Chapter Text
The sun shined above their heads at Garreg Mach monastery training grounds
Lemuen took a deep breath, drawing an arrow from her quiver, putting it on the string of her longbow, pulling it all the way back to her shoulder
She took a second to adjust her aim and then let go
The arrow hit on the target dummy forehead, making it jiggle a little from the impact
She smiled and lowered her bow
Classes hadn’t formerly started yet but she still wanted to practice her skills
She wasn’t the only one as other students were present doing their own drills
“Sis, the classes haven’t started, why are we in the sun when we could be relaxing under a tree of apples?”
Lemuen turned to her side, watching as her sister, Lemuel, did the same thing she did a couple of seconds before albeit faster than she did
She still hit the dummy’s neck, the arrow burying halfway through it
“We can’t just slack off El, you know how much it cost your boss to pay the inscription fee for the two of us” Lemuen said drawing another arrow and shooting at her dummy
“I know I know” Lemuel said drawing and firing two more arrows in quick succession “Still, we can afford to relax a little, even the house leaders are out on a camping trip”
That she couldn’t really deny, while it wasn’t really a camping trip, she still couldn’t see the purpose of taking the three house leaders to the wilderness
“We might as well make proper use of our time, besides, it’s either this or we spend a couple of hours in the library reading ahead of the academic plan” Lemuen said turning to smile at her sister
Lemuel groaned loudly, lowering her head in the process then bringing it back up as quickly as she lowered it “We’re not going to the library right now thank you very much”
They continued with their drills for the better part of an hour, switching position, distances and types of bows
“Everyone leave, now” a grave, loud voice called out from the entrance of the training grounds
The sisters turned to look at the man, seeing instructor Jeritza at the door
“Why?” Lemuel asked out loud
“Because I’m telling you to, now leave”
Everyone either sighed or groaned at the instruction but complied anyways, leaving their training weapons where they picked them up from and leaving the training grounds
“So, what now?” Lemuel asked to Lemuen as they exited
“I’d say that’s enough training for today, let’s go the cafeteria” Lemuen said smiling to her sister
Lemuel eyes shined and she nodded quickly, already making her way to the cafeteria
Lemuen laughed and followed her
They passed the classrooms and walked into the great hall when Lemuel stopped on her tracks
“Oh look, the house leaders are back” Lemuel said pointing in the direction of the stairs that led upstairs
Lemuen turned and saw Edelgard von Hresvelg, a short woman with white hair, the house leader of the Black Eagles from the Adrestian Empire and heir to the empire’s throne, talking to another woman
“Who is she?” Lemuen asked
“Don’t know, I haven’t seen her around before” Lemuel said squinting her eyes “Maybe it’s a new student? She looks around your age, doesn’t she?”
Lemuen nodded, the woman wore a weird attire to say the least
A long coat with the sleeves of her arms, what looked like a tank top that was covered with a chest plate, she was wearing shorts and, the thing that stood out the most, fishnets that passed as thigh highs that covered her exposed legs, a piece of armor covering her left knee
If she was a late addition to the student roster, then she was probably catching up to speed with her house leader
“What do you think they’re talking about?” Lemuel asked curiously
Lemuen shrugged “Probably catching up with her house leader”
“But what if she’s not a student” Lemuel wondered while she started walking towards the cafeteria
“I guess we’ll find out soon”
And soon they found out
The next day when classes were supposed to start, Dimitri, a man with blonde hair, her house leader and heir to the throne of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, called the classroom attention
The Blue Lions, the house she belonged to, paid attention as Dimitri recounted what happened during their outing
Lemuen didn’t hide her surprise when Dimitri told them that they were ambushed by bandits and were saved by the legendary mercenary Jeralt the Blade breaker and his daughter, the ashen demon
It was also a surprise that Dimitri told them that the ashen demon, whose name is Byleth, was going to be teaching the Black Eagles
“The ashen demon didn’t look that intimidating yesterday” Lemuel whispered to her while Dimitri still talked
“I really hoped that professor Byleth would choose our house to teach but alas, she choose the Black Eagles instead” Dimitri lamented
“So, who’s going to be our professor?” Sylvain, a womanizer redhead, asked “I hope it’s Manuela” he added under his breath which caused the blonde beside him, Ingrid, to elbow him on the ribs
“No Sylvain, professor Hanneman is going to be teaching us during this year” Dimitri said
The conversation around them continued but Lemuen didn’t really pay attention to it, as she was just a commoner alongside her sister, she didn’t have the right to input on this conversation full of nobles
“I agree with Dimitri, I would have liked to learn from the ashen demon” Lemuel whispered to her
“I’m with you on that, though a scholar is better than a retired diva” Lemuen said
The conversation was cut when the doors of the classroom opened revealing professor Hanneman, a man on his fifties that wore a monocle and had a stylized beard and moustache, with gray robes and a green tie around his neck
“Good morning class, please take your seats”
The week went by fast and the first big event of the year was going to take place
A mock battle between the three houses, a small-scale skirmish of what was going to be the Battle of the Eagle and Lion taking place in a few months
Being a small mock battle not everyone in the house would participate so she ended up in the bench
Lemuel however was selected as the archer for the house thanks to her speed and quick thinking
The battle would be supervised by the captain of the knights of Seiros, who turned out to be Jeralt
Lemuen stood on the hill watching the terrain for the battle, on the south were the Black Eagles led by professor Byleth, on the west surrounded by thick trees were the Golden Dear led by professor Manuela, an ex-diva turned physician, and to the east were the Blue Lions led by professor Hanneman
