Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem: Three Houses or its characters, I only own Blythe, Celine, and the changes in the plot that I make in the war phase.
Now then, with that aside...
Enjoy!
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Last Time:
Blythe came over to the two, and Bernadetta started to shake again. "S-Stay away!!"
"It's okay, Bern. Blythe won't hurt you." Dorothea soothed while putting her hands on Bernadetta's shoulders reassuringly. Bernadetta looked over to where Blythe was, and the turquoise-haired Eisner had her hands up in the air, signifying that she wasn't a threat. The smile Blythe had on her face gave Bernadetta a sense of calming, which allowed for the purple-haired archer to have a chance to calm down and clear her thoughts. "Y-You really won't?"
Blythe shook her head side to side. She kneeled down beside Dorothea, facing Bernadetta. "No, Bernadetta. I won't hurt you, and neither will Mercedes. She is one of the most kind and caring people I know. Nothing bad will happen to you."
"You're sure?" Bernadetta asked. Blythe smiled while nodding. Bernadetta, with a determined expression on her face, then said, "Okay... I'll do it!"
Manuela and Byleth looked on at the exchange between the three. The Black Eagle professor smiled at how Blythe and Dorothea convinced Bernadetta to participate in the activity, and Byleth nodded in praise.
When all of the groups were in their starting positions, Byleth walked into the center of the training ground. He told the groups to begin sparring, and they did so.
The only thing to be heard was the clanging of training weapons against each other, and magic being used by those who could.
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12th of the Garland Moon, Garreg Mach Monastery, Cathedral (Early Morning), Imperial Year 1180
Birds chirped outside of the cathedral, flapping their wings and roosting. The early morning allowed for a sunrise to come up over the horizon. The sky, with the pastel pinks and oranges, was the setting of a wonderful blend between nature and man.
The members of the church choir practiced the songs that they would sing later in the day, their voices cascading over the silence of the cathedral. Devout members of the Church were making the morning prayers while sitting on the benches in the interior. However, someone praying stood out from the rest of the crowd, since they were standing up while they were praying.
This person was a female with pinkish-blonde hair and purple eyes. She was wearing the uniform of the Officer's Academy, her hair cascading over one of her shoulders, accented by a shawl and a bow respectively.
The woman's purple eyes were closed, with her face angled towards the tiled floor of the cathedral. Her hands were clasped together, along with them being right in front of her chest.
"Dear Goddess... please watch over everyone as they go their separate ways. May those who have fallen find their respite in the comfort of your presence."
"Merce?" The woman heard. She turned around to see a younger woman with turquoise hair and blue eyes walk up to her, wearing another version of the Officer's Academy uniform.
"Oh... Hello, Blythe."
"What are you doing here so early, Mercedes?" Blythe asked, not used to seeing her pinkish-blonde haired friend up this early.
Mercedes gestured to the back of the cathedral with a serene smile. "I was praying. Also, I could ask you the same question."
Blythe looked into the direction of the counseling box. "I was going through the notes in the counseling box, giving them advice. Helping others is important, after all."
"True. It teaches humbleness and humility, along with patience."
Blythe nodded in reply. Flashing a small smile on her face, she looked around the cathedral.
Mercedes noticed her friend looking around. "What is it, Blythe?"
"It's nothing, Merce." Blythe responded, smiling at her friend. "This place just reminds me of how we met."
"It does. We did meet in a church." Mercedes said with a wistful smile. "In a few moons, it'll be ten years since we've met."
"Has it really almost been ten years already?" Blythe asked rhetorically, in disbelief at how fast those years went by. "I remember it as if it was yesterday."
Mercedes nodded in reply. Then, the choir stopped singing. The bells to the monastery started to toll their signature jingle.
"Well, time for class!" Both young women said at the same time. Laughing, the two friends walked out of the cathedral together.
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14th of the Garland Moon, Garreg Mach Monastery, 2nd Floor Dormitories, (Afternoon), Imperial Year 1180
In the hall of the second-floor dormitories, the only sound heard was a scraping noise on metal. While the noise was horrendous to some, it was a wonderful noise to others, since the person making the noise was hard at work.
