Three Houses - The Day After
27th of the Great Tree Moon, 1180
Isabella woke up.
'Twas a great ordeal for one such as her, used to the luxuries and aimlessness of being a third child of a minor house, but still, she managed to wake up and get out of bed in the early morning.
With a yawn she was up on her feet.
'Two weeks ago, I couldn't have even imagined myself getting up this early,' she mused with some mirth.
In the mirror she could see bags under her tired brown eyes, accompanied by the bird's nest that made up her light brown hair.
As much as she wanted to just run off immediately, she knew it would be improper to just leave it.
'Reidun definitely wouldn't approve,' she thought. She'd noticed, especially over the course of the last week, that that girl always seemed to look her best. '...how she manages to braid her hair like that without servants, I can't fathom.'
Idly, Isabella was aware that she may have simply been a bit spoiled.
With reluctance, she gripped her brush.
'Perhaps I should just cut it shorter,' she mused.
She'd had this battle every morning since she'd been trying to keep up with her new -involuntary- friend. Then, like with every other morning so far, she dismissed the idea and got to work.
When she was done, having tied her medium length hair with a couple of hair bands, she looked in the mirror and was met with the unfortunate truth she'd seen her whole life.
Plain.
Boring.
Unremarkable.
Not just her appearance, but just… everything.
She'd been fine with it before.
She'd been content.
…or rather, she'd been resigned to it.
'That's good enough. Time to go!' she thought excitedly, rushing out the door, having taken two steps out into the hallway when-
"Oh, I almost forgot!" she said out loud.
She caught the door before it slammed shut, stepped back inside, and grabbed the iron sword leaning against the desk.
"Right, I'm off," she said again, remembering to be quiet this time… and not slam the door to her room shut.
The door to the main training hall burst open.
"Reidun!" Isabella greeted excitedly, only to be met with silence.
The training hall was empty.
'Did I finally manage to wake up before her?' she wondered in bewilderment. It felt… wrong.
"Ah, it's a free day," she reasoned, easing her worries. "I'll simply have to look elsewhere."
Closing the door carefully, she retraced her steps back through the campus.
As she did, the door at the end of the student dorms opened up, and out stepped it's sole occupant.
"Morning professor," Isabella pleasantly greeted the green haired young man, Byleth.
An unnaturally doll-like blank expression met her gaze, and returned the greeting with a nod.
It should have probably unnerved her, but even if the expression was different, it wasn't all that different from Reidun's own unchanging expression.
Except the eyes.
That gaze that seemed to tear her apart and reveal everything about her.
…those were admittedly a bit unnerving.
'Maybe…? She thought, changing course to approach him before hesitantly asking her question. "Sorry to bother you professor, but did you happen to catch when Reidun finished up last night? She'd have had to walk past your room to get to her dorm."
A shake of his head was the answer she received.
"Oh, okay…" she said, disappointed. "Thank you professor."
She knew it had been a long shot anyway.
Isabella stood outside Reidun's room.
The curtain was closed shut, so she couldn't see inside. What she could see though, was that the door was locked.
'Oh, she must actually be asleep,' she thought.
It made some degree of sense to her. Professor Jeritza had assigned this to be a day off for the Black Eagles.
'Is this how she manages to go on with so little sleep?' Isabella speculated. 'So she doesn't sleep most of the week, and then makes up for it when she has time off…'
It didn't sound right.
'Should I knock?' she considered.
Her knuckle hovered over the door for a moment, before she hesitated and pulled it back.
'No… if she's asleep, I don't want to wake her,' she decided.
Which left her at a loss as to what to do.
She was already awake, so getting back to sleep wasn't feasible…
She noticed the weight of the sword on her hip.
'Even if Reidun is slacking off today…' she thought, '...I still have a lot to catch up!'
So, with determination in her heart, she made her way back to the training hall.
"So much for that determination…" the girl muttered to herself.
She'd gone through the morning routine as usual.
The warm ups and strange stretches that Reidun had imparted, followed by drills in the few sword forms she was comfortable with.
