Forever Family - Fire Emblem Three House x Engage Fanfic

[Arltom]

Hello everyone, this will be my first ever post in the forums, though it's not my first time here. I love a good story, in any form, which has led me to numerous books, games, etc. Over time, I developed a desire to create my own stories, whether they be originals or fanfictions. After I first found the written works section of the forum, I immediately delved into the stories people have written here and one in particular stood out to me:

Emmeryn's Daughter by Runehood66 stood out to me for a couple reasons: 

1. it was the first time I had ever read a Fire emblem fanfiction that crossed games

2. I have never played awakening (though I've always wanted to, just never had the chance) so it immediately caught my eye

3. The writing for it is honestly spectacular, at least in my opinion. It really left me yearning for more.

4. The biggest reason, is that it uses Past Alear as the main character (plus dragon transformation, always a good thing).

Past Alear has always interested me, as I personally find her more interesting of a character than the Alear we play as, and after I read this (multiple times) I thought: what if past Alear or just Alear from some time before she met Lumera is transported to Fodlan (for some reason... which I'm still working on)

So... now that I've very clearly expressed myself, I hope you enjoy my Three Houses/Engage Fanfic: Forever Family (title still a work in progress) 

Chapter 1: Storm of Sorrow

Spoiler

Tears of rain continuously lashed out its seemingly endless sorrow on the muddled earth. Raging winds whipped the land in all their fury. Trees shrieked and screeched as enraged winds beat down fragile leaves and resilient trunks.

In the grieving downpour, tiny pairs of footprints could be spied carving out the earth. They soon smeared and were wiped clean from view by the rain’s grief, while the tiny noise of feet pitter-pattering against the earth were drowned by the rain’s weeping.

Two little girls, one slightly taller than the other, could be scarcely seen sprinting in the pouring sorrow. Mud splattered across their small, fragile bodies as they fled from fear.

The sound of hooves clattering on mud could be heard faintly in the distance.

“Sister!” The smaller girl yelled, attempting to drown out the ensuing storm, “He’s catching up to us!”

“J-just keep running! D-don’t look back!” The slightly taller girl yelled, dread and terror slipped out her throat as she tightened her grip on her sister’s hand.

No matter what, they couldn’t stop running. They couldn’t go back to that horrible place, else they feared they would never see the light of day.

As the sound of clattering hooves began to get louder and louder, the pair of sisters tried to hasten their sprint but to no avail; their tiny bodies couldn’t go any faster. As they continued their desperate flee, the smaller sister slipped on the mud and fell, bringing her sister down with her.

“Ugh!” More mud splashed across their tiny bodies.

“V-veyle!” The slightly taller girl yelled, her voice weaker than before.

“I-I’m sorry sister!” Tears ran down her face, melding with the wave of rain and splotches of mud on her tiny face. “I-it’s all my fault! I’m- I’m s-sorry f-for dra-dragging you d-down with me-me!”

Her voice choked up on her words as she balled out tears of frustration. The slightly taller sister brought ‘Veyle’ into a tight hug.

“I-it’s n-not y-your fault! I c-chose this V-veyle! I chose t-this!” She also began crying, her muddled red hair bobbing back and forth as she shook her head.

They hugged each other tightly, terror and fear running down their faces. The rain began to beat down harder and harder as they lay on the ground, holding each other for dear life. The sound of hooves became louder and louder until eventually, it stopped.

A large shadow emerged over the two girls, but neither looked up and instead they continued to cry into each other’s embrace. The shadow then split into two, one wide, but large and one tall, but lean. A large splash quickly followed. A hand emerged from the lean shadow, reaching out towards the two girls but then…

“Hey!!!” A booming voice could be heard, splitting through the downpour. The sound of numerous hooves clattering against the mud soon followed.

“Hey!!!” The booming voice said again, “Are you alright!!!”

The two girls, who continued to embrace each, finally looked up towards the origin of the voice. They wept even harder when they looked. A wave of hope had emerged from the pouring sorrow as a band of horses could be seen down the long, dwindling road.

But still, the girls did not move. They simply stared at the horses as they came closer, not uttering a word so to not break the tenuous string of hope. The lean shadow only retracted its hand, moving no more than that.

Eventually, what looked to be a band of 16 knights confronted them, led by an older man wearing armor and orange attire. His face expressing the vast experience he had gathered in his long life.

“Hey there, are you people alright…” The older man’s voice trailed off as his gaze fell upon the children. They lay sprawled on the mud, embracing each other with puffy eyes that continued to leak out tears.

