The Bright Star [Fire Emblem: Three Houses AU]

The Heir to Fate (Dimitri)

The leader of the Blue Lions really was a lion.

Not literally, but he acted that way. The conflicts between Dimitri and Edelgard were extremely well-known throughout the academy. The two could not even take one brief glance at each other before at least one looked in disgust. The students were both majorly competitive, as if they were associated with one another in the past.

But perhaps there was something that both the two didn't know about their true conflicts that was hidden from both of their minds.

Dedue was Dimitri's eternal servant, obeying every command the prince gave him. Dimitri tells Dedue to grab him something, Dedue grabs whatever Dimitri requests. Dimitri tells Dedue to kill, Dedue kills.

Hanneman von Essar, the Father of Crestology, was the professor of the Blue Lions. He was a kind man who loved to study the Crests of the students. Dimitri himself had a Crest, the Crest of Blaiddyd. Most of the Blue Lions students had Crests as well, making the class Hanneman's favorite.

Dimitri was finished with the class for the day, and was going with Claude to Professor-Knight Byleth's extra swording lecture. Dimitri wanted to attend Byleth's class because he was enjoyable, and learning swords was very similar to lances, so it would help him with his studies with Hanneman a lot.

The sword lecture was held after the last period in the training area. Most of the students had already left to attend to their dorm rooms to do their homework and others have went to extra lectures or to participate in activities around the monastery. Fishing after class was a popular activity for Officers Academy students.

Dimitri arrived to the training grounds to see Byleth there. He had prepared his blades for the students who were attending the lecture. Dimitri was the first to show up.

"Hello, Dimitri," Byleth said to him. "How goes?"

"Not much," Dimitri replied. "I've been doing well with my classes recently, so I have quite a lot of extra time. What about you?"

"I'm going to be training with my father later."

"For the Knights, correct?"

"Indeed."

"Knowing that your father, the Blade Breaker, is teaching you, you will definitely make the ranks as one of the top captains in history for the Knights of Seiros, just like your father."

Byleth smiled. "That's definitely something I would appreciate to be. Go ahead and grab a blade before the instruction starts."

Dimitri nodded and grabbed a blade. When he took out the blade, it looked as if it were just forged, except with some scratches on it and small dents on the edge from it being used like a shield to block an attack in the past. He could see his own reflection within the blade, seeing his reflection of the man he was. Hair as yellow as gold with eyes an azure blue.

It really was him, wasn't it?

Several other students showed up to the lecture: Felix, Leonie, Ferdinand, Petra, Caspar, and Claude. Dimitri knew that Leonie only showed up because she adored Byleth being lectured by Captain Jeralt in his free time and wanted experience from him. Caspar and Ferdinand were here because they both wanted to be the master of everything. Felix was here to be his rival. Petra and Claude were here to practice their sword skills, though Claude found Professor Byleth enjoyable to be with so it was another reason he came.

"Make sure everyone has a sword," Byleth said. "There should be enough for everyone. Be sure that you can hold one properly with your hands."

The seven who came to the lecture grabbed one of the swords and held it firmly in their hands, as if it were an already mastered skill for them.

"Good. Now, practice swinging it—"

Caspar immediately practiced swinging his sword, but dropped it and it went flying across the ground. Luckily nobody was hurt, as Caspar was out of range for the students and the professor.

"—not too hard so you don't throw it."

"Sorry, Professor," Caspar said, immediately running to grab the dropped blade. He picked up his blade and practiced swinging it with the other students, this time without flinging it.

"Good. You all have the basics down. Can I have Dimitri to be used as an example for what I'm going to teach?"

Dimitri nodded and went next to his teacher.

"Hold out your blade, Dimitri."

Dimitri held the sword in front of him as Byleth took out his.

"Now, this is how to counter and block an attack from a sword with your own sword." Byleth turned towards Dimitri, who still held his sword in front of him. "When a blade is about to crash down on you from above, you're going to hold out your sword in an attempt to block it. I'll go a little slow, Dimitri, but you should get the point."

Dimitri nodded. "You may, Professor."

Byleth rained his sword down on Dimitri, but Dimitri did exactly what Byleth said as he blocked the sword from reaching him by making his blade intersect with Byleth's. "Very good," Byleth said to him. He looked to the other students. "Grab a partner and train with one another on this topic."

The students chose their partners for the assignment their professor gave. Leonie and Petra paired up, Caspar paired with Ferdinand, and in a competitive spirit Felix asked Dimitri to partner up with him. With an odd number of students participating, Claude's partner for the assignment had to be with Byleth.

"Hey, Teach," Claude said to Byleth. "Nobody's left. Mind if I pair up with ya?"

"Not a problem," Byleth said to Claude. "Is there anything you struggle on in particular, or are you ready to get down to the assignment?"

"Down to the assignment, please."

"Alright. Hold the sword firmly in your hands."

Claude held his blade firmly in his tight grasp and held it out towards Byleth.

"Good." Byleth put his blade next to Claude's and slowly rained it down from above to Claude like he did for Dimitri in the example he showed the other students.

Dimitri and Felix were sparring each other. Felix had no hesitation to go hardcore on his rival. Felix held out his blade, its sharp tip in front. "You ready, boar?" he said to Dimitri.

Dimitri held out his blade, its tip barely touching the tip of Felix's sword. "Of course I am, Felix."