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Cyril stepped forward, swinging his lance at his opponent.
It crashed into the opposing lance. Blocked. They pressed their weapons against each other. Then, she stepped back as Cyril's lance fell, hoping to charge and catch him off guard.
Cyril jumped to the side just in time, dodging the swing and repositioning his weapon to get a better grip of it.
The two paced back and forth, neither wanting to make the first move.
She broke the stale mate, thrusting her lance straight at Cyril. He jumped to the side again, slamming his lance onto his opponent’s, hoping to knock it our of her hand.
It worked, the lance fell to the floor, noise echoing through the training grounds.
However, as it fell, Cyril’s opponent leapt at him, grabbing his lance and pulling it with a greater force then he expected. Her gamble worked. He lost grip of the lance, and soon she held it, standing atop her former lance to prevent him from grabbing it. She pointed her weapon at him. Cyril was dazed by the whole affair, and the swing she took at him missed, but it caused him to lose balance and fall to the ground. She held the weapon above him before he could recover, and that was it.
The observing soldier put his hand up, alerting watchers of the conclusion.
“The match is over. The winner is…Leonie Pinelli!”
*
“That was a great match!”
Cyril turned around to find the orange haired girl standing before him. The weekly tournament had ended, and he was the only one in the training grounds now, cleaning up the equipment and making sure everything was tidy. Or well, he thought he was the only one.
“Yeah. You fought well. I wasn’t expecting you to steal my lance.”
“Heh, thanks. I’ve learned you have to think on your feet and surprise your opponent if you really want to win.”
He nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind in future battles.”
“You fought well yourself. I think that was the first time we went against each other. I was surprised at how easily you were able to keep up with me.”
Who isn’t surprised to learn that I’m actually capable? “I think we’ve fought once before, but that was the first time it was in the finals. I had never gotten that far before.”
“I’d noticed. I wanted to ask how you’ve gotten so strong recently, see if I can pick up any tips.”
Cyril took a moment to piece together an answer. “I think it’s because I’ve been training more with the Knights of Seiros. Shamir has been helping me out, primarily with the bow, and Catherine and Alois have given me occasional lessons in hand to hand combat.”
It was true, during his stay at Garreg Mach, Cyril had learned to open up more. It was only a little, but his newfound courage led him to asking Shamir to take him on as an apprentice.
“That’s a lot of teachers to have. I’m jealous.”
He shrugged. “Not being a full-time student has its perks. I had only asked Shamir for help at first, but then she got others to fill in when she was busy. Soon the Knights got used to training me regularly, and it continued from there.”
“Do you think any of the Knights would be willing to take me in as their apprentice?”
“Don’t know. You can ask them when they get back.”
“Yeah…whenever that will be.”
Whenever they find whoever it is killed that Knight. “Okay, well, I gotta get back to cleaning this place up.”
“All right. Would you mind if I continued to train here?”
I would. “Not at all. But why? It’s getting late, and there won’t be another tournament for a while.”
Her voice lowered as she grabbed a sword. “I need to be as strong as I can. No, stronger, for when the Knights return...”
Cyril didn’t want to ask further, so he went back to his work, inspecting the weapons to ensure they were in good condition.
*
Once he’d finished putting everything away, Cyril took a deep breath. His final chore for the day was done, and soon he could sleep. He took a moment to sit behind one of the pillars, leaning on it as he watched Leonie.
She had stayed the whole time, practicing her swings, sprints, throws, etc. She was sweating, and Cyril could tell she needed a break. He thought to say something, but hesitated. Could he tell a student to stop? How could he, who often works himself into a sweat?
“Cyril!”
She brought his attention to her. She waved for him to come, which he followed. He met her in the middle of the training grounds.
“Spar with me.” She threw him an axe, gripping her lance firmly.
Huh? “What? Isn’t it too late for that?”
“It'll be quick, don’t worry.”
She was breathing heavily. Not the best time to spar.
“All right.”
So they began. Leonie shot various stabs at Cyril, which he was able to dodge or block with the axe. He would occasionally swing at her, but he held back, going slowly and methodically. She could dodge his swings easily.
She swung horizontally at him.
“What keeps you working so hard?”
What is she? He blocked it with his axe, but the sudden question led him to falter, and he had to quickly step back.
