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). Watch out, this chapter will greatly spoil the characters of Seteth and Flayn.
That said, I hope you enjoy your read.
Chapter 3: Seteth "Heirs to the Goddess" Around the Verdant Rain Moon (August) of year 1181
Even after all these years, it stung as if a chunk of his own body was taken away. He had lost all hope to see his mother ever again, although Seiros had always seemed eager to bring her back to life one way or another. He had heard all the way from Rhodos that she had tried to make up some way to resurrect the Goddess, but it failed, and the four apostles she had summoned for the Rite scattered into exile.
He swore himself to help Seiros as soon as Cethleann would be in a healthy state, but his daughter should have been dead, if it wasn't for her special constitution, she barely had any skin left when he found her barely hanging to life. He had wished to destroy everything in the vicinity, and destroy those filthy humans who would even hurt a child who only wished to help and heal others. But he could not bring himself to hate humans, he had fallen in love with one after all.
Cethleann had recovered, but it took almost a whole millennia for her to do so, and he had seen from the coast of Rhodos, his own personal haven, that Fodlàn's state had been deteriorating. The foundations of a peaceful and powerful Fodlàn had been shaken, only to leave it as an unequal system, based on the state on the small nobility, which had brought a little annoyance to him as he arrived at Garreg Mach along with Cethleann. Seiros, or Rhea as she was being called at the time, told him to not mind any of this, and out of respect for his sister, he did.
As Seiros, he took a new name, for him and for his "sister". They would now be called Seteth and Flayn. He could not stop Flayn from forming bonds with the students of the officer's academy, but at the time, he saw it as harmless. She had spent around 990 years sleeping after all. Shortly after, a total stranger had been worthy of the highest praises of Rhea, even taking the Sword of the Creator, although he hardly contained his anger as he saw a potential new Nemesis in this professor.
But that Byleth had proven to be quite trustworthy, and before he knew it, Flayn grew some attachment to the new professor. It was not hard to see why, though, as she had saved Flayn from people who figured out what she exactly was. He was feeling some sort of connection to the professor, although he couldn't say how, but Rhea revealed to him what he needed to know, just before the emperor's attack on Garreg Mach.
The students and the knights of Seiros had been ready to stand against the imperial tide, but it had not been enough. Despite the crown prince's efforts to kill Edelgard, the imperial army were simply too numerous. He only watched as Rhea, out of desperation, took her form of the Immaculate One to fight demonic beasts, all the while he cursed himself for not being able to help her in any shape or form.
But the real heartbreak came as Byleth fell off the cliff. It was Zanado all over again, his mother, unable to defend herself as trapped as she was inside someone else's body, was going to die. Again. That and the fact that he had grown a bond with Byleth. On top of that, he couldn't do anything to prevent Rhea, his dear sister, from being beaten unconscious.
And now, they were back at Rhodos again. Catherine had decided to head off towards the Alliance to look for Rhea when Dimitri had been announced dead, so they split up at the Gaspard territory, and Flayn and Seteth went to the seaside, to go and grab some of their old equipment.
They had been here recently along with the Blue Lions to rout some Western Church followers, but now it came to its peaceful state again, only the sound of the waves on the sand breaking the comfortable silence, as they both headed to the shrine, while riding his wyvern over the sea. But Seteth couldn't help but wonder if it was a good idea to join a war with humans once more.
"Let me help you down, Flayn." Seteth took Flayn's hand as she climbed down the wyvern, setting her feet on the warm sand. He could feel the familiar salty wind, and Flayn immediately went to feel the water surrounding the small island with their "shrine" at the centre. "I missed this place for the little time we weren't there." Flayn said in a relaxed tone.
It had been in the back of Seteth's mind that Flayn might have been overloaded with stress from what happened during the siege of Garreg Mach, so he figured this little stroll to Rhodos might calm her down. Maybe it wasn't that great of an idea to settle in Garreg Mach, it had only taken less than ten years for things to turn sour.
They went inside the shrine, leading to a small passage under the floor of the small chapel where their "tombs" were resting. The chapel was rather simple, with its altar from which he taught the lessons of the Goddess to those who were courageous enough to come there. He opened his own, even though it was sealed by stone, and pulled out his old lance, which hadn't rusted, but it was to be expected when it was Sothis who forged it as a gift for Flayn's birth, along with his old armour. But as he held it, a thought occurred to him.
