Fire Emblem Three Houses: Five Years War

I don't own Fire Emblem Three Houses, or any of its characters. This will be a series of one-shots concerning the five years timeskip that occurs right as the war starts. It will contain spoilers for the Azure Moon storyline, and the supports of some characters.

I will treat everyone from the Black Eagles as being recruited by either the Golden Deer or the Blue Lion house, except Hubert who's impossible to recruit. I will attempt to put the shipping to the side as much as possible, but here's what you can expect: Dimitri/F!Byleth, Claude/Hilda, Ferdinand/Dorothea, Petra/Linhardt, Caspar/Bernadetta, Felix/Annette, Dedue/Flayn, Lorenz/Leonie, Sylvain/Ingrid, Lysithea/Cyril, Catherine/Seteth. It will also contain the Ashen Wolves, who will get a dedicated chapter.

I might operate some minor design changes for some of the characters who don't have any post timeskip designs (Catherine, Shamir, Seteth and Flayn for example).

If you absolutely, positively, need to know what I think of the characters, here's a tier list: /list/fire-emblem/fire-emblem-three-houses-characters-timeskip-spoilers-159689/820987

That said, I hope you enjoy your read.

Chapter 16: Dimitri "Eternal Bonds" Pegasus Moon (February) Imperial Year 1184

It made a dark kind of sense, Dimitri decided. She had been avoiding him, dismissing him whenever he'd tried to talk to the wretch he had called his sister. She'd shown up in Faerghus to gauge him up. Though he had to admit her acting would have to be quite competent, but she had proved it quite thoroughly throughout last year, with all the death-traps she sent their way.

"Dimitri?"

There she was. The one being that had somehow managed to keep them away up until now, despite the fires in Remire or the students being turned into Demonic Beasts right before Captain Jeralt's murder. Dimitri slowly turned his head to Byleth. "How may I help you, professor?" he asked in a growl.

Byleth was visibly taken aback by his tone. "Would you mind if we walked?" she asked, her worried voice sounding out of place for the stoic mercenary he'd once known her to be. Dimitri didn't mind moving out of the cathedral anyway, he was growing tired of Seteth's inquisitive stares.

She sat on the stairs, and Dimitri followed her example, sitting under the stars, unperturbed by the Knights of Seiros scrambling around them, setting up defences even this far back into the monastery.

They sat there, Dimitri taking in the comfortable silence between the two, until…

"Please, don't act rashly… whenever Edelgard arrives with her army..." she had started extending her hand towards his own, though he refused to mirror the gesture… "Good, you need to remain focused." His father said close to his ear. "No need to get yourself dragged down by a woman who doesn't understand our plight." Glenn sneered at him, sat down two steps lower on the stairs in front of them.

"If by this, you order me not to take any decisive action should the occasion arise, I am afraid you are sorely mistaken, professor. I am ready to die if killing that beast is the last thing I do. The dead will have their due." Dimitri punctuated his last phrase with venom, making it very clear to his family he would prefer to have this moment to himself.

Lambert sighed and, seemingly satisfied with his answer, flew into the night sky as Glenn rose to his feet and went inside the cathedral. "Of course, I will not ask you to stand back, Dimitri." Byleth said. "Just, be careful, promise me that at least..."

She looked profoundly sad, at which Dimitri couldn't help himself but feel slightly sorry. "I can do that at least-"

The stairs started crumbling under Byleth, falling into the chasm below. Panic gripped Dimitri's mind as his beloved professor held to the side of the newly formed cliff for dear life. "Byleth, hold on to my hand!" he yelled as she shifted her grip to his arms. Despite the supernatural strength that graced the Blaiddyd bloodline, he wasn't able to pull her back up.

Glenn appeared right beside him. "Glenn! Help me! Please!" Dimitri yelled at his friend, who smiled "Fine."

Next thing Dimitri saw was his right arm coming clean off as Byleth fell into the chasm below, as Glenn sheathed his sword back into its scabbard.

