Rhea's Chamber

"Ahh, you're all here. Come in, come in," said Rhea as Robin, Corrin, and Byleth all stepped into the archbishop's chamber. The day had finally come and the three would-be teachers were set to choose their houses. Rhea looked at all three of them and gestured for Seteth to join her. "Today, you three are to choose the houses you will represent in the coming year here at the Officer's Academy. Now, Seteth, would you please read off the houses?" Seteth unfurled a scroll in his hands, reading off the details of the houses to the trio.

"First... The Blue Lions. Hailing from the Kingdom of Fearghus; the students of this house all excel in the military arts. As you all know the house leader is Prince Dimitri, next in line to be the king. Now who will lay claim to the Blue Lions?"

"I'll take the Lions," Robin said calmly as he raised his hand. "I've had some time to get to know a few of them. Let's just say I've trained soldiers like them before." Rhea and Seteth both nodded as the latter handed Robin a sealed scroll with the Lions' symbol on it. As Robin accepted the scroll, Seteth turned back to Corrin and Byleth to announce the next house.

"Next we have the Golden Deer. Hailing from the Leicester Alliance, there students are skilled in archery as well as... other skills." Seteth grimaced as he remembered an unfortunate prank where Claude had placed stomach poisoning in his morning tea. With a smile, Corrin stepped forward.

"I'll take the Golden Deer. I may not look it, but I'm quite skilled at working with a lot of different personalities. I think I'll manage with them." Corrin accepted the scroll and stepped back in line. Finally, the Archbishop turned her attention to Byleth.

"It seems you'll be tasked with leading the Black Eagle house. It's funny you know..." Rhea giggled to herself as if someone had just told her an old joke. "Your father may not have told you, but he was especially close with the Eagles during his tenure here. It seems destiny has a good sense of humor." Rhea took the red scroll from Seteth and handed it to the blue-haired youth. Byleth cocked his head as he opened the scroll.

"Frankly I've never believed in destiny or anything of the like. I prefer to carve my own path." As he said this, Rhea only continued to smile.

"If that is the case, then you truly are the son of Jeralt. That's something I'd expect him to say." Turning her attention back to the group, Rhea addressed everyone. "Now that you have been assigned your houses, I expect you all to act as representatives of Garreg Mach Monastery. First and foremost, your students are your top priority. You are responsible for making sure no harm comes to any of them. They are the future of this continent after all."

"You'll need to have your first lesson plans submitted by the end of this week." Seteth continued. "At the end of this month, there is to be a mock battle between the three houses. This will not only be an assessment of the students, but it will also be the first assessment of your skills as professors. Do not disappoint the Archbishop. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir!" Robin, Corrin, and Byleth said in unison.

"Very good. With that, you are free to go about your business for the day. If anything, it would be a good idea to call a meeting of your houses and make formal introductions." The trio nodded and were about to leave when Seteth called out to them again. "Before I forget, it seems as though Professor Hanneman wishes to see you three in his office. He says it's a matter of importance." Once again, the three nodded and departed.

"That went better than expected, Seteth", Rhea sighed as she sat down on the stone chair on the dias. "I have high hopes for our new three professors. What do you think?" Seteth however, was less than optimistic.

"What are you thinking, Rhea?! Are you going mad in your old age? You have put three strangers in charge of our houses. Jeralt's son I can tolerate, but those other two? You have no knowledge of their origins. Not to mention, I can sense something... dark coming from that Robin boy. As for the girl... she's not human, Rhea. Even you must know that much."

"Peace, Seteth." Rhea said with a wave of her hand. "My mind is as clear as ever. Trust me when I say I know what I'm doing."

Hanneman's Office

"As I was saying, Crests are power incarnate", Hanneman explained. Robin listened intently as the old professor explained the intricacies of how Crests worked. Hanneman hobbled around his office, leaning on a wooden cane to support his crippled leg. Meanwhile, Corrin only half paid attention as she studied the various drawings plastered on the walls of the room. Byleth leaned against a wall and tried to follow along. Truth be told, the mercenary was interested, but saw no reason why he needed to know this. Hanneman continued to explain how having a Crest set warriors apart from their contemporaries and enabled them to acquire powers beyond those of mortal men.

"In conclusion, that's why I've called all of you here." Hanneman prodded the floor with his cane in order to get the group's full attention. "I reviewed the reports from the battle in Remire Village and I've been keeping eyes on you ever since we arrived at Garreg Mach. I believe all three of you possess Crests of your own!"

