Chapter 3: Plea

The Officer's Academy had been daunting to Hakuno at first, but over the days she found herself settling into a routine. It had taken a week, but at least not she could pretty easily find her way to her dorm room on the first floor.

The classes were another matter entirely. She found the classes on math and physics to be comparatively simple compared to her own knowledge of the subjects. A consequence of initially coming from a more technologically advanced world, perhaps?

The real trouble she had was really centered on combat. She found herself woefully awful at wielding any sort of weapon. She was often scolded for her stances when holding any sort of weapon since she would just try to replicate the way she had seen some Servants hold a weapon, though without the same finesse. Really, she knew she didn't have any talent in wielding a weapon.

Magic, on the other hand, was fascinating to Hakuno. It wasn't the same as Magecraft where only certain people could wield it. Rather in this world, everybody had the capacity to learn magic. It was just a matter of learning the fundamentals of how it worked. It was definitely a lot less versatile than magecraft in every conceivable way, but it made up for it by the ease at which it could be learned. The only issue was…

Hakuno collapsed to her knees, after another session of practicing a simple Fire spell during her magic class, a couple of days after she had joined the Blue Lions. She was with the rest of the Blue Lions and had been taken under the tutelage of both Annette and Mercedes to catch her up on the material.

"Hakuno!" Mercedes immediately knelt down next to the girl giving her a look of concern. "Are you alright?!"

Hakuno just nodded focusing on keeping her breathing even. That was the catch with magic with her. She just didn't have the stamina to continuously cast spells. Whatever mana system this world ran on wasn't something she was used to. At the moment she could really cast about four Fire spells before collapsing into a heap on the ground.

Dimitri and Felix, who were also practicing their magic with the former unable to even produce an ounce of flame, paused. Felix snorted, as Dimitri walked over, with Dedue hanging right behind him, an ever-present shadow. "Did something happen?" Dimitri asked, slightly concerned.

"She's tired," Mercedes answered, placing a hand on Hakuno's back. "She's obviously not used to using magic as consecutively as the academy demands."

Dimitri frowned. "Could you be using the power of your crest?" he suggested.

Hakuno blinked. "Crest?" she asked weakly.

"Oh… I'm sorry, I forgot about your amnesia." Hakuno just nodded, as Dimitri launched into an explanation for her sake. "For the sake of a simpler explanation, Crests are blessings granted by the Goddess to the ten Elites and four Saints that help out during combat. For instance, some could increase the strength of your magic in exchange for some extra energy from you. However, I have never seen a Crest manifest itself on the bear's skin before."

Hakuno glanced at her Command Seals. "This… I don't think this is a Crest," she said carefully.

"Really?" Annette sounded surprised. "I thought the strange magic you used during the bandit attack was because of it… have you checked with Professor Hanneman, yet? He might know its origins."

Hakuno shook her head. Really the thought hadn't crossed her mind, though she did vaguely remember hearing Hanneman ask her to visit his lab a couple of days ago.

"I'll take you there now," Dimitri said firmly, ignoring Dedue's surprised look.

"Your Highness," Dedue said. "Please let me-!"

"I'll be fine, Dedue," Dimitri said with an exasperated sigh, before turning around and waving to Professor Jeritza, who had been watching Ingrid and Sylvain train with their lances. In fact, he hadn't moved from that spot since the class started.

Jeritza turned around. "I'll be taking Hakuno to Professor Hanneman," Dimitri called out to him. She doesn't seem to be feeling well."

Jeritza just gave a short nod, before turning his attention back towards Ingrid and Sylvain.

Dimitri helped Hakuno up to her feet. "I can take her myself," he said to Annette, Mercedes, and Dedue. "Please continue your training." Letting Hakuno use him as support, he began to lead her inside, towards Professor's Hanneman's room.

Xxx

"Incredible! Just incredible!" Hakuno shifted in her seat uncomfortably, as Dimitri and the Professor investigated a floating emblem in front of them, which was just a copy of her Command Seals.

Dimitri frowned. "Is there something special about them?" he found himself asking. Crest research had never been his forte.

"Of course, there is!" Hanneman exclaimed. "For one, a Crest has never manifested itself on a bearer's skin before. And this shape and pattern… it resembles something like a Crest but it is wholly dissimilar to anything from the Ten Elites or the Saints!"