"You were getting sidetracked anyway."

Dimitri woke up, his vision unfocused at first, before he realised he had fallen asleep in between interrogations. The weeping gagged Imperial commander in front of him had grabbed a knife off the floor and had started cutting his ties. Damn him for not allowing Dimitri his necessary sleep. Highly irritated, he threw the chair the officer was tied to to the ground. He thought back to the surrounding area.

Garreg Mach was an abandoned area, that was for sure. Except for the thieves, whom he would deal with later, no souls inhabited Garreg Mach for what he knew. Small imperial outposts were created around a year after its fall, against which Dimitri had taken drastic measures. He started by heading towards the east from the north, where she fell, then turned around the Oghma mountains around the south.

Another month, another one of these outposts being destroyed. He would not let anyone disturb her place of rest, no matter how much they begged or how young they could be. If they were willing to serve this beast, then they were nothing but as good as dead.

Dimitri crushed the skull of the weeping leader, who surely was just another one of these noble brats who thought Garreg Mach would be a good place to spend this war, while more competent men like Count Bergliez were leading their men to their death. The fallen prince's armour was relatively clean of blood, with only a little streak of blood rolling from under his black plate. The royal cape was not as bright as when he had stolen it when he fled the palace, now taking a light layer of red over the majestic blue.

A lucky stab must have hit, because pain stung at his right shoulder. It was a fresh wound too, so Dimitri moved towards the cupboards, and found a vulnerary after opening all the drawers. He unbuckled his right shoulder section, exposing the scarred skin, soaked a tissue with the vulnerary and pressed it against the wound. The pain left after a little moment, so Dimitri put the shoulder plate back before heading out under the rainy forest. He could see a small Adrestrian village from afar, as he was standing on a small hill.

Dimitri walked on the small stony road, without caring if a patrol would come across him, he would just hide inside the forest or kill them, more simply. He walked up until another village, which was visibly hurt by the ongoing war, pieces of the protective wall turned into rubble by magic. People seemed to be fleeing by the road, and Dimitri wondered if he should just turn and head back to Garreg Mach for now, as he expected someone would eventually recognize him.

He heard a screamed complaint, which made him jump towards the forest. From there, he headed towards where he heard the noise come from, and stumbled on an imperial patrol seemingly mocking a little girl. The little girl herself was carrying a silver longsword across her back, which seemed to be the object the five soldiers' mockery. One of the soldiers tried unsheathing the sword from the girl's back, but the little girl stabbed his knee with a small silver dagger.

Dimitri heard the soldier curse as his comrades began kicking the little girl down, getting battered by the armoured knees. Before their leader could unsheathe his sword, Dimitri impaled him through the chest with his iron spear. The other soldiers readied their lances, and attacked the one-eyed prince, the first two stabbing at his chest, which Dimitri evaded simply by rolling to his right, landing next to the little girl.

"Are you alright?" Dimitri didn't recognize his own raspy voice. He hadn't spoken for a long time, but the little girl nodded. The prince didn't know if she was scared by the enemies or by his appearance, but it didn't matter for now. Two of the soldiers attacked him with their axes, which Dimitri simply evaded while carrying the little girl by the collar as he kept her from harm's way. Dimitri dropped his spear and grabbed two daggers he threw at the soldiers. One hit the left soldier's throat, though the other missed.

Dimitri cursed his lack of rest. He wouldn't have missed the other soldier's eye if he had slept correctly in the past week. He grabbed back his spear before cutting the head off of a sword-wielding soldier that was getting too close for Dimitri's comfort. A sharp pain stung suddenly in his right shoulder. Wasn't the wound healed yet? That made him drop the spear again and kneel, as he heard the muffled plead from the little girl to get up.

He roared as he punched another one of the soldiers in the face, shattering his skull, before collapsing under the weight of his own armour and exhaustion. The soldiers hurried to his side, insulting him while kicking him in the ribs, while Dimitri's conscience was slowly fading away, thinking it was a fitting end for the monster he had become.

