The Lost House
by Cyberchao X
A/N: I'll admit, I don't have a great story reason for the first generation pairing that I've used here. I mostly paired them for gameplay purposes. But I'm glad I did, because it becomes my "perception" of the abilities for the second-generation character in question and that led me to creating this fic, which I'll admit is probably not going to be one of my better ones, but it's some interesting headcanon building.
"Hey, Shanan, why have you been so distant? Come and dance with me! This ball is to celebrate our victory!"
"I know, I know. But this is for the Grannvalians. Not for me. And here, you're a Grannvalian noble."
Patty pouted. "You're not thinking of going back to Isaach without me, are you?"
Shanan smiled at her. "Of course not. You're far too dear to me, and I fully intend to make you my queen. It's just…not really the best optics. Isaach has been subjugated by Grannvale for so long, and even now, one of the popular young princesses is leaving to stay in Dozel. The people may not approve of a Grannvalian queen. Which is why I intend to introduce you as Patty of House Ganeishire."
Patty was momentarily speechless. "I don't honestly think anyone's going to believe that we're Isaachian. The Jungby blond hair kind of stands out."
"We…oh, you mean Lana." Shanan's cousin Ulster, who would be taking up rule of House Sophara, had fallen in love with Patty's cousin. "No, she's all Jung as best as I can tell. But you, my love, are not. And while I agree that my claims will face considerable doubt, that's largely because House Ganeishire was thought to have been wiped out completely some two centuries ago. I'll explain more at another time, perhaps as we head back to Isaach. For now…I think I owe you that dance."
"So, Shanan, you said you'd tell me about House Ganeishire during our journey?"
"Indeed. Crusader Od had three sons, and to each of them, he passed on one of his three great sword techniques. To the eldest, who would be his direct heir as ruler of Isaach, he granted the Astral Blade, which you've seen me and my cousins all use. To his middle son, he granted the Lunar Blade, which Larcei and Ulster are also capable of using as their father was of House Sophara, which the middle son founded. And to the youngest, who would found House Ganeishire, he granted the Solar Blade."
"That's…my technique. The one that lets me heal my wounds in battle."
"Indeed it is. The technique you inherited not from your mother, the Major Ulir of her generation, but from your father. …A bit over two centuries ago, Grannvale and Verdane were at war. Isaach and Grannvale were allies at that time, so the Isaachians came to Grannvale's aid. The ruler of House Ganeishire at that time was old and near death, yet his sons still led the charge. …The Verdanians won that battle handily. It was thought that all heirs to the House perished in that battle. And I'll admit, I didn't even think about that right away when I first met your father, despite his ability to use the Solar Blade. It was only after meeting you that it clicked, that you had an ability that, by all logic, you shouldn't. Then again, your father really wasn't much of a fighter so I didn't really see it often from him."
"So why do I?"
"Obviously I cannot say for certain, but I have a theory. I should have seen the pieces earlier, having witnessed my aunt continuing to fight on Sigurd's behalf almost right up until she gave birth to my twin cousins, but it wasn't until we met Lady Altenna that it all came together for me. The youngest son of the lord of Ganeishire had been married less than a year at the time of the battle with the Verdanians. And as I said, Isaachian women aren't exactly shy about joining the men in battle."
"You don't mean…"
"There was a newborn—possibly born just before the battle, possibly even 'born' out of its mother's corpse. But one survived, and was raised as a Verdanian commoner. And the bloodline, though diluted to the point of no longer granting Od's Holy Mark, still lived on. At least, that's what I assume happened."
"Just like how Altenna was raised by Travant as a Thracian."
"Exactly."
"That's…kind of hard to swallow."
"Well, it doesn't really matter. Even if it's not true, you're still the one I fell in love with. I'd make you my queen regardless. And the people's opinion of Grannvale has likely improved at least a bit thanks to Seliph's actions. But I am going to be a king now, and as such, I need to think politically. …Though marriages of nobles from different countries to strengthen alliances is also a good thing, so your status as sister to the Duke of Jungby isn't a bad thing, either."
"You make it sound like I'm some kind of pawn."
Shanan kissed her. "More like a symbol," he teased. "You're Grannvalian, and Verdanian, and possibly even a little bit Isaachian. You're a symbol of peace, and love. Pretty good for a 'common thief'."
A/N: Originally I was going to use Rivough instead of Ganeishire, but while looking up more information about Isaach (specifically, where it lies on the map of Jugdral—I had to add Grannvale to the "war" because it really makes no sense for Isaach and Verdane to be directly at war), I found that Galzus, a character from FE5, is actually a fallen prince of Rivough. This left Ganeishire as the only castle without an established story that I could co-opt for this purpose.
I'm not really that happy with how this turned out, but I kind of expected that. This idea, or possibly originally something a bit longer, has been in my head for quite some time, and I'm usually much better when I'm completely spontaneous, largely due to my impatience—that's also why whenever a computer crash eats one of my chapters, the rewritten chapter is usually much shorter than the original would have been. Well, I got it done, at any rate. This is Cyberchao X, signing off.