- Joined
- Oct 29, 2017
- Messages
- 5,345
- Reaction score
- 5,337
Description: If there was one thing Byleth was good at, it was taking a bad situation and turning it into a good one. After all, in just a year she had managed to turn what looked like a hopeless war around and help Dimitri at least semi-cope with his problems. So when she finds herself trapped outside of time, she manages to find a way to take advatage of it and get a do-over. In other words, this is a peggy sue fic detailing Byleth's attempt to get a golden ending. Contains blood, death, swearing, mental trauma, the occasional typo, and Lorenz.
Author's Note: Hey, hey! How's it going? Welcome to Fire Emblem: Three Houses: Fifth Path! A fanfic in which Byleth travels back in time to save the world. Or something.
What you are about to read is an updated version of the prologue that’s hopefully more in line with how the rest of the fic is. In fact, not only is the prologue updated, this Author’s Note is too. So, time to get some things out of the way:
There will be little to no angst in this fic. I can't necessarily promise things won’t get sad but there’s a difference between that and obnoxious, needless angst. Hopefully.
Some characters may or may not be out of character. Please try to cut me some slack in that department. There’s like 40+ characters in this game. I can't be expected to keep them all in character all the time. I am, after all, only one man and not an entire team of writers.
Because of my insecurities and just a smidge of anxiety over asking for help I have no beta reader. So… no beta we die like men?
Fire Emblem: Three Houses and all related characters and concepts are property of Nintendo and Intelligent Systems.
And last but certainly not least, this fanfiction has three versions: one on Fanfiction Dot Net, one on Zelda Universe, and one on Bulbagarden. I highly suggest reading the Zelda Universe or Bulbagarden versions over the FF Dot Net version. They have a few neat features that the FF Dot Net version doesn’t.
That’s all for now. Future BackSet out.
Byleth had no idea what had just happened. One moment, she’s standing there watching in horror, arm extended as Dimitri and Edelgard kill each other, the next reality shatters and she’s standing in the middle of a black void. She lowered her hand and glanced around. Nothing but darkness in all directions. Why did this feel so familiar?
“You absolute idiot!”
Byleth whirled around. She knew that voice. But that was impossible. She was dead. And yet, when Byleth turned around she saw her. A green haired girl sitting atop a stone throne.
“Sothis!?” Byleth exclaimed, stumbling back a bit in surprise.
“Why do you look surprised, you fool!” Sothis snapped.
“You’re supposed to be dead!” Byleth shouted, pointing aggressively at Sothis.
“Well, it turns out I might have been exaggerating a little when I said I’d die if we fused.” Sothis admitted.
“And you didn’t tell me this because?” Byleth asked, her shock fading to simple irritation.
I tried to!” Sothis replied. “Don’t you remember when you woke up from your five year sleep!”
Byleth rubbed her forehead. “That was real? I thought I was imagining things.”
“That’s ridiculous.” Sothis scoffed. “There’s no way anything like what I said could come from your thick skull.”
“Hey!” Byleth shouted. “That was unnecessary!”
Sothis slammed the arms of her throne. “It was completely necessary!” She threw her hands up in the air. “Do you even realize what is going on! What you’ve done!”
Byleth took a careful step back. She could see the anger blazing in Sothis’ eyes. The goddess appeared to grow larger but it was entirely possible this was just a trick of her mind.
“Of course you don’t.” Sothis said, exasperated. “Why would you? You're so driven by your emotions you might as well not have a brain.” She sighed and shook her head. “Guess I’ll just have to explain it to you. Your stupidity has stopped time completely and trapped the two of us outside of it.”
“How?” Byleth asked carefully.
“Upon witnessing the death of your friend you accidentally tried to use the Divine Pulse without choosing a destination.” Sothis explained. “Divine Pulse temporarily freezes time for a few seconds before you go back in time but since you didn't choose a destination, you didn’t go back in time so now time is frozen permanently and we’re both trapped here in the infinite blackness of your imbecilic mind, forever!”
“That… doesn’t make any sense.” Byleth said, more confused than before.
