The Three Houses of Hyperdimension

A Fire Emblem: Three Houses & Hyperdimension Neptunia Crossover Fan Fiction

by Derald Snyder

Episode 5: Edelgard's Ambition

*The next day...*

Sothis sighed in boredom as she sat on the bed in Byleth's quarters, her feet kicking slightly as they dangled over the edge. (This is almost as bad as when I was still a non-corporeal ghost... No, maybe this is worse.) After all, she hadn't had much of a choice in the matter before.

Originally she had just been a presence in Byleth's mind, only speaking to him in dreams, unable to recall even her own name. She could access Byleth's memories, but none she could call her own. And then came that fateful day when Byleth sacrificed himself to try and save the young woman they would later come to know as Edelgard, which caused her time-reversing abilities to awaken, and finally recall her name- 'Sothis The Beginning'.

Immediately after, they traveled to Garreg Mach where Byleth was swiftly hired a professor, at which point they both learned of the existence of the CPU and the bishop's efforts to keep up the faith in the western half of Lowee, the capital being located in the northeast. At the time, Sothis didn't care, more concerned with protecting Byleth and admonishing him when he did something stupid... She eventually learned to manifest herself outside his mind, though nobody but Byleth himself could perceive her... she also learned she could interact with physical objects on some level, knocking loose stuff over when she got too bored, just to see the baffled student's reactions... Then the rumors started, and boy did they spiral out of control quickly, leading to Byleth admonishing Sothis to knock it off, lest Seteth or someone else get suspicious.

And then came Jeralt's murder, Byleth crying for the first time, his sadness soon turning to rage as he pursued the shadowy people behind the assassination... then his near-fatal stabbing, and Sothis meeting the CPU Rei Ryghts, resulting in a chain of events that culminated in Sothis learning the truth of her existence, and gaining a corporeal form thanks to the alien goddess from the Animenga Cluster... Haruhi, was it? (Although, she said any second-rate magus could have performed that summoning spell...) So now her form was linked to Byleth's mana, which apparently didn't take too much to maintain said form, unless Byleth had his mana drained somehow... (And apparently I can go back to spirit form anytime, but then my appearance would revert to what it was when I was first summoned...) Which would ruin the work that Dorothea had done on her hair recently. (That Haruhi said 'Caster' when she summoned me as a combat spirit... as in spell-caster? Hmmm...)

Her reverie was suddenly interrupted by knocking at the door. "Byleth's not here!" she shouted.

"Actually, I wanted to speak with you," said a refined voice that could only belong to one person. "May I come in?"

"…the door is open," Sothis sighed in resignation. Said door was promptly opened, and sure enough, it was Edelgard. "I assume you've come to also yell at me for what I pulled with Bernadetta?"

"I wouldn't call it yelling…" Edelgard demurred as she stepped into the room, leaving the door a crack open behind her. "If you wanted to meet Bernadetta that badly, you could have come to me instead. I could have gotten her out of her room for you…"

"That wasn't the point," Sothis grumbled. "Like I said to Byleth, the point was to get her to meet students from other houses. Breaking down barriers- er, figuratively speaking."

"But… Bernadetta of all people?" Edelgard shook her head in mild disbelief.

"Well, I mean, I wanted to meet her too, so why not kill two birds with one stone?" Sothis pointed out. "Although in hindsight, maybe I shouldn't have said that she was dying or something…"

"Or perhaps you have thought it over a bit more before you acted," Edelgard countered. "It seems the professor was right about one thing- you and Claude should probably be kept apart."

"For the last time, he had nothing to do with it!" Sothis exclaimed, pounding her tiny fists on the bed. "It was the fact that Byleth told him to spar with that Felix that gave me the idea!"

"Oh… is that right?" Edelgard mused. "So in the end, you were just trying to follow the professor's example?"

"Yes, exactly. Though I obviously went about it the wrong way," Sothis admitted. "How does someone like that get admitted to an academy like this anyway?"

"It's... a long story," Edelgard shook her head sadly. "I'm not sure that a child like you is ready to hear it. Perhaps if you become better acquainted with Bernadetta, she might open up to you about it. Though that's a slim chance, at best..."

(Given her shut-in tendencies, she's probably been abused or something,) Sothis thought to herself. Putting that thought out of her head, she spoke, "Well, enough about her then, let's talk about you. What's your purpose for coming here?"

"Me? Well, part of it is the fact that I'm descended from one of Garreg Mach's original founders, Wilhelm von Hresvelg II. His father Wilhelm I fought alongside the first CPU Candidate Seiros in the War of Liberation thousands of years ago, but was felled in battle before the war's end, his son taking up where his father left off, and helping Seiros see the war through to its end."

