Fire Emblem: Three Courses - Chapter 6 (Patreon)

Disclaimer: I do not own any franchises mentioned in this story. This is fan-based work of fiction.

Beta: Gerald_of_Revea

-Shez-

Six months.

It’s been six months since she last encountered her. The ‘Ashen Demon’. Their battle replayed in her mind almost daily. Each step, each swing, and how she was easily defeated.

She shouldn’t even be alive. If Arval hadn’t intervened, she would have died. Now it was time to see if that training paid off.

The first clash sent sparks into the air, but she didn’t stop there; her second sword appeared in her hand, and she started to attack with a flurry of swings, none of which got close to hitting the girl.

Every day she had been training. Drills, guard cycles, air cutting- whenever she had the spare time to improve, she took advantage of it. But that lay the first problem.

Time. 

She had been swinging a sword nearly all her life, but there was a big difference between fighting with one and two.

Against bandits, her newfound strength was enough to run circles around them. Against the Ashen Demon?

Her strength was as unnatural as her own.

“Shez, stop it!” Soma shouted, distracting her for a moment, a moment which Byleth took advantage of, a clean stroke breaking the skin on her cheek.

She dashed back, swords still raised at Byleth, only to notice her surroundings.

Weapons were raised on all sides. The students she had helped were backing her, while Jeralt’s Mercenaries and two of the students, cloaked in red and blue, had their weapons raised at her.

"Shez, you need to stop this right now!" Soma pleaded, and she had to stop herself from scowling. Not that he wanted her to stop, but the fact that he literally went between her and Byleth to do so, his hands raised.

“I have a score to settle,” she spat. “She killed Captain Berling. My quarrel is with her, no one else.”

Jeralt as well, but she’ll deal with him after she’s done with Byleth.

It was already bad that everyone was trying to intervene in her battle. If she was going to kill anyone, she wanted to get paid for it. Those two were a special exception.

“Nothing is ever simple, is it?” Soma scowled. “Fuck it, I’m calling in that life debt.”

What.

“No killing each other. Either of you!” he insisted, turning to Byleth and Jeralt. “Is that clear?”

“Like hell that’s what you are calling the life debt in for,” she growled, her grip tightening on her swords. “Are you actually going to waste that?! Here and now?!”

“I’m not wasting it, but that girl helped save those guys,” he pointed to the cloaked students. “Just like how you saved those guys. Can we just let that bandit guy be the final guy that dies today?”

“...”

“Please?”

She wanted to scream. She wouldn’t have offered the life debt in the first place if she knew this was how he was going to spend it.

Sadly, a mercenary is only as good as her word.

She said nothing, glaring slightly at Soma before reluctantly putting her swords away, Byleth soon following suit.

“It seems we are all a bit jumpy,” one of the Knights of Seiros spoke. “What say we put the swords away for now? Clearer thoughts prevail with a fuller belly. So, how about we head back to camp? After all, it is the holy duty of this Order to place a massive food order!”

If Byleth wasn’t going to kill her today, the knight’s sense of humor would.

-Alois-

Image of Alois

The future is unpredictable. That’s why he never tries to. If you never know what’s coming next, life is full of surprises!

Today was a nasty surprise. Or perhaps it was closer to a tragic one. The professor was slain. And many of the students had to take their first life.

But not everyone had to. And the day could have led to many more deaths if not for the intervention, if it weren’t for the brave actions of Shez and Byleth.

But as his young apprentice put it, ‘Nothing is ever simple,’ and Shez has a history with Byleth, the two having crossed paths before. Jeralt’s daughter had killed Shez’s old captain, and now Shez wanted revenge.

The only reason the fighting stopped was that Shez offered Soma a life debt for healing and feeding her. The fact that she put her swords away, however reluctant she was to do so, proved that she was a woman of reason. Of honor.

But tensions were still high. And he wanted to do his best at bringing them down. “I offer gifts! One meal for one heroic woman!”

Both Shez and Byleth helped save the students. It wouldn’t be right to leave things as is.

Shez perked up, her eyes widening once she saw the plate of food in his hand.

“Thank you!” She jumped, snatching the plate from his hands with enthusiasm. He let out a boisterous laugh as she started to eat, a groan of pleasure escaping the girl.

Soma was still learning how to use a sword. He didn’t have the muscle or strength to defeat any knight with the blade. But when it came to cooking, he had no match.

The girl was a glutton! Scarfing down the food with vigor, the plate was full, but in less than a minute it was all eaten. 

