A/N: See the bottom of the page.

Castle Krakenburg was not an inviting place even at the best of times. It was a sharp and angular fortress, its design favoring military advantages over being remotely aesthetically pleasing. This philosophy was the standard for most Nohrian architecture, always striving for efficiency and practicality rather than comfort. They simply didn't have the resources for bells and whistles. But even to a native, the sight of the large, obsidian monolith of a capital building could be unnerving. Still, you couldn't argue with the results. In all of the annals of Nohrian history, any attempts to conquer the castle always resulted in a decisive and bloody failure.

But no building of man could defy the will of Gods. And the violent streaks of lightning that tore the castle to near ruin two days ago was seen by prophets as being sent directly by Anankos, the Dusk Dragon. They ranted and raved far and wide that King Elzas of Nohr had angered the divine being, and that He had struck back with holy retribution. What exactly Elzas had done to deserve such punishment varied from priest to priest. Ranging from treating his people poorly, to taxes being too high, to not being pious enough, to being too brutal towards Hoshidans, to not being brutal enough towards Hoshidans...

To Elzas, it was all white noise. Who were these prophets to say what crimes he did or did not commit? As far as he was concerned, until Anankos Himself descended from the heavens to condemn him, he was innocent of all charges. If they felt so strongly about it, they should attempt to rise in revolt so that he could crush them and end all doubts. Simple as that. Elzas did not love violence, but he was not above using it to prove a point.

And as he stood before his once great capital building, a part of him sincerely wished that they would revolt to alleviate his boredom. The damages were severe, but they could be repaired. The problem was that said repairs were going to take time, and the living quarters for both him, his son and his staff were among the places that had been destroyed. Staying at an inn was out of the question. Sure, it would put a roof over his head, and no one would dare press him to pay, but the king and the prince sleeping in beds owned by commoners would be...unseemly. Instead, they had been staying in tents nearby guarded by a "small" force of a little over a hundred knights. This had left Elias little to do aside from sitting there and seeing those damn priests sway his court one by one.

Of course, none were willing to express their doubts openly (while not explicitly treason, it surely would not make them popular in the eyes of the king) but their thoughts were obvious, and their whispers were heard. While the simple solution would be to throw the priests in jail or just to kill them outright, in the eyes of their flocks that would probably just prove them right. So instead Elzas let it pass, as much as it pained him to do so. After all, none of their doubts were doing any real harm.

None, except for one. "Father, what if the people are right? What if we have angered the divine dragon?"

Elzas had just finished talking to the contractor that he had entrusted to oversee the repairs of Krakenburg when his son, who had previously been content to stand quietly by his side, came out with that particular outburst. Elzas grimaced, and quickly scanned the crowds of workers to see if anyone had heard that. The absolute last thing he needed was his flesh and blood's doubts to become public knowledge. Thankfully, it seemed that none had.

Elzas turned to his upstart son, face still sour. Garon stood there, trying to keep his face calm, but Elzas could see through it. Throughout the boy's life, Elzas had been well aware that Garon feared him. This disposition suited Elzas just fine, as it made him easier to control. The fact that he had said anything at all meant that this must mean quite a bit to him. Elzas might have been proud of him if the context was different. As is, his son must be reprimanded. "Watch your mouth, boy. Lest you start a commotion among the people. Do I honestly need to remind you that we are in public?"

Elzas tried to keep his voice calm, aware that overt anger could start a fight that he had no interest in. Even still, Prince Garon took a step back. "Of course not father. I didn't think-"

"No, you didn't. Tell me, do you frequently blurt out whatever goes through your head with no provocation like a town drunk? Or is the sight of your father enrage you so that you are unable to contain yourself. Well? Which is it?"

Garon either couldn't or wouldn't respond. Elzas wasn't sure which. He opened his mouth to reprimand his son further but was interrupted by the sound of a horse galloping towards them from his left. They both turned to see a rider in full armor heading straight for them. Neither of them moved an inch as he stopped right in front of them. The rider took off his helmet, revealing a clean shaven man with blue hair that went down to his shoulders.

Elzas couldn't suppress a laugh. "You could have just walked, Helmut. It's not as though we've been living miles apart this past couple of days. What was urgent enough that your mount deserved such abuse? The poor thing looks as though it's going to collapse." Indeed, the equally armored horse appeared to be exhausted.

