#she did it as 'seiros the warrior' but seiros is a warrior not someone who builds canals

[randomnameless]

what do you think would realistically edelgerd's fate post AG?

We know Doylist wise she was Supreme Puppet'd to have her, somehow, survive (when we know how she reacts to military defeat in AM!) and removing all of her agency - Supreme Puppet was Puppet'd, so she cannot be hold accountable for what she did as Lobotogard, or with her regressed state, cannot be accountable the things she did with her mind intact.

I've already ranted about this special plot device to make sure the waifu escapes the axe and its sexist undertones, but damn if thinking about it to this day pisses me to no ends.

Faced with Regressed!Leader, Dimitri dgaf and moves on (or rather, away from her, reminiscing of AM - he has other things to do than to linger on his relationship with Supreme Leader).

I'd say -

Dimtri dgaf and leaves her to her own devices (which would be a nod to the "parley"? Now that Supreme Leader became one of the "weaks" what is she going to do? Bootstraps or rely on a support system she so much decried?) and move to Enbarr to put an end to the War.

But thinking in more serious terms?

His bannermen, friends and people wouldn't settle for anything else than Supreme Leader's death (maybe not on the gates on Enbarr?). She's the one who started this war and had so many people killed in her imperialist bid, so the only way Supreme Leader escapes death is with the Church.

Now, Supreme Puppet'd by Thales and maybe acknowledging Supreme Leader's second crust, Rhea might be more partial to her - she had been used as a plaything by Agarthans (hopefully she developped her racist tendencies after the experiments?) - and could see her as a victim.

On the other hand, she did start this war, and had more agency than expected given how she petitionned the CoS to war against the Agarthans who infiltrated her Empire - and yet, she still launched her attack on the monastery of her own free will.

Rhea is a compassionate person (Yuri still exists even after killing her knights!) so I think, with all things considered - Supreme Leader's status as a victim of Agarthans, Supreme Puppet and Lobotogard, but also, the war she declared and planned, sacking Garreg Mach, attacking the CoS both spiritually (the Southern Church thing was meant to be a direct "contradiction?" to what she preaches?) and martially, and MAGA > Peace - I'd say Rhea'd agree on not killing Supreme Leader, but at the only condition that she remains with the CoS, in something like her sentence will be to rebuild what she destroyed and mend the wounds she caused so that she might have a different outlook on Fodlan and its people (aka, not going all "i don't mind sacrificing them to reach my goals") when she will remember what she did/who she was, and/or will not become the same "tyrant" she was when she will "grow up" (mentally speaking?).

But that's at the only condition that she never gets to rule anything ever again or hold any kind of political power returning to Adrestia/Enbarr - if those conditions aren't met, she will be executed.

(and maybe to appease the people she's now supposed to work with, Rhea will lend her some old bottle of hairdye, maybe people will not see her as the former emperor who bled the continent for her whims, but as someone who is living a new life)

Rhea might thus "request custody" of Supreme Puppet and while the Kingdom might want her dead, the Church, as the main victim of the war, can have the last say (besides Dimitri might be relieved that Supreme Leader will not be executed), however, the Church asks to everyone present to tell their people that the "Supreme Leader who declared this war of unification died and is no more", maybe taking her crown and Aymr away, as proof she's "dead".

It sounds a bit too merciful coming from Rhea, when we see her in Tru Piss and with her history as Seiros the Warrior - but post!AG!Rhea imo is in a different mood, first of all, with Thales gone there are no people who will target Nabateans because of their race (so no genocide PTSD anymore?) and/or try to make new relics, and unlike the events of FE16, Rhea spent the last few years living with humans who demonstrated they could be trustworthy and actually helped her when she was in need (tfw Rhea doesn't know about Dimitro).

I can see her having more faith in humans and a future in Fodlan for everyone post!AG, as Dimitri and the Kingdom people seem to be trustworthy, than in FE16 when all of the events we play through in WC are basically triggering her genocide trauma (people hunting bones and crest stones, killing Jerry, turning her beloved wards in demonic beasts, some people targeting her for no plausible reason (unless the Western Church knew she had pointy ears?), Hresvelg becoming the new Nemesis, etc...)

That being said...

If Clout tries, during the epilogue, to take a shot at Rhea - when people are celebrating the end of the war - I cannot see things not turning sour for him.

Granted, if you want realism, Clout and GW cannot function because they expect the people involved to be completely stupid, but for this AU's sake, let's say Clout and Dimitro had their heart to heart in Zahrofl, he holds her at Failnaught range and demands her death/resignation/removal of her church.

If he shots and kills her (because Rhea would have dropped her guard, thinking she is surrounded by allies!), I cannot see anyone/anything preventing Claude from being dismembered/slaughtered in the seconds after Rhea's death - not even Dimitro because, hey, Clout said he will accept the consequences of his actions to "change" Fodlan, right? - by Church forces, Kingdom forces and, if we want to push the realism card, even Alliance forces (why the fuck did he do that? Maybe it's a weird doppelganger like those dark mages use! Or Erwin will behead him himself - sure this guy did that, but he doesn't represent the Alliance!).

In the chaos and confusion following Rhea's death, Supreme Leader is executed ("if she never started her war, nothing like this would have ever happened") and Fodlan is fucked when Sothis eventually pops up.

If Clout only holds Rhea at "Failnaught range" and she wonders wtf and asks him to explain - while the entire host of people from, again, the Kingdom, the CoS and KoS, the former BL and maybe some peeps from the GD and Leicester are there - Clout gives his bonker

"Who steals your freedom and gives you an endless list of duties and obligations simply because you have a Crest? Who forces you and your friends into a bunch of unwanted marriages and positions of power? The church even forbids any official contact with outside regions! Not exactly great for Faerghus, right? Being as close to Sreng and Albinea as you are."

reasons, Rhea's first reaction might be to crush him (because now she's on guard!) but if Dimitro says this is not a matter partaining to Faerghus and would rather stay aside (which would throw a wrench in Rhea's previous belief that humanity can be trusted again!) the CoS/Kos, Kingdom and Alliance people might just call crap and bullshit and debunk his baseless accusations (rekindling Rhea's faith in people and Fodlan?) from Annette telling him that they already trade with Albinea, Duscur generals and even Dedue telling him they witnessed the Church helping them regardless of their place of birth, Ingrid saying that her marriage to Glenn had not be organised or planned by the Church, but out of the affection they both had for each other and Ashe telling him those obligations and duties he seems to resent don't exist because he has a crest, but out of a genuine desire to help people.

Maybe we can add Judith wondering wtf is going on with Clout-boy, has he forgotten people get responsabilities and duties because they want them or because Nobility exists well beyond Fodlan's borders? "And I thought you had more common sense than this!"

A Goneril bannerman/loldier might add that the Archbishop asked them to treat Almyran as something else than nuisances and parasites when she came to visit and left with an Almyran kid in tow, but hey - they always attack them for no reason and create strife in Goneril for no reason, haven't they attacked just before the Academy closed?

Basically everyone debunking his claims, Clout realising that said claims were sprouted from his ass so he gets some tissue and wipes it clean.

Clout then relents (tfw no allies to support him) and the Alliance's roundtable finally vote to elect a branch member of the Riegan fam as head of the House - Clout leaves Failnaught and departs "somewhere far away".

(maybe he returns as Almyra's King later on, or as a crown prince, with a treaty/offer of peace, wishing for prosperity between the two lands).

-> all jokes aside and in a more serious setting, even with Dimitro not outwardly condemning him, Clout's course of action would be frowned upon by every party - Alliance included - and depending on his involvment, Dimitro himself might be challenged by his vassals/friends "Sure it's not about Faerghus' safety, but are we really going to let this guy target and ice and bring more chaos by eliminating our ally - who repaid our hospitality with kindness and supported our war efforts - when the Alliance refused to assist us when the Empire swore to Make Adrestia Great Again and warred against us?"

Granted, in this more serious setting, Dimitro doesn't exist because the plot doesn't bend backwards to accomodate Clout so...

Even if Clout doesn't try to ice Rhea asap and waits maybe 8 months after GM's recovery and the end of the war, I cannot see the Lords of the Alliance - when they can try to do "business as usual" with the former Adrestia lands - endorse a military campaing against the Church to, uh, decalcify Fodlan's current order to put YOLO in place. Clout suggesting this is basically handing to Erwin/anyone reason enough to depose him from his seat as Riegan's representative (the alliance has more to win with rebuilding Adrestia/Fodlan than to wage a pointless war that will alienate everyone and leave their backs open to an Almyran attack), and he either runs away to Almyra or dies in a pointless attempt to start a civil war/rebellion to garner troops to target the Church.

For sure this looks like an ideal "and everything ends good AU!" but in a more serious setting, where people have common sense and don't suddenly hold idiot plot balls to make sure Clout seems to have a point... his POV doesn't hold under scrutiny and no one can normally follow him, unless they have another agenda (Make Leicester Great Again?)

#anon #replies #3 nopes #tbh if you want a serious setting in Nopes #erase GW from the plot #while I can see an alliance with Adrestia I can't see the Federation existing without serious civil unrest in Leicester #we bow to no king and no emperor cannot be overthrown in one night by Clout who listened to Barney #in b4 Supreme Leader when she recovers her memories still want to throw a continental war to unify the world #it will depend on how far in MAGA + lizards bad Supreme Leader was before the experiments #Rhea's anger at Supreme Leader is qualmed in this AG AU bcs she realises Supreme Leader was puppet'd by Agarthans #and yet actions have consequences #let her heal and help the ones she maimed #what happens in Adrestia though? I guess it's under Faerghus' jurisdiction #and it either becomes a hell hole or is a temporary hell hole until some random becomes Emperor or tris to make a government #maybe a republic? Even if we know how they end in the FE verse... #sorry anon i disgressed on clout when you asked about supreme puppet but #they go hand in hand in this game #and i happened on a fanfic i'm not fond of so here goes

[fantasyinvader]

I started a new playthrough of VW in order to see how much the game relied on it's voice acting, and let me tell you Claude's voice carries a different weight in the Japanese. A lot less jokey.

But while doing this, I noticed something. When the Flame Emperor meets Kostas, Kostas says this: "What is this nonsense?! All I was told was to kill as many noble pipsqueaks as possible! No one said anything about the Knights of damned Seiros being on our trail!"

It makes it sound like Kostas did not understand where his targets actually were from, he didn't know that they were involved with the Academy and would be under the protection of the Knights of Seiros. An NPC in the Abyss, a survivor of his gang, will say something similar following Kostas's death. Quote "Kostas never meant to attack the church! He was tricked!"

So from this we can surmise Edelgard left out details about the mission. Despite that, look at how she replies.

"You have proven yourself worthless. Distracted by something so trivial. I had hoped you would achieve your goal despite the setback. But now a child of the knights' former captain is in play. How interesting." The Japanese is a bit more blunt "It's because you guys messed up. Overwhelmed by petty diversions. I thought I would still be able to achieve my goal, but… the child of the former Knight Commander, huh? I'll do it."

Edelgard views dealing with the Knights of Seiros, some of the most elite warriors on the continent, as a trival matter. A "setback" that random bandits could overcome. Later on, she follows up with "Underestimating the knights was an amateur mistake. One you will pay for. The road to eternal torment awaits you all." UNDERESTIMATING? Kostas and his band didn't know who the Knights were, so how could they underestimate them? If anything, EDELGARD was the one who underestimated them and her plan didn't work but she's instead pinning the blame on her assassin. Granted, I put the Japanese text and the underestimate part seems to be an addition. It goes something like "The Church is no longer merciful. You guys are going to hell."

Then look at Kostas's lines when facing the Lords in chapter 2. In the Japanese, he declares the Lords "A noble kid who knows no hardships! This time, die quietly!" with each Lord having a follow up. Edelgard's is "If you know the hardships, can you kill the other person? It's scrap after all." I'm a little perplexed about this line. I think it goes deeper than her translated line. "Do you really think being born a commoner gives you the right to kill? Despicable." It's Edelgard calling someone out on believing that since they've known hardships in their life, it gives them a right to take lives. It's less to do with class and sounds nice… but it's completely hypocritical when it comes out Edelgard's mouth. We're on the BE route, where we learn about what Edelgard has been through before she's revealed as the Flame Emperor. After all, the reason why Kostas was targetting the students in the first place was because Edelgard hired him to do so, and since we're on the BE route we get to learn about her hardships before she's unmasked as the Flame Emperor.

Claude's is also worth pointing out, "Aristocrats have the hardships of aristocrats. I just found out recently." He's already starting to realize things about Fodlan he never before realized. Dimitri makes it clear he has suffered hardships with his. "Unfortunately, that is not the case. ……You should regret what you have done."

So, her interactions with Kostas is not really a good showing for Edelgard. And before someone tries to go "But Teacher Theory says…" Kostas did scare off the teacher. Under your theory, he did what Edelgard wanted him to do and Edelgard still told him he failed and left him to die. Still hiring someone with directions to kill her classmates, then leaving the guy to his death while she goes off to hire more bandits as "replacements" which seems to include the guy who threatened to eat the students.

[derekscorner]

Fiery Opinions: Warrior Hopes~

haha It’s been nearly a year since I’ve done one of these but not for lack of playing Fire Emblem but because I haven’t played anything new. It’s my own fault for not tracking down older titles but that’s a bridge I’ll worry about another day.

Well, okay, that’s a half truth. I have played both Warrior spin offs since then though I never made a post for the first Warriors game because I didn’t get too far into it. Something about the game just did not hook me.

I actually had a similar issue with the first Zelda Warriors title. Something about the first LoZ and Fire Emblem Warriors titles do not draw me in. I almost started this by saying that the stories they offered were dull but I didn’t play them far enough to truly judge them on a subjective level.

In fact, it wasn’t until beating the main endings of 3 Hopes (with and without Byleth recruited) that I realized the issue. Focus.

More Focused Outings

Age of Calamity and 3 Hopes take an established, specific, entry in those series and expand it. This is what I needed since I am more interested in seeing what these specific groups do in new settings as opposed to making a new setting then throwing series legacies into it with time/space excuses.

I also think I gave this title more love than the others because 3 Houses was my first Fire Emblem. I have a greater investment in seeing what lives these kids live and what new interactions I will get.

Granted, I am still a little disappointed that this spin off was a warriors title. Even if unlikely I had hoped for a spin off similar to the base game, ie a tactical rpg. An alternative story to take Byleth through but that didn’t happen or even just the devs picking one route to flesh out.

Alas, this did not come to pass but speaking of story~

3 Hopes Story

Despite what I had hoped to get this game had a decent story. Shez offered a believable break in the timeline and I do think the way each route plays out from that break works.

Shez’s presence not only causes Byleth to miss their fated meeting with the house leaders but causes ‘Those who slither in the dark’ to be exposed far earlier due to Edelgard seizing that opportunity.

From there each leader has to rush home for events sparked by Edelgard’s actions as she forced the Agarthan’s to retaliate. The only leader that feels a bit weak in this regard is Claude.

I’m sure the Agarthans are the cause but it still feels random for an Almyran invasion to happen in this timeline when it didn’t in the base game. I only say that because I find it hard to believe that the Agarthans would have a means to spark such action when both they and the church of Seiros only care about Fodlan.

To the extent that the church’s doctrine pushes isolationism. Agartha itself only cares about revenge and leaving Fodlan in chaos as well. Oh well, it’s a minor issue at best since I do know they’re masters of infiltration and instigated incidents in Duscar and Sreng respectively.

I just find it hard to believe that someone as pathetic/desperate as Shahid would even need Agarthan prodding to invade I guess. If he invaded in 3 Hopes for vanity I see no reason he wouldn’t have in 3 Houses for similar.

Likewise, I highly doubt there’s any Agarthan that’d bother to infiltrate the Almyran upper class based on what I just listed.

More Story yet Less

I also do not wish to sound like I’m complaining. I do think the story was good. The whole point of this spin off was familiar cast in new situations and I enjoyed it for that reason.

However, I also can’t deny that 3 Hopes (like 3 Houses) suffered a little from splitting the story three ways.

Sure, on my first route (I chose Golden Deer) I enjoyed seeing Claude reshape the Alliance into a Federation. I liked the side mission that ended with Claude telling Judith the truth and I liked Nader’s bullsh*t excuses to keep tagging along whenever he could even if I found his presence unbelievable for most of them. (he fully broke my suspension for disbelief when he “borrowed” a navy lol)

I even liked seeing cast in situations they didn’t expect or didn’t want. Ignatz is a good example since he couldn’t follow his painter dream in this timeline.

Next I chose Edelgard and enjoyed routing the Agarthan’s early. I enjoyed Monica’s down bad lesbian antics and I even enjoyed watching Bernadetta’s father squirm in constant panic. (As Hubert said; it couldn’t have happened to a better man)

However, it was half way through Edelgard’s story that I noticed that the major story beats weren’t all that different.

The stories will have differences along the way or different endings but they do not truly diverge. For example, in Claude’s route he becomes a king and the alliance a federation.

Yet in Edelgard or Deimitri’s route the major actions Claude takes are the same. He’s just not a king in those timelines. It’s still an alliance but the major outcomes the nation takes do not differ.

House Glauster’s betrayal is always temporary, Arianrhod still swaps hands a few times, there’s always a distraction that forces the leaders to rush home, etc.

Hell, even the endings technically end on the same note whether you recruit Byleth or not. The war doesn’t end with only Claudes story ending on a possible note that they will.

Some characters will live or die based on you, and Rhea’s fate may vary, but the major plays are always the same and Fodlan stays locked in war in all endings.

It was only on Dimitri’s route that I realized the story is the same and what’s really changing is your perspective in that war. Whoever you side with as Shez gives you a front row seat and thus exposes you more to each nations dealings but the major events won’t shift.

Even recruiting Byleth only seemed to save one key support character each route. You’d get more supports and minor stuff but nothing world shaking.

The closest I got to a divergence was Edelgard being left mind-broken at the end of Dimitri’s route. In other routes Rhea and/or Thales always die, the war never ends with a clear victor.

And I admittedly found that disappointing. I had fun going through each story and seeing the personal shifts but I could not escape the feeling that I was just replaying the same story from different angles. I wish the house I picked at least won the war in their respective endings...

As for the Byleth aspect, I thought I’d complain more but it’s fine really. I hoped they’d impact change more and there’s even some routes that make more sense with them dead or alive.

But I just can’t bring myself to nitpick it because I enjoyed Byleth the most. I liked all the new interactions and situations the characters were in but Byleth was by far the best one.

They have an actual personality now. I genuinely can’t tell you how much I liked having Byleth speak, express stuff, try to human, or their supports with Jeralt.

Byleth

It was weird at first but good lord I wish this was the Byleth I got in 3 Houses. They still do not talk or emote on what you’d call a normal level but that is within the confines of their backstory.

Byleth is a plank by circumstance. What made it tolerable in 3 Hopes as opposed to 3 Houses is that they visibly try. They talk. They have likes, dislikes, etc.

The supports with Jeralt make it even more endearing as he elaborates on Sitri and how alike Byleth is to their mother. Both even remark on slight changes or being recruited to your army.

There’s even a paralogue where Jeralt, Byleth, Alois, Leonie, and Shez go on a mission and banter is made among them. Alois and Leonie mostly blow smoke up Jeralt’s ass but Byleth does chime in and all three agree how they’re akin to siblings due to Jeralt looking after them at some point.

I also enjoyed seeing Byleth talk to Sothis. They weren’t fully amicable nor hostile. Just them having shared voice lines was nice.

Of them all, I enjoyed Byleth talking to Shez the most. Their C support is hilarious!

Speaking of Shez~

Shez

As far as insert characters go I genuinely like Shez but I’d also argue they’re their own character. In fact, I’m glad that could be.

The insert characters seemed to grow weaker each title starting with Robin who had a semblance of a personality all the way to Byleth who flat out didn’t speak. I found this a shame, I won’t lie.

Sure, Corrin also had a personality but they’re so naive that I just can not place myself in their shoeless steps. This made Shez easy to play in the story. There may be a few optional dialogue prompts here and there but they act more like chances to increase support than anything else.

For the entire game Shez expresses their own personality, dialogue, and goals. Shez and Arval both are actual characters in my eyes and it made me wish for future leads to be their own character.

Hell, I finished my first route with Byleth recruited and wished that the Byleth I got in 3 Hopes was the Byleth I played in 3 Houses. I’ve repeated this desire once but that’s just how much I preferred the emotional stunted, but vocal, Byleth.

Fire Emblem truly should have actual characters as leads in my opinion.

Arval

All that praise said, I do have issue an with Shez’s role in the story and it boils down to Arval. I do not feel they properly explain what Arval is. Sure, I now know he’s a creations of Epimenides, an Agarthan. Arval’s desire to slay Byleth is rooted in that creation.

You even get hints that Shez was possibly implanted with Epimenides “core” at some point. My issue is that you learn little else beyond that. We get hints or comments about Shez’s adoptive mother and we can assume she’s Agarthan due to in-game dialogue but they never expand on these facts.

Did Shez’s mom implant Arval into Shez? Was Shez made into Epimenidies vessel only for their foster mother to disagree and runaway with Shez? Or was Shez and their adoptive mother some part of a long term plan Epimenidies himself created?

We do not know. All that we know is that Arval is Epimenidies method to escape death. We know that Shez’s biological family does not exist and we know that the woman who raised them was Agarthan or served them.

The very fact that the Agarthans themselves do not know what or who Shez is also raises flags. The only one to recognize Shez’s powers is Myson and even he doesn’t understand why Shez has them.

The two extra chapters you get when recruiting Byleth also answers very little. Epimenidies just...randomly appears? Decides he’s going to fulfill his goal and essentially hijacks Arval. Annoyingly, Arval doesn’t even resist it.

Then Shez and the house leaders get sucked into the darkness of Zaharas to battle Epimenidies, you win, and go home. It’s this random ass detour in the plot and doesn’t answer anything.

Shez, somehow, keeps the powers and everyone goes back to their war all hunky dory. The only one who remarks anything substantial from this is Byleth themselves. Having their own inner voice to fend off they at least offer kind words and forgiveness.

