Chapter 3: Knowledge

Garreg Mach Monastery, The Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, Fódlan

Imperial Year 1187

The greenhouse of Garreg Mach was, as always, a sight to behold. Flowers of vibrant yellows, pinks, and purples stood proudly under the pale moonlight, showcasing all the natural beauty Fódlan had to offer. Moss peeked through the gaps of the tile flooring. Thick vines crawled up the walls and columns that held the structure together, engulfing the stones in a sea of green.

Ashe sighed and crouched beside one of the plots. As a student, he had spent much of his free time here in the greenhouse. During the day, he would tend to the plants alongside Dedue and the gardener; at night, he would tuck himself into a corner, reading fantastical stories and feeling like he was on top of the world.

It had always seemed too good to be true. A commoner and a thief like him, training alongside Fódlan's greatest to become a knight in his own right. Someone his siblings could look up to, a ward Lonato could regard with pride. A hero, like those in his favorite books.

Ashe scooped up a handful of soil, rubbing the soft clumps around in his fingers. Times had certainly changed, but at least the greenhouse was as beautiful as ever.

"It's a little late to be gardening, isn't it?"

Startled, Ashe quickly dumped the soil and jumped to his feet. Byleth stood in the doorway, pale hair almost white in the dim light.

"Oh, Professor…" Ashe wiped his hand on his trousers. "I just came to check on the flowers, for Dedue's sake. He's worked so hard to maintain the gardens here, so I wanted to make sure they were doing all right in his absence."

Byleth stared at him, clearly not buying it.

"I guess that's not the main reason," Ashe admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "In all honesty, I just needed a distraction. I know you told us to rest but…I just can't, not until I know Ingrid and Kana will be okay."

"That's part of the reason I came looking for you," Byleth said. "Manuela's finished with them."

Ashe braced himself. "And?"

"Ingrid will recover, and the boy you brought from Gaspard seems healthy. He was just starting to wake up when I left."

Relief rushed over him like a waterfall. Finally, some good news.

"They want to see you."

"What?" He tilted his head. "Me?"

"That's what they said." Byleth turned away from the greenhouse, white cape sweeping the air behind him, and gestured for him to follow. Ashe's legs moved to join him in a few quick strides, responding to the silent command on instinct—a habit he had developed from his days as Byleth's student and soldier.

The monastery seemed eerily quiet as they made their way to the infirmary. When Ashe had lived at Garreg Mach, there had always been some sort of bustling activity that made the place feel alive, whether it be students rushing to their classes, merchants selling their wares, or soldiers preparing themselves for battle. There was none of that now. Most of the Knights of Seiros and their battalions had left earlier to search for the man Ashe's group had encountered outside; those who had stayed behind were positioned around the monastery, standing guard in complete silence.

Silence had always made Ashe feel uneasy.

"Have they found anything?" he asked, both out of curiosity and of a need to fill the air with something.

Byleth shook his head. "No sign of that mystery rider yet, or any of those 'invisible soldiers' you described. But if they're anywhere near the monastery, we'll find them." He rested his hand on the Sword of the Creator's pommel, prompting the blade to glow with a faint red light. "I'll go looking myself if I have to."

"It's probably best if you stay here, at least for now." Ashe glanced around, checking every dark corner they passed for that purple glow. "If that man tries breaking into the monastery, you're probably the only one who can match him."

"So you think he's targeting the boy, like the soldiers you fought in Gaspard?"

"Maybe. I don't really know what else would bring him here." Ashe pursed his lips. "He didn't go after Kana right away, though. He just sat there watching us, until Ingrid tried to fight him."

"Could have been assessing our defensive capabilities." Byleth stared straight ahead, face blank with the slightest furrow to his brows. That was his way of showing he was deep in thought, in Ashe's experience. The man had admitted a long time ago that it was difficult for him to express much in the way of emotions, but there were usually subtle shifts in his face that Ashe had learned to interpret over the years.