“It’s time travel, of course it doesn't make sense.” Sothis said as if she was talking to a child.
“So how do we get out?” Byleth asked.
“We can’t.” Sothis replied. “What part of “trapped here forever” do you not understand?”
“Obviously the part where we’re trapped here forever.” Byleth pointed out. She then adopted a more stony look. “Besides, we’re not the only ones in trouble.”
Trapped in the inky blackness, it was easy to forget that other people existed. Other people who were currently frozen in time, caught in some sort of freaky state between life and death. And it was all Byleth’s fault.
Sothis sighed. “Well, if you really think we can fix this, I’m open to suggestions.”
Byleth rested her right elbow on her left arm and placed her palm on her left cheek. She had to think. She had been in a situation like this before, hadn’t she? Back when Sothis froze time to save her life (and, by extension, her own). That felt like so long ago, probably because it was. That was when all of this had started really. What she wouldn’t give to travel back in time and start over.
Wait! Travel back in time! She had used a Divine Pulse to get into this mess, maybe she could use one to get out. She slammed her fist into her hand.
“I know how to get out of here!” She said with a confident smile. “I just need to use another divine pulse but properly this time.”
“Hmm…” Sothis hmm’d. “That just might work.”
“Alright, let’s do this then.” Byleth said. “But how far back should I go?”
That was a conundrum. She didn’t even know the limits of the ability. She’d only ever used it to go back a few minutes.
“Sothis, what’s the limit of a Divine Pulse?” She asked.
“About 12 hours.” Sothis replied. “Any farther would require a large amount of power.”
Byleth thought for a moment. This could actually be a golden opportunity. What she wouldn’t give to travel back in time and start over. That’s what she had thought to herself. Well, she did have something she could give. Maybe starting over was a realistic concept that was within her grasp. Maybe she really could travel back in time and prevent all of this from ever happening.
“I can do it.” She said.
“Do what?” Sothis asked.
“You said I would need a large amount of power to go farther back than 12 hours.” Byleth explained. “I have a large amount of power. No, not just a large amount of power, an enormous amount of power. Your power, in fact.”
“I see.” Sothis said. “You plan to use my power to exceed the limit of the Divine Pulse.”
“Yes.” Byleth said, with a determined nod. “I will use it to save everyone. To prevent this war from ever happening.”
“But where, or rather, when will you go?” Sothis asked.
“Back to the very beginning.” Byleth said. “When I first met the three house leaders and helped defend them from bandits.”
“That sounds like a solid plan.” Sothis said. “But a warning, doing this will likely require you to use all of my power. You will not be able to use Divine Pulse again after this.”
Byleth nodded. “I understand.”
She put her hands together like she was praying and took a deep breath. “Alright, here we go.” She thrust her hand into the air, fingers splayed which wasn’t strictly necessary but did look cool. “Divine Pulse!”
Using Divine Pulse was a trippy experience. For lack of a more time period appropriate analogy, it was like pressing the rewind button on a DVD player except that you were actually in the show being played. Byleth experienced the past five or six years in reverse and much faster which was actually much more boring than you’d expect considering that four or five of those years were spent in a coma at the bottom of a river. She didn’t even get to see any cool fish because her eyes were closed the whole time.
Eventually, as one might expect, she was yanked back into normal time, now in a different location five or six years from where she started. She glanced around quickly to make sure she was in the right place. Dead/injured bandits, tents, House Leaders, lack of the Sword of the Creator. Yep, this was the right place.
“You’ll die!” Shouted a gravelly voice.
As soon as she heard that sentence (if you could call it a sentence), Byleth leaped into action. She immediately interposed herself between Edelgard and the bandit leader. In one swift motion she disarmed the bandit leader and gave him a kick in the gut, knocking him backwards.
“What the hell!” The leader shouted. “How do you move so fast!?”
Byleth didn’t bother responding. She just glared at him. Her glare was perhaps her best known trait as a mercenary. The reason most people didn’t recognize her, despite her being almost as famous as Jeralt, was because people only remembered her glare.