"But that doesn't seem possible…" Dimitri said slowly.
"Exactly, my boy!" Hanneman said, twisting a knob so that the hologram zoomed in onto one of the lines of her Command Seals. "This is a completely new discovery! I had thought it strange when I first witnessed it during the bandit attack, but now that I am surrounded by my research, it's all very clear." He turned towards Hakuno with a light in his eyes. "My dear, you must simply stay here and allow me unfettered access to your Crest! This discovery could change Crest research forever!"

"Um…" Hakuno looked at Dimitri for help.

Dimitri seemed to get the message. "Professor Hanneman," be said placing a hand on Hanneman's shoulder. "Hakuno's memories still have not returned. Isn't it a bit immoral to ask her to be your newest experiment?"

Professor Hanneman sagged. "I suppose you're right," he said a little dispassionately. "Still if you have any amount of free time…"

"We'll be sure to seek your guidance, then," Dimitri said helping Hakuno out of her seat. "Thank you for your help again Professor."

Hanneman waved his hand. "Oh, it's no problem, no problem at all."

"Thank you," Hakuno almost whispered, as she and Dimitri left his room.

They walked in silence back down to the ground floor, where it was Dimitri who broke it. "It's already lunch," he said. "I suppose the others have already claimed a table. Should we join them?"

Hakuno was about to answer when she paused at the sight of two other students walking towards them, their gaze solely directed at Dimitri. One was a female with pure white hair and a black and red color scheme to her clothes. The other was a male with brown skin and dark brown hair with a black and yellow color scheme to his clothes.

"Dimitri," The female greeted the leader of the Blue Lions with a nod while the male just gave them a charming smile with no greeted.

"Edelgard, Claude?" Dimitri sounded mildly surprised. "What are you doing here?"

The two of them exchanged a look. "I assume that your Professor has yet to inform you of this month's mission?" said Edelgard.

Dimitri raised an eyebrow. "No," he said, rather slowly, as Hakuno moved so that she was hiding behind him. "Is there something wrong?"

"During our class's last mission, we uncovered a letter detailing plans for an assassination on the Archbishop," Claude explained, grimly.

Dimitri's eyes widened. "That's…" He placed a hand to his chin. "I couldn't imagine that Lord Lonato could ever be involved in such a conspiracy."

"I'd say it's understandable," Edelgard replied smoothly. "His son was taken from him by the Central Church. That resentment doesn't go away lightly."

"Y-Yes. I agree." Hakuno glanced at Dimitri surprised to find a pained expression on his face before it faded quickly and replaced by a more serious expression. "Are there any plans being made in order to prevent this?"

Claude nodded. "I assume that the Archbishop has already given her order to Professor Hanneman."

"Our class has been asked to attend the Rite and stay close to Rhea as her personal guards," Edelgard explained. "I would assume that would mean they mean to leave your two classes to patrol the school grounds for any suspicious activity."

"That makes sense," Dimitri agreed.

"Well…" A coy smile played itself upon Claude's lips. "You'd think that's what we would be doing…"

Edelgard raised a brow. "What does that mean?"

"Nothing you have to worry your pretty little head over, Your Highness," Claude teased, which Edelgard frowned at. "A change of subject, however…" Claude's gaze turned suddenly towards Hakuno. "Who's the cutie with you, Dimitri? Got yourself a girlfriend?" He winked. "Bet Dedue is feeling pretty jealous right now, huh?"

Dimitri sighed. "Please Claude, don't be so crude," he said, moving aside so that Hakuno was in full view to the two of them. "This is Hakuno Kishinami. She's recently joined the Blue Lions under the Archbishop's endorsement."

Claude bowed his head, though his form was a little loose. "A pleasure to meet you, Ms. Kishinami. I am Claude von Reigan of the Leicester Alliance and the House Leader of the Golden Deer." He gave her a wink.

Edelgard gave her a short nod. "I am Edelgard von Hresvelg of the Adrestian Empire and the House Leader of the Black Eagles," she introduced herself, with a warm smile.

"Hello," Hakuno said in a small voice. "It is very nice to meet you both."

Edelgard turned back towards Dimitri. "You said, Archbishop Rhea was the one who endorsed her?" she asked, unable to hide her curiosity.

Dimitri glanced at Hakuno as if asking for permission. She gave him a nod. "She has…" He hesitated. "Hakuno has amnesia. She cannot remember a thing."

Edelgard blinked. "Amnesia?" she asked. "That's…" She looked at Hakuno with renewed interest. "And she even has a visible crest." Her eyes suddenly moved to Hakuno's right hand. Hakuno quickly brought up her left hand to block it from Edelgard's eyes, trying her best not to meet her eyes.

Claude whistled. "You're right!" He looked at Dimitri. "What is up with that?"