"Hiyah!"

Before he could register the new voice, the screams of the two last soldiers reached his ears and the ground under Dimitri cracked. The girl at Dimitri's side called for the man, before Dimitri felt his hand being grabbed, as he felt his body being stood up. He almost immediately collapsed again, resting on his knees before losing consciousness.

Dimitri woke up again to the sight of flying fireballs streaking across the dark clouds. Something felt odd, until Dimitri realized he had his right eye back. "Are you alright, Dimitri?" He recognized that voice, he had heard it in so many dreams before… "Byleth?"

"Are you hurt, Dimitri?" Byleth insisted. The prince simply stood up "What is happening, right now?" The professor looked confused "Claude is offering us cover for our offensive on Fort Merceus. Come now, let's end this war!" She offered a hand, while Glenn smirked down at him, as though he was mocking him. Dimitri grabbed Byleth's hand and stood up, while watching Glenn's ghost in the corner of his eyes. He wasn't in his dirty black armour anymore, but was wearing the one his father wore for his conquest of Sreng, and he was wielding Areadbhar, the blade glowing in his gloved hands.

Dimitri couldn't believe his eyes when he saw a giant white dragon blowing a hole in the impregnable fortress, but followed Byleth anyway as they both charged into the breach, followed by the many soldiers of the Kingdom and Alliance.

An assassin attacked Dimitri in his blind spot, but was stopped by Dedue's shield. The Duscurian quickly disposed of the assassin with a swift strike of his axe, before nodding to his liege. Dimitri simply smiled and thanked him, as Sylvain rode past him, Felix cutting an enemy mortal savant down, and Ingrid flying past them to take care of the ballistas.

Dimitri could see his goal. Edelgard was standing with Hubert at the centre of the fortified position, but before Dimitri could feel the bloodlust reaching his mind, Byleth held his hand, chasing the maddening grasp away. She gave him a knowing look, which brought peace to his mind almost immediately.

He saw Ferdinand getting bested by the Emperor as he was thrown off his horse. Mercedes immediately rushed to heal him, as the young Prince ran towards his fated enemy. In the corner of his eyes, he could see his ghostly father scowling at him from a watchtower, completely ignored by the enemy soldiers runningpast him to help their Emperor.

Hubert made a gesture to stop Dimitri's advance, but fell on the ground, pierced by the multiple arrows loosed by Claude's Failnaught. Edelgard raised Aymr, then stroke towards Dimitri's head. Byleth swiftly blocked the blow, Edelgard's face twisting into a betrayed mask, before Dimitri impaled her with Areadbhar. Pleasure ran through his veins, as he felt the blood of the Beast on his gauntlets, not even Byleth's touch managing to pull him back from the frenzy.

The Beast smiled back at him, mocking him "You think you have won..." Dimitri's ghostly mother stood before them "… but you are only mocking us." The bloodlust was immediately drained out of the prince's body.

The Immaculate One flew past them, immobile in its graceful downfall, then the young prince heard a scream. He turned to his right, only to see Ingrid getting ripped to shreds by an unnatural force, as Sylvain cried out for her name. The red-head then stopped yelling as a hole appeared in his chest from nowhere.

Felix yelled "No!" in anguish, something Dimitri hadn't heard in a long time, as Sylvain and Ingrid's corpses hit the ground, soon followed by Rodrigue, pulverized by some kind of dark magic, as Felix spat out his own blood, seemingly poisoned by thin air. Dimitri heard someone fall by his side, and saw Claude, but…

The Leicester Alliance Leader panted "What is happening, why is... everything... so... dark?" Claude had his eyeballs crushed in their sockets, his face all bloody, before he collapsed on the floor, dead. Dimitri heard another anguished yell, as Seteth wept over the top half of Flayn's body, before being impaled by invisible spears. Byleth watched, powerless and horrified in front of this twisted scene.

