A gruff voice woke Byleth from his dreams. "Hey. Time to wake up."
Blearily, he rubbed his eyes and sat up from his cot. It wasn't like him to wake up so slowly. Usually he was on his feet in an instant, but today he found himself lingering, fragments of half-remembered dreams running through his mind. A massive battle between two huge armies. A woman, kneeling over a man's prone form, stabbing him over and over. A strange little girl...
"Were you having that dream again?" His father's voice snapped him back to reality. Byleth thought for a moment. Perhaps Jeralt the Blade Breaker, renowned mercenary, and Byleth's father, would know what the dream of war meant.
Byleth tried to describe the dream, but the details kept slipping through his fingers. Jeralt shook his head. "Massive armies clashing on a vast field... there hasn't been a battle like that in over three centuries..." After a moment of further pondering, he cleared his throat, "In any case, just put that out of your mind for now. The battlefield is no place for idle thoughts. Risking your life is part of the job for mercenaries like us. Letting your mind wander is a sure way to get yourself killed."
Byleth nodded. He had heard this lecture a hundred times before and he was an expert at putting all else from his mind while he fought. Some of the mercs in the company said it was creepy the way he could focus so wholesale on the job and only the job, but it was none of his business what they thought. He did his job and he was good at it. It was as simple as that.
Jeralt gestured for Byleth to get ready to leave. They were leaving the small town in the Empire for a job in the Kingdom, so they needed to get an early start. Byleth packed his things, which mostly consisted of his sword and spare clothes, and stepped outside the small hostel they were staying at. It seemed the rest of the company was already ready and waiting for him. Had his talk with his father really taken that much time? Usually he was the one waiting on the stragglers who had stayed up too late drinking.
He glanced around. Where was his father? Jeralt should have been preparing the company to move out but... ah there he was. He wasn't hard to spot considering how large of a man he was. He appeared to be a short ways away from the gathered mercenaries talking with three strangers.
Byleth approached cautiously, hand on his sword. The sudden appearance of three people whom he didn't know indicated that something was wrong. They were wearing matching uniforms, although each seemed to have customized theirs to their own taste, and each wore a different color - yellow, blue, red.
When Byleth reached the group, Jeralt was asking what the three kids - and indeed, none of them looked to be over 18 years old - wanted. "We're being pursued by a group of bandits. I can only hope that you will be kind enough to lend your support," replied the boy in the blue uniform. He was tall and had messy blond hair that surely got in his eyes. Impractical for fighting.
"Bandits? Here?" Asked Jeralt. He seemed surprised. Indeed, he and his mercenary company had driven bandits out of Remire Village only a few days before; it would certainly be odd for them to return after how thoroughly they had been routed.
"It's true. They attacked us while we were at rest in our camp," affirmed the girl wearing the red uniform. She had striking lilac eyes and odd white hair. Something about her caused Byleth's breath to catch in his throat, but he quickly pushed the feeling away. If there were bandits nearby, he couldn't afford to be distracted right now.
"We've been separated from our companions and we're outnumbered. They're after our lives... not to mention our gold," spoke up the last stranger - the boy wearing yellow. Even as he spoke of being attacked by bandits, he wore a smile on his face. Byleth wondered for a moment how he could possibly be in a joking mood right now, but then he noticed the look in the boy's eyes showed no sign of humor.
"I'm impressed you're staying so calm considering the situation," Jeralt commended. He was not one to give compliments easily, so Byleth knew he meant it. Jeralt started to speak again, "I..." then seemed to realize something. "Wait. That uniform..." he muttered to himself, but Byleth was close enough to hear it. His father recognized the strangers' uniforms?
One of Jeralt's scouts ran up to the group, panting. "Bandits spotted just outside the village!" he reported, then followed up with, "Damn... There are a lot of them," seemingly talking to himself. That wasn't a good sign. Jeralt's mercenaries were well disciplined and had plenty of experience. If this man was scared just by the size of a group bandits there had to be a great many of them.
"I guess they followed you all the way here." Jeralt told the three strangers. "We can't abandon this village now." Byleth agreed. If they were to defeat these bandits, striking from the village was the most sound strategy.
