn't trust her ability to go unnoticed. However, it isn't his problem if she gets caught. It will be a problem if she backstabs him. So, just before the bell sounds for mid-day, just before the guard switch high above them, they stand in the shade of a cavern before the plains below Garreg Mach Monastery's great bridge.

"The moment we step foot out there, Rhea's puppets will activate," for being a person with very little facial expression, Yuri does good work expressing himself in tone alone. The dripping disdain gives Leonie reason enough not to want to meet these puppets. "Directly across from here is the Chalice I am supposed to get in exchange for the prisoners' lives. I found it years ago after sneaking around the long way, however we do not have the time for that if you wish this to be done before the new year."

Leonie keeps him in the corner of her eye, watching the empty plain for any hidden surprises, "Did you leave a marker or something?"

Yuri's lips thin, "There are the markings of the four apostles' Crests surrounding a hole I made. You will not be able to get the Chalice without one of those Crests."

Being so careful with her apathy showing, Leonie snorts through her usual smile. "That won't be a problem."

He stills for a moment, the air getting colder again as he tries to force through her diverter ward. Down here, on the edges of the blanket of threads, his attempt is not even in the top three of strongest Crest bonds to go sliding around her. Almost like he's forgotten how to use his heart. "Do you have a Crest of the apostles?"

Leonie neither confirms nor denies, instead flashing a smirk before rushing out into the light. Above her, the first gong echoes from the bell tower. The only annoyance of being so far down from the Crest blanket is that now magic doesn't instinctively come from the air around her. It comes from the energy Leonie holds in herself, and within moments she can feel the very small fat stores she's been growing fall away.

She is Invisible. She is Silent. She is a Lightweight, leaving behind no footprints as she runs.

Around her, horrible monstrosities whir to life and fill the plains. As she darts around them, Leonie thinks she hears screaming.

Only, it's not inputting through her ears.

Leonie focuses on how technologically advanced these horrors are. Lets that fuel her indignation as she Speeds up. Ignores the sounds in her head as she looks for the hole.

There.

Leonie takes a moment to breathe, hands on her knees as she tries to get moisture back in her mouth. While she waits, she makes sure to jot down the symbols and mark them as unknown Crests. There is only one requirement to getting behind the wall, and from what she can tell it doesn't even cover anywhere but the plain's facing side. If she had any better an ability with earth magic, or even more time and a shovel, Leonie could dig her way to the prize.

Instead, she goes with the second-worst option. Leonie undoes her Silence in order to shout, "Dispel!"

As one, the puppets turn with howls and converge. Leonie darts into the crumpling stone, grabbing the flash of gold. She Silently jumps into the air with a burst of Strength, practically floating down as a Lightweight. The puppets may not be able to see or hear her, but she has to be careful not to bump into the swarm. Leonie does not turn anything off until she's once again in the shadow of the caverns, startling Yuri enough to jump at her appearance.

"Ta da," Leonie drawls, shaking the cup and pretending her heart isn't beating a mile a minute. She hasn't had fun like that since searching out a monster's den years ago.

Yuri, for all his cool aesthetic, appears stunned as he warily looks between her and the howling puppets in the distance, their noises being blocked by the twelfth and final toll. Whatever he wants to ask, he decides against, holding out a hand for the Chalice of Beginnings, "Thank you for retrieving it."

Leonie holds it out but doesn't let go when he grabs it, "You will be able to keep it safe for three days, yah?"

"I will," he promises. Leonie releases. "No one will remember you when you attack, will they?"

He's asking more out of curiosity than concern. Leonie winces as her stomach growls loudly, but shrugs, "If you want, no one will even know I was the one attacking. They'll blame it on something ridiculous, like the Phantom of the Monastery or something."

Yuri lips twitch at the smile, but he gives no recognition of the title away, "Best go with that. Now, I will be off."

"And was there a third party assisting you at any time?" Leonie drawls the sarcastic question.

"Never," Yuri replies. "I retrieved the Chalice all on my own."

Leonie raises a hand at his retreating back, wondering just how much mass she lost and if it reflects on her face. Her fingers are a bit slimmer, but the callouses haven't deflated. She pulls at her fingerless glove, but everything looks the same.

Idly, she ponders if the Nabatean realized there was no magic left on the chalice. Her Dispel was a little too strong, ripping past the one spelled barrier and into whatever had been attached to the cup. She never would have handed it over if it had anything on it but, since it's literally only something to drink out of or throw at people now, that doesn't matter. If Yuri had the ability to place the magic back on it, there would have never been a reason for them to get the chalice.

Leonie cannot wait to finally have access to the library. She remembers nothing about apostles or a Chalice of Beginnings.

Maybe, when she has time, she'll be able to scour the Abyss. It's not like Yuri could stop her. Not like he'll want to, with how she's promised to help him in exchange for anonymity. If he ever breaks the promise, the spell she had ready on their shaking hands will leave him to regret it for as long as Leonie lives.

9.

On the day of the sword skill tournament, Leonie drags her roommates to watch. Aurora feigns interest until she realizes most of the audience are future noble students and then ditches them to go solo introduce. Lysithea makes sure she and Bernadetta get seats, Leonie standing behind them leaning on a pillar to not block anyone. They're still early, the fighters with C Rank and higher begin in an hour. Lysithea tuts at the sloppy forms.

