Chapter Text
Annette let out a sigh as she took a seat down on a flat, wide stone of the canyon. She felt the weariness of the skirmish with the thieves before sinking into her - a dull weight with some minor aches, along with some overall tiredness from using a lot of magic.
She took in a deep breath; the fact that she and her classmates have indeed just finished shoving through their very first actual battle. And it wasn’t just a mock battle such as their other ones at the academy. It was one that involved taking actual lives; it involved killing. Some of her classmates have had past experiences already when it comes to taking lives - whether through past wars or from pure survival. Others, however, have never taken any kind of life until today. Regardless, they all had mixed reactions and emotions. Some were shaken to the core, while others simply toughed it out or were even indifferent. Annette herself had never taken a life ever until today, when she had to fend off a thief from attacking Mercedes and Sylvain. She recalled herself feeling proud for being able to fight alongside her classmates. However, she could also sympathize with those who were shaken after such a brutal brawl; the stench of death and sweat, the sounds of deafening shrieks, and the sight of the grounds below her feet being dyed red from fallen ones’ blood and guts were more than enough to nauseate anyone. Thinking back to such a grotesque scene that occurred only moments ago was even starting to make her head swing.
Annette glanced at Ashe, Mercedes, and Dimitri at a distance; Ashe was extremely emotional over the battle with the robbers. Dimitri and Annette’s closest friend, Mercedes, were comforting him as much as they could, patting and rubbing his back and uttering soothing words to him.
Annette beamed to herself; she was grateful to have such warm and caring classmates, and especially kindhearted friends such as the trio there. Even those who seem less approachable on the outside have shown today to actually be much more caring than how they look.
The ginger-haired girl thought back to Felix, specifically. During the skirmish, she was too focused on defending her friends from a thief to notice another one creeping up behind her, attempting to land a fatal blow on her. She recalled hearing quite a lot happening close by behind her back: some grunts, and a swish of a weapon. Right after she blasted the other thief with a wind spell, she swiftly turned back, her aquamarine-blue eyes widening in shock at the sight behind her. There was another thief, just mere steps away from her. His gauntlet was brandished. However, to even more shock stood Felix, right in between both her and the enemy. Annette had felt a sense of dread as she saw that the thief’s gauntlet had hit Felix’s arm. Despite that, Felix took no time in attacking back with his own sword. With a quick strike to the neck, the thief was just a bleeding corpse on the ground in no time.
“Fe-Felix…” Annette had stammered, trying to take in everything that had happened within mere seconds. Her eyes fluttered from the now-deceased looter to the classmate that practically defended her. She saw a glimpse of a tear on his sleeve. He was wounded by the thief.
Before Annette got a chance to even open her mouth, the raven-haired noble darted away from her, making his way towards another looming enemy. He was extremely quick on his feet, which was quite startling to witness. He also didn’t bother to patch up the wound during the entire battle, from what Annette saw; he kept on going and going. While many of their classmates were shaken from spilling so much blood, Felix pushed on relentlessly, practically carrying the class. Annette had recalled how he mentioned taking part in a war sometime back when he was younger. That, and he was just always training in general. Perhaps he was just accustomed to it.
Nonetheless, Annette stood up, deciding to look for Felix. She needed to thank him properly for stepping in for her earlier, as well as to see if he has received any treatment for that wound. If it weren’t for Felix intercepting behind her, she would’ve been badly wounded, or worse.
To her surprise, Annette realized that she didn’t have to go all out of her way to search for Felix, as she was just a few meters away from where Ashe, Dimitri, and Mercedes were. Even at a bit of a distance, she could tell that he had his arms crossed. She made her way towards the brooding-as-usual noble, noticing his usual scowl plastered on his face. However, as she got closer, she noticed that the scowl was mixed with a trace of particular bitterness. Annette had seen that certain expression from time to time. She noticed how that expression was reserved for Dimitri, and him only. She glanced back to the trio, which indeed included Dimitri. Even after such a long, tiring battle, he still had the energy to spare at throwing a dirty stare. Annette even heard him let out a “tch” sound of what sounded like some sort of annoyance while he stared at the blonde prince. However, Felix then noticed the ginger-haired girl making her way toward him. Immediately, his gaze softened a bit - just a bit - as he asked, “What is it?”