It all just feels so random and I felt like it obstructed the story flow with no reward. Even if they offered DLC later I don’t think it’ll fix this issue.

If anything, I wish Arval was a non-factor. Shez on their own would’ve been a fine way to split the story.

Did we even need Shez?

Is a question that my feelings on Arval kept instilling in me. I do not hate Shez, I hope I made that clear, but I do wonder if they were needed. They’re easily the best player insert in ages precisely because they have their own personality but I also felt their (and arvals) backstory weighed it down.

At times throwing the story off beat randomly.

I also have this bias of 3 Hopes Byleth. The Byleth 3 Hopes gave me was so welcome that I just wish Byleth was the lead of this spin off. I can’t help but imagine how fun it’d be to have this story and it’s three routes but with a Byleth that talks.

However, given that “fighting the Ashen Demon” was a draw of this spin off I also feel like this would only be a slightly better change.

Objectively, I finished my final route wondering why the house leaders themselves weren’t the leads of this spin off. It’s not like 3 Hopes needs a deep reason to branch it’s timeline. The house leaders just have to avoid meeting Byleth in Remire village.

There’s lots of ways to make this not happen. You could’ve still have Byleth as an enemy you could recruit as well since the Jeralt Mercenaries are hired by opposing armies several times.

I think I would have preferred this the most. Three routes in which I control the actual leaders of those routes. Seeing more of their backstories first hand, seeing their characters in new situations without their professor to guide them.

Most importantly, since the story is nearly identical in all three routes it would’ve made more sense to just be seeing each route from the leaders eyes. Shez works perfectly fine but if you’re going to do the same story from three perspectives I’d rather just be the central characters of those perspectives.

I wanna be Claude trying to change Fodlan, I wanna be Dimitri seeking the truth, I wanna be in Edelgards shoes as she plots her war. etc.

It’s weird since I like Shez but I earnestly think the story would’ve worked better to just have the house leaders as...well the leads of their routes. Or pluck out the Arval subplot and I think the story would’ve flowed fine with just Shez.

Still, as is, Shez and the story are fine. I think such ideas would improve it but my only objective gripe is the lack of diversity in the story or that said story doesn’t really end.

I did very much enjoy the new supports or situations these characters were in so I’ll end the story impressions here.

Game-play

As for game-play I feel that I can’t add much. I suck at Warrior games. I often play them on easy due to this. There’s just something about the panic that makes it hard for me to enjoy the game-play.

I literally can’t stand or resist minor panic when I’m doing one thing only for the game to scream at me that some objective on the opposite end of the map needs attention. I will rage quit if this objective is mission ending because I feel like I got blindsided.

I also find it difficult to manage the vast cast a Warrior title gives you. One reason I stopped Fire Emblem Warriors was due to the sheer number of characters, stats, and rpg elements it threw at me all at once.

Thankfully 3 Hopes takes some pity on me by restricting your roster to the route and those you recruit along the way. But even then I felt overwhelmed at first. I am not a man meant to micromanage or control large groups.

I also have to praise 3 Hopes for it’s classes since I could swap out a units class if I didn’t like the gameplay style. (I hated playing mage classes)

Then there was the three renown characters. You can buy them after finishing one run but I quickly abandoned them because they’re limited to your mission select.

You can’t buy Arval and take him through a story route meaning you can’t use the Training Center or Activities to increase his supports or class levels which disappointed me greatly.

I know they aren’t technically story canon but if I’m on NG+ and have unlocked them I want to use them. I simply do not have the patience to grind their supports and classes in mission replays.

This only hit me harder when I unlocked the Gatekeeper and seen that I could use him in any route. I was both happy and sad at the same time.

I hope they remedy that one day but who knows if this game will even get DLC. If it does get DLC I think it needs story related updates more urgently anyway.

Another thing I am of two minds on is the base. On the one hand, I like having a hub to walk around and talk to characters. On the other hand, it’s a real grind to get your base facilities all leveled and I was often drug back to base in the early game which irked me.

My only gripe with the 3 Houses hub was the calendar but 3 Hopes hub wore me down over my play-thoughs. Looking back I think it’s a game that would’ve benefited more from having a menu navigation similar to what Age of Calamity or FE Warriors 1 did.

Some tedium would remain but it would’ve been a bit more snappy. Perhaps it would’ve also been wise to not lock some base functions behind a leveling system.

I didn’t manage to unlock the effects of relics until the end of my first route which was sad in terms of mechanics and my own ability managing the facilities.

To be honest I feel like I should add more but, as stated, I suck at these titles and only play Easy so I don’t have a grander grasp to judge deep mechanics. At best I can say that I really like how 3 Hopes and Age of Calamity make the hallways of maps more narrow.

Trying to manage the vast expanses of FE and LoZ Warriors 1 added to my stress. So their successors having more narrow hallways helped. lol

Conclusion

I think it was a fun what if but I have trouble enjoying Warrior game-play. I wish the story was a bit more varied and while I like Shez I question the necessity.

In the end, there is one thing that I truly loved from the entire experience, and that was seeing Byleth be an actual person.

I wish I had a 3 Houses game or even another spin off with this Byleth. Let them be their own being. Let me see them slowly become more lively like how Jeralt said Sitri did.

At the very least, give this game another story route so that I can play this Byleth. Please, I am literally begging here!

P.S. My fave unit to use was Gatekeeper btw. Truly best boi!

P.S.S. Also the new designs for the Fodlan crew are so good, why didn’t Byleth get one!?

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Editors Note: This is part six of my trip through fire emblem. You’ll find the others here: Fiery Opinions <–(link)

#fiery opinions #fire emblem #fe #fe warriors three hopes #fire emblem warriors

[philliamwrites]

The Dawn Will Come [Chpt.3]

Fandom: Fire Emblem Three Houses

Pairing: Dimitri x Reader, Claude x Reader, Edelgard x Reader, Yuri x Reader, Edelgard x Byleth, lots of minor pairings

Tags: #gn reader, # platonic love byleth & reader, #reader is a tactical unit, #angst, #slow burn, #subplots, #unreliable narrator, #pining, #remporary amnesia, #reluctant herp, #canon divergence, #lost twin au, #many chapters, #original content

Words: 7.7k

Summary: Waking up in a forest without any knowledge of your past and who you are, you join the house leaders of the Officers Academy to search for a way to return your memories. Unfortunately, the church has different plans for you, and Fate places you in the centre of a cruel game with deadly stakes. It certainly doesn’t help to fall in love with a house leader who is doomed to be your demise.

Notes: Chapter 2 | Chapter 4

Chapter 03: Ties That Bind

Where war, and joy, and terror Have all at times held away; Where both delight and horror Have had their fitful day.

The happiest under heaven A king of powerful mind; A company so proven Would now be hard to find

Gawain put on a good cheer. ‘Why should I hesitate?’ He said. ‘Kind or severe, We must engage our Fate.’

[Sir Gawain and the Green Knight]

    „Breathe,“ Hanneman says for the third time. At every tap of his pen against the table, you flinch as if someone is knocking right against the inside of your skull. “You have to feel the Crest, become one with it. Don’t think of it as an addition; see it as an extension of your very self.”

    You exhale but it’s hard to focus after you’ve been sitting in the same position for nearly two hours and your legs keep falling asleep.

    “Focus on it,” Hanneman continues. He starts to gesture with his free hand, an indicator that he’s just as frustrated with your lack of progress as you are. “Focus on the feeling that took hold of you when you fought the bandits. Imagine what you want. Ask yourself what it is you really want, and take hold of that picture.”

    Well, first of all, you really want a sandwich.

    For the past few weeks, you’ve been waking up before sunrise to attend private lessons with Hanneman to get a hold of your Crest’s power. Now the end of the month approaches, and still your body refuses to get accustomed to work at such an early hour, and more importantly without eating first. An hour ago, your stomach started growling, but Professor Hanneman has proved again and again to be very successful in ignoring factors that disturb his lessons. You continue breathing through what you consider hunger pains instead of the raise of new powers, but with the sound of screaming students outside and the occasional flapping of wings as Pegasus Knights fly by on their patrol, it’s anything but successful.

    “Focus!” Hanneman chides again as if he can read your mind and knows exactly you’re thinking of the pheasant roast with berry sauce on the menu today.

    “I’m trying,” you groan and slump into the chair, defeated. “But I don’t feel anything.”

    “Hmm hmmm,” Hanneman hums and looks at you like you were supposed to understand what he’s conveying with that sound. “Maybe we’re looking at it the wrong way,” he says once you don’t follow up on his inexplicable sound. “Maybe we should stop thinking of it as a common Crest, but approach it like it is something entirely different.” He quickly notes something on his paper, then proceeds to flip through the open books he’s splayed out on his desk. “There is so little we know about the Crest of the Herald. I am much frustrated no one thought of studying it a thousand years ago!”

    “I don’t understand. How can it be different?” Your first lesson solely focused on Crests. How they are thought to be power incarnate, bestowed upon humans by the Goddess countless ages ago. Today those who are descendants of Fódlan’s Ten Elites and Four Saints, who fought during the War of Heroes beside Saint Seiros, wear Crests, a sign of wealth and nobility.

    “Well, one possible explanation could be that for whatever reason, the first Herald was different from his fellow warriors, the Ten Elites,” Hanneman offers, leaning back into his chair and looking a lot more interested in the conversation now. “The Goddess must have found him worthy of her power just as she found Saint Seiros worthy.”

    “Then why wasn’t he a Saint?” you wonder. From your understanding, the Four Saints were special comrades of Saint Seiros, just as guided by the Goddess as their leader. What had made the Herald from back then different? “According to everything you told me, he sounds a lot like this Macuil person. Focusing on strategy and all that.”

    “Saint Macuil,” Hanneman corrects you, but there’s no bite in his voice. “And yes, perhaps he was akin to the Saints, but that clearly wasn’t what determined the final decision to name him Herald.”

    “Well, that’s just my kind of luck,” you mumble, but when Hanneman makes a puzzled sound, you ask instead, “And you’re sure I’m a descendant of him?”

    “Most likely! You bear a Major Crest, which means the Herald’s blood runs strong in your body. After he disappeared, he might have settled down and started a family. Unfortunately, nothing is recorded about him after the War of Heroes concluded.”

    “Then how come there was no one else in a thousand years who bore the same Crest?” You aren’t sure you fully understand how they work. Apparently, Crests grant special powers to those who hold them such as high aptitude for magic or enhanced strength. But you know better than anyone that the Crest of the Herald is special. It doesn’t simply give you a boon, it allows you to command the flow of battle. But is it really a blessing bestowed by the Goddess? You don’t remember a divine revelation or talking to a Goddess. Or did that maybe occur even before you were found by the Officers Academy’s students? Before your memory loss? You certainly don’t feel chosen by a deity.

    “Trying to explain the Goddess’ whims would wield about the same result as asking this question,” Hanneman says. “Sometimes a Crest may skip generations. No one can say with certainty who will be chosen. If it will be the first or third born. That is why we must further study Crests! For example, why, unlike other Crests, has your appeared physically visible?” Hanneman mutters more questions under his breath and notes them quickly on his paper. It’s remarkable how enthusiastic he approaches the topic if it only didn’t make you feel like an experiment lying on a dissection table.

    “I want to know so much more about the first Herald,” you mumble. “What was his name? Where was he from?” Why did he disappear and what were the costs he had paid for such a title. Only one month in and Lady Rhea already granted you an impressive room to reside. People treat you with respect and admiration even though you aren’t doing much besides wave at them on the streets or hold some conversations. If being the Herald only encompasses these tasks, you’ll gladly take on the role and speak to people. But that would be a dream too good to be true.

    “We can only speculate,” Hanneman says. “Some believe the Herald came when Seiros needed him most. Our Goddess’ answer to her cry of help. Others believe he was simply a general who originated form a farmer’s family. Other, smaller sources talk about a prince from a far off land who passed through Fódlan and decided to stay. But in all cases, the Herald was a great asset to win the War of Heroes and save Fódlan from the tyranny of the Fell King.”

    “Yeah, no pressure there,” you mumble, sinking further into your seat. Hopefully no one expects you to save Fódlan from evil monarchs. If yes, it certainly won’t happen on an empty stomach. When Hanneman releases you, there’s only one place for you to be. The Dining Hall is crowded at this time of hour. Students and faculty bustle everywhere, eager to get their favourite meal on a plate. Just like them, you are drawn in by the amazing smell of roasted meet and freshly baked pastries.

    The only thing you can live without is how once you enter the room several heads turn in your direction, and a ripple of “Look, it’s the Herald” goes through the crowd, spreading like a wave. Or a disease, you think with a sour taste in your mouth as you move through the parting sea. They want you to acknowledge them but Goddess forbid you actually engage in conversation with them and they flee like you’re the Herald of Pest.

    “Herald!” Well, not everyone escapes. Some seem to like living dangerous.

    Edelgard looks straight at you from between the other students from the Eagle class sitting at a table, removing any doubt she means anyone else but you. Running from her would be a sign of defeat, so you drag yourself over to the Eagle table and give the round an uncertain smile. “Hello.”

    “Herald, if you have time, please sit with us,” Edelgard offers but the look she pins on you doesn't give you any choice. The silence of her classmates speaks louder than words, and a quick glance to Hubert tells you that he very much would like for you to notsit with them.

    “Sure,” you say lamely and sit opposite from her where Bernadetta quickly shuffles to the side to make room, and then further down the bench until she jumps to her feet and flees from the hall. It’s a miracle she’s out of her chambers in the first place, undoubtedly Byleth’s work.

    “Did you manage any progress with Professor Hanneman?” Edelgard asks, carefully cutting her pheasant roast into small bite-sized pieces. She looks the complete opposite from someone capable of hacking away their enemies but you wouldn’t dare to underestimate her.

    “It’s slow,” you admit, solely focusing on shoving potatoes from one side of your plate to the other so you don’t have to look at anyone. “I’ve only grasped the basics of how Crests work and the Herald’s is so different.”

    “Research might prove more fruitful if you’d be called into action,” she says, and it’s difficult to determine if that statement is a simple observation or underlying critique towards Rhea’s decision to leave you out of the major education system. At least that’s something you’re sure of. Edelgard is difficult.

    “Maybe. But chances are higher I get myself killed somehow on the battlefield.” You’re already dreading the approaching noon hours. Byleth has worked out a special training programme for you and the house leaders. So far there hasn’t been a day without aching muscles and bruises for you. Thinking of Byleth, you can’t help but ask, “So how’s Byleth as a Professor?”

    Edelgard considers her plate with mild interest, but her index fingers start tapping against her cutlery. She has small, delicate hands. Cute hands. You gawk at them for two seconds before noticing Hubert starring daggers at you, and quickly avert your eyes to your cup of ginger tea like it’s the most fascinating thing in the world.

    “Our professor shows knowledge in the most curious things,” he says, surprising you by joining the conversation. “I think the Adrestian Empire will benefit greatly from that.”

    You aren’t sure how leading the class correlates directly to joining the Empire, but you don’t want to point that out. Hubert is still too much of a puzzle you’re adamant on not piecing together because whatever picture waits for you after the assembly might be one of horror.

    “She really is one to look up to,” Edelgard agrees, but she isn’t looking at anyone, so it seems she’s saying it more to herself. You want to try and read more out of her expression, but distraction comes quickly in form of more students from the Eagle class. Caspar is the first bouncing excitedly towards the table, and still he somehow miraculously manages to keep his food from flying everywhere. “Herald!” he calls and slides right on the seat right next to you. “How’s the head situation going?”

    “Caspar,” Linhardt chides and gives his friend the disappointed look of a parent that can’t bring his child to use a fork to eat. “Would you stop pestering the Herald with the same question every day?”

    Linhardt hits the mark. It was nice in the beginning to have someone show so much interest in your wellbeing, but now you don’t know if the daily reminder how you fail to regain pieces of your past is rude or just Caspar’s naive politeness.

    “Yeah well.” You try to stuff as much potatoes in your mouth as possible just to avoid talking about it. “Nothin’ yeff.”

    “Herald, please try to keep your manners in check, will you?” Ferdinand comments because of course he catches you with your mouth full and sauce dripping from the corners. Unlucky for him, you don’t really care.

    “Well, sorry.” Caspar frowns and scratches the remains from his plate. The two minutes you needed to finish your potatoes, he’s cleared his whole plate. “I just thought it might help.”

    “Help to be reminded what’s missing?” Linhardt doesn’t look convinced. “I think the Herald knows so better than anyone.”

    “Guys, drop the subject,” Edelgard intervenes. “Let us finish our meals now. Classes resume presently and I don’t want to hear any stomachs growling, understood?” The last part goes with a pointed look towards Linhardt, who answers with a lazy shrug while continuing to poke at his food, looking bored out of his mind. It lasts about three seconds before he brightens up and turns towards you while rummaging through his school bag. From that, he pulls out notes and a pen, and unceremoniously shoves them into your hands. “I have a question, Herald. Would you be so kind and look over these strategic proposals I’ve developed from the last lesson? I understand what you taught us were basics as we find them in the library. I simply took the time and applied those to the strengths and abilities of my classmates.”

    You raise your eyebrows. “You did?” Up until now, you didn’t know Linhardt was paying attention whenever you gave the students your sorry excuses of lessons. You feel like you’ve seen him asleep far more than actually looking at the board or writing, so him presenting his notes to you now is more than a surprise. He has a clean handwriting, small letters that curl into themselves and forget to take a break between words. You squint at the sentences, trying to make them out. It sure doesn’t help that half of it is crossed out by what looks like a strategy sketch with little circles and everyone’s names filling out the space.

    “This looks … elaborate,” you comment, unsure if you’ll ever be able to solve this enigma.

    “No worries.” Linhardt gives a little smile. “Please give me your answer report until tomorrow. And feel free to correct me on anything I’ve done wrong.”

    He’s probably done a much better job than you on your lesson notes, but you nod with a lopsided smile. “I will.”

    “Oh, and while we’re at strategy talk,” Caspar jumps right in, “any good ideas how to take on a taller opponent?”

    “A good kick to their shins?” you suggest.

    “A dagger to their liver?” Edelgard says.

    “Poison in their cup?” Hubert offers.

    “You’re all animals,” Ferdinand says.

    Linhardt groans. “I toldyou how to win in a fight like that, Caspar. Why won’t you listen to me?”

    You don’t want to be part of the argument breaking out between them, so you turn away and try to see what the other students are doing in the dining hall. At the opposite end, Claude catches your eyes and waves like he’s been waiting way too long to finally get your attention. He points at Edelgard and flaps his arms like a chicken. He points at you and spreads his hands behind his head, forming antlers with his fingers. When Edelgard follows your eyes, his head whips around and he pretends to agree with whatever Lysithea just said.

    “I hope you forgive Caspar’s enquiries,” she says, steering your focus back to her. She’s gently tapping the corners of her mouth with an embroidered napkin, and oh there they are again, her delicate fingers. You look away before Hubert catches you staring again and decides to put poison in your cup7. “I speak on behalf of everyone in the Black Eagle House when I say we wish for your full recovery to be soon.”

    “If wishing would only get the job done, I might have something to work with by now.”

    Edelgard doesn’t blink, her expression frozen. “Meaning?”

    “I thought I'd come here and one of the Church's healers would just wave their hands to return my memories,” you mumble, scribbling a tiny Claude with little, evil horns on his head in the corner of Linhardt’s notes.

    Edelgard looks at you like you've just insulted her whole noble lineage. “That isn't how magic works.”

    You throw your arms up in frustration to emphasise that yes, that's the point. You don't know how anything works in this place, and you doubt Byleth's four pages of lesson plans are going to help.

    “If no one comes to your aid, maybe it is time you take matters into your own hands.” You flinch at the scornful sound in Edelgard’s voice. Judging the expression on her face, she seems just as surprised about her outburst. She gets up abruptly and bids farewell with a curt nod, followed closely by Hubert as always. Her classmates look after her, each more puzzled than the next.

    “Didn’t she seem … angry to you?” Linhardt thinks aloud, blinking into the empty space.

    Ferdinand harrumphes. “She’s always like this. Please excuse her, Herald.”

    You don’t think she’s done anything wrong, and yet she certainly doesn’t appear as always. Something about her last words strikes you as especially sharp; reproachful. Those weren’t meaningless words, but you don’t have any ways to decipher the message. A little voice tells you she isn’t wrong either. So far nothing has helped returning your memories—Manuela’s medicine, herbs from the Greenhouse, Hanneman’s spells. It seems like your brain has built defencive walls to repel any probing, which begs the answer to the question what is hiding in secret even more. But can you really do it on your own, like Edelgard suggests? It seems impossible.

    With newfound doubt you finish your meal, saying your goodbyes to the now scattering Eagle students as they scurry off to their next lesson. Two hours are left before you’re meeting with Byleth and the house leaders, and since you agreed to look over Linhardt’s notes, the library seems a good next stop. You still want to go over the seven classical manoeuvres of war, especially since the students didn’t really grasp the remaining two last time, and it gives you a good excuse to look over them again as well. At the beginning, you thought there was nothing you could teach those children, not with experienced colleagues at your side who have participated in countless battles themselves. Who could have thought that talking about tactics and strategies came as natural to you as breathing. Well, Rhea did for certain, and even the students drink up your every word like it is a message from the Goddess herself and you her chosen herald. The irony of it.

    But it isn’t only the students accepting your guidance. Something inside you changed in the last couple of weeks as well. When you started going through the books in the library, it was more stumbling and slipping on foreign terrain, but just in a couple of days, you moved through the matter like a fish following smoothly the currents of its native waters. It felt like home. Like building the foundation of a house from thousand variables, the result different each time but still the same: art. You build the art of battle, the last decision that will bring victory or death. You love every second of it. Which opens the possibility that it really isn’t your first time, but also more questions: Who taught you? What battles have you fought? How many of them did you win? Since those aren’t as simple to answer, you focus on fulfilling the first purpose, and hope that it will some day be enough for the students to survive battles.