Jeralt gave the order to prepare for a fight. Byleth nodded and began working out a strategy for defending the village from the bandits.
The first bandit appeared from the forest in front of him and Byleth drew his sword. He motioned to the uniformed trio and moved in to attack. Apparently the three had combat experience as they had agreed to help defend Remire Village; they and Byleth would defend the front gate while Jeralt and the Blade Breakers swept the perimeter to ensure the bandits didn't surround the village.
An arrow flew over Byleth's shoulder and buried itself in the bandit's chest. He stumbled backwards with a pained groan and Byleth finished him off with a swift sword strike. The boy in the yellow uniform was an adept archer, it seemed.
With the first bandit dead, Byleth scanned the area for more, but saw none. The area north of the village was dotted with dense thickets, which made visibility difficult. Fortunately, the large watchtower due north of the village gate made an excellent landmark. Byleth motioned to the others to take cover in the trees and let any further bandits come to them. They understood his signals and took his orders surprisingly well. He wondered where they had learned that.
As they entered the thicket, Byleth heard boots pounding across the ground. These bandits were not very stealthy. They had been obscured by the trees for just long enough, however, and they were now close enough to attack. Byleth counted three of them. The first attacked the red-uniformed girl with a wide swing of his sword. Despite her small stature and the large axe in her hands, she sidestepped easily and buried her weapon in his chest. He fell to the ground, surprise on his face and blood staining the ground around him. The second bandit swung for the boy in the blue uniform. He blocked with his lance, then when the bandit pulled back to strike again, he thrust the lance clean through the bandit's body. Byleth was surprised by the display of pure strength; even he couldn't skewer an enemy with such ease.
The final bandit was headed for Byleth, but Byleth didn't even need the archer's support this time. A quick flick of his sword disarmed his opponent, and then a clean slice to the throat finished the bandit off.
The sound of someone stepping on a fallen branch caught Byleth's attention. Another bandit was backing away from the group, before turning and running full tilt. Byleth was going to let him go; fleeing enemies weren't a threat and could be rounded up after the battle was over, but he heard a growl from his right. "Filthy animal. Run from me, will you?" The boy with the lance had a manic look in his eyes and he was beginning to pursue the bandit.
Byleth started to call out but the archer beat him to it. "Your Princeliness! No need to chase that guy down, we'll get him later!"
'Your Princeliness?' Was he royalty? But why would royalty be wearing a uniform like that? No, it was likely just a mocking nickname given by the archer.
The blond boy didn't seem to have heard anything the other boy said; he was still chasing the bandit with single-minded purpose. "Sorry friend, I've got to make sure he doesn't get himself killed. See you once the battle's over, yeah?" The archer took off after the bandit and his comrade, leaving Byleth and the girl alone.
The girl sighed and shook her head. "Come on, we can't worry about them right now." Byleth nodded. The only person you could afford to care about in battle was yourself.
The two of them took a more stealthy approach than the boys' yelling and running, making their way to the northeast until they saw another group of bandits. The girl pointed to a large, ugly man with bulging veins muttering to himself. "That's their leader. If we take him out, the rest of them will scatter."
Byleth nodded. "It looks like they're headed for the village. He doesn't have anyone covering his rear, so we'll wait until he passes us, then hit him from behind."
The girl looked him up and down as though judging him. "A sensible plan. Give the signal."
The group of bandits moved right past their position without noticing and Byleth and the axe-wielding girl slipped out of cover to move up behind him. With all the noise the bandits were making, he didn't notice them until it was too late. The girl swung her axe and it dug deep into his back. With a cry of pain, he began to turn around, only for Byleth's sword to meet his chest.
He stumbled back, but he wasn't down quite yet. "Hey, you with the blank stare! Outta my way!" The ugly man yelled as he drew back his axe for a strike. Injured as he was, the motion was slow and clumsy and Byleth stabbed him again, this time knocking him down. As the large man fell, Byleth looked around. The other bandits were starting to falter, their nerve seemingly lost after their leader had fallen.