The person working was a female with dark blue hair and eyes to match. She was wearing the uniform of the Officer's Academy, and her hair was in a ponytail, out of her face. The female had a sword on a table in front of her, and the female was sitting on her bed. She was using a whetstone to sharpen the sword's blade, small sparks flying every time the stone hit the metal of the sword.
The young woman did a final swipe with the whetstone before examining her work. Giving a small smirk at her job well done, the young woman put the whetstone away. She then pulled out weapon polish and a towel. She started to polish her sword when she heard a knock on the door.
"Who is it?" The young woman asked after the knock was concluded.
The blue-haired young woman heard a feminine chuckle on the other side of the door as a response. "Who do you think, Celine?"
Celine shook her head in amusement while putting down the towel she was using to polish her sword. "You can come in, Blythe. I know that's what you are going to ask next."
The door then opened, with Blythe walking into the room. She closed the door behind her with her foot, since her hands were full of supplies. Blythe walked across the wood floor, her heeled boots making a clicking sound as she walked.
Blythe put the stuff in her hand down on a table in Celine's room. "In your rush to prepare for the mission, you forgot your things in the classroom."
Celine smacked her head with her free hand. "I knew I forgot something. Thanks, Blythe."
"You're welcome. I figured you were rushing, so I brought it to you once I figured out where you were going."
Celine nodded, but she was still confused. "How did you know where I was going? I didn't tell anyone."
"Claude saw you rush by the Golden Deer classroom, towards the second floor dormitories." Blythe responded, sitting beside Celine on the bed. "When he saw your stuff in my hand, he assumed I was looking for you. He told me where you went, and that's how I got here."
Celine shook her head in amusement. Claude was always observant, even when things didn't concern him.
"Can I borrow your whetstone?" Blythe asked, unsheathing the sword she had on her belt. "I would go to the blacksmith, but they're busy with orders right now."
"Sure!" Celine responded, handing the whetstone to Blythe. Blythe took the whetstone with a smile and brought over another small table to the bed. She placed her sword on it, and began to sharpen it with the stone.
"Have you had any more leads on your past?" Blythe asked her best friend.
After thinking back to the beginning of the Garland Moon, Celine nodded her head in response. "I think I have. The time you and your family found me was the exact same time that the Tragedy of Duscur took place. Only people of the Kingdom were there, so I have to be a citizen of Faerghus that survived the Tragedy of Duscur. If I'm a noble or not, I still don't have enough information for that yet."
"I thought there was only one survivor of the Tragedy?" Blythe said, tilting her head. "Wasn't Dimitri the only person who survived?"
"There's rumors that a second person survived Duscur, one of the Prince's childhood friends who was with him on that fateful day. They went missing, though, and haven't been seen since."
"So the childhood friend is still out there..." Blythe trailed off, putting the whetstone down and putting her hand in a thinking motion.
"Theoretically, yes." Celine responded, putting down the polishing towel in her hand. Blythe picked up the towel and started to polish her sword as well, while Celine continued with, "However, they could be anywhere. They might not even be in Fódlan all together. No one knows, and I doubt they will until the missing person comes forward."
Blythe nodded while she finished up polishing her sword. It was already pretty clean before, so the turquoise-haired young woman just had to touch up the sword a little bit.
Placing the towel back with the polish, Blythe sheathed her sword in its sheathe again. She put the table she used back, before taking a seat on the bed again.
"I'm going to have to do more research about that." Blythe said, looking at Celine.
The blue-haired swordsman nodded in agreement. "Let me know what you find."
"Will do."
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15th of the Garland Moon, Garreg Mach Monastery, Second Floor Dormitories, (Late Morning), Imperial Year 1180
In one of the second floor dormitories, a student was getting ready for the day. Even though it was a free day to most of the faculty, students, and staff of the Officer's Academy, it was not for this certain student.