“…My name is Jeralt, leader of this band of mercenaries, what is yours?” The older man named Jeralt resumed his speech towards the shadow, but behind his back he communicated to his men with hand movements, signaling them to surround the three.

“Henry Barker is my name, I’m a traveling merchant,” Spoke the shadow, he pointed at the two girls, “these two are my daughters, though they are mighty troublemakers I tell you.”

‘Henry’ had slick brown hair tied into a long, thin line of hair going down his back with deep black eyes. His face was sculpted well and had a feminine charm to it. He was lean and quite tall as well, being a head taller than his horse, who was quite large as well. A gentle smile lay across his pale skin.

“And their names?” Jeralt asked.

“…I’m afraid my memory escapes me sometimes, I’m much older than I look. Would you like to tell this kind gentleman your names?” He spoke and smiled sweetly, almost hypnotically to the two girls.

But neither of them replied nor did they turn their attention to ‘Henry,’ they simply continued to stare at Jeralt with gazes filled with their pleading.

With his sweet smile still plastered across his face, a hint of anger flashed in ‘Henry’s’ eyes, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared.

“Then let me change the question,” Jeralt changed his gaze towards the muddied girls, “Is this man your father, like he claims to be?”

His voice had such an authority to it that it compelled them to speak.

“No,” they meekly said, shaking their heads.

“Then get behind me.”

And so they did. They scurried off the muddy ground with their heads lowered, they did not look back at ‘Henry’ until they were safely behind Jeralt. What they saw was not the kind facade that he showed Jeralt, but instead an expression full of seething hot rage.

“You brats!”

“Now then,” Jeralt brought his gaze onto ‘Henry,’ “I don’t think you’re a traveling merchant, now are you?”

He grabbed the iron spear strapped onto his saddle, aiming it at ‘Henry’ with an incredible show of force and authority. Following his lead, all his men, who had then surrounded ‘Henry,’ aimed their swords, spears, and bows at the mysterious man.

“Who are you really, ‘Henry?’”

After Notes:

Spoiler

Hello again, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter of Forever Family (still not to keen on this title, if anyone has any suggestions I would love to listen!). As you can very easily tell, I decided to make Alear very young, like at this point she's only 7. I also decided to include Veyle because double the dragons means double the fun! In all seriousness though, I thought that adding Veyle would make a more fun dynamic. I imagine her to be protective of Alear, for reasons that will be told in a later chapter. Regarding Alear, I decided to make her a shy character with her times of bravery. I personally imagine that the reason why we see past Alear so emotionless and expressionless is because she was originally shy but after seeing her siblings die one after the other, she closed herself off from others then she closes off her emotions so she's no longer emotionally hurt. But then again that can happen even if you're not shy so it's just my personal little head canon. As a goal for myself, I'll try to post a new chapter every week, on Friday. Anyway to end this after notes section off, Do you think that the chapter needs larger? I think it's one off from 900 words but it still feels too short. If you have any suggestions regarding chapter length/word count, I would love to hear them!

Also here's the feedback thread!

Edited March 12 by Arltom

[Arltom]

Chapter 2: Emerging Hope

Spoiler

Amidst the ruthless downpour, Jeralt and his mercenary troop surrounded ‘Henry,’ keeping their weapons trained on him.

“We can solve this peacefully, you know,” his voice gentle, his actions relaxed, yet his expression was contorted with rage, as if ‘Henry’ and the body were separate entities. “Just leave the children with me, and we can all walk away undisturbed.”

“I’m not so rotten that I would abandon frightened children with the likes of you,” retorted Jeralt.

He grasped the iron shield fastened onto his back and pounded his spear shaft onto it, producing a low bang. His men began to slowly move in closer in a circular formation when he did.

As they began their approach, Jeralt turned his head toward the two girls, terror etched onto their faces as they tightly held each other’s tiny hands.

“Don’t move until I say so, do you understand?”

They nodded their heads in silence. Jeralt turned back to assume the formation.

Let’s hope this’ll end swiftly.

Jeralt and his men gradually approached ‘Henry,’ wary of any magic he may attempt, if he could wield such, but he simply stood there with his hands in his coat. When they had closed about half the distance between them and ‘Henry,’ he suddenly shoved his hands upward causing Jeralt’s men to nearly pounce on him before he declared…

“I surrender.”

The mercenaries, confused, looked toward Jeralt for guidance.