Except… without her friend there, the motivation had quickly burned out.
She'd cut the running short, when she knew she could run more. She'd reached with the stretches, but hadn't even touched her limits. She'd barely completed a set of swings when her grip slacked and she slowed to a halt.
Actually trying… was hard.
Being instructed or ordered to do things was so much easier.
She brought the sword in her hand into view again, her face visible in the blade's reflection.
It was a weapon from her.
It was given to her when she'd been scared and alone… after she came and rescued her.
Isabella wouldn't admit it outloud, but her motivations had been far from selfless.
She'd latched onto Reidun like the sycophant that she was– a bee lured towards the newest most succulent flower. One in a long line of others.
It was her instinct as a minor noble.
Find out who's strong, and leech off of their success.
Admittedly, her opinion on the matter might have been a bit skewed from the intense high of gratitude she felt, but nevertheless, the point remained.
If that had been it, she would have likely just gone ahead and jumped to the next target once the rose tinted fog clouding her mind cleared.
Except… she hadn't.
For all that intense her gratitude had been, it had mostly faded and grown numb by the third day. The glamour had already faded. The fog had already cleared.
Yet here she was, staring at the sword she had been given.
Why?
What had changed?
The answer was obvious.
She had.
That night… that attack… that moment had inscribed itself onto her heart.
Not the fear.
Not the terror.
The hope.
The morning sun that banishes the dark.
Above all else, what filled Isabella's heart wasn't gratitude or guilt–it was admiration.
This strange girl who'd come out of the pages of a fairy tale and sought to embody the stars themselves.
Isabella had been content just to see it, just to be in its presence.
Except… last night she'd had a treacherous little thought.
Why couldn't she be the light herself?
Why should she be content to just witness the light?
'If Reidun can pursue that dream… then so can I!' she thought resolutely.
Her eyes shot up once more, and the blade in her hands flew into motion once more in pursuit of the impossible standard of true chivalry.
If nothing else, she didn't need to grow strong enough to stand on her own, just strong enough to support her hero.
It was when the bell rang for breakfast, that Isabella began to worry.
She'd arrived early and was eating on her own.
In the last week, she'd never seen Reidun miss a meal.
Isabella had even drawn out her own breakfast until the kitchen had begun packing up.
…but Reidun hadn't arrived.
She'd seen all the honour students pass through, and recognised many of the regular students.
She'd even seen professor Byleth sit down and eat with a couple of students.
But no Reidun.
'She's probably just sleeping in…' she reasoned.
Isabella stopped by Reidun's room again.
Still covered up and still locked.
'Maybe, she woke up and locked it on her way out?'
A part of her doubted it.
"Excuse me, gatekeeper?" she asked,
"How can I help?" the jolly voice responded.
"Well, um, I was wondering if my friend had passed through here today," Isabella asked, "She's from Faerghus, ginger, blue eyes, a bit taller than I am."
The armoured man shook his head.
"In that case, I have nothing to report," he said. "I hope you find your friend."
"I see… thank you," she said, as that little seed of worry took root.
Isabella had burned most of her bridges in the Blue Lions by siding with Reidun, but she could still ask around the rest of the student body without any issue.
"No, I haven't seen her…" "Who? Oh her. Can't say I have…" "I don't think so…" "Maybe? Not that I've noticed…"
The sun was approaching noon.
Isabella was pacing.
"It's fine… it's fine," she reassured herself, taking a deep breath and letting it out. "Let's not overthink this. It's a free day, she might have left yesterday… after curfew…"
She shook off the thought.
"Maybe another gatekeeper was on duty when she left," she rationalised. "...or maybe she's still asleep."
Her eyes went up to the sky, and she doubted that was the case.
"Heya," a sudden voice broke through her thoughts, prompting her to look up and spot the energetic Caspar. "You're Reidun's friend, right? You look pretty worried. What's up?"
"Ah, um, sorry to bother you," she started instinctually, before her confidence kicked in again, "I haven't seen Reidun all day, and don't know where she could be."