He turned towards Flayn, who looked worried by his sombre expression. Nevertheless, she acted joyous as she asked "What is the matter, brother?" "Cethleann." This made her lose her smile instantly, as she knew her father was dead serious. "You want to prevent me from helping our friends, is it not?"
"I know it is selfish of me to even ask you to stay out of this, but please, Cethleann, consider what happened the last time a war happened with humans. Now, I don't even know where Macuil or Indech might be, and I don't want to know what happened to Seiros. I don't want to lose you too, not after you just got better." Seteth pleaded.
Flayn didn't answer in the manner of a child, but she did calmly, as she came to embrace her father. "Even if I knew what would happen back then, I would have help everyone anyway. Because back then I couldn't afford myself to abandon our companions, and I can't do this now. Everybody in the monastery was genuinely nice to me, and you are telling me I cannot pay them back?" "Sylvain was more likely only flirting with you..."
Flayn looked at Seteth with her serious eyes "I am being serious here, father, I have made my choice, I can only hope now that you help me in this endeavour I am going to throw myself into."
"I will always do, Cethleann, you know that." Flayn let go of Seteth, and they both headed towards the upper level of the shrine, after Flayn did one last prayer in front of her mother's tomb. They went outside, only to see a rather pale man appreciating the rays of the sun. Pale was a poor word to describe the man's skin, as it was almost white. He had a delicately cut black beard, going along his dark hair, and was wearing a set of armour Seteth recognized far too well the origin.
Seteth rose his spear, as the man looked at him unnaturally pleasantly for someone armed with several swords. "I can quite understand why you people appreciate the sunlight… It's only the second time in my entire life I can bathe in its magnificence. I didn't get quite as lucky as some of my comrades."
Seteth didn't wait for the stranger to finish his phrase as he dashed towards him, but three other pale soldiers appeared around the chapel, and another one put a knife under Flayn's throat. "If I were you, I would quietly follow us, otherwise..." The pale assassin taunted Seteth.
Seteth sighed, which clearly surprised the little troop "I'd recommend you let go of Flayn, now." The assassin laughed "And why should we do that, because you're going to free her, despite it being four on one?"
Seteth smirked "Oh please, she is completely capable of doing that by herself." And as the pale assassin was opening his mouth to ask what the hell he was talking about, he heard a scream behind Seteth, who took the opportunity to turn backwards and impale Flayn's captor's head through the eye. The arm that was holding the knife was completely bent backwards, and as he fell to the ground, the three soldiers dashed forward, and Flayn sent a blow towards one of the soldier's head with her staff, crushing his skull and sending grey matter on the immaculate sand, as Seteth caught the knife of the dead captor, sent it into a soldier's throat, and pierced the other one in the chest.
The leader seemed rather amused by the turnaround of the events, as he scoffed "Hmpf, I guess I have to defeat you by myself, then." He took a defensive stance, clearly wanting Seteth to attack and reveal a weakness. Seteth opted to taunt him into attacking instead "You? Defeat me? Laughable."
As Seteth predicted, the pale assassin unsheathed one of his swords, only to throw a knife towards Flayn's face, which Seteth intercepted with his left shoulder. But it left the time for Flayn to prepare a spell, that she sent against the assassin, who evaded it and stroke with the flat surface of his blade towards Seteth's head, only to be blocked by his spear. Seteth took advantage of the momentum to strike the assassin's chest, which connected.
He was sent flying on the sand, but the pale assassin only smiled and laughed as his blood was leaving his body, which had the power to disturb both of Seteth and Flayn. "Why are you laughing? You are dying, far of whoever you might have loved." Seteth scolded his assailant. "At the very least, I die in the light" he said before he released his last breath. Even in death, he was still smiling like a maniac.
"Here, father, let me heal you." Flayn said worriedly as she came by Seteth's side. It didn't take a long time for Seteth to heal, as the wound was only minor, and they both went to find the wyvern, which had its wings broken. Flayn healed the poor creature as Seteth put his old armour along with Flayn's priestess' gown on its back.
Then they both flew away from the small island, Flayn holding Seteth tightly, as the sun was starting to set. "Father?"
"Yes, Cethleann?" Flayn took a deep breath. "Thank you."
He was taken aback by her words, but he regained his composure. "What for?"
