Fire Emblem Three Houses: Five Years War

by Thuglas-El-Bosso

A series of one-shots concerning the timeskip that occurs in Byleth's coma. The Black Eagles defected from their own house, rejecting Edelgard's views of a better future. Although she may be alone, she has allies around all Fodlàn, while Dimitri wanders around aimlessly, and Claude struggles with his new position as the leader of the Leicester Alliance.

14. Chapter 14: Dedue

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).

Warning, they'll be some gruesome depictions of violence in this chapter.

That said, I hope you enjoy your read.

Chapter 14: Dedue "Ashen Homeland"

Great Tree Moon of Imperial Year 1181:

"Run, your Highness."

Dedue closed the gigantic entry doors to the palace, the last thing he saw before closing them was the scared face of Dimitri, not understanding what was happening right as Dedue shoved him out of the palace. The Royal Guards were closing in on his position and from what he had gathered, they weren't keen on letting him live. He could hear their heavy footsteps across the entrance hall, cursing as some of them were yelling to not let the fallen prince escape.

The entrance hall's pristine white marble and columns were tainted by the red of the gatekeepers' blood, whose bodies rested near the door they were supposed to guard, their torsos gashed with blood. Dedue would stand between the Prince and his pursuers as long as his body would stand. Not for long, unfortunately, as he had already taken several blows destined for Dimitri. He was barely holding an ornate shield with his left arm, which depicted a noble blue lion struggling with a blood red eagle. Dedue's blood was dripping on the elaborate imagery.

He barely dodged a spear that would have pierced his skull had he not heard the sound of the movement on his right half-a-second before the guard struck. He threw his shield arm up to disarm the guard, to then strike with his axe across the enemy's shoulder. When the axe remained stuck in the dying guard's ribcage, Dedue dropped it, only to get his leg pinned by another spear. Dedue dropped to his knees, as the guard wielding the lance was scowling at him "You Duscur dog! You must be the reason the prince turned rabid in the first place!"

Dedue cringed as the guard twisted the spear stuck in his upper knee. His year at the academy and the constant scowling the monks greeted him with made Dedue forget that it was at the kingdom that he was the most wanted dead. "He showed too much compassion for you, only for you to twist him into something unrecognizable." One of the guards kicked his left shoulder, further breaking it. Dedue grunted as he felt his collarbone pierce through his skin and rattle under his armour. He spat blood on the marbled floor, dropping the ornate shield on the ground, unable to further hold it.

Dedue saw one of the guards slowly and dramatically unsheathe his swords, holding it against his throat. "You don't deserve a swift death, you dog, but we don't have the time to make it painful." The guard lifted his sword high up in the air, and Dedue readied himself for the finishing blow… that didn't come.

When Dedue raised his eyes towards the executioner, an arrow was stuck through his mouth. The executioner fell to the ground as Dedue heard warcries across the room, the guards surrounding him were struck down by axes and spears before they could strike back. Dedue was lifted up by two men he barely heard before falling into unconsciousness…

He woke up under the night sky, the smell of a campfire reaching his nose. From what he could gather, Dedue was lying on a four-wheeled cart, the blanket covering him was red with blood, though he could feel the bandages on his skin. It seemed they had taken off his armour, which he found the pieces lying next to him, the blood intensifying the scent of iron. "Looks like you're awake." Dedue tried to stand up, but a hand gripped his right shoulder and forced him down "You should rest." He looked on his right, only to see people gathered around a campfire and a muscle-bound old man staying near him. "Are you from Duscur?" The question left Dedue's lips without thinking, but the old man only smirked.

The man was what Dedue thought he would look like he was lucky enough to live long enough to have wrinkles. He had long white hair tied in his back, his sharp face softened by wrinkles, while his skin tan betrayed his belonging to the people of Duscur. The old man was busy cleaning his glasses with his black tank top, letting Dedue see the man's muscly arms, along with the scars covering them. He nodded towards the campfire "We all are, here, Dedue."

Dedue was taken by surprise by the familiarity "How do you know my name?" he asked calmly. The old man smirked after putting back his glasses on his nose "It's easy to remember the name of Faerghus' most reviled royal guard. Ah, I'm being impolite, knowing your name, but not giving you mine. I am Isoros, I… lead these youngsters." The old man smiled at the people discussing lively around the campfire. From what Dedue could see, the young men and women around the fire were wearing bits and pieces of Kingdom soldiers' armour, surely stolen at some barracks along with the weapons they were wielding.

"Why did you save me, back at the palace?" Isoros looked genuinely confused, but soon got an understanding look. "Duscur always pays its debts, doesn't it? One of my underlings reported to me that the Prince of Faerghus and his loyal servant saved them from their inevitable demise at the hands of the Kleiman army. When word of you came to my ears just before the Emperor declared her war, I wanted to see you in flesh."

Dedue shook his head "What about His Highness? Did you..." Isoros raised his hand "We sent our cavaliers to look for him, but we still haven't found him. Cornelia claims to have killed him, but no body was shown, which is a little suspect if you ask me. Anyway, we'll have to drop the search for your Prince." Dedue was about to protest when the old man cut him again "We have far more important projects at work." Dedue raised a brow "What might these 'projects' be?"

Isoros smirked "With the turmoil shaking the kingdom, I thought it would be possible to finally return home." Dedue's face remained blank "You mean, returning to Duscur?" Isoros grin grew wider "No, I mean to push these bastards out of our home."

"That's impossible."

Dedue hadn't said this in disbelief, but in a manner-of-factly way. Isoros chuckled and looked down on the wounded young man "Is it? You see, half of the council agrees with you, even after showing my well thought-out plans to them."

Dedue raised an eyebrow "What were you, before the tragedy, a military strategist?" The old man chuckled "No, I was a simple merchant, but, trust me, kid, tragedies can take you to positions you wouldn't have expected yourself to land in." Dedue was going to continue questioning him, but the old man cut him short. "Now rest, we're going to need every muscles we can gather if we want to take back Duscur." Isoros took a sip from a pint and went back to the campfire. Dedue drifted into sleep as he looked at the stars in the night sky.

…

Horsebow Moon (September) of Imperial Year 1184

The hills of Duscur are filled with an overwhelming white. Here and there lie ruined buildings, and the flowers that were once thriving on the plains of Duscur are all gone, reduced to a beautiful white ash, that covered the entirety of the country of Duscur. The Faerghusian had been methodical in their purge of the Duscurian people, putting anything they could find to flames, to quench their feeling of betrayal. A betrayal the people of Duscur had no involvement with.

The province of Duscur is now a wasteland, the white of the ground contrasted by the thunderclouds hovering over it. Over 8 years, some places were slowly shifting from the white of the ash to the grey of the scorched earth. However, breaking with this ocean of white and grey, lies a black fortress, Lamina Janid.

Its walls were built quite literally with the remains of Duscur's greatness, using the charred stones of the buildings surrounding the area the Duscurians had decided to put the rebirth of their nation. Though the walls were charcoal black, and the vast plains beyond them were white, life and agriculture thrived once again behind these walls. The buildings, while simple, were built with red stone, giving them a very charming style.

The civilians who had run away from Cornelia's cruel regime were accepted in either small houses for the families, while orphanages had been built for the poor souls who had been torn off from their parents for the discriminations they endured in the Faerghusian cities. There were giant fountains that filtered the water the thunderstorms brought, which irrigated the field of various vegetables.

The soldiers remained in barracks, each one of them assigned to a small room. The buildings in themselves were sorted in three floors, each with around thirty rooms facing the dark clouds hovering over Lamina Janid. Someone went knocking on one of the soldier's door, only to be greeted by a giant of a man. He was wearing the generic black tank top and leather pants the Duscurians soldiers wore when not on duty, his scarred face meeting the soldier with a smile. "Ke'rlon, how may I help you?" The red-haired soldier smirked "The general summoned us four, brother. I guess he's finally gonna send us out."

Dedue nodded "Four? We have a new hunter?" Ke'rlon chuckled nervously "Well, I think that's what we're about to discuss with the general." The two soldiers walked down the stairs from the third floor, and headed straight to the massive building they used as a military base.

The building itself and its interiors were rather elegantly built around a dome, which housed training grounds. Its hallways were filled with sculptures of the various gods the Duscurians believed in. The main hallway was filled with young faces which greeted them both "Hey, Dedue, is it your turn to cook for us, tonight?" "We're about to find out, brother." Dedue nodded towards the one who asked this.

Ke'rlon smirked "Man, your dishes are popular." Dedue nodded as they reached the office of the general, passing in front of statues of Sothis and Shamiess, the God of light. They knocked and opened the door to see General Isoros talking to Counsellor Horanhki, visibly having a heated debate before they calmed down as the two soldiers entered.

"Ah, thank you for fetching Dedue, Ke'rlon." Isoros greeted them. "It's nothing." The soldier greeted his officer, which visibly irked the Counsellor. Dedue thought he might not be used to the familiarity between the general and his subordinates. The General was in his casual black tank and leather pants, his dark iron armour, and brown cape, the ornate fabric representing a dragon, both displayed on a dummy. His sheathed sword was resting on his desk, barely visible behind several piles of files and paperwork.

The General smirked at both of his subordinates, gesturing them to sit down on the chairs in front of his desk, while the Counsellor stayed up. "Sir Counsellor here brought me some worrying news, and I think it's time for our best team to go back out to the ashen wastelands. Though it might be dangerous, I assigned you a new hunter. As you know, Netos has been promoted to train some recruits. The new hunter is feeding the horses as of right now, and I believe she has met with Nofre. I'd suggest you go meet her after I give you your mission." Dedue nodded "And what might that mission be?"

Horanhki cleared his throat. "It has been a week since we last heard of Nefer's convoy. The Duscur confederacy needs you to go and see the status of the Nefer's squad." He gave Dedue a map containing Nefer's route from the Faerghusian borders to Lamina Janid. "You will have to trace back their trail. You need to leave at once, only Allhya knows if they are still alive. We have to know as quickly as possible if this is a large scale attack from Faerghus." Ke'rlon nodded. The two soldiers were going to leave the room, before Isoros spoke "Be careful out there, boys, and may Shamiess be with you."

The stables were on the way to Lamina Janid's harbour, where a few ships were sailing to the sea in order to bring the fish the inhabitants of the city needed. Dedue and Ke'rlon entered the stables, to see Nofre discussing with the new huntress while carrying supplies into the carriage they would be using to cross the ashen wasteland. Nofre waved at both of them after putting one final case in the carriage "Hey, brothers, are you both ready?"

Ke'rlon nodded "Who's our new huntress there?" He smiled towards the young woman, who answered back coldly "I'm Anta."

The cheery red-hair raised an eyebrow. "You mean, Isoros' daughter?" He approached her to shake her hand "I'm Ke'rlon, this is Dedue" The giant nodded towards the young woman "Pleased to meet you."

The huntress was readying her bow, and sheathing a small iron dagger, while Nofre was preparing the horses. Nofre was around the same size as Dedue, though he had a wild black beard and mane, and significantly less scars on his face. The young woman had brown hair, and didn't seem older than 18 years old, though she had a particularly clear skin for someone of Duscur.

"Well, lads, let's depart at once." Ke'rlon said as he jumped in the carriage. He took the reins of the horses as Dedue laid down in the back, still recovering from his night shift on the city's walls.

…

Dedue was waken up when Ke'rlon shook his shoulder. "Time to settle a camp." It was already night, and he saw the others lighting a campfire, while Ke'rlon drew out some fish out of one of the crates. The path on which the four soldiers were settled on was sprinkled with small green areas, as the other teams had planted seeds to create natural resting areas for the different squads travelling out of Duscur.

Dedue sat on a small rock near the fire, free to look at the ashen white plains of Duscur. It was a pleasant spectacle, really, the night sky combined with the moonlight turned the ashes to a pale blue. He turned back to his fellow squadmates as he heard Ke'rlon speak to Anta. "You got to know everyone here?" The young woman looked down shyly "No..." At the same time, Nofre handed Dedue some grilled fish, who nodded in thanks. "Okay, then, has Isoros taught you about the classes that are assigned in a squad?"

Anta looked at him. "Well, first there's the Leader. He's in charge of the lives of his squadmates, and creates tactics. Then we have the Hunter, who looks for potential threats and does some reconnaissance if need be. Next we have the Pillar, who's in charge of maintaining his position, and he's given the armour to do so. Finally, we have the Mage, pretty self-explanatory, isn't it?"

Ke'rlon crossed his arms "I see Isoros taught you well. Good, then I challenge you to guess what classes we fit in." Anta immediately answered "You must be the mage." Nofre and Ke'rlon both chuckled "Judging by the appearances, are you? Nofre's our mage." Anta's eyes went wide. Nofre smirked "I don't blame you. You don't usually see mages who work their muscles."

"How did you study magic?" The new Huntress asked. Ke'rlon chuckled "He spent the better part of four years as a serf in the Institute of Magic of Fhirdiad. You tend to learn a few things when your only job is to tidy books full of spells. So, what class does Dedue fit in?"

This time, the brunette took her time to think before answering "He must be the Pillar." The red-hair grinned "Well, I don't blame you for saying this, since our Leader isn't a very talkative one." Anta gaped "But… I don't want to be rude, but you don't seem to fit the Pillar class very well, physically at least." Dedue smirked "Ke'rlon really didn't want to change classes once your father introduced the concept to smaller squads." The red-hair chuckled "Well, I wasn't the one who pulled Netos, Nofre and I out of the shithole we were in."

Anta seemed lost. "What are you talking about?" Ke'rlon raised an eyebrow "You haven't heard about Munqama?"

The brunette frowned "I should have?" The red-hair scratched the back of his head "What did your father tell you?" The Huntress' expression darkened "Almost nothing?"

Dedue spoke up "Stop asking her questions before hitting a nerve, Ke'rlon." Anta blushed "No, don't pay attention to it. But would you mind telling me about that campaign?" Ke'rlon sighed "Yeah, of course."

"Munqama was beautiful, once. Have you ever lived in Duscur?" When the girl shook her head, Ke'rlon crossed his arms. "I figured as much. We called it 'The City of Flowers' before Kleiman arrived with his army, to torch the whole place down. It's now very much a wasteland, with blackened buildings covering the white ashes you can see all around here. Ah, I still remember to this day how I used to run around its streets, but I digress…"

"Anyway, on our way to where we would establish Lamina Janid, we had to go through Munqama… The council almost wanted your father's head that day, which they would have got if we weren't so close to the fortress that was going to be the foundations of our new city. The place was a shithole and a trap. Kleiman had seen our offensive coming and hid a lot of mages in the charred houses. Wary of an ambush, Isoros sent his frontline units search the buildings for enemies, and find them we did. I shat my pants that day, I really thought I'd die, there, unable to recover my homeland for my brothers and sisters. The vision of one of my brother's skull caved in by magic didn't help either."

He nodded towards Dedue "That's when this big silent guy comes to play. Could you believe that the first time I met him, he was yelling orders, as if he had done that all his life? Well, he came to grab my shoulder and gave it a good shake, which brought me back to my senses. The scar you can on his lips right now was fresh, back then. A piece of rubble caused it, right?" Dedue nodded, so Ke'rlon continued with his tale.

"Yet, he still held on, shouted 'On my mark, we advance' and led us to safety. I believe Nofre, Netos, Dedue and I were the sole survivors on the eastern flank, and I don't think we would have made it if it wasn't for Dedue. We had the misfortune of taking the full blunt of the ambush, so the other groups were quick to come to our aid."

"The council was furious. Yes, we had taken the city, but it cost us way too much in manpower, though they didn't want to admit that without Isoros' caution, there wouldn't be anyone left to complain. So to avoid getting his head cut off, he decided to lead the next attack. That's where the genius of your father comes to play. You see, with Cornelia cutting the Crown Prince's head off, or so she wants Fodlàn to believe, Duke Fraldarius, Count Galatea and Margrave Gautier pushed towards Fhirdiad, so Cornelia had to call back Kleiman's army. By the time they came back, we had already fortified the fortress they were holding beforehand. Their counter-attack was so easy to push back we didn't suffer any casualties. They had been so pathetically weak they left us alone for so much time, we had the time to build the outer walls of Lamina Janid."

Ke'rlon sighed "That's why your father is seen with so much respect here, he led to the revival of Duscur." Anta gave Ke'rlon with curious look "I had never heard about that" Dedue sighed "You have just arrived, haven't you?" The brunette nodded "Yeah, it's only been one moon since my mother sent me there..."

"You should get some rest, you three, I will guard the camp" Dedue went to pick up his axe and buckled his armour on. "We're in for a long ride, tomorrow."

…

It had been a couple days since they had this conversation, and while Anta had seemed to warm up to the others, she still remained cold towards Dedue. He already knew why, he had gotten those cold stares at first when he had joined the Duscurian army, for serving a prince they viewed as nothing but a demon. While he resented the idea, he couldn't blame them after what he had seen during the siege of Garreg Mach. The brunette put down her field-glass, and turned her head to Ke'rlon "I found something."

Dedue took the field-glass from where Anta had put it, and looked around at the horizon. The clouds were clearing up around this area, meaning they were close to the Faerghusian borders. For that reason, everyone had their combat gear on. Dedue and Ke'rlon were both wearing a typical Duscurian heavy armour. It was much more compact than a Faerghusian one, sacrificing a bit of protection for speed and manoeuvrability. Anta was wearing a leathery armour and gloves along with an ashen white cape, designed to hide her in the wasteland, while Nofre wore some thin metallic plates, along with a bag that carried the books needed for his spells.

Dedue watched in front of his carriage to see a smoky wreckage. He closed the field-glass "Stop the carriage here. Anta, you go do some reconnaissance. If everything is clear, you come back and tell us. At the first sign of enemies, you need to make a fire signal. We will head to your position as quickly as possible. Nofre, you continue to observe our surroundings, while Ke'rlon and I guard our carriage." They all nodded, as Anta headed towards the smoke with her own field-glass.

A couple hours later, Anta came back "I didn't see any enemies around the site. I think we're good to go." Dedue nodded. "Nofre, take the reigns." They reached the site of the wreckage in twenty minutes, only to see a fuming pile of corpses. Dedue kneeled down beside it, to check the faces of the dead, and could see the face of Donkor, along with the one of his squad leader, Nefer.

"Brother, come here." Dedue turned towards Ke'rlon, who was trying to lift the wreckage of the squad's carriage. He joined him after striding over the two dead horses. The corpse of Sechet, Nefer squad's mage, was hanging from the ruin of the carriage like a puppet cut from its strings. Ke'rlon and Dedue carefully slipped the girl's corpse off the carriage before lifting the wreckage.

What they found under was surprising to say the least. Dedue didn't have time to express his surprise before getting hit in the stomach. The child had come with such force that it made Dedue stumble back, while Nofre hurried himself to carry the wreckage in his stead. The little girl hugging Dedue cried, which he had expected from a small child that survived for a whole week under a carriage. Anta crawled under the ruins to grab the rest of the children, Nofre and Ke'rlon finally put down the wreckage once Anta came out with the last child. They were eight in total, ranging from four to twelve years-old, starving, and visibly shocked by what they had seen.

Dedue thought it wasn't the right time to ask the children what had happened, and so, he carefully carried them to the carriage along with the others. They departed to Lamina Janid after burning the corpses of Nefer's squadmates.

…

Wyvern Moon (October) of Imperial Year 1184

Dedue was recovering again from his night-shift on the walls of the city, when someone came knocking at his door. Dedue grunted as he stood up from his bed, and was surprised by the person he opened the door to. "General." He nodded respectfully. The muscled old man smirked "Drop the politeness, Dedue, it's been four years I told you to call me Isoros. Anyway, I have news." Dedue raised an eyebrow. "What might that be?"

Isoros grinned "One of the children finally opened up, we have an idea of who might have killed Nefer's squad." Dedue crossed his arms on the doorstep "Who might that be?" Isoros took a more serious expression "They were bandits with a scorpion tattoo on their arm. Our reconnaissance teams have already located their outpost in a forest near the border."

Dedue nodded "And what are you going to do about it?" Isoros chuckled "Me personally? Nothing. But you are." Dedue frowned "What do you mean?" The general grabbed the soldier's shoulder "It's simple. I had this idea since we took Munqama. You seem to radiate of a natural charisma, so much so that most of my soldiers ask me to make you lead them to battle. It's not really surprising, though, you spent one year studying at Garreg Mach, after all, didn't you?"

Dedue raised an eyebrow and said playfully "Are you offering me your position?" Isoros burst out laughing "By Sothis, no! Don't worry, I'll keep the paperwork for myself, all I ask of you is to lead a strike force."

"It's a lot of responsibility..." Dedue sighed "I trust you, young man. I hope you know that you deserve this job." Isoros smiled.

Dedue smirked "Did you make that decision on a whim again?" The general laughed "Nah, that's one of the rare times the council agreed with my call. You're so popular with everyone around you, it'd boost morale, they said."

…

Karl had had a rather simple life. He had been the father of two twin girls, and liked to watch them grow, quietly managing his farm. His whole life came tumbling down with the Emperor's petty war. He had lived on the border between Adrestria and Faerghus, and naturally, his village had been one of the first to be destroyed. The kingdom just sat there and watched as his home town, the place he grew up in, was burned to ashes by beasts, which had devoured his children.

If the Goddess hadn't helped him back then, why would she now? He had decided to take his life in his own hands for once, and it worked. His state of mind was rather stable, if he ignored the fact that nearly two moons ago, he had killed soldiers that were younger than what his daughters would be today. But, eh, orders from the superiors, can't do anything about it, right? Karl didn't like those chalk faces, but their boss said that they answered to them, so they obeyed. Hell, it wasn't the worst thing they had done. Although he wouldn't stoop to the level of the Gautier brat, some of his comrades didn't mind.

Karl was quietly enjoying some stew his chef had prepared, when one of his buddies came through the door of the outpost, bleeding from everywhere, and before he could even talk, got an arrow stuck through the jaw. Their boss yelled "Battle sta-" before being cut off by a spell hitting the side of his head. His grey matter spilled everywhere, sending everyone into a panic, so much so that he saw one of his comrades trembling, his eyes suddenly turning bright red.

Karl barely had time to take cover as the beast his comrade turned into tried to rip his head off from his body. Karl plunged under a table, and was so afraid he soiled his pants. He heard screamed orders in a foreign language. He heard the beast gurgling as it fell down, as silence came back in the room.

"Pull him out."

Karl screamed as he felt someone grabbing him by the collar and tugging him out of his hiding spot. He faced a giant man, who had white hair and scars on his face… "Wait, I recognize you! Y-you were the prince's guard!" Karl yelled, too scared for his life to be calm. It took a second for him to realise he was surrounded by people of Duscur… How did they find Karl's band?!

"Silence." The tall man ordered "Now listen. Carefully. Your life depends on it. You will find your leaders, and tell them that Duscur never forgets its grudges." Karl smiled nervously "Y-you're letting me live?"

The tall Duscurian remained stern "Yes. But you still took the lives of our brothers." Karl's smile disappeared as Dedue raised his axe and cut the bandit's left arm off. The man screamed his lungs out as Ke'rlon slapped him to get his attention back to them "Be thankful we left the arm you identify with attached to you." He pointed towards the scorpion tattoo on the bandit's right arm.

Some soldiers grabbed the bandit, put a tourniquet around his missing arm, and threw him out of the outpost. Nofre smirked at Dedue "Well, that was the last of the outposts. Shall we get to Lamina Janid, now?" Dedue nodded, as they headed out. The leader could still see the blazing outposts as he climbed on a horse, preparing for his trip back to the city.

It's Deduesday, my dudes! (What do you mean, I waited a Tuesday to make that bad pun?) I'm, once again, sorry it took this long to upload a chapter, but I hope it's worth it. Don't hesitate to post a review to tell me what you thought of this chapter. I personally elect Dedue as the Bestest of Bros in Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

It's been more than a year since Three Houses came out! (Sounds of a champagne bottle being opened)

As you might have noticed, some Duscurians worship Sothis. In Duscur, she isn't known as THE Goddess, so I thought that being the Goddess of Beginnings fit her quite well (though she isn't very popular since the Faerghusians worship her). Otherwise, in terms of inspiration, Isoros is just Osiris with the vowels swapped, while Lamina Janid is a spin on the Arabic translation of 'New Hope', while I did the same with Munqama, although this time, 'Flowery' was the translated word (same thing with Shamiess (light) and Allhya (Life)). For the rest of the cast of OCs, I created those names, by thinking about what a Duscurian name could sound like solely based on Dedue (and the etymology of his name). For Isoros' design, picture Silvers Rayleigh from One Piece, only with a tanned skin and without a beard.

Chad: Well, I'm glad that you enjoy this story as much as you do. I'll have to admit that writing long stories such as these kinda gets difficult when English isn't your first language. You might like the two next chapters since you're looking forward to Edelgard and Dimitri chapters.

Next Chapter: The Lady of Hresvelg