"Oh, really?" Caspar asked. "Well, the new professor invited me for lunch, but if you think she's missing, I'm sure he'll get it if I help look instead."
"Oh, no, no. No need for that," Isabella denied quickly. "I'm probably just overthinking it. We might have just missed each other."
"If you say so," the boy accented without much difficulty, taking her at her word. "Good luck!"
She let herself believe it a bit as well.
She'd stopped for lunch.
'Reidun wouldn't miss two meals in one day… right?' she thought to herself.
She got a few irritated looks when she held up the line to ask the serving staff if Reidun had stopped for lunch.
She hadn't.
'Right, so she'll probably show up later then…' Isabella assumed.
Except she didn't.
Reidun's door was still locked. Reidun's curtain was still closed shut.
This time, Isabella knocked.
Silence.
Isabella walked past Tomas to enter the library, paying the old man no mind.
'Not here,' Isabella notices at first glance.
Still, for good measure, she circled the room, checking between every set of bookcases.
'Definitely not here,' she concluded.
She did spot Ingrid studying like yesterday though. So, at a complete loss, she approached her.
"Excuse me, Ingrid?"
Ingrid looked up from her book, the same tinge of irritation crossing her face as the day before, but this time being quelled.
"Isabella, hi," she acknowledged.
"I'll only be a moment," Isabella quickly assured, before nervously continuing, "you see, I've been looking for Reidun. Have you seen her today?"
"Ah, I see," Ingrid said sympathetically, before offering a small smile. "I'm sure she's fine. There were 3 days I remember where she was either in class, or just… completely gone."
Ingrid shook her head with exasperation.
"I'm not surprised you didn't notice," she added, prompting Isabella to flinch and Ingrid to immediately look guilty, "sorry, that was uncalled for."
"No… you're not wrong," Isabella reluctantly accepted.
"That doesn't make it right for me to point it out," Ingrid denied with a shake of her head. "If you're still worried, she told Sylvain to pass a message the last time she left the monastery on her own, perhaps you should check with him?"
Isabella lit up immediately.
"Right, of course," she answered. "Thank you, and good luck!"
Then she was off.
"...sorry, I haven't seen her," Sylvain finally answered, after a irritatingly long chain of flattery and flirting. Then, for a moment he dropped the happy-go-lucky act to a more serious tone, "Look, I can see you're worried, but she's probably fine. Don't ask me how, but I know she could sneak out of here without the guards noticing. So unless we've got another Victor situation, there's nothing to worry about."
"Victor situation?" Isabella questioned. "Did something happen between her and the old professor?"
"Ah shucks, umm, forget I said anything," Sylvain denied, before shifting tactics. "Anyway, Reidun only approached me because she wasn't on speaking terms with Ingrid. So if you still want to check this out, you should go talk to Felix. He's her cohort leader now, so if she went anywhere, she probably told him."
Isabella wasn't blind, she saw the deflection for what it was.
…but between making a stink of it and getting away from the irritating man, her preference was obvious.
Unsurprisingly, she found Felix in the training hall.
Despite it being evening, it was quite empty, likely by virtue of the dinner period having started.
Now, the question was… how did she approach the moody boy?
'Perhaps-'
"Quit staring and spit it out," Felix cut in. "If you don't have something to say, stop bothering me."
"Heh, um- Sorry," Isabella sputted, before recovering. "I was just wondering if Reidun told you anything about where she'd be today?"
"No," Felix answered curtly.
"Oh…" Isabella accepted, looking away when the boy's glare intensified.
Then she spotted something.
'Wait…' Her eyes widened as she jogged over to the weapon racks, heading straight for the section where the iron lances were kept.
She stopped and stared.
'Thats–!'
With a grunt, Felix walked up next to her. He followed her gaze to a specific lance.
"Yes, that's her lance," he acknowledged. "I don't see what you're worried about-"
"She always leaves it in her room," Isabella, for once, interrupted Felix. Then she reached out and picked it up. "...it's been cleaned."
