"Hellllloooo, everyone! Welcome back to Anna FM—The number one radio station in all of Fódlan, brought to you by Annazon! This is everybody's favorite host DJ Anna speaking, wishing all of you a good night! Don't want any of you to sleep out on the new year tomorrow!

"Speaking of the new year, check out these new-"

The sound coming out of the car radio buzzed and crackled, before it was followed up by silence.

"Hey!" Aria cried. "What gives?"

Alexei let out an exasperated sigh as he kept his eyes on the road. "She was about to promote the New Year Anna Specials. You know how predatory they can get."

Alexei and his sister were on their way home after a long New Year's Eve party. While the brunette wanted to stay for the countdown, the blond knew their responsibilities couldn't allow for that. He suppressed a shudder as he remembered how he had to drag his sister out of the place kicking and screaming, making fools of themselves.

"Yeah, so what? That's, like, the best thing about Anna FM!"

"Please be more mindful about your spending."

Aria gasped. "What's this? You don't think I'm responsible enough?" She swung her head back, touching her forehead with the back of her hand. "Oh, what a tragedy! To have my own brother's faith in me be so lacking…" Shaking her head, she let out a long, exaggerated sigh. "It is truly a terrible night, indeed."

Alexei's eyes twitched at his sister's exaggerated antics. "If you can blabber that much, why don't you take the wheel?"

Aria waved him off. "Nah, think I'm still a bit tipsy for that. Not that I regret drinking all that good stuff." She giggled, a dopey grin on her face. "Man, Claudia's the best at planning parties. Maybe we should go to her New Year—"

"Vetoed."

Aria groaned, glaring at her brother. "Spoilsport."

And with that, Aria went silent, much to her brother's relief.

An hour passed with nothing but the sound of the car going through the usual terrain to accompany the twins. All in all, it was what they were used to—a normal ride back home.

Or rather, it should have been.

"How have your grades been?"

"Hm?" Aria raised an eyebrow. "Fine, I guess. What's with the question?"

"Fine isn't enough, Aria." Alexei sighed, tightening his grip on the steering wheel. "You know that, don't you?"

Aria pursed her lips as she looked away. "Are your eyes still on the road, bro?" She tried her best to snicker, plastering a smile on her face. "Don't want to run into anything, do we?"

"Don't change the topic, sister," Alexei grunted. "Just answer the question."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Aria raised her hands slightly. "Is it really that big of a deal, though? Pretty sure my grades are enough for me to pass."

"We both have standards and responsibilities to uphold, Aria." Alexei pursed his lips as he still kept his eyes on the road. "I'm sorry, but I don't think the way you've been acting is going to be acceptable by the time we have to fulfill our family duty."

Aria's eyes twitched. "Look, I'm not like you, okay? All I care about is—" She looked out the windshield, narrowing her eyes. "... Is that a person?"

"I told you not to change the topic—"

"No, I'm serious!" Aria shouted urgently. "Stop the car, now!"

Aria's leg brushed Alexei's as she stepped on the brakes before he could respond, bringing the car to a screeching halt.

Aria stared at the shocked expression on her brother's face. "... I don't think 'I told you so' would cut it." She sighed, running her fingers through her brown hair. "At least we aren't gonna be guilty of a hit and run."

"Now is not the time, Aria!" Alexei shouted, his whole body shaking. "I'll see what I can do. You go call—"

"St. Cethleann's? Already on it." Aria punched a sequence of keys into her flip phone, then held it close to her ear. "Hey, Benz? I'd like to cash in that favor right now…"

Alexei nodded, then quickly unlocked and opened the door beside him.

He looked at the person he almost ran over, lying down, seemingly unconscious. The person was a man fully in the nude, with a body that seemed both malnourished and well built, dark turquoise hair that reached his shoulders, and a face that suggested an age not too far from Alexei's own.

Alexei quickly rushed over to the man, his heartbeat beating erratically. Bending over, he gently touched the man's shoulders. "Excuse me, sir? Are you alright?"

He tried hard not to think about how cold the man's body was.

Much to Alexei's relief, the man's eyes slowly opened, revealing his pupils to be of the same color as his hair as he drawled out a noise.

"Oh, thank goodness." Alexei let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Do you feel hurt anywhere, sir? If there's anything you need, I have a first-aid kit in the back of my car. And don't worry, an ambulance is on its way."

The man drawled out another noise, although it didn't seem to be a response to Alexei's words.