    If only it would end there. Your second duty isn’t as easy or pleasant, and it lies in wait for you everywhere, stalking you like a dark shadow with monstrous fangs.

    “Herald.” A soldier gives a courteous bow, intercepting you in the Great Hall on your way to the library. “Pilgrims ask for you near the Entrance Hall. Please allow me to escort you.”

    Immediately, your nerves tingle with nervous anticipation. This is the scary part. Meeting the people, seeing the hope in their eyes. You’d gladly send them back where they’ve come from, but some have travelled for multiple days, and denying them audience would be cruel.

    “Don’t let me stop you from your duties,” you say, unconsciously tugging your clothes in order to appear presentable. “I will welcome them on my own.”

    The soldier nods and bows again, his expression barely readable under the helmet before he disappears as quickly as he came.

    Planning lessons is easy. You can find whatever you need in the library and work out the flow with the students. But nothing can prepare or teach you how to act like the Herald people wish for. Nowhere is anything written on the old Herald, how he talked to them and what promises he’d whispered when day broke. That is where you are on your own. Not even Rhea could answer that question. She only instructed that you see them, and remind them about their devotion to the Goddess—for she was the one who made it possible in the first place.

    The Entrance Hall is emptier than usual. Most of the students are in class, and a handful of knights and soldiers might be at the advanced training camp Jeralt and Alois hold in honour of the Blade Breaker’s return. So spotting the pilgrims isn’t difficult. Especially with the Gatekeeper waving his arms in wide arcs as if fearing you might overlook him.

    “Greetings, Herald!” His grin is blinding. “The pilgrims are waiting for you just at the at the foot of the stairs.”

    “Yeah,” you say. “I can see them.”

    “Oh, yes, of course! If anyone causes problems, count on me to help!”

    “Thanks.” You answer his thumbs up with one of your own before moving downstairs. What a refreshing young man. Certainly good looking under his helmet. Byleth seems to like talking to him a lot as well.

    Today’s pilgrims aren’t much different from other days. Old people are supported by their family members, who have brought baskets with sweets and flowers, presenting them at your feet.

    “Herald,” they breathe in awe, bowing. No matter how often you’ve seen it by now, it still feels incredibly wrong.

    “Raise your heads,” you tell them, helping an elderly woman up to hrer feet. She gasps at your touch, then clings to your hands. You try to swallow past the lump in your throat. “The Archbishop and I bid you welcome. The Goddess will smile upon your devotion.” Your cringe slightly when echoing Rhea’s words and wonder if any second the goddess might punish you by throwing lightning your way.

    “We are blessed to finally meet you,” a younger woman says, taking the old woman from your hands—mother and daughter maybe? “Please accept our gifts, and may the Goddess guide you on your path to light.”

    “She will answer your prayers and guide me so I can bring you peace,” you reply just so you can say something they might want to hear. Judging their delighted expressions this wasn’t the worst you could have said. Dorothea would probably be proud looking at your acting skills. Or point out your bad posture and how you’re avoiding their eyes. Dorothea would probably tell you how much you have to polish your acting skills.

    “Bring us peace?” someone from the last row spits, pushing to the front. “You know nothing, the Herald will bring chaos and ruin!” A man in his forties looms above you, an ugly, padded scar crossing his face from one temple to his chin. A war veteran? They way he holds himself looks like he’s been beaten up once too much to get up again.

    “You heathen, don’t you dare speak to our Herald like that,” the old woman barks, immediately doubling over in a coughing fit. Her daughter supports her, glaring at the man. “Go in peace, but go if you only came to talk ill about our Herald,” she says, clearly upset. "Doubting them is doubting our Goddess. How dare you."

    “First I want to see the Herald do something! What if … if this one is an impostor.” The man turns towards the others, throwing his arms in the air. “Bring forward proof that you are not here to ruin our lands, but to actually serve in the Goddess’ name!”

    This time his demand meets less resistance. Until now people were fine with seeing you and the Crest, but to want actual prove? You could easily threaten them and ask if they doubt the Goddess’ decision, but you’d rather leave that method to Rhea. You don’t want to sound like her. You don’t want to scare people. Yet admitting that you don’t really have a clue how to really use the Crest would surely support the man’s accusation. Diminishing the people’s trust in the Herald is the last thing you want, especially if it means facing Rhea’s scorn.

    “I—”

    “Herald!” A voice calls from the top of the stairs. When you turn around, Sylvain waves and jogs downstairs, looking like he’s been running for some time. “There you are. The Archbishop wants to see you.”

    Oh no, has she heard of your failure already? Giving the choice of facing a group of doubting people or Rhea, you’d immediately go to the people. You give him a curt nod, unable to speak because you don’t trust your voice.

    “I apologise,” you say to the pilgrims, clearing your throat when it comes out as a croak. “I will have something prepared for another time.”

    “No, you do not need to prove anything to us,” the elderly woman says. “We will always believe in you. Please tell Her Grace we are constantly praying to our Goddess and thank her for sending you to us.”

    “I will.” You squeeze her hand a last time. “Save travels.”

    The man still glares at you, but without a chance to keep you present any longer, he turns away and follows the rest. You can’t wait to leave all that behind, and as you steel your nerves for what’s waiting for you in the Audience Chambers, you look up to Sylvain and ask, “Did Lady Rhea say what it is about?”

    He looks over at you and blinks a couple of times, then seems to remember. “Ah ... yeah, about that. I lied.”

    You stop dead in your tracks. “You lied?”

    “Yup. I don’t know what Lady Rhea’s doing. But you looked like you were about to puke at those poor pilgrim’s shoes. As hilarious as that would have been, I wanted to spare you the embarrassment.” He stops now as well and smiles a boyish crooked grin. Sylvain knows exactly what to do with his face so girls fall over themselves to do him a favour, and boys grow jealous of all the attention he gets. Two weeks in, and you’ve figured out his game, keeping a respectable distance that wouldn’t birth the thought you’re avoiding him. In fact, this could be the very first time you’re actually holding a real conversation.

    “Well, I … thank you? But I had everything under control.”

    He looks like he doesn’t believe you. The gatekeeper you’re just passing looks like he doesn’t believe you. You press your lips into a thin line and dare any of them to disagree.

    “Okay.” Sylvain shrugs. “But now we’re here.”

    “Sylvain, what do you want?”

    “Cutting to the chase, huh?” He crosses his arms behind his head. “Why do you think I want something?” Your raised eyebrows seem to be answer enough. Sylvain laughs a little helplessly and returns his hands back to his front, raised as an offer of peace. “I promise, I want nothing. Just a little talking. A little talking hasn’t hurt anyone.”

    Something inside you wants to argue against it, but without a solid argument in hand, you follow him silently, wondering where his destination and intention lies. He belongs to the many students you can’t really read, nothing about his ambitions or goals. Sometimes he gives you this strange look through half lidded eyes, his gaze focused on your right eye—his interest in your Crest undeniable, and yet he’s been one of the few not to talk about it with you. It’s strange because whenever you come together, he looks like there’s something he’s dying to say. This time is no different.

    He leads you to the wooden pavilion in the gardens, but instead of offering you a seat, Sylvain leans his slim hips against the table, half sitting on it. Seteth would be furious seeing this.

    “How’s the Herald business doing for you?” he asks the one question you wouldn't expect from him. “Other than you having ‘everything under control.’” He has the audacity to air-quote. This isn’t a conversation you want to hold right now, leastwise with him. Sylvain must discern that you’re ready to bold from whatever your body is showing. With a quick step, he’s standing between you and the escape route, lazily leaning one arm against a column to uphold the illusion that you’re only having a pleasant talk when in reality his body stands between you and your freedom.

    “Do you talk to the other faculty members like that as well?” you say through gritted teeth, crossing your arms. Sylvain blinks like he doesn’t understand, but you’ve seen this act before, followed by an eerily precise repetition of a subject to one of his classmates when he thinks none of the teachers pay attention. Sylvain is playing dumb and deliberately hiding a sharp mind.

    “Oh, I didn’t mean to offend,” he quickly says, nothing about this crooked smile appearing apologetic whatsoever. “I’m generously curious. You’re holding up really good.”

    “In comparison to what?” you demand, your heartbeat picking up. Is he trying to call you out on something? That you aren’t heraldy enough? But to your surprise, Sylvain looks genuinely surprised by your reaction.

    “To nothing. In general?” He shrugs. “Back on the ceremony day, you didn’t look so good standing up there, and His Highness told us everything happened really uh … ‘suddenly.’’ More air-quotes, whatever they mean this time.

    “If you mean I wasn’t really asked to become the Herald, then yes.” Your arms drop back to your side. “It was suddenly.”

    Sylvain watches you for a moment, and again, there’s this look in his eyes; the need to say something he can’t. He kneads the back of his nape, avoiding your eyes. “All I’m trying to say is … having that Crest out of nothing is cool. Probably. And maybe terrifying? And just—”

    You grow impatient. “Come on, get the words out, Sylvain.”

    “A Crest isn’t just this nice letter of invitation to a privileged life. Just take care, is all I’m saying.”

    And there’s another page to the book of surprises with Sylvain’s name on it. The immediate lack of response catches him off guard; it’s like he only notices now that the vital part to understand this conversation is missing: The source of his doubt towards Crests.

    Sylvain’s body turns in a split second, his feet facing the direction he’s ready to bold towards, but this time you stand in his way and block him off. “Sylvain, are you okay?”

    He blinks in confusion, then furrows his eyebrows in deep thought like you demanded he recites the Ten Heroes from memory or else fails classes. His face contorts with the effort of looking fine. “Why, yes! Just peachy. Why would you think something is off?”

    “Because I have eyes in my skull.”

    “Very pretty eyes, if I dare say.” His answer comes out like a fire spell, hard and fast, seemingly more instinct than anything else. He clears his throat and scratches his chin, loosing momentum. “Goddess, I am bad at this.”

    “You are.” No need to sugar coat it. “If something happened, just say it.”

    “Nothing really happened, I just—” He exhales audibly and stares into space for a long minute, before side stepping you without difficulty. “Actually, I remembered Professor wanted to see me after class. Something about extra lessons about eh. Horse riding. Yeah. I’ll catch you later, Herald.” He winks and bolds away, darting under your outstretched arm before you can catch him. For someone this tall, he’s surprisingly agile and fast, already disappearing behind a tall hedge towards the main building.

    If that wasn’t the strangest conversation you’ve held with anyone, you don’t know what might excel that. Maybe it’s time you stop avoiding Sylvain.

    The Training Grounds smells of sweat and oil. Many students and knights train, which is surprising at this kind of hour, the short break between afternoon and evening classes. You’d like to know what they’re working on, but Byleth doesn’t tolerate inattention in a classroom or on the battle field, and demands you do push-ups each time your eyes wander somewhere off. You hate her a little for that. For whatever reason, Claude has taken on the role of your partner in crime, and does whatever necessary to make Byleth punish him as well.

    “What can I say, I like a good workout,” he said when you asked. He didn’t even try to hide his lie, looking as miserable as you felt. Probably hating Byleth a little as well.

    It’s the fourth week of private training with her and the house leaders, and so far you can definitely say that you were not meant to fight on the field. You see how your opponent moves, you can somehow predict what they’re going to do next—but your body simply protests to act accordingly. You stumble, you fall, you need a second too long to get up and before you can do anything, a training sword is at your throat. Byleth always looks like she wants to facepalm her fist through her forehead. Or yours.

    “Herald, this is not how you disarm someone,” she says, as always, and demonstrates it in one smooth, swift movement, as always. You blow hair out of your eyes, knowing you’re about to fail again. At least that gave Claude a reason to give you a new nickname, though if it’s better than the last is debatable.

    “You gotta twist your wrist, duckling!” he calls from the other side of the hall, immediately drawing Byleth’s attention to him. He and Dimitri are facing off, both wielding a spear which should give Dimitri the upper hand. So far, he hasn’t landed a single hit on Claude.

    “Keep your elbows in!” Byleth berates Claude. “Stop flapping them like some kind of chicken.”

    Claude lets out a disturbingly convincing cluck.

    You raise an eyebrow. “At least someone’s having fun.”

    Byleth sighs. “He’s going to get himself killed sooner than later.”

    “I don’t know. He’s managed so far, hasn’t he?”

    “I’m not sure if it’s a talent or a fault.” She turns back to you and nods her chin towards the side. “Take a break. I’m going to see how the boys are doing.”

    You nod, tensing all over because that’s where Edelgard is currently standing and picking out a training axe. You haven’t talked to her since lunch, and you can do without it for a couple more hours. She barely glances at you when you walk over, and instead checks out the edge of the wooden blade, turning it left and right.

    “Is she as strict in the classroom as in here?” you ask, unable to go on in awkward silence. Edelgard hums, throwing a quick glance towards Byleth from under her long, white lashes. “She’s systematic and consistent. Capable in both fields. I have no reason to raise any kind of complaint.”

    “That’s impressive.” You sure as heck still wouldn’t want her as a teacher. “Even though she’s been pushed into all this, she handles it like she’s never done anything else.”

    “I think as a mercenary, she is used to changing approaches depending on the employer.” Edelgard is still looking at Byleth. Reading her expression is impossible, and you don’t want to point out that sticking a sword into thieves and bandits is not the same as teaching kids how to fight in a battle. Her head whips to you suddenly, and she considers the training sword in your hand. “Speaking of different approaches,” she continues, “have you considered that your field of combat might be magic?”

    You have, so the answer comes immediately. “Chances are higher I set myself on fire.” You stare at her. “I didn’t mean it to rhyme.”

    Edelgard ignores your last comment. “But you haven’t really tried it out, have you?” Your lack of response is answer enough for her, and she nods like that proves a point.

    It’s complicated. You haven’t really tried it out because … the simple answer is, you’re afraid. It gets tricky once you try to search for the answer to that. There’s just a strange sensation when you try to use magic, like there’s a vast sea of possibilities and one step inside is enough to get you lost. It isn’t as bad with wind spells or white magic. You haven’t touched Fire spells because a crippling fear chills you to the bones every time you manage to nourish a small flame inside your palm—the complete opposite to Dark magic. When you tried a MiasmaΔ for the first time it felt strangely … secure. The rope tying you to a shore, it had felt like—

    There’s a loud crash when the spears collide and Claude knocks Dimitri off his feet. The whole room is silent as everyone watches how Claude taps the blunt end of his practice spear against Dimitri’s chin. “Steady on there, darling,” he says with a smug grin. Dimitri flushes bright red, and pushes with more force than necessary the spear away, quickly climbing to his feet.

    “That wasn’t bad.” Byleth quickly steps in before Dimitri can throttle Claude. “Dimitri, you rely too much on your brute strength. That’s a big disadvantage against someone like Claude. And you, young man,” she turns to Claude who’s been smiling victoriously, “are scheming too much and lose time to take action. In a serious battle, you won’t be as lucky as today.”

    “Noted.” Claude whirls his spear from left to right, almost dropping it when Dimitri drills his elbow into his side. “But in a serious battle, I won’t be upfront. I’ll be hanging back nicely, and skewing my enemies with a myriad of arrows.”

    “You can barely shoot three at the same time,” Dimitri grumbles, his cheeks still splotched with red specks.

    “You wanna bet—”

    “That’s enough, guys, save it for then next round.” Byleth ignores their sulky expressions and turns to you, raising a single eyebrow. The message is clear. What are you waiting for?

    Your feet feel like they’re glued to the ground. Edelgard doesn’t hesitate at all. “Let’s go.”

    She strides in the middle, training axe raised. It’s made out of wood, but you don’t doubt that she’s able to severe a limb from your body if she only tries hard enough—and what you know of Edelgard is that she alwaysexceeds even her own expectations. You grip your sword tighter. It’s a clear disadvantage, but better than anything else you can handle. Maybe it won’t be as bad.

    The fight lasts for about seven seconds. The moment you raise the blade, Edelgard is on you and unleashes fierce strike after strike, the power behind each hit forcing you back. She doesn’t bat an eyelash when she easily disarms you, the wooden sword flying over your heads and the edge of her axe on your throat. Somewhere behind her, you hear Byleth sigh. “Again.”

    The next hour is torture. Edelgard throws you to the ground, again and again. Byleth keeps telling you to get up, again and again. One might think they would cut you some slack, being the Herald and all, but it feels like Edelgard is so much more aggressive today because you’re the Herald. Or maybe it’s personal. Maybe she’s appointed you to be her sworn enemy, and won’t miss out any chance to make it as hard as possible for you.

    This isn’t fun. Being watched by Dimitri and Claude, who whisper conspiratorially to each other isn’t fun. Luckily, Byleth notices them gawking and bellows them to focus on working on their stances. Right now, you’re thankful nothing escapes her eyes and she calls her students out on their bullshit. It doesn’t make your current situation easier though. Every muscle burns, just raising the sword is exhausting and your feet feel like they’re about to give out any second. This must be hell.

    When Byleth finally ends lessons, you ignore everything and crumble to the ground, splaying your limbs out in all directions. Surely they can clean up without you, two hands less will barely make any difference.

    A shadow settles over you. You know who it is, and don’t bother to open your eyes. “Go away, Byleth. I don’t want to hear how bad I am.”

    “Personally, I think you have improved, Herald.” Your eyes snap open. Dimitri looks down at you, his forehead still glistening from perspiration. “But facing Edelgard as an opponent usually wields those results. Don’t let it bother you.”

    You want to point out that he and Claude don’t seem to have as much problems as you, even though yes, none of them have defeated her yet in practice. He goes down to your level and sits beside you, and you hate how this all barely made him breath hard, like it’s just a stroll around the monastery whereas you’re trying to climb the mountains surrounding it.

    “I think she hates me,” you blurt out. Luckily, most students have already left the hall, Edelgard included. Dimitri considers this a moment, and you don’t know what to make of his lack of immediate response.

    “I doubt she hates you,” he finally says.

    “But?”

    “But she has a hard time warming up to people. Give her time. Once the ice is broken, you will see that her personality is one you’d like to have around.”

    “Oh?” You watch him for a moment, but Dimitri doesn’t blush or look away. It was a heartfelt, sincere statement, which flusters you for some reason. No one should be that honest.

    “Talking about breaking ice. Do you know if something happened to Sylvain?”

    “Sylvain?” Dimitri raises both eyebrows. “Please don’t tell me he harassed you in some kind of way.”

    “No, no, he just—” You finally get up from lying on your back, and try to explain it by frantically moving your hands. Dimitri still looks puzzled. “He said some weird things about Crests in general?”

    “Hm.” Dimitri stares at your hands for a moment, then quickly raises his eyes back to your face. “It’s complicated.” Well, that answer is as good as none. “And I won’t go into details without his consent. I can only say that if he talked about Crests, in whichever way, his brother must have upset him again.”

    “He has a brother?” Now you’re wide awake. Many students have siblings. You know of Hilda’s brother and Raphael’s sister. It shouldn’t surprise you Sylvain has one as well even though he’s never mentioned it before.

    “Do you have siblings?” you ask, generously curious. As heir to a kingdom, it’s hard to imagine his parents would have settled with one child. But he hasn’t mentioned any sisters or brothers as well.

    “Hmm, I have a step-sister,” he says, although very hesitant and you can see if someone doesn’t want to talk about a specific topic. He doesn’t return the question, which is kind of him and makes you wonder … maybe you have a sibling as well. Somewhere. Maybe somewhere in Adrestia or Leicester a younger brother or an older sister is currently looking for you, unrelenting in their journey to be reunited at last. The thought alone brings a flicker of hope alive. Maybe they'll come once word of the Herald’s return travels far enough.

    “I guess as long as Sylvain doesn’t disturb classes or acts out of order, I would leave him to his brooding. I can tell out of experience, only Felix is capable of cheering him up.”

    “Felix?” Your eyebrows rise to your hairline. “Are we talking about the same Felix?”

    A smile forms on Dimitri’s mouth. “I understand why imagining that might prove difficult, but I assure you, Felix is one of the view exceeding in handling the mess Sylvain is from time to time.”

    “Felix and Ingrid?” you guess, earning a nod from Dimitri. “Ingrid is a very nice girl,” you continue, picking at a loose thread from your uniform. “But Felix seems detests me. Every time he sees me, he looks like he wants to throw his sword at me.”

    “That is—” Dimitri stops mid-sentence. “That might be not so far off from his true intentions.”

    You groan.

    “But I assure you it is for a different reason than you think. Felix is simply … difficult with people holding a commanding position.”

    “He doesn’t seem to have the same problem with Byleth,” you point out. No, whenever he trains with her, he manages something close to a smile and accepts her guidance. Then again, she isn’t his teacher.

    “I’m sure you’ll be able to make him consider his opinion on you during the Mock Battle. I as well am looking forward to how you will guide us.” Dimitri beams. You stare at him like he’s just lost his head.

    “What?”

    “The Mock Battle three nights from today?” Dimitri’s smile falters a little. “Have the Professor and Lady Rhea not told you yet? You are to participate in the Mock Battle as the commanding unit of the Blue Lions.” Now he’s pulling his eyebrows together in worry. “Herald?”

    “I—” You jump to your feet. “I have to go.” Go far far away. Just yesterday you introduced the students to the tactic called Feigned Withdrawal, which involves staging a retreat in order to induce the enemy to abandon its position and plunge ahead in an attack. Dimitri abandons his position, getting up to go after you, but instead of turning back to surprise him with an ambush, you flee the battle and hope the enemy doesn’t pursue.

#philliamwrites #ao3 #fanfiction #writing #fire emblem three houses #fe3h #fire emblem #fe #reader insert #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #fire emblem three houses dimitri #fe3h dimitri #dimitri #dimitri x reader #fe3h dimitri x reader #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd x reader #claude von riegan #fire emblem three houses claude #fe3h claude #claude x reader #fe3h claude x reader #claude von riegan x reader #edelgard von hresvelg #fe3h edelgard #fire emblem three houses edelgard #fe3h edelgard x reader #edelgard x reader #edelgard von hresvelg x reader #fire emblem three houses byleth #fe3h byleth

[frozenartscapes]

Wilhelm + Rhea - I’m pregnant.

