Chapter 22: Lessons learned
Dimitri's back hit the ground with a thud, the prince rested his hand on his chest where the spell had struck him. It hadn't looked like much, merely a small white orb no bigger than a pea, however it felt like he had been punched. It was certainly the correct decision not to underestimate Goetia.
He had already heard the story from Claude, although he thought that because the Librarian was going to be holding back, they would have a chance.
He couldn't have been more wrong, it actually brought an amused smile to his face after a few moments, that at least his Professor was not an outlier when it came to individuals who were exceptional. It seemed to him as though this Monastery had picked up a habit of bringing in people who were of extraordinary talent.
Letting out a pained groan as he got back up, he saw that Goetia was still regarding him blankly for a few moments. He heard the Professor clear her throat, turning his head to see her addressing the class.
"The dodge was a good idea, but you should assume that they can continue to fire spells in rapid order." Byleth informed him, then turned to the class "That is it for the individual battles, who can tell me who was closest to defeating Goetia?"
"...Is that a trick question?" Sylvain questioned from his seating position at the side of the training area. The boy sporting a black eye and was still holding onto his chest where he, no doubt, had a large bruise forming underneath his clothes.
He was not alone, all of the Blue Lions sported injuries of varying degrees in the shape of bruises or cuts.
Byleth shook her head "Serious question."
The class said nothing, all looking marginally confused before Byleth decided to elaborate her point further "Felix was."
Said boy raised an eyebrow in a questioning manner, his expression soon turned incredulous as he was wondering whether or not the Professor was attempting to mock him or not. When it became obvious that she was being serious, the class turned more thoughtful before Ashe raised his hand.
"Yes?"
"Is it because he threw sand at Goetia's face?" The pale blue haired boy asked in a somewhat timid manner, Byleth soon nodded her head.
"It is important to distract your opponent. Therefore you should use your environment to your advantage. In throwing sand at Goetia, he attempted to distract him to allow for a better attack."
Ingrid frowned, crossing her arms with a disapproving gleam in her eyes "Such tactics are rather underhanded, and dare I say, dishonourable. Should knights really be throwing dirt in their opponents face?"
Felix let out a scoff, causing the blonde haired girl to turn her frown on him, opening her mouth to comment only to be cut off when Goetia himself spoke up.
"I would recommend that you prioritise survival in such situations over personal beliefs." He commented with a blank expression "And had I been a lesser mage of student level calibre, that trick would have been more effective."
Felix stared at Goetia for a few moments before he nodded his head, Ingrid still looked troubled at the idea of using the tactic.
"At the end of the day, you are going to fight." Byleth continued on "It isn't very glamorous. So you should do what you can to survive. Punches, kicks, throwing things. They will all work to keep you alive."
"...I see." Ingrid nodded her head after a few moments, Byleth remained silent before she nodded in response, turning her eyes back over the rest of the class.
"You will be given a brief moment to recover, then you will participate in the group battle." She announced "All of you will work together to try and defeat Goetia, or more accurately, capture what he is protecting."
"Capture?" Dimitri pondered, moving to stand in front of the class "You propose an objective based training game?"
Byleth nodded "Sometimes missions may be aimed at differing objectives. Rescue of important individuals in some cases."
"E-excuse me?" A small voice called out, the class turned to see Flayn stood at the edge of the training ground "I'm not early, am I professor?"
"No." Byleth shook her head "You are on time." she nodded her head back, gesturing for Flayn to walk further into the class "This is Flayn, you will have seen her around the monastery."
"Hello, everyone." Flayn bowed to them in greeting before turning back to Byleth "Is there a reason you called me here, professor?"
"Yes." Byleth nodded, placing her hand on the younger girls shoulder and gently marching her to stand next to Goetia "Flayn is an important member of a local guild-"
"I am?" Flayn blinked in surprise at the sudden declaration.
"-She has been kidnapped for ransom-"
"She has?" Goetia soon followed suit, his brows furrowing slightly at the wording.
"-and is being held captive by Goetia."
"She is?" This time the entire class, Goetia and Flayn, parroted that back to her in similar tones of confusion. Byleth nodded her head.
"What is this?" Sothis whispered into her ear "I thought you were doing team battles against Sparkles?"
'I learned that role play makes students comfortable.'
"Where did you learn this?"
'Manuela says she likes role play to get herself into a good mood.'
Sothis slowly floated away from her host with wide eyes, then floated over to Goetia, the man doing his best to ignore her as she floated towards the side of his head and whispered into his ear "I think she knows less about people than you do...is that concerning?"
Goetia's lip thinned in response, not entirely sure what to make of her question.
"Professor…" Dimitri walked forwards, giving Flayn a small smile before turning his attention back to his teacher "Are we performing a type of...role play activity by chance?"
"Yes."
"We're playing a childrens game?" Felix scoffed "This is your idea of training?"
"Now, Felix." Dimitri stepped forwards "It can act as incentive, think of it as completing an objective, just because it is make believe-"
"I assumed the fact you could not let loose your animalistic traits would be reason enough for you to avoid this type of activity." Felix sneered back at him, Dimtri frowned while Dedue slowly turned his head to stare down at the smaller boy, eyes narrowing in irritation.
"Felix!" Ingrid scolded "Don't speak to his highness like that!"
"I will not apologise for speaking the truth."
Byleth clapped her hands together, interrupting the class before the argument could break out "As I was saying. Flayn will play the role of hostage, while Goetia plays the role of captor."
"Did you know about this, Goetia?" Flayn whispered to the tanned man, he shook his head in response, equally baffled as to where this suggestion even came from in the first place. "I say...it is most exciting, is it not?"
Goetia elected not to answer, whether or not this event was exciting was something he wasn't really able to determine. He could see the logic behind it, and it gave the children a slim possibility of succeeding. They could not defeat him in combat, so defeat him through other methods.
"We will move to the training grounds at the base of the Monastery, you will have to make full use of terrain and other parts of the environment in order to complete your mission and rescue Flayn."
"Professor." Flayn raised her hand "Just out of curiosity, did you ask my brother for permission for this first?"
"...I was supposed to do that?" Byleth turned around, tilting her head and asking in a voice full of childish innocence. Flayn gave a slow nod in response. "Oh." frowning, she cupped her chin "Nevermind, we'll come up with a new plan-"
"Now, now." Flayn interrupted, somewhat eagerly "There's no need for that, I'm sure if we pass along a message to the guards, they can pass it along to my brother and so he can avoid worrying." turning to Goetia, she gave him a wide smile "Is that not right?"
Goetia stared down at her with a blank expression before looking up and back towards Byleth, giving a small shrug of his shoulders in response to her questioning gaze.
"...Alright then." Byleth relented "I will inform the gatekeeper-"
"Harold."
"Harold. Then he can tell Seteth." Byleth affirmed to herself, turning back to the Blue lions "Get ready to move out."
"...Please repeat what you just said." Seteth asked, again, his expression disturbingly blank as Harold removed his helmet to nervously stroke down his hair before placing it back atop his head.
"Professor Eisner told me to inform you that Flayn is helping her with a training activity." The man repeated "She promised that she wouldn't get hurt!" he hastily added on, seeing the darkening expression on the green haired man's face "She just said it was going to be a role playing activity."
Seteth's face, which had slowly been growing more irritated at the news, suddenly shifted into an expression of pure bewilderment "Role play?"
"Yes, Sir." Harold nodded his head, smiling at the sudden lack of pressure "They said that Flayn was going to play the role of hostage, and the Blue Lions would work on different ways to save her."
Seteth frowned in thought, crossing his arms "And the Professor did not think to inform me of this?"
Harold winced "From what Goetia told me, the Professor was happy to find another solution if you weren't happy, but Flayn said that if they made sure to inform you, it would be fine."
Seteth slapped his palm over his face, exhaling loudly as he dragged the hand down, revealing a very tired and very annoyed look. Harold hesitantly backed away from him "And when is the Professor due to ret-...Goetia?"
"Yes."
"Why would Goetia tell you this and not the Professor?"