Helmut flashed the faintest of smiles before going right back to business "My liege, the Hoshidan king has finally responded. He has agreed to meet in Nestra to sign the agreement that will end the trade embargo."

Elzas's smile only grew, and even Garon's pale face looked happy. Trade between Hoshido and Nohr had always been heavily restricted, and in the past year Hoshido had shut down trade entirely as sanctions over a conflict at the border. According to reports, some off-duty Nohrian soldiers who most likely had been drinking heavily were accosting some Hoshidan women at a border village, were rejected and then...well, no one seemed exactly sure what happened. Considering that the town garrison (consisting entirely of Hoshidan forces) had to get involved; however, it was safe to say that the soldiers didn't take it well.

The Nohrians lost, and no one on either side had died. However, some of the drunken soldiers had suffered injuries. Fearing punishment, they used these injuries to paint the incident to their CO as an act of aggression from the town guard, who had attacked them in a fit of xenophobia.

Two commanders were at the fort the soldiers were garrisoned in at the time. One, the usual head of the garrison was enraged at the "injustice" and ordered a full-scale attack on the village. The other, who had been passing through with a detachment to deal with a hideout of bandits was more skeptical and pulled aside some of the troops to press them harder. By the time he had gotten the truth out of them (or at least what they could remember), the regular commander had already ridden out with most of the fort behind him. Panicking at the possible consequences, he sent a message to King Elzas and then rode out to try and stop his companion from causing a crisis.

Unfortunately, he was too late. By the time he had caught up, the village had been pillaged for all it was worth. Even worse, a sky knight had escaped with a warning to the king that Nohrians were attacking. When their respective messages had gotten back to them, both rulers were furious for very different reasons. The only reason all out war was averted was due to the brave actions of one wyvern knight who risked her life to deliver a message to the Hoshidan court apologizing for the incident. Indeed, upon approaching the capital, she was fired at by archers and only survived due to one of the top general's of Hoshido, a man named Yoichi, ordering a ceasefire.

In spite of the protests of nearly every noble in Hoshido, King Nobu agreed to hear the rider out and, upon being informed of the misunderstanding and that the Nohrian soldiers involved in the initial attack were either stripped of rank or executed, agreed to stop Hoshido's plans for a retaliatory attack. And thus one of the worst diplomatic relations disasters in recent memory ended. And it all started because some idiots got drunk in a village somewhere.

If it weren't for the sanctions that followed, ones that brought Nohr to its knees, the whole thing would have been flat out comical.

But now they could finally put that all behind them. If things went well, this could be the beginning of a massive boon for Nohr. At the very least, they could hold off total collapse for a while longer. "That's excellent news, Helmut. Well, we should depart as soon as a proper escort can be arranged."

"Already taken care of, my liege. I believe a smaller force, perhaps around 20 of our finest knights will suffice. Any more and we might arouse suspicion. Oh, and I've taken the liberty of including General Christof and General Louisa in those 20 men. I imagine they will help further ease tensions."

Christof and Louisa were the commander who warned Elzas and the wyvern rider who made the run to contact King Nobu, respectively. After the border conflict, the two were seen as heroes by Nohr and quickly started rising through the ranks. To the point where Louisa had been appointed the head of the wyvern knights and Christof the head of the mage corp, positions usually reserved for members of the royal family.

Elzas ran his head through his blond hair "Well Helmut, it seems like you've gotten the whole thing planned out. I might as well not even go!" Elzas and Helmut both laughed. This sort of thing happened often. As Elzas's only living retainer, Helmut was around him enough that he could probably run the country effectively just based off what he's seen Elzas do. Often Elzas would be about to order something only to find out that Helmut had already ordered it in the same way that Elzas would have. They were a well-oiled machine, doing everything they could to keep Nohr afloat. And now, after almost a year of what was effectively just glorified boot licking it seemed one of their greatest struggles had finally come to a close.

Elzas turned to his son, all malice from their earlier argument seemingly gone. "Garon, I'm trusting you to watch over the homefront while we're gone. We won't be gone long." Elzas started walking away, but Garon spoke up "Er, father, I was hoping I could accompany you on this mission. You always keep me here for reasons that I can't surmise. A king must do more than watch within his borders, yet you will not allow me to do so. Why? Have I angered you somehow?"

