WillyFourEyes

The next morning did not greet Byleth kindly. She rose up slowly from her bed, grabbing the back of her neck on her way to the washroom, while keeping one hand free to hide the fact that she also felt her head ringing like the hourly church bells. It is a most peculiar sensation… Usually, I have no trouble slumbering, but this morning, I awoke with the most irritating pain in my neck. “You too, huh?” asked Byleth as she looked at the mirror on the wall. She could see Sothis out of the corner of her eye, floating above the tiled floor. Sneaking away to wash up gave Byleth the perfect excuse to talk to Sothis without anyone thinking she was going crazy. For as much attention as Rhea gives you and your father, you should ask her for more comfortable bedding. “Right… I keep forgetting that you can feel almost everything I feel, for good and for ill.” Do not forget things so casually! Your memory lapses mean that I must delay my own quest to recover my own memories, creating additional

The next Sunday morning arrived with the Blue Lions and Golden Deer still away on their missions. Monica’s late-night conversation with Edelgard had her worried that she would experience another nightmare, either about Kronya, demonic beasts, or the booming, distorted voice whose identity she couldn’t pinpoint. To her surprise, none of those figures crept into her dreams as she slept. Monica visited the cathedral after breakfast and waited by the stairs for Flayn to arrive. She continued to wonder how many extra beds there were on the upper levels of the cathedral for Flayn, Seteth, Rhea, and the other church officials to sleep. It can’t be very comfortable for Flayn to rely on that sleeping bag night after night, she thought. Flayn greeted Monica with a smile and a bow. “Good morning, Monica! Will you be joining the service today?” she asked. “Yeah...I’ll come down after I visit the library,” Monica replied. “I’ve got time to kill, and I don’t want to be too far away when it

The afternoon and evening after a tough battle provided the perfect opportunity for everyone to relax. With the other two houses not estimated to return to the monastery for a few more days, the Black Eagles technically had the academy to themselves. After making good on her promise to herself to get her shield fixed, Monica took another walk around the premises to clear her head. She wanted to get both her shield and her sword repaired by the blacksmith, but she used all of her money on the shield as it had taken far more damage. When Felix and Leonie returned, she planned on asking one of them if they had any more whetstones, and then learning proper sword sharpening techniques so she could give the blacksmith a break once in a while. When night fell, Monica was tempted to visit Constance a few days early to tell her everything that happened over the past week. If not for the increased presence of the Knights of Seiros, Monica was confident that she could make it to Constance's

The Black Eagles left the monastery in two groups of five – one led by Byleth, and the other by Edelgard. Although they were going in the same direction, they found it more convenient to leave separately when there wasn't as much going on. It also stood to reason that a larger group would have attracted more unwanted attention, and the last thing they wanted was to cause an unnecessary commotion. When they entered the forest, Ferdinand looked to his left to confirm that the monster footprints he spotted earlier were still around. Bernadetta, who was trying to make as little noise as possible by stepping around the fallen leaves, had other things on her mind. "Where are we?" she asked. "The stillness of the air is giving me the creeps." "They call this place the Sealed Forest," said Byleth. "What exactly is sealed in here?" asked Monica. "The name obviously can't be referring to the forest itself… If these footprints are any indication, it looks like anyone can come and go as they

After spending most of the day in the library looking for ways to improve her spellcasting and widen her repertoire, Monica took a trip to the blacksmith's booth to have her sword sharpened in preparation for the next phase of the Black Eagles' mission. Over to her left, she saw Anna packing up her shop for the evening and pulling a scroll out of a large bag. "What do you have there, Anna?" she asked. "Just reviewing my profit/loss report for the last month," said Anna. "I'm not exactly making a killing, but business has definitely improved after that roadblock earlier. The guild will be happy about this." "What does that mean for you?" "It means that as long as there's enough demand for my goods, I don't have to pack up and go elsewhere. This place seems to offer plenty of opportunities for adventure, so there's rarely a shortage of potential customers." Anna rolled her scroll up and put it back into her bag, which was so stuffed with merchandise that she struggled to stand up

