Three Winds of Fodlan
Chapter five on the inbound my friends and fans. I am glad that many of you are enjoying my fic thus far, despite any areas of weakness I have shown in writing it up to this point. Still thank you all for your continued support in this fic. Also I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays
A few things I seem to need to reiterate or at the very least remind people as well as some new news.
1: I have officially decided that Robin will have no wife from Awakening. As a result of this, and after much thinking, there will also be no RobinxAnna because of how weird and awkward that would be to right since both Awakening Anna and Three Houses Anna are identical in every aspect other than clothing and ponytail location.
2: There is going to be no BylethxRobin, MarkxByleth, or MarkxRobin.
3: No yaoi (guyxguy) pairings
4: No yuri (girlxgirl) unless there is a good explanation as to why it works. "Just cause" is not a reason.
5: Robin, Mark, and Byleth don't only have to be paired with someone in their starting House and just because they seem close or similar to an existing candidate doesn't mean I have decided. It's only the first week, there is time for them to get close to everyone.
6: I may, and I cannot stress that enough, add in two Awakening characters and two Blazing Sword characters later on. Should I do this, they will already be paired together and it won't be any of the Lords (Chrom, Lucina, Eliwood, Hector, Lyn).
7: I have no plans to add in any other Fire Emblem characters from other series….so please stop asking me if Corrin/Kamui is showing up. There is a reason why I have this trio together and that reason is mentioned in the previous chapter.
8: I hope you all played the post game in Shadows of Valentia. It makes this trio make a lot more sense.
Okay that should be everything. Now on with the chapter.
Chapter 5: White Clouds: Downtime Before Battle
The three Houses had met up at the mess hall and all were feeling the pains of defeat and humiliation that the three new professors had visited upon them. Dedue could not look any of the girls in the eye and if he did, he got pink. Hubert looked like he was trying to get his fish to combust with just a focused glare. After a few moments, Dmitri finally spoke up.
"So shall we all share how our assessments went?" Dmitri asked, trying to not let the pang of disappointment enter his voice.
"Not much to say for us Blue Lions but we were far outmatched. Professor Byleth is as much a demon as her nickname would imply." Ingrid sighed before her sensed picked up that Sylvain was about to say something stupid.
"At least Dedue went out between Professor Byleth's thighs." Sylvain chuckled before receiving a slap to the back of the head by Ingrid, who had a deadpanned unamused look on her face. "What? It's true. She used her body as a weapon, jumped up on Dedue's shoulders, squeezed his head with her legs like a vice and slammed him to the ground before striking him out. Lighten up."
"You need to explain it better the first time and I wouldn't have to hit you." Ingrid sighed as Dedue went slightly pink in the cheeks once again. It was a rather embarrassing way to go down.
"Out of all of us only Ashe managed to survive her assault. He took no hits and just surrendered at the end." Mercedes said as she patted the Duscur young man's back to reassure him it was okay. Ashe shrugged with a kind smile on his face.
"I merely did what I could to stay as far out of her reach and when it just came down to me, I figured the best course of action was surrender. She told me that I should have escaped if this were a real combat scenario." Ashe said simply. "But I was able to get some info on her fighting style. She has strength as expected considering who her father is, but she also has poise, acrobatics, and even dancing up her sleeve. She uses all of her body to its fullest in combat, except her looks. And while she does split her strength between a sword and an axe, neither compensate for the other."
"She must be ambidextrous by nature." Felix said. "Even training all of her life wouldn't make her as capable of wielding two weapons like that unless she was naturally capable of it. This acts as another edge of hers. Even when we took her axe from her, her skill with her sword did not diminish. No doubt she held back since she never used a two handed stance with her sword. I'll have to get even stronger if I wish to beat her in a duel."
"Dang. Byleth sounds like a monster and a half." Hilda said with her eyes wide. "Then again my brother did mention her and her nickname The Ashen Demon. Still she would have been easier to deal with than Robin." The Golden Deer all shuttered at the magical army of one that was the Fellblood.