"Y- your majesty..." Dimitri headed towards Dedue, who had part of his chest cleaved off. "No, please, Dedue, don't die!" But it was too late, as Dedue released his last breath. While Dimitri could see Gustave'scold body, Annette's was nowhere to be found. Byleth headed towards Mercedes, who was becoming increasingly pale, over Ashe's missing arms. The young prince could hear her saying to her professor "I couldn't save any one of them. Why couldn't… I?" She became so pale, her veins became darker, and her eyes started tearing up with blood. Byleth held Mercedes in her arms, as her skin turned grey. Slowly but surely, everyone on the battlefield was dying, one by one. All of his comrades fell to some kind of infernal punishment that was imposed on them.

"Dimitri?"

The young prince turned his head towards Byleth, as she dropped the Sword of the Creator to the ground, shining in a godly light. "No. No no no..." Dimitri mumbled, grabbing Byleth as she collapsed to the ground. She was shining in a bright light, nearly blinding Dimitri, before this light died down, and Byleth dropped dead in Dimitri's arms. The Sword of the Creator lost its light too, as the ghosts surrounded Dimitri, looking down at him. "You are pathetic..." Glenn said. "… you think you can take refuge in sweet illusions..." Patricia continued "… while we suffer still?!"Lambert finished, anger fuelling his voice.

"Why are you doing this to me… These corpses I pile up for you, they are only serving this one goal… Why do you have to torment me even in my sleep?!" Dimitri cried out to them. "Because while you are being overly cautious, we suffer from your inaction." His father scowled at him. "Or maybe you really are unwilling to chase the beast?"

Dimitri opened his eye, going back into reality. "Ah, you're awake?" A gruff voice reached Dimitri's ears, the same voice that he heard before falling unconscious. The older man was bringing some stew to the side of his bed. The fallen prince stood up in his bed, taking off the towel that was on his forehead.

"You've had quite the fever for the whole week you've spent slumped on the bed." The man wore plain farmer's clothes while having grey hair and beard. Under these simple clothes, Dimitri could see the rather sharp muscles hiding under the humble look of a typical farmer. "Why did you help me?" Dimitri asked between his teeth.

"First of all," the farmer poured water in a glass "you are Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, the son of the liege I was sworn to. I was in obligation to help you." Dimitri froze at the mention of his name, making him go into a defensive stance immediately.

"Secondly, you helped my daughter from Imperial dogs. And for that I cannot be more grateful." The farmer finished. Dimitri snarled "If you were indeed a sworn knight to my father, what are you doing in Imperial territory?"

The farmer sighed "Cornelia has been hunting for former Kingdom knights over the last four years. I couldn't reach the Gautier, Fraldarius, Galatea or Charon territories from where I lived, so I decided it would be safer to leave for the Empire where manhunts for Kingdom knights aren't as frequent. Ever since the destruction of House Geraint, I haven't had any real safe place to stay at in the Dukedom."

Dimitri sat on the side of his bed, only wearing his black pants "What has happened to you, your highness? Last I heard of you, Cornelia had announced your private execution, yet here I find you, four years later, killing Imperial soldiers, missing an eye, and in desperate need of rest." He could read the former knight's worry in his wrinkled eyes. "It's none of your business. Now, give me a good reason as to not kill you right where you stand. You abandoned your country when it needed you most, and you could tell of my whereabouts were you pressured." Dimitri stood up from the bed, towering over the old knight, glaring down at him menacingly.

"Because that wouldn't be like you, your highness." The fallen prince scoffed at the comment. How innocent. How completely unlike the man he had become. "You are fooling yourself if you think that innocent boy lives still. I took pleasure in taking these soldiers' lives. They deserved it for serving that beast." In the corner of his eye, Dimitri could see his step-mother nodding approvingly, the first piece of positive reinforcement he's had since the last four years.

"Yet, you came to my daughter's help. I wouldn't have been fast enough to save her if it weren't for you." The old knight retorted. Dimitri this time didn't have anything to say for himself. He reacted by reflex to the scream. It didn't matter whatever nationality the girl was. What had mattered in the moment was that she was in danger. This had sprung him to action.