Dimitri's mouth was a thin line. "As I said, Claude, she has amnesia. I couldn't give you an answer," he said a little coldly.

Claude narrowed his eyes before he laughed. "I understand. I understand." He winked.

"Claude…" Dimitri warned dangerously.

"Young love is certainly a sight to behold," Claude exclaimed, with a smile tugging at his lips. He bowed his head. "I leave you two to your devices, then, Your Highness." He walked away, but if his shaking shoulder were any indication to Hakuno, he was still laughing.

"Claude…!" Dimitri shouted after him desperately. "No… it isn't like…" His voice died and Dimitri just let out a sigh.

"Don't take what he says too personally," Edelgard said, addressing Hakuno directly. "I'm sure that Claude is just trying to tease the two of you." She gave Dimitri a nod. "I wish you luck with this month's mission, Dimitri."

"Yes…" Dimitri sounded distracted. "You as well, Edelgard."

Edelgard walked away, leaving Hakuno with Dimitri. She glanced at the Blue Lion's house leader, who had a concerned look on his face. "Lord Lonato…" he murmured. "Just what were you thinking?"

"Dimitri?" Hakuno said in a quiet voice.

Dimitri snapped out whatever thoughts he had been thinking and gave Hakuno a rather forced smile. "My apologies," he said. "Shall we continue to the dining hall, then?"

Xxx

The rest of the month, or otherwise known as the Blue Sea Moon, passed by in a blink for Hakuno. Studying and classes took much of her time, as she had technically started the year about three months late compared to everyone else. Luckily, she had the rest of the Blue Lions to help her out with her studies but to catch up to everyone was a little bit of a struggle.

Near the end of the month, the Blue Lions were called to their classroom to discuss their mission. Dimitri had already filled in the others about the assassination attempt against Rhea. Ashe seemed to be the one taking the news the hardest, learning that the plans were found in his adopted father's possession. However, despite the dire situation, Hanneman seemed just as cheerful as ever. "You've been assigned to patrol the town grounds during the Rite of Rebirth," the professor explained, as a short blue-haired woman with a permanent scowl stood beside him.

Dimitri frowned. "Not you, Professor?"

"Rhea has asked Manuela and me to stay close to her with the Black Eagles," Hanneman explained. "As such…" He gestured to the woman beside him. "Shamir here will be in command."

"Thank you, Professor," Shamir said, curtly, taking a step forward. "During this mission, I'll be your commander. We have a limited amount of space to maneuver, so we won't be bringing any battalions, so be prepared to be on your own." She unfurled a scroll of paper and placed it on a nearby desk. On it was a simply drawn map of the town. "We'll be splitting into groups of two and one group of three to maximize our patrol range," she detailed. "There is only one easy entrance to the monastery's grounds and that's where I'll be guarding. Three of the teams will be patrolling the three separate paths that lead to the town's exit. The other two will be manning the ramparts with me." She began to lecture to the class on potential entry points and areas of importance, that mostly went over Hakuno's head.

"Um…" Hakuno whispered to Annette. "What's the Goddess's Rite of Rebirth?"

"It's a celebration. This month is when the Blue Sea Star is in the sky. People say it's the goddess's home so the priests treat it like she is reborn. It's basically a huge festival in the monastery." Annette whispered back, before letting out a small sigh. "Though I guess we'll be as far away as possible from it anyway…"

Hakuno looked back at Shamir just in time to see her give Dimitri a short nod. "Come up with the teams and the area they'll patrol now and meet me outside." She walked out of the classroom with Hanneman following close behind.

"Of course." Dimitri nodded back and gathered the Blue Lions into a small circle. He looked at the group. "I suppose I'll be with Dedue." He glanced at Hakuno. "Do you mind being a part of our small team Hakuno? I do not mean to be rude, but you're combat skill still isn't…" He hesitated. "Well…"

"Not good?" Hakuno finished for him, a little glumly. Despite all she had done the past few weeks, her abilities and magic had only slightly improved.

"Don't worry, Haku!" Mercedes gave her a warm smile. "You've been definitely improving. A few more months and you'll be just as good as Annette, I'm sure of it!"

"Are you fine with the arrangement, then?" Dimitri asked.

Hakuno just nodded. "It's fine." It stung her pride a little to essentially be called out as the weakest link in their class, but there wasn't anything she could do about it know.

"Annette. Ashe," Dimitri said. "You worked well with each other during the last mission. Do you have any issue with being together again?"

"Of course not, Your Highness!" Ashe exclaimed, eagerly.

