The Three Houses of Hyperdimension
A Fire Emblem: Three Houses & Hyperdimension Neptunia Crossover Fan Fiction
by Derald Snyder
Episode 16: Violence at Velni
*Tower of Velni*
"Boss! We got calvary riding in!" a bandit lookout yelled.
"On horseback?" The leader muttered, taking a pair of futuristic binoculars and engaging the zoom function... "Garreg Mach Academy uniforms. Looks like the Ashen Demon got our invitation..."
"What do we do? Hunker down and wait for 'em?" another bandit asked.
"No. That was Miklan's mistake before- not having an escape route. We'll head out to confront them directly," she responded. "But first, break out the welcoming present. It only has one shot, so make sure you don't miss..."
"You got it, boss!" the bandit grinned, running over to what appeared to be a large steel cannon of sorts...
*Down in the field...*
"The tower's in sight, Professor!" Dimitri called out.
"All right, they'll likely see us coming, so be on your guard!" Byleth ordered. The students yelled back their acknowledgement, save for Sylvain, who was riding a bit ahead of everyone else, laser-focused on the tower ahead. "Sylvain! Stay with the others!"
But just then, something fired from the top of the tower, Sylvain unable to dodge in time as an explosion resulted! (NO!) Byleth thought as he saw a body part flying through the air... Colors inverted as the hands of time turned back about a minute or so, before reverting to normal. "Sylvain! Break to the right! NOW!"
"Huh?" Sylvain grunted, shifting his steed to the right... Again, the top of the tower flashed, but this time Sylvain avoided the direct hit, though he was still knocked off his horse from the explosion. "Mercedes, help Sylvain! Everyone else, disperse!"
"Right!" the Blue Lions called back, splitting apart to make themselves harder targets...
(See? Aren't you glad I came along after all?) came the voice of Sothis in Byleth's head.
"...Just like old times," the professor muttered to himself with a smirk.
*Back at the tower...*
"I think we got 'em!" one of the bandits cheered.
"No, you fools, you fired too soon! You only knocked one student off his horse!" the leader critiqued. "Guess we'll have to do this the hard way... you four, stay up here and provide covering fire! The rest of you, let's go! But leave the Ashen Demon to me, got it?!"
"Got it, Boss!" the lowlifes responded, the majority heading for the stairs leading down.
*Meanwhile...*
"Are you all right, Sylvain?! Is anything broken?" Mercedes von Martritz fretted as she cast a healing spell.
"Ugh... Let's just say, I'm shaken but not stirred," the redhead Casanova replied. his attention was then drawn to Felix as he rode up and dismounted. "Save it, Felix. I know I got a little ahead of everyone, that was the point. I knew those thugs would likely focus on me..."
"That doesn't mean you martyr yourself, idiot," Felix shook his head. "If you can still fight, take my horse. I fight better on foot anyway."
"All right... guess I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, no pun intended," Sylvain said as he retrieved his poleax, before pulling himself into the saddle. "Hyah!" With that he galloped off, Mercedes mounting her own steed and following him... Felix took a moment to assess the battlefield, before drawing his blade and charging into the fray.
Byleth saw the bandits streaming out of the tower, most of them on foot... but he saw no unusual hair among them. (The leader must be hanging back, waiting until I'm worn down or distracted...) Bringing his horse to a halt, he dismounted and pulled out his sword as one bandit charged at him- only for an arrow to whizz by him and embed in the lowlife's shoulder, Byleth cutting him down soon after! "I've got this, Ashe! Go help your fellow students!"
"Right, Professor!" Ashe Ubert nodded, taking his bow and running in Felix's direction. Meanwhile, Dimitri was charging a group of thugs on horseback with his lance out, Ingrid flying not far behind him- but then her head jerked as she went limp and fell off her pegasus!
(A sniper!) Byleth realized, invoking his Divine Pulse once more to reverse Ingrid's death... "Ingrid! Sniper!"
"Whoa!" Ingrid shifted to the right, a bullet nicking her pegasus' wing! She immediately flew down and landed, dismounting to check on her steed. "Thank goodness, just a scratch..." A bandit tried to sneak up on her, but she quickly turned and impaled him with her lance. "Nice try, but I've seen that trick before!"
"Gah!" Sylvain grunted as an arrow flew by his face. "Where are they shooting from?"
"I think they're coming from the top of the tower!" Mercedes grunted, using a hand to shade her eyes as she looked upward.