"You're weak." Glenn said from across the room, reading his heart like a book. Dimitri did his best to ignore him, his gaze unsteady, which the old knight took as a sign of uncertainty. "I'll leave the stew right there, your highn-"

"Stop calling me that. I'm nothing more than a wild animal on the run." Dimitri cut the old knight off. "Right, er, Dimitri. I'll leave the stew on your bed table. If you need anything, come down, my daughter will be there to help. I would advise to rest a little bit more." The knight closed the door behind him, leaving Dimitri alone with the ghosts.

"To be saved by a deserter, how pathetic do you have to get, my failure of a son?" Lambert seethed, his voice full of venom. "I know, if only you would let me eat in peace, then I could actually get closer to our goals." He sniffed at the stew. Tomatoes, potatoes and pig. It would do.

He gulped the meal pretty quickly, seeing as his taste buds weren't working as usual, no use in trying to savour the food. The quicker he was done with this stew, the faster he would get back to his hunt. He saw his armour seating on a chair, cleansed up and ready to be put back on. And Dimitri did just that, buckling the multiple plates into place. His silver lance had also been cleaned of all the chips and rust from its blade, and so the fallen prince took it off the wall and left the small room. As he climbed down the stairs, he saw the old man stand up from his chair "Are you- You shouldn't be leaving so soon." he said, his voice laced with worry.

"He's just saying that to hold you in here… he's going to sell you out to the Imperials!" His stepmother said. Glenn scoffed "Better to tie up the loose ends, you might as well kill them both. You're going to get yourself found out if you leave any witnesses..."

Dimitri shook his head, making his answer clear to his family. Someone grabbed his hand, which made him jump and immediately direct his lance where the unexpected contact had originated from. He then saw the little girl looking at him, scarred, but grabbing his hand nonetheless. "Thank you, mister prince."

"She knows who you are, KILL THEM BOTH!" Lambert yelled in his son's ear.

"These imperial soldiers were bullying daddy, so thank you." The young girl said, before giving him a small dagger. Dimitri pushed back any kind of thoughts or memories such item would bring him.

"Please think about your own safety..." His mother pleaded.

The fallen Prince put the dagger on his belt, a supplementary weapon would never hurt. "You know, I could lend you my bed for the next few days..." The veteran started.

"If you don't kill them, you might as well drive the Emperor's blade into your own throat." Glenn sneered. "Kill them now." Lambert commanded.

"No!" Dimitri yelled. This startled both of his hosts and made his family extremely displeased "Retribution cannot wait any longer." He scowled. At least now everyone was left silent. Lambert and Glenn were fuming while Patricia was scowling disapprovingly. He walked towards the door, his steps determined, and slammed the door behind him.

25th Ethereal Moon of the Imperial Year 1185:

This day had gone in a blur, the blood of Imperial soldiers staining the freshly fallen snow. They had rudely woken him up from his hideout in the Goddess' Tower and had paid the price of their invasion with their lives. He would never allow any beasts to sully her place of rest.

He was finally done with painting the Main Hall (why was it clean anyway? It had been five years anybody had come here) with the Imperial soldiers' blood, as all those hounds were dead on the floor, their bodies torn to shreds. Dimitri grabbed the cape of the commander leading this squad, and cleaned the blood off his Silver Lance. The fallen Prince then headed to the Goddess' Tower, stomping on the accumulated snow.

This landscape gave him a tinge of nostalgia. This kind of weather was similar to what they would experience in Northern Faerghus. The weather had generally gotten worst over the last five years, a fact Dimitri thought was correlated to the witch's declaration of war.

The sun was settling down on this empty Millennium Festival. Where there should've been laughter and cheers, only a dead silence and Imperial rats had been there instead. His already dour mood turned even more sour at the reminder of what this Witch had caused to Fodlàn.

Dimitri climbed back the stairs into the highest floor of the Goddess' Tower, hopeful lacing his nightmares with a few good memories. He would leave the ruins of Garreg Mach right after, and head straight to Enbarr where he would knock her head off her shoulders.