“That was delicious,” Shez nodded, a small smile on her face. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me; I was just your waiter for the evening. You can thank your friend Soma next time you see him,” and the smile immediately turned into a scowl.

He knew this was dangerous ground he was treading, but he would rather tread dangerous ground to help someone than not help at all. “Please don’t be angry with him. He was just trying to help in his own way.”

“Angry at myself,” she corrected him. “I shouldn’t have offered the life debt. He just wanted my help to kill the bandits. I just couldn’t keep my mouth shut.”

“You must have been close with them, your last Mercenary Group, that is,” and Shez nodded.

“Captain Berling, Getz, Lazley…We were a tight-knit group, if a little rough around the edges. I would’ve been content staying with them till the end. I’m just not sure what to do now.” And that’s why he saw his opportunity.

“Would you consider accompanying us to Garreg Mach Monastery instead?”

Shez raised an eyebrow at him. “And why would I do that exactly?”

“Because you’ve done us a great service, and we don’t have the means in camp to properly reward you! At the monastery, however, we can repay you in full.”

“Already been repaid,” Shez noted, shaking her empty plate, but he vehemently disagreed.

“We allowed students of the Officers Academy out of our sight, and house leaders of great political consequence, at that. And then, they crossed swords with bandits! If word got out…Well, let’s just say it would sit poorly with everyone. So you see why we must ensure you are well-compensated. I’m sure the Archbishop would like to thank you in person as well.”

“Hush money, then,” Shez nodded, making him wince. “I assume the Archbishop wants to repay Jeralt’s Mercenaries as well?”

“Undoubtedly.” He agreed with her immediately. “I understand that this puts you both in an uncomfortable position, but I do ask once again that you come along. You can be on your way once you have been properly rewarded.”

She let out a sigh, and for a few moments, the girl just looked into the sky, having a silent conversation with herself.

“I’ll come with you to the monastery,” she decided, making him grin widely. “But I’m not staying a single minute longer than I have to.”

“Bless you, my friend! What a noble soul you are! I’d say you saved my bacon, but that would be utterly hammy.”

“Your puns are as bad as my swordplay,” Soma interjected, and the insult hurt more than any blow he had ever felt.

However, he remained silent as Shez burst into laughter, successfully lifting the mood. He looked at Soma, and a small smile came onto his face.

Perhaps this trip won’t be as bloody as he thought.

-Byleth-

“Why does he feel so familiar?” Sothis yawned, peering at the man curiously. “Are you sure you’ve never met him before?”

‘Yes.’

“He used a life debt to try to save you. Fat load of good it would have done, but most people wouldn’t waste a life debt because they didn’t want to see a stranger hurt.”

It confused her as well, part of the reason why she approached him.

“Are you hungry?” he asked, making her nod.

She always had a massive appetite. Her father commented that she ate more than she thought possible. It made sense now; she was eating for two.

Image of Sothis

He was cooking boar. Good. Highly nutritious. She would not starve. As soon as Soma served the first plate, she waited for another. Soma stared at her for a moment, before snorting as he started to slice down the thick pieces of meat.

“There you are; I was wondering where you went,” she turned upon her father’s voice, a soft smile on his face. “And you must be Soma. Thanks for stopping your friend back there. Byleth’s gotten into too many fights today,” he said, ruffling her hair.

Image of Jeralt

She disagreed. There was no such thing as too many fights. It would be the same as saying there are too many trees. The number of fights didn’t matter, just that she won each of them.

“Yeah, and we totally would have beaten purple shmurple,” Sothis commented, floating in front of Soma. “Well, with my help anyway. You should ask why he stopped it.”

“Why did you get in the middle of our battle?”

Soma looked taken aback; Sothis groaned, palming her face in exasperation. Her father didn’t hide his wince.

“Because I didn’t want you to kill her.”

The words brought a stillness to the conversation, except for Sothis, who started to giggle. Her father looked at him with quiet surprise.

“Even if you two were evenly matched, there’s also your mercenary friends she’d have to fight. I don’t like those odds, and I wouldn’t have been able to use that life debt if she was dead in the first place. So I helped in my own little way.”

“How pragmatic of you,” her father chuckled, and as if on cue, heavy footsteps crunched on the dirt behind them, the subject of conversation having appeared.

“You and me,” Shez pointed at her. “When we get to Garreg Mach, we're going to fight. Settle this once and for all,” she declared, making Soma scowl at her.

“A spar,” he corrected. “None of this duel-to-the-death bullshit.”

“A spar,” Shez reluctantly agreed, before turning to Soma. “Thank you for the meal.”

