Chapter Text
In the abandoned town outside the monastery, a girl awoke from a deep slumber. She sat up, awake as if she had been for hours. The bedroom was small and square, fitting only the bed she slept in, a chest of drawers to her left, and a small desk, on which sat a dusty candle. Barely sparing the room more than the glance, she left. The person who had stayed to take care of her as she slept looked up from a letter he’d been reading. His cyan hair shimmered in the candlelight. His moment of surprise faded quickly into a grin.
“I see you’re finally up and about.”
“Finally,” the girl stretched as she spoke, looking around the room. “We should leave a soon as- as possible.”
Her stomach growled loudly, and her companion laugh even louder. “You should get some food in you at least, and get some proper rest. I’ll get you some food, just sit down.”
“Thank you,” the girl sat down in the chair beside the window. It was nighttime and there wasn’t even a sliver of a moon to be seen. It was a new month. Nighttime by a moonless night meant travelling wouldn’t be possible until morning. The girl sighed. Nothing to be done. She turned her attention to her reflection in the dark glass. Her dark green hair was tousled from sleep. She pulled her hair out of its updo to smooth it out, running her fingers through her tresses.
“Here you go, Iseult!” her companion set a plate of food in front of Iseult. “You’ve gotta be hungry.”
“My thanks, Jeremiah.”
Iseult only realised how ravenous she was when she began eating. She made it through two entire plates before she immediately went back to sleep.
The next morning, Iseult and Jeremiah rose at dawn. Iseult slipped her gauntlets on. She still wasn’t completely used to hand-to-hand combat. She slipped a decorated lance into the sheath on her back. Beside her, Jeremiah picked up a sword. They stepped out into the frosty morning.
“It’s so cold,” Iseult said, rubbing her arms. “What Moon is it?”
“Guardian. You were out a little longer than we expected. If you’re cold, I’ll lend you my cloak. Also, I got a letter from Larkin a few weeks ago that they’re all at the monastery,” said Jeremiah. “Except for us, Azriel, Willa, and Prescott, because Dorothea and my dad are still with the Empire.”
“And what about the original plan?”
“Everyone followed your directions,” Jeremiah said. “And it all worked out. You really knew who to choose, Iseult.”
“It wasn’t just me,” Iseult said. “We all figured out who would be best to go where without risk.”
“Still, it worked so well. I just hope they don’t figure out we planned it. It’s a little suspicious.”
“As long as everyone acted like they didn’t know each other until now, it should be fine,” said Iseult, flexing her fingers in the silver gauntlets she wore. “The same goes for us. We can know each other as travellers at first-"
“Larkin and I already talked about that,” Jeremiah interrupted. “You, Larkin, and I are cousins. It’s a much easier way in than just showing up. Larkin has a lot of trust built with Lorenz, I guess.”
“Is that so? I suppose that is a more concrete way to join the Alliance… I just hope it isn’t perceived as suspicious. Has Larkin told them we’re coming?”
“That was the plan,” Jeremiah said. “If he actually did it, I don’t know. But since it’s Larkin, I would say yeah.”
“I hope it works.”
The two barely spoke again until they reached the monastery gates. On the other side of the gate was the monastery marketplace, filled with merchants, knights, and church staff. Talking to the battalion vendor was Larkin, a tall young man with sky blue hair, and a man with dark purple hair who looked faintly annoyed. The man noticed them first and his eyes narrowed. Larkin looked up at him as he fell silent, then followed his gaze to the gate. He spoke to the man, who relaxed. The two approached the gate.
“Larkin, these are your cousins?”
“Yes, my liege,” Larkin said, bowing his head. “Iseult, Jeremiah, I would like for you to meet my liege, Lorenz Hellman Gloucester, son of Count Gloucester.”
“A pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Iseult said with a bow. “Jeremiah and I have come to provide our services to the war. We wish to fight against the Empire.”
“Hm...” Lorenz folded his arms. “That is not up to me, I’m afraid. You’ll have to see the professor.”