All was blurry as he climbed the stairs, as he suddenly found himself pulling Byleth's hand. They made small talk once they reached the top floor of the Tower, until they had that fateful conversation…

"That's how I feel about her." Dimitri had finished his tirade on how the Goddess viewed mortals, which left Byleth pensive "I don't think the Goddess would be that uncaring… I also don't think you should let Lady Rhea hear you say that." She added with a smile -"absolutely mesmerizing" Dimitri thought to himself.

The young Prince chuckled "I always forget that you are higher in the ranks of the Church then most of the Knights of Seiros due to how casually you talk to us." Byleth chuckled in turn "It shouldn't surprise if you know who's currently in charge of the Knights."

She had a point. Jeralt was known for being quite frank and easy to resort to rough vocabulary for almost any situations he found himself in. "In any case... I suppose there's no harm in passing the time with silly legends. What do you say, Professor? Care to make a wish? We are here on the night of the ball. Why don't you try wishing for something?"

Byleth shrugged, her face returning to her usual blank expression -"a shame, really" Dimitri thought- "I can't really think of anything, so after you."

He had expected the professor to give him an idea, but it seemed they were both out of them, so Dimitri just said whatever came to him "A wish of my own... I suppose my wish...is for a world in which no one would ever be unjustly taken from us. Or...something along those lines." he blurted out.

Byleth smiled at him "That's a great wish."

This smile, the same he found mesmerizing the first time and all the times afterwards, was what had convinced the foolish prince to blurt what was on his heart for the later part of the school year. "Thank you, Professor. Although, at a time like this... Perhaps it would make more sense for me to wish that we'll be together forever. What do you think?"

Byleth stumbled back a bit, her face completely crimson. This had made Dimitri feel like his heart would explode at a moment's notice five years ago, but this time…

"What I said back when the year started still stands, I would like to take you to see Fhirdiad myself, actually..." Dimitri could feel his cheeks getting crimson as heat built in them.

Byleth blinked multiple times "Well, I would have to consult Jeralt and Lady Rhea, but I don't see what they would have against it..." she smiled, which felt blinding to Dimitri. And so they stood there, before the stone window, watching the starry sky, hand in hand-

This perfect dream was broken by the loud clank of heels on stairs, the fallen prince not even opening his eye to see who was going about. By the lack of yelling, it couldn't be another batch of Imperial soldiers. When the noisy heels stopped halfway across the room, Dimitri lifted his head up to see who-

It was her, as pristine and beautiful as the day he last saw her, right before he lost everything.

It couldn't be.

He had seen her fall to her death. So when she came to him and extended her hand to help him up, he came to a natural conclusion. "I should've known… that one day… you would haunt me as well..."

So… Elephant in the room first. It has been quite a long time since I've updated this story… or anything really. To make a really long story short, I had a false good idea of making a crossover to another Fire Emblem game by having Dimitri meet one of the other lords of the series. Which would've been totally pointless and too fanservice-y to my liking, and that tanked my writing process.

So, no promises this time about any kind of schedule, just that I have planned the rest of the series. I have already written the prototype final chapter/epilogue in case things turn sour and my motivation leaves me entirely, so I can leave you all a decent conclusion to this story. If I manage to get there, this story will present some canon-divergence from Azure Moon, and land it squarely into Verdant Wind/Silver Snow.

Please leave a review to tell me how you felt about the chapter and where I could make this story better, seeing as I wish to expand it to AO3. It will be slightly different there to accommodate to Three Hopes and also some slight changes in writing and expanded chapters near the beginning (I've realized the Ferdinand chapter is way too short and I will revamp the Rhea, Leonie and Hubert (and Edelgard's mini-chapter) chapters)

Next Chapter: The Fodlàn that was

PS: Three Hopes' storylines suck ass and its gameplay is extremely repetitive and tedious if you're not playing in Maddening (and even then it's still tedious). Ta ta!