Work Text:
It was raining harder than anyone could remember it raining at the monastery. It fell hard enough that Rhea had frowned while looking out the window and told Seteth to gather all the students - for tonight, they would all sleep in the cathedral for safety's sake. Seteth gave a shallow bow and turned to walk out of the audience chamber.
He nearly had to shout to the professors to be heard over the downpour as he told them Rhea's decision. They each nodded and hurried away to wake and gather their students. Once they had, the resulting crowd made their way across the grounds and to the building that would house them for the night. Many of them complained about having been woken in the middle of the night over a little rain, but others seemed to revel in it.
When they finally reached the cathedral, a group of monks passed out extra blankets and pillows - as if the students hadn't been trained to prepare for something like this and brought their own. Most accepted them, though, as well as the dry clothes also being offered. Once they had all collected in the cathedral, Seteth stood before them and explained the situation as it was.
"The rain could potentially flood the dormitories, and Lady Rhea thought it best to anticipate the worst. However, the cathedral is not large enough to house all of you comfortably. We shall organize everyone by house. Professors, house leaders, please ensure that all of your students are present in your assigned quarters. The Black Eagle house will remain here in the cathedral. The Blue Lion house, please make your way upstairs to the audience chamber. The Golden Deer house will be in the library. That is all."
There were half-asleep murmurs and yawns that followed, as well as a handful of bright conversations as each house settled in for the night.
The Cathedral
"Edie, are you sure we can't ask for another room? The draft in here is terrible!" Dorothea asked through a yawn as she pulled her blanket tighter around her shoulders.
"I'm afraid doing so would be pointless," Edelgard said. "Lady Rhea told Caspar that her decision was deliberate."
"B-but there are too many people here! Can't Bernie sleep with the statues?"
"Bernadetta! You must be prepared to brave all manner of inconvenience! At the very least, as a knight you will need to practice adaptability to succeed!"
"Yes, thank you, Ferdinand," Linhardt said as he stretched out and buried his face in his pillow. "We are always in need of your noble advice."
"I am finding Dorothea to be, uh, correct. The cold is not agreeing with me."
"Aw, come on, guys! It's like a big sleepover!"
"For once, Caspar is right. I must say the 'sleep' part of that sounds most delightful."
"Of course you do, Lin."
"Say, Edelgard, where has Hubert gone off to?"
Edelgard shrugged. "I couldn't say."
"Aren't you supposed to know? Seteth isn't going to be happy about this!"
"I will handle it, Caspar. Why don't you all get some sleep?"
The Audience Chamber
"Will you stop trying to take my blanket? It's not my fault you didn't take one from the monks," Felix said as he yanked his blanket away from Sylvain.
"Aw, come on! Sharing is caring, right?"
"You can borrow one of mine, Sylvain!"
"Hey, thanks, Mercedes! You're a doll."
Mercedes giggled and turned her face away, looking back to Annette.
"What are you doing , Annie?"
"Uhhh. It's cold, so I was trying to… cast… fire..?"
"I do not think that is the wisest decision."
Annette looked up at Dedue and then to Mercedes.
"He's right, you know."
"Okay, okay. No fire. But don't complain to me when you guys get cold!"
"I think we'll manage," Ingrid said as she settled onto her pillow. "Won't we, Your Highness?"
Dimitri yawned. "Yes, I'm sure we will."
"As long as there aren't any ghosts up here," Sylvain said, glancing at Ashe. Ashe pulled his blanket to his chin.
"There are no ghosts in here."
"Yeah, because ghosts aren't real ."
"You don't believe in ghosts, Felix?" Ashe asked. Felix scoffed.
"Absolutely not."
"Oh, great! You won't mind a few scary stories then, will you?"
"I-Ingrid! I don't think we need to do that."
The Library
"Okay, we know Seteth is going to come check on us any minute now. As soon as he leaves, we get to work!"
"I don't really know how to build a fort, Claude…"
"Hey, don't worry about it, Marianne! You just leave all the planning to me."
"As fun as all that sounds, I'm going to go back to sleep. I need my beauty rest, you know!"
"No way! Even Lorenz is helping. You're not leaving all the hard work to us!"