The girl approached Byleth, seemingly thinking deeply about something. "That was well fought," she said,"I-"
A yell from behind startled them both. The bandit leader had gotten back to his feet and was now charging down the girl in the red uniform. Byleth drew his sword. How had he allowed himself to get so sloppy? He should have known to check if the man was actually dead.
The girl had put down her axe when the battle seemed like it was over and was now weaponless. She drew a dagger but Byleth knew it wouldn't stand up to the bandit leader's axe. The bandit was just about to hit her when Byleth made a decision that surprised him. He threw himself in front of the bandit, pushing the girl away and taking the axe blow instead.
Immediately pain flared up in his back. Excruciating, agonizing pain. What had he been thinking? No - he hadn't been thinking. He threw himself in front of that girl on pure instinct. Why? He closed his eyes, preparing to experience his final moments.
There was a sound like shattering glass, and the pain faded away. Byleth opened his eyes and found himself in a void. There was nothing to see, except for him and-
"Honestly! What are you accomplishing with that little stunt? It's like you're trying to get me killed, you fool." Byleth turned around and sitting on what could only be described as a throne, was the little girl from his dream. Her long, flowing green hair, strange pointed ears, and elaborate costume could belong to no one else. She sighed. "Well, it's fine. After all, if you don't know the value of your own life, you're not going to protect it very well, are you? 'Course not." The strange little girl hopped to her feet and clapped her hands. "Well then, I guess it's up to me to guide you from now on. Right? You may call me Sothis. But I am also known as The Beginning."
The girl sat back down. "Hmm... Sothis... Yes that is it. My name is Sothis. And I am also called.. The Beginning. But who once called me that?"
Byleth gazed up at her. "Sothis?" he asked.
"I was not able to recall my name... until just now," she said, "And just like that, it came to me. How odd."
Odd indeed. But not nearly as odd as the question of how he had gotten here. And if this little girl wasn't going to help him...
"That look upon your face... Did you think me a child? A mere child who forgot her own name?!" Sothis yelled. Byleth turned back to her. He was pretty sure he hadn't had any expression other than his usual one. "Phooey!" Sothis exclaimed, "That 'child' just saved your life! And what does that make you?"
Byleth wanted to reprimand Sothis; he was not a child. But he had learned long ago that telling others what they wanted to hear made things much easier. Deciding what to say in conversation was no different to making tactical decisions on the battlefield, really. He ventured, "I'm less than a child?"
Sothis seemed pleased. "Correct! You understand. You threw yourself before an axe to save just one young girl. Yet all is well, as I have stalled the flow of time for now. You would have died had I not intervened."
She said that so casually. The ability to stop time... Byleth had never heard of such magic, and he had fought and killed powerful mages the continent over. "You stopped time?" he asked.
"Hm. I do not hear your gratitude. Perhaps I should force you to leave?" grumbled Sothis.
Byleth reminded himself that he was dealing with a child. An extremely powerful child who could stop time and was currently holding his life in her hands. He would have to put her desire to be praised first, and hope that would lead to him getting out of here, preferably without an axe in his spine. "I am sorry," he said, "thank you for saving me."
"There now. Is gratitude so much to ask? I did deem you worth saving, after all. Though it is only momentary, time has stopped. However did I manage that..."
So she didn't even know how she had stopped time. She truly was a child playing with things she did not understand. And yet, she had still saved his life.
"What now?" Byleth asked.
"When time begins again, the axe will tear into your flesh, and you will surely meet your end."
He imagined it would be so, but he had thought perhaps the girl would have a solution. But all she said was, "How rude of you to drag me into this! Now what to do..."
Byleth thought for a long moment. If the girl could stop time, could she manipulate it in other ways? What he was about to suggest sounded absurd, but it was the only option he could think of. "Turn back the hands of time," he said.
"Of course! I must turn back the hands of time!" Sothis exclaimed, as though it had been her idea.
Byleth wondered if it were truly so simple. To rewind time... it sounded even more impossible than stopping it.