Annette stood by in front of him. She grinned as she said, “I wanted to thank you for saving me back there! I appreciate it very much for you saving me from any harm!”
Felix let out a grunt, “It was nothing,” and then turned back to where Dimitri was.
Despite the comment and swift change, however, Annette was able to catch the faintest of smiles on his face.
Huh… I hardly ever see him smile like that… she thought to herself, feeling quite proud.
As Felix turned his gaze back towards the Faerghus prince, he attempted to cross his arms as usual. However, Annette noticed that the posture was overall a bit off; it was his arm that especially made the posture as a whole look different. It looked as if he was cradling the arm through the pose. Annette held back a chuckle as she thought to herself, Is he trying to cover up his wound?
However, after that though, Annette instantly remembered that she came to him for this exact reason: to simply check up on him, regarding if he managed to get that wound healed or not.
Annette asked, “Are you alright, Felix? Did you manage to get your arm checked up?”
“It’s nothing,” Felix answered in an awfully dismissive and quick manner, “I can wait it out.”
Despite that, she can tell that he was still weakened; she practically heard the heavy collision of the gauntlet on his arm. Thinking back about it made her wince.
If I find it painful, Annette thought to herself, Then I cannot imagine how painful it must be for him right now.
She glanced at Mercedes. The blonde woman was still consoling Ashe alongside Dimitri. She didn’t want to interrupt her from helping out; other classmates deserved as much aid from her.
Annette then looked back at Felix, who was still looking away, cradling his arm as he attempted to cross them. She frowned to herself; the ginger-haired girl did not know of anyone else that could heal him, and she didn’t want him to go through even more time with that wound especially since the wound was her fault.
A sudden thought came to her mind.
Oh yeah… Annette thought to herself. I’ve been studying up on healing, yeah?
Indeed, Annette has approached Professor Byleth in regards to learning about white magic, and especially healing magic. She felt that she was much more ahead in reason magic; as a result, she found herself surprisingly having some spare time to squeeze in another topic to study alongside her reason ones. She thought of her closest friend Mercedes and how she was able to bring such happiness to others with Faith healing magic, which quickly prompted her into studying that. That, and she was also extremely klutzy, often ending up with a few scratches and bruises here and there after stumbling over something - which happens much more often to her than she would even like to admit. Annette felt that she had improved tremendously under the tutelage of her professor. She had no doubt of his teachings at all, as he proved to be an excellent teacher from the beginning. However, she was also surprised to see that he also harbored such immense knowledge in faith magic, despite being just a mercenary. He truly is a unique person deep down in his outer layer of stoicism; Annette is truly grateful for being able to learn plentiful from him.
But… Her eyes darted towards Mercedes, who was sharing a giggle with Dimitri, all glowing and beaming. Even in such a dusty and gloomy environment, she managed to be as bright as any sunny day their frigid country of Faerghus received.
Could I… Truly be able to heal him well? Annette questioned herself. Although she felt that she truly did learn so much regarding healing, it was not a secret that Mercedes was the most regarded healer in her entire class. As far as Annette was aware, no one else has thought of ever stepping in to be another healer for the class. At least, only Annette herself did.
Annette’s eyes then widened as she then realized that indeed, she herself was the only other one that took up faith magic. In other words, she is the only other healer in the class.
That’s right… Annette slowly turned her gaze away from Mercedes. I can’t be doubting myself right now! Especially since…
Annette glanced down at the ground in shame. It's my fault he’s all wounded.
Her shame, however, immediately went away, being quickly replaced with that of determination. She tore her gaze away from the ground.
I’m gonna give it a shot! I will heal him!
“Felix!” Annette exclaimed, hands extended out as she walked up to him, “Lemme heal you!”