(Seiros... my daughter,) Sothis mused, feeling sadness well up in her heart. "I'd heard about that from Rei Ryghts, who heard it from Blanc herself... apparently Seiros was fighting to avenge her mother's death, right?"

"Oh, you know about that?" Edelgard said, nonplussed. "Ah, well... yes, but the man who killed her, Nemesis, was seen as a hero by many who thought the goddess was too restrictive in how video games should be played. Not that that excused his actions, mind you."

"So that's why the war lasted so long. I didn't know that," Sothis nodded in understanding. "But I know that Seiros and her army won in the end, right?"

"Indeed she did. And overseeing the construction of this academy and the monastery was one of the last things she did before she disappeared. No one knows what ultimately became of her," Edelgard stated. "Or the sword that was forged from her mother's remains..."

(The Sword of the Creator... which Byleth currently holds.) Deciding it would be a bad idea to say anything about that, Sothis instead inquired, "But don't CPUs just fade into nothing when they die? How could anyone forge a sword from a CPU?"

"No one really knows," Edelgard shook her head. "It was so long ago, that many postulate that either Nemesis was lying or Seiros was speaking in non-specific terms, that the sword he used was simply imbued with the CPU's power, not actually made from her remains. It's a hotly debated topic among Lowee's historians even today. Even Linhardt tried to do some research on it, before he got bored of it and moved on."

"He has a problem staying motivated, doesn't he?" Sothis noted.

"Indeed. But one of my goals is to create a society where even someone like Linhardt can have their talents put to use in some way. No one will be left behind," Edelgard asserted.

"A lofty goal. But there are inevitably those who would rather amass power and wealth for themselves, and not share with anybody," Sothis argued. "I mean, if there weren't, then I wouldn't have been a starving orphan before Byleth found me, just saying."

"Unfortunately, you are correct," Edelgard nodded sadly. "I've met some of that type of people up close and personal. They're the ones who stripped the previous governor of Adrestia Province of all power, when he was too sickly to stop them. That man was my father. It's despicable what they did to him."

"Your father was the governor?!" Sothis gasped. "So, who rules the province now?"

"My uncle Arundel. And while he treats me decently enough, the common folk are another matter. He does nothing to stop their mistreatment by the rich nobles. It's even rumored that a black market for pirated and bootlegged video games has sprung up under his rule," Edelgard elaborated. "But one day, it is I who will become governor in his stead, and expose the nobles' crimes and bring them to justice for their actions!"

"Right..." Sothis bit her lip. "OK, stupid kid question: If things are so bad back home, why not just petition the CPU for help? Surely she could whack some sense into your uncle, right?"

Edelgard grimaced at this. "...This may sound surprising to you, given my family's legacy, but I'm not particularly devout myself. I don't even play video games of any sort."

"Wait, really?!" Sothis' eyes went wide. "But what about when Blanc came to visit around when Byleth and I returned?"

"I only saw her from a distance. Apparently Bishop Rhea did something that angered her greatly, but nobody knows what it was, except possibly the headmaster," Edelgard replied. "Hubert said that Blanc used some, um, quite colorful language, to be polite..."

"Sounds like what I've heard about her," Sothis nodded. "Is that why you don't believe in her?"

"Not the chief reason. That would be incredibly petty," Edelgard briefly put a hand to her face. "Let's just say I have some skeletons in my closet and leave it at that, shall we?"

"Alright, fine," the greenette shrugged. "Just remember that no man or woman is an island. Don't think you can do it all by yourself, got it? You want to serve the people, then let people help you! I mean, that's just logical, right?"

"Indeed," Edelgard couldn't help but smile. "That's why I'm glad I met the professor. If anyone could help me, he surely could..."

"I'm sure he'd be willing to lend you a hand with your campaign or whatever if you ask him nicely," Sothis said. "I just hope you know what you're getting yourself into..."

"It certainly won't be easy. There will be resistance, I have no doubt," Edelgard concurred. "But my ancestors didn't give up when the going was rough, or else their names would never have been recorded in history. And I will live up to their legacy." Just then, a bell sounded. "Oh, it seems I've taken a bit longer talking with you than I intended. I need to head to class. Perhaps we can talk again sometime."

"Sure. Maybe you could tell me more about your great ancestors," Sothis suggested.

"Perhaps I will, time permitting. Farewell for now, little Sothis." And so she left, closing the door behind her.

"...Well, that killed some time, at least," Sothis muttered to herself, falling back on the bedsheets. (It's times like these that I wish Byleth's room at least had a television of some sort...) Heaving a sigh, she pulled her legs up on the bed, turning over to take a nap...

Episode 5- End*