"We can stay with Shamir if you would like," Annette offered. "We can help her guard the entrance."

"That would be fine. I suppose the next two groups would have to be Sylvain and Ingrid and then Mercedes and Felix," Dimitri reasoned, placing a hand to his chin.

Mercedes and Felix exchanged a look and shrugged, seemingly fine with their assignments. Sylvain just sighed, as Ingrid recoiled. "Tell me, Dimitri," she said in a dangerous tone. "Why do you think it is necessary to stick me with him? Is this your idea of a joke?"

Dimitri, for his part, looked completely serious. "I just honestly believe your two work well with each other."

Ingrid sighed. "Well, I guess that is technically true," she murmured. She seemed to straighten herself. "Since Sylvain and I have mounts, it might be better for us to patrol the east of the town."

"In that case, I suppose we would have the west," Felix said.

Dimitri nodded. "I'll lead my group into patrolling the central area of the town," he said, before glancing out of the window, seeing that the sun had almost set. "I suppose it's almost time. We'd better prepare our weapons."

"Do you think something will happen?" Sylvain asked.

"You can never be too careful," Dimitri answered, as the group walked out of the classroom, only to run into the Golden Deer, who were exiting from their own classroom at the same time, the lot of them following their seaweed green-haired professor.

"Dimitri," Claude greeted with a playful smile. "Heading out to town, I assume?"

Dimitri frowned. "Where are you going, Claude?" he asked, a little suspiciously. "Were you not assigned with Edelgard to guard the Archbishop?"

Byleth opened his mouth to respond, but Claude quickly raised a hand to stop him. "We've got an idea about what the enemy is trying to do," he explained. "Since my deduction is right, our class isn't planning on waiting around and letting them do as they please." He began to walk away and gesturing for his class and professor to follow him. "Don't worry a single hair on that head, Your Highness. The Golden Deer have got this covered."

The Blue Lions just watched as the Golden Deer walked away, Dimitri's frown growing ever deeper.

Xxx

"Hm." Dimitri held up the oil lantern he had been carrying so that the three of them could see in the dark. The four teams had already split into different directions and now it was currently only him, Hakuno and Dedue, wandering the dimly lit yard of the central area of the small town. His eyes were drawn to the roofs of the houses that surrounded them. "I just do not understand," he said aloud. "What was Claude referring to?"

"Perhaps he was attempting to get out of a mission?" Dedue suggested with a halfhearted shrug. If Dedue was to be honest, he didn't have that strong of an opinion of Claude.

However, Dimitri was the opposite. "No, that isn't something Claude would do. If he was the Professor would've tried to stop him, but he was going along with it too. If I had to guess…" He frowned. "He and the Professor made some sort of conclusion about the enemy's movements. But the Black Eagles are currently guarding the Archbishop…"

"Maybe he thinks the 'enemy,' is going to be somewhere else," Hakuno said timidly, her eyes carefully examining each dark shadow that she saw, a little nervously. She loathed to admit it, but she couldn't help it since it was really her first "mission," and she wouldn't feel confident in her ability if she encountered any sort of enemy in the dark.

Dimitri blinked. "That would make sense," he mused to himself. "In that case, we should head back and support him should we not-!?" His eyes suddenly narrowed, and he swung his lantern towards the south. "Show yourself!" he demanded, as Hakuno and Dedue tensed. "I know you are there!"

From the darkness and into the light of the lantern came a young girl wearing some strange garb, her hair tied into a high ponytail. She was wearing strange clothing that Dimitri didn't recognize, some sort of skin-tight one-piece with some red cloth covering her calves and a red scarf.

Dimitri seemed to falter when she came into view. "A young girl?" he muttered to himself.

"Your Highness!" Dedue suddenly cried. Hakuno turned to look behind her to see another man wearing assassin garb and holding a thin sword facing Dedue. Dedue had drawn his steel axe and was currently facing the assassin, his entire body tense.

One in the front and one in the back. Dimitri glanced to his right then to his left. There's no telling how many are hiding in the darkness. He drew his lance and tightly gripped it within his two hands. "Hakuno!" he called out, knowing that she was right behind him. "Stay right between Dedue and me! Support us with your ma-!"

He blinked and, at the moment that he had his eyes closed, the female assassin was right in front of him. So fast! His eyes widened. He barely had time to hold up his lance, as a curved blade extended itself out of the assassin's right wrist and collided with his weapon.

Dimitri's eyes traced the origin of the weapon, as he struggled to keep his footing against the young girl. "How…" he couldn't help but say, as the blade seemed to just emerge out of her skin. It wasn't attached to any piece of equipment or anything!