Edelgard was brushing her long, white hair. She was preparing her normal hairstyle, as she had already put on her customized uniform. As one of the house leaders, her rank was signified by a red cape on her uniform, along with a brooch holding the cape in place, the brooch being the Black Eagle colors of red and black.
Yawning, the white-haired Hresvelg quickly wiped the sleep from her eyes. "I don't have time for these nights tormented with no sleep. Should I discuss these with Professor Manuela?"
"No." Edelgard shook her head. "I can't be showing weakness this early on. I must not show weakness. Otherwise, everything will be in vain."
Edelgard grabbed a handful of her white hair, bringing it in front of her. She glared heavily at her hair, resenting how she got it. "All of this pain and suffering was caused by this! Innocent people suffered by their hands! Why was I the only one to survive those wretched ordeals!?"
Her body shook, all of the emotion kept inside threatening to release. She grit her teeth, letting the hair in her hands go.
"None of you all deserved it... I wasn't supposed to be the sole heir to everything. Your wills live on through me. I will make you proud, my siblings. I'm certain of it."
Edelgard, finished with brushing her hair, put the hairbrush down on the dresser in her room. She quickly glanced into the mirror to see if her hair was in the right position, before turning away from the mirror. She put the purple ribbons in her hair while facing away from the mirror.
Edelgard had always hated mirrors. They always highlighted imperfections, which were a force that Edelgard couldn't run from. No matter how much she tried, they always caught up to her.
She heard a knock on her door, along with a certain voice. "Lady Edelgard?"
"You may enter, Hubert."
Edelgard put on her white gloves as Hubert entered, the gloves hiding the multitude of scars on her hands.
"You requested for me?" Hubert asked, loyally bowing before his liege.
"I did." Edelgard responded. She looked at Hubert. "Now, as you know, I will be unavailable today..."
"With Professor Eisner, no less." Hubert sneered, crossing his arms over his chest. "His background is too murky and unclear. I don't trust him, no matter what him and his family did to save you."
"We've went over this numerous times already, Hubert." Edelgard shook her head back and forth. "I know you are just looking out for my safety, but Professor Byleth, Blythe, and the rest of their family are trustworthy."
"That does not stop me from being suspicious. Someone with that murky of an origin story can be an enigma."
"I'm grateful for your caution, but there is no need to be concerned." Edelgard thanked her aide, moving some of her hair behind her shoulder. "Now, I need you to gather some information for me... information about them. Meet with our inside agent and see what you can find out."
"Understood, Lady Edelgard. It will be done." Hubert bowed before teleporting away.
Edelgard took a deep breath, steeling herself for the outside world. She opened the door, heading towards the training ground.
Professor Byleth was waiting...
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15th of the Garland Moon, Garreg Mach Monastery, Training Ground, (Late Morning), Imperial Year 1180
In the training ground, Byleth was waiting for Edelgard to arrive. He knew it would not be long, as both him and Edelgard had agreed to have the sword lesson in the early afternoon.
Byleth had already prepared the training ground for Edelgard's arrival. There were two training swords already set aside, the swords taken from the inventory of training weapons in the storage room. The teal-haired professor also had an iron sword in its sheathe on his waist, but that was just for precaution.
He also set up two training dummies. One of the dummies was for him to demonstrate on, while the other one was for Edelgard to practice her sword strikes on.
Byleth unsheathed the iron sword, holding it steady and securely in his hand. He swung the sword in all directions, making swift, calculated strikes on the air around him. The teal-haired professor did that for a few more minutes. He ended off his little impromptu weapon test with a spin attack, the sword seemingly cutting through the air while making a metallic noise.
Sheathing the sword again, Byleth took a breath. He moved some of the teal hair that fell into his face. The professor of the Blue Lion house adjusted the position of his coat as the bells to the monastery tolled their signature melody.
When he heard the bells, Byleth couldn't stop his thoughts from going to his younger sister. Blythe had grown fond of the little melody they made. He wondered where Blythe was, but he had a feeling that she was either with their father or Dimitri, since she was always spending most of her free days with one of those two.
