Author's Note: I present to you, part two of Meanwhile, On the Surface. A two part series about what's going on on the surface while the Best Friend Squad has underground adventures. This one… I don't know what this one is. It started off as a funny support about how much Lorenz isn't respected because I don't like Lorenz (though even if I liked Lorenz nothing would change here because he's a Butt-Monkey anyways) but then it became something else. Oh well, I'm keeping the name because I like it. Now for more Fire Emblem: Three Houses What If..?s because I had more ideas!
What If… Lorenz Ran the Golden Deer House? In the spirit of this Support, let's wonder what would really happen if Lorenz was in charge of the Golden Deer House.
What If… There were Two Byleths? This is based off a fanfic idea I had a while back and I'm sure plenty of people have already done this. Basically, instead of one singular Byleths there are two twin Byleths, one female and one male. I've named these two Blythe and Theo respectively because why not. Both Byleths would be quiet and reserved like in canon but for different reasons. Blythe would be the brooding, serious one who hides a fiery temper and is fiercely protective of Theo and views herself as his older sister, despite being twins, while Theo would be more nervous and a bit of a shrinking violet, though better with people than Blythe. Each one would also represent a different part of canon Byleth's skill set, differentiating them from each other more. Blythe takes on Byleth's combat skills, being terrifying on the battlefield and channeling all that repressed anger into her fighting. Meanwhile, Theo takes on Byleth's tactical skills, more at home poring over a battle map then on the battlefield himself (though he is by no means incompetent when it comes to battle, just not quite as good as Blythe) and he almost seems a different person when planning, always keeping a level head and giving orders without hesitation. Yeah, I put a lot of thought into this. As a consequence of this, Sitri actually possibly survives since it's basically impossible for her to have surviving twins if she doesn't.
What If… Byleth Met Byleth? This is literally just a Fire Emblem Heroes fanfic. And technically possible in Fifth Path since we know Three Houses Anna met Heroes Anna. Though if I did write that it would be non-canon to the fic.
What If… Kostas Killed Edelgard? Surprised I didn't think of this before. It's such an obvious question.
What If… Edelgard went Feral? It's common fan speak (or, at least, it's common BackSet speak) to refer to Post-Timeskip Dimitri as Feral Dimitri. But what if instead of Feral Dimitri we got Feral Edelgard. I don't know how this would happen but it's a question.
What If… Fodlan Lost its Rulers? Or, in other words, what if Claude, Dimitri, and Edelgard died before Edelgard got a chance to start her war. Probably more war.
What if… The Old Gods Came Back? Remember all those saints we kept running into who were guarding ancient weapons as monsters and whatnot? What if they decided "screw it, let's get back into the world" for some reason. Maybe due to the war, maybe due to boredom. Who knows.
These are all free ideas and I'm perfectly okay with anybody using them or being inspired by them. Not that I could stop you in the first place. I don't own ideas. Though if you decide to use these ideas after reading this fic I'd appreciate it if you shoot a link to it my way so I can see how cool it is and how I've inspired people. Anyways, more below.
Meanwhile, On the Surface
Part Two
Lorenz's Hostile Takeover
The Golden Deer classroom was full of students, specifically students of the Golden Deer House. This usually was not abnormal since it was a classroom, but today was a weekend and thus not a school day. Therefore, most of the Golden Deer would usually not be in the classroom, except maybe Ignatz.
The reason they were there was that they'd all received a letter telling them to come there and, apparently, they all lacked anything better to do. The only person there who hadn't received a letter was Lorenz. This was because he was the one to send them.
"You may be wondering why I've called you all here!" Lorenz said from behind the teacher's desk.
There was a moment of awkward silence as it seemed nobody was willing to deign this question with a response. Nobody except for Leonie, who decided to be the one to save everyone from awkwardness.
"Uh… yeah." She said. "Why did you call us here?"
Lorenz began pacing smugly. "Well, you may have noticed that our "illustrious" House Leader has disappeared." He stopped pacing and turned to face his audience. "As such, I think it's time the Golden Deer House was put under new management." He dramatically slammed his hands down on the desk. "My management!"
There was yet another pause. You could almost see the ellipses in the air. Finally, Raphael broke the silence.
"If Claude is missing we've gotta find him!" He said. "He could be in trouble!"
Lorenz flipped his hand dismissively. "I'm sure he's fine. Probably off pulling some elaborate prank." Lorenz held his finger up dramatically. "A fatal mistake, for when he returns everything shall be different! I shall be in charge!" He laughed.
Lysithea stood up and let out an annoyed sigh, rubbing her temples as she did so. "Lorenz… no. Just… no. While I, annoyingly, agree with you that we don't need to look for Claude you are never going to be our leader. Ever."
"Do we even really need a leader?" Leonie asked. "We've been doing just fine without one. I mean, we didn't even notice Claude was gone until Lorenz pointed it out."
"Of course we need a leader." Lorenz said. "To not have one would be anarchy."
"I'm not sure that word means what you think it means." Lysithea said.
"Anarchy is a rather vague term that could refer to any of several different political ideologies that believe in the abolishment of rulership." Ignatz interrupted. Lorenz and Lysithea looked at him and he shrunk under their glare. "You know, in case you're wondering." He added.
Lysithea sighed. "Well, this has been a waste of time."
She headed for the closed door and attempted to turn the handle. It didn't budge. Figuring it was just stuck, as sometimes happened to door handles, she attempted to turn it again. It still didn't budge. She grit her teeth and turned again. Still nothing.
