The silence that was commonplace between the taciturn teacher and her shy student was interrupted by a quiet growling sound. Marianne looked down towards her stomach, blushing self-consciously.
"Marianne," Byleth's brow furrowed in concern. "Have you been skipping meals again?"
"Just... just lunch today," Marianne admitted. "There were a lot of people in the dining hall. I was uncomfortable..."
Byleth resisted the urge to scold Marianne for not taking better care of herself. If her concerns about her student were warranted, she needed to make sure their tea times were as pleasant and comforting for her as possible. Instead, she offered a gentle smile.
"Why don't you help yourself to a scone, then? That's why I brought them, after all."
"Th-thank you, professor," Marianne nodded with a shy smile as she reached for the dessert tray.
---
Down on the plate, Marianne's ant-sized classmates began to panic as her long, tree-trunk sized fingers grasped the scone next to Lysithea's, bringing the hulking, sugary land mass into the air with absolutely no effort as it disappeared into Marianne's mouth, the sounds of her chewing echoing ominously above.
"Lysithea, seriously, you need to get off the cookie! Right now!" Hilda yelled to the young mage.
"I-I can't!" Lysithea cried. Between her fear of falling and the fear of what would happen to her if she didn't get off the scone in time, she was starting to cry. Her four friends below were deliberately not drawing attention to it.
"Just jump at this point!" Claude shouted. "I'll catch you!"
"Like you caught Hilda?" Lysithea sniped back.
"I will catch you, Lysithea!" Lorenz cut in front of Claude. "I give you my word!"
The young mage whimpered in fear, still paralyzed by the situation.
"These are delicious, professor," Marianne boomed as she swallowed the scone.
"It's a new recipe I got from Professor Manuella," said Byleth. "Please, have as many as you like."
"Oh, SCREW this!" Leonie exclaimed as she started to climb back up the sugary wall.
"Leonie, what the hell are you doing?!" Claude demanded.
"Just be ready to catch us both!" Leonie snapped.
During their last battle in Renue Village, Leonie had a clear shot at the Death Knight. Just as she shouted her challenge to him and drew her spear, Lysithea warped her away from the battle, then used her magic to knock the fearsome adversary from his horse and force him to retreat.
At the time, Leonie was furious. She was convinced that the young mage deliberately ruined her chance to show her skills in front of Captain Jeralt. However, after some time to reflect, as well as a firm dressing down from both Claude and Professor Byleth, Leonie was forced to admit that she had grossly overestimated her own skills. In fact, it was very likely that by pulling her from the battle, Lysithea saved her life that day.
As someone who detested debt more than anything, Leonie would not rest until she repaid the favor.
"L-Leonie?!" Lysithea blurted out as Leonie finished scaling the wall. "What are you doing?!"
"We're not leaving you behind, Lysithea," Leonie held her hand out to the younger girl. "Come on! We'll climb down together!"
"I-I-I can't!" Lysithea flinched away from her. Leonie growled in frustration and grabbed her anyway.
"Then hold onto me and don't look down!" she ordered. "Because we need to get off of here before... oh no... AHHHHH!"
The ground around them shook as five gigantic fingers closed in around it, and a strong downward wind forced the two girls to their knees as their sugary platform was lifted up at terrifying speed. Marianne had chosen their scone to eat next.
"Lysithea," Leonie gasped urgently as Marianne's face loomed ever closer, the massive healer completely unaware that she was about to devour two of her friends along with her sugary treat. "Lysithea, you have to do what Claude said. You have to warp us down!"
"The spell doesn't work that way!" Lysithea argued. "I can only bring people to me! I can't teleport!"
"Then MAKE it work that way!" Leonie began to tremble as Marianne opened her mouth. Thin cords of saliva dripped from the roof to the tongue as it stretched out slightly in anticipation of the sugary confection. Mushy remains of the previous scone were visible between her teeth, serving as a grim reminder of the fate that awaited them. "Lysithea, I don't know much about magic, but I know that you're the best mage at this academy! And it's not because of your second crest, it's because you're you! Now work your magic and save us just like you did in Renue Village!"
"I'll... I'll try!" Lysithea closed her eyes tightly, trying to ignore the oppressive feeling of Marianne's hot, humid breath washing over them as she focused on the table where Claude and the others were while channeling magic through her body...
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