AO3 tags: Alternate Universe - College/University, Slice of Life, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Earth, Alternate Character Interpretation

A/Ns:

Also please be aware that Edelgard and Hubert are pretty different from canon as Edelgard is based on my personal interpretation of her. This Hubert is gonna be a lot softer and kinder than canon since, well, he didn't have to grow up fending off assassins and learning dark magic along with torture techniques.

Some last names have been changed in order to better fit with first name etymologies or just to be a bit more cohesive with modern US culture as to Fodlan.

"Evi" is also Edelgard's birth name in this AU, but she changed it legally to distance herself from her family. She also has her brown hair, not the white hair since she never went through the Crest experiments.

Even though this is a modern-day Earth AU, no hair/eye colors will be changed.

And obligatory song lyrics:

i will break these chains that bind me, happiness will find me
leave the past behind me, today my life begins
a whole new world is waiting it's mine for the takin
i know i can make it, today my life begins

yesterday has come and gone
and i've learnt how to leave it where it is
and i see that i was wrong
for ever doubting i could win

"Get out." The sound of a book being slammed into a trash can reverberated through the room. Evi's eyes helplessly followed her father's hand as it tossed the copy of the CES Letter that Hubert had bought her in the trash. She'd spent hours reading over it and marking it up. She'd gone on tons of other resources to see what could be said about the issues... She had never really believed but to learn all she had about Joseph Smith... "You're no longer my daughter. Take your clothes and leave. The apostates have clearly invaded your mind."

"But Father—"

"No buts, Evi. Leave now. You're old enough to find your way in the world." Her gaze fell and she got up from the chair. She went to her room and got a suitcase out. Where was she going to go? She had no idea. She didn't even have a car. Her family could've afforded one, but she doubted he would've let her take it with her. It would've been under his name, not hers. What would she do? Where would she go? She had no real marketable skills. She hadn't even had so much as an entry-level job in something like working customer service or anything. The only money she had was the allowance that her father gave her every week. She tried to save, but getting to and from on the public transit systems of Salt Lake was most of her money.

She pulled her phone out and frowned. The line would probably be cut off soon now that she was disowned. But there was one person she could call... Quickly, she hit his number. One ring... Two rings... A click.

"What is it, Evi?" Hubert's voice answered and she breathed a sigh of relief. She was glad he was always there for her. He was three years older than her, but he was still her best friend. Even if his loyalty was mainly borne of her being his charge. She just hoped that he wouldn't leave her either... She would have nowhere else to turn but the streets. She couldn't imagine being homeless but, if Hubert left, then she would have nowhere else to turn.

"My father just kicked me out... I don't know what to do." She held the phone between her shoulder and cheek to try to keep it in place. "I'm packing... All I'll have are my clothes." She wouldn't even have money for a hotel that night. She wasn't trying to mooch off of Hubert since she knew he had savings. She just... Who else could she turn to? Her mother wasn't about to leave her father... She believed wholeheartedly the priesthood holder would get her and their children to the Celestial Kingdom... She hated all of this. She should never have brought it up, but she didn't want to be a polygamous bride. She would've been in the next year or so if she hadn't done this.

"I'll be there in twenty minutes." Hubert paused. "If you're leaving, then so am I."

She blinked and stared. "But Hubert... Don't put your own standing in jeopardy. You're the heir to your father's company. You should take over—"

"And not have you in my life? Are you crazy?" She sighed. He had been raised to be incredibly loyal to her and only her. She was thankful he wasn't leaving her, but she didn't want him to get in trouble with his father either. The Vestra Security Company would be a great way for him to be stable once his father retired. She really had no reason for him to leave. He shouldn't jeopardise his standing... If he left, then he'd be knocked out of the corporation and lose his steady job. He got paid for basically every hour he spent around her, so he had pretty good savings…

"Are you sure...? I don't want to mooch off your dime..." This felt wrong. She was from a plenty wealthy family, but she barely got anything, kind of just enough to be able to get to and from school for the week with maybe some extra for spending. It was a way to control her. She knew that much. She wasn't supposed to have a job. She was just supposed to have babies and raise them in the restored gospel...even though she didn't believe it and never really had. But she would have been married off within the next year or two had she not done this... She was trapped either way.

"I have plenty that should hold us over for a while until we can get all of this sorted. Anyway, I'll talk to you when I get there." The call clicked off and she finished packing what she could fit in the suitcase. She went outside and sat on the curb, though Juliane, her mother, walked out.

"Evi... I'm so sorry... I wish I could do more for you..." Juliane sat next to her and wrapped her arms around her. Tears sprang to Evi's eyes. She would miss her mother so much. She had been nothing but wonderful and supportive her entire life. She hated doing this to her mother... She had thought her father loved her unconditionally, but nothing could be further from the truth apparently... If she wasn't fully submissive to the gospel, then she apparently meant nothing to him. Why was he so cruel?

"I know... I know you'd help me if you could but... Hubert's coming to get me." Juliane was a stay-at-home mother without her own account or anything of the like. She lived entirely by what her father gave to her. Not that much better off than Evi herself. She had five children. "Don't step away because of me... You have four other kids that need you..." She would never see her brothers and sisters again after this. Once apostate, always apostate. Hubert wasn't part of the Church, but their families had been intertwined since the Hase family had arrived in Utah in the 1920s... She was glad that she did have somebody so loyal to her that would help her figure out life outside of her small bubble.