What is he up to? he wondered, Hmm… it’s best to go about this safely.

“You,” He pointed toward a bearded man wielding a sword positioned directly behind ‘Henry,’ “Tie him up.”

Cassian, the name of the bearded man, had been in the troop for several years now and was quite experienced, so Jeralt felt confident in his choice.

“Yes Captain!”

The men lowered their weapons but they continued to stay vigilant for any sudden movements, not a sound could be heard from them and so the sound of pounding tears and raging winds consumed their ears. Cassian hopped off his horse and from his saddlebag, pulled out a ragged rope. With sword in right and rope in left, he steadily approached ‘Henry,’ careful as to not slip on the muddy earth.

“Slowly put your hands behind your back,” ordered Cassian.

“Okay.”

‘Henry’ slowly positioned his hands behind his back. Every man scrutinized every movement of his with such vigor and intensity that one could choke on the tension. After having approached ‘Henry,’ Cassian quietly sheathed his sword and began the process of binding his hands.

But in a blur, ‘Henry’ horrifically twisted his entire upper body clockwise to face Cassian, his legs moving not an inch. It was so grotesque that it forced them all to question if he was even human.

In his sickeningly twisted state, he pulled his left hand out of the unfinished bind and kept his right hand aimed at the mercenary.

“Ready your weapons!” Roared Jeralt, banging his spear against his shield. 

In an instant, 'Henry's' hands glowed gold, and a gleaming circular formation of purple lines, circles, and strange symbols emerged from underneath him.

Cassian, with no time to draw his sword, tried to jump away but he was too close, too late.

“Die!!!” ‘Henry’s’ bloodcurdling screech scratched and scrapped at their ears. His expression was so warped and deformed by various emotions seen swirling in his irises, of which were so vile and rotten, that his facial appearance was no longer that of a human, if he even was one.

From his shimmering hands emerged a large sphere of darkness that instantly slammed into Cassian, exploding into black mist which engulfed them both. A frantic scream escaped from 'Henry's' horse, which was close to the attack, and it quickly fled into the forest, which no one minded as their attention was focused on the cloud of black mist.

Damn it!

With their weapons readied, they lunged forward, no longer minding their formation.

Men with spears pierced their weapons into the dark mist, taking advantage of their long reach.

The wind from their spears blew the dark cloud away, revealing Cassian breathing heavily on the ground with a large dent in the torso armor piece and ‘Henry’ nowhere to be seen.

“Someone get Cassian a vulnerary!” Yelled Jeralt, studying the aftermath.

Tsk, he got away.

He turned around to see the two girls quivering in fear as they huddled together.

At least they’re safe.

He climbed off his horse, strapping his spear onto his saddle and his shield onto his back. When he began to approach the two girls, they flinched and tightened their embrace on one another.

“Everything is going to be fine now; the bad man is gone now,” he assured them gently, “Would you two like to tell me your names now?”

They shook their heads and continued to gaze at Jeralt with their red, puffy eyes.

They must have been scared out of their minds, he assumed.

“How about this? There’s a village some ways down this road that me and my men are staying at due to the storm. We’ve been keeping an eye out for people stuck out in this terrible storm. You don’t have to tell me your names, but don’t you think it would be best to get to some shelter instead of staying out in the rain?” explained Jeralt, hoping they might be convinced.

They glanced at one another before nodding their heads in reply.

He smiled softly, “Good.”

“Now then lets-” Jeralt attempted to pick up the girl with muddled red hair to sit her on his horse, but the smaller girl swiftly smacked his hands away.

“Don’t touch sister!” screamed the smaller girl.

“V-veyle!?” cried the red hair girl.

So her name is Veyle…

“I’m sorry for the sudden action but I’m not going to hurt her, I’m just going to set her onto my horse. The trek would go faster if you two rode.” He tried to explain but it was written plainly on the girl's face that she wasn’t persuaded.

Since, neither of the two could ride a horse, which Jeralt assumed, the two would have to ride separately as they both wouldn't fit on one horse.

“No! Me and sister will stay together! If we’re not together, then we’re not going!”

“But you’ll have to walk.”

“Don’t care!”

Haaah…What a tough nut to crack.

“Okay then, suit yourself.”

Jeralt climbed back onto his horse. He looked around to see that Cassian had recovered and was ready on his horse, though his armor still had a conspicuous dent in it.

“Okay men! We’re heading out!” yelled Jeralt.

His men lined up in an orderly fashion behind Jeralt, forming a triangle formation.

