The Empire Victorious. She will change Fódlan for the better.
The Kingdom Victorious. He will heal all the pain Fódlan suffered.
The Alliance Victorious. He will unite all countries under a banner of peace.
The Church Victorious. She will lead Fódlan into a brighter future.
...
Then the moon bathed in boiled blood.
She watched as her ambitions and her people were overwhelmed by seas of monsters that would never understand her emotions.
He screamed as the nightmare returned and he was once more a powerless boy in a massacre. He did not survive this time.
All his plans, all his achievements, and his eardrums, they shattered from one unearthly roar.
She was the goddess, unaware of the poison seeping into the land almost a millennium ago.
The goddess reincarnate stood alone under the crimson sky, the final sky.
The last of her strength could only let her stand, let alone lift the blade she was using to support her stance.
It was there, The Beast of the Blood Oath Moon.
"W-What," She gasped, her body starting to fail by just speaking. "What are you!?"
"More than thrice, you asked that question." The voice was like a cold pillow after a hot day, welcoming and soft. It betrayed the image of power and destruction only moments ago. "You asked it once when Empire Victorious. A second after Kingdom Victorious. The third in Alliance Victorious. Here, at last, you ask in Church Victorious."
She did not understand. The Empire failed, The Kingdom broke down, and The Alliance abandoned. However, something told her those three dead powers did win somewhere or somewhen?
The moon started to crack like glass. The cracks spread through the sky and broke off, looking like falling stars into the seas of darkness. She was watching the death of The Sky.
"My answer remains: I have no name to give, for there shall be no names henceforth."
And with that, the goddess died, drowned in blood and darkness.
As the light started to fade, the beast looked up.
"Time has failed to stop me more than thrice. What shall you do, Final Avatar? What will you do to prevent... or ensure... me?"
The worlds died, and the dead, the distorted voices of the students and teachers, they all screamed,
"The Nameless Victorious. Forevermore!"
My eyes snapped open, and I stood up from the floor as fast as my body made me move. I gasped for air even though my body refused to breathe, and my chest felt like it was about to explode from my heartbeats.
What was that nightmare!? I-I-no! Why can't I remember it!? Damnit! That felt like a clue to why I'm here!
Damn, I can't remember the dream. I am pissed and wide awake right now; it's just what I needed. I shook my head and walked towards the window. I need to focus on something else before I get bloody ticked off for no reason.
I don't know what it was about being a wolf and full moons, but here I was, sitting under a window wide awake and staring up at the moon when I should be sleeping like Byleth. In this world, it's much bigger than it is in my home. Most of the time, all I saw were gray clouds.
Byleth was in her bed, getting all the rest she could before her first day as the professor of this academy. I wonder why Rhea seemed so adamant about letting a near-stranger become a professor of a renowned school.
It doesn't make any sense to do that. But Jeralt was quick to warn Byleth, and by extension me, since I was there, that we shouldn't trust Rhea. Adding these two facts together point to something bigger that's deep beneath the surface. If there's a mystery, someone's going to try and solve it. Since Byleth is now a teacher and Jeralt is back with the knights, it falls to me, Archie Burke, Wolf Detective, to crack the case!
Also, I pretty much have nothing better to do. Who knows? This detective work might have a clue as to why I'm here in a wolf's body, perhaps find a reminder and hint of my dream even. It's easy enough for me to leave the room, I bite the doorknob after climbing the door to turn it. I make sure the door closes behind me before I enter into the world of Garreg Monastery at night. The first thing I noticed was the dead silence compared to the hustle and bustle when it was day time. As a wolf, I'm lower to the ground, which means I can't see things as well as if I was still six feet tall. It does mean that I'm going to need a birds eye's view to fix that problem. Luckily for me, this new body makes those parkour videos look like amateurs.
I spot and climb some boxes until I reach the dorm roof. A night mountain wind blows against every hair of my fur, which makes the wolf body feel so at home. Then I see beyond where there's like this 20 to 30 meters gap between this building to the next building. I feel a smile on my lips as I back up to the opposite end of the roof. The smile remains as I crouch low, my legs tense, and before I can keep track, I'm already running at my max speed. It's far too late to back out now, so I lean in.
