Book One: Water

Chapter One: The Girl on the Throne

Byleth woke wearily and recollected his thoughts. He had dreamt of her again, the girl on the throne. This time, he actually remembered a bit of their conversation. Like when she said they shared the same birthday…

"Son?"

The old knight stood at the door, his presence enough to keep the room in the shade even though it was well past sunrise.

Oh right! Byleth remembered. They were supposed to go scout out the southern ranges today, a bit of hands-on experience with mercenary duty. Though he would have liked to continue recollecting the dream, he was not one to keep his father waiting on those rare moments they were able to spend some genuine time together.

They were riding out down the road to the central mountains when Jeralt first spoke.

"You've been a bit more focused than usual lately, son. You know, sometimes I actually wish you would lay back every once in a while. Play hookey, forget your techniques, maybe chat up one of the girls at the village we just passed."

"You know you don't mean that. If I slack off mercenary training, you're going to be the first to put me on weed duty for a week. Besides, she's hardly my type."

"Heheheh, well now, fancy a noble woman, do we? One of those rich brats they have housed up in that stuffy Monastery? I daresay you're more qualified to teach them than settle in with them. Most of them couldn't even wield a proper blade, much less stake their lives on one."

"You've been to the Academy?" The question was the first to come to Byleth's mind. He couldn't help being curious about his father's history, as reticent as his father was on such matters.

"Let's just say I'm a weary old man who's had a little too much of rules and faith and all of that high-minded nonsense. I believe in the virtues of facing the world and sorting out its troubles with a trusty blade in hand." As he said this, he began to turn his back on the direction of the monastery to set out towards the Airmid River.

Before he could do so, the fire rising out of the distance caught his attention.

"Bandits," he cursed. "Never much the environmentalists." He brought his horse up to a gallop, and he and Byleth made their way towards the growing flames rising from the timbers at the base of the mountain range surrounding the monastery. It was not uncommon for fires like this to erupt in this part of Fodlan, especially as they were so close to the border of the Fire Nation. Bandits from there often used fire as a tactic to surround and intimidate their targets.

Suddenly, Byleth noticed three teenaged children, roughly his age, hurrying out of the forest. They were dressed extremely decorously, far too extravagant for this part of the country and especially in these circumstances. He guessed that they were nobles, possibly from the Officer's Academy, but what were they doing here?

"Edelgard, don't you think your tactics are maybe a little too extreme? We could have taken them if only we got the right angle."

"Indeed Claude, if only you had been able to execute on this clever strategy as you were fleeing frantically from our pursuers."

"It was a ploy to get them to follow us towards the river, duh. And it just so happens that water doesn't have the pesky side effect of burning down an entire forest."

"Well in the meantime," interrupted the third, "perhaps we should develop a strategy for containing the fire as well as eliminating the remaining bandits. I suggest we begin by petitioning these two locals here for some assistance."

The three of them looked in the direction of Byleth and Jeralt.

"You kids look like you need some help. We can do introductions later. For now, let's find a way to deal with the bandit problem and contain the blaze." With that, Jeralt rode his way towards the burning trees, with the three kids and Byleth in tow.

As the group approached the blaze, they were met by a sizeable group of ragged-looking thieves, perhaps a dozen, wielding axes and knives. It would be tough odds, Byleth calculated, but given their apparent lack of organization, they shouldn't pose any real danger to Jeralt and himself, especially if those three noble kids had any fighting experience. In fact, if he had to guess he would say that they were actually well trained fighters.

The one wearing the golden cloak - Claude - was the first to move, diving behind a tree and producing a bow. Within a couple of seconds, the closest bandit had an arrow through his neck.

Quickly, Byleth also dove into the action as Jeralt charged the bandits grouped further up the path. Drawing a sword, he disarmed the first bandit while dancing out of range of a second. Quickly calculating his advantage, he slew the second with a series of swift strikes before turning to finish off the first.

He was just about to face a second pair of bandits when another of the teenagers, a tall blonde male wearing a royal blue cape, gave an earth-shattering bellow and rushed at them, apparently unarmed. Before Byleth could call him back, he saw it: the earth seemed to bend as he ran. The unsuspecting bandits raised their weapons just as the ground underneath them crumbled and buried them.

"Hmph, showoff," a feminine voice behind him remarked.

Just then, there was a blinding flash. A moment later, the trees to his left were ablaze, along with the bandits hiding among them, as the girl called Edelgard looked on with satisfaction.

So these kids are benders.

An arrow whizzed by and impaled another bandit in the chest. The battle was going well. But then something truly unexpected happened. Feeling a sudden premonition, he ran towards the girl in red, and sure enough at that moment a bandit previously concealed in the trees dove out towards her. Time seemed to slow. It would be too fast for her to react, even if she saw it, before that dagger would pierce a vital organ. On instinct, Byleth dove in front of her, seemingly unaware that he was unarmed and as a result he was likely going to take a knife to his chest.

At that moment, time stopped.

...

Byleth staggered for a moment on a ground that was totally unfamiliar to him. He realized he couldn't see anything in his black surroundings, save for a strangely lit stone chair, upon which sat a girl of perhaps 14. She was adorned in an ornate cloak with golden tassels that exposed her legs and bare feet. Her waist-length green hair fell back in waves, unkempt as a virgin forest. He next noticed her pointed ears, and green eyes that peered at him wearily as though he were an annoying child in need of a good lashing.