Something was wrong, Seiros was sure of it. She staggered back to her cot after running a cool, damp cloth over her face, and flopped down with little grace. She groaned as she clutched her abdomen, praying to the Goddess that the world would stop spinning so much.

Someone must have poisoned her. Or rather, is poisoning her because this is the fifth day in a row she’s woken up like this.

“Seiros!” A singsong voice floated through the opening of her tent, all bright and chipper.

“Come in,” Seiros managed to call out, gulping as she felt her stomach heave again.

It was Rowena, which was probably good considering her current situation. How Cichol had ever managed to find, woo, marry, and have a child with such a woman so…different from himself had always been a mystery. But it was times like these that Seiros was thankful she was around.

Rowena frowned when she spotted her companion curled up on her cot. “Another rough morning?” she asked, producing some herbs from her bag and setting them down on the desk. She pushed aside some of the war maps and got to work making a nausea remedy.

“We really must…find whoever’s...responsible for this,” Seiros grumbled.

Rowena brought over the concoction and wordlessly handed it over. As Seiros brought it to her mouth, she caught her friend’s knowing, and worryingly smug grin. She gulped anxiously and asked, “What?”

“I think I know who’s responsible,” Rowena teased, “You might want to have a word with Wilhelm.”

“Why would he be poisoning me?”

“Poisoning?” Rowena’s gleeful laugh filled the tent, though Seiros was still at a loss as to why, “Oh my dear, please tell me all this war planning and scheming hasn’t clouded your head that much!”

“I…I don’t understand…”

Rowena reached out and took Seiros’ hands in hers, and gently pulled her up into a sitting position. “Seiros, my dear,” she said softly, breathlessly happy for her friend, “You’re pregnant.”

“…I’m…what?”

Rowena chuckled. “Don’t worry. That news always takes a moment to sink in.”

“I’m what?”

“Expecting, Sweetie.”

“But… I…I can’t be pregnant!” Seiros cried, “We’re fighting a war! I’m leading the war! A…and Wilhelm and I… I mean… We did, but he’s human and I’m…not…” She gasped, clamping a hand over her mouth as it finally, finally hit. “Oh Goddess I’m pregnant.”

“I don’t think you have much to worry about,” Rowena assured her, “It isn’t unheard of for our kind to have children with humans. And it’s not like you’ll be in this alone. I’ll be here, and so will the others. And of course there’s Wilhelm.”

“Oh Goddess…Wilhelm!” Seiros exclaimed, “I…I have to tell him!”

“Knowing Wilhelm I imagine he’ll be rather excited, too,” Rowena added.

“But what about the others?” Seiros demanded, “Cichol and Indech I’m not too worried about, but Macuil will be furious, I know it.”

“Oh don’t you worry about that old windbag,” Rowena sighed, “If he gives you any problems, send him to me.” She suddenly clapped her hands together, bouncing a little in excitement. “Oh little Ceth will finally have someone she can play with!”

“I’m pregnant,” Seiros murmured, suddenly feeling nauseous for a different reason. This was something completely out of her wheelhouse. She could lead an army. She could wield a sword. She could kick anyone’s ass with just her fists if she had to.

She could not picture herself as a mother.

She sighed heavily and buried her face in her hands, trying not to think too deeply about how this was going to affect her war against Nemesis.

“Oh Wilhelm! What perfect timing!” Rowena greeted cheerfully.

“Very funny, Wena,” Seiros groaned.

“Oh! I’m…sorry… Is this a bad time?”

Her head snapped up in an instant. “Wilhelm! No, it’s… Actually Rowena’s right: it’s perfect timing,” she said quickly.

“I’ll…give you two some privacy,” Rowena said, making her way to the door of the tent. She slipped out quickly, but Seiros could tell by the shadow cast against the canvas walls that Rowena’s definition of “privacy” was a tad skewed.

“Is everything alright my Love?” Wilhelm asked, a look of concern marring his gentle face, “Have you been sick again?”

Seiros was momentarily lost in his warm hazel eyes, but she shook her head briskly to bring herself back. “I…yes, I have,” she admitted, “And Rowena believes she’s found out the reason why.”

“It’s not poison, is it? I swear on my life I’ll find the bastard that’s been doing this to you and—“

“It’s not…poison, Wilhelm,” Seiros cut in with a wince. She patted the space on the cot next to her, and Wilhelm readily sat down beside her. She worked her hands into his, and gave a small squeeze. “My Light,” she breathed, “I’m pregnant.”

There was a pause, as the information sunk in. Then a brilliant smile - as bright as the sun itself - worked its way onto Wilhelm’s face. “You are?” he gasped, laughing with joy. He leapt up from his seat, dragging her along with him. He twirled around the tent with her in his arms, before slowing to pull her into a tight hug. “That’s wonderful, my Love!” he sighed.

Then he stopped, pulling away while still holding tight to her arms. “That…is wonderful, right? I… If you’re not… What I mean is, I know you’ve got your own—"

She put a finger on his lips, a common action of hers whenever the excitable man began to ramble. “It…it is wonderful,” she assured him, “I just…never thought it would happen to me.”

He chuckled. “I have to admit, knowing you can I believe that,” he said, tucking a lock of her emerald hair behind a pointed ear. She cast him a playful glare and he smiled innocently in response. “But…” he continued, “Wouldn’t this mean that… Well, we’ll be a family. You, me, and the little brawler waiting to come out.”

She snorted at the thought. “I should hope the child decides to become a brawler after they are born, my Light,” she stated. But then her mood sobered, as the rest of his statement was realized. “A…family…”

He frowned when he saw her eyes beginning to glaze over. “If it’s too soon, my Love, I…”

“No. No, it’s…” Tears began to form in her eyes, and slowly a large smile spread across her face. She could barely contain her joy as she uttered, “I’ll have a family again.”

— — —  

She held the bundle close to her chest, still exhausted and sore. But a tiny hand had a tight hold of her finger, and wide, green eyes stared up at her. The child in her arms giggled, then, and tightened his grip.

“He’s incredible,” Wilhelm breathed as he watched over her shoulder, “So…small. But incredible.”

“He’ll grow to be a great Emperor someday,” Seiros sighed, looking up to meet the gaze of the newly-crowned Emperor of Adrestia.

“Hopefully he’ll know more of what he’s doing,” Wilhelm stated anxiously.

Seiros reached for her Light’s hand. “He’ll have an excellent role model,” she assured him gently.

In her arms, little Lycaon reached for his Papa and smiled.

— — —  

AN: Ok, hear me out... This is my take on Rhea and Wilhelm. We don’t really know a whole lot and the stuff we do know comes from fairly shaky sources. We know Rhea - then Seiros - had some kind of relationship with Wilhelm but we don’t know the extent. We also know Wilhelm had a son, but we don’t know with who.

So what if Rhea is the matriarch of the Hresvelg legacy?

I’m going to expand on this more later, but for now I wanted to first, answer this prompt, and second, cover something I probably wasn’t going to cover in my longer fic.

So here are my headcanons that appear here and will likely pop up later:

Rhea and Wilhelm genuinely loved each other. They met when Rhea was in a dark place, having lost her family and unsure of where to turn next. Wilhelm was a kindhearted farmer who wanted to help her out, saved her life from some of Nemesis’ men by sacrificing himself, and was then saved by her in turn when she gave him her Crest in the healing process. From there, their relationship blossomed. Rhea calls him her “Light” because he brought light and warmth back into her life when she thought it was all gone (much like how El views Byleth...hmm, symbolism...)

Rhea tells Wilhelm that Nemesis destroyed her family, but doesn’t go into details. He respects her enough to not push for more answers, though he is curious. He always hopes that one day she’ll trust him enough to open up.

The other Saints join the fight against Nemesis at Rhea’s insistence, but they stay for Wilhelm. He’s a charismatic guy, a hell of a warrior, and a kindhearted man, and he wins over Cichol and Indech with little effort. Macuil, however, never trusts him and acts like the scary big brother protecting his little sister (Seiros).

Rowena is my take on Seteth’s wife/Flayn’s mother. I picture her as a Nabatean, just not one of the powerful saints. (I always kinda pictured it like a hierarchy of Sothis first, then the Children of the Goddess/Saints, then lesser Nabateans forming the bulk of the community.) Like Flayn, she’s mostly a healer and has a bubbly personality. She brings out the fun and happiness in Seteth, and after her death he struggles to feel such things again. Her loss was heavily felt by all, due to how friendly she was with everyone.

The reason Edelgard doesn’t look more like Rhea/only has a minor Crest of Seiros, etc. is due to the fact that it’s been centuries since Rhea gave birth to Lycaon. The Nabatean traits eventually fade, as Rhea is the only Nabatean to ever continue the line in the Hresvelg family. Crest-strength and other traits shared by Nabateans eventually faded as more human genetics were added in. (This is also why I HC Flayn as having two Nabatean parents rather than just one.)

Rhea, having lost Wilhelm in the war and then watching her son grow old while she stayed young, disconnects from those types of relationships once the heartbreak becomes too much. In her altered history, she makes sure Lycaon’s mother is listed as unknown, and eventually the number of people who did know becomes only her close, remaining family. And she swears them to secrecy. Eventually, the connection she and the Church have with the Hresvelg family shifts and breaks, and it eventually becomes unimportant that the Imperial family literally wouldn’t have existed without her.

Perhaps that was a dumb decision, along with some of the other dumb decisions she made back then, but I also headcanon that Nabateans age very slowly. So while she was probably around 100+ years old by then, for a seemingly immortal being who appears to be in her 30s? 40s? nearly 1100 years later, her emotional age by that point would have been maybe late teenager? Early twenties? Around the same emotional age that Edelgard was when she decided that there would be no potential flaws in her Flame Emperor stunt. That’s not to diss either of them - it’s just that they were young, and dealing with emotional shit far too heavy for any one person to deal with. So Rhea’s choices back around year 90 through to year 100 should probably be taken with a grain of salt.

All those centuries don’t make it any easier, though, when Edelgard declares war on her ancestor unknowingly, and through all the anger and betrayal Rhea feels she can see the same passion and fire in the girl that Wilhelm once had.

#fanfic #fe three houses #rhea #wilhelm i #prequel fic #i have a bunch of headcanons under the read more #if anyone wants to add or discuss feel free #i'm down for some brainstorming #Anonymous

[shuttershocky]

How would Edelgard get along with other Servants if she was summoned?

Well, I hope!Anyway now you’ve opened the floodgates and I’m thinking of an Edelgard Von Hresvelg servant.

She’s an Avenger, summoned in her post time-skip form. Due to servant bodies being altered by legends, she is also actually in her Hegemony form (thus in her Azure Moon state), which partially manifests through her voice or face when her control slips. Marked by bold and italicized parts in her voice lines transcript.

_____________________________

Summoning: Servant, Avenger. I am Edelgard Von Hresvelg, heir apparent of the Adrestian Empire. I will follow you, but I bow to no one. E-Eh? Another world? What have I gotten myself into…

Level Up: I must get stronger.

Battle Start: Witness my power!

Skill 1: I’ll cut you down until you have no blood left to bleed!

Skill 2: Steel yourselves, or I’ll do it for you.

Attack Selected: I’ll cut my own path through.

Attack Selected 2: Is that all?

Attack Selected 3: Let me axe you a question! No? No, nevermind.

Noble Phantasm Selected: You can’t stop me!

Last One Standing: Come at me. All that matters is when death takes place, and I have no intention of dying today.

Defeated: No! Not… yet…

Battle Finish: Victory for the Empire! Oh, right. Erm, for Chaldea? F-For Chaldea!

Dialogue 1 - I wonder how similar my crests are to the magic crests of your world, Master?

Dialogue 2 - I must admit it is rather humbling to be fighting alongside such powerful warriors. Why, with just one or two of them, I could have…

Dialogue 3 - What? Do I think about romance? I mean, i’m still human. Even I think about those things sometimes. I just never had the time for entertaining them with more than just daydreams. It’s a shame now that I actually have all the free time in the world, they’re not here… Huh? No! I didn’t say anything!

Dialogue (Post Lostbelt Prologue) - I understand wishing to find a peaceful answer, Master, but it is clear our enemies are the kind that can only understand force. The next time we encounter them, you know what you must do. If your heart cannot do it, then you only need to give me the order. I will crush them under my heel.

Dialogue (Nero) - O-Oh. I never could have imagined a fellow emperor being so boisterous. It’s strange. No, no! I didn’t say it bothered me! 

Dialogue (Sigurd/Siegfried/George/Any dragonslayer) - Do you mind if I ask for tips?

Dialogue (Artoria Pendragon) - So she saw her ideals through to the end and died alone on a hill of bodies. I suppose that is the sort of fate that awaits the wartime souls.

Dialogue (Agravain) - You know, you remind me a lot of my minister. I think you would have gotten along rather well with Hubert.

Dialogue (Sakura Matou/Angra Mainyu) - It truly is the same wherever you go. Always obscene cruelty. Always a frightened child.

Dialogue (Oui and Hokusai) - I like to paint as well! But I’m not as good as you two! I’m just a hobbyist. Please, pay me no mind, my apologies for interrupting.

Dialogue (Emiya Archer) - I apologize for not being able to do more in the kitchen. My cooking skills are a bit… underdeveloped. I will put the effort into learning how to assist you, I promise. 

Profile

Bond Lvl 1: What’s that? I don’t look like an Avenger? Hah! Yes, I guess you’re right. I would fit a Ruler class more, don’t you think? Although I suppose I don’t have my empire anymore…

Bond Lvl 2: If I am to be honest, Master, Chaldea pains me. Despite all the battles we fight, it is calm here. Peaceful, even. For this temporary existence, I am Emperor only in name. I am free. It reminds me of an earlier time, one I cast aside for what I needed to do. What a pity that I should find this life again without those I treasured it with.

Bond Lvl 3: I don’t understand, Master. How do you see all this evil and injustice among your enemies and still, still give them every chance? I can comprehend showing mercy to troops who are following orders, or negotiating with someone whose ideals don’t run counter to your own, but how can you look at the perpetrators of oppression and give them any chance at all to surrender? You can’t give them that chance! You cannot show them mercy when you know they will give you none. You have no saviors but yourself. No one will come for you when you’re bound in chains. You have to act first, Professor, before they- I…I… I’m sorry, Master. I was out of line. Please forget I said anything.

Bond Lvl 4: Yes, it is true. I plunged my home into war. The entire continent suffered my wrath for five years in my bid to unify Fodlan. I threw away the life I wanted and the people I loved for the sake of my dream, a Fodlan safe from Seiros’ tyranny, and I would do it again if I had to. I understand I will forever be remembered as a monster. So be it. I truly believe I did what I had to so humanity could be free. It was always for them. Always…

Bond Lvl 5: Master, I know I haven’t always been the best servant, or even an obedient one, and yet you welcomed me warmly. Gave me a home. Let me live freely for the first time since my school days. You deserve to be spoken to with honesty. You deserve to see what you truly summoned.

I was dying, Master. I had but a few years left when I declared war on the Church of Seiros. These crests - the source of my strength, the only reason I am even here - they were killing me, just as they killed my family. 

Every night as I slept in my bed, my dreams would bring me back to that desolate place. As my body was torn open over and over again, I thought about the world that did this to me. The world that valued crests over human lives, the world that was deaf to the cries of its children, the world that had humanity bent to the whims of snakes and dragons. I vowed that would not be the world I would leave behind when it was all finally over.

I would think about the world, and I would feel venom in my veins. It pushed me to do what I couldn’t. Strengthened my resolve. I could even work with my family’s murderers if it meant furthering my own goal.

Yes, I set out to conquer, to raze the Church of Seiros to the ground and cast it out of living memory. When I was done with the Church, I would have driven the Agarthans from their hole, and slaughtered them on the surface they so craved, killed by the monster of their own making.

Then, and only then, when my enemies lay dead at my feet, when I stood at the apex of the Goddess’ creation, I could go to that little girl shackled to the corner of a dungeon wall. She would be counting the scars on her arms and legs,  tracing the faded bloodstains on the stone floor, all to forget that the last of her brothers was carried out in a sack. Then, and only then, I could go to her. Embrace her. Tell her it would be alright.

There would be someone out there to avenge her.

#Anonymous #Edelgard #FGO

[jtavington]

Flashback

Part of the reworked Beauty and the Beast AU. TW: suicidal ideation, El’s backstory in general.

The rat squeaked, somewhere close by, but her cell was too dark to see anything. Edelgard wished she couldn't hear anything either. Not the rats, not Mathilde screaming and promising to be good if only the mages would stop. They were the last ones left. She had been happy, at first, to be going home even if she missed Dimitri and her uncle was acting strangely. But she hadn't even gotten to see her father before they shoved her down here with her brothers and sisters. One by one they had died or been reduced to gibbering wrecks and then killed for being "useless."

The screaming stopped. The mage in charge—Salen? No, Solon.--muttered something that sounded like a curse in his strange language. "That's another one lost. The procedure must succeed on the bastard or all our research will have been for nothing."

"Research?" said a young, trembling voice. "This isn't research. We tortured and murdered those children. The gods will smite us for what we did."

"Silence, whelp.” A slap, and then a grunt of pain. "Our gods are as dead as the Fell Star. All that matters is avenging ourselves on the surface and if we have to create the warrior these simpering aristocrats want, a few useless children are a bargain."

Edelgard brought her knees to her chest. They were talking about her. About Mathilde. And Mathilde was dead. Her little sister, one of the ones who called Edelgard “El.” Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. She'd had ten brothers and sisters who loved her and now she didn't have any because these mages thought they were useless.

Something cold settled over her heart. Solon said that this was all for nothing if she didn't end up with a second Crest. She reached out for the wall and found the rough stone. Rough and hard enough that a few strikes against the wall would burst her head like a melon or at least mean that she could never be a warrior.

She froze. The chaplain had always said that people who killed themselves were wicked and would never feel the Goddess' embrace. She used to want nothing more than to make the Goddess happy. She had said her prayers to her and to Saint Seiros every night. But she had prayed until her throat was sore ever since they had thrown her in the dungeons. Maybe the Goddess couldn't answer. Or maybe Edelgard was already wicked. Either way, the Goddess wouldn't care whether she lived or died. You were supposed to care. If you do, make me strong enough to do what I have to.

The door opened. She wasn't even going to be allowed to end this. Edelgard rose and launched herself at the figure in the doorway. Her vision was blurry with tears and rage. They would beat her for this, maybe worse. It didn't matter. All that mattered was that she couldn't choose anything else, but she could choose to hit whoever was in the doorway.

Cold hands settled on her shoulders and gently pushed her away. "Your Highness, you mustn't.”

That was enough to get her to stop and look up in confusion. No one here used her title. She was always "it" or "the bastard” or “number nine” to the unnaturally pale mages. The man holding her was pale too, except for a red splotch on his cheek where someone had hit him recently. "You. You killed Mathilde.” She tried to flail at him again, but he was too strong.

He bowed his head. "Yes. We did. We killed ten children, and I didn't do anything to stop it. I'm sorry, as pathetic as that sounds.”

"Sorry?” He had watched her brothers and sisters die, and he was sorry? She spat at him because she could still do that. "If you're sorry you should have stopped them!"

"I should have. But Solon and Thales are so much stronger. And I was scared of dying. I didn't know there were worse things."

"Well, I'm not scared of dying." She raised her head and tried to keep her voice steady. She was still a princess. "I've seen those knives you carry. If you're so sorry, stab me in the heart."

"That, Your Highness, I can't do." He gazed down at her. He looked terribly young despite his white hair and unnaturally pale flesh. "And it's not something you should want."

"All I want to do is put an end to this."

"An end will come. But that end must be you bearing the Crest of Flames." His voice dropped to a whisper. "Before even Nemesis it was the blood of the Fell Star who drove my kind underground. That blood has the power to destroy everyone and everything that created this atrocity."

"Everything? Even Duke Aegir?” Even the Goddess who either didn't exist or couldn't be bothered to save her siblings. "All these people who were willing to kill for Crests?”

"Even so." He released one shoulder and reached into his cloak to pull out a piece of cheese. Fresh, better than anything she had had since Fhidiad. "But only you. I will answer for my part in this, but you must make good come out of evil. Use us. Destroy us. Burn away the world that allowed this to happen.”

Edelgard stared. She thought of Mathilde, of her weeping father, of Duke Aegir and Count Bergliez toasting their scheme to get a peerless Emperor. It wouldn't be enough to destroy the mages. She would have to destroy Fodlan itself, where magical blood was more valuable than lives. They wanted to implant the blood of Nemesis in her so they could shape the world as they wished. Well, Nemesis had slain the wicked, false gods before he too had been struck down.

Edelgard took the cheese.

[crackimagines]

Going Dark (FE: Three Houses Full Fic)

Overlord AU Masterlist

Other Au’s Listed Here!

---

With Ainz being transported to Fodlan unable to find out how the world works, he takes it upon himself to find out and prepare his followers and House Isekai for what’s to come.

Ainz dons his persona, the Dark Warrior Momon, once more to investigate Fodlan with his trusted companion Nabe.

Prologue

[Oath of Loyalty to the Supreme Being - Overlord]

Ainz sat down at a table the Pleiades had set up for him, big enough for the denizens of the Great Tomb of Nazarick to sit at. He was at the head of the table while his Floor Guardians took both sides of the table while the Pleiades stood to the side.

(Sebas) “Lord Ainz, everyone is now here. Shall we begin the emergency meeting?”

(Ainz) “Yes. Now, let us discuss the information we have gathered thus far on Fodlan.

(Albedo) “Then I will begin my findings first.”

She cleared her throat as her wings flapped gently.

(Albedo) “In terms of the people and technology, they appear to be slightly behind the world we were at before. While their number of magic casters appear to be higher, the levels of spells and power they wield seem to be lower than expected. This information was all gathered at the Monastery.”