“Thank you for following through.” he smiled softly at the girl, taking her empty plate. “What about you, Jeralt? Want something to eat?”

“Music to my ears,” Jeralt said with a hearty laugh. “A hot meal beats dried rations any day of the week. Let’s see what you’ve got.” 

-Soma-

As I served the final meal with a thin smile on my face, I collapsed against a nearby tree, letting out a pained groan.

Too much shit happened today. Constant back-and-forth walking, cooking, running, stabbing, and more cooking. I could sleep for twelve hours straight.

I’d be lucky to get six of those.

Soma Yukihira

Lv: 7

Exp: 01

HP: 25 +1

Str: 8 +1

Mag: 7 +1

Dex: 10

Spd: 11 +1

Lck: 12 +1

Def: 5 +1

Res: 6 +1

Cha: 17 +1.

“Holy shit,” I blinked, my mood lighting up when I saw all the numbers go up. My charm stat was especially high. I’ve gotten a point for it after every level-up. My defense and resistance stats were still way too low. But it made one thing clear to me. I was not made for the battlefield.

My job is to feed the army, not be the army. 

‘And schmooze up the leaders so they don’t kill me,’ I thought, my eyes turning to Dimitri.

Out of all the house lords, Dimitri was the one I was most wary of at the moment. He looked slightly different from what I expected: a softer jaw, slightly longer hair, but definitely still Dimitri.

Image of Dimitri

I can safely call myself friends with the other two. But if Byleth becomes the teacher leading the Blue Lions? I could be in a world of pain.

Post-timeskip Dimitri is unreasonable. A man driven mad by the actions of those he trusted. I don’t blame him for going crazy in that timeline, but I don’t want him to see me as an enemy in any way.

I’ve gotten most of my support ranks because of my food. However, that hasn’t been the case for the house lords. But Dimitri was a special case. Dimitri lost his sense of taste. He can be nostalgic over meals, enjoy their smell and texture, but not take joy in good food.

I wanted to change that, make a meal that he could actually taste.

‘Something to worry about for later,’ I decided, my eyes sliding between Shez and Byleth.

All the routes I know are shot. They’ll never be the same now that both protagonists are coming to Garreg Mach.

‘Now I just have to make sure they don’t kill each other.’

“So this is where you have run off to,” a familiar voice said, making me turn.

She was entirely too pretty: snow-white hair, lilac eyes. And she somehow was able to pull off the uniform better than anyone else.

“Edelgard,” I nodded tiredly. “You’ve caught me. Congratulations. I am yours now.”

I said it in an almost joking manner, but that didn’t stop the girl’s face from flushing red, making me do a quick double take.

“It-It has been a while since we last spoke!” she quickly recovered. “I-I have been giving our discussions a lot of thought.”

Now that I thought about it, it was a bit weird that Edelgard stopped coming to the library. At first, I thought it was because she finally got a decent bit of sleep, but perhaps.

‘Is she planning something?’ I wondered, already knowing the answer.

Edelgard was Edelgard. She was always planning something.

She cleared her throat, making me relax slightly as she looked at me with a stern look.

“Do you remember when we last spoke?”

“How could I forget?” I said, feeling slightly uncomfortable. I understood her fears; if I was in her situation, I wouldn’t be any better, but hers weren’t anything to be embarrassed about. Not like my own.

It was a childish thing to be afraid of; even before I came here, they terrified me.

It’s something about their appearance. Massive, towering forms of destruction. The damage they could cause in a single breath.

It was awkward to explain that the movie I was once most afraid of was Shrek.

‘Wait a minute,’ I snapped, my eyes meeting hers. “I didn’t tell anyone your secret!”

She looked confused for a moment before her face twisted into one of understanding. “I never thought you did. That’s not why I wanted to see you,” she answered, making me let out a small breath.

“There are people out there. People that pretend to be human,” Edelgard started to say, startling me.

“Edelgard?” I asked slowly, but she continued.

“They are the furthest thing from human. Monsters that wear a guise. They have been secretly controlling humanity for hundreds of years, bringing them on a set path.”

‘She’s actually going to tell me about them?’ I wondered, feeling oddly warm. I didn’t know we were that close, but she trusts me enough to let me know about them?

“They are conniving, vile creatures. They are responsible for an untold amount of death, and cover the truth after the deeds are done. Worst of all, they hide in plain sight, but they desperately try to find as much power as possible.”

This is…so early in the timeline. No one would be prepared to fight them; if we tried it now, it would be a massacre.

“They are called the Children of the Goddess. But in truth… they are dragons.”