EDIT (5/15/21): General touch ups I missed prior to posting and I made Dimitri refer to Byleth as Blue Dimitri.
Dimitri hit the home button, both figuratively and literally, and looked at his companion's reactions. Edelgard was just as shocked as he is, while Claude...
"God damn! I look even sexier as an anime character than I do in real life!"
"You are taking this awfully calmly." The blonde boy said, trying his best not to freak out.
"Unpause the game already. I wanna see if they got my voice down."
He resumed the game.
Game Dimitri spoke first. "Please forgive our intrusion. We wouldn't bother you were the situation not dire."
He paused again.
Both spectators bursted out in laughter, and he could see why. The man who did his voice made him sound even more kind and sincere than he did in real life, which was sadly true he admitted.
Edelgard wiped a tear from her eye. "I'd like to hear my voice."
He unpaused.
"What do a bunch of kids like you want at this hour?"
"We're being pursued by a group of bandits. I can only hope that you will be so kind as to lend your support."
Bandits? This really is medieval. But what time period does it take place in?
"Bandits? Here?" Jeralt said, sharing real life Dimitri's reaction.
Game Edelgard spoke next. "It's true. They attacked us while we were at rest in our camp."
He paused.
Claude was the only one to laugh this time. Edelgard simply shook her head. "She doesn't sound anything like me."
Dimitri couldn't help but agree. El's voice matched that of most Adrestians, which reflected the dialect of her homeland and the Hresvelg Royal Family. He unpaused and awaited Game Claude's chance to speak.
"We've been separated from our companions and we're outnumbered. They're after our lives... not to mention our gold."
Pause.
All three of them laughed this time.
The dark-haired boy was absolutely dying. "That... That... That sounds so much like me, and yet—" He laughed. "and yet it also doesn't sound like me! Not at all!"
They laughed for another minute, then continued their game.
Jeralt seemed to recognize their uniforms, then a mercenary told them that bandits were spotted nearby and that they had to prepare for battle. The screen faded black and now Dimitri found Jeralt, the Game versions of themselves, and the protagonist at the gates of the village. Bandits came out of nowhere and took position near the forests.
Then they faced a singular bandit, who was clearly outmatched with their numbers.
Then Dimitri stopped and looked at his spectators. "What do I do?"
"Select the blue-haired guy. Or your character. Or the protagonist. Whatever, you get the point." Claude said.
Yes, it was indeed confusing. He was playing as a character with his name, but then there was a character that was him. It was like dressing up as someone else for Halloween, and then that exact person you're impersonating impersonates you. The more he thought about it, the more he felt a headache start to come in, and a different one compared to the migraines he's been having since the Tragedy of Duscur.
He selected his character. "What do I do now?"
"Move him to the bandit for Sothis' sake!" Hissed Edelgard.
He moved Blue Haired Dimitri to the nearest bandit, then a fight scene played out. Dimitri hit the bandit with his sword, but then he retaliated and hit him as well. Real Dimitri was simply confused by what he was seeking. First of all, swordplay is way more complex than what the game is implying, and second of all, they were both clearly hit with swords. How are they not bleeding? How are their limbs still intact? How can they simply shrug the pain off?
The camera returned to the overhead view of the battlefield. Jeralt then gave him advice to attack in forested areas as it provides extra protection against the enemy, which admittedly is very realistic. An army, modern or medieval, would have an easier time fighting in a forested area compared to an open field where their defenses are easily flankable.
He's still annoyed by that totally unrealistic swordfight though.
He then selected Game Dimitri and moved him next to himself. A prompt to talk to Dimitri appeared, which made his head hurt more than it already did. Here he was, a character he referred to as himself, talking to a game version of himself. What the heck.
He selected the talk option. "Thank you. We are in your debt. It wouldn't do for us to fall in a place like this. Please, lend us your strength. Let's work together to drive out these thieves!"
Claude and Edelgard laughed. Goddess, why did the game have to make him sound like such a sincere fool? Also, a portrait of his face with a heart and an arrow pointing upwards appeared at the side of the screen.
"It seems like you gained support points with yourself." Said the dark-haired boy. "Man, imagine S supporting yourself. I can't wait to play this game on my own time later."