"It's no matter," Byleth continued after a long pause. "We'll put an end to it soon. I've already sent word to the king about the situation, and to Hilda and Lindhart. With their help, we should be able to deal with this quickly."

"Only those two?"

"They're our only contacts in the old Adrestian and Alliance territories. Raphael decided to step away from knighthood and politics to open an inn with his grandfather and sister. Lysithea is here now, aiding Hanneman with his Crest research, and Petra is on her way to discuss trade with Brigid." The corner of Byleth's lip twitched. "No one has heard from Claude since Derdriu, and Marianne has been missing since the war started. Everyone else…"

"…taken by the war…" Ashe finished with a whisper. Memories of his fallen classmates—whether they had been friend or foe—gripped at his chest. So many lives lost due to Edelgard's grand ambitions.

He shifted the topic before the thoughts could become too painful. "You said Petra is coming?"

Byleth nodded. "On wyvern. She's supposed to arrive within a day or two." He cast a sideways glance at Ashe. "She'll be happy to see you."

"Sh-she'll be happy to see everyone." Ashe waved his hand, fighting back a blush. He avoided the man's gaze for the remainder of their walk, but he could feel his pale eyes looking straight through him.

The infirmary was a mess. Empty bottles of alcohol were strewn about the room, laying next to heaps of bandages and disorganized medical supplies. Most of the cots had been hastily covered with thin white sheets in an attempt to make the area at least a little more prepared for visitors.

In all fairness, though, Ashe couldn't really blame Manuela for the chaos. Life after the war had been stressful, and they did show up without much warning. All that really mattered to him was that her two patients were alive and well.

Ingrid was sleeping peacefully on one of the cots, arm wrapped up in a sling and forehead cleaned of blood. A few beds down, Kana was propped up by several pillows, gulping down a large glass of water. Sophie sat beside him with a bright smile on her face.

"Is that better?" she asked. The boy nodded and handed her the cup, wiping off some of the water that had spilled and dribbled down his chin.

"Th-thanks, Sophie," Kana croaked out. As he leaned back into the pillows, he startled a bit, finally noticing Ashe and Byleth standing in the doorway.

Sophie patted his arm. "It's okay, they're here to help. Do you recognize them?"

"Um…" Kana looked Ashe over. "You're…you're Edwin's brother, right? Lord Ashe?"

"That's right, but you can just call me Ashe." He kneeled by the cot, lowering himself to Kana's level. "How are you feeling?"

"…'m a little tired. And thirsty."

Ashe chuckled. "I could see that."

The boy blinked slowly and looked around the room. "Where…where are we? Sophie said you and some knights helped me, but I don't remember what happened."

"We're at Garreg Mach Monastery," Ashe said. "We brought you here because there were…some bad people who were looking for you back home."

Kana scrunched up his face in confusion. "Bad people?"

"What's the last thing you remember?" Sophie asked.

"Um, I remember hearing that the king's knights were coming to visit." Kana fiddled with the scarf tied around his neck. "And then I started feeling all hot and itchy and scared and…angry. I tried using Mama's pendant to help me calm down, but I think that made everything worse."

Ashe frowned, placing a hand over his pocket. "In what way?"

"I-I don't know." Kana pulled his legs into his chest, resting his chin on his knees. "It started flashing, and everything I was feeling just got more intense and then…then…" His eyes shot open. "The glowing people! They appeared out of nowhere and started chasing me then Edwin got hurt and I ran away like a coward—"

"Kana, slow down!" Sophie grasped his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Edwin is fine, and so is the rest of the village. Ashe and the other knights saved them."

"So…the glowing people are gone?"

"We're not sure," Ashe said honestly. "The Knights of Seiros are out looking for them right now. The rest of us are trying to figure out what brought them here, and why they went after you specifically."

"They may have recognized your abilities as something valuable," Byleth suggested, bringing himself closer to the cot.

