Chapter Text
Despite the usual frigid cold that winter in The Kingdom brought, Felix could feel himself sweating. Above him, the sun beat down and reflected over the bright white frost lining the ground he and the rest of the Blue Lions trod. His thick, dark blue cloak -wrapped around him to keep his limbs from going numb- wasn't helping his case either. Despite the weather, the class had been assigned a last-minute mission by the Arch Bishop. Bandits had invaded Blayddid territory, seeking to destroy the Tailtean Plain's fertile soil (and, as a result, destroy the next year's harvest.) Casting his gaze up from the ground to his allies around him, Felix allowed himself the smallest of smiles as he watched Sylvain slip on the icy ground, grabbing onto Dimitri's cape and nearly pulling the both of them to the ground. Dedue, ever by Dimitri's side, grabbed the crown prince by his shoulders and steadied him, leaving Sylvain to drop into the mud on the trail.
"Aw, come on. I just had this doublet washed!" Sylvain groaned, picking himself up out of the mud and trying, unsuccessfully, to rub the filth out of his clothing.
Ingrid slapped his hand away as she passed by. "If you keep that up, you're just going to end up rubbing it in more."
"That would be an improvement," Felix said with a scoff, crossing his arms. "Maybe then, your insatiable desire to drag everything that breathes into your bed would be defeated by your disgusting clothes." Ignoring Sylvain's offended cry, he continued forward, determined to look as though he didn't find the situation funny in the slightest. Ahead of him marched the boar prince, his eyes trained on the horizon.
Felix glared and dropped his gaze back to the ground. He hated how casual the boar could look, how well he could mask the bloodlust that lurked just under the surface. He had seen it himself. Dimitri had decided to play nice since arriving at the academy, but it didn't change that there was a beast hidden within him.
"Felix."
He jumped -startled by the sudden interruption of his thoughts- and scowled up at the intruding voice. Byleth, seemingly the one who'd addressed him, had stopped. Though his face was blank, Felix recognized the glint in his eyes immediately. It was the same expression than he held when he and Felix sparred, exchanging blows and pushing each other until they were both exhausted enough to call a truce.
The professor was laser-focused.
"What is it?" Felix asked, stopping as well. Byleth raised his arm and tapped his ear, indicating to him to listen. With a frown, Felix closed his eyes and concentrated, trying to hear beyond the din of his allies' conversations. Beyond Ashe going on about the knight Loog walking this very field, beyond Sylvain's complaining, and beyond Dimitri and his anxious tapping on his lance. Past all of that noise, he could just barely make out the shout of an order given, and what sounded like... whistling?
He and the professor met eyes for a split second before yelling, "get down!" The class quickly dropped, and not a moment too soon, as arrows whizzed straight through the places where their heads had been a few moments before.
"We're under attack!" Dimitri shouted, shielding Annette as best as he could with his shield.
"Sylvain, Dedue, protect the mages! Go right around the plains," Byleth ordered. "Ingrid and Ashe, flank left and take them by surprise. Dimitri, Felix, on me! We'll take the front lines."
With that, the group split, and Felix sprinted forward, the familiar weight of his sword raised, and his focus sharpened to a needlepoint. The first of the bandit's forces charged. A brigadier rushed him, lifting his heavy axe above his head to swing it down into Felix's flesh, but Felix struck first. He sprang towards the assailant and swung, his blade connecting with the hard muscle of the man's forearm. The man screamed and dropped his axe, clutching his flayed arm. As the man's guard dropped, Felix shoved his sword into the attacker's chest. The man's eyes widened, before rolling back into his head and falling to the ground, dead. Felix wasted no time in removing his sword and continuing forward.
Ahead of him, Dimitri fought off a swordsman, overpowering him by sheer strength and forcing him down onto the tip of his lance. He met Felix's eyes and pointed to Byleth, who was fighting off a cavalry unit. The professor swung his legendary weapon, the Sword of the Creator, and separated it into a whip, pulling the rider off of the horse where he landed with a sickening crunch.
Byleth mounted the horse the rider left and yelled out to them, "Ingrid and Ashe have been spotted, I'm going on the assist. Work together!" before riding off in the other direction. Felix gritted his teeth and turned away, facing Dimitri.
"Lead the charge, boar," he spat.
Dimitri frowned, before raising his lance and pointing it along the top of the hill they were advancing up. "If," he began, "I beat you to the top, you must stop referring to me as 'boar' for a week."
"A day," Felix said, a savage smile beginning to grow on his face.
"Deal."
