Chapter Text
Garreg Mach was quiet at night time. To an unknowing soul, the Officer’s Academy wouldn’t wake up for another eight hours or so. Nothing but the sounds of nature echoing through the dorms of Fódlan’s brightest.
But that is to an unknowing soul. As one came closer, there was yet a world to discover. Even at night time.
“When you’re up like all night, everything is just right, when you sing a song that goes ding-ding-a-dong. There will be more sorrow, you have a test tomorrow and you sit alone being ding-dang-dong.”
Annette couldn’t concentrate on her work all day. With the tapping of the foot she tried to hypnotise herself into a working rhythm, but all the song did was make the pages of sigils and runes and incantations dance ‘cross the pages.
It was close to midnight, if it wasn’t well past. Mercie already slept. She could hear it through the wall. Not that Mercie was a snorer, but she was a wonderful sleeptalker. The shrill but determined voice of Fódlan’s nurse-by-day, ghostbuster-by-night could faintly be heard...by those who pay attention. And let that selective concentration be Annie’s specialty.
She stopped tapping her feet. It was no use, these spells had to wait another day to be discovered. She closed the book and stood up, shoving her chair softly towards her desk.
She heard taps. No, that couldn’t be. “Oh, Ann, you gotta stop staying up so late..it’s making you delirious.” she said to herself. The tapping continued. Annette walked to the other side of the room, to the wall separating Mercie and her and thus to her bed. The tapping continued. Faintly, but real. Right?
A light shined through a small hole in the wall. Not enough to fill the room, but enough to fill Ann’s mind.
She stepped towards her desk again. Maybe it was a pen stuck between her books, rolling around at the speed of sound, reflecting the moonlight. The tapping did become louder.
“For Seiros’ sake Ann, you don’t have time for this.” she muttered as she rattled up the spells not perfected yet and her eternally-suppressed internal clock was shaking her up like a bell-clapper.
The tapping came closer. The light shined brighter.
Ann hung her ear against the wall. The tapping disappeared, being replaced by a different sound. Footsteps. But who at this hour could even be up? The Varley sprout next door didn’t exactly seem a party animal, but from what she heard she wasn’t a night owl either. But it was probably fine. “Ann-Ann-Ann-Ann..Aaaannn..ANN...Ann?” Annette reassured herself that everything was fine. “Bernie is fine. She is probably just bitten by her plant and now she is looking for paper to curl around her finger, but of course the paper gave her an even worse cut so now she’s sucking her thumb and walking around to heal. That’s logical, makes perfect sense, definitely not an intruder coming to kidnap her or….”
No, that didn’t make any sense, but Annette’s mind couldn’t help but wander. She snapped her fingers in front of her eyes and in routine, went back to her desk, pressed her pen against the paper and drew a circle as was present in her handbook. But the footsteps continued. The light kept shining. Ever coming closer and then…..faintly disappearing. Finally hypnotised, Annette fell asleep.
The next morning, three things were pounding around Annette. Her head wasn’t too appreciative of her decision to sleep on a wooden desk instead of her bed and pounded like a demonic beast. With it, her heart beat in synch with her breath, trying to put together how, when and why she woke up.
“Nonononono that cannot be the sun. Please please please Sun go back to bed too I need the time.” she said to herself as she rushed in her Academy uniform.
Third thing pounding was someone at the door. Annette breathed out slowly, but screamed internally.
Annie quickly tried to piece together the situation as she tried to fit herself in her skirt that used more belts than Ms. Casagranda in an opera piece. Judging by the hour, it wasn’t Mercie. Mercie would not be so kind as to let her sleep in, nor be so considerate with the volume of the knocking if she did catch her sleep in. Another knock rang through Ann’s entire body, which made her emit a frustrated squeal.
The knocking stopped.
“Oh, I should probably check on Bernie real quick.” she said. “Of course, if she’s not there I’m gonna need to write a note. Let me grab some paper reaaal quick.” she said as she tore paper with her spare hand from a book she balanced on her knee.
The note fell to the ground.
Ann grabbed her book with the same arm she just put through a sleeve and walked towards the door, picking up the note with her spare hand as she very gracefully pliéd to catch the note in one fell swoop. As she caught the note with her hand, she caught the door with her head. Of course. Her head screaming like a battlefield, Annie instead put on a smile and walked straight to class as the bells rang. The day could begin.
“Ding-a-dong, every hour, when ya pick a flower...” Ann sighed and took a seat in Professor’s Hanneman’s class.
“Today I would like to talk to you about philosophy.” he started the class.
Annette took a deep breath and tried to concentrate, but Hanneman’s words were but thin air in the classroom. Her mind was racing. What or who was there last night? She analysed the pacing, the sound of footsteps, her heart racing along with it. She breathed in. This lecture was more important for now, and yet she found her hand slipping in her pocket. “Dear Bernadetta…” she started in her mind.
“Does anyone know what a paradox is?” Hanneman continued.
Annie drilled the cacophony of steps, hammers and drums in her mind, trying to grasp the situation without making Hanneman suspicious.
“I am writing you because…” she tried to put the words in her brain, chanting it to the rhythm of the room.
Because...well that was a good question. Because a killer was out to get her?
Ugh. She just should’ve slept that night. No bigger mystery than what the teacher is saying when you cannot pay attention.
She felt the nightmares pulling at her, but with each word Hanneman spoke that she missed, she was launched back into the reality of headaches and less than stellar concentration.
“So.” Hanneman concluded. “By picking neither bale of hay, the donkey essentially deprived itself of hay and starved. See you next class, where we discuss Zeno, who is probably the most paradoxical person alive that’s not a woman.”
Ann pressed her lips together in a polite faux-chuckle and left the room.
Quickly, she hurried to her room, bumping into everyone. “Sorry! Sorry!” she said as a precaution for those unfortunate enough to collide with her. She reached for her pocket and took out the note as she fondled her pen through her fingers to start writing mid-flight.
“Watch out.” a green frog-like presence said to her as she charged right into her door again. “Oh, I’m Linhardt. You might’ve heard me last night. I heard you at least, these walls are not exactly soundproof.”
Ann chuckled by means of apology.
“You’re a better neighbour than Raphael in that respect, so I moved. Hope it‘s not too much of a bother.” Lin said, letting out the biggest yawn known to man.
Annie chuckled again and nodded in agreement. Once she looked up, Lin had entered his room already.
So. A new neighbour. Annette’s head could finally rest, but her heart kept pounding. “Linhardt.” she said as she entered her room.
Lin already started a thunderous accord of books, stapled on top of eachother, opening and closing, with paper ripping from each of them. Annette smiled and sat at her desk, listening to her new favorite composer.