"Yeah. He can not only use Black Magic but he also knows how to utilize Dark Magic, though it is a bit different to what we are used to. Add in the fact that he can use magic and sword simultaneously and he doesn't let up." Leonie said with a scowl. "Also he can float."
"Wait a minute! He can float? Like he can use magic to hover over the ground and increase his mobility?" Annette asked with her eyes like saucers.
"Not just the ground. We found him floating over a river meditating." Claude said. "Teach used it as a barrier to bombard us until we finally drew him to land...where he proceeded to demolish us. He used Fire, some wind magic he called Wilderwind, Thunder, Nosferatu which he claimed is a Dark Magic where he comes from, a Dark Magic called Ruin, that monster Thunder spell he calls Thoron, and some spell he created called Blárraven which allowed him to summon raven made of magic."
"Interesting." Linhardt said, his curiosity piqued by Robin's capabilities.
"And then there's the true secret weapon he has." Rafael said as he turned to Lysithea.
"Ignis….a special ability that allows him to channel magic into a sword to make his physical attacks more powerful." The albino girl said, awe in her voice. "He only used it when I somehow did something similar to block his Blárraven spell."
"Sounds like you were able to hold up against Robin. Mark well...we found out a very dangerous fact about him." Edelgard said before Petra interrupted her.
"Spirits bless him." The foreign princess said. "If magic is not strong, the blessing blocks it." Every mage from the other Houses stared at her in shock. The fact that Mark was protected from weak magic meant that he was very hard to touch.
"So wait...his whole wind thing is not just some foreign superstition but is a legitimate blessing and power? That's a little insane." Claude said as he tried to process the information. "Wonder if that means he has protection from arrows."
"Not likely. I faced no rebuff when my strike landed." Petra said, causing the other Houses to gape at her. "However my hit was luck. His strength was not full at all." Hubert's foul mood seemed to intensify at the statement.
"That's true. Didn't he mention something about him not having his knives?" Caspar said as he tried to remember what Mark had said.
"Correct. He usually uses a pair of long and curved daggers but according to him, there was no practice variant he could use. As a result he faced us unarmed." Edelgard said. "And while he was not polished, what skill he did have was enough to best us handily."
"He even took out Hubert rather quickly." Dorothea said, causing the aforementioned boy's burning gaze to turn on her. "Oh lighten up. So what if he got the drop on you with that scarecrow sneak attack. Glaring at everyone will do you no favors."
"Scarecrow?" Dmitri asked with a look of confusion on his face.
"Yes. We thought he had erected a scarecrow to intimidate us in the middle of the clearing we were to meet him in and would have come in from the outside." Edelgard said with a shake of her head. "Instead he was disguised as the scarecrow and got the drop on the student who picked up the note he had pinned to himself which happened to be Hubert."
"A dirty trick. However I would be remiss if I did not also compliment its brilliance. He was able to use our dossiers to conclude that we would not strike at the scarecrow somehow and made it the perfect spot to ambush us from." Hubert sighed as he had to reluctantly admit that Mark was indeed a true tactician and one that would challenge him.
"This is going to make the mock battle a ton of fun. That said, you Black Eagles are going to have an advantage. By the time the battle starts, Mark is going to have practice versions of his knives and all that you have told us will be obsolete." Claude said with his chin in his fingers. "At the same time though, you won't know how he will fight with full access to his weapon of choice so it may cancel everything out."
"Well whatever happens, may the best House win." Annette said with a smile.
"We intend to." Edelgard said.
"As do we." Dmitri replied back with a smirk.
"Don't count us out yet." Claude chuckled lightly.
-Three Winds of Fodlan-
It was evening when Robin exited the sauna with a contented sigh. He attributed his love of the steam bath to his Plegian blood, due to Tharja saying they were a common establishment in Plegia. As he made his way back to his room he saw Byleth talking to a green haired girl in a modest but cute black dress with gold bows on her biceps and a golden hem. Her boots matched the dress and she had a large blue bow on her chest. The Grandmaster walked up to the two greenettes with a smile.