(Cocytus) “AFTER CLOSELY STUDYING THE KNIGHTS OF SEIROS, THEIR RELICS AND FIGHTING CAPABILITIES APPEAR TO BE ON PAR WITH THOSE OF OUR OLD WORLD. THE RELIC WEAPONS ARE NOT TO BE UNDERESTIMATED, BUT I AM UNABLE TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT THEY ARE A THREAT TO US IN PARTICULAR. HOWEVER, THE LOW LEVEL MOBS AND UNDEAD WE SPAWNED NEAR THE MONASTERY TO SEE HOW POWERFUL THEY ARE, THE KNIGHTS OF SEIROS HAVE BEEN ABLE TO TAKE THEM DOWN EASILY. THIS INFORMATION WAS GATHERED AT THE MONASTERY.”

(Demiurge) “The politics of this world appear to be a bit more stable, with the Church of Seiros leading everyone. The Holy Kingdom of Faerghus and the Leicester Alliance appear to be pleased with the Church, but something about Edelgard’s actions and words seem to say otherwise. At least regarding the Adrestian Empire. I will need more time to fully assess her intentions, along with Rhea. This information was gathered at the Monastery as well.”

Ainz took a moment to process all the information given to him. Truth be told, he could not care less about the politics of this world. It wasn’t the one the tomb was in, so he just wanted to return as quickly as possible.

The issue that bothered him the most was the unknown power difference in Fodlan.

In his world, he was practically a god to everyone, and most of his followers couldn’t even be harmed by their most powerful weapons. He and the others of Nazarick were mostly level 100, while the strongest in that world appeared to be around 40-50.

Now, he had no idea if he was underpowered or not.

Ainz looked at his own hands and then back to the Floor Guardians. 

(Ainz) “Aura, Mare, do you feel any limitations in your spellcasting?”

They were quiet for a moment before they nodded.

(Aura) “Y-Yes actually, Lord Ainz. Something hasn’t been feeling right ever since we got here, and I think that’s the issue!”

Everyone turned to the twins with wide eyes.

[”What’s wrong, Lord Momonga?” - Overlord]

(Mare) “U-U-Um...I don’t feel like I’ve completely been stripped of power but...something IS missing.”

Everyone else in the room started to examine themselves and realized that some of their abilities did feel dampened.

This made Ainz even more tense, though his skeletal face didn’t show it. 

He had no idea what they would be up against in this world, and from the looks of what assignments House Isekai was assigned, this world wouldn’t stay peaceful for long.

The fact people like Class VII with their advanced guns and technology struggled against some of the people here, and Persona users were having trouble with what should be inferior foes was almost enough to make him shudder.

He had no doubt that his group were in the upper tier of power in the House, there would be no telling what kind of curveballs could be thrown at them, especially since he didn’t know how magic worked in this world.

In his world, it worked like an MMO. Now, it was a complete unknown. 

Ainz couldn’t afford to be careless here.

(Ainz) “It appears we need to gather information from beyond the Monastery in order to fully understand the situation we’re in. I want everyone to take no chances. There’s no telling if Fodlan possesses enemies more dangerous than our old ones. From what I can gather, we have been limited in our skills and spells. Not completely gone, but that must mean precautions must be taken more than ever.”

Ainz stood up from the table.

(Ainz) “I want everyone to be travelling in pairs when gathering information. You are not to be permitted to travel outside the Monastery unless you have my blessings. Narberal Gamma!”

(Naberal) “My lord.”

(Ainz) “Prepare your adventurer gear and be ready to leave with me.”

(Albedo) “Lord Ainz, are you-”

(Ainz) “I intend to go as Momon in this world, yes.”

(Sebas) “My lord, with all due respect, it would be much better to send the Pleiades out in reconnaissance. The risk of going out is terribly great-”

(Ainz) “That is precisely why I am going out myself. I need to understand firsthand how this world works, otherwise we may commit a grave error in the long run. We have no idea how long we will be here, and when we will return. I understand and appreciate your concern, Sebas. That goes for the rest of you.”

Ainz was about to announce the meeting’s end before noticing Yuri’s expression.

The other Pleiades noticed it too, and Lupisregina tapped her on the shoulder.

(Lupisregina) “Sis?”

(Yuri) “...”

Yuri quietly motioned towards the door with her head. 

Everyone understood immediately. There was someone listening in.

They drew out their weapons and prepared their magic silently as CZ2128 and Narberal quickly headed to the side of the walls.

CZ pulled out an assault rifle while Narberal pulled out a staff.

The two battle maids looked at Ainz for the signal.

(Ainz) “Very well, this meeting is adjourned.”

Narberal kicked the door down as CZ aimed her rifle down at the hallway, finger on the trigger

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

(CZ) “Identify yourselves or die in the name of Ainz Ooal-”

(Aqua) “AQUAAAAA!”

(Kazuma) “KAZUMA! KAZUMA! IT’S KAZUMA, DON’T FUCKING SHOOT!”

[My Dear Personage - Overlord]

Everyone’s faced turned from tense to completely disappointed and annoyed.

(Shalltear) “What are those idiots doing down here?!”

Ainz walked out to meet them.

(Ainz) “Explain yourselves, now.”

(Kazuma) “W-WE WERE JUST WONDERING WHY YOU ALL WERE DOWN HERE!”

(Aqua) “Y-YEAH! ALL OF US SAW YOU GOING DOWN SO WE WERE CURIOUS! IT WAS EVERYONE ELSE’S IDEA TOO!”

(Ainz) “...Everyone else?”

Minako, Minato, Yu, Akira, Doomguy, Rean, and Megumi popped their heads around the corner.

(Yu) “Uh...hi.”

(Akira) “I mean, I’m a Phantom Thief. Eavesdropping’s my thing.”

(Minako) “I’m just nosy.”

(Minato) “S-Sorry.”

(Rean) “We were just concerned is all! Well, at least me and Megunee were.”

(Megumi) “H-Hi, Ainz...!”

Doomguy shrugged.

HOW DID WE NOT NOTICE ANY OF THEM?!

(Narberal) “You insects DARE TO EAVESDROP ON LORD AINZ?! I WILL CUT YOU DOWN WHERE YOU STAND IF LORD AINZ PERMI-”

(Ainz) “H-HEY HEY HEY! CALM DOWN!”

Ainz frantically waved his hands to calm her down, and which he turned back to Kazuma.

(Ainz) “AND WHAT THE HELL KAZUMA?! WHY’D YOU-”

Before Ainz could panic any further, he felt his emotions suddenly calm down as a blue glow emitted around him.

(Ainz) “...ahem...It was only House Isekai that followed us here, correct?”

(Megumi) “Y-Yes. Everyone else is unaware that you’re even gone!”

Ainz sighed internally and shook his head.

(Ainz) “You’re lucky that I was here to stop them. If you did that while I was absent, I’m fairly positive you all would have died. Regardless, how much did you hear?”

(Aqua) “Well um...the entire thing.”

(Yu) “W-Well, just so that we didn’t get your heart rate up for nothing, since we’ve been here a little longer, we can provide specifics on what we’ve seen!”

(Minako) “Oh yeah, that’s right! We’ve been doing a field study or two outside!”

(Megumi) “Doomguy, Sara, and I have been working with the church.”

(Ainz) “...Well, I suppose you will be of use then. We speak not a word of our information to the church, or any of the other houses. Understood?”

Everyone nodded.

Ainz at first suspected that some of House Isekai might tell the others, but when he thought about it a bit more, who in their right mind would want to betray House Isekai?

All of them were in the same boat as the others.

If they made enemies of anyone, then there’s a good chance they won’t be coming back alive to their world. Cooperation is absolutely vital for everyone here.

Still, couldn’t hurt to be careful.

(Ainz) “Demiurge.”

(Demiurge) “My lord?”

(Ainz) “Collect the information House Isekai has gathered and see if we can find anything of use. Even mundane details might help us in the long run. Everyone else, as of this moment, House Isekai is under my protection. That does not extend to the Golden Deer, Blue Lions, or Black Eagles.”

(Everyone) “Yes, Lord Ainz!”

Naberal walked behind him as the House representatives went into the room to discuss with Demiurge.

(Ainz) “Now, Naberal. Let’s get going, we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

[Overlord Opening]

---

Side Story:

The Raven-Black Warrior

[First, Let’s Gather Information - Overlord]

The first thing that the people of Garreg Mach’s town noticed that day was how bright the sun was shining. It was a blinding but comforting light. 

The second thing they noticed was the man and woman that they had never seen before.  

She wore a simple brown cloak, but she was the most beautiful woman they had ever seen.

He was just as captivating, for an entirely different reason. He was extremely tall and wore armor as black as night, complemented with a golden trim that accented his body. 

The two swords he had on his back were bigger than the woman who was accompanying him.

No one knew their names but everyone was too afraid to ask, letting them go on their way.

Guards took notice of them and kept a close eye if they attempted anything, they were the most suspicious people in the past few months alone.

(Nabe) “It appears that adventurers don’t appear to be part of this world. Everyone is staring at us.”

(Momon) “Well that’s how it was back then, but you seem to be right. They seem to be less in awe and more on guard. Not that I blame them.”

In his old world, Ainz and Narberal posed as adventurers, Momon and Nabe, looking for quests and worked their way up from the bottom to the top for their heroism and the way they blew through quests.

It seems like the MMO aspects were completely alien in Fodlan, judging by the way everyone looked at them with fear.

When they found their way into the Inn, the same reaction was made by everyone inside.

There wasn’t anything noteworthy inside the inn, not the people or the decor.

He went to the counter and took a seat. There was a woman in knight’s armor next to him, but Ainz didn’t pay any mind to her. She was most likely a guard on break or something. The innkeeper turned around and jumped at the towering man in armor before her.

(Innkeeper) “M-May I help you?”

(Momon) “How much for the night?”

(Innkeeper) “Uh...100 gold.”

Ainz reached inside his belt and pulled out a small pouch. Looking inside, it was only 50 gold.

(Momon) “...I only have 50.”

(Innkeeper) “Then I’m sorry. We cannot allow you to stay.”

Nabe’s face scrunched up, insulted that her highness should even have to pay for a room. Already knowing how she is in this situation, Ainz raised his hand.

(Momon) “Then that’s fine. I’ll just take a drink. Ale’s fine.”

The innkeeper nodded and went to get the drink as requested.”

(Female Knight) “Psh, all that fancy armor and you can’t even get a room. Money well spent.”

The two turned to the woman who finished chugging down her mug.

(Momon “Hm?”

Upon closer inspection,the woman had messy blond hair, and the knight’s uniform seemed to be of higher craft.

It was then Ainz noticed her sword. It was some jagged and uneven yellow sword. His thoughts were interrupted from Narberal’s reply.

(Nabe) “Watch your tongue.”

(Momon) “Nabe-”

(Female Knight) “Ah, yeah no that’s my bad. Didn’t mean any offense!”

The knight turned towards Ainz and smiled.

(Female Knight) “Just saying that if you spent the money to get that bad boy made, I don’t blame ya one bit! Not to mention those swords too. Jeez, you aren’t compensating for anything, are ya?”

Ainz laughed.

(Momon) “I could ask you the same thing. That blade of yours isn’t just for show, is it?”

(Female Knight) “What, you mean Thunderbrand? Hah, I bet it could kick your butt in a fight!”

Nabe frowned and was clearly getting annoyed at her gloating.

Ainz was starting to take a bit of liking to this woman. It reminded him of a player who was bragging about their gear and how hard they worked for it, daring anyone to take them on in PVP.

Thankfully, he was in a situation where testing his abilities was necessary.

(Momon) “That’s a bet I’d be willing to take.”

(Female Knight) “You’re on! It’s been a while since I’ve fought someone who looks like they can back up their talk!”

The ale was brought to Ainz. He grabbed the mug and motioned it towards the female knight.

(Momon) “Name’s Momon.”

The female knight hit Momon’s cup with hers and nodded.

(Female Knight) “Momon, eh? That’s a strange name. I’m-”

The door burst open, a blue haired woman dressed in dark green running in.

(Blue Woman) “Catherine!”

(Catherine) “Bah, hang on. Shamir, what’s going on?”

Shamir walked up to Catherine and cut in front of Ainz and Narberal.

(Shamir) “We’ve located the enemy camp, but there’s far more than we expected.”

(Catherine) “Who’s going with us?”

(Shamir) “Us, Jeralt, Alois and a few recruits. The rest of the knights are still investigating the Death Knight.”

Catherine finished the rest of her drink in a single gulp and turned to Ainz.

(Catherine) “Shame, looks like our duel’s gonna have to wait!”

Right as she was about to get up, Ainz spoke up.

(Ainz) “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to accept some help?”

(Shamir) “You a merc?”

(Ainz) “Adventurer. We’re new to the country and my friend and I are here looking for work.”

(Catherine) “Huh. Talk about convenient.”

(Shamir) “Might not get paid, that alright with you?”

Momon got up and nodded.

(Momon) “Fine by me. Let’s get going.”

Wasting no time, the four of them headed out of the inn and towards the outskirts of town.

Later...

[Non-Player Character - Overlord]

As they walked down the road, Narberal continued to frown at Catherine and Shamir.

(Momon) sigh “Nabe, is this about-”

(Nabe) “Yes it is, Loooorrrr-...ahem, Momon.”

(Momon) “We’ve been over this. Do not hold it against people if they treat me the way they do.”

(Nabe) sigh “It’s something I can never fully be comfortable with-”

(Momon) “Nabe, I brought you with me because you’ve been with me the longest out in the field. I appreciate your concern but-”

Momon stopped talking when he noticed that Catherine was slowing down a bit to walk side by side with them.

(Catherine) “So, where do you two come from?”

(Momon) “Ah, we come from the Alliance.”

(Catherine) “Any house? Heard your lady friend call you a lord.”

Ainz internally sighed while Nabe’s face flinched.

(Momon) “That’s something we’d rather not discuss.”

(Catherine) “Ah, I understand that. Wouldn’t wanna deal with nobles all the time myself when I can just go where I please. That freedom is nice.”

(Momon) “So what exactly are we fighting?”

(Shamir) “Bandits. Some monsters and demonic beasts started attacking nearby villages, but we managed to put them down pretty easily. Now we just have to deal with the bandits raiding the survivors. They think nothing can stop them since the knights are busy with other tasks.”

(Momon) “And who do you all work for?”

(Catherine) “Lady Rhea and the Church of Seiros. Specifically, we’re the Knights of Seiros, a division of elite warriors meant to enforce her will.”

(Momon) “Has there been any other cases of monsters near the Monastery?”

(Catherine) “Well there’s...actually, now that I think about it, I don’t think so.

Ainz and Narberal took a mental note of that. The Church appears to be keeping quiet about the residents of Nazarick being in House Isekai, and they don’t appear to be suspicious of the fact that they were the ones who made the monsters appear.

But what was a demonic beast?

Before he could ask, they met up with the rest of the knights. 

(Jeralt) “Finally you made it. The bandits are about to make their move.”

(Alois) “Now, let’s...Huh? Who’s this?”

(Catherine) “Momon and...Don’t think I ever caught your name, missy.”

(Nabe) “...I am Nabe.”

(Shamir) “We’ll see if he and his friend are useful or not.”

(Jeralt) “Name’s Jeralt. Captain of the Knights of Seiros.”

(Alois) “Alois, Jeralt’s second in command!”

Upon first glance, they all appeared to be seasoned veterans. Even though their tone was mostly casual and informal, the way they held themselves and their weapons showed that they knew what they were doing.

(Momon) “It is a pleasure to meet you all.”

Everyone turned to Narberal who didn’t say anything at first.

With a slight nudge, Narberal turned to them.

(Nabe) “Let’s get this over with.”

Ainz shook his head.

(Momon) “Come on, at least say hello.”

(Alois) “Hah, I see your daughter is a bit shy!”

Narberal’s calm face exploded into a panic.

“DAUGHTER?! THERE IS NO ONE THAT COULD BE LORD MOMON’S CHILD, AND EVEN IF HE WEDDED, I COULDN’T-”

“H-HEY! Watch what you’re saying!”

“...Ah...”

“...”

Alois burst out laughing while everyone else sighed.

(Alois) “Ah, so you aren’t related! Apologies, the way you two talked made me think otherwise!”

(Momon) “Pay it no mind, but please do not try to fluster her like that.”

Jeralt hit Alois in the back of the head.

(Alois) “AH!”

(Jeralt) “You haven’t even seen the man’s face, what made you think that they’re family to begin with?”

Well, it’s not like Alois was completely off the mark.

Ever since the rest of his guild members disappeared, Ainz did view all of Nazarick’s beings as his children. Narberal, the Pleiades, and even the Floor Guardians were his sons and daughters.

Highly dysfunctional and psychopathic sons and daughters, but that nevertheless.

(Catherine) “We’re almost right on top of their camp. We should get moving, already.”

(Jeralt) “Agreed. Let’s go.”

As the knights made their way, Naberal turned to Ainz.

Her face was still blushing, and it looked like as if she were ready to cry or punch something. Most likely both.

(Momon) sigh “Don’t worry about it, okay Nabe?”

(Nabe) “Y-Yes, Momon...”

----

[As Swift As Wind - Fire Emblem: Three Houses]

UNIT SELECTION:

Begin the battle?

>[Yes] No

Victory Conditions: Rout the enemy

Defeat Conditions: "Momon” or “Nabe” falls in battle.

----

[Psychological Warfare - Overlord]

The group hid behind several trees as they looked at the massive bandit camp. They had kidnapped a large amount of people, as well as their belongings.

(Momon) “Bandits...”

(Alois) “Those dastards think they can do what they want when we’re not around! We’ll show them!”

(Catherine) “I’m not going to stand by and let innocents get herded around like cattle!”

(Shamir) “Get your heads clear. We have to think of a plan, there’s far too many of them for us.”

Ainz and Narberal didn’t really care about the villagers, if they were to tell the truth.

Ainz only joined in because it’d be a good way to find out the strength of those around here.

Even though he wasn’t using any spells and his real power, he would at least see how dangerous bandits and soldiers of this world are.

Monsters like goblins or monsters in general did not seem commonplace in this world at all, which meant there was no good way to gauge how lethal everyone is, or what their levels and experience is. RPG elements seemed absent much to his dismay.

Even if these were bandits, which are normally low level mobs, he would pay dearly if he underestimated them.

That being said, there were no other plans he could think of to accurately assess how dangerous they all were, so there’s just one thing to do now.

Brute force his way in, just like Momon would.

(Momon) “...I have an idea.”

(Jeralt) “What’d that be?”

(Momon) “They’re expecting the Knights of Seiros. They aren’t expecting someone like Nabe and I. While I distract them, you can free the villagers.”

(Alois) “No offense, but I doubt you and your big swords there could cleave through all of them.”

(Momon) “Hah, I accept your challenge!”

Ainz motioned Nabe to follow and started to walk into sight.

(Catherine) “What are you doing?!”

(Momon) “Stick to the plan.”

(Bandit) “HEY, WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!”

The bandits attention focused on the two walking up towards the camp, alerting the rest of them and making them draw their weapons.

Ainz pulled out his twin greatswords as Nabe pulled out a broadsword.

(Momon) “Raiding towns as monsters are already attacking them? How low...”

(Bandit) “We’re doin ‘em a favor! Either live under us or die by the monsters and church! Now, I’m asking again real nice, WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!”

(Momon) “My name is Momon. And this is Nabe. You all would do well to remember these names.”

(Bandit) “Psh, what? You gonna “deliver justice” to us evildoers or some shit? And what’s with that getup! You’re trying a bit too hard don’t you think?”

Narberal gripped her sword tightly, wanting to kill all of them for insulting her lord.

Ainz’s head tilted to her to where only she could hear.

(Momon) “Steady your hand a bit longer. I promise you will be able to kill them to your heart’s content.”

Narberal nodded and tried to keep calm.

She then noticed that the group had finally managed to get around the bandits and cut them free.

(Nabe) “Momon-”

(Momon) “Focus on the bandits, not the villagers.”

(Bandit) “You better get out of here if you know what’s good for you...Then again, your armor looks REALLY expensive. And those swords ya got too...!”

The last of the villagers finally ran away with the recruits as their escorts.

Catherine nodded.

(Momon) “Hoho, you’re more than welcome to come and get it!”

(Bandit) “HAH, GET ‘EM BOYS!”

(Momon) “Nabe.”

[Clash - Overlord]

Nabe grinned for a moment before raising her finger to them.

“Lightning.”

A line of electricity shot out, piercing through three bandits’ chests and killing them instantly.

(Bandit) “What the hell?!”

(Bandit 2) “MAGE! TAKE HER DO-”

Three more bandits were cleaved in half as Ainz’s sword went flying through the air and stabbed the ground, shooting debris out from the impact.

One of the bandits who survived looked into the air and realized Ainz had flipped into the air, and tossed his other sword down.

When he landed, Ainz grabbed both of his swords and spun in a massive circle, cutting anyone down who was too close.

(Bandit) “FUCK! WHAT THE-”

An arrow went through his head, shot by Shamir who emerged from the trees.

Catherine and Alois charged in with their weapons cutting everyone in their way down.

Another group of bandits tried to make a run for it before being run over by Jeralt’s horse.

Narberal caught up with Ainz and cut another bandit down swiftly.

(Momon) So, looks like bandits are still weak as ever...

He turned his attention towards how Catherine and Alois were fighting. They were killing the bandits left and right, not even breaking a sweat.

Shamir’s deadly efficiency made sure every shot that was fired hit the bandit right between the eyes.

(Nabe) “MOMON!”

Ainz knew a bandit was coming from behind to slash at him. He would’ve already taken care of it, but he wanted to see just how strong these weapons were.

When the sword made contact, it bounced off and didn’t even leave a scratch.

Truth be told, he was more than a little disappointed.

The bandit slowly backed away as Ainz turned towards him.

(Momon) “Do you want to try again?”

(Bandit) “AAAH!”

Right as he turned around, he was impaled through the stomach from Narberal’s sword, which she violently kicked him off.

(Nabe) “Disgusting insect...”

Ainz then examined Narberal’s state, to see if she was struggling either.