Elzas's smile began to fade. "Garon, don't-" "If I may, my liege," Helmut interjected, "I think it's a fine idea. Garon could use the experience, and we won't be gone long. A week at most." Elzas sighed, not wanting to argue with both his son and his close friend. "Very well," he answered, "you may come, Garon. Helmut, arrange for his steed to-" "Already done. I figured this might happen. It is always good to plan ahead, after all."

Elzas nodded. "Then let us be off." And with that, Helmut lead them to a collection of knights stationed on the edge of the camp, numbering at 19. Elzas wasn't even finished opening his mouth to ask where the last one was when a woman's voice cried out above him "Gods, finally! If I had to wait any longer, I was going to go mad!" Following that screech was another, this time from a massive wyvern that flew just barely over Elzas's head to fall into position in front of a bespectacled, blonde man reading a tome. Said man didn't even look up as he replied, "Louisa, does the idea of following orders and waiting at your post mean anything to you?"

Louisa, a well-endowed woman with lilac hair, merely scoffed at him. "Shove that book up your ass, Christof. Not everyone can just sit here for hours on end and never move. I need stimulus, damn it!"

"On the contrary," Christof calmly responded as he flipped a page, "it's barely been an hour by my estimation."

"The exact time doesn't matter! And how can you even tell? You haven't looked up from that thing since the castle collapsed."

This time, he did look up, if only so Louisa could see the small but visible grin he was sporting "The position of the shadows on the pages change as the sun moves. Rather elementary, honestly."

Their bickering might have gone on for some time, but Elzas wisely cut them off "Enough! Both of you!" And indeed, both of them fell silent almost immediately. Louisa might not be willing to sit still, but she wouldn't dare disobey a direct command from the king. Pausing first to make sure that they were indeed quiet, Elzas saddled his favorite horse, a majestic white steed, which was at the front of the squad. He was about to give the order to move out when the silence was interrupted yet again by a loud cry. 'Gunter! You're coming as well, friend?"

All heads turned towards the source of the cry: Garon, his face filled with joy, staring at a young knight with purple hair. Gunter seemed just as happy, and the two would have no doubt began a lengthy discourse had Helmut not coughed loudly enough for them to hear. As Garon strode back towards his father to ride at his side, Elzas couldn't resist leaning over to his left and whispering into his retainers ear "Our finest knights, huh? Has your nephew even been on a mission before?"

His tone made it clear that he wasn't mad, and Helmut only smiled and shrugged in response. Garon mounted his horse and, with his son to his right and his closest friend to his left, Elzas gave the order to begin what all though was going to be a simple mission with significant benefits for the kingdom.

They had no idea that it was the event some historians pointed to as the actual start of the Second Great Nohr and Hoshido war, one of the worst and most costly conflicts that would ever shake the land.

A/N: So the first question will probably be "what the hell is this?" This fic is my imagining of the events that led up to the events of Fates. It's going to be (or at least is planned to be) around ten chapters long, counting this prologue. It's going to be primarily told from Garon and Sumeragi's perspective, with some exceptions (like this one with Elzas, obviously).

All OC names (with two exceptions that I'll point out in AN when we get to them) are taken from the various generic names that captured units can get in Fates proper. Rather than try and come up with what would probably be stupid sounding fantasy names, I figured I'd use official stupid sounding fantasy names. Here's a full list, if you're interested: wiki/Prisoner#Names

And if you either though this first chapter was boring or are wondering where the hell Sumeragi is: well, sorry. This section is marked as a prologue for a reason. This chapter was mostly to set up background stuff that I know some people might not find interesting but is ultimately necessary. Don't worry; Sumeragi is going to get his fair share of screen time next time, and things should start picking up soon.

You get zero points for guessing which Fates characters Louisa and Christof are related to. I'm not exactly trying to hide it.

One more thing: In case you're curious, here are the classes for the characters named in this chapter:

Helmut: Great Knight

Elzas: Paladin (and yes, he uses Siegfried)

Garon: Nohrian King (even though he's not a king yet. Also let's pretend that his class can use horses)

Louisa: Wyvern Lord

Christof: Dark Knight

Yoichi: Sniper

Nobu: Master of Arms.

Also, thanks for reading.