The Three Houses of Hyperdimension

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

by Derald Snyder

Episode 17: Violet Violence

"Argh!" the bandits' leader cried as she was knocked off her feet, her sword falling at her side.

"It's clear now why I don't remember you, if you're so weak," Byleth deadpanned.

"The name is SHEZ!" the woman grunted as she grabbed her weapon and righted herself, going for a jumping strike which was easily sidestepped, Byleth then kicking her in the face and knocking her flat again. This time, she had trouble getting back up. "No... I have to... keep fighting..."

"Goodbye," Byleth said as he raised his sword for the killing blow... but just as he brought it down, he was suddenly repulsed by a yellow aura! "What the..?!"

(Watch out! It's that power I was warning you about!) Sothis cautioned. Byleth backed off a bit as Shez stood back up, having gained a glowing orange back collar and a similarly-colored gauntlet on her right wrist, another sword suddenly materializing in said hand! Shez's eyes then opened, now orange in color as well.

"Where did you get this power?" Byleth couldn't help but ask.

"No idea, but it's what I need to take you down!" Shez exclaimed, going on the attack with renewed vigor, Byleth now having to put in a bit of effort to parry her strikes.

"Professor!" Ashe gasped, firing an arrow from his bow, only for Shez to easily deflect it!

"Stay back, Ashe! We need to leave this to the professor!" Dimitri advised. "Something tells me that kind of power is not to be trifled with!"

"For once, I agree with the boar. Let's focus our effort on cleaning up the bandits!" Felix concurred. And so Ashe reluctantly withdrew...

"Hrngh!" Byleth grunted as he parried another strike, seeing an opening and thrusting- only to be repulsed again! "Gah!" (That should have been a lethal blow...!)

(Obviously, this new power of hers is keeping her from dying!) Sothis observed.

(Well, if I can't kill her, maybe I can disarm and restrain her instead,) Byleth pondered as he spun away from a vertical slice, deflecting the follow-up cut. (But I'm going to need a distraction...) As he said this, a fireball from Annette bore down on Shez, only for the woman to jump and flip over it effortlessly.

(Seems your students aren't up to that,) Sothis snarked. (Guess I'll have to step up, then...)

(Don't be reckless!) Byleth warned as he parried one blade, the other hitting his shoulder, though his armor prevented any real damage.

"Die, Ashen Demon!" Shez cried as she attempted to stab his shoulder again... but suddenly she saw something out of the corner of her eye, turning to see Sothis making a funny face by pulling her lips and sticking out her tongue! "What the-?!"

(Now!) Byleth thought, the Sword of the Creator transforming to chain-whip mode, lashing out and hitting Shez's hand, forcing her to drop one sword! The whip then coiled around her other sword, Byleth pulling and yanking it from her hands before tossing both aside! Before Shez realized what what happening, she was elbowed in the face, Byleth then putting out his foot and pulling her forward, causing her to trip and fall face-first to the sod! The professor then kneeled into her back, twisting one arm painfully behind her! "You're under arrest, Shez!"

"Agggh, damn you!" Shez wailed in agony, futilely clawing at the grass with her free hand. "You'll pay for... what you did to... Captain Berling...!"

"Wait... Berling? As in Berling's Mercenaries? The group Father and I wiped out just before we joined Garreg Mach?!" Byleth said in comprehension.

"Oh, NOW you remember?!" Shez yelled defiantly, before crying out as her arm was twisted harder.

"Wait, didn't you slaughter them to the last man?" Sothis said quizzically. "Er, from what you told me, I mean."

"I thought we did... guess we should have double-checked," Byleth replied. He then looked up to see the Blue Lions students approaching. "Oh, have you taken care of the bandits?"

"A complete rout, Professor," Dimitri nodded in satisfaction. "The few still alive and conscious have fled..."

"My lord, I see police sirens in the distance," Dedue spoke up, pointing off in the distance.

"Good, then maybe they can take this Shez into custody- Gah!" Byleth cried as a dagger embedded in his shoulder, Shez managing to throw him off and run, grabbing one of her swords in the process!

"Where'd that come from?!" Ashe gasped, looking to see a woman with bright orange hair and pale skin, wearing a sexy black outfit with four 'tentacles' extending from her back.

"About time you showed up!" Shez yelled at the new arrival, still nursing her twisted arm.

"Yeah, yeah, better late than never, right?" the redhead ribbed, ducking to the side to avoid a fire ball from Annette. "Let's get outta here!" She threw something to the ground that exploded in a bright light, blinding everyone present! When the light faded, both she and Shez had disappeared.

"They got away!" Ashe lamented.

"Yes, but they lost all of their underlings," Dimitri pointed out. "I doubt they'll find another bandit group willing to work with them again, after this gets out into the criminal underworld..." A flapping caught his attention seeing Ingrid flying down on her pegasus. "Ah, there you are! I assume you took care of the snipers?"

"Yeah, there were only four. And I disabled that cannon they used on Sylvain," Ingrid reported. "Wait... what is Sothis doing here?!"

"Uh..." the greenette froze up, realizing that she'd forgotten to go back into spirit form. "Um, sorry! I got worried, so I kinda made my way out here... I wasn't planning on jumping in, mind you, but I saw Byleth was having trouble with the bandit leader..."

"Well, I appreciate the distraction, if nothing else," Byleth sighed. "But that other woman... I swear I've seen her before..."

"Is she not one of 'those who slither in the dark'?" Dimitri pointed out. "She certainly looked like it..."

"Yes, but..." Byleth's eyes went wide as realization dawned. "No... that's... that can't be!"

"What can't be, Professor?" Ashe pressed.

"That... that was Kronya! The one responsible for Father's death!"

"WHAT?!" Sothis gasped. "But- I thought she was dead!"

"She was! I saw her die from a sniper's bullet right in front of me! And the Lowee Guild took her body afterward!" Byleth insisted.

"Then perhaps we should contact the Guild to ask if that assassin's corpse was stolen?" Dedue suggested.

"...Right. We'll do that when we get back to the academy," Byleth nodded. "As for you, Sothis... we're going to have to have a talk about recklessly running into danger, understand?" He shot her a subtle wink that the others missed.

"Fine..." Sothis looked down and pouted. "But I still say you couldn't have taken down that Shez without my help!"

"Talk about a stubborn child," Sylvain spoke up with a shrug. "Hope any kids I have don't turn out like that..."

"Like any woman would actually want to bear your children," Ingrid said dismissively.

"Save it until we get back to camp, Ingrid," Byleth chastised. "Anyway, first things first, let's go give our statements to the police..."

"Right," the students all agreed.

*Episode 17- End*

A/N: Uh-oh, Kronya is somehow back from the dead? This can't be good...