Chapter #4The Smallest of the Pride by: Ponymon   Byleth was dropped off in his classroom with some time to spare before his lectures were scheduled to start. Jeralt dropped him off on his desk, avoiding complaining about the situation to Byleth. It wouldn’t do his son any good, so he decided to let it go for the time being. “You stay safe now, alright? Don’t try anything foolish.”
Byleth gave his father an amused look. “You’re saying I shouldn’t challenge any of my students to a duel?”
“You know what I mean. Also, whoever ends up as your chaperone, I want you to bring them to my office. I need to make sure you’re in good hands.”
“I’ll try to keep that in mind… honestly, I might forget. I’ll have a lot to figure out.” Byleth sighed.
“Just figure out how to stay safe, that’ll be good enough for me. I’ll visit when I get the chance.” With that, Jeralt left, eager to finish whatever tasks he had assigned to him so he could look for help. Though he knew that he would likely be given every task possible to keep him busy.
Now alone, Byleth took his time to think of a way to explain his current predicament to his class. From what he was told, his students had only seen him collapse and had missed the part where he shrunk. He didn’t have a logical explanation for that. Say that an ancient, magic sword shrunk him sounded ridiculous, even if that was apparently the truth. There was no better explanation though, so his students would have to accept that explanation just like he did. Hopefully they’d take the news well, but he had a few students he figured wouldn’t.
As Byleth thought about what to say to his class, he anxiously watched the entrance to see who would come in first. Ideally the class would come in one at a time or in small groups; that way he could tell the story to one person and then they could tell it to the others. It would be a slower but more effective way to get the information out. Byleth’s hopes for that would be dashed when his students all filed into the room at once. “So much for that idea.”
“Did anyone bother to confirm if the professor was even going to be here?” Felix asked, taking his normal seat near the back of the room. "I'm not going to waste time with a substitute, especially after seeing our professor wield an artifact. I must test myself against that strength."
“I did not receive word of a substitute being arranged, so we should expect him to be here.” Dimitri informed everyone. “I expect everyone to be on their best behavior. The professor should be resting, instead he’s decided to continue his lectures. We should appreciate his dedication." Dedue silently nodded, agreeing with his liege like he always did.
“I wouldn’t mind if the professor took some time off. Would give me some more… free time.” Sylvain spoke, a smirk on his face. The people who didn't ignore him rolled their eyes, wondering why he was bothering trying to hide what he wanted to do during "free time".
“Ugh. I think all the girls in the monastery owe the professor a big thanks.” Groaned Ingrid, pushing Sylvain towards a seat. "Of course he's also keeping me stuck here with you so maybe I'm the one making a sacrifice?"
Sylvain leaned back in his chair smoothly and laughed. "Come on, you know you like sitting next to me. You couldn't ask for better company."
"I think I'd rather sit next to that scarecrow you hit on a while ago."
"Wha-hey! Don't bring that up in here!" The lecherous red head protested.
Ashe, who had been trying to ignore the conversation, laughed quietly to himself. "Sylvain is quite a character." He mused as he got his materials for class ready on his desk. He planned on putting extra effort into his studies today, hoping the extra effort would be seen as a sign of appreciation for the professor's dedication.
“I hope this wasn’t all somehow my fault.” Mercedes mused to herself, feelings of regret creeping in her thoughts. “I didn’t really do well with the healing that night.” The gentle girl somehow had convinced herself that the professor's collapse was caused by her neglect. Truthfully, she had performed as well as she always did, but the fact that her professor had collapsed put many negative thoughts in her head.
Annette gently patted her on the back. “Don’t be silly Mercie! You did great like you always do! That batlle would’ve been a lot harder without you.” Mercedes sighed wearily and nodded her head. She believed what Annette was saying but she still felt like she could have somehow prevented the professor's collapse. Perhaps she was overthinking things, but the idea troubled her none the less. She decided to quietly focus on making sure she did her best to make the professor's day easier. If she focused, she could learn to improve her magic and stop this from happening again.
After making sure her friend wasn’t too melancholy, Annette began her own preparations for the day. Honestly, she was just as concerned for the professor as Mercedes. Seeing her usually steadfast and stoic professor collapse after a battle surprised her greatly. Annette figured he would be strong enough to keep teaching however, and planned accordingly.
Delicately, Annette lifted up a neatly wrapped treat buried among her usual stuff. Originally she had planned to work overnight with Mercedes to bake a larger batch of sweets for the professor. But it was obvious that her friend wasn’t up for it, so she had to settle for purchasing one early in the morning from a merchant who was settling in town. It was only one, relatively fresh treat, but Annette knew from experience that sweets always made people feel better.
As his students went about getting ready for the lectures, waiting for the professor that was already present, Byleth stood awkwardly on the table. He hadn't motioned towards any of his students, and he was too curious to hear what they were saying to call out to them. He had completely missed his chance to get all their attentions before they distracted themselves.
“Well this is going well.” Sothis noted sarcastically. “You have everyone’s full attention.”
“I could do without your commentary, thank you very much.” Byleth replied, not in his usual stoic mood. “I just have to wait for someone to come to my desk. I’m certain someone will come by to see if I have anything set up.”
“And then they’ll see an insect on their precious professor’s table, and crush it with the slightest bit of effort. My powers will be able to restore you, but that what stop their hand from falling once again.”
“I doubt that will be an issue. I am not so small that I am beyond recognition. …At least I think I that's the case.” Sothis scoffed at Byleth’s plan, but decided against protesting any further. No matter what she desired, it's not like they had any choice otherwise. For now Sothis just needed to fend off the nagging sensation of sleep. She had to be alert if/when her vessel ended up a stain on a palm. Byleth himself had to be ready for whatever was going to come his way, things could still get stranger, worse, or both.
After some time...
1) Annette drops off her sweet and recognizes Byleth, telling the other Lions about him.
2) Ingrid, frustrated and irritated by Sylvain, comes to Byleth’s desk and sees him… as a pest.
3) Flayn appears, pretending to be Byleth’s chaperone so she can finally become one of the students.   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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