"For letting me choose." Really, though, Seteth was glad she had chosen to go and try to fix the situation, because he thought his heart would have shattered if he had decided to stay on Rhodos. This time, he would steel himself, even though the situation was desperate. If the Goddess had taught him something, it was that miracles could happen. So they both appreciated the moon rising in silence as they headed towards their next destination.
I might have thought that Seteth would have liked to shelter Flayn, as the last big fight they got themselves into really didn't go as planned, so I wanted to centre this chapter around that idea. Also, if you would like to see how I imagine them post timeskip, look at that wonderful fanart from u/ChrystalChameleon, link is here: r/fireemblem/comments/cs7png/seteth_and_flayn_timeskip_designs/
On a funny note, have you noticed how Those Who Slither In The Dark crave for sunlight? That makes me think that Thales sings Up There from the South Park movie everytimehe goes to bed, and I find it hilarious.
Next chapter: Back Home
But first, a little bonus!
Sothis "Despair of the Goddess"
I knew this would end up happening, you idiot. I knew that even if I had given you all of my power, to be a light in the darkness covering Fodlàn in these times, you would get yourself hurt. But rambling isn't going to stop you from falling, is it? I can feel panic slowly grasping your silent heart, as you are barely holding yourself steady from the falling cliff. It's as if time has slowed down, your muscles desperately trying to balance yourself from the energy ball you just withstood.
But since time has slowed down, I can see my children, my blood, trying to help you. What has happened to you, Rhea? You who were the most hopeful and positive among your siblings left yourself being consumed by sorrow and vengeance. It breaks my heart to see you in such a state. As for you, Seteth, I can see that Flayn's wounds left a deep scar on your mind. Now, you barely trust anyone, even Flayn herself.
Macuil just left the world of humans in its state, disgusted by what happened in the War of Heroes, and I honestly can't blame him. The years now weigh against Indech's fragile, though impenetrable form, and I think he only would only get himself killed if he moved once again. As for Flayn, I sincerely hope this war will not be another occasion for her to get seriously hurt once again, I do not think her father would recover this time.
But now, I can't think of anything but your panic, which assaults my mind. Ironic, when I come to think of it. Before I fused with you, it would be I who would bother your mind, and now, I am the first spectator to everything you might feel, only amplified tens of time and drilled in the back of my non-existent head.
Through your eyes, I can see the panic written on Rhea's monstrous face, along with Seteth, who is far away evacuating the students, and Flayn, who is healing Dedue. I can see the horrified realisation on your students' faces, to which I would laugh at if neither you or them weren't in such a dire situation.
The cliff cracks, and the ground is falling under your feet. Something I find strange, is that in the very dire situation I revealed my power to you, you know, having an axe stuck in your back by a bandit, you didn't strike me as feeling anything remotely close to fear. But now? I can't hear anything but fear.
That's cute. You must have grown bonds with your students, maybe even something bigger than that with a certain prince, but I am not one to pry on that- Am I saying while mocking you for being cute. I feel like I would laugh out loud if I had any consistent form but some thoughts no-one can hear. Ah, do I miss having a body, even a ghostly one would do, but I digress. You're still about to fall?! Has time stopped or something?! Ah no, you're falling…
Oh no! You're falling! What are you going to do?! Oh, nothing but screaming as you lose sight of everyone you care for. Okay then. Sighs deeply. Ow! Felt that to the side, must have hurt a lot more on your side… Hello? Are you feeling something?
Oh great, you lost consciousness, now I can start to panic for real. Calm down, Sothis, calm down, you're the best, you can do this. For one, I can not control the direction of your fall, so I will have to hope you fall on a tree, with this level of injury, my power inhabiting your body would only take around a month to heal from this fall. I'm that powerful I'll have you know!
Of course you would fall in the water. No oxygen, your entire body broken from the impact, barely any sunlight, it's going to take a while. You are barely alive, but all functions of your body are shut down, the power of my crest stone will ensure your recovery and survival, but I think it will last at the very least four years. And even then, you will be weakened by this near-death state.
But I will always watch over you, as you grew precious to me. You remind of my children in some way. They could be annoying sometime, but I would never stop cherishing them, and I feel the exact same with you.
Now sleep, my dear child. Sleep well, Byleth, and I will wake you up once you are ready to face the world once again.