"But Leonie! It's the middle of the night, and I'm so tired!"
"All you need is a snack. That'll wake you up!"
"Actually, I'm with Hilda on this one. I could use some sleep."
"Thank you, Ignatz."
"Why are we even building a fort, anyways? Don't you think it's a little childish?"
"We're doing it because it's fun , kiddo."
Lysithea glared at Claude. He only laughed in response.
"I must agree with Lysithea. It is rather childish. However, I am sure you will require my artistic vision to succeed."
"Great! I have a fantastic plan."
The Cathedral
"They're making a fort? That sounds awesome! Edelgard, let's make a fort, too! I bet we can make a better one than them!"
"Well, if you keep shouting like that, Seteth is bound to hear you, and then all your hopes of fort-building will be dashed. Besides, you're keeping me awake."
"Caspar, how are we supposed to build a fort in here, anyways? They can do it because they're in the library and away from Rhea," Dorothea said.
"Oh. Good point."
"The solution to that problem seems rather simple."
The group looked at Hubert, who had informed them of the fort-building endeavors of the Golden Deer in the first place.
"We simply leave the cathedral."
"That is not a thing we can be doing! Seteth and Lady Rhea will have, uh, will be unhappy!"
"Y-yeah! I don't want to get into trouble!"
"Indeed, Hubert. It would be rather unbecoming to break such a simple rule."
"Besides," Linhardt said, "where would we go? It would have to be somewhere suited for a fort, and it would be ideal to position it somewhere it would be easy to keep tabs on our opponents."
"Opponents?" Edelgard perked up at that, a grin forming on her lips. "I thought this was simply about building a better fort."
"Oh, Edie. You're too competitive sometimes."
Linhardt yawned and shrugged. "Why simply build a fort without putting it to use?"
Edelgard looked over the group, then nodded and folded her hands in her lap. "I think this is an excellent opportunity for practicing our tactical skills."
The Audience Chamber
"And how did you find out about this, Ashe?" Ingrid asked.
"I bumped into Raphael in the hall. He was carrying a bunch of extra blankets, and when I asked him why, he said they were building a fort."
"I see. They are not far from us at all. Perhaps Claude is…"
"Oh! Do you think he's scheming something, Dimitri?"
"I should imagine so, Mercedes. That means he is one step ahead of us."
"Do you intend to follow their lead, Your Highness?"
"Of course! We cannot allow them to have the upper hand."
"Ooh! This sounds so fun! It's like a mock battle!" Annette said, beaming.
"It sounds ridiculous."
"Oh, come on, Felix! It's like Annette said. Think of it as a mock battle!"
"But it's not a battle. It's a bunch of fools building a fort out of blankets and embarrassing themselves."
Ingrid gave Felix a small smile and shrugged. "I guess you won't want to join our inevitable attack on the Golden Deer, then."
"Hey, I never said that!"
The Library
Claude dropped a stack of books on top of a corner of the sheet he'd draped from the library's upper level. He gave a thumbs-up to Ignatz on the other side as he did the same before turning to Raphael.
"So the Blue Lions know. I'm sure Edelgard has already found out one way or another. Great! All according to plan."
Raphael stretched his arms in front of himself with a wide smile. "Yep! So how else can I help?"
"Head back down and help Marianne get the supports up in that corner. And send Leonie up if you see her on the way."
"Sure thing!"
A moment later, as Claude tied the corners of two more sheets together, Leonie walked up behind him.
"You wanted to see me?"
"Ah, Leonie! Yes! A fight isn't much of a fight without weapons, so I need you and Lysithea to gather a bunch. I'm sure you know where the training weapons are in the building." Claude gave her a conspiratorial wink and Leonie laughed.
"Of course."
"Great. And be sure to leave enough for the others. Not much fun if our enemies are unarmed."
"Can do."
Claude called down to Lorenz to catch the other end of the sheets he'd tied together, and the two of them stretched them across the library.
The Common Room
Bernadetta panted, having finally found herself in one of the far corners of the common room. She watched the others funnel in until the entirety of her house was filling the space.