The sudden comment certainly got the raven-haired noble’s attention. He finally took a look back at Annette, his ruby orbs widening a bit upon the unexpected comment. He started, “Wait, since when can you-“
Before Felix even had a chance to finish, however, Annette was already close by him. Without wasting a moment, she swiftly but gingerly placed two of her hands right above Felix’s cradled wound.
She thought back to her lessons and textbook readings in the monastery classrooms and libraries, lectures, and tips from the professor and her friends that were more versed in healing and faith. She thought back to her belief in faith and the gods.
Then, she felt it: the glowing warm power of a faith spell. It wasn't the strongest but it was enough. Just enough for Felix's wound. For her, it was plentiful. It was great progress for herself as a capable upcoming healer, and for the wound itself for being able to mend well under Annette’s care. Indeed, she was making great progress with her studies in faith, and it was truly showing as of now.
For Felix, it was very shocking. He knew that Mercedes was the main healer of the class, as she was well-known for studying advanced spells of healing spells and such. He had no clue that Annette herself was also studying healing, as he mainly knew her for her studies and powers in reason spells.
Both the healer and the healed felt the warm energy of the spell blanket them like a comforting fireplace back home in their frigid country of origin. For a moment, the weariness of the battle was washed away for both of them; they felt extremely calm and nurtured as if they had just woken up from a deep and relaxing slumber.
Annette could now see why Mercedes adored healing magic; everything about the art felt soothing and satisfying - from the cozy energy of the magic itself, to be able to mend wounds on your own. The joy of being able to help others in such a life-saving aspect, to literally take away one’s pain and injuries and patch them up in a better shape. Seeing her dear friend be so passionate about such a delicate, kind form of art was what prompted her to learn more about healing magic in the first place; now, she was beyond delighted to be able to take part in such a form of magic.
Annette felt her eyes tear away from his arm as the light went away. She took a step back to scan through the rest of his arm; even though she knows some healing magic, she was aware that she still wasn’t as trained in the medical aspect of the body as Mercedes and many others were. Despite that, she felt that she learned at least enough for the current situation. Everything else looked good so far; nothing looked off, at least towards her.
Annette finally glanced up at Felix’s face; his ruby-red orbs were quite widened, indicating that he was at least somewhat shocked. Annette never thought he’d see him, of all people, surprised, even if it was a slight expression of such emotion. She grinned to herself as she accepted this tiny victory to herself.
Annette was perhaps a bit too caught up in her own mini celebration, as she then remembered the serious situation at hand. She cleared her throat lightly and slowly asked Felix “How does it feel?”
After a beat of a second of silence, she quickly added, “I-It’s my first time healing someone else! I originally picked up on healing because I tend to be klutzy at times, so I figured it would be nice to-“
Felix interrupted her rambling with an answer, “It’s good.”
Upon hearing a rather positive answer, Annette was now the shocked one of the duo. She squeaked out, “Huh? It is?”
“Yes,” Felix answered, moving the now-healed arm around for a bit, “My arm feels better.”
Annette’s expression lit up like a candle upon hearing his words. Upon hearing that her healing skills had really worked.
She then replied, “R-Really? I'm so glad to hear!”
A burst of pride overtook the girl, along with some adrenaline from her doubts leaving. She was also very much so shocked to be able to accomplish such a feat by herself; indeed, her studies have been flourishing, and it showed in one of the most important times. As such, she was overall extremely proud of herself.
Annette couldn’t help but practically beam at herself. She felt the sudden urge to sing and dance out of pure happiness within her. She let out a light giggle; if she could, perhaps she will treat herself to some singing and dancing as well as some sweets when they all head back to the monastery.
Her cheer was sheepishly cut short as she remembered that Felix was indeed in front of her. She peeked at Felix. To her complete bewilderment, she could’ve sworn she saw the… faintest of smiles from him. He was smiling? Again?
However, before Annette even got to make a comment regarding the rather out-of-place yet quite stunning pleased expression, his face went back to his usual neutral face. Annette let out a huff inside, leaving her comment regarding it dwelling inside.