Edelgard rolled her eyes. "Please stop putting images in my head."
He then moved Game Claude to his character. "It's because of you guys that I'm not dead right now. Thanks for that! I didn't expect to run into mercenaries like you in some remote village. The gods of fortune must be smiling on me!"
"Definitely sounds like something I would say." The real life version of Claude said. This was getting confusing.
Edelgard was next. "You have a strange aura about you... You say you're a mercenary, so show me what you can do."
"I still can't get over her accent." Said Real Edelgard. "Also, of course I can sense a strange aura about him, or Dimitri," He never thought he was gonna be in an identity crisis today. "he's the main lord. He'll probably get a Falchion later on."
"Falchion?" He asked.
"Dragon slaying sword." Answered Claude. "Kind of like the master sword. Seals darkness and shit."
"Okay..."
The rest of the battle carried smoothly. Dimitri discovered Combat Arts, which increases attack power greatly, allowing Dimitri to kill enemies in one hit. Game Edelgard also had one, but apparently, she was never able to land a hit, which made perfect sense and no sense at the same time. Sure, the attack took a full three seconds to prepare, but she clearly hit him! The axe lands on the enemy, but then he dodges it like nothing ever happened. What the hell! Game Claude was frustrating to use because he could only attack at a certain distance and not at point-blank range, which made no sense as one could very easily hit a target with a bow at close range.
Despite the unrealistic annoyances, Dimitri finally managed to confront the bandit leader... Kostas? "Is he not the head of a mafia in Empire Territory?"
Edelgard nodded. "That's him. Kostas Ferox."
"Why is he in the game?"
Claude answered that question with another question. "Why are we in the game?"
Dimitri shrugged and initiated combat with him. "Hey, you with the blank stare! Outta my way!" Wow. He sounded exactly as he thought he would. Dimitri hit him with his sword, but then he retaliated and hit him with his axe, dealing a scary amount of damage.
"Why the hell did you attack him?" The dark-haired boy complained. "You're gonna die now."
It was now the allies' turn, and Jeralt charged in on Kostas. "What the?! Aren't you Jeralt the Blade Breaker? What's a renowned mercenary like you doing here?"
"I'm the one who should be complaining. I'm caught up in the mess you started!"
Everyone froze, ignoring the fact that Jeralt managed to get the boss down to one health.
"The Blade Breaker?!" Yelled Edelgard. "And why is he a mercenary?!"
"Jeralt Rues Eisner." Dimitri muttered. "Legendary Jaeger and owner of the Jaeger Corp, Blade Breakers. Why is he in this game?"
"Apparently, you're his son." Added Claude. "Byleth Odysseus Eisner, the Ashen Demon."
"Is he not the one who single handedly slaughtered an entire team of Anti-Imperial terrorists in Bergliez?"
"That's him." The white-haired girl confirmed.
The ally turn ended and the enemy turn began. Dimitri was expecting Kostas to attack him, but he attacked Claude—who was standing right behind Dimitri's character—instead. He attacked, but Game Claude dodged. The player phase then began and Dimitri was able to defeat the bandit leader.
A cutscene then began, and now it was in 3D apparently.
"Oh, now they want to make a higher quality cutscene!" The girl yelled.
Kostas leaps to his feet after being defeated and charges at Game Edelgard. She pulls out a dagger an—
Wait a minute. Silver blade, blue handle...
It's the same dagger. The exact same dagger that he gave to Edelgard all those years ago. How? How did they know of the relationship between him and El? Nobody knows about it aside from Sylvain, Felix, Ingrid, and Rodrigue, and apparently not El as she has strangely forgotten about their time together. He then remembered that he did in fact want to remind her of those happy times, but couldn't find the courage to do it. He looked at her for a reaction, but found none and turned his attention back to the screen, wiping a tear forming in his eye.
The scene continued. Dimitri—or Byleth,—ran in to shield Game Edelgard from the blow Kostas is about to land with his axe. He screams "You'll die!" before... An explosion of anti-colored energy, the sound of glass shattering, then time freezes. The background fades to black and all that is left is Blue Dimitri, still carrying his sword.