“What?”
She charged at him, continuing to swing.
“I said why do you work so hard! What motivates you? Who are you doing this for!?”
He continued to back up, dodging each swing.
“Rhea! I keep this place clean for her!”
Another swing, this one from above. Cyril held his axe above his head to block it. The two stood there as Leonie pressed her lance against his axe as hard as she could.
“What would you do if Rhea wasn’t here? If she disappeared?”
Cyril couldn’t push back hard enough. He let go of the axe and leapt to the side as it crashed onto the floor. He dashed away, turning around just as Leonie threw her lance at him. He dove out of the way as it banged on the pillar behind him.
“Leonie stop!” he pleaded while getting up and grabbing the lance.
“You didn’t answer my question!”
She charged at him, swinging the axe just as he ducked under it. Thinking quickly, he hit her hands with his lance, the blow causing her to drop the axe.
“Lady Rhea won’t disappear!”
Leonie grabbed his lance before she lost her balance, leading to a tug of war between the two.
“That’s what they said about Jeralt!”
She twisted her grip and pulled the lance to the side. Cyril wasn’t able to keep up, falling to the ground.
He turned to face her, but before he could get up she charged, stopping as she held the lance directly above his chest
Just like this morning…
“Cyril…”
He met her eyes. Her expression was one of exhaustion, but an equal measure of anger.
“Why were you going easy on me!?”
What do I do what do I do what do I do!? “You were tired from training so much. I-I didn’t want to hurt you!”
Leonie was infuriated. “Battles won’t wait for when you’re ready! You can spend all your energy saving a bunch of kids only to have them stab you in the back!”
She pulled back and shoved the lance at Cyril, who was able to roll over just in time. She hadn’t prepared for that. The force of the lance hitting the solid ground knocked her off balance. She let go as she fell, collapsing to the floor.
Cyril was breathing heavily, his life flashing before his eyes. Was she really going to!?
He turned to Leonie. She was trembling. After a moment, she began punching the ground with her clenched fists.
“Damnit…”
*
“Sorry about that.”
Leonie helped Cyril put their weapons away, and the two were now in the dining hall, grabbing some water before bed.
“I should say it’s fine, but it wasn’t. I thought you were going to kill me.”
She looked down. “Yeah...I’m real sorry about that. I guess I…”
He knew what was getting to her. He had seen her and the Blade Breaker conversing frequently. He knew she admired and modeled herself after him.
“You were real close with that Jeralt guy huh?”
“Yeah…and now I wish I wasn’t.”
“Yeah?”
She sighed. “I bet my whole future on him, on joining him to become a mercenary. Now I don’t know what to do, where to go, if anyone will take me in. I should have had multiple teachers like you do. Now…I don’t know what to do…I...”
Cyril frowned. “I’m sure the Knights of Seiros will be willing to help.”
“Yeah…”
“I can tell them about you. Tell them about how strong you are, about how you could kill me if you tried.”
She chuckled. “I’m not sure I’d want them to hear about how I lost my cool with you...but I guess if it makes a good story, it wouldn't hurt. That’s what the Captain always said…”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
They stood in silence for a moment, and he could tell from her expressions that the Golden Deer student was going through many stages of grief.
At last she turned to him. “Thanks Cyril.”
“Sure thing. We should get going though.”
“Yeah…”
Cyril turned to leave, but after taking a few steps noticed Leonie hadn’t moved. She was starring into her drink.
“Hey Cyril?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re really devoted to Rhea.”
“It’s thanks to her I’ve got a place here.”
“Yeah…”
They paused, and Cyril gulped, wondering what would follow.
“Promise me something.”
He waited on edge.
“Don’t make the same mistake I did, and bet your whole life on one person. If that person were to disappear…I don’t want you to go through what I’m going through.”
Cyril took her words in, debating how to respond.
“But Lady Rhea won’t disappear…she won’t die…”
“Cyril.”
He starred at her. Her expression was stern and furious.
“Don’t make the same mistake I did.”
With that, she turned and left, leaving the servant to ponder her words. He eventually did the same, but couldn’t deny that her words had an effect. He had a lot to think about that night.
The fury in her eyes...is that how I would look if Rhea...