“That’s it, I’m outta here!” The leader shouted, clearly intimidated. “I’m not getting paid enough for this!”
With that, he turned tail and ran. What few bandits were left followed him, clearly operating under the assumption that if their leader was running they should get the hell out of dodge as well. Byleth took a moment to observe the fleeing bandits before sheathing her sword.
She turned around and offered her hand to Edelgard. She didn’t take it, choosing to stand up on her own. Though the manner in which she did so wasn't as cold as Byleth had expected.
“Hey, over here!” Someone, Claude, shouted.
Byleth scanned the clearing for the Golden Deer leader and located him standing with Dimitri and Jeralt, waving to her and Edelgard. The two of them briskly strode towards the group where Dimitri was expressing his gratitude.
“Thank you again for helping us.” Dimitri said politely.
“Yeah, you really saved our skins there.” Claude said. “I thought I was done for.”
“You were done for?” Edelgard asked. “And what about us?”
“You guys were fine.” Claude said, chuckling. “They were mostly going after me.”
“That would be because you ran off.” Edelgard said.
Claude shrugged. “Hey, you’ve got to know when to make a strategic retreat.”
“Ah, so that’s what you were thinking.” Dimitri said with complete and total sincerity. “And here I thought you intended to serve as a decoy to let us get away.”
“Yeah, you did a real great job getting away by following me.” Claude snarked.
“His intentions were as clear as day.” Edelgard scoffed. “You will prove a lacking ruler if you cannot see the truth behind a person's words.”
“Hm.” Dimitri hm’d, likely trying to think of a comeback. “You will prove a lacking ruler if you look for deceit behind every word and fail to trust those whom you rely on.”
“Oh great, a royal debate between Their Highnesses.” Claude snarked. He turned to Byleth and Jeralt. “I apologize for my friends’ naivetè.”
“Naivetè!” Edelgard spluttered. “How dare you-”
Dimitri cut her off. “Edelgard, please calm yourself. It is unbecoming to bicker in the company of others.” Oh the irony.
“Thank you, Dimitri.” Claude said, smiling confidently. Apparently the concept of irony was lost on him too.
“We can deal with Claude’s punishment later.” Dimitri said, his polite expression unchanged.
“What!?” Claude exclaimed.
“That’s enough.” Jeralt interrupted. It was strange seeing him alive again. Byleth had to resist the urge to hug him. “Just who are you kids and why were you being chased by bandits?”
Oh, my apologies.” Dimitri said. “I forgot to introduce myself.” He bowed. “I am Prince Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, heir to the throne of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus. These are my associates-”
“Edelgard Von Hresvelg, Princess of the Adrestian Empire.” Edelgard said, cutting Dimitri off. “It is a pleasure to meet you.”
“And I am Claude Von Riegan.” Claude said with a cocky smile. “Heir to the Leicester Alliance and most handsome man in Fòdlan.” Byleth contested that claim. Maybe five years from now but currently, she’d met more handsome.
“Royalty?” Jeralt asked. “All the way out here? Now you’re just messing with me.”
Byleth had to admit, it was pretty unbelievable. She would probably have scoffed at the idea herself if she didn’t know it was the truth. Royalty (and Claude), all the way out in the middle of nowhere that was Remire Village. It was almost laughable.
“Hey, only these two are royalty.” Claude said, pointing at Dimitri and Edelgard with his thumb. “The Alliance has a more modern and enlightened political system.”
“Modern and enlightened?” Edelgard scoffed. “I’m surprised your system even works with all the infighting that goes on.”
“You’re one to talk, Princess.” Claude snarked.
Byleth shook her head and sighed. Everything was exactly like she remembered it.
Jeralt glanced at her and raised an eyebrow. “Hm? Something up, kid?”
“Nothing at all.” Byleth said. “Everything’s fine.”
Jeralt shrugged and turned back to the House Leaders. “Say, those uniforms. You kids wouldn't happen to be from…”
Jeralt was interrupted by a loud, booming voice that could probably be heard all the way in Almyra. “The Knights of Seiros are here! Huh? Where’d they all go?” The owner of the voice was, of course, Alois
Jeralt rubbed his temples and sighed. “Not him.”