Then I take a literal leap of faith. For a single second, everything slows down. I feel my heart rate slow down while my mind subconsciously calculates that I didn't put enough power into my leap. The other building is coming closer, but I'm already lowering more than I want to. At the last second, I'm able to reach the other end of the building, missing one of my hind legs in the landing, but able to push myself into the other roof.
You think that would stop me. Instead, my adrenaline kicks in, and I break into another sprint again. It's an experience finding out I'm addicted to adrenaline rushes. That or I'm making my self an addict by doing these things the first time. I should focus before my thoughts go wild as my run. I end up doing parkour, jumping on side roofs and several wooden catwalks like a madman while never touching the earth again. All the while, I'm memorizing and mapping out Garreg Mach Monastery.
The end of my run leads me to Reception Hall, a three-story building that's the second tallest building here outside of the Cathedral. When I got closer to the building, I noticed something on the second floor. There was light from a candle shining from one of the windows. So far, besides me and night patrol, I haven't seen anyone in there. The night patrol carries lanterns, and their lights are brighter. This candlelight is dim to the point where I wouldn't have noticed as a human. A few leaps later, I head up to the window.
Imagine my surprise to see Prince Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd reading a book with his eyes narrowed his focus like that of a laser. There's this dark grimace on his face that doesn't look at all like his usual appearance. Then again, we all have secrets.
I'll keep that in mind. I'm willing to bet that this has something to do with Dimitri's fall to insanity. Great, I have to witness this in person. I am not looking forward to that.
Something else catches my attention. For a second, I thought I spotted white, black, and red turn a corner near the class buildings. The only one I know with those colors is Edelgard.
A few jumps down later, I can't see or smell any sign of the imperial princess. What was she doing out at night? I guess all that's left is if I happen to see Claude sneaking around, which he's doing right now as I'm thinking of it.
The curious thing is that he's sneaking in back to his dorms. What did he do? He does look like the type that's always thinking.
Hmm, there's a lot to take in. But I'm also ignoring the elephant in the room, or in my case, the wolf in the field.
Why and how am I here?
As I wonder about all these new questions and how to start hunting for answers, I decide to sneak back into Byleth's room.
I need something new to point me in the right direction for all these cases, but what?
"Never have I ever seen a mutt capable of using human tools so well."
I blinked after I opened the door again.
The floating green-haired, pointed-eared girl floated over to me. "That is curious. You can see and hear me, can you?"
Oh, so Sothis is a ghost after all. And besides Byleth, I can see and hear her. Yeah. Sure. Why not?
What is this nonsense?
"What is this nonsense!? I was told to kill as many noble pipsqueaks as possible! No one said anything about the Knights of damned Seiros being on our trail!" Kostas screamed as he vented out his frustrations.
"You proved yourself worthless for being distracted by something so trivial." In front of Kostas was a figure in strange but exotic and powerful armor. He wore a mask that had painted flames and wore a cloak that covered his body. "I had hoped you would achieve your goal despite the setback. Instead, the long-lost captain of the knights returned, along with their child. Something is interesting about them at least."
Kostas didn't like that they weren't planning revenge right off the bat. "Hey, this isn't what I agreed to!"
The mysterious masked figure ignored the bandit in front. "To hire a mercenary as a professor? What was that woman thinking?" Although he said that, there was something in his voice that seemed almost happy about it.
"Are you listening to me!?" Now Kostas was more annoyed. "How do we finish this!?"
"The only thing finished is you."
"W-What!?" Kostas flinched from the power of that one sentence.
"Underestimating the knights was an amateur mistake, one that you will pay for dearly. The road to eternal torment awaits you. I only hope your replacements aren't as stupid." In a blink of an eye, the masked figure vanished.
Kostas ran to the empty spot. "Wait! Damn you! Get back here!" He screamed and wailed. When silence was his only response, he grunted and punched the rock next to him.
"No! No, this can't be how it ends!" The bandit leader tried to tell himself that.
"Do forgive my friend. He can be unnecessarily harsh. There is still something we can do to help you."
Kostas turned his head from the sound of the new, but friendly sounding voice. His eyes narrowed. "What the hell is with you people and masks?!"