A glowing sigil appeared in front of Sothis as she stood from her throne again. Byleth recognized it as a magic casting sigil, but he had no experience with such things as to be able to decipher what it meant. "Yes... I do believe it can be done," Sothis said, "You really are quite troublesome. I cannot wind back time too far, but all is well. You are aware of what's to come, which means you can protect yourself this time.
"Now, go..." she encouraged, "Yes, you who bears the flames within. Drift through the flow of time to find the answers that you seek..."
Byleth didn't know what to make of any of that. Sothis was a strange little girl, but she hadn't been nearly that cryptic before. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything he felt himself pulled as the vision of Sothis upon her throne faded before him. He realized his eyes were closed and he opened them to see the bandit leader running in reverse, back to lying where Byleth had struck him down.
Time began flowing normally again and the bandit leaped to his feet and charged at the axe-woman with a yell. Byleth took a deep breath, the pain in his back still fresh in his mind, and stood in front of her, his sword raised in a defensive position. The bandit leader's axe fell upon him, but Byleth met the weapon with his own sword and twisted, sending the axe flying. He moved into a jab, harder than he had the last time, and sent the man reeling back down to the ground. It still wasn't enough to kill him - for a common bandit, he was remarkably resilient - as he stood up again, but this time he fled, following the example the rest of his men had begun to set.
"Hey, over here!" Byleth turned to see the archer, accompanied by the other boy, returning from their bandit hunting. The wild look in the lancer's eyes was gone. In fact, he looked rather tired.
The group was soon joined by Jeralt. "The perimeter is clear. Looks like with their leader defeated, all the bandits lost their nerve and fled. Good work, kid."
He was about to say something else when a new voice rang out from the west. "The Knights of Seiros are here! We'll cut you down for terrorizing our students." There was a pause, then, "Hey, the thieves are running away! Go after them!"
Byleth heard boots running off in pursuit of the fleeing bandits and another set approaching. A man in silver armor wearing a cape emblazoned with a symbol that looked like a teardrop with a design inside it was jogging toward them. Byleth rested his hand on his sword but didn't draw it; the man had said "our students," which would explain the uniforms.
The newcomer approached the group and looked the students up and down. "They seemed to be unharmed." He turned and noticed Jeralt, who was uncharacteristically trying not to be seen - unfortunately rather difficult for a man of his stature. "And who's this?" The silver-armored man asked.
"Ugh... why him?" asked Jeralt, his hand to his face. Byleth looked back and forth between the two. They knew each other?
The man Byleth didn't know greeted Jeralt with a large smile on his face, "Captain Jeralt?! It is you! Goodness, it's been ages." Captain Jeralt? Why was this man calling Jeralt captain? He seemed friendly enough, so Byleth eased his grip on his sword, but kept his hand near the hilt just in case. Whatever was happening was very strange. "Don't you recognize me? It's Alois! Your old right-hand man! Well, that's how I always thought of myself anyway." So his name was Alois. Byleth couldn't remember him ever working with Jeralt though, much less being Jeralt's right hand man. And he certainly didn't remember Jeralt working with the organization Alois said he was a part of - The Knights of Seiros. "It must have been 20 years ago that you went missing without a trace. I always knew you were still alive!" That at least explained why Byleth didn't remember him; he hadn't been serving with the company that long. How long had he been fighting, he wondered? He realized he wasn't sure. It didn't matter though, not when Alois had mentioned Jeralt going missing. Gone missing from where? It seemed odd to Byleth to imagine Jeralt doing anything other than mercenary work.
"You haven't changed a bit, Alois, just as loud as ever," Jeralt groaned, but Byleth didn't think he looked nearly as upset as he sounded. "And drop that 'captain' nonsense. I'm not your captain anymore. These days I'm just a wandering mercenary. One who has work to do. Good-bye, old friend."
"Right... Good-bye, Captain." Byleth noticed that Alois hadn't even acknowledged Jeralt's request not to call him captain.
"Wait!" cried Alois a moment later. "I insist that you return to the monastery with me!"
"Garreg Mach Monastery... I suppose this was inevitable." This time Jeralt did look upset. Byleth wondered what could possibly have happened at this monastery to have his father so unusually pensive.