“A friend of yours?” Byleth asked.
“Just an old acquaintance.” Jeralt replied. He raised his voice. “Everything’s fine, Alois! The bandits ran off!”
Alois turned to the company of knights he had with him. “Search the area!” He barked. “The thieves are bound to be around here somewhere!” He then called back to Jeralt. “Thank you, Captain Jeralt!”
Alois began walking towards the forest to assist with the search. Byleth had to resist the urge to count down the seconds until the realization hit. And it did indeed hit. Alois stopped mid stride and turned around.
“Captain Jeralt!” He shouted.
Alois ran over to the group of two adults and three kids. As always he had a big, goofy grin on his face, in contrast to the exasperated look on Jeralt’s face.
“Captain Jeralt!” Alois shouted again upon reaching the group, despite the fact that he was right next to them. “I can’t believe it! It’s really you! I always knew you were still alive!”
“You haven’t changed a bit, Alois.” Jeralt said in a resigned tone. “Just as loud as ever. And drop that “captain” nonsense. I’m not your captain anymore. These days I’m just a wandering mercenary. One who has work to do. Good-bye, old friend.”
“Right, Good-bye, Captain.” Alois said before doing an immediate backpedal. “Wait a minute! This isn’t how this ends! I insist that you come back to the Monastery with me!”
Jeralt’s face had resignation written all over it. “Garreg Mach Monastery. I suppose this was inevitable.”
“Anybody mind explaining?” Byleth asked.
“Oh, and who’s this?” Alois asked. He leaned down to look at Byleth, much to her annoyance. She knew she was short but this was just embarrassing.
Jeralt placed a hand on Byleth’s shoulder. “This is my daughter, Byleth.”
Byleth gave a small wave.
“A pleasure to meet you.” Alois said, grabbing Byleth’s hand without bothering to ask and giving it a firm shake. “My name is Alois, I’m your father’s old right hand man. Well, that’s how I thought of myself, anyway.”
Byleth pulled her hand away from Alois.
“I’d love for you to see the Monastery too.” Alois said. “You are coming, aren’t you?”
“I go wherever Jeralt goes.” Byleth said.
“Excellent!” Alois boomed. “Let’s get going, then!” He pointed at a nearby knight. “You there! I’m taking the students back to the Monastery! You’re in charge of the search!”
Alois began to walk off, beckoning the students and mercenaries to follow him. Byleth took a deep breath. From now on she had one mission and that was to prevent the five year war and save everyone. And maybe have a little fun along the way, assuming she had the time.
Remire village wasn’t very far from Garreg Mach Monastery, so the walk would be short but still take most of the day. This meant Byleth had time to catch up with an old friend.
(Sothis?) Byleth mentally asked. (You still there?)
“Of course I’m still here.” Sothis replied. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
(You have a habit of disappearing.) Byleth said. (Sometimes for five whole years.)
“Okay, I get your point.” Sothis said. “But you were asleep for most of that.”
(And what were you doing during all that?) Byleth asked.
“Uh… also sleeping?” Sothis admitted sheepishly. “But it wasn’t on purpose!” Sothis cleared her throat despite not technically having a throat to clear. “Anyway, what’s your plan?”
(For now, get closer to the House Leaders.) Byleth replied. (Maybe I can help keep them away from their darker urges.)
“Are you sure the Princess isn’t too far gone for that?” Sothis asked. “It seemed like she’d had this plan since before the start of the school year.”
(True.) Byleth said. (But I think I can convince her not to do it. After all, she's not so far gone yet that she'll willingly turn herself into a monster. Or at the very least she isn’t desperate enough.)
“Hey, you lot!” Alois shouted from atop a hill. Somehow he had gotten far ahead of the rest of the group. “Get up here! We’re almost to Garreg Mach!”
The group ran to catch up with him. Upon arriving atop the hill they were treated to the sight of Garreg Mach Monastery bathed in the light of a setting sun. It was almost surreal to Byleth. Not a crumbling wall or scorched building in sight.