The new person in front of Kostas was also wearing a mask. However, that seemed to be the only similarity they shared. This figure was wearing a white collared shirt with a long black overcoat that was long enough to have black coattails. His dress pants and had black on the right side, white on the left. His dress shoes were also different. His left foot had a black shoe, and his right foot had a white shoe. What made him a little different was that he wore a gray top hat over his head and mask. Unlike the last figure, this new man's mask was an empty gray slate. There wasn't any marking on it whatsoever.
"What?" This new man was also far more expressive than the last stranger. "I have a mask on?" Kostas raised his brow as the man reached for his face, showing that he had a white glove on his right hand and a black glove on his left hand. Even though he was wearing a mask, the bandit leader ould feel genuine surprise on the new stranger's face.
"Oh hey; I do! When the heck did I put it on?" He tilted his head, but he didn't take off the mask. "Ah well, it's not like it's any different without it."
A period of silence passed after this new stranger said this. Kostas raised his brow as he waited for him to keep talking.
He didn't.
"Hey! Why are you silent?!" The bandit leader screamed at him.
The masked figure tilted his head towards Kostas. "Huh? Who are you?"
Kostas could only drop his jaw at the question. "Are you messing with me!? You just said you'd help me!" He was this close to taking out his weapon and using it to cleave the guy in two right then and there.
"I did?" Kostas could feel the man's brow raise before he snapped his head around. The man seemed surprised and looked around him with urgency. "Whoa! Where the heck am I?!"
"You are messing with me!" Kostas took out his weapon. "I'll kill you!"
"Wait!" The man shouted by throwing out his two hands. "I'm sorry to confuse you. I think I know whats going on. You see, my mind doesn't work as most do. Things I should remember like an hour ago, I don't." He reached for something in his long coat. "And curiously, things I don't remember, I know."
When this stranger took out his hand, there was a glass vial of deep pink-purple ooze in it. "For example, this drink can give you power like you would not believe."
"Power?" Kostas trailed his eyes towards the vial. There was something about it, even in this cloudy night, that made it look like it was glowing. While the bandit leader was staring at the vial, he felt like he was falling into a trance. His ears started to pick up whispers, but that was impossible since a liquid couldn't speak.
The bandit leader shook his head, then pointed at the glass flask. "What is that?"
"What's what?" The second masked stranger repeated.
Kostas felt his face falling into a deadpan. "That vial you're holding!" He pointed again.
"I'm holding a vial?" The one time Kostas was trying to be patient, and it was bitting him in the butt hard. "Whoa! Look at that! It's all glowy and stuff!" The masked man looked to Kostas with a glance as blank as his mask. "Who are you again?"
"Kostas!" The man stomped his foot.
"Oh." The masked figure took another second to absorb the information. "Well, you see, Costco,"
"Kostas!" The bandit leader interrupted.
"Constantinople," The masked stranger went on before Kostas could correct him again, "All you need to do is drink this vial, and you get something that everyone wants: a Crest."
The bandit's anger vanished and became replaced with disbelief and confusion. "T-That's impossible! Only royals are born with Crests!"
"Wrong," That one word seemed to be like flipping a switch. The tone and air around the stranger shifted as he caressed the vial in his hands. "Many don't understand how blood works. I don't remember how I understand, but I as I said: things I don't remember, I know."
Kostas felt a chill come up his spine. He almost wished that the flame mask was back. But at the same time, was this real?
Was it as real as the threat of the Knights of Seiros about to kill him? "That flask, it can give me a crest like the Ten Elites? Or the Four Saints?"
The masked stranger stepped forward to him and held out the hand with the flask. "Oh no, nothing as weak as those."
Kostas couldn't believe it.
But he also didn't want to die.
The bandit leader reached for the vial but stopped short. He looked up and asked, "Who are you?"
The pause in the air was different than before. Kostas couldn't read the stranger in front of him because of the mask, but he swore there was a smile behind it, one that smiled because of something grand a bandit like him couldn't hope to understand.
"Romulus. Wait—no." Kostas frowned when he heard the much sillier tone come back out. "That name is taken. Archie Burke? No, I feel like I've heard that name before. Did I forget my name again? I swore I wrote it down. Right! I wrote it down!"
Kostas lost all interest as the man fished his pockets for a piece of paper.
"Ah, here it is! My name is—"
"Gimme the damn vial."
Byleth was an early riser. She's used to her father's strict training ever since she could hold a blade. What she wasn't used to was that the first thing she saw when she woke up was a ghost girl staring at her wolf-dog.