"Just WHAT did you think you were doing?" The voice of the girl on the throne seemed to ring in his head from all directions as he gaped in stunned silence.

"I'll tell you what. You were being a CARELESS jerk. Do you even realize that you're about to die at this very moment?"

Byleth, trying to command his mouth to move, once again found himself completely lost for words. Instead a sound somewhere between a confused "uh..." and a panicked scream escaped from his throat.

"Hmph. Panicking isn't going to help anyone, but at least you're coming to grips with the reality of our rather dire situation." She sighed. "Whatever shall I do with you?"

The girl seemed genuinely interested in the answer to her last question. Byleth, finally regaining the use of coherent words, remembered blurting out something ridiculous like "How about we turn back the hands of time?"

The girl seemed amused but answered seriously. "Unfortunately, not even a god can change what has already been written in time. Fortunately for you, however, you are not dead yet, and we may yet recover our future."

This seemed to get her going, as she hopped down from her chair and strode blythely towards Byleth. "My goodness, how fortunate for you I was able to intervene when I did. I wouldn't dream of granting you my full power as you are now, but this much I can do. The element of Air is the beginning of wisdom. For in Air, all life is free and unbound, just as the mind in a dream. May the power of Wind be your guide and make you less of a complete fool from now on!"

As she said that, she reached out and placed her hand against Byleth's temple. But Byleth only felt the rush of wind where her hand was, and soon the entire chamber was enveloped in a gust as though it were a cyclone. The room began to spin, and soon he felt himself lurch forward, as though he were in the middle of a frantic dive. Instinctively, he made a rapid circular movement with his hands as he dived, and a moment later, he had hit the dirt road of the smoldering forest.

He brought himself up, a bit dazed from his fall but otherwise unhurt. The noble children were gathered around him, some looking interested and others looking slightly nervous. Jeralt also came by with a concerned expression on his face. Byleth looked around and saw that the bandits were defeated and the fire had calmed. The one that had jumped him… he looked towards the direction he had lept from and saw a bandit against a tree, impaled in the chest with an axe. A little confused, he looked inquiringly at the girl that had been nearby.

Taking a deep breath, she began, "It was… fortunate that you were here, where you were, else I could have suffered a grave wound." She took another breath. "You possess the power of Air. I have not seen anyone with that particular affinity outside of the halls of Garreg Mach."

Just about everything in her last statement made no sense to Byleth. The power of Air? Was she talking about Elemental bending? He was aware that such a thing existed, but such ability was known to be held only by the crest-bearing elite - something that Byleth certainly was not. And Garreg Mach? He vaguely recalled that it was the proper name of the Monastery residing in central Fodlan, where noble children and other wealthy elites were instructed in history, sciences, and tactical warfare by representatives of the Church of Seiros, the organization that stewarded Garreg Mach. Due to its unique role as educators of future princes as well as the spiritual center of Fodlan, it is widely believed that the Church is the most powerful organization in Fodlan, despite controlling virtually no land and having only a small peacekeeping army known as the Monks of Seiros. Despite that, he was unaware of its role having anything in particular to do with the Four Elements.

Before Byleth could think of anything intelligent to say, the girl cut in again, this time in a rather formal tone. "Forgive my rudeness. My name is Edelgard von Hresvelg, a student at the Academy at Garreg Mach. I thank you for your help. If it's not too intrusive, perhaps -"

Before she could finish, the one wearing blue interjected, "We would greatly appreciate it if you could accompany us back to the Academy. My name is Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, leader of the Blue Lions house at the Academy, and it would be an honor to have you -"

"Hold, Dimitri," the third one wearing gold cut in, "Don't you think it's a little rude to be asking an unwitting newcomer to make commitments this early? I, Claude von Riegan, was personally planning to get to know our new friend here before casually introducing the prospect of joining the Golden Deer." He winked at Byleth as he said this.

"Ridiculous," the one called Dimitri retorted, "Still, I am quite curious to know more about our traveller. Perhaps we can speak of this another time."

After a few more pleasantries, and several assurances to Jeralt that he was feeling perfectly fine, the group began to make their way towards the Monastery, both to ensure the kids' safety and, Byleth hoped, to get some clue about what had happened. As they walked, they chatted with the noble kids about life at the Officer's Academy. They were roughly 17 or 18 years of age, making them only a couple of years younger than Byleth. While they didn't speak much of their origin, what was said revealed that they were each from different nations. The girl Edelgard was from the Adrestian Empire, a large imperial nation to the south commonly known as the Fire Nation for its lineage of firebenders and industrial might. The one called Dimitri was from the Kingdom of Farghus, a nation spanning the northwest informally known as the Earth kingdom for its diverse territory and abundance of earthbending warriors. Finally, the one called Claude hailed from the Leicester Alliance, a territory to the east controlled by a group of ruling elites who declared themselves equal in law. It was known as the Water Tribes for its strong affinity for waterbending and its status as more of a loose confederacy than a formal nation.

As the conversation progressed, it because clear that the students thought very highly of Byleth's abilities, with Claude going as far as to suggest that "maybe he should enroll as a student." As unlikely as that prospect was given his position as a mercenary rather than a noble, it didn't fail to spark his curiosity of how exactly life would be like within those sacred and forbidding walls, a sanctuary for learning and bonding with other kids, yet mysterious in its history and secrets beneath. As he let himself daydream about the prospect, his mind instinctively shifted to the memory of that girl on the throne.