(Well,) She thought. (Here we are. It all begins here.)
“I thought it began when you traveled back in time.” Sothis snarked.
(That was more like a prologue. This is the real beginning.)
“If you say so.”
Author's Note: Hey, hey! How's it going? Welcome to Fire Emblem: Three Houses: Fifth Path! A fanfic in which Byleth travels back in time to save the world. Or something.
What you are about to read is an updated version of the prologue that’s hopefully more in line with how the rest of the fic is. In fact, not only is the prologue updated, this Author’s Note is too. So, time to get some things out of the way:
There will be little to no angst in this fic. I can't necessarily promise things won’t get sad but there’s a difference between that and obnoxious, needless angst. Hopefully.
Some characters may or may not be out of character. Please try to cut me some slack in that department. There’s like 40+ characters in this game. I can't be expected to keep them all in character all the time. I am, after all, only one man and not an entire team of writers.
Because of my insecurities and just a smidge of anxiety over asking for help I have no beta reader. So… no beta we die like men?
Fire Emblem: Three Houses and all related characters and concepts are property of Nintendo and Intelligent Systems.
And last but certainly not least, this fanfiction has three versions: one on Fanfiction Dot Net, one on Zelda Universe, and one on Bulbagarden. I highly suggest reading the Zelda Universe or Bulbagarden versions over the FF Dot Net version. They have a few neat features that the FF Dot Net version doesn’t.
That’s all for now. Future BackSet out.
Prologue
An Inevitable Encounter
An Inevitable Encounter
Byleth had no idea what had just happened. One moment, she’s standing there watching in horror, arm extended as Dimitri and Edelgard kill each other, the next reality shatters and she’s standing in the middle of a black void. She lowered her hand and glanced around. Nothing but darkness in all directions. Why did this feel so familiar?
“You absolute idiot!”
Byleth whirled around. She knew that voice. But that was impossible. She was dead. And yet, when Byleth turned around she saw her. A green haired girl sitting atop a stone throne.
“Sothis!?” Byleth exclaimed, stumbling back a bit in surprise.
“Why do you look surprised, you fool!” Sothis snapped.
“You’re supposed to be dead!” Byleth shouted, pointing aggressively at Sothis.
“Well, it turns out I might have been exaggerating a little when I said I’d die if we fused.” Sothis admitted.
“And you didn’t tell me this because?” Byleth asked, her shock fading to simple irritation.
I tried to!” Sothis replied. “Don’t you remember when you woke up from your five year sleep!”
Byleth rubbed her forehead. “That was real? I thought I was imagining things.”
“That’s ridiculous.” Sothis scoffed. “There’s no way anything like what I said could come from your thick skull.”
“Hey!” Byleth shouted. “That was unnecessary!”
Sothis slammed the arms of her throne. “It was completely necessary!” She threw her hands up in the air. “Do you even realize what is going on! What you’ve done!”
Byleth took a careful step back. She could see the anger blazing in Sothis’ eyes. The goddess appeared to grow larger but it was entirely possible this was just a trick of her mind.
“Of course you don’t.” Sothis said, exasperated. “Why would you? You're so driven by your emotions you might as well not have a brain.” She sighed and shook her head. “Guess I’ll just have to explain it to you. Your stupidity has stopped time completely and trapped the two of us outside of it.”
“How?” Byleth asked carefully.
“Upon witnessing the death of your friend you accidentally tried to use the Divine Pulse without choosing a destination.” Sothis explained. “Divine Pulse temporarily freezes time for a few seconds before you go back in time but since you didn't choose a destination, you didn’t go back in time so now time is frozen permanently and we’re both trapped here in the infinite blackness of your imbecilic mind, forever!”
“That… doesn’t make any sense.” Byleth said, more confused than before.
“It’s time travel, of course it doesn't make sense.” Sothis said as if she was talking to a child.
“So how do we get out?” Byleth asked.
“We can’t.” Sothis replied. “What part of “trapped here forever” do you not understand?”
