Edelgard had fallen asleep in a room in Garreg Mach. She awoke in a tomb.

As her brain processed the fact that she was no longer in Garreg Mach, she quickly woke up fully and took stock of her surroundings. She wasn't the only one who had been taken. She counted twenty-six other people in the tomb. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she realized that many of them were her schoolmates.

She heard Hubert aggressively whispering at someone, and turned to see him questioning, seemingly, Monica von Ochs.

"Wait, Monica von Ochs wasn't with you. We found her being held prisoner by bandits in the Red Canyon," Seteth pointed out.

"Oh, you found her? That's good," Kronya said. "I was a little worried Kostas might get rid of her."

"I'm going to get to that," Edelgard said.

"I know you're not the real Monica von Ochs," Hubert whispered. "I know Monica von Ochs. You aren't her."

"Figured it out, huh?" "Monica" said. "Are you going to call me out?"

"Not just yet," Hubert said. "I want to know if our mutual friends are behind us being in this tomb."

"...No," "Monica" said. "Or if they are, they didn't tell me."

"Then who could have kidnapped us?" Hubert questioned. "The Church wouldn't risk war with all three nations. And none of the nations of Fódlan would have left their own in this tomb. Those Who Slither In The Dark are the only ones with a motive."

"We don't have the resources for something like this," Kronya challenged. "The Church is just not corrupt enough for us to get away with it."

"Then who could have put us in this tomb?"

"I don't know."

That was...concerning. If Those Who Slither In The Dark weren't responsible, then who could have been?

"Those Who Slither In The Dark?" Rhea asked.

"A conspiracy of Agarthan survivors trying to conquer Fodlan," Kronya explained. "I used to be part of it. I was set to infiltrate Garreg Mach. But," she continued, "I'm not with them anymore. That's covered under 'things I'm ashamed of.' I want nothing to do with them now."

Rhea and Seteth stared at her suspiciously. "I trust her," Flayn commented. "If she meant us harm, she had an opportunity to let Ganondorf kill me. She chose to save my life."

"After you fought Dark Beast Ganon as a distraction? It was the least I could have done," Kronya said.

Seteth frowned at the reminder that his daughter had been involved in something so dangerous, but he nodded. "Very well, if Flayn vouches for you, we shall trust you for now. But we will return to the subject of this conspiracy soon."

Edelgard noticed someone else stirring and motioned for the other two to quiet down. She realized it was Prince Dimitri of Faerghus. "Prince Dimitri. What happened? Where are we? Where is this place?" Edelgard asked. She doubted he knew; Hubert had broken down why it was unlikely any of the nations were responsible. But it didn't hurt to make sure.

"I do not know, Edelgard. I hoped you could tell me," Dimitri said. Edelgard could tell he wasn't lying. He was too straightforward, too honest.

Dimitri's retainer, Dedue Molinaro, stared at her suspiciously. Clearly, he wasn't convinced that she wasn't behind this, but he had elected to follow his liege's lead.

"I checked the door already," Hubert noted. "It's sealed. We're trapped in here."

"So that's it then?" Edelgard asked. "There's no escape? We just...wait, and hope to be rescued?"

If Hubert had a suggestion, he never had the opportunity to voice it.

"WH-WHERE AM I? WHAT IS-IS THAT A COFFIN? AM I IN A TOMB? I-I-I AM IN A TOMB!" A terrified Bernadetta shrieked at the top of her lungs upon waking up. "OH, NO-NO-NO-NO...! IT'S FINALLY HAPPENED! I'M DEAD, AREN'T I? I'M DEAD!"

It took a while to calm everyone down after Bernadetta's outburst. Unfortunately, what ended up silencing Bernadetta was the sight of Hubert and Dedue, which sent her into a faint, despite them both genuinely trying to calm the girl. Her outburst had set others off though, and it was difficult to get them to a reasonable level.

Their efforts were ultimately for naught when they heard a crash and then the ground started shaking.