Lemuen thought that her house had a good chance to win, Dimitri had inhumane strength that make him break almost every lance he used, he was followed closely by Dedue, a Duscurian man that was a mountain and towered over his classmates, on the rearguard were her sister as the archer and Mercedes, a devout blonde woman that was the healer for this battle
They also didn’t have to worry about the Golden Dear unless they decide expose themselves since the Dear had the cover from the trees and could easily ambush them if the wandered in
The Black Eagles were at a clear disadvantage, having little cover and being susceptible to attacks from both houses
Their ranks consisted of a mixed bag, professor Byleth used a sword, Edelgard used an axe that she was waving around like it weighted noting, beside Edelgard was her retainer, Hubert von Vestra, a dark mage she was surprised was even admitted to the officers academy, the other two she didn’t know, one was a purple haired archer that was shaking uncontrollably and a tan woman with beautiful braided dark purple hair, this last one had a sword on her hands but she had a bow and quiver on her back
She was more worried about the Golden Dear, they were covered by tress and could just wait for the other two houses to bleed themselves out and then go in and steel the win
Their house leader, a tan man called Claude von Riegan, used a bow and twirled an arrow on his fingers constantly, showing his confidence, beside him was a pink haired woman she didn’t recognized but she was using an axe, at the edge of the trees were Lorenz, a noble that already tried to court her and her sister but immediately backed down when he found out they were commoners, he was using a lance and had a magic tome prepared on his belt, behind him was Ignatz Victor, the son of a merchant family they’ve worked with in the past, he was hunched over, clutching his bow to his chest and constantly looked over to Lorenz, as if seeking guidance
Soon, a horn was heard and the battle begun
“I hope Mercie’s going to be okay” Annette, a short, orange hair lady, said beside her
“His highness will keep her safe Annette, don’t worry” Ingrid said encouragingly
“If he doesn’t rush to get into the fight” Felix, a blue haired man with a ponytail, said
“You’re thinking too low of him Felix” Sylvain said
“I think that low of him for a reason”
Ingrid went to reply in Dimitri’s defense but Lemuen just put her attention back on the field
The Black Eagles moved forward in a group with Byleth and Edelgard on the front, the other swordswoman was in the middle while Hubert and the archer were in the back
From the Golden Dear side, Lorenz pushed forward with Ignatz behind him, exposing themselves to the Eagles and the Lions
Lemuen could see how Claude was waving his hands, probably frustrated as this didn’t seem to be part of his plan
From her house, Dedue pushed forward to meet the Eagles with Lemuel behind him
“Keep calm El” Lemuen said under her breath
“Don’t worry Lemuen, if his highness picked her over you or me then there’s a good reason for it” Ashe, a young, commoner boy with gray hair reassured her
“I know that but I’m afraid she’ll jump in too early”
The tension raised as the Dear approached the Eagles left flank and that’s when chaos broke loose
Professor Byleth broke of and rushed towards Lorenz, taking him by surprise with a swing of her wooden sword, hitting him on the shoulder and making him back down
Edelgard on the other hand went over to Dedue and engaged him, their axes clashing but Edelgard having a clear advantage thanks to her speed
Ignatz and Lemuel drew an arrow to support their respective classmates
El drew her arrow and was about to shoot but she had to dodge as an arrow from the swordswoman flew at her
Meanwhile, Ignatz dropped his arrow due to his nervous, panicking in the process and was hit on the chest with an arrow from the archer of the Eagles, making him forfeit from the battle
Eventually, Byleth forced Lorenz to forfeit and Edelgard forced Dedue back while Lemuel still exchanged arrows with the swordswoman
“They engaged both houses at the same time and are still winning” Ingrid said surprised
Soon Dimitri joined the fight, forcing Edelgard to back down as it was now a two on one
The swordswoman from the Eagles switch to her sword and rushed to help Edelgard, giving Lemuel a breathing chance
She drew an arrow and fired at Edelgard but the arrow was caught mid air by a purple dark orb
Hubert took the place of the swordswoman and was now trading projectiles with Lemuel but it was a loosing battle for Hubert as he couldn’t cast that many spells before running out of energy and Lemuel had way more arrows to spare
But the tide then turned against the Lions as professor Byleth and the archer returned to aid their comrades
Dedue was soon taken out by a series of strikes from professor Byleth and Dimitri fell in his duel with Edelgard
That only left Lemuel and Mercedes, this last one only having a bow to defend herself
“I think we just lost” Sylvain said
Everyone seemed to agree as nothing was said
Soon Edelgard rushed over to Lemuel and while she tried to dodge and fire back at her, she was ultimately taken out by an arrow from the Eagles archer and Mercedes promptly surrendered after this
With her house defeated, Lemuen sighed and walked down the hill to meet with her sister as she was pretty sure the Eagles were going to win now
As she was making her way down, she was sure she saw a cloaked figure around the trees surrounding the field but when she tried to discern the figure from the trees there was no one there
“Probably a trick of the light” Lemuen said to herself as she continued her path
If this mock battle was any indicative of what the Battle of the Eagle and Lion would be like, then she was pretty sure her house was going to be destroyed alongside the Golden Dear
But that was still months away from now, there was still plenty of time to improve
Besides, the whole house would participate on the Battle of the Eagle and Lion
And worst-case scenario, she could just switch houses and join the Black Eagles
It’s not like she had any allegiance to the kingdom, even if she knew she was born there