"Honestly!" Yells a familiar voice. "What are you accomplishing with that little stunt?!"
Blue Dimitri turns towards the source of the voice and finds the same little girl from the character creator.
"It's like you're trying to get me killed, you fool!" She slumps back in her chair and cups her cheek. "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." She stands up. "Well, then. I guess it's up to me to guide you from now on. Right? You can call me Sothis... but I am also known as 'The Beginning'."
Dimitri panicked and accidentally hit the home button, which was fine since he was about to do it anyway. "S-Sothis?! That is Sothis?!" He shouted.
Edelgard was just as shocked as he was. "Why the hell is the goddess in this game?! Why the hell is she a child?!"
Claude seemed rather calm compared to the other two kids. He smirked. "So the goddess is a loli. I would've never guessed."
They both looked at him, confused, then turned their attention back to the screen. Dimitri could also swear that Edelgard's expression was growing darker and darker as they kept playing. Perhaps playing this may have been a bad idea.
He unpaused.
A lower quality cutscene started playing. 'Sothis' started speaking. "Hmm... Sothis... Yes, that is it. My name is Sothis. And I am also called... The Beginning. But who once called me that?"
"The goddess has amnesia?" Dimitri thought aloud. "Why would she have amnesia."
"This is downright the weirdest Fire Emblem game I've ever played." The white-haired girl admitted.
Two dialogue options appeared, 'What are you talking about?' and 'Sothis?'. Both pretty much asked the same question, so he picked the top option.
"I was not able to recall my name... until just now. And just like that it came to me. How odd." Her expression darkened. "That look upon your face... Did you think me a child? A mere child who forgot her own name?! Phooey!" Did she really just say that? "That 'child' just saved your life! And what does that make you?"
Another two dialogue options appeared. One said 'I am no child.' which sounded a little rude, but she was insulting him so it made sense for whoever made this game to put that there, and 'I'm less than a child?'.
He picked the bottom option and—what was it called? Support points?—went up with Sothis.
"Oh shit! You can bang the goddess!"
Edelgard rolled her eyes.
The so called goddess continued. "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."
Two options appeared. 'Thank you.' and 'You stopped time?'. Dimitri picked the top option again.
His character politely bows.
"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..."
That made no sense. You can't simply do something and forget how you did it!
'What will happen when time resumes?' and 'What now?'. He picked the first option.
"When time begins again, the axe will tear into your flesh, and you will surely meet your end. How rude of you to drag me into this! Now what to do..."
Three options appeared for a change. 'Turn back the hands of time.', 'Keep time frozen until I'm safe.', and 'I'll just stay here and wait to die.'. The second option made no sense and the third didn't sound necessary, so he picked the first.
"Of course! I must turn back the hands of time! Yes... I do believe it can be done. You really are quite troublesome." A glyph appeared in front of her, and there was a symbol on the front.
The Crest of Flames. The symbol of the King of Liberation. What the heck?
"I cannot wind time back too far, but all is well. You are aware of what's to come, which means you can protect yourself this time. Now, go... Yes, you who bears the flames within. Drift through the flow of time to find the answers that you seek..."
A higher quality cutscene started playing. Blue Dimitri was transported back to the real world and time rewinded back to seconds before the incident. Game Edelgard unsheathed the dagger Dimitri gave her, but then the blue-haired man got in front of her, sword at the ready. As Kostas began to strike, he parried the blow, knocking him off his feet and his axe backwards. The bandits retreated, and their leader did too presumably. The mercenary let out a breath and Game Edelgard looked up at him with gratitude (apologetically?). Game Claude shouted to get their attention as he and Game Dimitri reunited with them.
Apparently, they let the bandits retreat, which once again made no sense as, if they were spared, would continue to pillage the common folk. He was starting to get a little pissed at this game.
"So basically, this is just the plot of JoJo's?" Claude commented.
They both ignored his remark.
The game returned to the overhead view of the battlefield as Jeralt reunited with them. "Hey... Did you just..." What he noticed, he will never know, as a man in white plate male armor (that looked overly exaggerated, damn this game) appears with some of his men.