The girl moved to fast for Dimitri's eyes to follow. One second, he was holding the assassin back, the next she had somehow ducked under his lance and slammed her foot into his gut with surprising force, sending him flying into a nearby wall. His back erupted into pain and Dimitri fell to the ground, grimacing and clutching his sides. "H-Hakuno," he managed to say. "R-Run! Find Hanneman!"

Hakuno moved to do so, but her legs locked in place when the assassin turned its attention towards her.

The overwhelming power and aura. Her strength. Every nerve in her body was screaming that she recognized who… no, what this girl was.

A Servant.

She was standing in front of a Servant.

An Assassin-class, no less, given her ability and the fact that she looked a lot like a ninja from Japan.

She suddenly felt very afraid. Hakuno was vastly outmatched against a Servant. She needed to run… need to run-!

Assassin suddenly flickered and seemed to teleport in front of Hakuno. She didn't allow Hakuno to even react and instead grabbed her by the neck with her right hand, very nearly skewering her with the curved blade. Hakuno was lifted into the air and roughly shoved against a nearby wall.

"Hakuno!" Dimitri cried out, struggling to get to his feet. He looked around wildly, as his heart sank. Dedue was preoccupied with the other male assassin, and despite how many times he had raised his voice, no one had come to help them. Which probably meant that the others were fighting off some other enemies or, goddess forbid, they had already been taken care off. No one would be coming to help them, and Dimitri could barely stand.

Hakuno couldn't respond and couldn't even move, as Assassin scanned her body from head to toe. "No Regalia present on the body," she said almost emotionlessly.

"R-Regalia?" Hakuno managed to choke out. "I-I don't know what that is!"

Assassin seemed to disregard what she was saying, as another blade extended out from her other wrist. She pointed the tip of it at Hakuno's bellybutton. "As orders indicated," she continued with the same emotionless tone. "Gut her."

Hakuno's eyes widened, as Dimitri shouted, "Stop!" However, Assassin just ignored the two of them and reared her arm back, intending to stab Hakuno in the stomach.

She firmly shut her eyes. She was going to die her. Only a month of living in reality and she was going to die. Please, she couldn't help but pled to the air. Please… someone… h-help…

…

Hakuno felt a hot burning sensation on the back of her right hand, and she slowly opened her eyes to see her surrounding bathed in a red light emanating from her right hand. She looked down at the Command Spells only to find them glowing.

"Praetor!"

"Master!"

Two individual blades rammed themselves into Assassin's neck, one short and the other long and red Assassin could let out only a choked gasp, as she was thrown away from Hakuno, who fell to the ground, clutching her stomach. She looked up to see the last two people she ever thought she would see again, standing in front of her with their weapons drawn, as if protecting her.

"Hmph." The young man with dark skin and pure white hair merely let out a small grunt. He was wearing a red overcoat and underneath that was a black bodysuit. "I can't leave you for a minute before you find yourself in some more trouble." He shook his head but kept his eyes trained on Assassin.

"Do not worry, my Praetor!" The female, dressed in a red and white dress and golden hair tied into a bun, exclaimed. She spun her bright red longsword in her hands so that the tip was pointed directly at Assassin. "I heard your plea for help, so I came as soon as I could!"

Despite the situation, Hakuno couldn't help but crack a smile, as she staggered to her feet.

"Saber… Archer!

The two of them spared her a look and a subtle smile, before turning back to face Assassin.

"Yes, my master!"

Map Details:

Units Deployed: Ashe, Annette, Mercedes, Ingrid, Sylvain, Felix, Dedue, Dimitri, Hakuno, Saber, Archer, Shamir(Ally)

Enemies Deployed: 8x Assassins

Enemy Commander: Assassin of Shadows

Victory Conditions: Rout the Enemy

Defeat Conditions: Hakuno or Dimitri fall or 20 turns pass.

Xxx

Well, that's basically the end of all the I had initially pre-written for this story. So when will there be another chapter? Well... I dunno. I have other commitments I've decided to prioritize over this and I typically have a habit of dropping stories I get bored off. Regardless, I'm sure I'll get a ton of reviews and PMs asking me to update because people are impatient.

Onto another issue... The Cindered Shadows DLC. I'm not sure what I'm going to have planned in regards to them, but currently I probably just won't acknowledge the Abyss for know. Some of the story seems to clash with some of my plans, so just to be safe, I'm not currently planning on including the likes of Yuri, Constance, Hapi, and Balthus.

Reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated.