"Ripples cause ripples."

-Morfian saying, origin unknown

TEN YEARS FROM NOW

1173 b.i.c
Chimera Legion Camp
Somewhere south of Derdriu

Byleth Sitri Eisner had fucked up.

Admittedly, at the age of sixteen, that wasn't surprising. Sixteen year olds fuck up all the time. It was practically an integral part of being sixteen. She should know, she'd spent a considerable amount of time teaching them.

But it was a rare thing that she had to admit to herself that she'd fucked up. She supposed that was why Sothis had called this idea 'Plan Desperation'.
It had been a risk, and a huge one. She had never used 'Sothis' Gift' to such a degree as she had when she had implemented this. But after countless uses and countless attempts to save all of her students, and countless failures to do so, she was willing to try anything. And she'd tried almost everything.

Being Professor to each of the Three Houses. Being Professor to the Ashen Wolves. Declining Rhea's offer and helping an Almyran Prince invade Fódlan to force her students to work together. Joining the Agarthans and screwing them over from within. Kidnapping Edelgard, Dimitri and Claude and trying to force a peace. All the assorted bullshit that sparing Shez had brought with that Arval character. And the less said about the time she took the harem route, the better.
Lifetime after lifetime. Failure after failure after failure. Oh sure, she'd beaten the Agarthans down more times than she could recall, and seen Fódlan into a bright new future. But that had inevitably been at the cost of the lives of her cherished students. Anything less than perfection, anything less than saving them all was a failure.

So she had resorted to what her ever present and snarky companion had proclaimed 'Plan Desperation'. She'd put it off for some time now, decades probably, not wanting to rock the boat too much. But after her last life, watching that fucking bastard Solon rip out Flayn's heart to fuel a Zaharas spell than wiped out the entire Monastery with everyone inside it, both she and Sothis decided that there was no other option.

It had been a pain, once again being little more than a tiny, defenseless meat turnip that just ate, shat, cried and napped (again). Being a baby really lasted too long in her now learned opinion. She had been relieved when she had been able to walk, and was beginning to feel like herself again when she got her hands on her beloved blue sheathed dagger. It might never have been given a big, fancy name, but alongside Sothis, the small blade had been with her since the beginning and been with her at every ending. It was as much a part of her as Sothis was. Now all that was missing was her signature dark armor, and she'd be the Ashen Demon again.

But that was a few years off. So in the meantime, she had resolved to actually live her life for once. Something Sothis, ever her present companion, approved of. Her presence was a comfort, like always being wrapped up in a hug. She wasn't alone this time.

And aside from a penchant for using foul language a little more than she usually did, she was much the same as she ever was. It hurt, having to learn how to show emotion again, but she had thankfully soon gotten a hang of it. She had never had an issue feeling emotion, even before Sothis had first awakened within her all those lifetimes ago, but showing it had been another matter. She was glad that issue was no longer a problem.
It had let her actually have a more normal relationship with her Father. She'd actually cried when that particular realization had sunk in, actually completely broke down into tears, right in her Father's tent. After that, she had thrown herself into actually befriending her Dad's company. She learned their likes and dislikes, favorite and least favorite foods, their personal quirks…and how to cheat at cards.

(Dad hadn't been happy about that last one. But it was..nice, to use her emotionless face for fun, instead of scaring the living crap out of her enemies on the battlefield.)

But she'd always made time for her Dad. Whether it be fishing or riding or just the simple act of eating together. She had lost him more times than she could remember. She'd be damned if she would waste a chance to actually be like a real family. (She and Sothis had no other plan left, so this might well be the last chance she had for that.)

All in all, she had come to enjoy growing up in the strange, eclectic community. Sure, it was a strange, eclectic community that traveled Fódlan killing people for money, but it was her strange, eclectic community that traveled Fódlan killing people for money.

It even had a real name this time around, beyond just being known as 'Jeralt's Mercenaries', they were the Chimera Legion.
It had proven to be a popular idea, as it had given her fellow Mercs a sense of identity. They weren't just mercenaries anymore, but Legionnaires. It gave them a sense of pride that they'd always lacked before. They'd taken in members from all over Fódlan and beyond, even taking in the remains of other mercenary companies that had collapsed against them.

However, all of the changes had been relatively minor thus far. She hadn't yet tried to change history too much just yet. She hadn't started to try and improve her student's childhoods. She hadn't even started to 'remove' certain people from play, even if part of her honestly wanted to.

And until now, nothing had happened to suggest that history had been changed by anyone else. If she was being frank, she hadn't even believed it possible. She was the only one that Sothis' Gift was meant to effect. And that was both terrifying, and exciting in equal measure.

And staring at the man before her now, a man that absolutely should not under any circumstances whatsoever be here right now, Byleth began to realize what the consequences of such a reversal of time actually were. His armor was clearly cobbled together from multiple different sets, and he lacked his prominent scar he usually sported during their encounters, but there was no mistaking the disowned eldest son of House Gautier.

"I'm Miklan." He introduced himself with an almost cheerful grin, and extended a hand. "Miklan Belmont. It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Eisner. I've heard quite a lot about you."

Yep. She thought to herself, even as she moved to shake the man's hand. I definitely fucked up this time.

"..Likewise, I'm sure."