"My abilities?" Kana scratched his cheek. "Like gardening and cooking?"

"…You really don't remember, do you?" Sophie said, voice barely a whisper.

"Remember what?"

"…Turning into a dragon."

"Huh?" Kana blinked at her, then let out an awkward laugh. "Okay, nice try, Sophie. You almost got me there. What really happened?"

"I'm being serious. You turned into a dragon!"

His face twisted into a pout. "This isn't funny—"

"She's telling the truth, Kana," Ashe said.

"W-wait, really?" His eyes darted between them, panic growing on his face. "But that's—I can't—huh?"

"I know it's hard to believe, but Sophie and I saw you transform when we were trying to rescue you. Part of the reason we brought you here was so we could figure out why that happened."

Kana just slumped against the wall, mouth hanging open, too shocked to say another word.

"The physician who treated you said there doesn't seem to be any negative effects on your body," Sophie added. "The only thing that changed was…um…"

"What?" the boy practically squeaked.

She sighed, brushing his hair out of his face and holding back the unruly strands. "Your ears are pointy now. B-but you shouldn't worry too much, I think they look cool!"

Kana's hands shot up to his head. Sure enough, the tips of his ears had been elongated into sharp points. Ashe hadn't noticed them before since the boy's spiky hair had covered them up, but there was no mistaking the oddity now.

"What…why…" His eyes began to well up with tears. "Why is this happening to me?"

"That's what we're going to find out." Byleth folded his arms across his chest. "Professor Hanneman said he has a few ideas. We can go see him, when you're ready."

"Will he be able to fix me?"

"…We'll see."

Professor Hanneman's office hadn't changed much since Ashe had last visited the monastery. The room was immaculate, not a single book on the vast shelves an inch out of place. The old mahogany desk was clear of any clutter—a far cry from Manuela's infirmary.

A glowing purple circle sat in the center of the room. The device that analyzes Crests, Ashe thought. I had to try it when I first enrolled here, but it came up with nothing. Hanneman had set up a few chairs surrounding the device, likely in preparation for their arrival.

The professor himself was reading aloud from a thick book as Ashe entered the office with Kana leaning on his arm, the boy still a bit unsteady on his feet. Lysithea stood by Hanneman's side, jotting down the man's comments on the wall's chalkboard.

Ashe knocked on the open door to get their attention. The duo turned, and Hanneman's eyes lit up when they landed on Kana.

"Ah, you must be the boy everyone has been talking about! Your timing is perfect. Come on in, take a seat here."

Kana's face flushed with embarrassment as Ashe and Byleth helped lower him into one of the chairs. "Talking about me?"

"Of course! It's not every day you come across someone who can turn into a dragon."

"Oh…" He bit at his bottom lip. "Right…"

"We already have some theories to explain why, but to determine which ones are the most probable we will need some information from the analyzer here." Hanneman gestured to the glowing circle before them. "This device will pick up on any Crests that you may have in your blood, and from there we can deduce what caused your transformation. Are you familiar with Crests?"

Kana slowly nodded. "They give the nobility powers."

"That is correct, but they can give anyone special abilities regardless of social status. Crests are passed down through bloodlines, so if one of your ancestors had a Crest, it's possible that you inherited it."

"But naturally-inherited Crests don't usually cause people to transform into dragons or beasts," Lysithea said, still facing the chalkboard. "Only those who are implanted with a Crest Stone, or those who try to use a Hero's Relic without the compatible Crest, are at risk for that, as far as we know."

"And Manuela found no scars or indication of Crest Stone implantation on Kana's body," Hanneman continued. "If he didn't have a Crest Stone on his person, and wasn't using a Hero's Relic, then there is likely another cause for his transformation. However, we still must check whether Crests could be involved. Here, I'll demonstrate how it works."

Hanneman placed his arm over the device. Detailed lines appeared above the analyzer representing the Crest of Indech.