"Seteth is going to be so mad when he finds out!" she whined.
Ferdinand laughed and shook his head, stopping a few feet away from her. "Nonsense! It is as Edelgard said: we are simply attempting to practice our skills."
Linhardt was, of course, the last into the room. He walked in, covering his mouth as he yawned, and sat in one of the chairs. Caspar was all but bouncing in front of him, trying to coax him into helping with their construction. Petra and Dorothea were already moving furniture around the room as Edelgard and Hubert began devising a plan.
"There is no doubt that Claude has already accounted for every situation he could find himself in, and I'm sure he planned for us to join in his game. We need a way to catch him off guard. If Dimitri is in the Audience Chamber, that puts the Blue Lions between us and the Golden Deer. We could attack them first, but then we risk a pincer attack. Unless they've made some sort of alliance, our best option is to wait until someone else moves first."
"Unless we divide their forces."
"Unless… Yes, that could work! If we send one team to the North and the other to the South, it is very possible that -- Claude?"
Seteth's Office
The three house leaders stood in the room listening to the pounding of the rain against the building. Their respective houses continued constructing their forts while they held their meeting.
"The stairwell is blocked off enough to buy us some time, but not much. I'm sure they're already looking for your house. Either way, they won't want to get caught in the crossfire once things get going," Claude said.
"Well, I believe that the rules we have in place should aid in keeping this brief. Edelgard, do you have any further requests?"
Edelgard shook her head. She looked smug, and almost as confident as Claude.
"Great! Then let's review one more time. The three of us will take up strategic positions in our forts. Our houses will be responsible for invading the others. If one of your flags is taken," Claude paused to hold up one of the small pennants hanging from his belt, "then you're considered injured. Being injured means you can no longer move unless your flag is taken back. If both of your flags are taken, you're out of the game. If one of us is out, our whole house is out. You're allowed to leave the room so long as you're not injured, but you have to start inside. Your students can start outside, but they have to be on their side of the hall. Any questions?"
Dimitri and Edelgard shook their heads. Claude picked up his stack of pennants and started to walk out of the room.
"We start in ten. May the best house win!"
"Oh, we will," Dimitri said.
Edelgard responded with, "We will absolutely destroy you."
The Battle of Three Forts
The air was tense. The students stood at the ready, anxious to get started. Any hint of sleep they'd held from being woken in the middle of the night was long gone.
In the library, Claude sat perched on a throne of books on the upper level. Leonie stood at the top of the ladder on the opposite end, ready to defend him. Ignatz crouched in the back of the room in the makeshift bird's nest, keeping an eye on the entrance. Lysithea and Marianne stood just inside the doorway while Raphael, Hilda, and Lorenz made a line outside it.
In the audience chamber, Dimitri stood in one of the alcoves, taking up Seteth's usual spot. Dedue stood guard immediately outside of it. Ashe took up a post against the back wall, ready to aim and fire over the maze of sheets and pillows they had carefully set up. Mercedes clung to the wall beside the entrance, hiding around its corner, as Ingrid and Annette stood like sentries under the arch. Sylvain and Felix waited in the hall, both itching to begin.
Finally, in the common room, Edelgard sat in a chair in the back corner, concealed by their hurriedly constructed fort. Dorothea and Hubert stood guard a few short feet away. Bernadetta took up the opposite corner, wishing she was the one in hiding. Linhardt followed Caspar, Ferdinand, and Petra into the hall where they lined up side by side.
As if on cue, lightning struck and thunder rolled the moment the fight began.
The students rushed through the halls with shouts and battle cries loud enough to drown out the storm outside. The Black Eagles followed Edelgard's earlier plan to divide their opponents, splitting into groups on either end of the hall. The Golden Deer rushed one group and the Blue Lions the other, leaving the teams almost evenly matched. Edelgard wasn't foolish enough to throw her housemates into an unwinnable fight, though. With the commotion caused by the division, Dorothea and Bernadetta charged each group, catching them by surprise enough to pull a flag or two before their enemies caught on.
Getting to the other students' flags wasn't as simple as rushing them, of course. The knights-in-training were all equipped for their fight.