"The Knights of Seiros are here! We'll cut you down for terrorizing our students. Hey, the thieves are running away! Go after them!" The men that accompanied him tan off screen as he approached the mercenaries. "The students seem to be unharmed. And... who's this?"
"Ugh... Why him?" Jeralt said, almost as a groan.
The scene changed and now the knight named Alois was standing in front of the Ashen Demon and Blade Breaker. "Captain Jeralt?! It is you! Goodness, it's been ages. Don't you recognize me? It's Alois! Your old right hand man! Well, that's how I always thought of myself anyway. It must have been twenty years ago that you went missing without a trace. I always knew you were still alive!"
Jeralt facepalmed. "You haven't changed a bit, Alois. Just as loud as ever. And drop that "captain" nonsense. I'm not your captain anymore. These days I'm just a wandering mercenary. One who has work to do. Goodbye, old friend."
Captain? Since when was Jeralt Eisner the captain of anything aside from his own Corp?
"Right... Goodbye, Captian." The knight suddenly picked up on the subtext of his words. "Wait! That isn't how this ends. I insist that you return to the monastery with me!"
The so called 'Captain' sighs. "Garreg Mach Monastery... I suppose this was inevitable."
Why did he react like that? Had he been to Garreg Mach before? "We're going to Garreg Mach?" Dimitri said aloud.
Edelgard agreed. "That's...a little disturbing actually, considering that's where we're at now."
Claude remained relaxed. "Nowhere to go but forward."
Dialogue continued. Alois looked at Blue Dimitri. "And how about you, kid? Are you the captain's child?"
Three options appeared. 'He is a stranger to me.' which sounded a little rude, 'I'm a bandit.' which was probably a joke, and 'That is correct.'. He chose the bottom option.
"Is that so? Well, physical differences aside, your mannerisms do remind me of the captain. I'd love for you to see the monastery too. You will join me, won't you?"
Jeralt remained quiet.
"What's troubling you, Captain? You aren't about to run off again, are you?"
"Even I wouldn't dare run from the Knights of Seiros."
That sounded...disturbing. Why paint the Knights of Seiros in a bad light?
Both men exit the scene, leaving Blue Dimitri alone. And then, apparently, Sothis starts talking to him through his head. What? "The Knights of Seiros... They do seem rather skilled." He jumped. "Ah. It seems your presence is required. Get going!"
"You know..." Claude began. "Sothis, the goddess, whatever the hell she is at this point, she kinda reminds me of Morgana a little."
Edelgard groaned. "Oh goddess, both in game and real life, why?"
"Who is Morgana?" Dimitri asked.
They both shot him a look that said a thousand words, or more specifically, a 'You don't want to know...' kind of look.
A new scene begins, and this one featuring the game versions of themselves.
"Aw shit, here we go again!" Claude said, almost as if he was quoting something.
The girl laughed.
Dimitri swears, he will never come to understand the things these two talk about.
Game Edelgard spoke first. "I appreciate your help back there. Your skill is beyond question. 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?"
"Former captain of the Knights of Seiros?!" He said, coming out louder than he thought it did as he hit the home button (he was starting to develop a habit of doing that).
Edelgard and Claude had similar reactions. "Hole-lee shit!" Said the white-haired girl. "Since when was Jeralt the Captain of the Knights of Seiros?!"
"Whoa!" Was the other boy's reaction. "I was not expecting that! Unpause the game, I wanna see what else they'll say about him."
But Dimitri didn't unpause the game that time. Instead, he dropped the controller and pulled out his phone and searched 'Jeralt Reus Eisner'.
"Unpause the game." Claude encouraged.
He didn't listen. He clicked on an article about him and skimmed through it.
"What are you doing?" He asked.
"Searching Jeralt on the internet."
"And?"
Dimitri was silent for a long moment, then lifted his head. "It says he is a legendary Jaeger who founded Blade Breaker Corp nineteen years ago"
"But Alois said he disappeared twenty years ago." The girl said. "Could there... Could there be a connection?"
He nodded and put his phone away. "This is too weird... Who would make a game and claim that the leader of Blade Breaker was the military general of the Knights of Seiros?"