"Now, be a good dog and roll over!" Haughty for a ghost that could manipulate time, huh? "Why aren't you listening, are you deaf? I know you aren't!"
Remus gave a sad whine noise before looking over to Byleth. The action made the ghost girl do the same. "Finally, I see you're awake."
"Sothis?" Byleth got up from her bed, already feeling a headache incoming.
"It has taken me a while, but I've decided to see more than just through your human eyes." She gave a little twirl but beamed with pride as if she had won first in a marathon. "Does my form not amaze you?"
Byleth wished harder than anyone at that moment that she could go back to bed.
Alas, she had work to do.
Byleth never went to school. Jeralt homeschooled her, as much as homeschool could teach when they were traveling the continent. Does it count as homeschool when she never had a real home? Is this something regular schools taught? Why did Rhea hire her as a professor?
"Garreg Mach Monastery is a rather grand place. I quite like it here."
"Awwhoo!"
"It could do without all the scamps littered about." Even though there were a lot of stray cats and dogs around, Sothis so obviously meant Remus.
And why was a ghost girl that no one but her wolf and she could see and hear following her around?
With all these questions, Byleth supposed she should be a student than a professor.
In the early dawn, Byleth met with Professor Hanneman and Professor Manuela. They gave her some excellent advice when they weren't arguing about everything that annoyed each other.
So basically, she learned nothing from her peers that were supposed to help her.
She already missed her days of being a mercenary with the only thing she had to worry about was Remus attacking random squirrels.
Byleth made her way towards her first class of the day. She entered the massive auditorium and couldn't help but feel a little culture-shocked. She has been to mansions before by some jobs her father took for nobles, but those grand places were gaudy and a show of wealth. The classroom was for teaching fresh minds about the future. Byleth could understand that much. What she couldn't wrap her head around was the fact she was teaching people her age! Not only that, these were people who would lead the future of all three major powers in this continent! She would repeat the question because it always tied to it: what was Rhea thinking making her a teacher?
By the time she entered, even though it was early, there were eight students already there, including one familiar face.
"Professor Eisner!" Dimitri called out before he and the other Blue Lions followed to crowd around her. "I meant to introduce you to everyone during the tea party." There was a silent emotion that came out with those last two words, along with a reminder to get Claude back.
Dimitri helped introduce the 'head' members of the Blue Lions. The introductions dragged on with side commentary and banter that ranged from events in the disaster to personal quirks. Despite most coming from noble lineage, most of the Blue Lions acted very down to earth. Their introduction did take a lot of time as now other students tricked into the class. The morning class soon would start.
Remus and Sothis noticed Byleth. She seemed frozen, her expression emptier than usual.
"Professor?" They both looked back to see Dimitri, who turned around from walking away. There was a second of silence while he turned back to her before his eyes widened. "Ah, forgive me. I was so excited to have you teach that I forgot that you have never done this before. However, I am not worried. I believe you will do spectacularly."
Byleth blinked. "Thank you for your show of faith." With that, she turned to her podium while Dimitri went to take his seat.
The school bell rang, and the classroom filled with over a hundred students. Byleth let another second pass so everyone could focus on her.
She inhaled then spoke her first words as a teacher. "The only ones who should kill are those ready to be killed."
Archie blinked at the familiar phrase while the rest did not expect blunt and dark words to be the first things they heard that morning, but Byleth continued. "Those were the first words my father taught me, and all of his recruits before he started training us. They are not pretty, and it's not meant to be. However, these words have made many of Jeralt's mercenaries formidable warriors because of mentality. My father's words remind us that we can die at any moment and that we must do all that we can to survive because, in a battle, you and your enemy are doing the same actions: making sure you live while making sure your enemy doesn't. As your professor, my job is to make sure you do it better than your enemies." She pointed out with a hand. "I will be harsh. I will be strict, but if I do not do this, you will find yourself losing more than just your life when and if you participate in a real battle: you may cause the loss of your allies or be the reason for defeat."
Byleth paused and let her students absorb her introduction speech. "With that in mind, let us begin."
"And that's when I said, 'That's not a rabid raccoon: that's my wife'!"