With that, the two men began racing up the side of the hill. Felix grinned, allowing his training to take over. He'd spent the years after Glenn passed away channeling all of his rage and grief into pure, unadulterated skill. It didn't take long for him to overtake Dimitri.
"Felix! On your guard," Dimitri called from behind him. Rapidly approaching were three bandits: a mage with two mercenaries on either side. With a battle cry, the two crashed into the opposing force. Felix and the left-most mercenary swung at each other, his sword smashing into theirs. He rolled left and swung again, this time missing as the merc jumped out of the way.
"Block!" Dimitri yelled to him. He raised his shield just in time for the attacker's sword to bounce off of it. Felix immediately pounced towards him and, with a thrust, sent his sword straight through the man's stomach.
Quickly looking upward, Felix spotted the mage clasp his hands together and begin muttering a spell.
"Dimitri! Mage!" he yelled, running towards the man trying to attack Dimitri. Dimitri nodded and charged the mage, tackling him just before he could finish his spell. At the same time, Felix stabbed at the mercenary who had previously been trying to kill Dimitri. He only managed to graze the attacker's arm before the mercenary was upon him, raining down blow after blow mercilessly with his sword. All Felix could do was block, having no chance to swing back. It was not long until his arms began screaming out in protest, to which the swordsman responded by pushing his blade closer to Felix's neck. Felix's grip buckled, and the man's sword jolted forward, sure to pierce his throat-
Until the mercenary was tackled to the ground by an enraged Dimitri. As he stabbed his lance down into the merc, Felix stood back up, gasping. Running a hand through his dark hair, he readjusted his sword in his grip.
"Thanks."
Dimitri stood and wiped a smear of blood from his face. "Of course," he said with a smile. He then resumed running.
With a curse, Felix followed after him, though Dimitri's lead didn't last for long. Finally, they reached the top, Felix having won by a considerable amount.
"Yes!" He shouted, throwing his hands in the air. "You've been slacking on your training, Dimitri!"
Dimitri reached him, panting, and waved dismissively. "You're not human, that's all. Quick and dangerous," he wheezed. "You're a falcon."
"Excuses, excuses," Felix replied with a rare smile. He jogged over to Dimitri and waited for him to catch his breath.
"Well done, Felix," he said once he was finally able. He stood up straight and smiled. "That's us, is it not? The boar and the falcon?"
Felix felt his heart stutter in his chest and turned away. Settling back into his usual glare, he ignored Dimitri's comment and looked out across the plains. "We should meet back with the professor and wrap this up. I've already been here long enough." Not waiting for an answer, he began marching in the direction Ingrid and Ashe had been commanded to. Behind him, he heard Dimitri sigh before his footsteps picked up as he followed.
--
About an hour had passed, judging by Felix's rough estimation. Once he and Dimitri had found the professor and his team, they joined forces with the rest of the class and swept the plains for any remaining bandits. After they were sure the area was secured, they settled down on the least frozen looking patch of grass they could find to break for a late lunch.
Felix looked up at the large oak tree they sat under and noted the buds on the branches. Winter would be ending soon, with spring quick to heal the frosted ground. He opted to sit against the tree, slightly separated from the group.
"Four of them came at me at the same time. I, of course, heroically fought them off to protect all of you and didn't get a scratch on me, other than this cool scar on my face," Sylvain preened, flaunting a small cut that graced his otherwise clear cheek.
"Actually Sylvain, as I recall, you were screaming like a young girl fighting one of them off while Mercedes and Annette handled the rest," Dedue corrected with a slight smile.
"Hey! That's- shut up, man!"
The group laughed, and Mercedes and Annette high fived. Even Felix gave a smirk at his classmate's antics, though it was mostly just at Sylvain's expense rather than amusement.
"Oh!" Ashe said excitedly, as though having remembered something important, "Hey, did you guys know that it was around this exact spot where the great knight Loog and his sworn friend Kyphon finished the War of the Eagle and Lion?"
"Damnit, Ashe, more about your nerdy knight obsession?" Sylvain groaned.
"It's not nerdy, it's an exciting and important part of our history!"
"It's boring."
"Oh, you don't mean tha-"
"Guys!" Ingrid interrupted, putting her hand on both of their heads. "Calm down. I might have found something you'll both be interested in. All of you, actually," she said, making a sweeping gesture to the group. "A little while ago, I was snooping- er, accidentally found Seteth's private collection of books that he keeps from the library. In it was a historical analysis of the stories of Loog. I, uh... borrowed it, actually, if guys want to see. It's got lots of information on the War of the Eagle and Lion."