"Okay, I'll take care of it!" Ingrid said as she remounted her pegasus. "Hyah!" They took flight once more, heading around the tower...
"Hope she knows what she's doing!" Sylvain grunted as he galloped into the fray. "HEY YOU JERKS! Remember me?!"
"It's the old Boss's brat brother! GET 'IM!" The bandits immediately began to converge on Sylvain, who cut a few down with his axe before turning tail! But suddenly they were assaulted by a cutting gale spell, courtesy of Annette Fantine Dominic! Ashe joined in with a few arrows, while Felix charged in and cut down two of the lowlifes with one slice! Meanwhile Dimitri charged in on horseback from the opposite direction, his lance finding purchase in a thug's throat! Dedue followed on foot, cutting down another bandit with his axe!
(Seems they've taken your advice on pincer tactics to heart,) Sothis commented. (Wait, hold on. I'm sensing something strange...)
"So am I," Byleth muttered, seeing the bandits moving away from him... then his eyes were drawn to a mop of deep violet hair, belonging to a female warrior with matching eyes, though her left eye was covered by her bangs. She wore a lightly-armored outfit that was cut to show her cleavage, no doubt to provide 'distractions'. Still, Byleth had the feeling this woman was more on the 'rough-and-tumble' side... "So, you must be the leader."
"Ashen Demon. We finally meet again," the woman spoke, her voice dripping with venom. "You slaughtered my mercenary outfit... you took everything from me!" She promptly unsheathed her sword and took her stance.
"I don't even know who you are," Byleth stated bluntly as he took his own stance, Sword of the Creator in hand. "But if it's a fight you want, then I won't disappoint you."
"I hoped you would say that. This time, it's YOU who dies!" With that, the violet-haired woman charged, Byleth easily deflecting her blade...
*Meanwhile, above...*
Ingrid had flown to the other side of the tower, before directing her pegasus upwards, now flying just below the top of the tower's walls. (If there aren't that many bandits, I might be able to take them myself,) she mused. (I'll fly up real quick to see how many, and dive back down if it's too much.) So her pegasus flew upward, Ingrid seeing the cannon that had been used against Sylvain, and four bandits firing down at the field in the opposite direction. (Two bows, two guns. In that case...)
She swooped down with a battlecry, getting the bandits' attention, Ingrid then hurling her lance at one of the gunslingers, hitting him in the chest just below his throat and knocking him off the tower! The remaining three opened fire, but Ingrid flew behind the large cannon and swiftly dismounted, shooing her pegasus away as she unsheathed her backup weapon, a short sword. As the winged steed flew off, one of the archers tried to aim at it, only for Ingrid to run over and cut him down at once!
Ingrid cried out in pain as an arrow from the other archer found purchase in her shoulder, but she gritted her teeth and ran at him, the lowlife using his bow to block her blade. Seeing something out of the corner of her eye, Ingrid quickly rolled away as a gunshot rang out! But the bullet hit the archer instead, who clutched at his chest before collapsing, said bullet having pierced his heart.
"Damn you!" the last bandit cried as he fired again, Ingrid managing to dash around the cannon for cover. "You can't run forever, little girl!"
(I'm not going to run forever,) Ingrid thought to herself as she crouched down, gritting her teeth as she pulled out the arrow from her shoulder. She was going to need a vulnerary, but first... hearing the gunman approach, she put two fingers to her mouth and whistled sharply.
"There you are!" the bandit shouted as he came into view, taking aim- but a neigh drew his attention, crying out in surprise as Ingrid's pegasus suddenly flew down and assaulted him with its hooves! "What the hell-?!" Ingrid took advantage of the diversion, running forward and sinking her sword deep into the man's rib cage! As the last lowlife collapsed to the floor, she kicked his rifle away, not relaxing her stance until he went limp.
"...right, now for the cannon," Ingrid grunted, one arm favoring her shoulder as she walked back over to the weapon. A little search uncovered an access panel, the blonde pulling it open, then shoving her sword into the exposed circuitry, a flash and a shower of sparks resulting. "There, that should do it. Good job, girl," she praised her pegasus as she gently patted its head. As she took out a vulnerary to treat her shoulder, her thoughts shifted to her fellow Blue Lions... (Hopefully Sylvain and Felix and the others are doing all right...)
Episode 16- End*
A/N: Sorry to cut it off here, but I wanted to upload this episode in a timely fashion. The battle should conclude next episode.