“Shall I go get her and Claude?” Larkin asked.
“Hm, no need. We will take them to see her,” Lorenz directed the nearby guard to open the gate with his hand.
Lorenz led the way to the reception hall, where they found Byleth and Claude talking quietly, heads close together so that the knights and church members couldn’t hear them. They stopped talking when Lorenz came close to them.
“A conversation too secret for the rest of us?” Lorenz asked, irate. “Regardless, Professor. We have some new guests.”
“They’re my cousins,” Larkin said helpfully. “I would like you to meet Jeremiah and Iseult.”
“We would like to join the fight against the Empire, if that’s alright,” Jeremiah said. “Oh, but we don’t have Crests... that won’t be a problem, right?”
“Nah,” said Claude. “Not everyone here has Crests. Don’t worry about that. We could use more swords against the Empire. What do you think, my friend?”
He turned to look at Byleth. Byleth studied them, her emotionless green eyes piercing. It felt like she could see through them, like she knew exactly who they were. She nodded.
“I agree, Claude. Larkin, could you find them rooms?”
“Very well,” Larkin said with an elegant bow.
Claude, Byleth, and Lorenz began talking once they were out of earshot, based on the way their heads were bent. Larkin and his “cousins” waited until they were climbing the stairs to the second floor.
“It’s so good to see you up and about, Iseult,” Larkin said. “We were all worried.”
Larkin opened the door to the second floor of of dormitories where the nobles had once often slept. Once inside one of the rooms, Larkin took the key out of a drawer and handed it to Jeremiah. Iseult closed the door.
“Tell me what’s happened since I slept.”
“We followed your instructions,” Larkin said, sitting down at the desk. “I went to the Gloucester territory. I was able to become Lorenz’s vassal. He quite likes me, actually. More than you expected. He trusts me implicitly and it’s only been five years.”
“You made sure to stagger the times out right?” Iseult asked.
“Yeah. Prescott and Farrah joined up with Caspar and Raphael two years ago. Gideon met up with Ignatz less than a year ago, and Willa has been with Annette just as long. It all went pretty smoothly. Three years ago Varun and Ilene went into the service of Felix and Sylvain. Apparently he took to Ilene as well as you thought,” Larkin reeled off.
“Well she is the eldest and most beautiful of all of us,” said Iseult. “And we know what he’s like.”
“Yes,” Larkin nodded, continuing to count off on his fingers. “Four years ago Vance began working for Hilda and Azriel began working with Dorothea. Between my service beginning with my liege and Vance’s with Hilda, Poppy began working for- for Ferdinand.”
“Ferdinand?” Iseult said sharply. “That was not part of the plan.”
“Byleth disappeared five years ago,” Larkin said. “She only showed up again at the Millennium Festival. So of course Poppy couldn’t go to her. She built up trust with Ferdinand to become his right hand.”
“She disappeared?” Iseult repeated.
“Poppy, Gideon, and I think it’s our fault,” Larkin said. “We think our coming here forced Byleth to skip forward. The timing is too precise from when she went missing and when we got here. Plus she doesn’t remember any of it. Of course she could have been asleep.”
“Like mother, like daughter,” Jeremiah said with a grin.
“Shush!” Iseult hissed. “Not so loud, Jeremiah!”
“On that note, nobody has figured it out,” Larkin said. “But it’s been hard for some of us to keep it to ourselves. I have found it hard. I’m so glad I picked up the lance for this... it’s been a good excuse to spend time with...”
Larkin took a deep breath and continued on in the soft voice Jeremiah and Iseult were used to.
“It’s been a good excuse to spend time with my father. Sparring with him. Training. Byleth even had Mother join us once because Byleth wanted Mother to work on her lance skills... then Mother, Father, and I tended to the horses. I’ve never been so happy. I don’t want to go back home, Iseult.”