"So, how're they?" Alexei looked over his shoulder to see his sister walking over to them. "Anything serious injuries we need to watch out for?"

"I don't know." Alexei shook his head. "What I do know is that this man can barely speak."

"I don't know much about medical stuff, but maybe he's paralyzed?" Aria bent over, her face meeting the man's own. "Hey, you can hear us, yeah? Can you say anything?" The look in her eyes was gentle. "Anything like… your name, maybe?"

The man's eyes seemed to lock on Aria's face as his mouth slowly moved.

"Ed…"

"Hm?"

"Edie…"

And with that, the man closed his eyes.

Aria stood back up, putting a hand on her hip. "Eddie, huh? Has a nice ring to it."

"While it's good that we now know his name, he's fallen unconscious again! What are we supposed to do now?"

"We should probably carry Mr. Eddie here to the car, let him sit in the back for a while and all that." Aria bent over again as she slid her hands under the man's body. She then turned her head to face her brother. "Come on, you too! Pretty sure dragging him myself isn't the best thing to do."

Alexei nodded, sliding his arms under the body as well. "Right."

And so the twins carried the man over to the car, something easier said than done. They weren't the most athletic of people, unlike the man they were carrying, as malnourished as he seemed. By the time they had him seated in the car, they heard the faint noise of an ambulance siren coming from a distance.

———————

As the man's body was carried into the ambulance by paramedics, the vehicle's front right door opened as a man with dirty blonde hair and a lab coat stepped out of it.

Aria walked towards the man, a wide smile plastered on her face. "Heeeey, Benz! Nice to see ya."

Benz sighed as he scratched his hair. "I wish I could say the same, Aria." He pulled out a notebook and pencil from his coat. "What happened here?"

"Long story short, my brother almost ran over Mr. Eddie over there." She allowed herself a little smirk. "Could've flattened him if it weren't for me."

Benz gave her a half lidded stare. "I don't think such behavior is appropriate at this time, Aria." He sighed before he jotted down words in his notebook. "Well, it's safe to say that you and your brother had no hand in his current condition. Abnormally cold body temperature, malnutrition—He doesn't seem like someone who was hit by a moving vehicle, let alone one that stopped at just the right moment." He put his notebook and pencil back into his coat, letting out a sigh of relief. "I suppose that's all I have to ask. Feel free to either continue your trip home or follow us to the hospital." He looked behind Aria, noticing the other twin standing beside the car. "Perhaps you should discuss it with your brother. He doesn't currently seem to be in the best state of mind."

Aria looked over her shoulder to look at Alexei. He was hyperventilating, his chest and shoulders constantly rising and falling. "Yeah," She nodded slowly as her smirk faded, "I really should, shouldn't I?"

Benz looked at Aria's worried expression. "...Whatever conclusion you two come to, please stay safe."

Aria briefly turned to him, quickly breaking into a grin as she gave him a thumbs up. "Roger that, Doc!" She then walked over to the car, waving to her brother.

"Yo."

"...Hello."

Aria leaned on the car, close to where Alexei stood. "One heck of a way to end the year, huh?"

Alexei didn't answer, looking away from his sister.

"Hey," She patted him on the back, "Don't worry too much, 'kay? Benz said we're in the green."

"That isn't enough! We should—" He stopped himself from his outburst, taking a deep breath to try and calm down. "W-we should join them. We have to make sure he's alright." Alexei felt his entire body tremble as he spoke, his words like whispers.

"...Look," Aria laid a hand on his shoulder, "It's not your fault, alright? If you can't trust the Doc's word, you can't trust anything at all." The smile on her face was soft. "Besides, we have that assignment coming up, yeah? I'm not sure doing it in a hospital is a good idea."

"I—" Her brother closed his eyes as he pursed his lips, "I suppose that does make sense."

"...We can check on the guy tomorrow. I don't really have anything else to do other than that assignment thing. What about you?"

Alexei furrowed his brows. "...I might be able to clear up my schedule for that."

Aria nodded as she patted him on the back. "Alrighty then, let's go. This time, I'll drive."

Alexei gently nodded his head with a small smile on his face. "Fine by me."

[PROLOGUE: END]

A/N: So... hello. I know this doesn't seem like your usual 3H fic, but I assure you, this is set in Fódlan—just not the one you're used to.

I hope this will pull you into what I have in store!

(shameless plug-in: Fanfiction Treehouse Discord invite code: 9XG3U7a, join us if u wanna talk about writing woooohooo)

Until next time!