In terms of level, Narberal was around level 60, and just meant to serve as a distraction in the tombs of Nazarick.

However there was just only a few patches of dirt and blood that got on her. She hadn’t even sustained an injury or broke a sweat.

(Momon) “Good grief, I suppose it was my mistake to expect more from bandits.”

(Nabe) “Your compassion for these humans are too great, Momon. They do not deserve it!”

(Momon) “Perhaps. Finish this up, Nabe.”

(Nabe) “Understood.”

Casting another lightning spell from her finger, she shot at a group that was heading towards Catherine and Alois, and fried them.

Their smoking bodies fell to the ground and finally there was silence.

(Catherine) “Alright, think we’re in the clear! That was some fancy moves, Momon!”

(Jeralt) “Gotta admit, you’re skilled.”

(Alois) “I’ve never seen anyone move like that! You’re incredible!”

(Shamir) “Hm. Not bad.”

Narberal smiled for the first time this entire trip.

(Nabe) “Of course he’s incredible.”

(Momon) “Now, now. Let’s not get too cocky. We should go find the villa-”

GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Everyone immediately turned and ran towards the source of the sound. When they finally got back on the roads, the villagers encountered a massive demonic beast.

(Jeralt) “Damn it, I thought we got rid of all of them!”

(Alois) “EVERYONE, GET BEHIND US!”

(Momon) Ah, there we go. Knew a quest would have SOME final boss if the mobs were too easy.

Getting into stance, the villagers all got behind the Knights as the beast slowly walked up.

It was some form of a giant wolf, with the fangs almost as large as a man.

Ainz and Narberal tried to buff themselves with passive skills but where shocked when nothing they said was activating it.

(Nabe) “M-My magic...!”

(Momon) “I see, so this world took our buffs away. Meaning-”

Although his face couldn’t smile anymore, he’d have the widest one at this very moment.

[NPC Battle - Overlord]

(Momon) “WE JUST GOT TO FIGHT IT THE OLD FASHIONED WAY!”

Ainz and Narberal charged first, followed by Catherine and Jeralt. Shamir and Alois stayed back to ensure that the civilians would be safe, letting Shamir fire off arrows.

The wolf swiped its paws at Ainz, barely blocking in time with his dual greatswords. The arrows seemed to bounce off the demonic beast when it made contact.

(Shamir) “Damn it!”

It pushed him back, almost making him lose balance with the force behind it.

Retaliating, Ainz swung his sword at the hide of the wolf, but it was reflected off.

Narberal casted another lightning attack and fired it head on.

The demonic beast was damaged, although not by much.

It tried swinging at Narberal next, but Catherine parried its claws in time, using Thunderbrand to cut parts of the claws off, making it roar in pain.

Wasting no time, Narberal quickly put distance between her and the beast.

Jeralt’s horse ran by and he threw a javelin into that arm, making it roar even louder.

The demonic beast spun around, using its tail to knock everyone back.

Ainz was caught in the attack and flew backwards. When he got up, he started laughing.

(Ainz) “I FORGOT WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO FEEL PAIN!”

While it wasn’t nearly as powerful as he was expecting the name “demonic-beast” to be, it still posed a bit of a threat if he was way too careless.

However, it’s been so long since anything had actually managed to hurt him. Even though his specialty wasn’t swordfighting, it got his adrenaline going once more.

It was a feeling a player finding an enemy in a video game that could actually pose as a fun boss battle.

Narberal had a mixed expression on her face. A half scowl and smile. She was happy he was enjoying himself, but at the same time it was her duty to protect him.

Ainz went into the fray once more, trading blows with the surprisingly agile demonic beast.

The two traded and dodged their attacks, seemingly being at equal skill.

Catherine and Jeralt got back up and saw Ainz single-handedly taking it on.

(Catherine) “Jeez, what is he?!”

(Jeralt) “I don’t believe it!”

Finally landing a score that struck home, one of Ainz’s greatswords got stuck into the uninjured arm of the demonic beast, making it howl out.

(Momon) “Catherine!”

Catherine managed to shake off her awe and swiped at the tail of the demonic beast, cutting it cleanly off.

Jeralt used his lance to stab the beast in the leg, making the lance come out the other side and ensuring it can’t move.

Shamir finally got into a good position in the trees and let an arrow loose, the arrow going into its eye.

Alois used his axe to lop off the lower jaw of the demonic beast when it was staggered, finally leaving Narberal an opening.

(Nabe) “Dragon lightning!”

An even brighter line of electricity shot out of her fingers, but it quickly transformed into the shape of a dragon as it charged straight into the demonic beast, making its entire body shake.

Once it stopped, Ainz hopped into the air and dug his swords straight into its neck.

Letting go and quickly grabbing the hilts with opposite hands, he pulled them back out in a way to decapitate the beast, and let its headless body flop onto the ground. 

[Non-Player Character - Overlord]

With one final sigh, Ainz swung the blood off his blade and sheathed them on his back.

Narberal quietly sheathed her sword on her belt and stood alongside him.

(Alois) “Now THAT was even more amazing!”

(Catherine) “Show off.”

(Shamir) “Like you’re one to talk.”

(Jeralt) “That’s enough already. Let’s get these villagers home.”

Everyone nodded and made sure all the villagers were safely home. The recruits offered to protect them as they reported back to Garreg Mach until an actual guard detachment came. 

When they finally arrived back in Garreg Mach’s town, Catherine turned to the two adventurers.

(Catherine) “You’re not busy tonight, are you?”

(Momon) “I do not believe we are.”

(Catherine) “Then, how would you like to work with us? Bet you all would help out the Knights of Seiros greatly.”

(Shamir) “Hah. That’s high praise coming from her.”

(Momon) “It depends. May I speak to the leader...who is that by the way?”

(Alois) “Wow, you must really be out of the loop! The leader of the Church of Seiros is Archbishop Rhea. I’m sure she isn’t busy at the moment!”

(Momon) “Then let’s go find her. We’ll make our decision from there.”

Catherine and Alois went to speak with Rhea in private. After a few silent moments, a knight opened the door to the Hearing Chamber.

(Knight) “Her lordship wishes to see you now.”

[Gazing At Sirius - Fire Emblem: Three Houses]

Ainz nodded, and both he and Narberal went inside and found her standing in the middle.

He had seen her a couple times when every single person had their weapon pointed at them, but it didn’t seem that they knew who they were.

Knowing that she basically ruled all over Fodlan, Ainz did what his followers normally did upon seeing him.

Ainz got on knee, with his arm over it and other arm over his chest.

Narberal had a face as if someone had insulted her creator AND Ainz at the same time, but quickly did the same. It bothered her to no end, but she was going to have to suck it up.

(Rhea) “There is no need for such actions. Please, rise.”

Doing so, she smiled.

(Rhea) “I heard that you decided to help out the Knights of Seiros, even without the promise of pay?”

(Momon) “I may be an adventurer, but I would never turn away from those in need.”

(Rhea) “Such a kind heart you have, mister Momon. You have my respect and admiration. However, I cannot permit you into the Knights of Seiros with just this action alone.”

(Momon) “...I understand, my lady.”

(Rhea) “That being said, with your combat prowess impressing two of my highest in command, Catherine and Alois, I will permit this, if you choose to accept. You will fight alongside the Knights of Seiros asa mercenary. But with enough time, you may enlist in the ranks of the Knights.”

(Momon) “I accept this with the highest honor, my lady.”

(Rhea) “And what about you?”

Narberal was about ready to spit in Rhea’s face, the idea of pledging allegiance to someone else other than Ainz repulsed her to no end. But knowing the reprimand and cataclysmic setback that insult would have, she nodded.

(Nabe) “I accept this with the highest honor...my lady.”

(Rhea) “You have my gratitude. Please, rest within the Monastery. We have quarters waiting for you. Your assignments will begin soon.”

Bowing, they both left towards their quarters.

Their beds were set across from each other, but they had no real need of that. They could use the teleportation rings to go back to House Isekai’s dorms.

But for the time being, they would stay here and learn firsthand how the Knights of Seiros acts.

He was satisfied that they managed to infiltrate a bit more subtly into the Church of Seiros. It was a lot better than attempting to be a student. Done that once, no need to do that again.

Ainz felt like he didn’t need to worry about the Floor Guardian’s relations with the classmates of House Isekai as much due to prior experience with Kazuma and his group.

That being said he was quite curious about the others. Class VII, the Phantom Thieves, the Doom Slayer, all of it was quite perplexing. 

Just what kind of mess was he getting into this time?

However, he decided to not jump down that rabbit hole tonight.

There was more pressing matters to attend to.

That being Narberal.

(Momon) “Naberal Gamma.”

Hearing his voice say her name in that angry of a tone sent shivers throughout her entire body.

And it was also the fact he used her real name.

(Narberal) “U-Uh...-”

[First Wife War - Overlord]

BAP!

(Narberal) “L-Lord Ainz?!”

(Ainz) “What was THAT back there with Rhea?”

(Narberal) “I-I’m afraid I don’t understand?”

(Ainz) “Narberal Gamma, you are aware of the face you made when I knelt, correct?”

---

---

(Ainz) “We are extremely lucky that Rhea did not mention that! Or that anyone else was in the room!”

(Narberal) “I-I apologize with all my being, Lord Ainz!”

She immediately got on her knees and was about to shout even more, but Ainz stopped her.

(Ainz) “Enough. I know you’d be willing to slit your own neck to apologize.”

(Narberal) “...Do you wa-”

(Ainz) “No, I do NOT want you to do that!” sigh

Ainz facepalmed, and then attempted to rub his temple, A. forgetting that he doesn’t have one anymore, and B. he was wearing a helmet.

(Ainz) “Refrain from making that face. Remember, we are BLENDING in.”

(Narberal) “I...I understand.”

(Ainz) “We should be safe in the Monastery. Wash yourself up and relax for a little bit before returning here. I need to make a call to Albedo.”

(Narberal) “Yes, Lord Ainz...”

Ainz could tell Nazarick’s stay in Fodlan was going to be a very long one... 

[Crazy Scary Holy Fantasy - Overlord]

Crazy Scary Holy Fantasy Akumu no arisama Do what, do what, do what you want to! Akui no souzou shitai

#fire emblem three houses imagines #fire emblem three houses headcanons #fe3h imagines #Overlord #Overlord AU #church of seiros #knights of seiros #ainz ooal gown #narberal gamma #jeralt reus eisner #Archbishop Rhea #alois rangeld #Catherine Fe #cassandra charon #shamir nevrant

[sailorsanghelios]

FFXIV ficlets but this time with my Au’ra WOL

In honor of it apparently being Au’ra April on Twitter, I dusted off this WIP of my Au’ra WOL, Seiro being shippy with Yugiri in the aftermath of the 2.5 Bloody Banquet. Really like how this one turned out, even though I haven’t written something this self indulgent and shippy in a VERY long time.

--------- “Seiro are you alright?”

Seiro had been distracted, looking out the window as the snow fell. While he appreciated the hospitality of his dear friend, Lord Haurchefant, he had never liked the cold, and even bundled up and drinking the hot drinks brought to him, it felt unbearably cold to him.

“I am not.” he said honestly. “But I will pretend I am, for Alphinaud and Tataru’s sake…. Thank you for rescuing Tataru by the way. It means the world to me.”

Perhaps the only bit of warmth he felt now, was as Yugiri crouched beside him.  He couldn’t help but stare at her, even though he knew it probably unnerved her. She almost felt like a completely different person to him, he hadn’t ever thought about what she might look like.

She smiled at him, “ I have to say I expected Alphinaud’s reaction of shock, I have to be the first woman of our kind he’s ever seen. But you?”

Seiro racked his brain and realized something, “...I’ll be honest I haven’t seen a woman of our kind, since I was separated from my mother as a child.” His heart felt heavy, thinking about such a thing in an already emotionally charged and exhausting night. “And I honestly don’t remember it very well. I mean perhaps occasionally I’d see one in the distance, but never up close.”

“Your Garlean master did not like you consorting with other Au’ra?”

Seiro’s eyes widened as he dropped the cup of hot liquid onto the floor. He locked eyes with Yugiri, his face growing hot with shame. He knew how hard she fought against the Garleans, how they made her, and their own people, the ones he had forsaken, suffer.  And perhaps after finally meeting someone who made him feel less lonely, he was afraid of her hating him the same way.

But Yugiri only had a gentle smile, “I see and I listen to everything. I’ve known since the beginning of course. I heard the Garleans even in Doma speak of you, the Warrior of Light, the former legionary fighting against the empire, defeating your former legatus. Are you so torn from Doma that you forgot there’s little that one can hide from a shinobi?”

“...you do not hate me?” he whispered.  

“ No...if anything I pitied you.”

Somehow that felt even worse to Seiro.

“ My pride in my people, in Doma, is one of the few things that kept me moving forward in my life. And to see a fellow Doman…”

“Yugiri…” Seiro gently put his hand against her shoulder, “...Yugiri I am not a Doman. Perhaps by birth I am but...I’ve long forgotten everything. I was made to forget it, I was made to feel ashamed of it...until I met you and the other refugees in Mor Dhona, I had felt no kinship with the Domans. And even now I feel selfish, even feeling it in the first place.”

Yugiri looked at him, her voice gentle, but firm, “Seiro… Doma will be free. And you will return there someday. We both will.  There is work to do here, of course. But someday the time will come when we can return home.”

He looked at her longingly,and she did so back, and he leaned forward. Perhaps he wouldn’t have done so in less dire circumstances, it was rather out of character for him to be so emotionally forthcoming, but his lips met against her forehead. The chill of Camp Dragonhead seemed to completely disappear as he was pressed against her warmth, clutching against her soft hair.

He suddenly pulled back though, ashamed of how forward he’d been, afraid of having frightened her, but instead she was smiling, and pulled against his armor to motion him to lean back down, and she kissed him against the scales on the side of his face.

As she pulled back, her voice was breathy, “and here I was thinking I was a fool for even having any stir in my heart toward the great Warrior of Light.”

He felt his own heart flutter, with the same sort of stir she was probably describing, before it sank down, “I am no longer great. I am a fugitive who has lost almost everything.”

“ Don’t let Lord Greysfone hear you say that, or he might give you a rousing speech the same way he did Master Leveilleur.”

Seiro gave a small stilted smile at that, before it instantly cracked, “...Alphinaud is young. He lacks the baggage I do.”

He absent mindedly stoked his hand against the side of his head, feeling the jagged edges of his horns. Only hours earlier when Ilberd had first bound him, he had yanked at Seiro’s horns, bringing him down to his height, and spat into them, “ I should have known better than to ever trust an imperial lapdog like you. I know your kind, they lure you in with scraps when you’re young and train you like one of their ugly dogs. And the only cure is to put them down.No matter how much you play the hero, you’ll run back to your masters in the end.”

Since the moment he had stepped into Lord Veritas’ manor, he’d felt like a monster among men. It was a feeling that’d only become worse as he went through puberty, suddenly towering over his benefactor, his horns and tail growing out, his eyes having that uncanny ability of glowing in the dark, He had always had it drilled in him, that no matter what he did, and how he succeeded, he was just a monster among the Garleans.

And now in Eorzea, it was that Garlean connection that made him feel like a monster. Even now he still used the name “Veritas”, an obvious Garlean name, because no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remember any other name he’d had. It was a connection he wished he could break, but Ilberd for all his treachery had been right about one thing, it would never truly be broken. No matter what the Mother Crystal told him, no matter how she said he was her chosen warrior, he had initially come to Eorzea as an invader. 

Fitting for a shinobi, he did not see Yugiri reach for him, and his eyes widened and he was jolted from his brooding, as he felt her hands gently stroke his horns. “ I know it doesn’t mean much. But it takes much more than this to convince me I was wrong about your greatness.”

The smile she gave, so warm and inviting, made his heart beat even faster, feeling like it was about to burst from his rib cage. And yet again it happened so fast, first it was their eyes locking onto each other, and then suddenly they had pulled closer to each other, with Yugiri sitting on his lap, wrapping her arms around his torso. Their lips had been a fraction of an ilm from connecting, when they’d heard another voice.

“Would you like to be shown to your room dear friend? Though perhaps you want more privacy than sharing a room with Master Alphinaud.”

In the time it took for Seiro’s heart to sink to his feet, Yugiri had entangled herself from him with the speed and grace only a shinobi could have. She bowed apologetically at the Elezen looming over them with a grin on his face “Lord Haurchefant, thank you for your hospitality, I believe I should return-“

“Nonsense. You have my full blessing to stay the night. I believe it might help the spirits of our Warrior of Light here.” Haurchefant winked at him, and Seiro looked away flustered. 

“No, I must begin looking for the missing Scions.” Yugiri insisted, “The longer we wait to begin our search, the more likely their trails are to run cold.”

“Ah that makes sense. The best of luck to you then.”

As Yugiri walked past Seiro, she gently rubbed her hand against the scales on his cheeks, “We will meet again, Seiro. I know the kami will, will it.”

He smiled, giving her a nod as she left.

“I knew there had to be some way to defrost you my friend. I always thought it never suited a hero to be frostier than Coerthas itself.” 

Seiro’s face fell flat as he looked into Haurchefant’s smirk. He had never known someone to smirk in such a friendly way.

“ Do not be ashamed, Seiro. You two make a handsome pair.”

“...its frivolous to think of such things when my comrades are missing or perhaps...worse.” As the words left his lips, Seiro suddenly felt ashamed. Even Thancred, would not be entertaining the idea of romance right now.

“ The dawn always arrives, no matter how dark it is before. Life must continue. I doubt your comrades would want you wallowing in misery. Or well, in more misery than usual.”

Seiro knew that changing Haurchefant’s romantic stances on the world was as futile as arguing with the brick walls surrounding them, “You said something about a room?”

“ Ah yes. We set up a room in one of the barracks. You will have to share with both Master Alphinaud and Lady Tataru, which I apologize for,  but with the possibility of Dravanian attack-”

“As long as it's warm, I’m fine.” With Yugiri now having left, he felt almost relieved his normal practicality had returned. “Take me to it. I’m tired.”

#ffxiv shitpost hour #seiro veritas #i wanna write with him as much as i do dadabo #and he's developed a lot from literally being me making thel vadam in ffxiv

[kendrixtermina]

An Alternate Take on The Prologue

It seems to have been almost universally accepted that the events in the prologue were an assassination attempt meant to remove Dimitri and Claude so that the war would go smoother later on. I’d like to present an alternative possibility. 

I have no solid 100% certain proof I’m not even going to pretend that this is anything other than my own interpretation that’s no more valid than the other one. It’s just a possibility. 

Thus it is ultimately an opinion that I wouldn’t base further conclusions on. We don’t know for a fact that her goal wasn’t, in fact, assassination. 

Still I think because there’s quite a lot of interesting stuff going on in that scene that ppl seem to miss, that I want to dissect here regardless of wether you agree with my thesis or not

Significant Clues: 

The Actual Motive

I’m not sure if it was Seteth or a random Monk, but I think more than one character goes on about how the Church’s reputation that they worked for so many years would have been tarnished if anything happened to the heirs.  Especially when you consider there aren’t that many Blaiddyds left and even less Riegans and that both are expected to solve/end the dire chaos in their respective factions.

Now who would benefit from making the Church look bad? Someone who plans to declare war on them maybe? 

They wouldn’t put that sort of dialogue there if we weren’t supposed to conclude something from it.

This might be less obvious if you haven’t played her route (though even then, you still get her speech in all of them don’t you?) but her declaration of war was strictly against the Church and their allies. She hands out papers everywhere, exposing the Church’s wrongdoings and asking all the rulers to choose sides. Petra mentions getting one such letter. 

She knew full well that most of the Kingdom and Alliance would side with the Church (and keep fighting even after Rhea’s taken out) and that there would probably be calvacades of collateral damage,  after all the Church indoctrinates the ruling elites at the Academy and thanks to the phony “crests are divine gifts” story the nobles depend on the Church for legitimacy as rulers - but every lord who doesn’t support the Church is one whose army she doesn’t have to fight. 

When she declares war, she wants as many people as possible to either stand down or join her. Painting the church as incompetent (or, in her mind, “highlighting” their incompetence) to safeguard the precious heirs might have increased that number, if Byleth’s heroic intervention and subsequent appointment as a professor hadn’t overshadowed the whole thing. 

Also note that for this to cause a scandal, Dimitri and Claude don’t need to be dead. 

Essentially ordering a hit on herself is certainly in line with Edelgard’s other... as Claude put it, “gutsy moves” (Such as not evacuating Enbarr in GD knowing full well that Claude was not going to tear through the civilians, effectively restricting his movements) but looking at literally any other action she’s ever taken, she always goes out of her way to give people the option to surrender., consistently, all the time, all throughout her route (and even many of her engage quotes in the other routes - She offers to let Claude and Byleth go at Gronder, for example) 

She even gets this whole rant before you go to fight Claude about how she wishes people would just stand down peacefully instead of starting fights they can’t win. (which is perhaps why she tells Byleth to just go ahead and finish her once she realizes that she’s beaten in the other routes)

She’ll mow you down if you oppose her alright but first she’ll make sure that both you (and her allies all of whom get the chance to opt out) are all there because you want to be/ are actually choosing to oppose her. It’s not like her to just kill people without giving them an explanation or a choice. 

But smears and coverups? That’s another matter. There’s her whole secret identity/secret faustian Bargain thing, that time only Hubert, Byleth and Lysithea knew which fortress they’d be attacking, and how she pinned the Javelins of light on the church. That’s totally something she’d do, (which might’ve backfired on the credibility of her pamphlets; PR and negotiation are simply not her greatest strengths)

Which makes her less truthful than, say, Dimitri (I think the only time he ever remotely lied to an ally was to hide his investigations of Arundel from Dedue), but overall still not as deceptive as Claude or the Church , since these are all “tactical” lies for concrete short-term goals, nothing relating to their goals. 

Everyone on Edelgard’s side knows that she wants to abolish hereditary rule and create an equal society, even if that means making enemies; Claude tells no one what he’s planning until the very end even though the knights might not follow him if he’d told them that he means to diminish the Church’s influence on society, kinda hoping that everyone will come around on their own - He does this even with Byleth to an extent. 