Kostas refused to believe his ears at that moment. There was no way his men were laughing at that horrible joke the masked amnesiac just made. However, with how this canyon worked, he could also hear the echoes of their laughter through this damned place.
"You're married?"
"I am?" The masked stranger responded to the question with another question. That was the man in a nutshell: no answers and a lot of questions.
Alright, he had enough of this. "Hey! Masked freak! Get your ass over here! You said we needed to get to the Red Canyon as quickly as possible!"
"Ah! Righty-o, Koala! See ya later mates we'll moon slide into the Jabberwock!" He gave the other bandits finger gun motions while the others waved goodbye and continued to party and drink. As this masked amnesiac walked up to Kostas, he said something of interest. "I have no idea what I just said and did." Okay, it wasn't of interest, but the stranger did find it interesting himself.
It took a lot for Kostas not to slap his forehead at that moment. "Hurry up and find that last ingredient! We're sitting ducks here!"
"No, you have an advantage here." He walked past the bandit leader. "They're going to attack in at least a month, and by then, these ruins will make an excellent base for you. It'll also give me enough time to set up a future project."
"How do you know they'll attack in a month?" Kostas followed after the stranger.
"They'll attack in a month? How'd you know that?" At this point, Kostas just rolled his eyes. Everything about this man was just confusing, even to the man himself! How did this man lead them away from the Knights of Seiros?
It was weird; the last guy was all show and hot air. This second guy was even getting close and personal with not just him but his men. Both had these larger than life personalities. Kostas was a bandit, but he figured out something big was going on with these masked freaks. He should have never got involved with them, but the promise of riches made him bite like a fish to the hooked bait.
Then again, this was probably better than being left for dead by the other guy.
The man and Kostas kept walking past their camp until they reached the ruins of some large building. The bandit leader watched as the masked amnesiac walked to the center of the building. He crouched low, placing his left hand on the ground.
And then the ground started to glow.
Kostas took a step back as a light circle started to form around the stranger. The ground rumbled until the circle was complete. The very earth opened up and created a downward spiral staircase. The stranger put his hands behind his back before he walked down the stairs. Kostas could only gape at the secret entrance before a voice called out from the hole, "Coca-cola! Hey, where'd you go?"
At that point, a small part of Kostas' brain started to wonder if being left for dead was the better option.
Kostas followed the stranger down the staircase. Kostas descended, and as he did, he noticed the ground was no longer earth and dirt. It started to look like metal, steel, and what were these lines of light in between them?
The bandit leader heard the sound of the stranger's humming down below him. When he reached the end, he saw something he couldn't quite comprehend. The hallway felt ancient, but they felt so new to him. But the walls were torn and ripped apart by something that looked nothing like a sword or ax. Steel desks littered the hallway floor while strange glass looking chalkboards were attached to these broken walls. The chalkboards had faded, but almost alien symbols on them. Kostas had to watch his feet because it looked like he was stepping on small glass.
At the end of the hallway was a door with a symbol Kostas could recognize: the Sieros Symbol, even if it looked slightly different. The masked stranger was waiting for him in front of it.
"What the hell is this place?" Kostas looked around. Every fiber of his body wailed at him; screamed at him to get out of there and never look back.
"Your question is a good as mine." The bandit leader was about to yell. He was sick and tired of not getting any answers, and this was dancing on his last nerve.
But he didn't. Kostas didn't do any of that because of the tone on the stranger's voice. It sounded serious, almost melancholic? His instincts told him now was not the time to lose his patience lest he loses something that won't come back.
The stranger with a top hat placed his hand on the door. When he did, there was a low humming noise before the giant symbol on the door glowed and opened up.
Broken was the word used to describe the hallway. Kostas didn't know any word, even though he didn't have an impressive vocabulary, to describe the room he saw.
All he saw were piles of dust, but something in his mind told him that it was once something else.
The stranger walked into the room and swung his right arm. There was a soft hum of magic followed by a pile of dust that blew over.
"Ah, good. It's here," The masked stranger knelt to something on the ground. Kostas sidestepped to see what the man was doing. He was able to get a better view of what the man was cradling: a sapling with golden leaves.
The stranger stood back up and turned to the bandit leader.
"Alright, Kostas," For the first time in his life, the bandit leader did not want to hear the sound of his name. "Let us begin."