Byleth snapped out of his stupor when he heard the large doors of the training ground open. He looked over to the entrance to see Edelgard confidently walking into the training ground, an expression of both determination and calmness adorned her face.
The closer Edelgard got to Byleth, the easier Byleth could see the small smile Edelgard had on her face. While Edelgard always had a hardened face around others, he noticed that the hardened face always came down around him and Blythe. He didn't know if the face she wore most of the time was a mask she had around others, but he was grateful that Edelgard trusted him enough to show him her true personality.
"Good afternoon, my teacher." Edelgard said once she came to a stop in front of Byleth.
Byleth nodded at the house leader's arrival. "Good afternoon, Edelgard. Are you ready for your lesson?"
"I am." Edelgard responded, her right hand on her hip. "How and when should we start?"
"We can start now by doing a sparring session. I need to set a baseline for your progress."
"Understood." Edelgard looked around the training ground, trying to find the training swords. However, she could not find them for some reason. "My teacher... where are the training swords?"
Shaking his head in slight amusement, Byleth pointed behind Edelgard. The white-haired Hresvelg fully turned around, seeing two training swords leaned up against the wall. Edelgard brought her gloved hand up to her face in slight shame. "Right. My mistake..."
Taking her gloved hand away from her face, Edelgard walked over to the training swords. She picked them up, bringing the two swords over to where Byleth was standing. Edelgard gave one of the training swords to Byleth, while she kept the other sword in her hand.
Both of them got into their own starting position, gripping the weapon their own unique way. However, Byleth instantly noticed something wrong about Edelgard's sword stance. He walked over to the white-haired Hresvelg, who had straightened up at Byleth's arrival.
"Professor?" Edelgard questioned, seeing the teal-haired professor walk over.
Byleth went behind Edelgard, his chest touching her back. He placed his hands on Edelgard's wrists, gently guiding her hands to the correct places on the sword.
Although Byleth couldn't see it, Edelgard's lilac eyes were widened in shock. Her breath hitched at the contact. Edelgard's face turned cherry red, along with her ears.
'Did... did he just!? How am I supposed to concentrate?' Edelgard thought to herself, shocked. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. 'Focus, El. Worry about the task at hand, and everything will go smoothly.'
Now knowing that Edelgard had the right sword stance, Byleth went back to his original position. He saw Edelgard briefly wipe her hands on her leggings before grabbing the sword again.
"Are you ready to begin, Edelgard?" Byleth asked, preparing to begin.
Edelgard nodded in reply. "I am, Professor Byleth."
Byleth dashed forward, quick on his feet. Edelgard intercepted his sword strike, but she almost wasn not fast enough.
'What the...!? Since when was he that nimble on his feet?! I need to keep my guard up, even if this is a simple sparring session.'
Edelgard disengaged the sword deadlock and ducked under Byleth's sword strike. She attempted to rush in, but she had to jump backwards. Byleth's foot harmlessly went in front of Edelgard, not harming or hindering the white-haired Hresvelg.
When Byleth ran forward, he swung his sword horizontally. Edelgard slightly smirked, but Byleth didn't see it until it was too late.
She used the Wrath Strike combat art, swinging her training sword down with a lot of force. Her Crest of Seiros activated, amplifying the power of her attack. Edelgard also swung the sword downwards, like an axe, which increased the power of the attack even further.
Byleth threw his arms up, making the swords collide with a deafening crack. He skidded backwards from the force of the attack, gritting his teeth.
Both Byleth and Edelgard ran forward, their coat and cape snapping in the wind created. They clashed swords once more, but they both heard a crackling noise. Looking down at the swords, both of them saw the two training swords break. The swords broke with so much force... that both Byleth and Edelgard were thrown onto their backs!
They hit the ground with a grunt, the stone floor of the training ground smudging the back of their outfits with dirt.
