So, Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes wasn't the game I wanted it to be. Mechanically, it's fine, but I don't like the story or the new lore all that much, Claude got completely character-assassinated, and the Nabateans got shafted. Considering that my favorite characters are the Nabateans, I wasn't particularly pleased with that. Still hoping for a DLC Church route, but I'm not impressed with the odds.
To ease my disappointment, I turn to fanfics. And The Birth of New Legends on Spacebattles is a good one, but unfortunately it got abandoned early in. So, why don't I try something similar? It's not like I'm that swamped.
I know this first chapter is mostly just like the first chapter of that fic, but we'll diverge soon enough.
"Lady Rhea! The students have returned!" the Gatekeeper reported, and Rhea silently gave thanks.
Fourteen days ago, the 24 students of the Officer's Academy had been set to go on an expedition. However, the night before the expedition, every single one had vanished without a trace. No signs of a struggle, just gone.
"All of them? Including Flayn?" That was Seteth. Even more concerning had been the fact that Flayn had also gone missing. So had Cyril, Rhea's ward and self-appointed doer of odd jobs within Garreg Mach. Rhea was fond of Cyril, but he was an ordinary boy; the only reason he might have been taken is if he had been a witness to the abduction of the others, she reasoned. Flayn, though? Maybe she had been taken for ransom, Rhea had reasoned, as she was supposedly the sister of her right-hand man. But Rhea and Seteth had feared that it might be because the kidnappers knew her true identity.
For two weeks, the Church had searched high and low for the students, to no avail, and it had seemed like war could potentially break out. Coincidence or not, they had found Jeralt's mercenary company in a nearby village, and he hadn't been able to leave the missing children to their fates. But even finding her mother's vessel had been cold comfort for Rhea with the threat of war looming, children potentially in danger, and one of her few family members missing.
Jeralt had located a bandit camp in Zanado (how dare they), and had found a missing student in their captivity, but she had not been from the current class. Rather, she was a student from the previous year, Monica von Ochs. Monica had pointed the finger at Tomas, the Academy librarian, as her kidnapper, and there was currently a continent-wide manhunt going on for the old man. But even with a suspect, Rhea's worries had not abated, especially as Monica could not recall Tomas having brought anyone else to his hideout.
"Yes, all of them," the Gatekeeper reported, and Seteth sighed with relief. "I can personally confirm that all twenty-six missing persons are accounted for. Along with a twenty-seventh who hadn't been reported missing. A local, I would guess."
Thank the Goddess. "That is excellent news."
"There's more," the Gatekeeper continued. "I don't know how to report this, but the students, Miss Flayn, Mister Cyril, and the other girl are accompanied by two individuals claiming responsibility for returning the students to Garreg Mach. The students all vouched for the claim."
"Well then, by all means, we should thank them," Rhea said. "Who are they?"
"They claim to be Princess Zelda of the Kingdom of Hyrule and her appointed knight," the Gatekeeper informed her.
"Did you say 'Hyrule'?" Seteth asked, seemingly concerned. Rhea couldn't blame him; her mother had told her stories of Hyrule, of the mortal incarnation of her counterpart Hylia and her hero who defended it from terrible threats. It was a land cursed by a dying god of evil to never know a lasting peace, and if the students had been there, it was cause for concern.
"Indeed," the Gatekeeper confirmed. "I had thought it a fabrication, after all, Fódlan has no knowledge of any Kingdom of Hyrule, but the students confirmed their identities to be legitimate."
"I have actually heard stories of Hyrule," Seteth told him. "You said the princess was named Zelda? Tell me, the Hylians. Do they have pointed ears?"
"They do," the Gatekeeper confirmed. "I assume it's a Hylian racial trait, like the brown skin of the Almyrans?"
"It is," Rhea confirmed. "I would like to meet with the Hylians, as well as the missing students. Please let them know that we will be along shortly."
"Yes, Your Holiness," the Gatekeeper nodded enthusiastically, and went to do so.
As he left, the two Nabateans shared looks of concern. "Rhea, as glad as I am that Flayn is back, if Hyrule is involved, the situation may have become much more complicated than we anticipated. The place is a land of constant danger. If Flayn were to be caught up in one of the land's great disasters..."
"Let's not rush to judgement before we know more about the situation," Rhea told him. "It may be that the worst has already passed."
"And if it hasn't?" Seteth asked.
"We will address problems as they arise," Rhea told him. "For now, let us see what fate has in store for us."
Not long after, Rhea and Seteth entered the cathedral. At the pews were twenty-seven youths chatting amongst themselves, with guards overseeing them. The church had been emptied save for the youths, their guests, and the guards. And Rhea was taken aback by the youths' appearance.