Kana followed his example, leaning forward until his arm hovered over the purple light. The lines merged together and shifted into a shape Ashe didn't recognize. It featured a single thick line with an arc sitting against the bottom edge, resembling something like an anchor. They waited for the device to draw more lines, but nothing else appeared.

"How peculiar," Hanneman muttered, finger resting against his chin.

Kana looked at him with wide eyes. "What? What's wrong?"

"I've never seen this pattern before." Hanneman flipped through his book. "I've researched all manner of Crests, including those thought long-lost to history, but this shape has never appeared in any of my texts."

Lysithea drew the shape on the chalkboard, studied it for a moment, then shook her head. "I'm not familiar with it either."

The scholar hummed to himself before turning to Sophie. "You are his sister, correct? Would you mind trying it yourself?"

"All right…" She held her hand out, but as soon as her fingers began to pass over the device, the shape disappeared and the lights faded away.

"No Crests or strange anomalies in your blood, then…" Hanneman trailed off, rapping his knuckles on his thick book.

"What does this mean for Kana?" Ashe asked.

"It means that he either has a Crest that has never manifested before for anyone else in Fódlan, or it's not actually a Crest at all. Given the nature of the pattern and what we've discussed about his transformation"—Hanneman adjusted his monocle—"I'm inclined to believe the latter."

"If it's not a Crest, then why did the device respond to him?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but there is something special in his blood that resonated with the analyzer, something that his sister did not herself inherit. It wouldn't have shown us that shape otherwise."

Byleth rubbed his temple. "That doesn't tell us very much."

"We shouldn't get discouraged yet. I still have a few theories left regarding his 'condition', one of which I believe has some plausibility."

Hanneman ran a finger along one of the shelves, tapping on the spine of a leather-bound book before pulling it out. He opened to a tabbed page. Several sketches of monstrous creatures were drawn on the parchment with notes scattered between the illustrations. Ashe squinted, trying to make sense of the lettering, but the symbols were foreign to him.

"Lady Rhea gifted this to me before she left the monastery. It took me some time to decipher the language of the text, but I was eventually able to translate it. It details the anatomy and a brief history of an ancient race known as the Nabataens. The so-called 'Children of the Goddess', powerful beings that could transform into large beasts using energy stored in their hearts. Most of them were killed more than a millennium ago, but a few survived—one of which was Rhea herself."

Hanneman pointed to one of the creatures, one that resembled the draconic form Lady Rhea had taken when she had defended Garreg Mach from the empire's invasion six years ago.

"This is a depiction of the Immaculate One, a surviving Nabataean, and Rhea's true form."

Ashe was hit with a sudden dizziness. Lady Rhea was over 1,000 years old? And there were others like her?

"So you think Kana might be a Nabatean?" Byleth asked, seemingly unfazed by the revelation. Then again, he was rarely fazed by anything.

"I-I'm not!" Kana gripped the edge of his seat. "I'm human, I've always been human. And I'm only 14, not 1,000!"

"Perhaps one of your parents had been a Nabatean in hiding, or at least a descendant of one, then passed their ancient power on to you," Hanneman suggested. "If it works like Crests—which is likely since Crests originated from the Goddess and her brethren—then it wouldn't be surprising if only one offspring inherited—"

"That's not possible," Sophie said flatly, staring at her hands.

Hanneman faltered at her interruption. "How can you be certain?"

"Because…" Her fingers curled around the fabric of her trousers. "Well…I don't know if you'll believe me if I tell you."

"Tell us what?" Lysithea had a piece of chalk pressed to the wall, ready to add to her notes. "I'm sure it can't be stranger than talk of ancient beasts walking among us."

Kana fidgeted in his seat. "We're…um…we're not supposed to talk about it."

"Not supposed to talk about it?" Lysithea's eye twitched. "We're spending all this time trying to help you and you won't even—"

Ashe held up his hand to stop her. If he had learned anything from the aftermath in Gaspard, it was that a gentle approach worked best with the siblings.