“Obviously the part where we’re trapped here forever.” Byleth pointed out. She then adopted a more stony look. “Besides, we’re not the only ones in trouble.”
Trapped in the inky blackness, it was easy to forget that other people existed. Other people who were currently frozen in time, caught in some sort of freaky state between life and death. And it was all Byleth’s fault.
Sothis sighed. “Well, if you really think we can fix this, I’m open to suggestions.”
Byleth rested her right elbow on her left arm and placed her palm on her left cheek. She had to think. She had been in a situation like this before, hadn’t she? Back when Sothis froze time to save her life (and, by extension, her own). That felt like so long ago, probably because it was. That was when all of this had started really. What she wouldn’t give to travel back in time and start over.
Wait! Travel back in time! She had used a Divine Pulse to get into this mess, maybe she could use one to get out. She slammed her fist into her hand.
“I know how to get out of here!” She said with a confident smile. “I just need to use another divine pulse but properly this time.”
“Hmm…” Sothis hmm’d. “That just might work.”
“Alright, let’s do this then.” Byleth said. “But how far back should I go?”
That was a conundrum. She didn’t even know the limits of the ability. She’d only ever used it to go back a few minutes.
“Sothis, what’s the limit of a Divine Pulse?” She asked.
“About 12 hours.” Sothis replied. “Any farther would require a large amount of power.”
Byleth thought for a moment. This could actually be a golden opportunity. What she wouldn’t give to travel back in time and start over. That’s what she had thought to herself. Well, she did have something she could give. Maybe starting over was a realistic concept that was within her grasp. Maybe she really could travel back in time and prevent all of this from ever happening.
“I can do it.” She said.
“Do what?” Sothis asked.
“You said I would need a large amount of power to go farther back than 12 hours.” Byleth explained. “I have a large amount of power. No, not just a large amount of power, an enormous amount of power. Your power, in fact.”
“I see.” Sothis said. “You plan to use my power to exceed the limit of the Divine Pulse.”
“Yes.” Byleth said, with a determined nod. “I will use it to save everyone. To prevent this war from ever happening.”
“But where, or rather, when will you go?” Sothis asked.
“Back to the very beginning.” Byleth said. “When I first met the three house leaders and helped defend them from bandits.”
“That sounds like a solid plan.” Sothis said. “But a warning, doing this will likely require you to use all of my power. You will not be able to use Divine Pulse again after this.”
Byleth nodded. “I understand.”
She put her hands together like she was praying and took a deep breath. “Alright, here we go.” She thrust her hand into the air, fingers splayed which wasn’t strictly necessary but did look cool. “Divine Pulse!”
Using Divine Pulse was a trippy experience. For lack of a more time period appropriate analogy, it was like pressing the rewind button on a DVD player except that you were actually in the show being played. Byleth experienced the past five or six years in reverse and much faster which was actually much more boring than you’d expect considering that four or five of those years were spent in a coma at the bottom of a river. She didn’t even get to see any cool fish because her eyes were closed the whole time.
Eventually, as one might expect, she was yanked back into normal time, now in a different location five or six years from where she started. She glanced around quickly to make sure she was in the right place. Dead/injured bandits, tents, House Leaders, lack of the Sword of the Creator. Yep, this was the right place.
“You’ll die!” Shouted a gravelly voice.
As soon as she heard that sentence (if you could call it a sentence), Byleth leaped into action. She immediately interposed herself between Edelgard and the bandit leader. In one swift motion she disarmed the bandit leader and gave him a kick in the gut, knocking him backwards.
“What the hell!” The leader shouted. “How do you move so fast!?”
Byleth didn’t bother responding. She just glared at him. Her glare was perhaps her best known trait as a mercenary. The reason most people didn’t recognize her, despite her being almost as famous as Jeralt, was because people only remembered her glare.
“That’s it, I’m outta here!” The leader shouted, clearly intimidated. “I’m not getting paid enough for this!”
With that, he turned tail and ran. What few bandits were left followed him, clearly operating under the assumption that if their leader was running they should get the hell out of dodge as well. Byleth took a moment to observe the fleeing bandits before sheathing her sword.