"Considering that these training weapons are for a military academy, they are surprisingly low in durability." Edelgard said as she got up, Byleth doing the same thing. "The Church should purchase equipment of better quality."
Byleth nodded, straightening the sword sheathe on his waist. "Agreed."
After she straightened her outfit as well, Edelgard watched Byleth enter the training ground storage. He came out of the storage area with one iron sword, giving it to Edelgard once he was able to give it to her.
"You have a good amount of power behind your sword swings, but I noticed a few things." Byleth told Edelgard, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "After you swing your sword with that much power, you leave yourself open for counterattacks. Dodging can work, but that will drain your endurance after an extended period of time."
Edelgard nodded as Byleth held up two fingers. "Second, swords are a one-handed weapon, unless it's a claymore or a katana. Now, since neither of those are common in Fódlan, many soldiers use swords as a one-handed weapon. You wielded the broadsword like an axe, which is a very easy way to get disarmed. Hold the sword in your dominant hand, but with the same grip strength you did while two-handed."
"I don't understand... wouldn't more strength make it harder to get disarmed during combat?" Edelgard questioned, looking at the iron sword in her hand.
Byleth unsheathed the iron sword that was in the sheathe on his waist. "Do you trust me, Edelgard?"
"Of course, my teacher."
"Hold the iron sword out in front of you. Wield it the same way you did in the sparring session."
Edelgard did so. Both of her hands tightly gripped the hilt of the broadsword. Byleth swung his sword vertically, catching the hilt of Edelgard's iron sword. Even with her holding onto the sword, the sword flew out of her hands, clattering uselessly on the ground.
"Do you see now?" Byleth asked Edelgard, who nodded in reply. Byleth picked up the sword and gave it back to the white-haired Hresvelg.
He then put his right hand on his hip, resting his arm. "Now, two-handed sword combat is used among Fódlan swordsmen, but it can't be relied on. Most swordsmen of Fódlan used one-handed combat instead. Blythe and I both use a mix of one-handed and two-handed sword combat, since that's how we were taught. It's up to the individual learning swordsmanship to master the basics and make their own style. I'll help you set up the basics, but the rest will be up to you."
"I'll show you the basics. Come this way..." Byleth told Edelgard, walking in another direction.
Edelgard followed him faithfully.
"Coming, Professor Byleth..."
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18th of the Garland Moon, Garreg Mach Monastery, Outside Classrooms, (Early Afternoon), Imperial Year 1180
A few days after Byleth and Edelgard's sword lesson, the Eisner siblings and Celine were hanging out after class ended.
Blythe was carrying her books in her arms, while Celine had hers in a little bag she brought with her.
"How was the lesson with Edelgard three days ago, By?" Blythe questioned, looking up at her older brother.
"Besides the little mishap during the sparring session, everything went well." Byleth responded. Celine tilted her head while narrowing her eyes curiously. "Mishap?"
Byleth elaborated on his prior statement. "While Edelgard and I were sparring, her Crest of Seiros activated. A few seconds after, the training weapons broke, throwing us backwards."
"That quick?" Blythe raised her eyebrows. "You would think that the training weapons would be built to accommodate the different Crests. Along with these being used in a military academy, they should be more durable than that...."
"That's what we thought as well." Byleth said to both Blythe and Celine. "They seems to be cutting costs, making real-world combat their main form of training."
"Which is completely wrong!" Blythe yelled, concerned for all of the students. She didn't understand why the Central Church would do what they were doing. "They should prepare the students for real-world combat. Not just throw them into missions like they're doing right now!!!"
Celine nodded in agreement with her adoptive siblings. "It's what they should do, but they don't."
Walking forward for a few more feet, the siblings suddenly stopped in their tracks. The group of siblings heard footsteps running towards them. No one knew who it was. At least, not until the person yelled out, "Lili!"
"Dorothea?" Celine turned around to see the brown-haired young woman running up to the siblings, books in hand. Byleth and Blythe turned around as well.
"I have a-" Dorothea started to say before her foot caught on a stray rock. Her books flew into the air while she was falling towards the ground. "Woah!"