They did resemble the missing students, yes. However, the youths seemed a few years older than they had been before. Many of them bore scars, and all wore unusual clothes and armor. The guards had collected an assortment of weapons, most of which were unusual and some of which appeared to incorporate advanced technology, the like of which Rhea had not seen in a very long time. "So the stories of Hyrule's unusual relationship with time are true," Rhea quietly noted to Seteth. "Some form of time travel or time dilation must have been in effect."
"Hey, Flayn! Your da-brother! He's here!" one of the students, Raphael Kirsten, said.
"FLAYN!" Seteth shouted, throwing propriety to the wind as he embraced his daughter.
"Seteth, I missed you..." Flayn said tearfully.
"Go on, do it," she saw Claude von Riegan encouraging Cyril. Cyril nodded and walked over to her and hugged her. "I missed you, Lady Rhea."
"I was worried for you," Rhea admitted, not expecting the hug but awkwardly hugging Cyril back.
"We thought Fódlan had been caught up in a war while we were gone. I...I was scared ya might have been killed," Cyril told her. "You're like a mother to me. I don't know what I would have done if that happened."
Rhea felt a pang of guilt. She had, in the past, been inattentive to Cyril, only rarely insisting that he take better care of himself. As a mother, she hadn't been a very good one. That would change, she promised herself.
Thinking on other things, she had not missed young Mister Kirsten's verbal misstep. He clearly knew who Flayn really was; they all probably did. It seemed that they had accepted Flayn's secret, but still, that was a secret none of them should have been able to know. If any enemies of the church found out...
No, it was unfair of her to think that way. If the students accepted Flayn, knowing who she truly was, then they surely understood the importance of making sure her identity stayed secret. Still, Rhea needed to know exactly what the students knew if she were to plan for the days ahead. Proceeding forward, Rhea quickly spied the Edelgard von Hresvelg and Dimitri Blaiddyd at the front of the pews, where they had been having a conversation with Alois. Accompanying them were two strangers in travelling clothes, both of whom notably had pointed ears. Rhea knew at once who they were.
"Ah, Your Holiness. It is good to see you," Dimitri greeted her as Claude walked over to join them.
"Lady Edelgard, Prince Dimitri, and Young Master Claude, it is good to see you all as well." Rhea returned the greeting. "Your respective nations will be very pleased to hear you are well and safe…although I must admit you have changed much from when last I saw you."
"Indeed," Dimitri nodded. "While I am to understand we have only been gone for two weeks, for us it has been around three years."
"Hopefully, now that we're back, tensions can cool a bit," Claude suggested.
"I am sure the circumstances have yet to deteriorate to an unsalvageable degree," Edelgard told him. "Which reminds me, we do need to talk politics soon, Your Holiness."
"There will be time enough for that later," Rhea assured her. "For now, I am to understand that we have guests?"
"Of course. How rude of me," Edelgard chided herself. "Archbishop, allow me to introduce Princess Zelda of Hyrule, and her personal knight, Sir Link. They have come a long way to return us home to Fódlan, and explain our journeys together in the land of Hyrule."
"Greetings, Archbishop Rhea. It is an honor to finally meet you," Princess Zelda greeted. "Your students, Miss Flayn, and Mister Cyril have spoken much about you."
Rhea examined the latest incarnation of Princess Zelda, and found the Princess slightly unusual. While Zelda's travelling clothes did have some air of nobility, and bore what clearly were sigils of her noble house proudly, the Princess had clearly modified her outfit for travel. Pouches, belts, pockets and all manner of practical things that were clearly not part of the original design dotted her attire, and they held an assortment of odd items. Worn leather journals, writing implements, travelling rations, spare rope…if Rhea had not already known this was Princess Zelda before her, she could have easily mistaken the Princess for a travelling scholar. Of course, it could be that she was just a pragmatic traveler, but it was still not what Rhea had expected.
"The honor is all mine, Your Highness," Rhea told her. "I am grateful to you for returning our missing students to us. Yet, I do have questions regarding the reason they were in Hyrule in the first place, and what events took place there."
"Of course," Zelda agreed. "Though, it isn't really my story to tell. I wasn't even there for a significant portion of it. Rather, I was locked in combat with a being known as Calamity Ganon, which your students were invaluable in defeating, especially Miss Flayn."
Rhea frowned. "I think we should discuss this matter in my private office. If you would?"
"I think that would be for the best," Zelda agreed.
Claude nodded. "Flayn, you should probably join us. And...Kronya, I think there's some important context you need to fill the Archbishop in on."