Bernadetta, huddling close to Lysithea, turns big wide eyes on Leonie, "Can I borrow a sword like Lysithea?"

Leonie tilts her head impeccably, "It's just until the school year begins… Lysithea, do you still have a copy of my notes?"

"Yes," she turns to give Leonie a stern look. "I even inked it like you said."

"Awesome," Leonie turns to Bernadetta, "I'll get you sorted tonight. Have you been using the sword with Lysithea?" The teen shakes her head. "Okay, then I'll find you one. Just, don't put any force behind it if you two decide to practice moves against each other. I don't want them breaking." No need to reinforce the feeling that she's going against an integral part of her being by lending weapons to people.

My preciouses.

"Do you have notes for other things?" Lysithea asks, finally.

"Sure do," Leonie crosses her arms behind her head, watching the next E Ranks settle into position. "Lances, axes, and horseback riding. Let me know if you want them." The rest are only theories.

A few more rounds later, they're watching is interrupted by a smooth, "Ladies."

"Hey," Leonie greets the two future Lions. "Glad to see friendly faces here."

Sylvain laughs as Felix scowls harder behind his back, "Same. We weren't going to come until later, but it was either follow Ingrid to the Pegasus stables or His Highness to the tailors."

"This is definitely the better choice," Leonie agrees sagely, "even if none of the main class have appeared yet."

"Really?" Felix drawls. "So they all get raised to a higher standard?"

"I'm not sure yet," Leonie nods over to next set of E Ranks. "We haven't had anyone with at least a D Grade scoring yet."

He eyes her, "How are you with a blade?"

Sylvain groans, "Felix."

"Better with a lance," Leonie shrugs her answer. "Well, that and a bow. I can hold my own in a sword fight, but I know where my strengths lie."

Lysithea catches the teen's disdain, turning to face the heirs with her own, "Don't dismiss her yet. Leonie is much better than this display, and probably a better teacher than theirs."

It has been a lot of Hanneman's students so far. He is known for his preference of teaching magic.

Felix eyes the wisp of girls sitting, "Has she been teaching you?"

"Leonie has assisted me, yes."

"Then I guess we shall see."

Sylvain sighs, "And now that that's out of the way, ladies, this is Felix Fraldarius."

"Men," Leonie says in reply, "may I introduce Bernadetta von Varley and Lysithea von Ordelia. Lysithea, the orange haired one is Sylvain Gautier. Bernadetta met him before she ran the obstacle course. The dudes are both future Lions."

Sylvain chuckles while Felix is still looking a bit affronted at the 'dudes' part. Sylvain gently elbows Leonie, coming to relax beside her, "It was definitely a different 'run' then the others."

"Didn't your friend crash through the wall?"

"His Highness? Oh yes, it's a great reminder in case his ego ever grows."

Leonie hums and smiles a bit softer, prouder, "Lysithea used magic to blow a hole in the wall when we ran it."

"No way," Sylvain cheers. Even Felix looks impressed. "That was you?"

"You don't need to sound so surprised," Lysithea huffs and crosses her arms, turning away to hide her grin. "I happen to have a real talent in Reason magic. It's too bad Seteth blocked magical attacks on the wall."

They turn to watching the tournament with her, Bernadetta giving a shy wave to the sharp-looking Felix. He gives a small nod in return, ignoring how the girl 'eeps' to watch for weaknesses in the sword wielders' defences.

10.

On day two of the tournament, Leonie watches beside Hilda as Monica destroys her opponent with ease.

"Isn't she so great," the pinkette gushes.

"Yah," Leonie admits, smiling her usual smile, "she's pretty great."

And still here.

Leonie had been expecting the disappearance for a while. She's a bit concerned it won't be Monica getting kidnapped. At least if it's her, everything is still boringly predictable, in place, and running with fate. Leonie knows the names and faces of every student and future student currently in the Officer's Academy. Whoever goes missing, she'll know before the fixed point who's to be Jeralt's killer.

Already three people have dropped out while she's been here. However, they were given send-offs, not just straight-up disappeared.

Monica easily advances to the next round. Leonie smiles and cheers with the teen's friends, not meaning an ounce of the enthusiasm she shows.

Someone is going to suffer, and she's going to let it happen. If she wasn't going to bed exhausted every day, Leonie is sure she wouldn't be sleeping well.

Tomorrow can't come soon enough.

A/N: In a whim of trying to relieve stress and escape the influx of cannon characters, Leonie inadvertently kicks off the DLC at super speed before the main character can arrive.

Thanks for reading! A really big thank you xenocanaan, IReadNoNonsense, guisniperman, Math725e, Genin, HersheyBby, JoshuaFangurl, and Guest number 720 for reviewing! The support truly means a lot!

I do really enjoy reading thoughts and theories, and I'm glad the Dorothea reveal went well (I'd been itching to write it for ages). I hope the side plot with Yuri doesn't feel rushed, there's more to come with the Abyss and inhabitants and this ties into a bigger thing coming.

Also, a lot of nobles incoming.

Thanks again for reading. I hope everyone is well. Please take care