A/N: I think I'm cutting this chapter a little short.
Anyway, I introduced a new villain! Whooo! I hope you all like him even though I haven't revealed his 'name' yet. (Hehe a nameless person eh? Does that get your brain cranking? Is it really so simple? Or is there something wrong with this idea like the character himself?) I had a lot of fun writing an amnesiac for a villain! I have a lot of exciting ideas for him. I hope you'll like it. Also, I already said this in a PM, but I'm not making him out of anywhere, I made sure that he could have reasonably existed in the game under a different set of circumstances. I did that because I don't want to undermine what's already written for the story, but rather add to it.
Special: The Training Montage.
Masked Amnesiac: Let's get down to business, to defeat The Knights!~
(Kostas' bandits line up, but all of them can't even form a straight line.)
Masked Amnesiac: Did they send me children, when I asked for adults?!~
(They try and do a few simple drills, but barely anyone besides Kostas can do it.)
Masked Amnesiac: You're the saddest bunch I've ever met, but you can bet before we're through!~
(MA walks up to a runt of a bandit and looms over him.)
Masked Amnesiac: Sonny, I'll make a knight out of you!~
Bandit: Wait, but I thought we were trying to beat the knights—
Masked Amnesiac: Don't interrupt my groove!
Byleth: Tranquil as a forest but on fire within!~
Sothis: (In disbelief.) Is she singing?
Archie/Remus: *confused whines* (Meanwhile, his mind wonders if he's gone insane again to hear a familiar song.)
Byleth: Once you find your center, you are sure to win!~
(The Three Houses are forced to run laps around Garreg Mach. Many but the physically active fall in the first lap.)
Byleth: You're a spineless, pale, pathetic lot, and you haven't got a clue!~
Somehow I'll make a Knight out of you!
Sothis: I believe a corpse is what she's making them out to be.
Ignatz: I'm never gonna catch my breath!
Sylvain: Say goodbye to those ladies who knew me!
Kostas: Boy, was I a fool in school for leaving it all!
Claude: Teach's got 'em scared to death!
Dimitri: Hope she doesn't see right through me!
Edelgard: Now I really wish that I knew how to swim!
Chorus: (Bandits and Students) Be a Knight!
We must be swift as the coursing river!
Be a Knight!
With all the force of a great typhoon!
Be a Knight!
With all the strength of a raging fire
Mysterious as the dark side of the moon!
A/N: Please don't ask why I made that last extra. I have no answer to give. I don't think, even for this story, that Byleth and the others would sing randomly as fun as I want to believe otherwise. However, Masked Amnesiac man would. He would in a heartbeat. After all, everyone knows great villains have great singing voices.
Byleth: The Bi Queen. (Not Canon to this story!)
I knew Byleth was hot, but what I couldn't bloody understand was that everyone else was smitten with Byleth. I should have seen it sooner when the Goddess Tower opened, over 20 students all followed after Byleth when she went in.
Instead of praying like the stories, they all ended up doing extra homework from an impromptu class.
I know she's the main character, but she's able to put harem protagonists to shame when five years later: she's even wooed all of the Knights of Seiros except Alois!
See, now that we've restored peace to the world, Byleth is now the Archbishop.
Guess what her first new rule was?
Go on. Guess.
I'll give you a hint: since Alois believes himself to be Byleth's unofficial older brother, he's ecstatic at the fact he's going to have so many new step-siblings.
Goddess bless that loveable man.
That's right. Her first act as Archbishop? Allow Polygamy.
You would think there might be some people against this idea! There were until they met Byleth in person. Now they're just jealous they couldn't be a part of her Harem, which includes Rhea, her grandmother/daughter! Fire Emblem how do you keep coming up with these kinks!?
At this point, I realized that the people of this world aren't intricate people with complex emotions and ties that start a war for their ironclad beliefs. They're all just horny people who have too much pent up aggression and need a mass orgy for release.
And if that's true, it means my reason for coming to this world and being turned into a wolf was so that I could be her wingman!
Prove me wrong. By all the gods of the multiverses, prove me wrong damnit!
A/N: A comic dub I saw online compelled me to write this second extra. But no seriously, call me stupid and tell me a good reason why everyone doesn't just need to get boned by Byleth to be a better person and not make stupid mistakes.
Please.