Alois turned to Byleth. "And how about you, kid? Are you the captain's child?" he asked.
Byleth decided to see how Alois responded to a threat. He didn't seem likely to attack, but Byleth didn't trust him; it would be best to know for sure. And prodding him while he was in a good mood was the best time to try it. "I'm a bandit," Byleth said.
Alois laughed, "Great sense of humor, this one. Clearly cut from the same cloth as the captain." Byleth blinked. He hadn't been trying to make a joke. And he didn't know his father to have much of a sense of humor either. "I'd love for you to see the monastery too. You will join me, won't you?" Alois asked.
Byleth looked to his father. He was certainly interested in seeing the monastery - and perhaps learning more about Jeralt - but if Jeralt wasn't going to go, then Byleth certainly wouldn't be going by himself. Jeralt just sighed.
"What's troubling you, Captain? You aren't about to run off again, are you?" asked Alois.
"Even I wouldn't dare run from the Knights of Seiros," said Jeralt. Byleth wondered who these knights were. He couldn't recall being employed by, or fighting against, them during his time as a mercenary. Granted, he rarely remembered the specific people who he fought, much less who hired his father's company, but surely a group like the Knights of Seiros would stand out. Seiros... where had he heard that name before?
Alois and Jeralt headed off to make travel preparations, leaving Byleth in his own company. "The Knights of Seiros... They do seem rather skilled." Alarmed, Byleth glanced about, half-drawing his sword. He was alone. The voice spoke again, "Ah. It seems your presence is required. Get going!" That voice... that was the little girl Sothis's voice! "I am not a little girl! I am... I am... Oh, if only I could remember..."
With a shake of his head, Byleth joined the group of students that had asked him to join them. He could figure out how Sothis was speaking to him later.
"I appreciate your help back there. Your skill is beyond question," complimented the girl with the axe. Byleth felt his face grow warm. Was he coming down with a fever? Surely not so suddenly. "You're clearly an experienced mercenary. And your father... that would be Jeralt, the Blade Breaker? Former captain of the Knights of Seiros. Oft praised as the strongest knight to ever live. Have I missed anything?"
"I didn't know he was a captain," said Byleth. Truthfully, he didn't know until today that Jeralt had served with these Knights of Seiros at all. And the strongest knight to ever live? His father was certainly strong, but that was lofty praise indeed.
"How curious," mused the girl, "I'd wager the explanation for that is fascinating indeed." Byleth wasn't so sure. Jeralt wasn't one to talk about his past. He probably had just never thought it was relevant.
"Hey," the archer grabbed Byleth's attention next, "you are coming with us to the monastery, right?" He didn't give Byleth a chance to answer. "Of course you are. I'd love to bend your ear as we travel." Byleth wasn't particularly interested; he was better at fighting than holding conversations. And based on the brief exchanges they'd had so far, the archer boy didn't seem like he had many meaningful things to say. He was the type to hide his true feelings behind quick jokes and easy smiles. "Oh, I should mention that the three of us are students of the Officers Academy at Garreg Mach Monastery." An officers' academy? Interesting. "We were doing some training exercises when those bandits attacked. I definitely got the worst of it."
"That would be because you ran off," accused the girl in the red uniform.
"Too true! I was the first to make a strategic retreat. Everything would have worked out if these two hadn't followed me and ruined everything. Because of them, every single one of those bandits chased after us. Utterly ridiculous." So he had tried to run off and leave his fellow students behind. That would be good to know if Byleth ever had to rely on him in a fight again.
"Ah, so that's what you were thinking, Claude. And here I thought you were acting as a decoy for the sake of us all," said the blond boy. Claude. Byleth could finally attach a name to the archer.
"His intentions were as clear as day. You will prove a lacking ruler if you cannot see the truth behind a person's words," said the girl. Was the blue-uniformed boy indeed royalty then?
"Hm. You will prove a lacking ruler yourself if you look for deceit behind every word and fail to trust those whom you rely on," bit back the tall boy. Byleth's head spun. Was she also royalty? What sort of school was this Officers Academy?