Celine and Blythe darted forward. Blythe threw her books towards Byleth, the professor barely catching them in time. The turquoise-haired Eisner coated the bottom of her feet with faint wind magic. She dove after the books at the same time Celine caught Dorothea.
Blythe landed on her stomach, but the books somehow landed in a neat stack in her hands. Celine straightened Dorothea, both of them now standing upright.
"You alright, Thea?" Celine questioned, sending the Black Eagle student a concerned glance.
"Yeah. I'm okay." Dorothea responded, smiling at Celine. She thanked Blythe, who had just given Dorothea her books back.
Blythe brushed the stray pieces of grass off of her silver uniform before getting her books back from Byleth.
"What were you saying before, Dorothea?" Byleth asked the brown-haired Black Eagle.
"Oh!" Dorothea's face lit up. "If you guys don't mind helping... I need a favor."
"We'll be happy to help!" Blythe responded, Byleth and Celine agreeing with her. "What is it?"
"Edie's birthday is in a few days. Seeing the parties your house throws for birthdays made me want to set one up for Edie." Dorothea said before curling a strand of her long, brown hair around her finger. "Even so, I have no idea where to start. Could you guys help me set one up?"
"Of course." Celine replied, nodding her head. "Anything for a friend, even if you're from a different house."
"Thanks." Dorothea said to the Eisner siblings, both adopted and biological. "That's a load off my chest. I was nervous asking, for some reason or another."
She laughed sheepishly before continuing her statement. "Anyway... what do you all normally do for a party? For the Blue Lions parties, anyway."
"We do the same thing every time, so it can surely be adjusted for this party." Byleth told Dorothea, crossing his arms.
"You do? I wasn't expecting that."
"We just tweak it for every Blue Lion's different preferences." Blythe said, shrugging her shoulders. "They don't mind. Everyone knows we can't do much for parties, as a result of the limited funds."
"So we could just make the party suit Edie's preferences." Dorothea cut in, finally getting what the Eisner siblings were trying to tell her. "That way, it'll be unique to Edie! Perfect!!"
"We should probably meet again soon to actually plan this in depth." Celine told the rest of the group. "All of us have stuff to do, and it's getting late."
"True. How late even is it?" Blythe asked, looking up to the sky.
Everyone heard the bells to the monastery toll six times. Blythe widened her eyes in fright, darting off. "Ah! I'm late!!"
"For what!?" Byleth yelled back.
"I was supposed to meet Dimitri, Dedue, and Merce in the library fifteen minutes ago! See you guys tomorrow!"
All of them bid farewell to Blythe, slightly laughing at how much of a rush she was suddenly in.
'Speaking of meeting with someone... I need to meet with Edelgard about her current progress.' Byleth thought to himself. He turned to Dorothea and Celine, telling them, "I should head out as well. Farewell to you two."
Byleth turned around, his coat snapping as a result of how fast he turned. He walked towards the dining hall, certain that was where Edelgard was at the current moment.
Celine and Dorothea looked towards each other before shrugging their shoulders at the same time.
"Always busy, those two." Celine said to Dorothea.
The brown-haired young woman responded with a nod. "I can see that. They're going to go far. I'm certain of it."
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Chapter complete!
This fic has reached the 200 page mark! In only fifteen chapters!!
I don't know how it got like that, but I'm not complaining!
The conversations I included in the first two scenes of this chapter were another two of my original supports! Blythe and Mercedes had one, along with Blythe and Celine.
Byleth and Edelgard also interacted more, having a sparring session.
Speaking of El, she is such a unique character to write! I love writing her, along with her motivations and thoughts. She might not have much of a role now, but she will have a HUGE role as this story progresses.
Also...
If you have an idea for a chapter, you can direct message me or put it down in the discussion. I will try my best to incorporate it to the best of my ability.
Next chapter will focus heavily on Edelgard... with her birthday party, along with a little "something" I have planned.
Hope to see you then!
- Yugiohchick