Sylvain stared incredulously. "Which part of this was I supposed to be interested in?"
"The stealing part," Ingrid said, deadpan.
"Fair enough."
"Ingrid." The professor said, drawing the class' attention. "While under normal circumstances, I wouldn't condone stealing from monastery staff, this provides us with a unique opportunity for learning outside of the classroom." The corners of Byleth's mouth raised slightly. "This, of course, has nothing to do with Seteth disciplining me last Monday on lurking around the greenhouse at odd times of night. Bring the book."
Ingrid grinned and rummaged around in her pack before producing a well-worn tome. The professor motioned for them all to sit closer together. Felix begrudgingly moved in and sat behind Sylvain, who grinned and passed him a chunk of bread he'd produced out of seemingly nowhere.
"For your health," Sylvain whispered in a mock posh accent. Felix glared at him, but there was no real venom behind it. He took the piece of bread and began to eat, kicking Sylvain with his boot. "You're welcome," Sylvain muttered.
"So!" Ingrid began excitedly, "As you guys know, The War of the Eagle and Lion was a rebellion that lasted for four years and ended right here, on the Tailtean Plains. It was here that Loog, Kyphon, and Pan worked together to finally secure independence for the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus. What you may not know, is that right after the group succeeded in battle, they disappeared for several hours to an unknown location somewhere on the battlefield! According to historians, records that were thought to describe this location were found in the Church of Seiros' archives, but they're written in a language no one can translate."
Turning the book around, Ingrid showed the class the strange glyph like symbols. They were small, complicated things, with each branching and twisted character confined to a circle, and all those circles enclosed in larger ones. Felix scoffed.
"How does anyone know that they aren't just scribbles on a page? It looks like jibberish to me," he said.
Ingrid frowned and lowered the book. "Well, no one can be sure, but it does look authentic, doesn't it?" At that, Felix gave her a doubtful look, and she groaned. "Don't spoil the fun for me. What do you think, professor? Does it look real to you?"
The professor didn't respond. Felix looked up and watched his expression. His usually impassive face was furrowed in confusion, and his eyes were unfocused, as though he was having a conversation with someone none of them could see. In front of him, Dimitri- no, the boar stood and crossed over to him, placing his hand on Byleth's shoulder. The professor jumped, seeming to return to them as his face settled back into neutrality.
"Professor, are you alright?" the boar prince asked, his head tilted in concern. "Were you injured during battle?"
"I'm fine, Dimitri, but thank you. Ingrid, can you show me that page again?"
Ingrid handed to book over to Byleth and watched as he stared at the strange text. Interested, Felix stood and walked over, choosing to ignore his proximity to the boar in favor of seeing the situation up close.
"Ingrid, I think you were correct. This seems to be related to the location the knight's disappeared to."
"You're joking," Felix laughed humourlessly. "Are you seriously saying you can read that?" When the professor didn't deny, he rolled his eyes. "Of course you can. How?"
Byleth simply shrugged. "I don't know. I don't remember ever learning to read it. I just know what it says."
"This is amazing! Right now, we are changing the very history of the old legends!" gushed Ashe.
"Go on, professor! Tell us what it says," Annette exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Ah... I can try, but there's not really a direct translation. The actual message might not be the same."
"Just get on with it." Felix crossed his arms. "At the rate you're going, we'll all have frostbite before we return to the monastery."
With that, Byleth began to read.
"When dragon fire paints the sky,
just before the progenitor's pearl,
sworn friends approach the sheer rock face,
the last to be painted red.
Within find peace..."
As the cryptic words sunk in, the class went silent, save for a sigh from Felix. "Sounds as though it was jibberish after all," he said, ignoring the gloomy looks on Ashe and Ingrid's faces.
"Um... everyone?" Mercedes began, her brow somewhat furrowed. "Please, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but... I recognize one of those terms. In the message, I mean."
Annett turned to face her. "What do you mean, Mercie?"
"When I was younger, before my adoptive father took me away, I grew up in a church. At night, before we all went to sleep for the evening, the nuns would tell us stories about the goddess. In one, it explains how the moon was created. It's said that when the goddess Sothis was walking the shore, a beautiful pearl washed up just before her feet. She found it so beautiful, in fact, that she placed it in the night sky for all of us to admire. That's why sometimes the moon is referred to as the progenitor's pearl. It belonged to the goddess first."
"So, if the 'progenitor's pearl' means the moon, then..." Sylvain said, hesitantly. "This whole thing could secretly mean something else?"
Byleth nodded solemnly. "It's a code."