“Make sure to walk slowly so as to not hit these two!” He pointed towards the two girls who stood next to him, “They’ll be coming with us to the village so make sure to treat them well!”

“Yes sir!” They roared, drowning out the pouring sorrow.

“Now, onward!”

And so began their slow march toward the village.

As the hours flew by, Jeralt continuously passed glances toward the small pair.

They both were deathly pale and shivering, covered head to toe in mud, rain, and tears, and wore what were essentially rags and walked barefoot. Clearly, they were not in a state in which they should be marching through such a harsh storm, yet they refused to ride on the horses for fear of being split up.

It was quite admirable.

They must have a strong bond, Jeralt surmised, I wish she had someone she could share such a bond with like they do…

Then lightning struck him, maybe I could… she wouldn’t be so solitary, and it would solve the issue of what to do with these two after the storm passes. The only question is if they would accept?

He glanced back at the two, who continued to struggle through the severe weather and terrain. They seemed to be whispering to each other, but not loud enough for Jeralt to overhear. The red hair girl, who was whispering something into Veyle’s ear, happened to glance upward, her puffy gaze meeting Jeralt’s.

Jeralt marveled at her striking red eyes, which seemed terrified of everything and one that was captured in their sight but in them he saw something, something that could only be described as of such strength and intensity, that it was unperturbed by the heavy grief pouring on her.

They stared at each other for an undeterminable amount of time, and then finally, she dragged her eyes back onto her sister Veyle. Jeralt too dragged his gaze away, facing forward, witnessing the village peaking over the horizon.

The cold, harsh storm never wavered during their entire march, yet Jeralt had unmistakably been burned.

After notes:

Spoiler

That's the end of chapter 2! Yay, it's Jeralt! Hmmm.... I wonder who 'she' could be that Jeralt referred to? HMMMM??? Such a mystery! Anyway, I made this chapter a little bit longer than the last (and future chapters will be longer as well), so hope it was more enjoyable. And I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I certainly am having a blast writing this. If you have any suggestions, please tell me and I would love to listen to them! If not, then see you next Friday!

 

[Arltom]

Chapter 3: New Bonds

Spoiler

“We’re approaching the village!”

It seemed none had noticed that the village was in view, as Jeralt’s men exploded into cheers after he announced the news. Even the pair of sisters seemed excited, as their whispering began to get louder and more frequent to the point that Jeralt could hear bits and pieces of their conversation.

“…look sister…it’s…”

“…people…us stay…”

“…know…strange man…”

I’m glad they’re excited, Jeralt thought amusingly, they look more their age now, besides them being drenched in mud and rain.

The village itself wasn’t anything special, it was the type of village you could find all over Fodlan but amidst the oppressive storm, it was like an oasis amidst a desert.

*      *      *

When Jeralt and his troop entered the village, the villagers and members of Jeralt’s mercenary troop, left behind to protect the village, gave them a warm welcome, or at least the warmest welcome they could give from the confines of their shelters.

“Welcome back, Jeralt!”

“Gosh, you guys are soaked!”

"Well, no duh!”

"Come on inside! I’ll serve you all some hot meals!”

Jeralt and his mercenary troop were extremely loved by the people of the village. The villager's welcome was so tremendous that the pair of sisters went silent from the sudden explosion of voices.

Pfft, what funny kids, chuckled Jeralt.

It seemed that the girl named Veyle noticed his quiet amusement as she started to glare at him from below his horse. Her glare was far more cute than scary though.

“Hey Jeralt! Who are the kids!”

One of the villagers noticed that the two girls were with the troop and was curious about them. All the villagers shifted their focus to the two girls, causing them to stiffen from the sudden attention.

“Hey, don’t stare at them all at once! You’ll scare them!”

The villagers realized their mistake after Jeralt quickly corrected them.

“Sorry!”

“We didn’t mean to scare you!”

“Well, what do you expect when you suddenly bring everyone’s attention to them?!”

“I said I’m sorry!”

As the villagers bickered, some looked at the girls with eyes full of pity at their muddy appearance. Anyone could tell that they had been through rough times, so it was only normal that they were afraid when everyone suddenly focused on them.

“Anyway, I found these two running in the rain, so I brought them back to the village!” Jeralt purposely did not speak about ‘Henry.’ He had told his men before they had entered the village not to mention him to not cause a panic. “They’re sisters and I hope everyone will be treat them well!”

“Of course we’ll be good to them!”

