AUTHOR'S NOTES: The prologue chapters continue as we delve into the "Hidden Truths" DLC backstory. The trick here is that a handful of other characters from "Awakening" are going to appear in these chapters as well as in the story as a whole. However, I intend for their roles to remain relatively minor in comparison to the main cast (including Laslow, Odin, & Selena), so that the focus can remain primarily on the characters of "Fates". The reasoning for bringing them in at all in the first place is that to me, it seems logical that Anankos wouldn't just pick three and not pick a few more as backup or contingency plans. And thus, he recruited more of the heroes that defeated Grima... from one timeline or another anyhoo.
The only other thing worthy of noting is that like the Awakening trio from the game, any and all characters from that world will also have nicknames/aliases in this story, and I'll try to make it abundantly clear who is who.
That said, Happy Reading!

CHAPTER 2: The Three Swordmasters

Sing with me a song of Kingdoms and Blades…

Peace—it was the end goal of every man, woman and child who had ever had to fight a war against their will. It was the final state of Ylisse after the war against Grima, but that was not always how the story ended. Different futures had been spun into reality after being triggered by different events, but sometimes, different people from these timelines didn't always stay put.

To this day none of them are entirely sure how it happened, but when they heard the voice, they answered the call.

"Olivia Montoya... Hear My Cry…"

Olivia the dancer dressed herself and disappeared into the night, following the voice to a small clearing that she recognized as a place she used to frequent to dance under the evening sky. More surprising than that, however, was the presence of the swordsman Lon'qu, whom Olivia recognized, as well as the Plegian tactician Robin, whom the two of them had befriended years ago as their commander. All three of them looked a bit tired, and only Robin looked composed. Lon'qu was keeping his distance from the other two women, as neither were his spouse, and Olivia was always fidgety when she felt eyes on her, unless she was dancing.

"Lon'qu? Olivia?" Robin was the first one to break the ice. "Why are you here?"

"I… umm…" Olivia stuttered, messing with her fingers, "I followed a voice."

"As did I." Lon'qu added curtly.

"Then we're here for the same reason," Robin nodded, "but I suppose I'm as confused as any as to what happens next. Did the voice say something about 'hear my cry'?"

The white-haired tactician's mind was already at work trying to figure out why this voice chose them. She could understand being chosen herself; maybe it had something to do with her Fell Blood, or because she had been the one to lay the finishing strike on Grima and survive, even if that had also occurred in a different timeline as well. However, she was trying to figure out what Lon'qu and Olivia both had in common with each other and with her to warrant their inclusion. Had it been their body counts in the war against Grima? Was it their speed and accuracy? The mind of a tactician was seldom idle, and Robin was deep in thought as Lon'qu and Olivia looked around. However, their thoughts were interrupted when they suddenly felt their feet leave the ground. They were surrounded by a vortex, almost as if being sucked through a watery current. There was no way to tell how much time had passed before it finally stopped, but once it did, they were all in awe of what stood around them.

Desolate ruins and floating landmasses surrounded the trio, some of them defying the laws of gravity by appearing sideways or even upside-down, while others appeared the right way up. How one got from one of these islands to the other was a mystery for the ages, and Olivia's squeal of nervousness reminded them all that this whole area defied gravity. Even the land they stood on was a floating island as well.

"Where are we?" Lon'qu spat, his look of disgust clearly showing his disdain for where they ended up.

"This reminds me of the Battlefield where I met heroes from all walks," Robin pointed out, "from Princess Zelda of Hyrule to Pikachu of Kanto… but this place lacks the vibrancy and emblems that the Smash Bros. Universe had."

"Heh," Lon'qu's lip briefly curled upwards, "So that's where you went after getting lost in the Outrealms a few years back."

"I don't actually even think I ever left," Robin's face straightened, "But that doesn't matter now. This is definitely not the Battlefield, so we need to find out what place this *is*."

However, the one who answered their questions was not someone any of them recognized.

"Welcome, heroes, to the once-great Kingdom of Valla."

"Valla…" Robin put her finger to her chin, "the Invisible Demon Kingdom… does that mean we're close to Hoshido and Nohr?" With all the books Robin had read and researched, she had learned about the supposedly mythical kingdoms of Hoshido and Nohr, but was unsure if they actually existed beyond the legends—until now, anyways.

"Very close," a hooded man appeared behind them, his face shrouded, although locks of long blue hair trailed down on either side of his lower face. "It is actually because of them that I summoned you here. And… because of me."

"Well what do you need?" Robin was acting as the spokesperson for their group, although Lon'qu and Olivia were attentive behind her.

"A request, actually," the man replied, "Allow me to explain…"

The man introduced himself as Anankos, explaining that he was once a god; one of the First Dragons of this land; a benevolent and loving creator that gifted humans with knowledge and longevity. However, he also revealed that over time, the dragon's primordial urges became to consume his once-formidable mind, driving him to destructive madness. The story seemed very summarized, but from a certain perspective, it made sense.

"So where is this dragon now?" Lon'qu spoke up.

"He is the reason this land is in ruin." Anankos explained, "He and I were once the same. As I felt the madness consuming my mind, I tore my soul out, and it took this form. What remains is a Silent Dragon who seeks nothing but hatred and destruction for humanity—similar to the Dragon-god Grima from your own world."

"It's easy to understand the weight of the situation then," Robin frowned, "so what do we have to do? There's always a way to stop them, isn't there?"

"There was a song, at one point," Anankos sighed, "but it was known by only the Vallite Royalty, and I, as the Silent Dragon, ended his life before he could sing it." Anankos continued to explain that he fathered twin children named Corrin and Kamui with a woman named Mikoto, who had fled to Hoshido after the fall of Valla. There, they would join these children in a quest to find the five divine weapons: Fujin Yumi, Raijinto, Brynhildr, Siegfried, and Yato. All of this was a lot to take in, and yet Lon'qu and Olivia had joined a group led by an amnesiac that turned out to be from Plegia, the very kingdom that had started the first war. All in all, Anankos' story seemed to make enough sense for the trio to accept his quest, but there were a few more catches he addressed to them.

"Foremost, nothing from or about Valla may be spoken outside its boundaries." he warned, "and secondly, I am likely to try and gather more heroes to help this cause if I am able, and thus changes to your names and appearances will be necessary."

"Change?" Lon'qu raised an eyebrow.

"While Hoshido and Nohr are kingdoms known to your world, most people here are unfamiliar with Chon'sin, Ferox, and Plegia. Any hints at your true origins are best concealed for the time being. There is no need to get people any more suspicious than they already are."

"Understood," Lon'qu gave a swift nod.

With a mighty roar and a flash from under his hood presumably where his eyes were, Anankos glowed for a moment before a radiant light surrounded the three warriors. After it had receded, they all looked considerably different.

Lon'qu was still a swordmaster, but the uniform was different, and was decked out with more white and gold linings, and the emblems were likely the Hoshidan Seal. Olivia's getup as an assassin was gone, replaced with the outfit of a Hoshidan swordmaster as well.

"It's good to know that even in Hoshido women don't wear pants," Robin quipped, herself in a swordmaster outfit identical to Olivia's, which was similar to Lon'qu's except with much less of her thighs covered.

"Anankos," Robin turned to their benefactor, "you have gained our support. Tell us how to get from Hoshido here, and we will do what we can to save this world!"

"Y-you trust us… right?" Olivia fidgeted again.

"I will trust you," he nodded, "all of you. As such, I bestow upon you this strength, and I give to you new names by which to be addressed. As ruler of the world when it first began, and by that selfsame power, I, Anankos, bestow upon you my power: Roku, Zenzi, and Arozza!"

"Roku, hmm? " Lon'qu mused, "I'll accept it."

"Zenzi… I-I like it!" Olivia blushed a cute shade of red.

"I'm sure many, many people have already thought far too long about my name anyways," Robin chortled, "Arozza it is!"

The three of them looked around for a way out of Valla, although the only thing that caught their eye was a magnificent and imposing old castle on a floating island far off in the distance.

"I will transport you to the Bottomless Canyon, the portal between the overworld and Valla," Anankos explained, "remember foremost that it will end your lives if you speak of Valla or anything related to it outside of this kingdom. Such is the nature of the curse."

"You've got our word." Robin promised, "And now we're going to Hoshido!"

With another roar, Lon'qu, Olivia, and Robin vanished from Valla, and Anankos disappeared as well, wandering the world once again. Their quest had begun, and they had a long road ahead of them—one that they might not even have to traverse alone, if they played their cards right. Lon'qu and Olivia naturally turned to Robin to be their leader for this operation, and they knew already that they would have to be careful with how they addressed each other. Roku, Zenzi, and Arozza would be pointless aliases if they went unused. As long as they could remember that as they trekked to Hoshido to join forces with them, they were confident that they could tackle any threat that came their way…

=Castle Valla, Throne Room=

Silence reigned after Anankos and the three heroes left the dead kingdom of Valla. No one lived in this kingdom anymore short of puppets, risen from the dead of the soldiers of this once great kingdom. The cities were in ruins; the islands in chaos. The once magnificent and formidable Vallite Castle, now starting to fall apart from neglect, remained silent on the outside, and through most of its now forsaken halls. In the depths of the castle, however, something stirred. The daunting throne room, now even more menacing due to its derelict nature, held the answer: for against the far well behind what remained of the throne, The Silent Dragon slumbered.
For now he did not strike out against his goodhearted soul just yet, but already he was scheming on how to end him—how to end Lon'qu, Olivia, and Robin; and how to end humanity entirely…

"...sO... hE tHiNkS hE cAn StOp tHE fOrGottEn gOD… tHe BeTrAyEd kInG… ThE bUriED dRaGoN… rOkU... zEnZi... aRoZzA… yOu hAvE cOnSIgnEd yOuRsElvEs... tO dEaTH… ...HAHAHA… MWAHAHAHAHAHA…"

Anankos the Dragon may have seemed silent, but his schemes were already setting forth across Nohr and Hoshido alike—an attempt to taint the land and the minds of its people to help lead them further and further down the path of irreversible destruction.