Instead, Annette mentioned, “If you can, though, you should still get it checked out with someone who’s much better at faith, just to be sure!”
Felix let out a grunt, “Got it.”
Silence hung in the air for a few seconds between the two. The sounds of the howling winds, as well as various voices, occupied the area from a distance between the two. It was difficult to even imagine that a mere moment ago, a brutal battle between some thieves had taken place. Yet, it did. Annette started to feel some of the post-battle weariness sink in once again. However, before it got a chance to completely engulf her, Felix broke the silence, “Tell me, you’re not as shaken up from this as others.”
He glances at Ashe and Dimitri. Ashe was still looking very deflated from battle to Annette’s sadness.
Felix then asked, “How are you holding up through this?” He glanced down at the girl, his expression was suddenly quite stony and serious, as if he was quizzing her. Annette grew confused; why exactly was he quizzing her, of all people, on something like this?
Regardless, she thought about her feelings deeply and carefully. She was, deep down, quite terrified upon seeing actual bloodshed up close for the very first time; it was definitely something out of her comfort zone, even if she didn’t show it or was as visibly shaken about it as others. Even the aspect of literally killing others up close was daunting. Despite that, however, she didn’t let the fear overtake her. In that moment of battle, she didn’t think much of herself; rather, she thought of her classmates and the professor first and foremost. She thought of being able to defend them, which helped push her forward tremendously. She recalled herself exclaiming that she could fight right after landing her very first kill. However, it wasn’t because she was happy to be able to draw blood, but instead because she was able to defend those she held dearly to her.
With those in mind, Annette spoke her answer, “Even though I was very shaken up from all the bloodshed, a part of me felt proud of myself for being able to fight. I felt proud for being able to use my magic to the best of my abilities, to defend all of my friends, rather than to just spill blood for no reason. I used that determination to defend everyone to push forward.”
Felix stared at Annette for a little bit. For a brief moment, silence hung in the air as the teenagers locked eyes with each other. Felix stared deeply into Annette’s orbs. For a split second, Annette got chills at how sharp his gaze was; it practically reminded her of his sword.
After a few seconds, Felix breaks the silence with a simple, “I see.”
He then crosses his arms yet again. This time, he is able to do so without having to cradle his one arm in slight pain. Indeed, he was back to being his usual brooding self.
The two of them stood there in silence once again for a few seconds. Annette stared back at Mercedes and Ashe at a distance. By now, the two of them seem to be doing well; even Ashe seemed to have gained a lot more cheer and color. Dimitri, however, was nowhere to be seen; perhaps he had left to go assess the rest of the situation. He is the house leader, after all. Either way, Annette was deciding to go check up on Mercedes and Ashe, until Felix suddenly asks, “By the way…”
Annette stared back at Felix. To her surprise, he was suddenly looking quite… bashful? The way he spoke too was quite hushed and slow as he asked, “How do you do… that? The magic to patch up my wound?”
Annette had to hold back a snort as she answered, “You mean my healing faith spell? I’ve been actually learning it from the professor! He’s been really nice and helpful with teaching me! Feels like I’ve been learning a lot!”
To Annette’s total surprise, Felix then actually compliments her, “It shows.”
Annette was taken aback by the sudden compliment. Before she got to respond, she felt something… ruffle the top of her head. It took her a moment to realize that it was Felix who was actually… stroking her hair, rather softly too.
“Thank you,” Felix then said in a tone that was far more tender than Annette had ever heard from him. Even his usual scowl was replaced with an expression that was shockingly as delicate as his voice.
Annette let out a soft gasp. The gesture was indeed very sweet. Yet, the way it was coming from Felix of all people was rather baffling. She would never expect such an abrupt kind gesture from Felix, of all people; no one would! Despite that, however, she felt extremely happy that she was able to lift the spirits of one of her classmates. She certainly wasn’t expecting to be able to do the same thing her dear friend Mercedes has done. But regardless, she took in this delicate moment to move on from the harshness of battle that took place moments ago.