"I know this has been really scary for the both of you," he said, "it's been scary for us, too. If we want to get through this, we have to work together and be honest with each other."

The two stared at each other but remained silent, so Ashe continued, "We're doing our best to help you but the information we have is limited. If there's anything you know—"

"We're not from Fódlan!" Sophie blurted out.

Ashe smiled at that. Was that all she was worried about? "There's nothing wrong with that. We know people from all over, like Brigid, Dagda, Almyra—"

"I mean, we're not from Fódlan, or anywhere near here. We're…from another world entirely."

His breath caught in his throat as his mind struggled to process what she said. The rest of the room seemed just as confused as him—even Byleth, whose face had drawn small creases around his eyes.

"Another…world?"

"A completely different world from the one we're in now," Sophie explained, "with different nations, histories, and people. A realm where Fódlan doesn't exist, where the Nabateans you talked about don't exist." She paused, looking a little embarrassed at her outburst, and shrunk back into her chair. "That's why it's impossible for Kana to be related to them."

"I…see…" Hanneman slowly closed his book. "It does sound somewhat unbelievable, but I suppose it's not without precedent."

"How so?" Ashe managed to force the words from his mouth. Of all the things he had expected to talk about at this meeting, the existence of other worlds and dimensions was not one of them.

"Do you remember when your professor confronted Tomas and Monica's doppelgangers before the war, in the Sealed Forest?" Hanneman nodded to Byleth. "He described being sent to a world of darkness by their magic, then returning after being blessed by the Goddess. Albeit with a change in appearance."

Byleth touched a strand of his pale-green hair. The slightest frown formed on his face, likely remembering the events that had transpired on that day.

"I believe that would suggest the existence of other worlds, and the possibility of travel between them," Hanneman said. "Though I would never have imagined those worlds having full-fledged yet completely different societies than the ones we know…"

Sophie nodded. "We've lived in a few different places. Our parents moved us around a lot before they...left."

"But why?" Ashe asked. "Why would they go through all that trouble? Then just leave you here?"

"They never explained it in detail, but there were some…bad things that happened in their homeland, in Nohr." Sophie rubbed her arm. "There was a big war, and our mother had to fight against her family. She lost her brothers and some of her close friends because of it."

"Being home made Mama sad," Kana added, "so she and Papa left to start a new life together, and had us. But I think the friends she still had in Nohr missed her, because they visited sometimes and asked her to come back with them."

"She would always refuse, and we moved every time they found us." Her expression turned sullen. "But something changed after we came to Fódlan. When they showed up at our door, they said there was something bad happening at home. Our parents agreed to help, and told us to stay in Gaspard until they returned…" She took a deep breath and wiped at the corner of her eyes. "That was almost seven years ago."

Silence permeated the room. Ashe and the others shared bewildered looks, all at a loss for words. What exactly had they gotten themselves into?

Lysithea was the first to break the tension. "I'm so sorry. That sounds…really tough."

"It's okay, we've managed to get by," Sophie said. "Lord Lonato made sure we had enough resources to take care of ourselves until they returned. That's how we met your siblings, Ashe."

"Lord Lonato was so nice," Kana said, looking up at him with a small smile.

That felt like a knife to Ashe's gut. "Y-yeah, he was."

"I guess this means we have to shelve the Nabatean theory." Byleth tilted his head towards Hanneman. "Where does that leave us?"

The professor took a seat behind his desk, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "To be honest, I have no idea. Your story leaves us with more questions than answers. I'll have to do more research before I can form a more concrete theory on why Kana was able to transform, or how their parents' disappearance is related to the 'invisible soldiers' that attacked Gaspard."

"You think there's a connection?"

"It would be very strange if there wasn't." Hanneman pulled a cloth from his desk and cleaned his monocle. "Their parents leave Fódlan to handle some kind of trouble in their homeland, then a few years later an other-worldly magical force appears, sending bandits and soldiers to capture one of their children? That can't be a coincidence."