"He was joining them." Harold innocently replied "The Professor said it was for the training." Seteth's eye twitched before he let out another sigh.
"The time for the Professors return?"
"She said it wouldn't take more than a couple hours."
"...I see." Seteth sighed, waving the man away "Return to your duties."
"Yes, Holy Chamberlain." Harold bowed, his head, turning around and quickly departing from the man's office. Seteth stared at the doorway before his head fell into his hands and he let out a groan of exasperation.
"Seteth? Is something troubling you?" A gentle voice called out from the open door, the man raised his head to see Rhea's concerned face poking through. Quickly sitting up, he shook his head.
"It is nothing, Archbishop." Seteth dismissed "Merely a...case of rebellion." Rhea frowned, raising an eyebrow at the man.
"I am already aware of the situation with Lord Lonato."
"Not him...I mean Flayn."
This time Rhea cracked an almost amused smile in his direction "I see, is there anything I may assist you with?"
"No, I believe I will have words with her when she returns." His face settled into a frown "And with the Professor for being so easily roped into her schemes...She has been looking for an opportunity to explore outside the Monastery for some time, but with recent events…" he trailed off, pinching his brow.
"I am certain that our dear Professor will ensure her safety." Rhea hummed "Although I am curious as to what Flayn has done that upsets you so."
"It appears she has joined the Blue Lions for a minor training outing." Seteth replied "I suppose she is due to begin classes soon and if she decides to join the Blue Lions it would be beneficial to have some manner of classroom relation with her peers...Although I was not made aware as to the specifics of the training beyond 'role play.'" he quoted with a puzzled expression.
Rhea let out a soft giggle in response "I am certain you worry far too much and Flayn, for all her innocence, is hardly helpless."
"I am aware...but she is still." Seteth grimaced and looked away "She is still new to the outside world as of late. I simply want to ensure she is safe."
"And she will be." Rhea reassured "You must simply have faith in the Professor that she will protect the students while they are her and Flayn."
"I suppose…" The green haired man nodded his head in acceptance, although it was barely acceptance at that. His first instinct upon hearing about Flayn's outing had been to sprint over to where they kept the Wyverns and fly out to her.
The only thing that had stopped him from doing so was knowing that he wouldn't be able to do it forever. That and the mountains of paperwork he was having to sort through in the last few days. Lonato's rebellion hadn't been much of a surprise.
What had been, however, was how effective they were. It was frightening to him.
The Garrison near enough the lands of Lonato, numbering nearly six-hundred men had been slaughtered down to nearly a dozen at best. The reports they came back with were frightening as well.
Swords that cut through armour as if it were mere paper. It was eye opening to him, and made him grimly curious if they were using some form of magic sword like the Levin ones but designed to be better at cutting through armour.
More importantly, if that were true, where had Lonato found enough to arm an entire army's worth? They had only informed the students that Lonato had incited a rebellion thus far, the news of the casualties...would come later. Seteth felt a frown forming on his face as he thought of Lonato's adoptive son, Young Ubert, currently studying here. He only hoped the boy would not be too broken by the loss of his family.
Seteth knew all too well what the pain of losing a loved one did, and despite whatever else was occurring with the Lord, it would ultimately be Ashe who suffered for it in the end. Ashe and everyone else.
Goetia and Flayn stood atop the old ruins. The Blue Lions had been led to the ground where the battle of the Eagle and Lion had taken place. The Beast and the Dragon stood just atop the stairs of the dirtied stone, Byleth and the Blue Lions stood just beneath them.
Byleth nodded to Goetia and then turned to the class "You will have the next few hours to find a way to rescue Princess Flayn-" someone, Sylvain, snorted loudly "-from the evil King Goetia-" someone, Sothis, let out a raucous laugh "-you can defeat him if you want, but Flayn is your objective."
The fact she had delivered the instructions in such a monotone voice and blank expression had many of the class pursuing their lips together to avoid a smile of amusement.
"This is pretty exciting." Ashe spoke in a somewhat eager tone "Its like those old stories where a valiant knight rescues a princess!"
"You're braver than I thought Ashe." Sylvain pat the young boy on the back "Isn't even in our class yet and you're already trying to make moves on Seteth's little sister?"
Ashe turned bright red and sputtered, whirling around to face the red haired boy and try and deny the accusation. Sylvain merely whistled, ignoring the arguments entirely.
"Understood Professor." Dimitri nodded to the woman, then turned back to his class "Blue Lions, lets move out so we may better prepare our strategy."
"I was unaware beasts could formulate strategy." Felix quipped. Dedue's eyes narrowed dangerously at the boy, and it was only Dimitri shaking his head at the man which stopped him from trying to do anything.
Goetia sat on the ruin steps with his legs crossed, his expression blank as he stared at the empty field before them. Flayn was sat near him, idly swinging her legs back and forth and looking around "This place is much bigger than I had heard."
"Is it?" Goetia asked in a monotone voice "Must be perspective of those who recount their time here."
"Probably." Flayn nodded along "I haven't actually been out by myself like this before."
"You are not by yourself."
"...I meant without Seteth with me."
"I see." The man replied "He keeps you confined?"
Flayn huffed, crossing her arms "He calls it looking out for my safety. I think he simply worries far too much about me, its actually rather grating at times. I am going to be starting my education at the Monastery soon and he still insists on treating me like a hapless child."
"I see."
"Somehow I do not believe you do." Flayn muttered under her breath, looking back over the field "Do you think we should try to put effort into our roles?"
"What?" Goetia turned to face her with a raised eyebrow, the only evidence of his mild confusion at her question.
"I mean...if I am to play the Princess and you an evil King, then should we not attempt to live up to our roles?" Flayn gave a wide smile "It might be fun!"
"This is a training exercise." Goetia replied with a frown "At what point does fun factor into it?"
"Evil King Goetia!" A voice cried out, Flayn and Goetia slowly turned their heads to see Ashe stroll out of the bush, his voice cracked slightly because of the shout, however he continued to hold an obviously exaggerated pose, pointing his training sword at the beast "I have come to rescue the Princess Flayn!"
Goetia gave a slow blink in response, Flayn could not help the amused chuckle on the verge of escaping her mouth "Y-yes! Come brave knight!" she barely managed to get out through her small fit of laughter "Save me!"
Goetia was still dumbfounded as to what was going on.
Earlier
"That is your plan?" Felix huffed incredulously while leaning against a tree "You must be joking."
"Not at all, Felix." Dimitri shook his head "From our brief conversations, and from what I have heard of him through the Monastery, Goetia is a very literal person. However, I think he may become confused by the unexpected."
"Its not just unexpected." Sylvain smirked "Its crazy. You want someone out there to go out and play a stereotypical knight in shining armour?"
"Yes." Dimitri nodded, staring at the rest of the class "I think it might catch him off guard for a few moments."
"What do we do then?" Annette asked, tilting her head to the side "Launch a surprise attack?"
"Some of us will." Dimitri nodded his head, then looked to the others "Mercedes, you and Annette will sneak around behind him while we keep him distracted."
"Alright/You can count on me!" Annette and Mercedes nodded their heads in affirmation. Dimitri then turned to the others.
"Felix, you and Sylvain will take the left flank, Dedue and myself shall move up the right."
"Whatever/Sure thing." The two replied
"What about myself?" Ashe asked, scratching the back of his head, Ingrid was also somewhat puzzled on what her role would be.
"Ingrid." Dimitri looked to her "The professor allowed you to bring the Pegasus, did she not?"
"Yes…" The girl nodded.
"And you threw the tarp over its wings, correct?"
"I di-" She widened her eyes "Your highness...that is rather deceitful."
"I prefer to think of it as an unexpected advantage." Dimitri replied "And I have decided that Claude may have a point about hiding certain advantages you have over your opponents." turning to Ashe, Dmitri's face turned deadly serious "Ashe, you will have the most important role of all."
"I will?" The boy blinked in surprise.
"Yes."
Present
"It is with my own hands that I shall free her from your terrible prison!" Ashe continued to shout nonsense at him.
