I meant to post this yesterday and then I forgot because my brain exists in another dimension.

Yet another fanfic. I promise I’ll get to some original fiction this month, I just got a lot of fanfic ideas from these prompts.

Which reminds me, I uh, forgot to link the prompt list last time. Here it is: https://fictober-event.tumblr.com/post/628547358001594368/fictober-event-the-prompts-for-2020

Three Houses has been out a year, but going to say there may be potential spoilers just to be polite. Also, this is the Crimson Flower route (or will be).

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“You’re holding it wrong,” Byleth said, holding up her own training sword so Edelgard could see. “Like this.”

She gave it a swing, the air whistling as the sword struck the target with a loud thwack. The wooden target wobbled from the impact, Byleth waiting until it settled before looking at Edelgard. “Now you try.”

Edelgard’s mind was elsewhere, but she kept the mask up. She shifted her grip the way Byleth showed her, hearing and feeling the strike against the target. “Like that?”

“Just like that,” Byleth smiled this time. “Just keep practicing.”

There wasn’t anyone else in there with them. That gave her an opportunity to ask. “Professor, I’ve been thinking…”

“Yes?” Byleth twirled the training sword, watching it spin.

“You haven’t seemed like yourself since our last mission,” Edelgard said, listening for the sound of people walking by. No one except them still. She wanted to say more about it, but she knew she had to choose her words carefully. “Are you alright, Professor?”

Byleth paused for a moment, back to her usual blank stare, but Edelgard knew she was deep in thought. She set the training sword back where it belonged. “I don’t like what Rhea is making us do.”

Not a response Edelgard would have expected, but not an unwelcome one, either. Still, she’d have to be careful what she said, in case her trust proved misguided. “Why is that?”

She had to pretend to approve of the Church, especially the Archbishop, for the time being. Their last mission showed better than anything what happened to people who gained Rhea’s ire. It won’t be much longer…

“I don’t think it’s necessary,” Byleth answered, adjusting her cloak. “I don’t like putting all of you in danger just so the Archbishop can prove a point.”
She said in a quieter voice, “And I don’t like having their blood on my hands, or yours.”

“But weren’t you a mercenary?” Edelgard questioned, “why would that bother you?”

“I was a mercenary,” Byleth nodded, her eyes meeting Edelgard’s. “But that’s the easy part. We got to choose. We got to help people. Did we really help anyone here?”

Edelgard didn’t know how to safely respond to that, but she didn’t sense any trickery on Byleth’s part. These were Byleth’s feelings on the matter. “What do you think we should have done, then?”

Byleth had wanted to talk to Lord Lonato. Catherine had been faster. She probably wouldn’t have changed anything had she reached him first. Rhea’s mind had been set, and it had been their job to see it done. Finally, she said, “I don’t know.”

Those words hung in the air. Byleth looked as if she wanted to say more, but whatever thoughts she had went unsaid. Edelgard had no safe response, but she chose to commit the conversation to memory. It could prove useful later.

Byleth gestured to the training sword still in her hand. “How about you try again?”

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idk i just think rhea is not so great