Chapter Text
It had been a month since Lemuen made her promise with Arturia
It was the night of the sixteenth of the Blue see moon and Lemuen was nervous about the endeavor she was currently in
She sneaked out of her room an hour after the midnight bell, covered by a black cloak and made her way towards the bridge
It wasn’t even halfway there when she encountered a patrolling group of knights
Since it didn’t seem they’d leave any time soon, Lemuen decided to go through the gardens, making her way towards the main building by passing by the classrooms instead of the dorms
Her path was cut short when she saw two knights standing guard at the entrance of the main building
Before they could spot her, she hided behind a pillar in front of the classrooms, peeking around it to assess the situation
She couldn’t get past the guards, they would spot her and making a distraction was a terrible idea considering the amount of knights currently patrolling
“I don’t think I’ll be seeing Arturia tonight” Lemuen whispered disappointed
“Are you sure about that”
Lemuen gasped and turned around, seeing Arturia backing away as she just whispered on her ear “Goddess Arturia, you almost scared me to death” she said in a loud whisper
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself” Arturia said giggling, looking past Lemuen “It’s been like this the whole month, I haven’t been able to perform anything” she said frowning at the knights
“Let’s get inside one of the classrooms before they see us” Lemuen said, walking to the nearest one which happened to be the Black eagles
Once inside Lemuen sighed of relief while Arturia looked around, humming in the process “This place hasn’t change at all”
Lemuen sat down on one of the benches, looking at Arturia “How was it back then?”
Arturia smiled nostalgically, walking towards Lemuen and sitting right beside “Boring most of the time, professor Manuela was a new professor and ended up teaching the Black Eagles, she knew her way around a fight but when it came to strategy, she was an amateur” she said looking ahead towards the blackboard
“Well, I wouldn’t know how she’s doing, she’s teaching the Golden Deer” Lemuen said following Arturia’s gaze
“I’ve heard there’s a new professor this year, some say she’s an infamous mercenary” Arturia said turning to look at Lemuen
Lemuen nodded, turning to look at Arturia “Byleth Eisner, known as the Ashen Demon”
Arturia hummed “I wonder what it would be like to learn from her” she said turning to look ahead
Lemuen stared at Arturia
She wanted to ask about her past as a noble, to know what happened during the invasion, to her family and how she ended up back here, the world not knowing of her survival and thinking she was dead
But she couldn’t just ask her that, Arturia seemed hesitant to talk about her past, at least for now
For now, she was curious another thing “Last time you said you didn’t get to finish your studies so, why don’t you enroll again? It’s still early enough that I’m sure you’ll have no problems catching up”
Arturia sighed, shaking her head slightly “No, it’s been past my time to attend the academy, besides” she said, lifting her left hand and conjuring a purple flame on her hand “The church is not fond of dark mages”
Lemuen opened her eyes in surprise, not expecting Arturia to wield that type of magic “But there’s a couple of dark mages at the academy currently” she said, thinking of Hubert and Lysithea, a student from the Golden deer
Arturia extinguished the purple flame, lowering her hand “But they’re nobles, the church will make exceptions for nobles and I’m no noble”
“But you were a noble before” Lemuen said, taking her chance now that the subject could be brought up
Arturia opened her eyes slightly in surprise, then she smiled at Lemuen “So you found out”
“What happened?” Lemuen asked, referring to the time of the invasion
Arturia took a deep breath before releasing it, her face turning sad as her smiled dropped “I was called back to assist on the defense of our territory but it was all in vain, by the time I returned to our territory they were at the front gates of my home”
Lemuen simply watched as Arturia’s face twisted, a furrow forming on it as she closed her eyes
Arturia sighed “A bloodbath ensued, only my brother and I survived but-” her breath caught in her throat, struggling to get her words out “He succumbed to his injuries later” she whispered the last part
Lemuen looked down for moment before looking back up at Arturia, leaning forward and slowly wrapping her arms around her, making her flinch and tense up for a moment before relaxing and resting her head on Lemuen’s shoulder “I’m sorry Arturia”
Arturia breathed in hard and then released it “It’s the first time I’ve properly talked about this with someone” she said, a tear rolling down her cheek
They stayed like that for a while, Lemuen rubbing circles around Arturia’s back, soothing her
Arturia lifted her arms, putting her hands on Lemuen’s shoulders and pushing her back
Lemuen leaned back, keeping her hands on Arturia’s arms as they stared into each other’s eyes “Thanks for that” Arturia said
Lemuen smiled at her “Anytime”
Arturia let her hands fall down, grazing Lemuen’s hands for a moment before putting them on her lap “What is it about you that you make me pour out my heart for you?”
Lemuen opened her eyes and mouth in surprise, feeling her face heat up “Pour your heart out?”
Arturia giggled “Last time I played for you and now I tell you about my past”
Lemuen tucked her hair behind her ear “That’s a weird to say it though”
Arturia giggled again “However, I think it’s a little unfair that I told you so much about me but I know almost nothing about you” she said resting her arms on the table and supporting her head with one hand, smiling at Lemuen “Tell me about you”
Lemuen looked at Arturia for a second, seeing her looking at her like that, with that smile on her face
It was almost too much for her
Lemuen closed her eyes for a moment and cleared her throat
The two ended up talking for much longer that they thought
Just like last time, the rays of sun told them that a few hours had passed
Both stood up from the bench they were in and walked towards the doors of the classroom
Lemuen stopped before the doors, turning to Arturia “See you next month?” she asked raising her hand, her pinky finger extended
Arturia smiled warmly at her, raising her hand and joining their pinky fingers “Until next month”
They kept their fingers joined, just staring at each other with smiles on their faces
Lemuen could feel her chest swell with warmth, the look in Arturia’s eyes-
At that moment the doors of the classroom opened, revealing professor Byleth on the other side
Both women turned to look at the professor with surprise as it still was pretty early for class
“Good morning professor” Lemuen said nervously, letting go of Arturia’s finger and turning to look at Byleth properly
“So this is the infamous Ashen Demon” Arturia said with fascination “I didn’t thought the mercenary of legend would wear something so revealing”
Byleth turned to look down at herself, feeling self-conscious about her outfit before turning her gaze back to the women “Who are you?” she asked with her blunt tone
“She’s just a friend professor, we were just chatting” Lemuen said hastily
“Inside of my classroom?”
“With all the knights we didn’t want to worry them” Lemuen said “We’re not in trouble, are we?” she asked nervously
Byleth looked at both women then looked ahead, probably inspecting if the classroom was damaged or out of order “Just don’t let the knights see you when you return to your room”
Lemuen sighed of relief and bowed “Thanks professor, come on Arturia” she said taking Arturia’s hand, taking her out of there
Lemuen made her way towards the gardens, letting go of Arturia once they made it there
“Hopefully she doesn’t go around asking about you” Lemuen said recalling how professor Byleth tends run around the monastery
“She’s rather young for a professor, she’s probably our age” Arturia commented
“Yeah, she saved the house leaders a while back and was offered a position as teacher”
Arturia scoffed “Offered, of course”
Lemuen looked at the sky, figuring it was around seven bells in the morning “I have to get going, I have to take breakfast before class” she said turning to look at Arturia
“Of course, I’ll see you next month Lemuen” Arturia said with a smile before turning away from Lemuen, walking towards the stables
Lemuen smiled as she watched her go, the warm feeling she felt before returning