"Linhardt did it!" Caspar accused.

"It wasn't my fault!" Linhardt said defensively.

"Is the coffin...rising?" someone asked.

"Oh Goddess! There's a Strigori inside! I don't want to have my blood drained!"

"D...don't be ridiculous! Strigori aren't real!"

"Yes, they are," "Monica" said. "Father...please, help me..."

Edelgard ignored those panicking and walked over to the coffin. Hubert, Dimitri, and Dedue did likewise, as did Flayn, the sister to the Archbishop's aide. Edelgard had suspected Flayn was more than she seemed from the moment she had laid eyes on her, but her reaction to danger all but confirmed it. But right now, it didn't matter who Flayn was. What mattered was the contents of the coffin.

It was filled with a strange, glowing blue liquid, clearly of magical origin. However, the liquid was quickly receding from the casket, slowly revealing the sleeping form of a young man, clad only in his underwear. The young man was blond, of average build and maybe even below-average height. His body bore an assortment of scars, many from injuries that seemed as if they should have killed him, and his hand instinctively grasped for a weapon that wasn't there. He was clearly a warrior.

And there was one other thing of note. "His ears," Flayn noticed, and Edelgard saw what she was talking about. The man's ears were pointed. Yes, this was very interesting.

The stranger's eyes opened. However before he could move, Dedue dragged him out of his coffin and pinned him to the ground. "Who are you and what were you doing in that coffin? Tell me, now!"

"You interrogated the Hero of Hyrule as if he was a common bandit?" Seteth asked, incredulous.

"In our defense, we didn't know who he was," Dimitri had the grace to look embarrassed, at least.

Rhea didn't know what to make of the story they were telling. The idea of her childhood hero being wrestled to the ground like a petty thief and interrogated was hard to contemplate.

Zelda seemed to understand. "In Link's defense, he'd just woken up from a hundred-year slumber after he'd been wounded in battle. His muscles were atrophied after his long sleep, as were his senses. He was far from his top form at the time."

"I'm sorry, Princess Zelda. Did you just say Sir Link was asleep for a hundred years?" That wasn't normal for humans. Or Hylians, considering that they were largely identical to humans.

"Well, not quite asleep, per se," Princess Zelda raised an upright figure in a lecturing gesture, suddenly beaming with energy and excitement, "The 'Shrine of Resurrection' is medical facility with the ability to heal grievous, even mortal, injuries. This is accomplished through a combination of a synthesized chemical cocktail designed to reconstitute missing or injured organs and tissues, and a stasis function that can be activated and maintained until healing is complete. So long as a prospective the patient still has vital functions, however weak, when brought to the Shrine, the facility will be capable of saving them."

"And Sir Link was…?" Rhea asked.

"Mortally injured, approximately one hundred years prior to his awakening and meeting your students. From my understanding, he suffered from internal bleeding from two of his vital organs, lacerations on his back..."

Rhea appraised the princess, as she went into detail on Link's injuries. Zelda wasn't what Rhea had imagined either, being more of a scientist than one might expect, and one much like Hanneman at that. But then again, the first Zelda had intently studied the surface world. Perhaps all incarnations of Zelda were naturally predisposed to scholarly pursuits.

"I-I don't know!" the stranger said. "I don't know why I was in the coffin. The last thing I remember..." he trailed off. "I don't remember anything. I was asleep, and I heard a voice telling me to wake up, and then you grabbed me and pinned me to the ground!"

"Hmph. A likely story," Felix commented.

"No, he's telling the truth," Hubert said. "I have interrogated people before. I know when someone is lying."

"You've interrogated people before?" Bernadetta asked shakily. "Can I switch houses?"

"Right now, I don't think it would help," Claude von Riegan commented. "We're still locked in here with Hubert."

"So, will you please just let me up?" the stranger asked.

"No," Dedue told him. "Just because you have no memories does not mean you are no threat. You could be a sleeper agent of some sort."