"So? She made a mistake and left it here," Felix pointed out, before lifting his arms in a shrug. "Maybe she dropped it and someone else put it back."
"M-maybe…" Isabella acknowledged. "I- I need to go!"
She started running out again, leaving Felix to look back at the stand.
"Tsk, fine," he muttered, before raising his voice again. "Wait. I'm coming with you."
Isabella stumbled, and before she could respond, Felix had already power walked up to her.
"Let's go," he ordered, his tone leaving no room for argument as he shoved the lance into the girl's arms. "...and take this."
"R-right."
They stopped outside Reidun's door again.
"So you're telling me that no one has seen her at all, she didn't tell anyone, and her room is still locked?" Felix checked.
"Yes," Isabella confirmed nervously.
"...and you're sure she didn't tell you anything at all?" Felix interrogated.
"N-no, nothing! Unless…" Isabella answered trailing off. "When we were training last night, she told me to go to sleep if I was tired… she hadn't said anything at all before, but she seemed pretty insistent yesterday…"
"When was this?" Felix pressed further.
"Before everyone else had gone. Around ten, I think," Isabella said.
"Tsk, that tells us nothing," Felix criticized.
"Isabella, Felix," a new voice greeted as they approached.
"Lady Edelgard," Isabella greeted, still nervous.
"I was looking for you, actually," the imperial princess commented. "I heard you were looking for Reidun, I'd been meaning to speak with her myself."
"You haven't seen her either?" Isabella realised.
"No… and I take it it's the same for you then," Edelgard noted, shaking her head. "That is worrisome. It had been brought to my attention that students had seen her entering the catacombs underneath the monastery. They are off limits for a reason, and if she's gone down there again…"
Isabella's eyes widened at the implication, but she shook her head and refocused.
"No, that's not it," she denied. "That wouldn't explain why she left her lance behind."
"Her lance?" Edelgard questioned.
"Her weapon," Felix clarified, gesturing at the implement in Isabella's hands. "We found it amongst the rest in the training hall."
Edelgard crossed her arms.
"Well, if it's a question of habits, people tend to be unpredictable," Edelgard argued, but once again, Isabella shook her head.
"It's not just about habit," she denied, before elaborating, "the academy didn't lift her ban from using practise weapons. If her weapons got mixed up with the rest, and used, she wouldn't be able to train on her own. She's not so careless that she'd make a mistake like that!"
"I see…" Edelgard acknowledged.
"So that's why you're so worried," Felix realised. "You think that if it's not a mistake, that something must have happened."
"Yes!" Isabella shouted.
"Let's not jump to conclusions. From what you have told us, there's still a chance that it is just a mistake. Admittedly, a costly one, but a mistake nonetheless," Edelgard pointed out. "I suggest you wait until tomorrow. If she doesn't show up for class, then you should bring it up with one of the professors, and they can unlock the room for you."
"Yeah… yeah…" Isabella acknowledged, accepting the reasoning.
"Tsk, fine," Felix agreed.
Edelgard nodded.
"Good, then I leave the matter in your hands," she finished.
27th of the Great Tree Moon, 1180
"What were you thinking?" Edelgard demanded, her tone cold, cutting tone. She could have raised her voice, she was confident in Hubert's ability to grant her and her accomplice privacy, but that would have been unbecoming of her. "If I had known yesterday when you made your demand that you'd use the Death Knight so recklessly, I likely would have refused."
Solon narrowed his eyes, his lip curling in disdain. "I would not have needed to act so hastily if you had dealt with the girl yourself. Your inaction forced my hand."
"My inaction?" Edelgard repeated, caught between irritation and genuine bewilderment. "Unlike you, I had the matter under control. Not only did you act hastily, but you were sloppy. If you'd exercised even an ounce of subtly, then I could have very easily covered for you. Tell me– did you at least not leave behind a body?"
"Of course not, the girl lives." Solon's sneer deepened, but he waved a dismissive hand. "The matter is resolved. She is out of the way, and there is time to decide her fate later."
