The class was dull. Hanneman just kept droning on and on about black magic. He wasn't even demonstrating anything, only going through theory. Lysithea was eating it up, looking on enraptured as Hanneman continued, pointing out that it was theoretically possible to use a black magic spell to bolster a person's abilities, like using the thunder spell to speed up his movements.
Flayn as well looked somewhat interested. With two of the students that were actually paying attention near the front, it gave to rest of them, who had taken seats behind them, minor time to goof around. Linhardt was fast asleep, Mercedes had a glassy-eyed stare as she nodded politely at the right times, Felix was staring longingly out the window. Byleth sat still, paying attention but showing no sign whether what she was hearing was interesting or not.
Everyone, except Hanneman, so drawn into his lesson, started to hear noises coming from outside. The sound of boots hitting the stone, and a quiet, "Ma'am! You are going to interrupt Professor Hanneman's class. Please, desist!" The door shot open, revealing that a person had kicked the door open.
A petite woman with red hair styled into twin tails, looking to be about the same age as them, glanced around the room for a moment before settling on Hanneman. "You!" She gave a roar, pointing aggressively at the teacher.
The students' eyes darted from the woman to who she was pointing at, the man turning incredibly pale. "S-Severa?"
Severa's face twisted into a nasty scowl, and most of the students flinched back at the look of rage that overtook her face. "Leonard, I am going to shove my foot up your ass if you don't explain to me what the hell you have been doing!"
"Ah, Severa, now's not the best time to be talking." Hanneman replied hurriedly, "I'll take you my office, after," He gestured about the room, "I tell my students here what to do for the rest of class." He looked to the knights that had taken to standing a bit behind her, "Don't worry about this, I'll handle her from here." The knights waited for a moment before nodding and heading back to their posts. "Class, for now, conduct… self-study. I must speak with my friend here."
As he bustled out of the room with the younger woman, the students could only watch in surprise, before looking at one another. By the end of classes that day, there was not a single person in Garreg Mach Monastery who hadn't heard of the young woman who had forced Hanneman away from his class. The rumors that the event caused, however, were varied, to say the least.
With a heavy sigh, Hannem- Leonard, settled into his chair, while Severa stood behind the one opposite of him, foot tapping impatiently, "Well?"
Leonard smiled softly and warmly as he looked up Severa over, "It's good to see you again, Severa."
Some of the anger on her face washed away at that, and she huffed before sitting down, "Yeah, it's nice to see you again, too, now can you get on with the explaining."
"Honestly," Leonard stated, "I don't know. I remember the time travel, but I think something messed up along the way, at least, with me. It was because I woke up near, what I now know to be, Lake Teutates, nothing was recognizable. I wandered west for a while before I learned where I was. I was in a place known as the Andrestian Empire. That was the major indication that something went wrong. Luckily, I was, more or less, forcibly adopted by the von Essar family. Especially when it turned out I had something called a Crest, one that was the same to their own families."
"I've read about them, gifts from the goddess. How," Severa paused, scrunching her face in confusion, "How did you get one?"
"I don't know," Leonard answered honestly, shaking his head. "I tried to figure out how in between the time I spent trying to find a way home."
"How long have you spent?"
Leonard paused for a moment, before "About 15 years. After that, I spent 5 wandering from place to place, trying to find some hint about returning home. I came back when I heard my sister had died. It was the worst, especially compounding with the fact that I had learned nothing about getting a way back home. I must admit, "Leonard looked at Severa, an almost broken looking smile on his face, "I almost broke. I loved her, dearly, I doted on her, and she would always love to hear the stories of the places I've been." He shuddered slightly, looking to the floor, "I left after that, started to work here, as a professor, as you clearly saw."
He didn't notice Severa reaching out slightly, before placing her hand back down. "But enough about that, I've had enough time to mourn." He looked back up at Severa, his voice growing stronger. "How did you find me?"
"We made a spell meant to track you. It took a lot, more than we expected, but understandable considering where you were. Most of the mages used to set it up were completely drained, but then after the initial start-up, a single mage could power it indefinitely."
"Really?" Leonard asked, straightening up in his seat. "Who is powering it?"
"Oh, it's," There was a moments pause, before Severa spoke again, "Actually, why don't you meet him for yourself."
"Oh, is he…?" Leonard cut himself off, as he heard a growing cacophony of crows cawing, in the background. "Wait, is that?"
He turned to look outside, to see the rooftops of Garreg Mach covered in crows. In the courtyard below a swarm of them circled a figure that he could barely make out. "Dad?" Then he noticed the guards that were circling his father. "I better go down before they try to stab him."
He hurried through the hall, Severa trailing behind him. "Captain Jeralt!" He called out, "Please, do not be too alarmed, I know this man. He has just dropped by for a, rather unexpected, visit."
"Hahahaha! Severa, did you find him, yet? Or am I going to have to search," came Henry's voice over the cawing, "Because if I do, I won't mind tweaking a few peoples' beaks! Haha!" Severa only gestured over to Leonard, who took a step forward.
The crows scattered, still hanging around the courtyard, but far enough away to reveal Henry, who stood in the center of that flurry of feathers. "I hope that you didn't think I would give you up as a lost caws now would you?" Henry asked, walking to stand in front of Leonard.
"No, I didn't, but, it'll take a bit," Leonard paused for a split second, turning slightly to look at Severa, "to get back into the wing of things." He had to perfect view as Severa's face turned a range of emotions, before finally settling on disgust. Henry meanwhile was bent at the waist, laughing.
Leonard smiled down at his father. "I missed you, Dad." He said softly, and the smile on Henry's face grew a bit wider and much more genuine.