"Really? You mean, you think we have some hero's blood in our veins?" Byleth asked sardonically as a grin crept onto his face. As his interest in the situation was rising, Robin and Corrin shied away from the professor. Almost subconsciously, Robin covered his left hand.

"In a manner of speaking, yes", Hanneman gestured to Corrin and Robin. "I'm especially excited to examine the two of you since you claim not to be from Fodlan. I can only imagine what new kinds of Crests the two of you could be hiding!"

"Actually... My father was nothing more than a clergyman." Robin said. "He always told me our lineage was nothing special. If anything, my only claim is that we were... very devout."

"Same with me!" Corrin quickly added. "I was adopted at an early age and was constantly assessed to see if I had any powers. All I have is this sword from my mother." Corrin held up the Yato, her personal sword, to show to Hanneman. Aside from it's unique design, Corrin had been unable to draw out the sword's power since arriving in Fodlan. At this point, it was little more than a fancy blade.

"Ahh... A shame then. Well if you two wish to leave then I can't stop you. Carry on." Byleth watched as Corrin and Robin quickly left the office. Turning back to Byleth, Hanneman smiled. "Well then, would you care to let me examine you for a crest?"

"Sure thing." Byleth said as he stepped forward. "So I just put my hand over this thing?" Byleth raised a hand over the Crest Analyzer which Hanneman had talked about during his initial lecture. Almost immediately, the analyzer began to glow a bright purple color. Hanneman's eyes widened in excitement as a symbol appeared in the air over Byleth's hand.

"Ahh! I-I've never seen this Crest before! I must make a record of it!" He turned to his desk and quickly began making notes and mumbling to himself while Byleth just stared blankly at him. With a sigh, Byleth turned to leave, Hanneman not even noticing his departure. As he stepped intoi the hallway, Byleth looked down at his hand.

"So I have a Crest. This'll be interesting."

Byleth's Room - Midnight

Byleth woke up in a cold sweat that night, breathing heavily. He'd been having that dream about the battle again. He saw two armies clashing on a massive field; among them, two commanders battling it out in single combat, both intent on slaying the other. What had made this dream different was that Byleth had taken on the perspective of one of the combatants, a grizzled man with a long whip sword. His opponent, a striking young woman with long emerald green hair had just stabbed him in the chest with a silver dagger, causing him to wake up.

"My, my... Having a bad dream are we?" A young girl's voice drifted through the room.

"Who's there?!" Byleth shouted as he fumbled around in the dark for his sword. His eyes widened when a young girl appeared in front of him. A girl that he'd seen before.

"Hello, Byleth. It's been awhile." The girl gave him a cheery wave as Byleth lowered his blade.

"You're..." He searched his mind for the name. "Sothis, right? You were the girl I saw before the battle in Remire Village."

"Yes I am." She smirked, satisfied that Byleth had remembered. "I'm also the one who saved your life in that battle. Do you recall stupidly throwing yourself on an axe to save a wayward girl? I had to turn back the hands of time to stop you from killing me! I didn't even know I had that power. That means you could have killed both of us."

"You turned back time?" Byleth asked, much to Sothis' annoyance. "That explains why I knew the leader was attacking Edelgard wasn't it? I HAD seen that before."

"Yes, you are REMARKABLY sharp for a human." The girl folded her arms as she looked Byleth over. "I know not why we are linked, yet it has something to do with that Crest on you... When the human prodded it awake, it too awoke me. Now it seems we are together now. Anyway... I'm getting tired. Since you are going to be throwing yourself into life-threatening situations from now on, I want to ensure that we'll both survive. When the need arises, you too may call upon my powers. Now..." Sothis yawned as her body began to fade. "I'm... so... sleepy..."

With that, Sothis faded from sight. For a few moments, Byleth searched the room for any sign of her, but found nothing. When his sense of curiosity was satisfied, he began to crawl back into bed. After several seconds of trying to relax his shot nerves, Byleth soon settled into a restless sleep.

Yay! Sothis is finally here! I know this chapter may feel a little skimpy on detail, but I wanted to cram all the heavy lore stuff into one chapter and get it over with. I had a lot more that I wanted to do here initially, but it's been a challenge to get myself to sit down and focus long enough to write. Plus, current events aren't exactly helping my motivation... Anyway, my real life issues aside, I hope you are all still enjoying this chapter and please consider dropping a review (Praise me, criticize me, or rip me a new one), all feedback really is appreciated! Is it tacky to ask for reviews? Who cares? I certainly don't!