"You okay, Lysithea?" Raphael asked.
"Door's stuck." She replied.
Raphael stood up and flexed his muscles. "Let me handle this."
Lysithea stepped out of the way as the muscle bound Golden Deer strode over to the door and grabbed the handle firmly. He gave it a good turn and… nothing. Absolutely nothing.
"Huh." Raphael said. "That's odd. Usually that works."
"Let me get one more look at it." Lysithea said, approaching the door again. She knelt down, held her hand up too it, and closed her eyes, concentrating. She waved her hand across the door and opened her eyes again.
"We've been sealed in by magic." She said as she stood up. She sounded definitive.
"What?" Leonie asked. "How did that happen?"
"I apologize." Marianne piped up. "This might be my fault. I got bored and started practicing some magic."
Lysithea shook her head. "No, this doesn't feel like your magic at all."
"If it wasn't Mari, then who did this?" Leonie asked. She immediately answered her own question by throwing a glare Lorenz's way. "Lorenz..?"
Lorenz slammed the desk. "I would never do something like this." He placed a hand on his chest. "I swear on my honor as the eldest son of House Gloucester."
That was a good enough answer for everyone in the room. In fact, it was an even better confirmation than Lysithea's magic analysis. Annoying as he tended to be, Lorenz took vows like that very seriously.
"So if it wasn't Marianne and it wasn't Lorenz, than who was it?" Raphael asked.
Lysithea reexamined the door. She closed her eyes and focused. After a few seconds she opened them again.
"You're not going to believe this." She said. "But this spell is Annette's."
"Are you sure?" Leonie asked,
Lysithea put her hands on her hips. "I have put more hours into studying magic than mages twice my age. Of course I'm sure."
Leonie held her hands up. "Okay, okay. I believe you. It's just… Annette? Of all people?"
"I know it sounds crazy but it's true." Lysithea replied. "Regardless, it doesn't really matter who set it up. What matters is that I can break the spell."
"Then do it already." Leonie said.
"Okay, okay." Lysithea said. "Just give me a second."
Lysithea turned once more to the door. She stood up straight, not exactly the most impressive sight considering her short stature but nobody told her that. She raised her hands, Palma forward, and circles of purple and white runes appeared at the end of them. At the same time, circles of blue runes appeared on the door. Suddenly, Lysithea's eyes widened.
"Oh schist." She said bluntly before being launched backwards by a blast of blue magic.
"I've got you!" Raphael said, catching her before she could fly too far.
"Are you okay?" Ignatz and Marianne asked at the same time.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Lysithea replied, extracting herself from Raphael's grasp. She rubbed her head. "I'm gonna have a bit of a headache for the rest of the day but I'm fine."
"What happened?" Leonie asked.
"Magic failsafe." Lysithea explained. "Meant to prevent others from breaking a spell. Me and Annette actually worked on one together but nothing this strong. Guess she upgraded it."
"Can you crack it?" Leonie asked.
"Yeah, but it'll take longer than normal." Lysithea said. "Best case scenario it'll only take a few hours."
"And worst case scenario?" Leonie asked.
"Three days." Lysithea replied bluntly.
"Oh come on!" Leonie shouted, placing her hand on her forehead.
"Don't worry, Leonie. Lysithea can do it." Raphael said reassuringly.
Lorenz marched over from behind the desk to stand with the rest of the group.
"Raphael is right." He said definitively. "Everything shall be fine. Especially with me assisting."
"You?" Leonie asked incredulously.
"Do you forget that I am an accomplished mage in my own right." Lorenz said, offended. He made a ring of meaningless lavender runes in the air as a demonstration, which then dissipated. "Maybe not as good as Lysithea but I am still competent." Everyone stared at him in mild disbelief. "What? Even I can acknowledge when I'm hopelessly outclassed. Now, are we breaking this spell or not?"
Lysithea and Lorenz set to work breaking the spell. Though there was a lot of bickering they managed to avoid killing each other long enough to actually do their job. With their efforts combined they managed to cut down the cracking time to only one hour.
"Open sesame!" Lorenz said upon completion of the cracking. He spread his arms wide and added a bit more magic to open the door without touching it.
"Huh." Lysithea said. "Guess you're more useful than you look
"That's right, I am." Lorenz said proudly. There was a beat and he realized what Lysithea had said. "Hey!" he protested.
"Now, I'm off to find Annette and see what happened." Lysithea said, beginning to walk off.
"Yeah, I've also got somewhere to be." Leonie said, also walking away. "Got some training to do."
"I need to go feed the horses." Marianne added.
"And I heard they're cooking a brand new dish at the Dining Hall and need someone to test it out." Raphael said. "You coming too, Ignatz?"
"Um… yes, I don't see why not." Ignatz replied.
"Wait, what about me?" Lorenz asked, reaching out ineffectually. "What about my plans for the Golden Deer House?"
Lysithea sighed. "Face it, Lorenz!" She called from far away. "It's never going to happen!"
Behold! More bullshit Magic rules that have never come up before! I already told you this all runs on Rule of Cool, didn't I?
You know, now that I think about it, how did Ignatz find out about Anarchism? Seems like the kind of thing the Church would keep a lock on. Can't have people questioning their authority and considering anti-rulership ideals now, can we?
Yeah, this was a weird support. It kind of got out of hand and I don't know how we got here. On the bright side, at least the What Ifs were neat, right? Until next time. Poyo.
(God I really hope this isn't the first one someone reads)