The girl who had returned with the students that Rhea didn't recognize jumped from her place on the pew. She was fair-skinned, with orange hair and eyes. In all honesty, she looked as if she could be Ferdinand von Aegir's sister. "You're sure about that?"
"Better that they hear it from you," Flayn told her.
"And they'll be reasonable? Because if I do, I'm going to have to tell them things they won't like to hear," Kronya said.
Seeing that Flayn seemed to trust this Kronya, Rhea came to a decision. "If there are things in your past that you are ashamed of, I will guarantee that you will face no retaliation for admitting to them."
Kronya nodded. "I'll hold you to that."
Link cleared his throat. "May I be excused to the kitchens? I promised to cook a celebratory feast once we got back. I even picked out the ingredients."
Claude scoffed. "You would be thinking about food at a time like this."
"Very well then, Link," Zelda giggled at her knight's antics, "Please go prepare a meal for everyone."
"As you wish, Princess." Link saluted.
Rhea found the entire exchange unusual. Clearly, the latest incarnations of the Princess and the Hero were somewhat...different from what she had been expecting.
"Link probably won't finish his preparations for lunch for some time," Zelda stated as she and the others settled around the meeting table. "For now, perhaps we can begin our explanation of what happened in Hyrule."
"I suppose we could," Rhea said as a servant poured her and her guests tea. "I am surprised you arrived with only your appointed knight as an escort. The students would not allow you to come to harm, I'm sure, but even so."
"Well, considering how jumpy everyone seems to be, having literal rock people, shark people, and bird people come with us would have gone over kind of badly," Claude noted.
"That's true. But in truth, I didn't have a larger escort because I and the peoples of Hyrule could not afford to spare one," Zelda admitted with a sigh, "Our kingdom is in the process of rebuilding after a great calamity, and every available soldier we have must be used wisely. I deemed Link and your students a sufficient guard for the purposes of journeying to Fódlan."
"A great calamity, you say?" Rhea raised an eyebrow. It seemed that her earlier thoughts about Hyrule having suffered yet another disaster worthy of legends was accurate. Thankfully, as Zelda had said that the Kingdom was on the road to recovery, it would seem the danger seemed to have passed.
"That is correct, your Holiness. Hyrule was almost destroyed calamity, and your students played an integral role in saving Hyrule from it. For their efforts, the peoples of Hyrule owe them a great debt," Zelda affirmed while Edelgard, Dimitri, Claude, Flayn, and Kronya all sat a little straighter in their seats, "It is my hope that opening dialogue between the peoples of Hyrule and Fódlan can be a way for us to speed up rebuilding."
"I see. There must be a story behind that."
"There is, but it isn't really my story to tell," Zelda said. "I was...preoccupied for most of it. You would have to ask them." She indicated the students.
"If I may Princess?" Edelgard asked.
"You may, Edelgard," Zelda replied, handing her a strange-looking tablet with glowing runes.
"It is a long story, Your Holiness" Edelgard said, taking the tablet from Zelda, "And I do not think that we can cover all of it in a single session."
"It's probably going to take a couple of nights at least to recount the whole thing, even sticking to just the important events, and we didn't learn how we got to Hyrule until the very end." Claude noted.
"Not to mention all the other things the rest of our cohort got up to," Dimitri smiled, "I dare say our exploits would be enough to fill several volumes in the library once it is all documented."
"Still, I do suppose we should tell you the important details. We need to explain to our governments our disappearance carried no malicious intent." Edelgard said.
"Yeah, it would be bad if we came home only to get caught up in a war." Claude agreed.
Edelgard tapped the tablet, and to Rhea's surprise images formed on its surface. So Seteth had been right about Hyrule having advanced technology.
"I left Ferdinand, Dedue and Lorenz with instructions to speak with the ambassadors while we meet with the Archbishop," Edelgard stated while she flipped through the images on the stone like she was looking for something, "With any luck, our capital cities will receive word of our return before anyone there does anything rash."
"If they don't, rest assured if anyone in Faerghus does anything I will personally ride out to rectify the problem." Dimitri declared confidently, "I am sure it is the same with the two of you as well."
"Of course," Claude said. "And I took the liberty of having Hilda and Lysithea assist Hubert with taking care of that side project you had running before we left. Not that I don't trust you, but after two weeks you never know what kind of problems might have surfaced."
"Thank you, Claude. That saves me the trouble to-Ah, here we go. I found it." Edelgard laid out the stone on the table where Rhea could see, presenting the Archbishop of a picture of a darkened chamber with what appeared to be an open coffin in the very center of room, one filled with a glowing blue liquid. "Now, I think we should start with the time we first met Link..."
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