Another moment passed, then Claude gave an interesting answer. "That guy who set us up. He's behind this. This isn't an actual Fire Emblem game, it's a message."
"How so?"
He stood up. "They're trying to tell us things we aren't supposed to know. How do they know my personality so well? How do they know that Jeralt was originally part of the Knights of Seiros? Why were we even given a Fire Emblem game that either doesn't exist or hasn't been announced yet? That's my theory, anyway."
Edelgard caressed her chin. "So ya' think they're tryin' to tell us somethin'?"
"Most likely."
The trio remained silent for a moment, then Claude spoke again. "How about this: let's play some more of the game, then use whatever info we've gathered to interrogate the Archbishop."
"The Archbishop?!" Dimitri shook his head in disapproval. "Do you think the Archbishop of the Seiros religion would even have the time for us? Sure, we are all higher ups in society, but still."
He hummed in response. "True. Very true... Perhaps we could interrogate the current general, if he's in the monastery at the moment."
The white-haired girl nodded. "Sounds like a plan."
Claude sat back down. "Unpause the game, I'll work on taking notes of the information we uncover."
"I will take no part in that plan...but fine." The blonde boy nodded and unpaused the game. He left off with two dialogue options, one saying 'The Knights of Seiros?' (was this guy seriously unaware of who the Knights of Seiros were?), and the other saying 'I didn't know he was a captain.'.
"Pick the bottom one." Said Edelgard.
He complied and pressed A.
Game Edelgard started speaking. "How curious. I'd wager the explanation for that is fascinating indeed."
"Hey! You are coming with us to the monastery, right?" Game Claude said. "Of course you are. I'd love to bend your ear as we travel. Oh, I should mention that the three of us are students at the Officers Academy at Garreg Mach Monastery. We were doing some training exercises when those bandits attacked. I definitely got the worst of it."
"That would explain why the Knights of Seiros were with us." Pointed out Claude.
The other two nodded. Dimitri was considering enrolling at the Officers Academy, so it did make sense that Game Dimitri would enroll there. That, and...
He shook his head as he let his thought process continue. In fact, he was just now realizing how creepy that sounded. It was almost like they were predicting the future...
Game Edelgard spoke. "That would be because you ran off."
That sadly sounded like something Claude would do, despite knowing him for only an hour.
Game Claude laughed. "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."
Game Dimitri seemed surprised. "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."
"His intentions were as clear as day." Said Game Edelgard. "You will prove a lacking ruler if you cannot see the truth behind a person's words."
"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."
That...actually was true. Knowing El since he was a kid, she had a harder time trusting people than he did. Not that he blamed her of course, it came with the territory of being next in line for the Imperial throne. His expression darkened. He hated those bastard nobles who tried feeding him advice. 'Don't trust people so readily, putting trust in another person will be your downfall.' 'Always look for ways to get onto someone's good side, that way, they will begin to favor you.' 'The commonfolk are mere tools for the success of a noble, those who say that they deserve rights as much as we do is no noble.'
If only people would treat each other as an equal! If only people were smart enough to know that the Duscurians were used as scapegoats! If only people believed him when he said that it wasn't them who killed his father! If only—
He grasped his head as it throbbed intensely
Father. Mother. Glenn.
He sat up from his couch. "I need a minute."
The spectators gave him puzzled looks, but nodded in confirmation.
He made his way to the bathroom as his guests continued playing the game without him. A wave of peace and quiet washed over Dimitri as he closed the bathroom door behind him. He flipped the lights on and bent over the sink, hands on the front corners. He looked at himself in the mirror. His bangs hung over his face, covering his left eye and shadowing the other one.
He could've sworn he saw the face of King Lambert at the corner of his eye as he reached for his headache medicine.
An: Yes, the Dimitri angst is starting early in this one!
I was originally going to end this chapter after they finished the prologue, but there's like a few lines of dialogue left, plus I thought here would be a good stopping point. Also, the term "Jaeger" was blatantly ripped from the Legend of Heroes series. The only reason why I did that is because I thought the name fit in well with this "Modern Fódlan" I'm creating, so if you ever hear the term, it means the same thing as mercenary. Keep that in mind.
Next chapter will cover everything up to the decision. Until then, see ya.