Goetia then blinked as he realised what it was. A distraction, adjusting his hearing, he could make out the other students moving into their positions in the bushes on either side of him.
Looking behind him at Flayn, he saw the girl giving him the go-ahead to respond, almost pleading with her eyes to continue the performance. Goetia was under no obligation to do so...except it was in his nature.
He had been a Beast who represented pity...even with that nature virtually gone from him, he would still respond in some variety when spoken to.
Although he felt no compunction to do so, he slowly descended down the steps, fully aware of the other Blue Lions awaiting him.
He reached the bottom of the steps, his eyes never leaving Ashe throughout his brief descent. Standing at the base of the steps, he regarded Ashe blankly for a few moments.
Then a golden orb formed behind his shoulder and shot forth, slamming into Ashe's gut with all the force of a highspeed punch. Ashe widened his eyes as he coughed out, slumping to his knees as Goetia stared down at him.
"Welcome Blue Lions." His enhanced voice echoed out across the field "Now begone."
"Are you sure this was a good idea?" Sothis asked as she floated next to Byleth, the pair having heard the declaration from the man.
"It will be fine."
"If you say so." Sothis shrugged "Although I do hope he holds back, I fear that the young ones might be in some danger if he does not."
"It will be fine." Byleth replied again "Need to learn how to face an unwinnable situation."
The instant the words had left his lips, the Blue lions shot forth from the bushes, all converging on Goetia.
The tanned man narrowed his eyes, there were only five, although Ashe was immobilised at this point, here. So that meant the other three were likely attempting to sneak up near him.
It wasn't exactly a terrible plan, although when used against him it was meaningless.
He clenched his fist. Words past through his lips so quickly they could have barely been registered as a coherent sound before the golden circle formed underneath him.
His left hand lashed outwards, thin string like vines lashed out from the golden circle at his feet, glowing the very same colour as they ensnared the blue lions. Halting their movements in one fell swoop.
"Wha-!?" Several voices called out in surprise as they suddenly found their limbs tightly bound. Goetia withheld a scoff.
They couldn't actually have believed that such a meaningless effort was going to work did they? He would admit that the bizarre performance from the boy had been somewhat outlandish enough to catch him off guard for a moment, but that was all it was.
Certainly not long enough for whatever scheme they crafted to work. His eyes turned skyward as he caught sight of two more. The blonde one and the red haired one.
And the white pegasus, it would appear that his hunch had been correct. Throwing a mere blanket over the wings to hide them from him had been one of the most pathetic attempts at subterfuge he had seen to date. Although if the quality of magi around here were any indication, it was that type of childish, almost pathetic, level of deception that would have fooled them.
He wasn't some mere spellcaster.
All he needed to do was bring them to ground. Small whirlwind shot out from behind him in the direction of the pegasus. The animal let out a whine as it barely avoided the projectile before Goetia sent more to knock it out of the sky.
They wouldn't be harmed, he would ensure they would be caught before they impacted the ground, but that did not mean he would lower his attacks to be any measure of-
His head sharply turned to the side as Mercedes rushed towards him.
The Blue lion watched as a look of pure bewilderment quickly came across Goetia's face. She couldn't blame him, this wasn't exactly the type of plan she could have normally come up with before.
However, she had spoken with Lysithea recently and how the girl had turned one of her failures into an attack. While Mercedes wasn't exactly a violent person, primarily why she enjoyed light magic so much, that didn't mean she was going to leave herself unarmed.
Goetia's face quickly switched back, his lip contorted into a frown, he flicked his wrist at her at the same time she threw her hand forwards.
Sending the small pale practice gem towards Goetia.
With far too much magical energy in it to be safe.
She caught the moment where Goetia's pupils briefly shrunk as the explosion was set off in his face.
A blast of wind hit her in the chest at the same time his head was consumed in the small explosion, she was launched back while he barely flinched at all.
It wasn't enough to stop him. She knew that as the cloud dissipated instantly, a small gust of wind parted to reveal the small glowing square a few inches from his nose which had taken the brunt of the explosion.
Goetia opened his mouth to speak, then stumbled when someone tackled him from behind. He widened his eyes, looking over his shoulder to see Ashe had somehow gotten up from being hit earlier, the boy having literally thrown himself at the former Beast to do what little he could.
Goetia whirled around, his left hand gripped the back of the boys collar, enhancing his strength, the one armed man threw the boy away, over the heads of the other blue lions and roughly onto the grass.
A fireball crashed into a quickly put up shield, he looked back to the sky to see the red haired girl with her hand outstretched and aimed in his direction. He scowled.
The nerve.
He had already been surprised that Mercedes had decided to blow up a gem in his face, not only that, but the boy he had thought incapacitated had launched himself at him and briefly managed to grapple the Beast.
Again and again, he continued to underestimate their ingenuity. It was…
Extraordinarily vexing.
He held his hand out towards them, a faint red cloud began to form in-between his fingers and soon started sparking with black lightning.
Ingrid widened her eyes in alarm and steered the Pegasus down, diving towards the demon and whipping out her training lance pointed at him.
He raised a singular eyebrow.
A frontal assault? What manner of stupidity had claimed her-
Annette poked out from behind her and fired off another spell. Directly towards the containment circle he had put up.
He had used one of the lowest quality containment circles he had available, although it still would have been enough to keep warrior in his prime from moving.
Although it only responded in response to physical strength, it did not respond well to magic.
So when Annettes spell slammed into the circle. It shattered, releasing the four blue lions as the Pegasus shot back up into the sky.
A bluff.
She had bluffed him…
Goetia felt a subtle fire burn within him.
"Very well." He spoke out in a blank voice, clenching his hand as he turned his head down to face the now freed blue lions "I shall respond to force in kind."
Chapter 23: Farming.
Felix rushed Goetia, the tanned mage's red eyes flicked over to him, gripping the training sword with two hands, Felix swung towards his collarbone. The move was quick, wasting no movement as he closed the distance of two metres in barely a second.
The Blue Lion did not spend his time practising his sword training over the years for nothing, he was leagues ahead of most of his classmates when it came to the blade to the extent he could outmatch the average knight in a duel.
Goetia saw him coming, despite Felix approaching from his left side, he was confident he could strike the mage before he could-
Felix felt the air violently pushed from his lungs, it was impossibly fast. The other Blue Lions had only caught a blur of movement before the image seemed to halt. In a single movement, Goetia had swung the back of his arm towards Felix strike, not only parrying the sword, but blasting it out of his hands entirely and sending it shooting off into the distance.
In the same motion, he had stepped forwards, closing the distance and slamming his fist into Felix gut, the force of the punch took Felix off his feet, blasting him away from the mage and onto the ground.
Sylvain widened his eyes as Goetia turned to him, a subtle red glow surrounded the mage as he span his body to face him. The tanned man seemed to blur, moving from where he had been moments prior to directly in front of him.
Sylvain would later argue that he had, in fact, not screamed like a girl at the mage virtually appearing in front of him.
He thrust his lance forwards, the single arm pushed the strike away from his body, entirely ignoring all the strength the boy had before it shifted and made to clasp his head. Sylvain kicked off the ground to avoid being grabbed, the tips of Goetia's fingers barely scraped by his forehead.
For a brief moment, Sylvain was confident he could reposition himself better. Then Goetia whispered a single word.
"Shuku."
And Sylvain felt like he had run full pelt face first into a wall, the air around his body condensed inwards with the force of a low powered air cannon, there was a noise akin to a crack of thunder before Sylvain shot off into a bush.
Goetia pan around, his eyes falling on Dimitri and Dedue as the two had barely managed to turn themselves to face him, the larger white haired boy, swung the wooden axe in his hands towards the side of his head.
"Croître." Goetia called out, the ground beneath Dedue's feat seemingly erupted upwards causing the boy to widen his eyes in alarm as Dimitri was thrown back, tree roots encircled around the Duscur boys legs and stopped him dead on the spot, the axe sailing straight past Goetia's face, not even clipping his hairline "Pourrir." the roots rotted away, flaking into dust as the power behind the strike carried Dedue forwards, completely off balance as he swung his whole body to the side trailing after the axe swing.