"Oh joy. A royal debate between Their Highnesses. I wonder how being completely predictable affects one's ability to wield power," said Claude. "Personally, as the embodiment of distrust, I'd say your little exchange smacks of naiveté." The smile never left his lips as he spoke, but it still didn't reach his eyes. Byleth couldn't tell how serious he was being.
"Me? Naive? Tell me, are you actually incapable of keeping quiet, or is your lack of self-awareness a condition of some sort?" The short girl had taken the other boy's barbs in stride, but Claude's insult seemed to have actually stung. This bickering was clearly a regular occurrence.
The boy in the blue uniform seemed to realize they were getting lost in their fighting. "In any case, forgive our digression. I must speak with you, if you can spare a moment. The way you held your ground against the bandits' leader was captivating! You never lost control of the situation. It showed me I still have much to learn." Byleth wondered how much differently the boy would feel if he knew how the situation had unfolded before Sothis stepped in.
"In that case, he would certainly be impressed with my ability to manipulate time! But it matters not. You are being complimented! You should be happy and accept it." Byleth nearly flinched at the unexpected intrusion of Sothis's voice, but managed to restrain himself. It wouldn't do to have the students asking questions he wasn't sure of the answer to. "Or questions that you shouldn't be answering in the first place! Now pay attention, he is speaking to you!"
Indeed, the boy was about to continue speaking, when the girl interrupted him. "Your skill is precisely why I must ask you to consider lending your services to the Empire. I might as well tell you now. I am no mere student. I am also the Adrestian Empire's-"
"Halt, Edelgard," the blond boy interrupted her right back. Edelgard. The last student whose name Byleth still did not know continued, "Please allow me to finish my own proposition. The Holy Kingdom of Faerghus is in dire need of exceptional individuals like yourself. Please, do consider returning to the Kingdom with me."
"Whoa, there!" Claude cut in. "You two sure are hasty. Trying to recruit someone you just met. Tactless, really. I was personally planning to develop a deep and lasting friendship on our journey back to the monastery before begging for favors." Again, Byleth couldn't tell how serious he was being. He preferred Edelgard and the Kingdom boy's straightforward requests anyway. He didn't have friends. "But it seems there's no time for niceties in this world. So, capable stranger, let's get right to it. Where does your allegiance lie?"
Once again, Sothis's disembodied voice sounded in Byleth's head. "Hmm. It seems one's place of birth is quite significant to them. Yet they are so impressed by you, that you may take your pick. Well?"
Byleth didn't know where he had been born; he didn't even know how old he was. He had been all over all three nations - the Adrestian Empire, the Kingdom of Faerghus, and the Leicester Alliance - but none of them stood out as particularly special. After a moment of thought, he said, "The Empire." Remire Village was in the Empire, and they had given Byleth and his father a decent place to stay for a few nights. So had many other places, but it was as good a reason as any.
"A wise choice," said Edelgard. "Though the Empire has fallen from its former glory, the other regions are merely offshoots that pale in comparison." The Kingdom boy's face darkened at that, but Claude's easy smile stayed plastered on his face as always.
The sound of footsteps made Byleth turn. Alois was approaching, and he informed them it was time to return to the monastery.
"Looks like we'll have to pick this up another time," lamented Claude.
Byleth watched the trio follow Alois away. What a strange group they made. Sothis spoke up again to say that she was sleepy. Her voice faded away until Byleth could hear her no more.
Wow! This is extremely well written and I'm super excited to be reading a new trans Three Houses fanfic ^^
You said it yourself but yeah the dialogue taken straight out of the game felt a bit jarring at points. I also felt that it didn't always mesh super well with your writing style. I'm not a writer so idk how much this advice will be worth but maybe be less scared of rewriting things. This story isn't 1to1 canon anyway so what's the harm in changing up lines to fit your writing better.
Really enjoyed the chapter tho ^^. Keep up the good work.
Thank you so much for the comment! I'll definitely be working to make the story feel more like it's "mine" as I continue. I'm very happy to have you on board.