With no classes to worry about on Friday morning, Monica stayed in the dining hall for a few extra hours after breakfast. She forgot to ask Linhardt about his favorite flavor of ice cream, so she didn't know what to request when it came time to prepare his birthday desserts. The head chef allowed her to help bake a cake to make up for it, for they both know that cakes paired well with ice cream regardless of flavor. "Ooh! That cake looks delicious, Monica!" Annette squealed as she walked by the counter to see Monica applying the last bit of vanilla frosting. "Can I have a piece?" "Not yet," said Monica. "We're saving it until Linhardt takes the first slice. Have you seen him?" Annette murmured to herself, blinked a few times, and then said, "Oh, I get it! Today's his birthday! I think I saw him in the garden a few minutes ago." "Thanks, Annette! I'll be right back." Monica went out to inspect the hedge maze and the two gazebos but didn't find Linhardt until another student pointed

While Monica and Edelgard's teams completed their portions of the investigation, Ferdinand's team followed a faint trail of monster prints and bird feathers to a forest west of the monastery. The unsettling silence was occasionally broken by wing beats and the rattling of branches above and around them. "Hey, Ferdinand," said Caspar, looking around at the dirt-covered trail as their surroundings gradually darkened. "Don't you think we ought to return to the monastery? It's getting pretty late." "Caspar," whispered Petra, "you must use quietness. We have almost reached the conclusion of the trail, but opportunities for danger are many. We cannot be allowing our enemies to hear us." Ferdinand pointed to a set of four-toed footprints to his left, spaced almost twice as far apart as his own prints and running in the opposite direction they were traveling. "There do not appear to be any more bird feathers," he whispered, "but I do not remember seeing these footprints earlier. Where do

On Wednesday and Thursday, Monica spent her time after class refining her sword technique once the training grounds had been deemed safe for use. Many students had waited for the arena to reopen, most of all Dimitri, Felix, and Ingrid, who were all due to travel to Ailell in a few days and wanted to practice as much as possible before heading out. Felix kept his distance from Dimitri most of the time, only choosing to engage him when he was ready to duel. Even though they were only using wooden swords, they fought with the intensity of a real duel. Dimitri aimed most of his strikes with the intent to disarm Felix, while Felix was focused on trying to get a clean hit on Dimitri. There were several close calls between the two Blue Lions, with Dimitri striking Felix on his right wrist and Felix hitting Dimitri with a slash across the chest that caused him to stumble, but the decisive blow came when Dimitri caught another attack from Felix and pushed back against his sword hard enough to

Not again, Monica thought as she woke up to pitch darkness. The heavy rain outside made it harder for her to try to get back to sleep. Covering her ears with her pillow didn't help. Resting with her head on the mattress only reminded her more of the caves, and how glad she was to be far away from them. That voice she heard at the end of her last dream still frightened her. She wanted to know who it belonged to and what they wanted with her – and why they decided not to kill her when she was at her most vulnerable. Those questions still lingered as the sun rose, its soothing light obscured by rain clouds. Monica regretted not thinking ahead and buying an umbrella along with her snacks, especially when she saw several other students walking about with umbrellas. To minimize her chances of getting soaked, she followed Constance's example and walked underneath the awnings on her way to meet her friends and inform them that their trip to meet Hanneman would have to wait until after

Monica only looked back for a moment to see the monster stalking her. It was an unnaturally large creature, with smooth, dark blue skin, jagged teeth, and no eyes – at least none where a normal human's eyes would normally go. She had never seen anything like it before or during her imprisonment. It didn't look like it was native to the caves, either. Her only guess was that her kidnappers hid it there as a safeguard against intruders – or in her case, escapists. There was no way she would stand a chance against the thing by herself even with a weapon, so she had no choice but to run. Fortunately for Monica, it didn't look like the creature could see where it was going. That should have made it easy for her to lose it in the vast, sprawling network of tunnels she found herself in. She could still hear the monster's footsteps getting closer as she rounded corner after corner. How in the Goddess' name is that thing still chasing me? Can it hear my footsteps? Did it catch my