"Do you have a name?" Flayn asked. Hubert eyed her suspiciously. Likely he had come to the same conclusion as Edelgard: Flayn was one of the so-called "Children of the Goddess," the immortals who had been controlling Fodlan through the Church. She didn't seem like a potential threat, but looks could be deceiving, and Edelgard would have to keep her guard up around the girl. Still, if Those Who Slither in the Dark were behind their abduction, Edelgard pitied her, because she would undoubtedly get the worst of whatever gristly fate awaited them all.

"I...Link. I think my name is Link," the stranger said.

"Well, Link, how do we get out of this tomb?" Hubert demanded.

"I don't know," Link said. "I don't even know how I got into this place."

"Wait, I thought of something," Edelgard mused. "Linhardt, what were you doing that caused the coffin to open?"

"I was inspecting this pedestal," Linhardt said. "I went back to it while the interrogation was happening, but found the device there had become unresponsive to my touch. It is very vexing, as I have reason to believe it serves more functions than what Caspar accidentally triggered."

"I see. Perhaps the device has the key to opening the door," Edelgard suggested. "As for it not responding to you, maybe it was meant for Link to use."

"Maybe so," Claude agreed.

Linhardt handed the device to Edelgard, and Dimitri motioned for Dedue to let Link up, though he and Hubert both watched him closely. "Try and open the door to the tomb," Edelgard said, before realizing she was being unnecessarily blunt and might cause Link to refuse for the sake of not being ordered around. "Please," she added.

Link thought for a moment. "All right," he said and examined the device. As soon as he held it, it lit up. "Huh. Would you look at that." He tapped something on the screen, and the room started to shake once more.

"Look!" Ingrid shouted, and everyone looked to see the doors of the tomb open.

Hubert noticed Link with a strange expression on his face. "Something on your mind?"

"I...no," Link said. "You wouldn't happen to have anything for me to wear, would you?"

"We did find some old clothing in a box," Hubert said. "You're welcome to it, I suppose. You had better keep that device-"

"The Sheikah Slate," Link interrupted.

"The Sheikah Slate," Hubert said suspiciously. "Keep it with you. It might be important again later.

"That's what I was thinking," Link agreed.

"You know how to use the device," Linhardt observed curiously as Link's fingers flew across the surface of the Slate, tapping controls only he knew existed and causing the images it displayed to change, "How do you know how to do this, if you don't have any memory?"

"I don't know," Link admitted wondrously, "I know what this is, and how to navigate it. But how I know this, I honestly have no idea."

"Hm, if I recall correctly, there have been cases where a person who loses their memories retains the skills and knowledge they had even though they can't remember anything about themselves," Mercedes suggested helpfully.

"Regardless, I think we should go. I'm tired of being trapped in here," Claude said.

As the students made their way out, Ignatz stopped and stared at the sights. "Good Goddess, it's beautiful! I wish I had my paints with me."

Everyone else went to observe the view. Plains, forests and lakes dotted the lands before them, an untamed land teeming with life and nature at its' fullest. A this carpet of beauty seemed to end at another long cliff face, however, caused those astute enough among the student body to realize they were on an enormous plateau. Hints of stone structures, hidden among the bounty of nature, could just barely be made out by the naked eye. Ruins, perhaps?

In the distance, almost hidden beyond the horizon, the peak of a enormous mountain that was so high it touched the heavens could be seen. Closer from the horizon was the silhouette of what seemed to be a castle.

"It's so beautiful," Annette marveled wondrously, "I just... wow."

"I have never seen anything like it," Dorothea agreed.

Edelgard, however, was more focused on Claude and Dimitri, hoping that one of them would recognize where they were. Seeing their expressions, she realized they didn't. It was a vain hope anyway. Nowhere in Fodlan was there a plateau this big.

Thus, she was forced to come to an uncomfortable conclusion. "I don't think we're in Fodlan anymore."