"The library in Abyss might have some information that can help us." Lysithea made her way to the door. "I'll see if I can find anything on this 'Nohr' place, or magic originating from other worlds."

"I will continue to search the texts I have here," Hanneman said. "In the meantime, I think it's best if we plan on continuing our discussion tomorrow. Lysithea and I will need time to make sense of everything we've learned today."

"We'll leave you to it, then." Byleth turned to Ashe. "Why don't you take them to the dormitory? Annette said she was going to prepare a room for them on the second floor."

"Sure thing, Professor." Ashe gently took hold of Kana's arm and pulled him to his feet. With Sophie's help, he guided the boy out of the office, trying to keep his mind from racing.

"See you in the morning."

Annette was in the middle of fluffing a pillow when they arrived at one of the monastery's spare dorm rooms. She greeted them with a smile, running around the room to make sure they had everything they needed for the night.

"Thank you," Sophie sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed and patting the spot next to her. Kana quickly plopped down at the invitation. "I think we'll be fine for now. You've all done so much for us already."

"It's no problem at all," Annette said, waving and stepping out of the room. "Let us know if you need anything else, okay?" Ashe followed, placing a hand on the doorknob.

"Ashe?" Kana's voice called out.

He paused and looked over his shoulder. "Yes?"

"Do you think our parents are okay?"

The knife from earlier twisted deeper into his stomach. He wanted to be optimistic, he truly did, but after seeing what some of these invisible soldiers were capable of…

"If they're as strong as you two are, I'm sure they're fine," he answered with a forced smile.

The boy nodded, and Ashe closed the door.

Exhaustion took over his body. He leaned against the wall, rubbing his forehead, trying to make sense of everything that had happened in the past few hours.

Annette placed a hand on his arm. "You should get some rest. You…look like you need it."

She was right, but Ashe couldn't find the energy to be embarrassed. He could feel the dark circles under his eyes, tickled by the ends of his greasy bangs. He tried to brush them behind his ear; they just fell back into his face.

"I'll try."

Annette studied him for a few moments, twisting her lips as she mulled over something to say. In the end she settled on a quiet goodnight before descending the stairs.

Ashe slid down the wall once she was out of sight. His muscles ached, his eyes grew heavy, but he couldn't leave yet—someone had to at least guard the door for the kids until the Knights of Seiros returned from their scouting mission.

It was his duty as a lord and as one of King Dimitri's knights. It was a promise he had made to his siblings, to his friends, to Lonato: to defend the innocent, to always do the right thing, no matter what.

He wasn't about to break that promise now.

Character Bios:

Hanneman: Warlock

-Scholar of Crestology and professor of the Officer's Academy. An avid researcher who renounced his noble titles long ago after the death of his beloved sister. His research has earned him the title "Father of Crestology". He often gets into arguments with his colleague, Manuela.

-Relations: Former member of House Essar.

Lysithea: Gremory

-An aspiring scholar and prodigy of the magical arts who loves sweets. Former student of the Officer's Academy and Golden Deer House. She returned to the Officer's Academy after the dissolution of the Leicester Alliance to assist Hanneman in his Crest research for private health concerns and— it's rumored— to be closer to a certain Almyran wyvern rider.

-Relations: Daughter of Count Ordelia.

Manuela: Bishop

-Former songstress of the Mittelfrank Opera Company and professor of the Officer's Academy. A fashionable woman who frequently drowns her sorrows and dating troubles in alcohol, but her skills as a physician are unparalleled. Currently resides at Garreg Mach Monastery to work in the infirmary and aid the Archbishop in restoring the building to its former glory.

-Relations: Single (not by choice)

The pattern that showed up for Kana in the Crest analyzer is meant to resemble the skill Dragon Fang. For the purposes of this story, Sophie didn't inherit that particular skill.

Next chapter: The monastery is visited by old friends.