(Though when it comes to the Church we must really differentiate between the Chuch as a whole established by Rhea and Seteth individually, who I’d rate as significantly more truthful than Edelgard since he only lies out of very justified self-protection and loyalty to Rhea (who is his sister, and about whose wrongdoings he only knows the tip of the iceberg), and even urges her to come clean in the end.)

Ferdinand finds it strange that they just so ran into a bunch of mercenaries and wonders if one of the house leaders knew that there were mercenaries. 

As before, that Dialogue is there for a reason. One of them probably did know. 

So who is it? Probably not Dimitri he can’t pokerface worth a damn. 

That leaves Edelgard or Claude. 

Edelgard might’ve know that there were mercenaries nearby and expected them to intervene if things went south. Or it could be Claude, and that’s why he ran off.

We know that he’s got great survival instincts, grew up in a warrior culture of sorts, and makes a habit of carefully observing his surroundings. Perhaps he just spotted a large amount of hoofprints or beaten muddy footpaths, and deduced that there might be help to be had in that direction.  

For now I’ll say that Claude is the most likely option. 

I mean it’s really like him to be a spanner in the works before he even known anything is up - also, he’s the one who ran. It’s because of HIM that the trio went that direction, not because of anything Edelgard did. 

Leave it to Claude to look like he’s bailing when he’s actually looking for help. (but also taking a bit of a risk since he didn’t know for certain that he would find help).  Also he says something like “Ain’t it great the gods of fortune sent us your way?” which is something Claude would only say ironically. 

Kostas didn’t know there would be knights

As far as he knew he was just supposed to “kill some noble pipsqueaks”

But actually, our trio wasn’t supposed to be alone - it was an exercise with Alois and bunch of knights, the elite knights of Seiros, mind you, who are renowed throughout the land. (as Edelgard herself tells you after the fight)

Meaning that Edelgard probably didn’t expect them to be beaten by a bunch of bandits.

Of course beating Claude and Dimitri themselves on their own might be another matter, at least if they’re outnumbered. Still, she must’ve known that Dimitri had seen actual war before and was aware of Claude’s suspicious arrival. 

Since she was with them one could think that she maybe lured them away from the group... except that the situation ultimately depended on at least two unpredictable factors:

- The guy who was supposed to get Byleth’s job bolted. He was supposed to be with the trio and presumably semi-competent. 

I’m surprised that he didn’t show up as an antagonist afterwards or something. We never find out anything about this guy or why he ran though it coulve been simple cowardice. 

Well, unless he too was a plant who meant to run off so Jeritza (who definitely was an imperial plant) could take his job - Didn’t someone say something about expecting Jeritza to get the job Byleth got? I think it was Felix. 

- Claude ran for it, and Dimitri chased after him

Now that’s something that Edelgard really couldn’t have predicted. It’s just Claude being Claude, and Dimitri being Dimitri and hence, heroically charging after him to help him out. 

If Claude hadn’t run off, the trio would have stayed with the knights who could presumably handle a bunch of bandits. If Dimitri hadn’t charged after him to save him, Claude’s plan would have worked without a hitch and he would have returned with allies - he was just one person, he’s the fastest/stealthiest and the least valuable target so he might’ve escaped by himself. 

But Dimitri and Claude running off? Let alone all three? That’s all the most valuable targets on a platter so the thieves went after them. Dimitri, bless his heart,  of course thought that Claude was acting as a decoy and counting on himto come after him.  (consider how he eventually really DOES expect Dimitri to bail him out at the end of Dimitri’s route)

I’d like to stress that Dimitri’s genuine, unpremeditated and unplanned action with no ulterior motive besides helping out proved to be as much of a spanner here as Claude’s clever foresight and chaotic action, and that neither of the other two had been expecting it.  

Dimitri and Claude explicitly tell us that the other two got separated from the group because they chased after Claude. (Again, if she just wanted to kill them, why not just stick with the knights and let them run to their deaths? She’d get a bonus alibi. Indeed she might’ve gone after them because she hadn’t meant for this to end lethally - though it’s fully possible that she just followed without thinking and didn’t intend to get separated)

Something to appreciate here is that while Edelgard is competent and had been planning this for a while, she’s still relatively young and inexperienced and she can only defy or constrain TWSITD so much until she gets the throne.

She has clearly been amassing allies of her own (she marches in with a bunch of relatively young, handpicked generals such as Randolph, Jeritza and Ladislava, and cuts a deal with some from the old regime such as Caspar’s and Linhardt’s dads... though how he goes out in the Church and Alliance routes suggests that Caspar’s dad had some redeeming qualities) , but even with all this and some tentative assent from Arundel and co. she still needed to make an unnanounced surprise visit to actually get her hands on the crown.

She’s not exactly in over her head, but she’s attempting to control a very volatile situation while essentially making a deal with a loose-canon devil she can just barely keep in check. 

A microcosm of what’s to come

The central tragedy of the game is that though the faction leaders were ultimately good people who had the same enemies, they wind up fighting each other before they get at the real bad guys because they’re all acting on information that other other’s don’t have and hence don’t know the other’s situation. 

In a way the introduction scene is kinda like a miniature version of that. 

Each of their individual plans/decisions might have worked, but not all three at once. 

If you think about it the way they would’ve died without Byleth’s intervention foreshadows each of their “bad” endings - Edelgard finds herself surrounded and outnumbered after he plans backfire and goes down fighting as no one else has a clue what she’s really doing, Dimitri rushes head-first into an unwinnable fight because he puts honor before reason,  misjudged someone’s intentions and doesn’t consider his own role, and Claude would’ve either bailed, or gotten himself killed when one of his plans didn’t quite turn out like he wanted. 

Too bad you can only pick one :( 

The other two stay that way. 

#fire emblem: three houses #fire emblem three houses #fe3h #edelgard von hresvelg #Claude von Riegan #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd

[sara-scribbles]

Soft Love (Part 2)

Seteth/F!Byleth Note: May contain spoilers

Part 1 Part 2 --------- Time continued to march on, and the rebuilding of the church was moving at a steady pace. Byleth had to focus her effort on pushing reform. Any free time was for her to rest or eat, which Seteth made sure she did. She saw him often, but it was always business related. She didn’t have time to consider her feelings for her adviser.

Soon the White Heron Cup competition passed with a winner from the Golden Deer house, and the ball was in full swing. Students danced and talked with each other. They all seemed to be in high spirits. Byleth sighed at the sight as she watched everyone. She kept herself scarce by lurking in the shadows. As archbishop she was expected to attend these events, but no one said she had to be an active participant.

She took a sip from her champagne flute. Another waltz had started up and people gathered on the dance floor. “So this is where you’ve been hiding,” Claude whispered in Byleth’s ear.

“Unsuccessfully if you found me,” she grumbled.

He chuckled. “As archbishop, shouldn’t you be out there?”

She drained the last of her drink. “I rather not. I think I do enough being archbishop.”

Taking her empty glass and setting it on a table, he took her hand and pulled her to the dance floor. “Come on, it'll be like old times, teach.” His grin was enough for her to roll her eyes and allow herself to be pulled into the waltz.

They moved around the dance floor with ease. Students started to whisper among themselves. Claude spun her around a few times. The room blurred into bright lights and fuzzy figures before settling. She blinked a few times as her gaze fell on Hilda. However it was not the younger woman that she was staring at but the man she was dancing with. Somehow Hilda had gotten Seteth to dance with her. She gave a triumphant smile. A small chuckle fell from Byleth’s lips. The green haired man looked miserable. Though when he met her amused gaze, he could only offer a half shrug before he was whisked away by the young woman.

“I’m not sure how Hilda did it, but I’m impressed,” Claude mused.

Byleth shook her head. “She used her obvious charm. You should know.” He merely shook his head with a smile.

The music swelled, and Byleth found herself being spun around once more. Claude winked before twirling her into Seteth’s arms and taking off with Hilda. She stared up at him with a mix of confusion and fondness. “It seems my partner has decided to steal yours.”

They continued the dance just as smoothly. “I prefer my new companion.” His hand rested lightly on her waist. His hand was warm and calloused from wielding a lance. Being so close to him, she felt her stomach flutter. His eyes were such a deep green, she could get lost in them if she wasn’t careful.

“So how did Hilda convince you to dance?” she asked, a smile tugged at her lips.

Seteth sighed as his brows pressed together. “She cornered me and insisted I dance with her. It did not help that Flayn was also there encouraging her.”

“It’s not everyday I get to see my trusty advisor dancing,” she teased.

“Yes. Well enjoy it now because this won’t happen again.” He twirled her around before she settled back in his arms.

“Even if I ask nicely for you to dance with me?” she asked, watching for his expression.

His gaze softened. “If you were to ask then I would happily oblige.”

The music trailed off as the dance finished. As students cheered, Seteth bowed to her before excusing himself from the dance floor and going over to Flayn. Byleth stepped back from the dance floor as more students crowded on. Once everyone seemed occupied, she slipped out the door. The cool night air felt wonderful on her warm skin. Her feet carried her to the Goddess Tower without much thought. The tower had been reconstructed after the war, though most students stayed away.

The old tradition of the Goddess Tower had come second to the new rumor flying around. Students whispered how the tower was filled with ghosts of those who died in battle. It was said that that one could hear their pained howles in the dead of night. Some, who were brave enough to go up, claimed to see apparitions. Byleth knew it was all talk, however there was always a grain of truth.

Climbing the tower, the only sound was her shoes clicking on cold stone. The spiraling staircase wound up into a dark abyss above. However once she reached the top, she had a view of the monastery from the open windows. The full moon shone brightly, and looked so close to almost touch. Wind whistled through the quiet tower causing an eerie howl to sound. Though it did raise the hairs on her neck, Byleth knew it was not the ghosts that called. Leaning against the edge, she closed her eyes. For a moment there was no duties to fill. No people to appease. At that moment she was not Archbishop of the Church of Seiros.

She was brought out of her moment of silence by the echoing sounds of someone’s footsteps. Pulling away from the window, she wondered if it was a student hoping to make a wish. Perhaps the ghost rumors hadn’t scared everyone away. However she saw the familiar head of forest green hair and found herself meeting Seteth’s gaze. 

He looked a bit startled to see her. “I did not realize someone would be up here. I’ll leave you to-”

“Please don’t leave on my behalf. I was just...admiring the view.” She gestured outside. “It’s a beautiful night.”

Climbing the last steps, he walked over to where she stood. “I often come here when I need a rest. It’s peaceful since students believe that ridiculous rumor.” He clasped his hands behind his back as he peered out.

She stared at his back. Despite his outward appearance, Seteth was a fearsome warrior. His abilities with an axe and lance proved his prowess. At first glance, many would assume he was a magic wielder. However she had seen the way he cut down foes with heavy blows. He was full of surprises.

“Did you need to get away from the dancing?” she asked, a smile playing on her lips.

He sighed. “All the celebration can be a bit much. What about you? You’ll be missed.”

“I think everyone is enjoying themselves. No one will even notice I’m gone.” She hoped no one would be looking for her. Most of the students seemed preoccupied, so slipping out was fairly easy. The only person who might notice her absence would be a certain Almyra prince. Then again little went by Claude’s keen eyes.

He turned to her. The moonlight cast him in the shadows. “I wanted to discuss something with you, Byleth. I realize this may not be the most appropriate time, however I am not sure when I will have another chance.”

The serious expression on his face worried her. However, she kept her face carefully neural. “What’s on your mind, Seteth?”

She watched as he swallowed. His eyes darted around before finally meeting her own. “What do you plan to do in the future?”

Her brows drew together. “I haven’t thought much of that besides my duties as archbishop. Why? Do you plan to leave?”

He stepped closer to her. “Know this, Byleth, I will be by your side for all the centuries provided to us. As long as you need me, I will be there.” He reached for her hand and gently held it in his. “I will be by your side as your adviser. However, I would also like to remain by your side as more.”

He held out a beautiful silver ring with an emerald on it. The stone was a deep green like his eyes. Her gaze remained fixed on the ring as he continued. “My feelings for you are more than I can put into words. I have not felt this way in a long time nor did I ever think I would again. I wish to make it clear that I do not wish to marry you out of duty or some strange way of perpetuating our bloodline. I ask for your hand as a man who is deeply in love with you.”

For a second she felt as if she were floating. Seteth was proposing his love to her. Her feelings for him were being returned despite her never telling him. Looking at him, he was watching her with an earnest expression. Her unbeating heart felt full. Everything that had been bothering her fell away. Only he remained.

Gaze filled with adoration and wonder, she squeezed his hand. “I love you, Seteth. Not too long ago, my emotions were foreign to me. However over these past years I’ve learned and grown with you by my side. I know with all my being that I do love you. I will marry you!”

His smile was wider than any she had ever seen as he slipped the ring on her finger. She threw her arms around him. He enveloped her in a hug and nearly lifted her off her feet. Pulling back slightly, he tilted her chin. “I promise from this day forth, through good and ill, I will always be by your side supporting you in all your endeavors.”

Framing his face with her hands, her thumb brushed against his cheek. “We will face this world...together.” Closing the distance, they met in a sweet kiss filled with promises.

#fe imagines #fire emblem imagines #fe3h #Fire Emblem Three Houses #FE Three Houses #fe3h imagines #fe seteth #fe byleth #Setleth #scenario

[randomnameless]

Do you think the nobles had relics in pre-rebellion Faerghus? I was doing some research and didn't really find anything in fedatamine but apparently Laetitia Zoe Gautier 'reclaimed' lance of ruin from the church in 986 after being appointed Margrave according to nopes. Did the church give relics 'back' after the kingdom was founded or is this a nopes problem

Hm,

In the Abyss book, someone wonders what are the weapons Loog'n'co got, that resemble Relics - so I'd say Nopes follows that timeline where the Faerghan Nobles only got their relics post Rebellion -

The 10k years of lore will forever be unseen or unrevealed, but there is something sort of frightening, for Rhea, to see descendants of the Elites wield new relics when the first ones are in her keepsafe.

Maybe she thought they "made" new relics because they couldn't get access to the old ones?

While I wonder why the Rhea of then didn't just, storm in Faerghus to get rid of Loog'n'pals who got "new relics" like she did with the Elites (and maybe try to get rid of the guys who gave them the relics!) - compared to Seiros the Warrior, the Rhea of the Rebellion is a Rhea who is already working on her rez Sothis plan, aka, a Rhea who already believes there's no hope for Nabateans in Fodlan, and their only salvation is if Sothis, the Creator, returns to the land.

So maybe her train of thoughts was "if I give the relics to those humans they will stop trying to craft new ones so Cichol'n'co will be safe at least for a while, I can buy time like this until Sothis returns", even if I think returning a "sibling" to the hands of humans - and the descendants of the humans who slaughtered them - weighed a lot and wasn't an easy decision to make.

Bob who became Luin is already "not alive" anymore, but Cichol still is, so if she has to relinquish Bob to save Cichol, she will do it?

(FE16 mentions iirc how there are more "relics" out there than the Elites' relics, so either Agarthans had a stash of Nabatean materials and did some spares, or maybe some Nabateans who escaped Zanado and were traveling around the world were, at a later point, turned into relics...)

#anon #I always wondered what happened to Aubin if he was the Nabatean who gave his blood to Yuri #was he turned in the relic Yuri later uses #or was the relic crafted from another snow dragon? #FE16 #3 Nopes #Rhea having lost all hope until Sothis returns post WOH is kind of a sad thought #maybe she made a homonculi after the Rebellion

[gascon-en-exil]

I’ll argue that Ingrid’s struggle to become a knight doesn’t involve her being a woman. In fact, gender doesn’t seems to matter that much in Fodlán : Catherine, one of the best knights of Fodlán, is female, and the major historical figure is Seiros, a female warrior saint. Ingrid is interesting because her struggle is having to make a choice between assuring the well-being of her family or pursuing her own desires, which is a heavy responsability for someone her age.

Her pursuit of knighthood isn’t as gendered as might be expected, true, but her duty to her family is always framed in the context of marriage. The necessity of marrying well is not exclusive to women, but they’ve historically exercised less agency in the process and were derided more as failures if they did not do so which is I imagine what the game is trying to do with her character. It’s been a while since I’ve read through most of Ingrid’s material, but I’m pretty sure she’s got a few support lines that conclude with her realizing that she can support her family by being a knight, even though her father may not consider that a sufficiently stable option.

Incidentally, I have to wonder about how Ingrid’s career ambitions play into her grief over Glenn. I don’t see him as this all-encompassing love of her life - she was only thirteen when he died - but she did admire him as a knight and may have imagined that as someone who’d known her growing up he’d be less likely to force her to abandon her dreams. Part of why she takes his death so hard may be because it also represents that lost opportunity for a marriage where she didn’t have to choose between duties, and instead left her with her father trying to marry her off to succession of noblemen she’s never met and who in at least one case are willing to kidnap her to force the marriage.

#Fire Emblem #FE16 #Fire Emblem Three Houses #Ingrid Brandl Galatea

[three-houses-text-files]

byleth/felix

c-s support + paired endings + night of the ball

c

Felix: I thought I heard someone. Are you here to train?

>Yes.

>No, just watching.

F: Care to train with me? F: Waving this sword around alone is boring. F: And I'm tired of crossing swords with worthless opponents. F: But you seem like a worthy adversary.

>Sure, why not?

>You think I'm a worthy adversary?

F: I don't know for certain, but you seem skilled.

F: I've always been interested in your technique. F: You learned from the former captain of the Knights of Seiros, and traveled Fódlan fighting as a mercenary. F: On top of that, you wield a Hero's Relic, the legendary Sword of the Creator. F: Good sparring partners like you don't grow on trees. F: But know that I will beat you, and I will surpass your strength.

>Why are you so focused on becoming stronger?

F: Why? Hm. I never really thought about that. F: I learned to thrust a sword before I learned to write my name. F: Of course, my upbringing wasn't unique. That's how it is for all children in my country. F: You're no use if you can't swing a sword, however mighty your Crest may be. F: It was the perfect environment for me. I could live free of stodgy values and virtues. F: Grow strong so you may live, and live to grow stronger. That's what I was taught.

>Do you have any other ambitions?

F: Why should I? Nothing's as important as the pursuit of strength.

>You remind me of myself.

F: Now I'm intrigued by your fighting style, and by who you really are...

F: But that's enough idle chatter. Take out your sword. F: My mind is emptied of all but the thrill of the challenge!

——————————————————————————————

b

F: You’re certainly not going easy on me. F: You fight like a mercenary, not a knight. You hunger for victory, pure and simple. F: You may not be aware of it yourself, but I see it.

>Should I take that as a compliment?

F: Indeed.

>Should I take that as a criticism?

F: No.

F: Knights ought to have some hunger. I've always thought so. F: They depend too much on their swords. Only when they're wrested away do knights consider their hands and feet as weapons. F: That's not how it was for warriors of old. They weren't limited by their tools. F: Victory is what matters, not the method of achieving it. That's the attitude to adopt. F: I detect that in your style. It is plain to see.

>That doesn't seem like praise...

F: You may take it however you like. F: I believe the difference between us lies within that hunger. F: But where does it come from? F: From the start, I was aiming to win, yet I couldn't defeat you. F: Then I remembered something you said before...

>About your aspirations?

>About your upbringing?

F: Indeed. F: I was raised to value strength above all else. Whereas you had a reason, an ambition, pushing you toward that hunger. F: So, tell me. What was the reason? Why were you driven to become so strong?

>To survive.

F: That's a mercenary's answer, to be sure.

>To protect the people of Fódlan.

F: Hah! Spoken like a knight. That's not what I would have expected.

>To stop this war.

F: So that is the source of your hunger.

F: I suppose I must find my own.

>I'll help you.

>We can find it together.

F: Ah, if we're to get along, I think not. I'll be content if you continue to train with me. F: Perhaps it will come to me as I swing my sword.

——————————————————————————————

a

F: Finally, I notched a win against you.

>You crushed me.

F: Oh, please. I scraped by.

>I almost had you.

F: True. It was a narrow victory.

F: When we spar, I feel like I'm revisiting my past.

>Why?

F: It's like training with my brother. F: He always won—always—and died before I could win a single bout. F: From the first time I held a sword, all I wanted was to surpass him. F: And that's what drove me to become so strong. F: Perhaps it's absurd to say such a thing, but... F: I've spent all these years training for a duel with a corpse.

>It's not absurd.

F: Perhaps not.

>You found an answer to my question.

F: Yes. I suppose I did.

F: I can never again spar with my brother. Not unless he climbs out of his grave. F: Still, I continue my endless pursuit of strength. F: Maybe because I have a new opponent to measure myself against.

>Who?

F: You. Obviously. F: I beat you this time, but when we next cross swords, who knows what might happen? F: It was a close match, not a crushing victory. I know that I can do better. F: I will surpass you in strength, and then I'll become stronger still.

>And then?

F: And then, when this war is over, I won't have as many chances to swing my sword.

>I can hardly imagine that.

>Don't count me out yet.

F: Ha. Just what I was hoping you'd say. F: Anyway, thank you...for helping me find an answer to the question you asked, all those years ago.

——————————————————————————————

s

F: Finally, you came. F: Wars begin and end, but this place never changes. F: And you don't change either.

>That's not true.

F: Hmph... If there's been any change, it's just that you're so busy, your sword has grown dull.

>Neither do you.

F: That's true, except that the boar has thrust the bombastic title of "duke" upon me. (blue lions route)

F: That's true. (other)

F: We fought to bring peace to Fódlan, but peace is so boring. F: No more chances to swing my sword at enemies. No more life-threatening battles. F: I know that these are positive developments, but I'm still a warrior at heart. F: Here I am, watching sadly as my blade grows dull.

>That's selfish.

F: You're right. Damn, I can be a fool sometimes...

>I feel the same.

F: You do? That's a relief. We're cut from the same cloth, you and I.

F: And on that note, I'll tell you why I asked you to come here. F: Take this.

>Felix...

F: Without a worthy opponent like you at my side, not only will my sword grow dull...it'll rust. F: So I had to think of a way to make sure you'd always be with me. This is what I came up with. F: And...

>And?

F: You're pretty slow on the uptake. Don't you know what this ring means?

>No, I don't.

F: If you keep messing around, I'll... I'll...

>I want to hear you say it.

F: Fine! Listen carefully. I'm not going to say this more than once. I want you to be my wife. Please say yes. Let's get married and stay together until we die. F: I love you. F: ... F: That's all.

>Wait!

F: What? You have something to complain about?

>I love you too, and I accept.

F: Oh... OK, then. F: In that case, I'd better start planning for the future. F: My future...with you.

——————————————————————————————

paired endings

Byleth married Felix almost immediately after ascending the throne of the United Kingdom of Fódlan. When it came to matters of governance, Felix often took on duties that would have required his wife to dirty her hands and thus came to be called The Royal Sword. After they accomplished all they had set out to do, the couple left the rule of Fódlan to the next generation, disappearing into obscurity with blades in hand. Thereafter, history only provides unconfirmed reports of a pair of traveling mercenaries who possessed unmatched strength and skill. (golden deer + church route)

Byleth married Felix, who had become Duke Fraldarius, shortly after she was named to succeed Rhea as archbishop. Felix focused his efforts on restoring his territory and the Kingdom and became the archbishop's closest confidant, both privately and officially. They often spent a lot of time apart, but whenever they reunited, they had a tradition of crossing blades before crossing words. Attendants remarked that the smiles they wore on their faces during these bouts were never seen elsewhere. (blue lions route)

Byleth and Felix were engaged to be married soon after the Battle of Fhirdiad. The war against those who slither in the dark was long and arduous, but they found solace always in one another. When the fighting was finally done, they held a modest wedding ceremony and entered a new life together as husband and wife. Where they went afterward is not known, but it is widely believed that they traveled the world as mercenaries, side by side, blades in hand. (black eagles route)

——————————————————————————————

night of the ball

F: Oh, look who it is.

>What are you doing here?

F: I just wanted some quiet. It's so loud, I needed a little respite.

>Are you waiting for someone?

F: No. I just wanted a bit of quiet.

F: Besides, what are you doing here?

>I thought I might find you here.

F: Huh? You must be joking.

>I'm here for the same reason as you.

F: Ah. Well, I guess it figures.

F: Hm. F: Have you heard the legend of the Goddess Tower? That if you make a pledge, it will be fulfilled? F: Childish, I know. But if it were true... F: Let's make a pledge to the goddess. F: I pledge that someday, I will surpass you. F: I'll surpass your technique, your skill with the sword, and your cunning as a warrior. Then I will make you taste defeat!

>That seems extreme.

>That's your pledge to the goddess?

>What a disappointment.

F: If you're looking for a passionate affair, you've got the wrong man. Go find someone else. F: I've spent my life avoiding love and romance. They're distractions. F: Blades, blood, and battle. That's what I'm made of and nothing else.

>If someone saw us, however, this may look like an amorous meeting.

F: You'll have to settle for being mistaken as my lover.

>That's mean.

F: What nonsense. F: It's time I went back to training. F: I'll always be more comfortable holding a sword than a woman's hand. F: Try not to catch a cold up here. I'd hate for such a good sparring partner to be out of commission. F: Good-bye.

#fire emblem three houses spoilers #fe16 spoilers #fe3h spoilers #byleth x felix #felix x byleth

[dreyari]

regarding edelgard’s health, and the effects of her crests

the theory behind edelgard’s two crests was quite simple: one crest to empower her physical strength with the might of seiros, the other to beg the goddess herself for protection. in theory, this should create a warrior, a power of unbeatable strength and tenacity. and it does, to a point. the realities of such a combination of power and the frailness of the human body paint quite a different picture. ultimately, these crests still require energy, and it’s no small amount. both of edelgard’s crests are continuously in competition for what little she has, and when they run out of that, they eat away at everything else. the most notable effects are as follows;

a lack of stamina. edelgard cannot last long-drawn fights, especially if she is required to use one or both of her crests to secure the win. her fighting style amounts to being a one-shot wonder, as significantly less energy is consumed while taking one decisive strike, kicking the body away, and then moving on to a new target. the battlefield suits her well. she struggles in sparring matches, where her opponent typically has time to fight back, and she must defend as well as striking first. for this reason, she prefers to spar using a sword, and a sword alone. this is why when she meets with byleth during azure moon route, she opts to arm herself with the levin sword, and another reason why she beat ferdinand as decisively as she did. 

a completely shot immune system. the crests haven’t shortened her lifespan by some vacuous number of years. what they’ve done is consumed everything in her body that fights to keep her healthy. this leaves her susceptible to every illness under the sun, and if she catches something, it completely floors her. colds are a medical emergency, as far as edelgard is concerned. in theory, she could live another eighty years, but the reality is that either sickness or the declining health that comes with age will almost certainly kill her long before old age has a chance. this is never truer than one winter during the timeskip in the midst of war where edelgard caught pneumonia and was closer to death than ever.

inability to maintain mass. edelgard is much skinnier than someone who fights so aggressively with such weighty weapons and armour should be, and that’s because both muscle mass and fat are on the menu for her crests when raw energy runs out. this creates a kind of cycle of exhaustion for edelgard, because at least one of her crests is always running at ten percent if only to give her the strength to wield a weapon at all, so she tries to build muscle mass in order to take some of the strain off the crest. this uses energy, which leaves less raw energy for the crest to consume, so it consumes the muscle, leaving her reliant on the crest, which exhausts her further and makes her feel the need to try harder. 

#headcanon. #IS IT ANY WONDER #THAT WHEN SHE'S DESPERATE #SHE OPTS TO GO FULL MONSTER #a bitch tired let her fuckin sleep #anyway i have more to add but i'll make a separate post so this one isn't long asf #....longer anyway #long post

[loyalflutist]

Marriage (F!Byleth x Edelgard)

Challenge: Edeleth Twitter Week (09/29/2019 - 10/05/2019)  Day 7: Marriage

A/N: WHEW, finally done with it! This has to be the fluffiest piece I’ve ever written. Hope you enjoy this final ride!

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Hardships were inevitable in a person’s life. No matter how cautious one can be, they were bound to succumb to difficulties. Everyone had gone through it once in their lifetime. From rich to poor, from nobility to commoner, from allies to enemies, everyone experienced hardships.

Many hands motioned towards the students from the monastery. How terrible! They were fated to clash with one another from the near future! Not a single person would agree with their beliefs and course of action. Edelgard wished to unite Fodlan and eliminate the corrupted Church’s power. Dimitri wished to defend the Church and land from his archnemesis, Edelgard. Claude strived to gain a middle ground between the two nobles, his focus entirely on the background noise. Their struggles landed them into a deadlock for five slow years. There was no end in sight.

Until Byleth came into the picture.

Something about her seems different though. It was as if… she can’t trust all three of them. Not yet, anyway. Shudders ran down all the students’ spine at the sight of the ex-mercenary. The aura she possessed when she first met them shook their core. Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude were ones mostly terrified by her.

“Don’t… you think she’s literally changed overnight?” Claude scratched the back of his head, his dark hues were shifty. “I swear she wasn’t this grumpy.”

“Grumpy? Don’t be silly,” Dimitri shook his head. “She’s always worn the same expression when we first met last night.”

“No no, you don’t understand, Dimitri. She may look the same, but she’s acting strange.”

“I think you need to have your eyes checked.”

“Um, no. How about you get your eyes checked.”

“Wha— How rude of you!”

And… so the two males began to wrestle with one another in hopes of dominating their points with one another. If there was one thing they shared, it was their stubborn nature. Then again, the three lords from the three houses shared this trait. Not even Edelgard was spared from it. The white-haired loudly sighed, placing a hand on her forehead, and felt a bead of sweat run down the side of her face.

“How immature.”

Still… Claude wasn’t wrong. There was something off about Byleth. The ex-mercenary was recently granted a position as a professor for the students. It was abrupt, but to be expected from Lady Rhea. (Though it caught Jeralt by surprise.) What was most shocking was the fact that Byleth chose to teach not just the Black Eagle’s house, but the Blue Lions and Golden Deer too. A deal was struck between Manuela and Hanneman the instant she greeted them.

“You’re telling me that you want to rotate our shifts?” Hanneman raised his brows. “Won’t that place a burden on you, Professor Byleth?”

Manuela crossed her arms as the two teachers heard Byleth out. They nodded their head slowly, their eyes widened.

“My… If that’s the case, then I don’t see why not.”

The rest of the conversation was a mystery to the peeping students. Hubert, Ashe, Lorenz, and Cyril could not help but try to gather intel about the newcomer at the main hall with Rhea. Unfortunately, that was all they could get from their exchange. Their voice ushered into mumbles and faint whispers. The only way they would be able to capture the rest of the story was to stand directly behind them. Of course, their covers would be beyond blown. The four of them scampered away in disappointment.

“The professor is a strange one…” Edelgard mumbled to herself.

She retracted her hand and glanced to her right. Ah— There was Byleth. She was fast approaching them in the field right outside of their lecture halls. Maybe a little too fast as it seems like a vicious sprint. Her heart nearly leaped out of her chest at the terrifying sight. (Was there a dash prompt for the instructor?!) If Byleth doesn’t brake early enough, she might crash into them! Before Edelgard could open her mouth to holler a warning, the older woman immediately skidded to a stop. Then, she grabbed ahold of the noble’s hands.

“I… I will save— save you.”

“?!”

Out of breath, Byleth stared into the future emperor’s eyes. The intensity nearly caused the noble to collapse onto her knees and kneel before the warrior. Yet she managed to keep her legs from becoming wobbly. Edelgard placed great emphasis on her blinking as she bit the bottom of her lip.

“U-Um, I’m not sure what you’re trying to imply.”

“Don’t worry. I promise I won’t let them hurt you anymore,” Byleth squeezed her hands. She vigorously nodded her head in hopes of proving her worth. “I’ll save everyone, and I will save you.”

What was she trying to say? Has she gone mad? Edelgard felt her heart clench as she tried to formulate a theory or two about this particular response. Save her… It doesn’t seem to be about anything physical. Metaphorically? Perhaps, but there must be more… The noble’s jawlines became prominent as she settled for a conclusion. Byleth couldn’t have meant… Those Who Slither in the Dark and the Church of Seiros, right? If she recalls, Jeralt had confessed that he kept the world of politics away from his daughter as much as possible. She wouldn’t have been able to acknowledge the existence of one of these organizations until now.

Right?

Well, how wrong Edelgard was. When she put on the mask of the Flame Emperor, the young lady was unable to carry out her plan. Every single plan she articulated and meticulously drawn out was obliterated by none other than Byleth. However, she was not the only one to be affected. The Church of Seiros seemed to be struggling to move forward with their plans for the new professor. Those Who Slither in the Dark were left scrambling for anything to revitalize their next move in a losing battle.

There were also positive events of the three houses and their members. All three of them were forced to band together as comrades due to their professors’ rotations in shifts. Their curriculums were replicas between the classrooms, so there weren’t any differences in teaching methods. This was accompanied by their weekly field trips for practical battles led by Shamir, Catherine, and Byleth. Relationships that were strained had mended over the months. Fractured bonds healed after the individuals finally sat down to communicate. Edelgard found herself joining hands with Claude and Dimitri once their beliefs aligned.

“Whatever it is, let’s talk it out… together.”

Dimitri chuckled. “Well spoken, my friend. I would never expect to hear that from you.”

“Hey… give me some credit, will ya?” he crossed his arms behind his head and winked. “I’m the brain in the group.”

Edelgard could not resist a giggle, her mouth covered.

“So long as we help each other, I find no issue in that.”

“See? Even our little princess understands our roles.”

“Claude…”

“What? Cat’s caught your tongue?”

And so, their bickering continued. They were so childish, Edelgard wondered if she was the third wheel with their relationship. It was amusing. Perhaps she did not think so hard about staying on the sideline as her heart had already belonged to a certain someone; their teacher. It was a relationship that sowed the seed one evening.

Byleth teetered into the wrong dormitory during the third month of the academic year. She stumbled into the premise of none other than the Adrestian Empire’s princess. Edelgard, who had been reading her tactical textbook, was alarmed at the abrupt appearance of the older woman.

“B-Byleth?”

“How ya doin’?”

The speech was slurred, cheeks were flushed, and eyes were droopy. Edelgard immediately got up from her chair. Byleth was drunk. She had to catch the drowsy female the moment she lurched forward. Oh, what did her professor do now? Was she so stressed that she had to rely on alcohol? Concern riddled her mind as the young student patiently guided her teacher to her mattress. Byleth didn’t waste any second to plop on the bed. She was just like a child… and even more so when her hand latched onto Edelgard’s arm.

“I wanna hug you.”

“…”

“Pwease?”

“…okay.”

Edelgard sighed loudly. She had to admit defeat. Otherwise, Byleth would never let go of her and would never drop the puppy eyes. This was so out of character for the ex-mercenary. Emotions that were rarely conveyed on her features were still there, but the intonation from her spoken dialogues was dripping with them. Should the other students catch a whiff of her demeanor, they would likely rush out and call for an exorcist! Edelgard pursed her lips.

The two eventually went under the covers. One in their loungewear, the other simply stripped of her large overcoat. A strong, musky scent of the fruity product wafted from her instructor’s direction. The noble firmed her lips and began to pat on Byleth’s head like a little kid. This seemed to please the older female. As a result, Byleth instantly flopped onto her side and cuddled up to Edelgard.

“I love you so much, Edie~”

“#@#$&@!”

That was the seed that had been planted. Though Byleth had apologized for her inept and shameful actions the next day, Edelgard could not forget the confession that slipped out of her drunken professor, even if Byleth had no recollection. It started out as a crush… and soon developed into a stronger form of it. The transition soon slithered into a one-sided love that would rival most anybody’s romantic self-destructive fantasies. Had it not been for Claude and Dimitri, she wouldn’t have the guts to face Byleth with a confession.

“I love you, my teacher. I love you so much.”

Rejection never occurred. The proof was evidenced by their current standing. Byleth and Edelgard whispered sweet nectar to each other’s ears, their hands roamed their bare figures at night, and sensitive flesh brushing upon their neck for plantation of hickeys. Physical affections were simply a bonus to their powerful bonds with one another. Their love transcends beyond normal comprehension.

All these activities and events had all occurred during their time as students. It was as if Byleth had incredible luck… No— that wasn’t right. It was as if she could predict the future. Her uncanny ability to nail everyone’s next move down to the grittier details frightened the house leaders and archbishop. Even her girlfriend could not help but wonder what wisdom had possessed Byleth. If her secret identity’s activities were hindered by the ex-mercenary… and her enemies were unable to gather their fractured plans… What was Byleth up to?

Unfortunately, the only thing that remained on course was Byleth’s five-year disappearance.

“BYLETH!!!”

Three of the house leaders, joined side-by-side, screamed out her name when Lady Rhea slammed her staff into the teal-haired. Its metallic cane might have a simple blunt weapon. A single smack from it would likely bring about no more than a bruise. But most everyone had forgotten the incredible strength that possessed the archbishop. Trained in martial arts to the finest level, the amount of energy input into the swing crashed heavily into Byleth’s chest.

CRACK!

Its impact produced an audible sound above the raging flames. Edelgard, Claude, and Dimitri widened their eyes when their professor was tossed backward. The Adrestian Empire’s newly crowned emperor caught her girlfriend. Dimitri rushed to the front to protect the two and flicked his lance downward; Claude standing by Dimitri with his arrow pulled back on his bow.

“You’ll pay for that, Lady Rhea!” Dimitri howled as he sprinted forward. “DIE!”

“Tch.”

Claude would normally say something witty, but he had to agree with Dimitri’s violent nature for once. Rhea would pay for her crime in harming their teacher. Arrows soon flew alongside the running male as they made their way towards the archbishop.

As for Edelgard, she frantically examined her lover’s injuries. Scratches and bruises that littered her exposed skin held nothing to the caved-in chest. Blood seeped out of the corner of Byleth’s mouth non-stop. The bent metallic armored chest plate only served to worsen the damages. Dedue and Hilda arrived to assist in the tearing of the mangled exterior.

“Please, don’t die on us!” Edelgard’s hands brightened light green over her girlfriend’s chest.

Hilda stiffened her upper lip, got up onto her feet, and twirled the axe in one hand. “I’m going to help Claude.”

“I will assist my lord too,” Dedue muttered and followed a similar action as the pink-haired. “Lady Edelgard, please take care of our professor. She needs you more than ever.”

The two were not cruel to leave her behind. Their intentions were simple: to give her privacy to tend to Byleth. Besides, they were not healers. Standing around in midst of the battlefield like gawking ducks would only burden everyone else. In conjunction with their leave, Marianne, Linhardt, and Mercedes quickly joined Edelgard.

“My goodness, the shattered bones might’ve pierced her heart…” Linhardt mumbled, his words leaked with gravity. “We’ll have to use as much white magic as possible to mend her wounds, lest it be too late.”

“I… wouldn’t want that to happen.”

“Let’s do it together then, Marianne.”

Mercedes, Lindhardt, and Marianne hovered their hands above the laying warrior. The green light illuminated to another level of brightness. Sweat glimmered on their foreheads as they exerted as much energy as possible into their spells. Edelgard found it difficult to catch up to their conduction as she was hardly trained in the arts of white magic beyond emergency first-aids. This went on for nearly five whole minutes. The ground occasionally shook from the conflict. Dimitri and Claude were occupied with Rhea. Shamir had managed to dissuade Catherine from staying with the Church. Hilda and Dedue backed up their lords. The other students were slashing and exterminating the soldiers that dare to send them into the afterlife.

“…El…”

Hearing her name quietly whispered snapped her attention to the professor. Evident bags laid under Byleth’s slit eyes as she reached up to touch Edelgard’s face. The white-haired immediately grabbed ahold of it. She nuzzled into her palm, tears threatening to flow.

“You’re alive…”

“…I’m… sleepy…”

Oh no. Oh no no no! This cannot be happening! Those words flashed warning signs at the three healers, their brows furrowed and efforts amplified. They cannot lose Byleth! They absolutely cannot lose Byleth!

“El… I love you.”

Those were her last words before she fell into a deep slumber.

Suffice to say, her slumber was not permanent. The battle had ended with victory on their side. However, the three lords were forced to remain on the monastery’s ground for the sake of their sleeping teacher. Thanks to Linhardt, Marianne, and Mercedes, their teacher’s lives were saved. The extensive damaged that gnawed at her still-heart was too much to bear consciously. Its healing process would have to take place during her dark phase.

They frequently checked in on her. Edelgard was always spending every moment of her spare time by her girlfriend’s side. She would change her clothes, bathe her, kiss her forehead, and speak about stories of the day she spent as if Byleth were her diary. This went on for five years. Once Byleth had awakened, the clock resume and all of the students and staff were prepared to end the deadlocked battle between them and the Church of Seiros.

Victory was in their hands. The Crests were gone, Byleth had survived the ordeal with a new beating heart, and everyone celebrated their survival in this cruel war. They were in this together, and they were no major casualties on their ends.

“…remember when I told you that I would save you?”

“Yes?”

Edelgard turned to look at her fiancée. They were seated on the edge of a low cliff, their legs dangling barely above the grassy patch of the field. Retirement was already in progress in the vast scene now that the ex-noble had given her title to a suitable match. Many of the alumni had gone off to conduct their own businesses. Some got married, some engaged in social justice, some continued to serve their lords, and some simply met the same fate as Edelgard and settled for a simpler lifestyle. As for Dimitri and Claude, they kept their royal titles. The world had moved onward to a better pathway. What more could everyone ask for?

Byleth glanced over to Edelgard.

“I… have a confession to make.”

“I’m all ears.”

“Well… the truth is, I’ve been in timelines where you had died.”

“Really? That’s hard to believe.”

“It’s the truth. Byleth shook her head. “The same could be said for everyone. Everyone had met their demise in the other timelines.”

“So… you’re telling me that you came from the future?”

“I suppose you can say that.”

The explanation was far simpler than one might expect: Sothis and the ability of Divine Pulse. After going through the traumatic events of watching everyone die, Sothis pitied her host and strengthened the time-reversal skill. An option to start right back to the beginning. It was an option Byleth desperately needed. Through trial and error… and plenty of heartbreaks and insanity that plagued the professor, she finally achieved the perfect ending. That led to Sothis finally resting in peace inside of Byleth, never to emerge from her slumber.

In comes present-time, the two stood side-by-side in front of their small cottage. Many of their friends and allies arrived at an isolated location. It was a rare treat to have this many people bustling before them. Even Claude and Dimitri took time off to stop by. Then again, today was a special day. This would be the day they would get married, and everyone was filled with glee for their official commitment. (“Finally!” as Dorothea would bellow in the background.)

Byleth adjusted her white collar. Dressed in a tuxedo, she played the role of the male figure in this holy event. (Besides, she was far more comfortable wearing pants for this occasion.) The final smoothing of her attire in front of the mirror was complete. She glanced over her shoulders within the living room and called out to her lover.

“El, are you ready?”

Edelgard, in her white dress, peeked out from the corner of the room. She slowly approached her professor. A genuine blush tickled her cheeks and nearly blended in with the make-up done by Manuela and Dorothea. The ex-royal figure nodded.

“I’m ready.”

They exchanged a peck on the lips, knowing that the real deal that would seal their future would be coming soon. The anticipation kicked their heartbeats into a new speed. Smiles plastered on their face, their hands were glued together as they turned to the open doorway.

It was time. Through the hardships they went through, through the tears and grief they went through, through the pain and anguish they went through, they finally got their happy ending. And they were together till the end of time.

#loyalflutist #edeleth #edeleth week (twitter) #day 7: marriage #fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #one shot #os #fan fiction #fanfic #fan fic #fanfiction #edelgard #edelgard von hrevelg #byleth #f!byleth x edelgard #f!byleth #byleth eisner