"Hey Byleth. Who do we have here?" Robin asked with a kind tone of voice. The girl turned to Robin as did Byleth and Robin saw that the newcomer's eyes were green as well, similar to Rhea, though the newcomer's hair was a slight shade darker. All this green hair was giving The Inheritor of The Creation flashbacks to Tiki and Nowi. However Robin also remembered Stahl had green hair so he put his thoughts to rest for the time being.
"Oh greetings. From your coat, I am able to guess that you are Robin. My name is Flayn, and I am Seteth's little sister." The girl said with a very proper tone that reminded Robin of Tiki even more.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. As you guessed, I am Robin Zephyr and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Robin said respectfully as his mind tried to connect what few dots he had. His mind was stopped however when he saw Mark walking up, though The Tactician seemed a little out of it. He had a smile on his face that seemed dreamy and his hands were in front of him as his fingers moved oddly. "Hey, Mark, what are you doing?" The green cloaked male seemed to snap out of it when he heard his fellow tactician call him.
"Oh sorry. I was mentally creating a song on a piano. I just heard that the piano I wanted to have repaired is slated to be repaired anyway so I got a bit excited." Mark said before he noticed Flayn. "And who might this beautiful young lady be?"
"This is Flayn and apparently she's Seteth's little sister." Byleth said as Flayn curtsied to Mark. The tactician raised his eyebrow but shrugged as he remembered Raven and Priscilla. If those two could be siblings, it only stood to reason that Flayn and Seteth could as well. However all the green hair was starting to cause him to think as well, seeing as Nils and Ninian, who were the children of a human and a dragon, had greenish hair. Though so did most Saceans and Ninian's hair was more of teal than full on green, so Mark let it go for now.
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Mark Frey, a humble tactician who now works here as a professor alongside my friends here." The assassin trained young man said with a bow.
"I have heard. I was most anxious to meet you all. You see I am not a student here, I just live here due to my brother being my only family, so I do get bored a little easily. However upon him mentioning you three, I felt as if I had to meet you." Flynn said innocently.
"Then please come inside. I was about to have some evening tea and I could do with some company. I have a lovely sweet apple blend I have been wanting to try." Byleth said getting Flayn's eyes to light up.
"That sounds wonderful. I will happily accept your offer." Flayn said as Mark and Robin nodded their acceptance as well. The group walked into Byleth's room as she got the tea started. "So I hear that both Robin and Mark are foreigners. Perhaps you might tell us a story of your pasts?" The Fellblood and Wind Blessed thought for a moment before Mark shrugged.
"Sure why not. My journey to become a master tactician started in earnest a few years back. I was traveling across the windy plains of a nomadic nation when I was attacked by bandits. At the time I was not very skilled with a weapon so I ran as fast as I could but they managed to get me and injure me badly. I passed out and woke up a few hours later in a nomad hut with my wounds tended to by a young woman who would become one of my closest friends. Her name is Lyn and she was the last surviving member of her people, The Lorca Tribe. We talked for a little bit before more bandits came. With her sword skills and speed combined with my tactical knowledge, she was able to slay the attackers. At the time I had amnesia so I could not remember much of myself so we decided to travel together. Lyn also proposed that we train our respective skills so that maybe she could get revenge for the slaughter of her people. I agreed, having no other plans." Mark leaned back with a smile as Byleth served the tea before he continued.
"After about a month, we stopped in one of the few permanent settlements in the plains to resupply when we were approached by two knights of a neighboring dukedom. They were also there to resupply but one, a dolt of a man named Sain, made a poor attempt at courting Lyn. Sain was saved by his level headed companion Kent from Lyn. As we left, they heard Lyn's name and pieced together that she was the person that the two were searching." Mark took a sip of the tea and nodded to Byleth to show how much he liked it while she and the other two were captivated by his story. "Turns out Lyn's mother was the daughter of the lord they served and since he was dying, the lord wanted a chance to meet his only granddaughter, whom he never met. He had been against his daughter marrying a man of the plains but in his old age and faced with his own mortality, he learned he was a fool to write off his family like that. Lyn was hesitant but with my urging, she decided to make the journey to her mother's homeland to meet her dying grandfather. Along the way we stopped at a shrine to receive the blessing of the spirits for the journey. After dispatching some bandits, their leader struck at us and in her haste to defeat him, Lyn drew the sacred blade on the altar from its sheath. This was something no one could do unless the spirits allowed it. With the leader slain and the spirits' blessing attained, we made our way to Lyn's grandfather. Along the way we found out that assassins were being sent after Lyn by her granduncle, who coveted his brother's position."
"How terrible! Who could do that to their own family?" Flayn asked, horrified.
"All men have the capacity to do terrible things." Mark said with a grave and somber tone. "However it is up to each one of us to determine if we follow these dark desires or turn away from them and try to do what we believe is right."
"Well said." Robin nodded as he sipped his tea.
"Along the way, Lyn and I collected a fair amount of allies: A pegasus knight with a fear of men named Florina, an archer named Wil, an axe user named Dorcus, a priest named Lucius, a mage named Erk who was escorting a healer named Serra, a fellow warrior of the plains named Rath, a bard named Nils and his sister a dancer named...Ninian, and a respected knight named Wallace." Mark recounted, unconsciously grabbing his heart when he said Ninian's name. Flayn was about to ask about that but saw Robin put up his hand and shake his head. The Fellblood guessed there was a story there and Mark would tell it when he was ready. "Eventually we made our way to Lyn's grandfather's manor where his brother waited with his personal army to greet us. The battle was a long and difficult one but we were able to slay the traitorous brother. Lyn was able to meet her grandfather and with her words of 'illness fails in the face of a strong heart' he was eventually able to recover. I stayed with them for a time before leaving to continue my studies."
"Seems like you left out a fair bit." Byleth said. "Then again bloody battles are not tea time talk."
"But they could be used as lessons." Robin said as a bolt of inspiration struck him. "Mark, how about we use our experiences to tell stories of battles we have been a part of and ask the classes to come up with strategies to win the battles? Slowly we would introduce more info about the situation to simulate the ever turning tides of battle." Mark thought for a moment and nodded.
"An ingenious idea. Theory is all well and good but actual experience behind it can make it more applicable. Add to the fact that we can then tell them how we fared and our moves can help them understand that they will have to look at the bigger picture." Mark said with a nod as he sipped more of his tea. "So tell us Robin, how did you start down the path of a tactician?"
"Oh yes please, I'd love to know." Flynn chimed in, her eyes shining in an almost innocent way.
"Well my journey is similar to Mark's. I awoke in a field with amnesia with two people standing above me: a girl I did not know, Lissa, and her older brother whose name I somehow knew. This man would become my best friend and a brother to me in all but blood, Chrom. Chrom helped me to my feet and I saw his protector, a knight named Frederick, who was not pleased to see me as my skin revealed my origin as that of a neighboring country who has been sending units disguised as bandits to attack the rural villages near the border. He would not accept my amnesia, and thought me a spy. They were going to take me to their capital to get things sorted but we saw a village being attacked by the very things Frederick thought I was. The trio ran off and left me, as there was something more important but I could not stand back and allow innocents to get hurt and I ran after them." Robin gathered himself before he continued.
"There was so much death when we arrived. The disguised Plegian warband spent little time in performing their vile deeds before Chrom, Lissa, and Frederick showed up. One of them tried to strike Lissa from behind but I arrived in time to blast him with a Thunder spell. While Frederick was uneasy to accept my assistance, Chrom was eager so the four of us slew the bandits.
While the villagers wanted us to stay and throw us a feast, Frederick made it clear that we had to go to the capital. Along the way, Chrom offered me a job as strategist for the military company called The Shepherds. With no memory, I decided to take the job. That night….a dark magic pervaded the forest around us and creatures called Risen began to attack us. Lissa was nearly slain but she was saved by a wandering masked swordsman." Robin said as he decided he'd tell the story as if people were viewing his memories but avoid mentioning Naga, Grima, The Outworld Gate, and time travel. "Luckily we were also reinforced by an old friend and ally of Chrom's named Sully, a woman out to prove that she could be just as good a knight as any man, and a traveler named Virion, who was a bit of a philanderer but also a good archer. We were able to destroy the Risen. When we caught up to the swordsman he spoke cryptically before telling us his name was Marth, the same name as a legendary Hero King. With that he departed. Sully and Virion rode off ahead to inform the capital before Chrom, Lissa, Frederick, and I headed there ourselves after a rest."
"Damn. Your story has magical creatures that sought to kill as well?" Mark asked., piquing everyone's interest. When Robin nodded, Mark just chuckled. "What are the also happen to be reanimated corpses in a sense but mine were also Homunculi." Robin did his best to not freeze. That word was not one of his favorites considering that he himself carried a Homunculus bloodline, being the Perfect Vessel for The Creation. "Disgusting things really. They were the bodies of people who were homunculized to steal life essence from those they slew."
"That's horrible! Who could do such a thing?" Flynn asked, horrified, nearly dropping her tea. Mark let out a humorless laugh as he remembered the mad man that was responsible.
"His name was Nergal…..and I helped put the bastard out of the world's misery." Mark said darkly. "I know it is considered wrong to hate anyone so much but..he hurt people very important to me. His choices caused grief to his children, destroyed the life of a girl I claimed as my sister, and so much death."
"Fathers have a way of causing destruction and chaos in the lives of their children." Robin sighed, remembering his father Validar. "Byleth, you are so lucky your father is not like that. I envy you in fact."
"I am lucky indeed." Byleth said, a barely noticeable smile on her face that was hidden by her tea cup.
"So am I. My brother has cared for me like a father for some time." Flynn smiled happily causing both men to smile as well. Robin patted the head of the innocent girl while Mark just chuckled.
"Sorry for getting so dark there. I just really hate Homunculi. Or at least the ones I dealt with. They were technically called Morphs." Mark said before he noticed how much darker it had gotten outside. "Well it's looking like we should all get ready to turn in."
"Indeed. We have classes to teach in the morning." Robin nodded. "Have a good night, ladies." Mark and Robin then headed to their rooms before Flayn got up, bowed and left as well.
"How interesting. Sounds as if Mark and Robin have gone through full on war." Sothis said to Byleth as she cleaned up. "I wonder how much they have not told us. Still the fact that they have faced being created by dark magic is almost unbelievable but it was clear that they were rather serious."
"Indeed. I hope they open up to us more about their pasts. They both seem to be holding onto quite a bit." Byleth said. "And it definitely seems like Robin has a lot more to say about his father than he was willing to tonight. I wonder if perhaps his father played a massive role in whatever event happened to him."
"That would be my guess as well. Still as much as I would like to know more, it would be rude of us to ask. For now, we must wait and wonder I suppose. Goodnight Byleth."
"Pleasant dreams Sothis."
-Three Winds of Fodlan-
Mark walked into the classroom with a confident stride. The class noticed that he was not wearing his trademark green cloak but a green jacket that went to his thighs instead, held in place by a black belt. "Good morning class. I thought I'd start my lessons off with a bit of philosophy." Mark said with a smile before he caught a practice knife that was triggered to hit him from behind. "Also, that was a fairly predictable attempt. Please try harder in the future. Now let's start with a question I doubt many of you have pondered." Mark then wrote a simple but hard question."
What is the job of the Nobility?
"Anyone have an answer?" Mark asked before shaking his head as a few hands flew up way too quickly. However before he could pick one, he saw a slow and unconfident hand come up. He knew that that was the one to call on. "Yes Mercedes?" Everyone turned to the eldest student in the class to hear what her answer was.
"I believe the term is Noblesse Oblige." Mercedes after a moment, gaining a nod from the Wind Bless. He waited to see if she could explain what it meant. "If I understand it right, it means Noble Obligation and that if someone has the power and capability to help, they are obliged and honorbound to do so."
"Exactly!" Mark said with a wolf-like smile. "The job of the Nobility is not superiority, rulership, or many other answers that nobles have had over the course of existence. It is the fact that they are responsible to help those under them. The Nobles are not meant to just rule but to be ruled. With no commoners who need them, there are no Nobles to be needed."
"Wait what exactly are you saying?" Lorenz asked, very troubled by what the slightly older male was implying.
"I'm saying all of your pomp and ceremony are pointless and even incredibly selfish." Mark said bluntly, causing a few nobles to feel like he had just assassinated their honor. "What exactly does it all do for those you are responsible for? Not much. You can say that you pay artists and furniture makers to help them out by frequenting them, but ultimately you tend to avoid those who have a perceived lower quality out of selfishness. This leads to a highly destructive classist system that can destroy the potential of the truly great before they have a chance to achieve such greatness. On the flipside, this can also cause Nobles to become heartless and tyrannical when it comes to their own families. Some will only see their own flesh and blood as tools to lord over the 'unwashed masses' as some refer to the common people. I am not saying anyone here is that heartless, just these things happen and that I have witnessed them. This question was asked in order for both sides to tear down the walls between them. Commoners need Nobility and vice versa, but they have to understand that in the grand scheme of things, all mortals are equal. No bloodline or Crest makes you more of a mortal than anyone else. All they do is provide you with the ability to better help your fellow mortals."
"Easy to say when you are blessed by the Winds themselves." Hubert said with a smoldering tone.
"True, but I did not always have the abilities I have nor the blessings I do. I earned them and have used them to protect the hopes and dreams of those who cannot help themselves." Mark said with a smile on his face that was both kind and gentle but also resolute. "That is what I aim to teach you through arms and strategy. To earn your prowess and skill and to use them not for yourselves but for others. That is where true strength comes from. Now then I would like you all to write me a couple of paragraphs detailing to me why it is you are here. Be honest and if you can't quite put it into words, use what words you can. This will be read by me as well as Robin and Byleth so that we can all do our best to guide you down the paths you must travel to become the people you are meant to be." The rest of the period was filled with the scratching of quills as the students wrote down their reasons for being there. Mark watched over them and helped any who had a hard time properly expressing themselves. When the period was over, Mark collected the papers and started to head out.
"Also, Mercedes, you have earned extra credit for your wisdom and insight. Never lose those qualities. They tend to be in short supply sadly." Mark said as he left. The class took the break to slowly let the lesson sink in. When the next period began, Robin walked in with a model of a battlefield.
"I decided to start with something a little fun today. I want a person from each House to come up here and observe the battlefield before going back to their House. The observer will be the Tactician and have to use what they gleaned from the model alongside their Housemates' ideas to determine the best way to lead the army in blue to victory against the army in black. I will not tell you what the victory conditions are. A great tactician has to learn how to figure that out by themselves." Robin explained as his class slowly picked their tacticians.
-Three Winds of Fodlan-
And that will wrap up this chapter. I will in future attempt to add in at least one lesson to each chapter like I did here. I just don't want to overburden a chapter so I stopped after Robin's explanation. So a few post chapter things. One is that I have made a small dossier for Mark since he has no official stats, as unlike Robin, he was never a combat unit. I am not including stats just skills, weapons, and crit quotes
Mark Frey: The Legendary Tactician
Class: Wanderer
Starting Equipment: Gale Wolves (Knives A-user attacks twice, Range 1-2), Iron Gauntlets
Personal Skill: Wind Blessed-Evasion rate +20% for melee and +35% for magic
Skills Apotrope-halves magic damage
Crit Quotes
"You really should have tried harder."
"Let me show you real tactics."
"Winds, guide my strike!"
"Never expose your neck to a wolf."
Also I see a few are hesitant for me to do the Awakening version of this fic so I will hold off until you are more willing. I do hope you continue to send me your ideas for pairings for not just the main trio but for all characters. Until next time, always remember:
Medicine is just poison that cures and Poison is just medicine that kills.