"Evi... I'm going to miss you..." Juliane assaulted her head with kisses, making more tears spring to her eyes. Oh she was going to miss her mother so much. She was going to miss her siblings. No matter what she did, she was going to be trapped. She didn't want to be in some polygamous marriage. But to lose her whole family... The cost felt too high. If she'd rebelled against the marriage, she probably would've been tossed out too. There was really no winning here for her. And she didn't even have the comfort of seeing her family in the Celestial Kingdom... She had never truly believed any of that. Oh, this pained her so much.

"I'm going to miss you too, Mother..." And so they sat there for a while until a slick back car pulled up. Evi looked back at her mother and stood up, then gave her one last hug. Hubert got out and took her suitcase, then put it in the trunk.

"I truly am sorry about this, Mrs. Hase... If there were any other way... But she will be well cared for; I promise you that." Hubert put his hand at his waist and bowed to her mother.

"I trust you'll take good care of her, Hubert. You always have." Juliane smiled as best she could, but Evi could see it didn't really reach her eyes. The tears rolled down Evi's cheeks but she turned her back and got in the car. She clicked her seatbelt on and turned her head away from the house. She couldn't bear to see her mother's longing looks and possibly the tears. She wanted her last image of her to be smiling. Even if that smile hadn't been true or heart felt. It was better than seeing her mother crying and upset.

Within five minutes, they pulled out of the gated community and it really hit her. She buried her face in her hands, starting to sob. There was no winning here. She knew it. But she wished there was. Her father wouldn't want any of them having contact with her. Even her younger sibling, five years younger than her, born to the third wife. She would miss all of them even if there had often been disagreements between the women and even her siblings. Tobias... Oh Tobias... Her best friend despite him being fifteen years older. He had shown her so much good in the world.

But she was an apostate now. She couldn't be polluting the minds of her pure siblings who still believed. She would have to cut contact entirely whether they wanted to or not. Maybe she could stay in touch with Tobias though... He was very much an adult with his own life... Maybe he would stay in touch with her. She could hope and pray but she would never know.

For a while, things were silent as Hubert drove, but he eventually stopped in front of a store. He wrapped his arms around her and she sobbed. Hard. How could her own family be so cruel? Well... she knew the risks of being an apostate. It had been extolled to them for as long as they were in the church. Even youth firesides said anybody that left the church would lose literally everything. That only happiness could be found inside. And, within her family's group, happiness could only be found if a woman submitted to her husband fully just like a man submitted to Jesus.

"I'm so sorry..." Hubert's voice was soft as he ran a hand through her hair. "I know it's small comfort, but I won't leave you no matter what, Evi. You are my charge and my friend. No matter what slander my father may throw at me, you will always have my loyalty." That just made the tears roll down her face harder. She wrapped her arms around him, clinging tightly. She had no idea how to navigate the real world on her own. She'd been entrenched in the church and its teachings her entire life. She had never believed but she'd done everything that was expected of a young woman. She had no idea how to start deconstructing or even get a job. She didn't have a car. As long as she lived in Salt Lake, though, she could at least use the public transit systems. But how would she find a job...?

"Thank you, Hubert... I don't know what I'd do without you." She really didn't. "Will you help me find a job and open my own accounts and such?" She would lean on his guidance heavily for a while. She had no idea what to do. She had never been allowed to drive or anything like that. She didn't even know how to get a license which would be integral to her gaining her full independence. She knew he had his own job but he might end up being fired from that. She just... She hated what religion could do to people. Like she'd heard so often on Mormon Stories, it often took religion to get good people to do bad things.

"I'll be by your side for as long as you need me." She nodded and rested her head against his chest, eventually crying herself out. What a mess she'd made of her life...

Two years later...

Edelgard stood outside of the storage facility and looked at Hubert. "Well, a new chapter in our life starts today." For as long as she'd lived, she'd never thought she'd leave Utah. It was where she'd been born and raised. She knew how to deal with most things thrown her way as long as it was in her realm. The past two years had been...a lot. A lot of learning, a lot of deconstructing, a lot of adapting and overcoming. Thankfully, she'd somehow managed to survive it all. She felt bad leaving her old job, but she'd been accepted at Willow Parks University for her degree. She hoped that she'd be able to pursue social work there... She wanted to help people that had slipped through the cracks if at all possible... There were so many people that suffered. If it hadn't been for Hubert, she would've crashed and bured and been living on the streets.

"I'll try to stay with you, but if I fall behind, we'll just meet up at the planned hotel, all right?" Edelgard nodded at Hubert's words. He would be driving the U-Haul with their meager personal possessions. They'd lived pretty light for the past two years in an apartment he had rented, so it wasn't a huge truck. His car sat on the back of the truck's dolly, being towed by the trailer truck.

With that, she got in her car and started the engine. She was moving halfway across the country and moving in with people she had only ever spoken to through a few phone calls and texts. The young man named Dimitri seemed fairly kind though... He would be their roommate in the two-bedroom home they'd be renting once she reached Fayette Springs. Southeastern Michigan... That was going to be a far cry from Utah. But she was excited... The life she had fought so hard for was finally becoming her own... The past two years had been floundering and trying to figure things out, but now she hopefully had a clear course...