“We don’t have a choice,” Iseult said firmly. “When this is over, if we change the future, then we will cease to exist as we are now. We knew that when we came back. We knew what we were doing.”
“I know,” Larkin said. “But I’m going to enjoy the time I have.”
“We all will,” Jeremiah said. “Have we heard anything about my dad?”
“Not recently,” Larkin said. “It’s not a good idea to keep in close contact.”
“We have to,” Iseult said, her expression hard. “We have no choice.”
There was a rapid knocking on the door and someone poked her head in, her dark orange hair in a ponytail over one shoulder. Leonie. “There you are, Larkin. Dinner’s ready.”
Leonie’s eyes moved to Jeremiah and Iseult. “Oh! You must be Larkin’s cousins. I’m Leonie. Nice to meet you. Maybe we can talk over dinner?”
“Sure,” Jeremiah said, and they followed Leonie downstairs. “Hey, Leonie!”
“Yes?” she looked over her shoulder.
“What’s for dinner?”
“Uh… meat pie, I think,” Leonie said thoughtfully. “I didn’t think to ask, but that’s what it looked like.”
Jeremiah punched the air, cheering. He jumped down the last few stairs in his excitement. “I love meat pies!"
“They’re not bad,” Leonie agreed.
“Not bad? They’re the best! My mom, when she was alive, made the best meat pies,” Jeremiah said. “She hunted her own meat, too, so it was always completely fresh. It took her a long time to learn how to make the crust flaky, she used to get our neighbour to make it in exchange for meat. I wish you could have tried one of her pies.”
“I wish I could, too,” Leonie said. “She sounds incredible. She hunted and cooked? Then what did your dad do?”
“My dad couldn’t cook at all,” he told her. “And he’s not a great hunter. So my mom had to do it. My dad was a knight, though. So that’s what he was always doing.”
“I see.”
Larkin and Iseult exchanged looks, neither speaking up, but acknowledging Jeremiah was talking too much.
“Before I came along, Mom was a mercenary. She picked it up again when I was eight,” Jeremiah continued. “But I lost them both five years ago in the war.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Leonie said sympathetically.
“Jeremiah, no need to keep bringing the mood down,” Iseult said.
“Oops,” he looked over his shoulder at her. “I didn’t mean to.”
“It’s fine,” Leonie said. “What about you, Iseult?”
Iseult clenched her jaw, her lips drawn. She thought about her mother crying over a letter and parcel. Hiding it all when she was noticed. Her mother up late at night, pouring over maps, looking drawn. Her mother tending to her father’s innumerable wounds while Iseult herself sat nearby with a bowl of water boiled with healing herbs.
“I… I would rather not speak of it,” Iseult said, her voice trembling. Larkin put a hand on her shoulder.
“Oh… I’m sorry,” Leonie said. “It looks like a painful topic.”
“My father died when I was three,” Larkin said as they entered the dining hall, swiftly changing the subject. “My mother raised me, but I wish I could have gotten to know my dad. What about you, Leonie?”
“Well, my parents are still around,” Leonie said, “but my whole village really raised me. It’s thanks to them that I’m here.”
They sat down at a table next to a surly-looking man. Leonie plunked her tray down next to him.
“Hey, Felix.”
“Hello, Leonie,” Felix said flatly.
“I’ve been meaning to talk to you,” Leonie said. “You still haven’t chosen a time to test Captain Jeralt’s training!”
“Ah… right,” Felix pushed his food around with his fork to spear some meat, crust, and vegetables onto it. “I’ve been busy, we all have. However, I should have time tomorrow afternoon.”
“Great!” Leonie said, smiling. “I look forward to it. Have you met Iseult and Jeramiah?”
“No.”
“Well, let me introduce you, then.”
“No need,” Felix said, standing up. “I’ve finished my dinner. I’ll see you tomorrow, Leonie.”
“Wait!” she ran after him. “You didn’t tell me where!”
Leonie took off after Felix, who was deftly ignoring and avoiding her.