Goetia flicked his fingers to left, a condensed shot of air slammed into Dedue's gut, carrying him several metres before he hit the ground, coughing violently from the force.
Goetia's hand lashed out, grabbing hold of the training spear in Dmitri's hand as the boy swung it towards his right side, stopping the blow dead. Dimitri strained against the enhanced strength of the mage, red eyes slowly trailed over to look down at him. "Do not assume that my preference for Magecraft makes me hopeless in physical combat." Dimitri had barely enough time to formulate a reply before Goetia swung his leg out, the shin colliding just underneath his ribs, oxygen violently departing his body as he was lifted off the ground by the kick.
Spinning on his feet, Goetia turned his eyes skyward, muttering an incantation at high speed before glowing blue lines of energy erupted from his body, shooting straight towards the Pegasus in the air.
Ingrid widened her eyes, grabbing the reins of the Pegasus and attempting to veer off to the side to avoid them, only to see the ropes of energy follow after them, effortlessly closing the distance and ensnaring themselves around the flying animal. The white beast whine and thrashed as best it could as Goetia made a subtle pulling motion with his hand, gradually lowering the animal back down to earth.
Turning back to the Blue Lions behind him, ignoring Ingrid and Annette entirely, he laid his eyes on Ashe, the boy having stumbled back to his feet and attempting to close the distance between the two of them. Felix's discarded practice sword in his hands.
Almost lazily, Goetia raised his forearm to block the strike, not even flinching at the sound of wood smacking into his arm. Ashe panted heavily, still reeling from the earlier impacts as he attempted to launch another attack.
"Fool." Goetia scoffed, grabbing the wooden sword with his hand, snatching it out of Ashe's grip and tossing it away go his right. He then thrust the arm forwards, grabbing Ashe by the collar and hoisting him into the air "Even if you had, by some minor miracle on your part, caught me off-guard. You lack any skill or power in your attack to accomplish anything." Goetia's eyes crinkled, his lips curled into a minute sneer "You should have never abandoned your bow." Ashe struggled to pry the iron clad grip from his shirt, visibly straining himself.
Goetia cast a glance to the right, Felix having recovered enough to rush forwards. The boy made a thrust towards his side, Goetia held Ashe out in front of him as a shield, Felix widened his eyes, attempting to slow down far too late, the thrust catching Ashe in the side causing a meaty thud to echo out, the boy letting out a gasp of pain.
"Did you assume I would not use the boy to shield myself?" Goetia flung Ashe away, grabbing the blade of the wooden sword and squeezing down, the practice sword shattered into splinters as Goetia continued his rush forwards, drawing his arm across his opposite side in a backhanded strike before swinging it forwards.
Felix head snapped to the side as the back of Goetia's hand cracked against his jaw, thrusting his palm forwards, he clenched it around Felix face "Hvílað" the body dropped to the ground instantly, his eyes rolling into the back of his head as he fell to the ground.
Goetia turned his eyes towards the remaining group. The Pegasus having been forcibly landed, ensuring that Ingrid and Annette would have to engage him on the ground.
Not that it mattered in the least whether they were on the ground or the air.
The pair stared as he slowly advanced towards them, his steps were confident, despite his blank expression his entire posture seemed to exude a sense of arrogance. Not that they thought it unfounded, considering how he had demolished their classmates with only one hand, even in physical combat against the likes of Dimitri.
Still, Ingrid was not one for so quickly giving up. She could hardly aspire to be a knight if she merely gave up if the situation looked a little dire.
Grabbing her practice spear, she gripped it with two hands, assuming a stance as she stared at the man, Annette coming up behind her and holding out the flat of her hand towards the mage, ready to fire off a spell.
The man came to a stop a few metres from them "Even now, you will persist?"
"Its not over until we're beaten." Ingrid replied back.
"You were beaten the moment I fired off the first spell." Goetia calmly retorted, the self-assurance in his voice made Ingrid grit her teeth "Everything that came next was merely an act of prolonging the inevitable."
"Its risky to get so cocky before the battles over." She had the courage to shoot back a retort at him.
"You misunderstand. It is not bravado-" He vanished, instantly appearing in front of her in a flash of gold light "-it is a fact." he punched her in the chest, her eyes bulged out. He hit far harder than she thought he had any right to. Almost like whenever she saw Dimitri use his Crest. Collapsing to her knees in front of him, she dropped her spear and began to cough violently, desperately trying to get air back into her lungs.
Goetia stared down at her with squinted eyes, then turned to Annette. The girl span around to him, shooting a blade of wind towards him. The incantation flew off his lips before she had even thrust her hand forwards, the spell slapping into a translucent square hovering in front of his body and dissipating.
Annette let out a squeak.
"Tch." He didn't even give her the benefit of speaking, merely clicking his tongue, then a ball of red energy slammed into her chest, glowing red lines instantly spread across her body as she fell backwards, a crippling fatigue spread across her nerves, losing the strength even to move as she collapsed to the ground.
He turned around to move back to where he assumed Mercedes was, not seeing the glint in Flayn's eyes as she could see what was about to happen.
Goetia had been so thoroughly certain that it was only his student that remained a credible threat.
Which is why he found himself rather bewildered as he turned around only to get punched in the face. He stepped backwards, only for another strike to collide with his ribs, his eyes focused on Dimitri, the boy gearing back his fist, rather to launch another blow towards him.
An indescribable rage took hold of him, his eyes glowed bright red.
'How? How did he get back up so quickly? How did he recover?', were the thoughts flashing through his mind, he had completely dismissed anything else as a threat. Goetia struck first, slamming his fist into the underside of Dimitri's ribs, the blonde boy winced at the strike, recoiling backwards as Goetia cocked his fist back again, launching it towards the boy. Dimitri raised both his arms up to block the jab, he felt the bones in his arms rattle from the force of the blow as he was pushed backwards, yet he didn't topple over.
He couldn't, not when he had just managed to land a couple of hits on Goetia. Admittedly, the hits hadn't left any impact at all, likely from some manner of magic that the man was using, but he had reacted to them all the same. It meant that if he could keep Goetia occupied long enough, then someone else could grab Flayn.
All Mercedes had to do was heal the others.
Sothis and Byleth were able to watch the slug fest between the two from their vantage point. The Goddess frowned, raising an eyebrow as she watched Goetia land another punch on the Prince. She hadn't expected him to get so...physical in this training.
From what she had known of him thus far, to personally start trading blows with someone didn't seem like the sort of thing he would do, and yet he was. More surprising was that he was clearly winning the engagement.
"This is certainly eye opening." She muttered out loud, looking towards her host "Are you going to step in?"
"They haven't captured Flayn or been defeated yet." Byleth responded, arms crossed as she stared at the fist fight "Didn't think he would get caught off guard."
"Probably got over-confident." Sothis dismissed with a wave of her hands "Although considering how he opened the fight by immobilizing them instantly, it is to be expected. Although I would have thought he would have merely used a spell by now."
"Maybe." Byleth replied, furrowing her brows "He did say he could do fist fights."
"I know that, but I was truly not expecting him to leap at the first opportunity that presented itself." She replied, shaking her head and letting out a huff of disbelief "Frankly, he was all spells until they got close to him."
Byleth shrugged "I did tell him to hold back. Also important learning opportunity for Blue Lions when fighting new opponents, not to underestimate them."
"Oh?" Sothis squinted her eyes as she looked away from the fist fight "Would you look at that, I think I can see what's he's doing…"
'Push forwards Dimitri!' He cried out through his head as he swung his arms wide, batting away Goetia's strike 'I don't know why he's fighting me hand to hand, but I won't waste this chance!'
'Why am I bothering fighting hand to hand?' Was the thought running through Goetia' mind as he watched Dimitri close in, his right fist flying towards his face 'A simple spell and it would all be over-' he tanked the fist, batting it aside with his forehead, swinging his left arm downwards and catching Dimitri's hastily made guard. 'So why? Why am I fighting him fairly? Is it my pride? Have I really fallen so far?'