She turned around and offered her hand to Edelgard. She didn’t take it, choosing to stand up on her own. Though the manner in which she did so wasn't as cold as Byleth had expected.
“Hey, over here!” Someone, Claude, shouted.
Byleth scanned the clearing for the Golden Deer leader and located him standing with Dimitri and Jeralt, waving to her and Edelgard. The two of them briskly strode towards the group where Dimitri was expressing his gratitude.
“Thank you again for helping us.” Dimitri said politely.
“Yeah, you really saved our skins there.” Claude said. “I thought I was done for.”
“You were done for?” Edelgard asked. “And what about us?”
“You guys were fine.” Claude said, chuckling. “They were mostly going after me.”
“That would be because you ran off.” Edelgard said.
Claude shrugged. “Hey, you’ve got to know when to make a strategic retreat.”
“Ah, so that’s what you were thinking.” Dimitri said with complete and total sincerity. “And here I thought you intended to serve as a decoy to let us get away.”
“Yeah, you did a real great job getting away by following me.” Claude snarked.
“His intentions were as clear as day.” Edelgard scoffed. “You will prove a lacking ruler if you cannot see the truth behind a person's words.”
“Hm.” Dimitri hm’d, likely trying to think of a comeback. “You will prove a lacking ruler if you look for deceit behind every word and fail to trust those whom you rely on.”
“Oh great, a royal debate between Their Highnesses.” Claude snarked. He turned to Byleth and Jeralt. “I apologize for my friends’ naivetè.”
“Naivetè!” Edelgard spluttered. “How dare you-”
Dimitri cut her off. “Edelgard, please calm yourself. It is unbecoming to bicker in the company of others.” Oh the irony.
“Thank you, Dimitri.” Claude said, smiling confidently. Apparently the concept of irony was lost on him too.
“We can deal with Claude’s punishment later.” Dimitri said, his polite expression unchanged.
“What!?” Claude exclaimed.
“That’s enough.” Jeralt interrupted. It was strange seeing him alive again. Byleth had to resist the urge to hug him. “Just who are you kids and why were you being chased by bandits?”
Oh, my apologies.” Dimitri said. “I forgot to introduce myself.” He bowed. “I am Prince Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, heir to the throne of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus. These are my associates-”
“Edelgard Von Hresvelg, Princess of the Adrestian Empire.” Edelgard said, cutting Dimitri off. “It is a pleasure to meet you.”
“And I am Claude Von Riegan.” Claude said with a cocky smile. “Heir to the Leicester Alliance and most handsome man in Fòdlan.” Byleth contested that claim. Maybe five years from now but currently, she’d met more handsome.
“Royalty?” Jeralt asked. “All the way out here? Now you’re just messing with me.”
Byleth had to admit, it was pretty unbelievable. She would probably have scoffed at the idea herself if she didn’t know it was the truth. Royalty (and Claude), all the way out in the middle of nowhere that was Remire Village. It was almost laughable.
“Hey, only these two are royalty.” Claude said, pointing at Dimitri and Edelgard with his thumb. “The Alliance has a more modern and enlightened political system.”
“Modern and enlightened?” Edelgard scoffed. “I’m surprised your system even works with all the infighting that goes on.”
“You’re one to talk, Princess.” Claude snarked.
Byleth shook her head and sighed. Everything was exactly like she remembered it.
Jeralt glanced at her and raised an eyebrow. “Hm? Something up, kid?”
“Nothing at all.” Byleth said. “Everything’s fine.”
Jeralt shrugged and turned back to the House Leaders. “Say, those uniforms. You kids wouldn't happen to be from…”
Jeralt was interrupted by a loud, booming voice that could probably be heard all the way in Almyra. “The Knights of Seiros are here! Huh? Where’d they all go?” The owner of the voice was, of course, Alois
Jeralt rubbed his temples and sighed. “Not him.”
“A friend of yours?” Byleth asked.
“Just an old acquaintance.” Jeralt replied. He raised his voice. “Everything’s fine, Alois! The bandits ran off!”