Dorothea moved to grab Felix's flag as he swung at Caspar, only to find herself knocked off her feet. She let out a sharp, shocked sound as she hit the ground and looked up to see Sylvain now swinging for Caspar. Seeing a new opportunity, she reached for Sylvain's flag, but was stopped short when Felix stepped behind him and swung at her again.
The pillow smacked her face with a soft thud and she blinked when it was pulled away. Felix didn't acknowledge her beyond that, instead turning back to Sylvain.
"You idiot! You left yourself wide open!"
Before Dorothea could move and make Felix a hypocrite, he reached down and snatched one of her flags away.
"Stay put," he said to her before turning his attention back to Caspar and Ferdinand.
On the other side of the hall, Hilda and Linhardt sat beside each other, both "injured" and watching as Petra and Bernadetta fought Raphael and Lorenz.
"You know," Hilda said, cocking her head to the side as she watched, "this seems like a waste of good pillows."
"I couldn't agree more."
"It's the middle of the night! We're supposed to be asleep!"
"Hilda, you might understand me better than anyone."
Before she could answer that, Raphael tossed a yellow pennant in her direction. She caught it, reluctantly, and reattached it to her belt.
"Well, I guess I'm back in!"
"Good luck," Linhardt said through a yawn.
Their fight continued like this, with nobody seeming to gain any real ground. Every push forward was met with an equal push back until the house leaders were forced to step out if they hoped to turn the tides. With the extra people, it was becoming difficult to tell friend from foe.
The battle seemed close to completion when Claude and Edelgard both found themselves with one less flag. Before Dimitri could pull the last from either of them, though, everyone froze.
"What is the meaning of this?" Seteth asked, his voice booming through the halls. The students looked at each other before all turning to their house leaders. Without missing a beat, Claude spoke first.
"It was an impromptu training exercise. We've got to be able to handle any conditions, right? Even the monastery can be a battlefield. Not that that'll ever happen, but who knows?"
"Unbelievable. Lady Rhea gathers you all for your own safety, expects you to follow simple instructions, and you respond by having a- a pillow fight!"
"Well, it does sound less than favorable when you put it that way," Dimitri said, a light blush on his cheeks.
"We apologize, Seteth," Edelgard said as she bowed.
Seteth opened his mouth again, but didn't speak. Instead, he turned to face the source of the gentle laugh behind him.
"Seteth, do not be so hard on them. The students are simply applying what they've learned. They were awoken in the middle of a thunderstorm and marched across the monastery. I would be more surprised if they had not put that energy to use."
Seteth nodded to Rhea and turned back to the students as she continued, now addressing them.
"However, you have all made quite a mess. Consider it the final part of this exercise to clean it."
There were a handful of mumbles and groans, but the students began collecting the pillows, blankets, and pennants strewn around the hall. Seteth and Rhea descended the stairs once again and the students seemed to lighten up. Their jokes amongst themselves returned, and they began to regale each other with their own triumphs during their short battle. By the time the cleaning was finished, almost everyone was yawning and stretching. They were wondering if they should sleep in the same rooms they'd built their forts in when Byleth reached the top of the stairs.
"I'm impressed," the professor said. "I don't think I've seen any of you enjoy training this much before. Perhaps we should do something similar again."
The students shared sleepy smiles and agreed that that sounded fun. Byleth chuckled and stepped to the side of the stairwell.
"Everyone is sleeping in the cathedral, now. Looks like we have to keep a closer eye on you."
Everyone began to head downstairs, pillows and blankets in tow. Byleth started to follow, but was stopped with a familiar call of "Hey, Teach!"
Byleth turned to Claude, who stepped forward and away from Dimitri and Edelgard.
"Yes?"
"We're, uh, sorry about making trouble."
"I wouldn't expect any different from any of you."
Dimitri and Edelgard looked shocked, mouths dropping open as they started to protest, but Claude waved his hand and spoke over them.
"Yeah, you know us. Did you mean it about doing this again?"
Byleth smiled and nodded towards the stairs, saying, "Maybe if you and your students behave."
The trio started to walk down, already resigned to the fact that with that condition, it likely wouldn't happen again.