Dimitri felt his bones protest from the punch, for such a nimble build, Goetia could more than match him in strength, he pulled his arm back, rushing his fist upwards towards his opponents chin. The man's head snapped back, his red eyes remaining fixed on him the whole time. 'Come on Mercedes! Just a bit more time!'
'Why am I even bothering with this?' His thoughts screamed at him, the calculating side of him merely commanded him to cast a spell and be done with this. 'So why...Why am I bothering!?' his fist snapped forwards in a lightning fast jab, connecting with Dimitri's gut and causing the boy to stagger backwards 'Is it...Ah…' a fleeting thought briefly passed through his mind in realisation, a justification 'That was it...I just need to prove, no, establish my superiority over them.'
Such a simple thing. Had that barb from the fanatical Church knight really affected him that much? If it were true, then whatever was occurring here was Catherine's fault. He widened his eyes, feeling something move behind, him, snapping his vision around just in time to catch sight of Dedue, Sylvain and Mercedes rushing towards Flayn.
He clenched his fist.
A wall of dirt instantly shot forth from the ground in front of them, blocking their route from the girl. They all slid to a halt, widening their eyes in alarm before turning their heads towards Goetia, seeing him with his hand clenched in their direction.
Dimitri tackled him, Goetia snarled, slamming his knee upwards into the Princes chest, the boy staggered backwards as Goetia grabbed hold of a the blonde hair, tightening his fist, bringing Dimitri up to eye level before delivering a headbutt which had the Prince recoil backwards, falling down to the ground.
"Ouch." Goetia heard Sylvain hiss out, Goetia span around to face them, he waved an arm towards them, several black orbs formed behind his body and shot towards the children. Sylvain took the shot to the chest, instantly barrelling over as the curse of fatigue spread across his body. Dedue, however, took the blow in stride, rushing Goetia with a fire in his eyes.
Mercedes…
Mercedes fell to the ground instantly, groaning. Goetia had softened that one, only because it would be poor form for him to injure his student too badly.
Dedue closed in on him, moving at impressive speeds considering he was still being afflicted by the spell. Goetia shot forwards, rearing back his hand to meet the charge.
The taller boy threw his own fist forwards, Goetia clamped an open palm around, gripping tightly before he uttered another incantation. Dedue felt his entire right arm go numb in Goetia's grip, the feeling soon spread throughout his body, legs shaking before they fell away, toppling over to the ground.
Goetia stared at the unconscious or injured forms of the Blue Lions before he turned away from them, waving his hand and allowing the wall of dirt to fall away. Flayn stood with her arms crossed, a raised eyebrow and disapproving frown on her face. The tanned man cocked his head to the side "What?"
"You didn't do it right."
"I...What?"
"When the young Blue Lion boy made his declaration, you were supposed to proclaim your evil plans." Flayn whined "That's how it always goes in the story books then you would have engaged in a brilliant high stakes battle where my freedom was on the line."
Goetia stared at her, raising an eyebrow very slowly "I had no plans to boast of."
Flayn blinked at him "Wait, was that the only thing stopping you?"
"No, it...I do not see the need to incorporate theatre into a mock scenario." He explained "Even if I did, what good what it possibly have done to them?"
"Admit it, you got taken by surprise when the Blue Lion boy decided to make that rather exciting introduction."
"I was taken by surprise by the sheer stupidity of the act." Goetia deadpanned "It was so unexpected that I could not properly account for it."
"And the fist fight?"
"...He struck first." Flayn almost laughed out loud at the, rather childish, justification. Shaking her head, a glimmer of mirth in her eyes before looking around at the class.
"Are you going to help them?"
"I am going to remove the curses I inflicted on them-"
"Curses!?"
"-and then they will recover." He turned away from her, making his way over to Sylvain while Flayn gaped at him.
"Goetia! What do you mean curses!? You cannot simply just make such a statement and then leave!"
"So...What have we learned?" Byleth posed the question to the class, getting several pained filled groans in response.
"Don't make the Librarian-"
"Assistant."
"...Don't make the assistant librarian angry." Sylvain allowed the correction from Goetia, the man stood behind the teacher with a perfectly blank expression, as if he hadn't single handedly beaten up their class in the span of around two minutes.
"That is a valid point, but not what I was looking for." Byleth nodded her head, turning to the others "Anyone else?"
"Don't underestimate your opponent?" Dimitri responded, lowering his hand as Mercedes tended to the black eye forming on his face, while his other hand was pressed against his ribs.
"Yes." Byleth nodded "You assumed that because Goetia was a mage, he would not be able to last long in hand to hand combat and so all you would need to do would be close the distance."
"We almost got him-" Annette attempted to point out, then Byleth shook her head.
"I asked him to restrict himself to ten or less spells of the weaker variety."
"...Weaker?"
"Yes."
"...Oh…" She slowly turned her head to the silent mage "How easy on us did you go?"
Goetia pursed his lips, staring at her for a few moments, then turned to Byleth, leaning towards her and whispering into her ear "Would it be better for your students mental well-being if I lied to them?"
"No. Best they know." She whispered back, Goetia nodded once, looking back to the class.
"I could have killed all of you within the span of a second."
"…" Dead silence permeated throughout the field, Sothis slapped a hand onto her face, dragging it downwards.
"Not that honest...you nincompoop." The Goddess exhaled, turning back to Byleth "And what about their mental wellbeing? They have a hard enough time trying to match you in a spar, but at least they could reach your physical level with the right training, I'm not sure what they can do with this one."
"..Sooooo…" Sylvain clapped his hands together, giving a shaky smile "Professor...I would like to thank you very much for making sure your hyper aggressive boyfriend is whipped-"
"Sylvain!" Ingrid growled at him, striking him over the back of the head with her fist "Have some respect!"
"I am!" The boy shot back "I'm actually being honest here! Really! I'm very grateful that she convinced him to go easy on us."
Byleth simply stared at the red haired boy with a blank expression "What does Goetia's gender have to do with being a friend?"
"…"
A completely different silence soon followed, for an entirely different reason. Flayn hid her face behind her hands as she tried, and failed to fully, stifle the laugh that was building. Dimitri's head fell into his hands "Claude must never learn of that…" he muttered under his breath, fearing what the boy could do if he found out about that particular comment.
Felix was still frowning, then raised his hand "I realise that the point of this fiasco was to teach us not to underestimate our opponents, but how often are we truly going to encounter a person of his calibre?" he asked, pointing at Goetia "Realistically?"
"My attacks were focused on immobilising you, not killing you." Goetia replied "I could have used the Fodlan system of Magecraft and used the same number of spells against you with a similar result, which would have been far more hazardous to your health."
"Was…" Ashe gulped nervously "Was there anything we could have done to win?"
"No." Goetia instantly answered "However, that was not the point of the exercise, I assume."
Byleth nodded her head in affirmative "You did well to distract him for a few moments, and came closer than I thought to rescuing Princess Flayn-"
"Professor." The green haired girl interrupted her with a slightly strained expression "You don't need to call me that anymore."
"...Oh." Byleth replied "Alright." coughing into her hand, she turned back to her glass "You came closer than I thought you would to completing the objective, however I hope it also made it clear to you the necessity to fight in such a way that is unexpected and hard to predict." she turned to the marshmallow haired girl "Mercedes, that was an interesting trick with the exploding rock."
The girl gave a tiny smile, looking over to Goetia "Sorry about destroying another one."
"I am more impressed you came up with the idea." Goetia admitted, tilting his head "How did you know that the gems could be used in an offensive manner?"
"Well...Lysithea said that she hadn't gotten a good understanding of her magic when she fought the Demonic Beasts, so she just used all her power on it." Giving a tiny shrug "I figured that considering putting too much magic in the gems makes them explode…"
"You decided to use it as an offensive tactic." Goetia surmised "It was...unexpected. However there is a reason that gem magecraft takes years to learn and is not dabbled in as a mere hobby. Refrain from doing such an action again, unless you wish to no longer be in possession of fingers."
"Oh no!" The girl gasped, hands going to her mouth "I wouldn't be able to sew or bake!"
"...Mercie...you wouldn't have fingers either." Annette pointed out, slightly paler than usual "Maybe you should leave the exploding magic to the professionals."
"Pardon? Oh, right. Of course."
"Dimitri, Felix, Ashe." Byleth turned to the three boys she had called out "You need to work on hand to hand combat, Ashe you need to work on melee combat such as swords or spears."
"R-right." The pale blue haired boy nodded back, scratching the back of his head.
"Dimitri, Goetia looked faster and stronger than you, but he wasn't a master at hand to hand. He also has one arm."
"Yes professor." Dimitri nodded "I will attempt to better myself in case such a situation arises."
"Tch." Felix clicked his tongue, looking away "The Boar prince resorts to ripping people apart with his bare hands now? How fittin-"
"Felix." Byleth interrupted him, the boy paused as her eyes held an edge to them "You were too overconfident and Goetia took full advantage of that. Work on being cautious next time." her eyes narrowed "And keep your comments class relevant."
Felix said nothing, giving a curt nod in response.
"Goetia." The tanned man blinked when Byleth turned to him.
"What?"
"This was supposed to be a role play exercise."
"…"
"You didn't role play." She frowned "It sets a bad example, Ashe tried his hardest." a majority of the class began to snicker in amusement, none more so than Flayn, who was giving Goetia the smuggest 'I told you so' expression she could possibly muster.
"Is this some attempt at humour?"
She continued to stare at him in silence, only Sothis being aware of her true thoughts at the time. She was attempting to make a joke, mainly because she thought it would make the students feel better, and because Sothis still looked a little mad at her.
"I concur with the Professor." Flayn added on, crossing her arms "Where was the sense of tension or excitement?" shaking her head "You need to, what is the word Claude would use? 'Ham up your performance.'"
"I am not taking advisement on how to participate in social activities from Von Riegan." Goetia instantly replied with a small frown "Besides, there is no need to debase myself to 'act' such as that. It would serve no purpose."
"Really?" Flayn slumped "It could be fun."
Goetia frowned, he had masqueraded as Solomon during the Incineration of Humanity and he did derive some enjoyment from that. Either from actively tarnishing Solomon's name and, he would admit, fighting Chaldea did make him feel something akin to amusement. At least until the Temple...where it had become something far more vexing.
Flayn, Sothis and Byleth watched as several emotion seemed to flicker through Goetia's eyes before he looked at them with an almost strained expression "Should such an event like this occur again...I will consider becoming more invested." he narrowed his eyes "And consider it only. Do not make any assumptions on-"
"The Evil King Goetia!" Flayn squeaked "Claude will be thrilled to hear of this!"
"...You...speak with Von Riegan?"
"Whenever we see eachother during lunch." She admitted, then crossed her arms, pouting "I have also come to learn that you, in fact, did laugh at one point during your mission with the Golden Deers, I find myself upset I missed it."
"You can laugh?" Sothis tilted her head to the side, mocking smile on her face "I am impressed, I had thought that frown was a permanent fixture on your face."
His eye twitched.
Chapter 24: Distant Troubles
"It is merely a curiosity on my part how the practice of familiars have not become common." Goetia went on with his query, riding alongside Byleth and Flayn as the group made their way back to the Monastery "I am more puzzled as to how the practice was not even debated until I brought the subject up."
"I...was not aware you could do that though." Flayn rebutted, a puzzled expression on her face "I was under the impression that such magic resided only in fiction."
"It is a remarkably simple procedure, one which most magi learn." Goetia frowned "With the Crest of Maquis granting an individual a basic level of animal communication, one would have expected their House to produce the most well trained animal familiars."
"You can...train animals?" Byleth looked at him, tilting her head with a somewhat confused look on her face "What is a familiar anyway?"
"You have different categories." Goetia explained "However the most common is a familiar used for spying or delivering messages." the tanned man gave a small frown "Certain familiars are summoned through rituals, although that process is far more complicated and time consuming. Not to mention a continuos drain on magical energy to fuel their existence."
"Really?" Flayn leaned forwards, her posture indicating she was now very interested in the conversation "How so?"
"The summoned familiars are drawn over from another plain of existence, therefore they require an anchor of magical energy to maintain their existence." Goetia explained "Or they are crafted by the magus themselves. Dolls, golems or apparitions would fall into this category."
Flayn let out a small giggle "Apparitions? You suggest such things as ghosts being real?" she smiled at him, said smile quickly tapered off into a look of horror when she noticed that Goetia was, in fact, quite serious "Y-you mean ghosts are-"
"You have differing levels of spirits. The most common would be the left over thoughts that are strong enough to find root in the world, normally found in surroundings which have stored memories of the individual. However, considering they have little presence in the world, they cannot interact with the physical plain and only those with strong spiritual ties would even be able to perceive them."
"So...They are invisible ghosts?"
"That is just an apparition." Goetia dismissed "I have yet to encounter any here, however. As I was saying, the most common are animals as they are easy to control and quick to form bonds with."
"So, you could turn a cat into a magical companion?"
"For a time." Goetia admitted "However, continued contract with a magi will eventually allow the animal to evolve into 'Monstrous Beasts'"
"Really?" Flayn gaped at him "Then the Demonic Beasts-"
"Are phantasmals, not Monstrous Beasts." Goetia explained "'Demonic' Beasts, as I have witnessed here, fall within the second ranking when referring to magical creatures. Monstrous Beasts, that I describe, are the lowest category and are typically far weaker than what I have seen thus far even capable of being taken out by a common human. Phantasmals are far more hardy and pose a greater risk. The wolves the Golden Deers encountered were on the cusp of transitioning from Monstrous Beast to Phantasmal. The lizard type was a low class phantasmal."
"You've mentioned two." Byleth pointed out "What's the third?"
"Entirely irrelevant." Goetia shrugged "As they have long since died out, or departed to another land."
"Huh...What were they?"
"Divine Beasts-" Goetia's eyes briefly flickered over to Flayn, gauging her reaction. She seemed to freeze for a barest hint of a second before relaxing, however her eyes now held a certain tint to them. "-Primarily because of their power." a lie, normally they were described as such because of their relation to Divine spirits, but he was curious how Flayn would have reacted to the wording, and the fact the girl herself would fall into this category.
"Really?" Flayn titled her head "How powerful were they?"
"Entirely dependent on their species." Goetia explained "The lowest class was still far above in scope to the highest of Demonic Beasts. The Nemean Lion was one such Divine Beast, with a hide which was impervious to any projectile."
"Really?" Flayn blinked "Were they all like that?"
"No, the Nemean lion would rank quite low on the spectrum of Divine Beasts." The man dismissed "However, in relation to Familiars, the most common are animals, the most useful would be Golems."
"Golems?" Byleth asked in a puzzled tone "What are they?"
"Creations fuelled my magical energy." Goetia explained "They are usually quite sturdy, but only capable of simple tasks. For the most part."
"Golems…" Flayn tasted the word "I believe I have heard of those before. They are constructed with metal and stone, are they not?"
Goetia slowly turned his head to her, giving a blank expression "That is their most common make up. You are familiar with them?"
"Only in passing." Flayn dismissed "I believe my brother would know more, he was the one who spoke of them, once I believe."
"Hmph." Goetia grunted "Curious…" he turned back ahead "Regardless, it is odd that none could see the value of forming contracts with animals."
"Why don't you just teach them to do it?" Flayn asked "...Wait, let me guess, they didn-"
"Didn't ask." Goetia explained "Once again, I am not here to fix the mistakes in the Fodlan system of magic. Should someone make a request of me, I shall consider obliging it. However, I will not actively attempt to advance the magecraft at an unnatural rate. It is the people of Fodlan's responsibility to evolve their own spells, not mine."
"I suppose…" Flayn shrugged her shoulders "However, I am somewhat saddened, I think it would be quite cute to have a small bird as a companion."
"You do not need to be a magus to own a pet."
Flayn sent him a dry look "That was not even remotely close to what I was referring and you know it."
"Do I? How curious." Goetia mumbled "I am not as skilled at Telepathy as one would expect."
"...What do you mean expect?"
"…"
"What do you mean expect Goetia?" Flayn sounded more panicked now "Can you rea-"
"-d minds? No that would be an absurd thought." Goetia dismissed her concerns "Mental magecraft requires a great deal more preparation and cannot be enacted without the proper rituals in place."
"...But you could do it?"
"I could do a great many things. That does not mean I will." Goetia replied with a small frown "I have never personally used telepathy."
"Oh, but others have?"
"They have attempted it." Goetia responded "It is entirely dependent on the connection between the two individuals. You can choose whether or not to convey thoughts to an individual based upon a link with them. Volunteering thoughts is not uncommon, usually done through contracts with a familiar."
"So, you can commune with animals?"
"You can relay basic instructions which they will carry out." He paused for a few moments "It is also possible to briefly use their senses as if they were your own. An example would be using the eyes of a bird familiar to visualise what they can currently see."
"You can literally give yourself a birds eye view?" Flayn gaped at him, Goetia nodded once.
"Useful for spying." Byleth nodded to herself.
"Some also use apparitions for such things." Goetia shrugged "However, they use varies and often the spirits may prove difficult to manage, or are lacking in use." his eyes briefly met Byleths.
Sothis took that as an insult against her, evidently, as she chose that moment to manifest in front of Goetia. Glaring at him "I was awoken from my nap for the strangest of reasons. Almost as if someone was about to say something stupid." cupping her ear, moving it towards him "Go on, finish your sentence?" she then paused, sending a smirk his way "Oh, silly me. You can't really talk right now because then you would look quite the fool, wouldn't you?"
The amused smile on her face seemed to grow at his silence, especially at the way his eyes seemed to intensify with what could only be described as annoyance. Sothis turned back to Byleth, throwing a thumb over her shoulder at the one armed man "I must say, I am quite pleased that more than one person can see me. It makes these types of conversations far easier." she sighed "Although I suppose he would not be my first pick, but he will have to do. At least he is mysterious enough." her head turned back to him "And I will discover what it is that makes you so different to the others!"
Goetia's lip twitched in response "Indeed."
"Goetia? Did you say something?" Flayn looked back at him with a raised eyebrow.
"No." He replied instantly, pointedly ignoring the smug look that Sothis was throwing his way.
Seteth was waiting at the front gate, idly tapping his foot as the Blue Lions returned. Flayn froze at the blank look he sent her way, she began whistling as she suddenly found the clouds over her head very interesting to look at.
The man stared at his family member for a few moments more before his eyes trailed over to Byleth, then to Goetia who was riding alongside her. "Professor. Goetia." he nodded to the pair of them as they disembarked from their mounts. Byleth turned to her class, gesturing for them to go on ahead.
"Flayn." Seteth called out, the green haired girl flinched, stepping away from the retreating Blue Lions. Her attempt at an escape thwarted before it had a chance to even take shape. "Please stand right there." he pointed to the spot just left of Goetia, who was stood just left of Byleth.
She shuffled along to where he gestured, leaving the rather unfortunate image of the three individuals stood in front of Seteth, much in the same way a parent would make three unruly children line up in order.
"Professor." Turning to the teacher, Seteth rubbed the bridge of his nose "I would like to know why you felt it best to take Flayn on a training excursion."
"She was supposed to be bait."
"...I beg your pardon?" Seteth asked, cleaning out his ear with his pinky finger "I don't believe I heard you correctly that time, please repeat what you said."
"Bait." Byleth repeated "For the Blue Lions."
"I see." Green eyes flicked over to Goetia "And your role in this?"
"Her captor." He pointed at Flayn, Seteth slowly turned to Flayn.
"And your role?"
"I was the princess." Flayn coughed into her hand "I mean I was-"
"Flayn." Seteth cut her off with a dry look "I would like you to understand something. While I am fully supportive of you attempting to branch out and try new things, that do not involve sneaking out of the Monastery leaving only the gatekeeper-"
"Harold." Goetia corrected, Seteth squinted his eyes at the man, who gave no reaction.
"Harold." Seteth went on "To deliver a message to me that you have gone with the Professor of the Blue Lions who has absconded with our Assistant Librarian for a training exercise and telling me that it in some way revolves around role play." he held up a single finger to cut off whatever she was going to say in response "We will continue this discussion later. For right now, I must deal with your co-conspirators." he turned his head towards Byleth and Goetia "And why, may I ask, did you allow Flayn to join you and what exactly was her role? In more specific words than simply 'bait' and 'princess' please."
Byleth nodded her head "Felt that the Blue Lions class needed to fight different opponents. I'm not good at magic."
"And Goetia is." Seteth acknowledged "So you secured his help to fulfil the role of an opposing magic caster. That I can understand, and Flayn?"
"I heard from Professor Manuela that role play makes people happy." Byleth replied "Came up with a scenario where Flayn was held captive by Goetia and the Blue Lions had to rescue her."
"I see." Seteth sighed, rubbing his brow "And?"
"They lost."
"Well, considering Prince Dimitri is currently sporting a black eye and young Ingrid appeared to be nursing a bruise of some manner while Goetia appears to be virtually unharmed, I would assume so." He frowned, turning to the man "If I may be so bold, what manner of spell did you use to inflict such injuries? Nothing to dangerous I hope."
"I punched them." Goetia replied instantly.
"You...punched them?"
"Yes."
"You...a caster of Magic, who specialises in ranged combat, got close enough to punch them."
"I did."
"You are aware of the power of the Blaiddyd crest, are you not?"
"I am." Goetia nodded his head "I was confident in my ability to match him."
"Very well." Seteth was still staring at him for several moments before he eventually asked his next question "Did you punch any of the other students?"
"Just Ingrid and Felix."
"I see." The man wasn't sure what else he could say in regards to that, it was a training exercise so injury was to be expected. He just wasn't expecting to be told that a one armed man got into a fist fight with students and apparently won. Either he was more skilled than he was letting on or the students were hopeless at hand to hand combat. He wasn't sure which possibility he was more comfortable with.
Dismissing the thought, he turned back to Byleth "In future, please remember that Flayn is not a student of the academy and as such, does not fall within your responsibility. As her guardian, any and all future trips outside the Monastery grounds must be met with my consent first, understood?"
"Yes." She nodded in response.
Flayn widened her eyes and stepped forwards "But brother-"
"Flayn, it took a great deal of restraint on my part to not grab a Wyvern and ride out to retrieve you the moment the message was passed along." Seteth cut her off "You forget that, as your brother, your safety is my responsibility. I am not barring you from any future trips but until you become a student of this academy, you must remember your place."
"...Yes, brother." Flayn muttered under her breath, looking away. Seteth nodded his head, turning to Goetia.
"Now that you are back, I believe it would be best for you to return to your assigned duties. I believe there are some Black Eagle students ready for you in the Library." The man nodded his head in response "Another thing, while you are not responsible for this situation, I ask that you ensure that such an event does not occur again."
"Very well." He nodded, walking away and further into the monastery.
Goetia strode into the library, immediately raising an eyebrow at the two individuals in front of him. Or rather, the one individual stood up while the second was sat at the table with his eyes closed. His expression making it difficult to discern whether he was thoughtful or merely asleep.
The more obviously awake student had a far more gaunt expression on his face as well as sporting a seemingly perpetual scowl. Dark hair loosely hung from his head like a mop, hiding away the right half of his face, exposing only a single pale coloured eye which locked onto him with a certain intensity.
"You are the Assistant Librarian, Goetia." He called out in a hushed tone of voice, sounding somewhat sinister to the average person. His eyes turned to the boy currently resting, a look of disgust came to his face as he gently prodded the boys leg with his foot.
The boy with dark green hair jolted, eyes opening and blinking rapidly as he returned to the waking world. "Wha-…" his head span around, eyes squinted as they fell on the other boy "Hubert? What is it?"
"Your nap has officially come to an end." Hubert replied "The Assistant Librarian is here to meet out our task, I will not have Lady Edelgard's reputation embarrassed by your narcolepsy."
Goetia had no idea why they even knew what that was. Perhaps it was merely a common trend between the two worlds.
"It's…" The boy yawned, stretching his arms as he got to his feet "It's fine, isn't it?"
"No, it is not."
"We can't all be as dedicated as you, Hubert." The boy retorted "Some of us need sleep to rest our brains."
"It is only because you are of the Black Eagle house that I consider allowing you to wake from that sleep. Linhardt."
"And there is the threatening remark." Linhardt sighed "Honestly, if you keep talking like that, I am inclined to believe that perhaps the Assistant Librarian will believe us to be bloodthirsty savages."
"I sincerely hope you are not implying that Lady Edelgard is nothing more than the leader of a band of barbarians, for your own sake."
"I'm curious as to at what point I mentioned Edelgar-"
Goetia coughed loudly, cutting the argument short before it could escalate further. The two turned to the man, quickly composing themselves or in Linhardt's case, dragging himself to his feet so that he was no longer slumped over a chair "I assume you are here for the weekly aid within the Library?"
"We are." Hubert nodded his head, eyes flickering towards Linhardt "And we shall ensure that it is completed to a satisfactory level. I am Hubert von Vresta. Vassal to Lady Edelgard."
"Ah yes." Goetia nodded his head "The one who has been spying on me for the past month."
"Indeed." Hubert nodded back, not even denying the accusation. He was already aware that Goetia knew, considering that Edelgard had asked him to avoid bothering the new librarian in case he felt threatened. Hubert merely told her he was ensuring the man did not represent a threat.
Linhardt raised an eyebrow "You seem unusually calm at the prospect of meeting your stalker."
"Would you rather a response of violence?" Goetia responded with a raised eyebrow "In any event, his recent activity is well within the bounds of his role as a Vassal. He was merely investigating any possibility of a threat to his Lord."
"I still am." Hubert replied, never losing the sinister look on his face. Linhardt looked between the two of them with a flat expression before he let loose a tired sigh.
"I am beginning to wonder if my penchant for sleeping frequently is actually the strangest behavioural quirk in this academy." He mumbled under his breath before turning to face Goetia fully "Linhardt von Hevring." introducing himself quickly "I won't be all that useful in this role."
"I can tell." Goetia replied instantly "However, your skill at the task is not my concern. I am merely here to direct your efforts."
"Well, as long as you aren't disappointed by the end of it." Linhardt yawned a second time, his eyelids fluttering as he seemingly fought to keep himself awake.
"Of course, I am obligated to inform your house professor of any and all issues that should arise, as well as failings on your part." The man went on, stepping past the pair and towards the desk "As such, it would be in your best interests to perform your assigned task to the best of your abilities."
"...I suppose." The green haired boy mumbled under his breath "Where do we begin then?"
"That's a nice shiner you're sporting there, your Princeliness." Claude joked as soon as he spotted the Blue Lion leader, the blonde boy winced at the jab "I suppose training with Teach went well?"
"Claude." Dimitri nodded back "I am happy to see you so concerned with my health, and no...it was not the Professor." the boy rubbed the back of his neck "It was actually Goetia."
"Sparkles?" Claude blinked "Huh, never would have pegged him for actively participating in a training exercise."
"I believe that the Professor was able to secure his help…" He paused "And well, the situation rather escalated from there. Suffice to say, it highlighted a number of issues for our class to work on."
"Work on?" Claude gave the Prince another quick examination "Dimitri, I saw that Ingrid, Felix and Ashe seemed to be sporting bruises of their own…"
"Yes…" Dimitri winced "Goetia decided to...um...engage in physical exercise."
Claude snorted, covering his mouth with his hand "Dimitri...th-the...Sparkles has one arm and he's a mage to boot. I thought you were gonna tell me that he used some fancy magic to beat you…"
"Well, he did for some of us." Dimitri shrugged, continuing his walk to the cafeteria "Others were...less fortunate."
"I'll bet." Claude shook his head "Although Sparkles is just full of surprises, isn't he?"
"I will admit that Goetia is a remarkable individual, much like the Professor." The Prince acknowledged, then paused and sent Claude a flat look "I suppose you are looking to recruit them into the Leicester Alliance after you graduate?"
"Now Dimitri, do you truly believe I would attempt to form a friendship with someone like Sparkles with the sole purpose of inviting them to join me in the Alliance?"
"Claude, I am certain you know my answer to that particular riddle, so I will save us both the time."
"Alright, that's fair." The Golden Deer shrugged his shoulders "Well, at first that was kind of the motivation. However, he's now a kind of mystery I want to unravel...Also he's got Lysithea and Leonie in his class already. He's basically a Golden Deer in all but name."
"Ah!" Dimitri raised a single finger, a wry smile on his face "But he also has the Professor and Mercedes in his class as well, and the Professor does seem closer to him than Lysithea."
"Are you implying that Teach is actually going to seduceSparkles into joining the Blue Lions." Claude gaped at Dimitri, then furrowed his brows in realisation "I...crap, I didn't account for that at all. Damn, Dimitri...You thought this pretty far ahead, were you manipulating them into forming a relationship just so you can grab the only two interesting people in this Academy and horde them for yourself?"
"Claude, that is completely untrue and far too complicated a strategy." Dimitri rolled his eyes at his friend "I am merely pointing out that if the Professor and Goetia are indeed forming the relationship that you seem to envisage them having, then it would not be beyond the realm of possibility that he would end up joining the Blue Lions...perhaps as an Assistant Teacher?"
"Goddess…" Claude widened his eyes "I'm now torn between rooting for them because how funny it looks, or secretly dreading losing our secret weapon."
"Secr-Claude!" Dimitri frowned "Were you planning on having Goetia join the Golden Deers just in time for the Battle of the Eagle and Lion?"
"Well, I had been thinking on it." The boy admitted immediately "But after witnessing the state that your class is in after that fighting him, I'm now convinced."
"Claude..."
Neither of them noticed the form of Dorothea sat near the entrance of the Cafeteria, having overheard some of their conversation. Or at least, that parts of it she felt were the most important to her at the time.
"So…" A tiny smile made its way onto her face "The new Professor and Gotie might be a little closer...that sounds like gossip to me."
"The plan has proceeded better than I could have envisaged." Thales nodded his head "With the rebel army posing a credible threat, the Church is less likely to dismiss the threat."
"Their fanaticism was always going to ensure they approached the evidence with a degree of zealotry. Now they will devote greater resources towards protecting the Phantasmal." The figure turned away, moving back towards their table and staring down at the body present there "And your associate? She believes that the remains of Seiros are within the tomb?"
"She foolish girl is not as aware as she is yet to be. Still believing that Seiros and Rhea are different individuals." Thales waved his hand "It is a necessary ruse, for now."
"Hmph. Her obvious hatred of you is a future liability. She will turn on you."
"Obviously, however she will remain unaware of our true capabilities until it is far too late. So long as you fulfil your end of our agreement, we shall fulfil ours."
"As you say…I have made improvements to her method of disguise. She will be difficult to discern from the original." Straightening themselves up, the figure turned back around to face Thales. The figure towered over the Agarthan, the wings on his back splayed out, revealing their make up of diamond shaped gem like scales, the centre of which contained eyes. The featureless humanoid face stared down at them "I would advise she be placed under a greater level of training. Her personality is temperamental and likely to give her away."
Thales frowned, but eventually nodded his head "Yes, Kronya has always been...careless and it would do us no good if she were to expose herself in a fit of misguided arrogance."
"Her arrogance is as misguided as it is pathetic. Inform her that when she awakes she is to refrain from speaking to me in that tone of voice again."
"I doubt she will listen." The Agarthan scowled "...You have begun examining locations for the next experiment?"
"I have. But it will require the genetic material of the Nabateans, even if the Seiros tomb is empty, it is likely that some material will still be present. If it is not, the young Phantasmal girl will suffice."
"Very well then." Thales nodded his head "I will leave you to your work."
The figure made no attempt to reply, merely turning around and resuming their work.