Alois turned to the company of knights he had with him. “Search the area!” He barked. “The thieves are bound to be around here somewhere!” He then called back to Jeralt. “Thank you, Captain Jeralt!”
Alois began walking towards the forest to assist with the search. Byleth had to resist the urge to count down the seconds until the realization hit. And it did indeed hit. Alois stopped mid stride and turned around.
“Captain Jeralt!” He shouted.
Alois ran over to the group of two adults and three kids. As always he had a big, goofy grin on his face, in contrast to the exasperated look on Jeralt’s face.
“Captain Jeralt!” Alois shouted again upon reaching the group, despite the fact that he was right next to them. “I can’t believe it! It’s really you! I always knew you were still alive!”
“You haven’t changed a bit, Alois.” Jeralt said in a resigned tone. “Just as loud as ever. And drop that “captain” nonsense. I’m not your captain anymore. These days I’m just a wandering mercenary. One who has work to do. Good-bye, old friend.”
“Right, Good-bye, Captain.” Alois said before doing an immediate backpedal. “Wait a minute! This isn’t how this ends! I insist that you come back to the Monastery with me!”
Jeralt’s face had resignation written all over it. “Garreg Mach Monastery. I suppose this was inevitable.”
“Anybody mind explaining?” Byleth asked.
“Oh, and who’s this?” Alois asked. He leaned down to look at Byleth, much to her annoyance. She knew she was short but this was just embarrassing.
Jeralt placed a hand on Byleth’s shoulder. “This is my daughter, Byleth.”
Byleth gave a small wave.
“A pleasure to meet you.” Alois said, grabbing Byleth’s hand without bothering to ask and giving it a firm shake. “My name is Alois, I’m your father’s old right hand man. Well, that’s how I thought of myself, anyway.”
Byleth pulled her hand away from Alois.
“I’d love for you to see the Monastery too.” Alois said. “You are coming, aren’t you?”
“I go wherever Jeralt goes.” Byleth said.
“Excellent!” Alois boomed. “Let’s get going, then!” He pointed at a nearby knight. “You there! I’m taking the students back to the Monastery! You’re in charge of the search!”
Alois began to walk off, beckoning the students and mercenaries to follow him. Byleth took a deep breath. From now on she had one mission and that was to prevent the five year war and save everyone. And maybe have a little fun along the way, assuming she had the time.
Remire village wasn’t very far from Garreg Mach Monastery, so the walk would be short but still take most of the day. This meant Byleth had time to catch up with an old friend.
(Sothis?) Byleth mentally asked. (You still there?)
“Of course I’m still here.” Sothis replied. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
(You have a habit of disappearing.) Byleth said. (Sometimes for five whole years.)
“Okay, I get your point.” Sothis said. “But you were asleep for most of that.”
(And what were you doing during all that?) Byleth asked.
“Uh… also sleeping?” Sothis admitted sheepishly. “But it wasn’t on purpose!” Sothis cleared her throat despite not technically having a throat to clear. “Anyway, what’s your plan?”
(For now, get closer to the House Leaders.) Byleth replied. (Maybe I can help keep them away from their darker urges.)
“Are you sure the Princess isn’t too far gone for that?” Sothis asked. “It seemed like she’d had this plan since before the start of the school year.”
(True.) Byleth said. (But I think I can convince her not to do it. After all, she's not so far gone yet that she'll willingly turn herself into a monster. Or at the very least she isn’t desperate enough.)
“Hey, you lot!” Alois shouted from atop a hill. Somehow he had gotten far ahead of the rest of the group. “Get up here! We’re almost to Garreg Mach!”
The group ran to catch up with him. Upon arriving atop the hill they were treated to the sight of Garreg Mach Monastery bathed in the light of a setting sun. It was almost surreal to Byleth. Not a crumbling wall or scorched building in sight.
(Well,) She thought. (Here we are. It all begins here.)
“I thought it began when you traveled back in time.” Sothis snarked.
(That was more like a prologue. This is the real beginning.)
“If you say so.”
Attachments
Last edited: