You know what? Not even mad. Three Houses was one of my favorite games of 2019.
Still disappointed at the lack of God-Shattering Star, though.
Byleth Eisner, daughter of the famed Blade Breaker, Jeralt, sat in her study (which was also her bedroom) and sighed.
In spite of being a teacher at the Officer's Academy for a little over seven months, Garreg Mach Monastery was still a place that she had yet to get fully used to, with the students there being an eccentric, though admittedly entertaining bunch of assorted nobles and commoners. The faculty were all accommodating to her, even Seteth, who had been initially reluctant to accept her, gradually warmed up to her to the point that he disclosed a secret to her that he had kept hidden from all but the archbishop, Lady Rhea.
Her house, the Golden Deer, had won the Battle of the Eagle and Lion with the help of recent recruits Caspar and Ashe from the Black Eagles and Blue Lions, respectively.
As for Byleth herself, she was compiling a final report on the week to close out the one free day that she got after six days of tutoring the students until she heard a knock on the door. Rubbing her eyes, she pushed open the door to be greeted by that endearingly overenthusiastic gatekeeper who stood at the front of the monastery at all times.
"Greetings, Professor! I... actually do have something to report!"
That caught Byleth's attention, and she asked, "But what does it have to do with me?"
"Well, a mysterious traveler showed up at the gates earlier and gave me an envelope before telling me to personally deliver it to you."
"Did you get any information about this traveler?"
"Unfortunately, no. He was gone the moment I turned to check a nearby commotion with those stray dogs and cats that seem so fond of you, Professor."
Byleth blushed at the accusation, but thanked the gatekeeper for the envelope before dismissing him. Once he was gone, the professor put her report in the paper collector outside her office after stamping it with the official seal of the Garreg Mach Monastery, before sitting down at her desk and poring over the envelope. Her curiosity getting the better of her, she opened the letter, which read:
Byleth Eisner,
Congratulations! You have been selected as our 77th unique fighter in the Super Smash Brothers tournament, and the eighth one from your universe!
From what I have gathered from your... mental companion, so to speak, you have a very important role to play in the future of your realm. However, do not worry, at least for now, for I have granted your companion enough power so that she can both put your world into stasis until you return and assist you in competition.
Walking outside, Byleth looked around. It had been raining just then, but when she walked out, she saw that the droplets of water were suspended in midair, and that Claude—she reminded herself to reprimand him when time resumed—was frozen in place, having snuck out of his room to presumably uncover more stuff about the church's history.
Walking back inside, she saw that a dark vortex had opened up in her room, and she skimmed over the rest of the letter's contents before pocketing it and taking the small card—a gray and teal card with the number 77 printed on it—that the letter had advised her to take along before stepping into the portal. However, upon stepping through, her vision went black.
Byleth found herself in front of Sothis once again, the progenitor goddess staring at her in amusement. After a quick glance down at her hands, Byleth looked back up at Sothis before asking, "Why have you brought me here again?"
"You may wield the Sword of the Creator, but from what I heard from the voice that spoke to me, just the Creator Sword is simply not enough against the likes of gods and godslayers. However... said voice did grant me the power to bestow your sword with... weapon changing, he said? I was nodding off towards the end of his spiel." Sothis then spread her hands, revealing three different Crest symbols. First, pointing at the one that resembled a crescent moon, Sothis began, "This is the sign of the Star Dragon... or the Crest of Riegan, as you know it now. The jagged one is the sign of the Grim Dragon, or the Crest of Blaiddyd. Lastly, the one on your right is the sign of the Sky Dragon... the Crest of Seiros."
"But... what does this have to do with anything?"
"I haven't yet explained why these Crests are so important! Ugh... you mortals lack patience." The Sword of the Creator vanished from Byleth's hands and into Sothis' own, and the three Crests pressed themselves onto various areas of the goddess' body, emitting a radiant glow. After the bright light faded away, Sothis flicked her hand, and the sword changed into a bone-tipped lance, causing the normally unflappable Byleth to audibly gasp in shock. Smirking at her reaction, Sothis said, "This is Areadbhar." Spinning the lance, it changed into a humongous axe, and she continued, "This is Aymr." Finally, she spun the axe one last time, and it transformed into a bow.
"This... is Failnaught." Sothis plucked at the bowstring once, and Failnaught transformed back into the Sword of the Creator before appearing in Byleth's sword hand. Sothis raised a finger, saying, "However... these weapons' special abilities will not activate unless you have their respective Crests." Sothis waved her hand, and the three Dragon Signs burned themselves into Byleth's skin, who, bizarrely, didn't even cry out in pain.
"Our mental connection will be temporarily severed... so I hope to see you soon... however soon it is before you mortals start getting impatient."
Byleth's vision began to get fuzzy as Sothis and her throne disappeared...
Byleth woke up to find herself hugging an apple tree, which she gently extricated herself from before looking around. Behind her was a humongous building, and to her front was a village that appeared to be deathly quiet. Turning around, she walked towards the large building, which appeared to be deserted when she walked in. Upon walking in, she found a single black device resting on a table with a note taped onto it. Reading the note, Byleth pushed the little black button on the device, and she was warped to a cliffside that had another dark vortex in front of it.
Throwing caution to the wind, Byleth jumped in.
In Master Hand's empty office, six envelopes floated away from a stack of paperwork and into the main foyer, each of them containing the same devices that had been lying on the table at the foyer of the Smash Mansion.
Byleth found herself in an ornate hallway with all sorts of chaos unfolding around her. Before she could do anything, however, a cartoonish silhouette of a man approached her from the side and asked, "Do you have one of these?" while holding out a card—pure black with a white 26—similar to the one Byleth had received in the envelope.
Byleth pulled out her own card, and the silhouette inspected it thoroughly before gesturing at the letter in her pocket. Before she could hand it to him, however, the silhouette was ran through by a ballistic scythe. Panicking, Byleth activated Divine Pulse and turned back time to the point where the silhouette was asking her for her envelope, and before he could make the gesture, Byleth tackled the silhouette to the ground and looked up as the scythe harmlessly sailed overhead. After she helped the silhouette get back on his feet, she gave him the envelope and watched as he looked through its contents. After a small series of beeps, the silhouette returned the envelope to her and said, "I'm Mr. Game & Watch. And you are?"
"Byleth. Byleth Eisner."
Mr. Game & Watch cringed as he saw Eight and Yoshi being blasted into a nearby statue by what appeared to be a powerful blast of fire behind Byleth, and he said, "You can introduce yourself to the others later, just go and help them take down their adversaries!"
Byleth nodded, before splitting the Sword of the Creator into its whip-like form and charging into the fray.
As Game & Watch looked on, Pac-Man strolled up next to him and asked, "Do you know where she comes from?"
"I wish I knew, Pac... I wish I knew."
This is where things get weird regarding the Nintendoverse... in my view, at least, Sothis put the entirety of Fódlan into stasis when Byleth left for the Smash tournament.
But anyways, six more DLC characters, huh? The fun never seems to end!