"'Resolved' is not the word I would use," Edelgard said sharply. "I want to know exactly what foolishness drove you to deem this 'necessary.'?"
"That matter is none of your concern," Solon growled out.
"On that, we disagree," she argued. "Or did you not just question why I did not deal with her myself?"
"Our business here is done," Solon said, teleporting away without answering.
"Hm, I am beginning to question our 'allies'' competence," Hubert jested with a sinister edge.
"In that, you are not alone," the imperial princess agreed, flaring her cape dramatically as she turned to return to her dorm with her other thoughts left unsaid.
An: Hoho, what's this? Surprise quick chapter? (by my standards of maybe 1 a month at least) Hurray for bursts of motivation! The chapter might be on the shorter side, but I felt it was pretty important to focus on the consequences of how the last chapter ended. I think it's at this point that this story is stepping away from Parallel canon (same events, but slightly different) to proper canon divergence. Always a bit scary that. Anywho, I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter, even if it went from 'cliffhhanger?' to 'cliffhanger!'.
To Ver'dan (Jan 1, 2025): Fun Fact, In an earlier draft, before Flayn got involved, Reidun's plan during the bandit attack would be something along the lines of "IF this is a story, then it must have main characters, and that's where the danger is!" before running head first after The house leader trio into the worst of the danger, much to Joesph's chagrin. Subtle was never in her playbook. The only option is nuclear!
To Royalrain20xx (Jan 1, 2025): I'm glad it read that way! Ingrid and Reidun's relationship is probably the one I've spent most actual effort ironing out the details for. (The rest are a lot more 'winged' so to speak) At this point, almost 70k words in, it's about time they made up.
On another note, yup, Reidun is gonna do Reidun things, to everyone's detriment! And you're absolutely right of course, what could possibly go wrong? (What, Reidun, missing? pft, I'm sure it's nothing!)
To Rivengengen (Jan 1, 2025): Haha, yup. All hail the stupid! (...or is it actually genius!... ... no it's probably just stupid.)
To NightmareKnight1 (Jan 1, 2025): Hold up, what? Reads through again. Huh, I mean, I guess? Hm. If that is the case, it wasn't intentional. Unless you're referring to that conversation with Isabella? In which case, that small segment was somewhat intentional, with the caveat that Joseph is aware that he could be misreading it. (Reidun in hero mode... is a bit much for the poor girl) More seriously, it was meant to point out that there are situations that Joseph absolutely won't be able to help out with. (Namely, if Reidun approaches anything resembling an S-support, that is going to be hella awkward for the ghost.)
Anywho... I can't write romance. I am rather incompetent in that field. But most of the character interactions I write I just put the characters in the scene and let what happens happen, so who knows? I certainly won't.
To eseer (Jan 1, 2025): I had to look up that reference. And... that is certainly one way to look at that scene. Hahaha.
To Maxxus Herald (Jan 1, 2025): I'm not super familiar with three hopes, but I would say there was a lot more too it than that... but the worries are far from unfounded. Things can still go very wrong, and factors like how Solon/Tomas get revealed are a very big part of that. Though that does hinge on things going well for Reidun and Joseph first... which isn't a guarantee.
Also, yes it is very wholesome and I love it. (It is very tempting to just skip all the difficulties and just go full slice of life, but nay, I must preservere and maintain drama!)
To Infernal Enby (Jan 3, 2025): It's a very fun character trait to write, especially when taking in the different perspectives, yeah. On top of that, everyone is bound to have their own reactions/opinions (because the fe3h cast is so wonderfully great!), even with just Sylvain and Ingrid I feel like there's a lot of differences, but wholesome nontheless. No... nothing could possibly go wrong in a fire emblem story. Let's just ignore what this chapter is implying. Nothing to see here, because oh yes, backfire is definitely the word for it.
Again, to all of you: Thanks for the reviews, I really appreciate it! That email notification about a review is almost always the highlight of the day! Well, then, until next time.