“Yeah, we would never bully such little kids!”

“Don’t think so poorly of us Jeralt!”

The villagers replied with a hint of anger in their voices as Jeralt reminded them to treat the girls nicely.

“Sorry!” apologized Jeralt.

He waved his hands toward his men and shouted, “Okay men, you’re all free to go! Get some rest, you guys deserve it!”

“Thank you, sir!” Bellowed all his men.

The troop then separated; some formed groups together and went to the small village pub, others split off to enjoy time alone or with a lover.

“You two,” said Jeralt, turning his gaze toward the two girls, “Will be coming with me.”

They nodded their heads, silently following him toward a house farther back in the village.

The house was of a decent size and seemed normal from the outside, it wasn’t decaying but neither was it spotless.

“Just so you know, this isn’t my house,” explained Jeralt, “I’m borrowing it from one of the villagers. We mercenaries often move due to jobs, so we simply ask the villagers to provide us shelter, whether we pay or not is up to them. The villagers let us borrow this house for free as thanks for helping them out with the storm.”

The two girls gave a questioning glance to each other as Jeralt had said ‘us’ in his explanation.

Jeralt knocked five times in a specific rhythm. A little while afterwards, a young girl opened the door.

“I’m home Byleth.”

“Hello father, welcome home…” replied the young girl named Byleth, her voice trailed off as she saw the two girls huddled behind Jeralt, “Who are they?”

“Ah, me and the rest of the troop met them on the road, they’re sisters,” explained Jeralt, “the smaller one is named Veyle, and the taller one is named… well, she hasn’t told me her name yet. Would you like to tell me your name now?”

“A-ah…” She seemed to have tried to say something, but nothing came out. Her eyes darted back and forth between Jeralt, then Byleth, then back to Jeralt again.

“Grr, leave sister alone!” shouted Veyle.

“It’s fine, you can tell me when you’re ready, if you even want to,” replied Jeralt, “Anyway Byleth, I was hoping you could clean these two up for me. I’ll prepare dinner in the meantime.”

“Yes, father,” replied Byleth, her facial expression not changing in the slightest.

Jeralt frowned slightly, but quickly fixed his expression, “Thank you, Byleth.”

He turned to face the two girls, “As you just heard, Byleth will help you wash up then we’ll eat. After that, we’ll discuss what will happen to you two once the storm passes, okay?”

They nodded silently in reply.

“Good,” he turned to face Byleth, “you can go ahead now.”

“Yes, father,” replied Byleth, “Come you two, follow me.”

They followed Byleth. The girl with red hair stopped for a moment and glanced back at Jeralt, then quickly turned away, rushing after Veyle and Byleth, leaving Jeralt alone at the front door.

“Sigh… One of them can't express themselves, another gets angry whenever I speak, and the other one is too afraid to even say anything… Will this even work?” questioned Jeralt to himself, “What would you do… Sitri?”

*      *      *

Warm water was fell upon tiny bodies, washing off the mud and grime as they sat still in a wooden basin. Warm cloths rubbed against their small backs and a wooden comb flowed through their now fresh, voluminous hair as Byleth silently washed them.

“All done,” said Byleth.

The two sisters glanced at each other. There wasn’t even a speck of mud on their bodies anymore, like they were never covered in mud. They were even given fresh new clothes to wear.

“Thank you,” they both said, bowing their heads to Byleth.

“No problem, I’m just doing what father asked,” replied Byleth, “Father is probably done with dinner now, so let’s go.”

“Okay!” The both of them seemed much more eager to talk now. Whether it was because the topic was food or that they simply had taken a liking to Byleth remains a mystery.

They followed Byleth out of the bathing room to a table with four seats, where Jeralt had set up the food.

Smelling the food, the two girls sprang into the seats, sitting next to each other. They were about to immediately begin eating but they paused when they saw Jeralt staring at them.

Seeing them so eager to eat, he smiled and said, “Go ahead.”

After being given the go ahead, they jumped into the food, shoving it down their throats as if they had never eaten in their lives.

After swiftly cleaning their plates, they looked back at Jeralt with questioning gazes, asking with their eyes, More?

“Don’t worry there’s more,” said Jeralt.

I’m glad I made extra, he thought.

As he handed them seconds, he noticed both had peculiar stones hanging from their necks: Veyle’s stone was a pure white with irregular dark lines on it, while the red hair girl’s stone was a rich red, like that of a ruby. Both stones had an unknown symbol engraved into the middle of them. Jeralt also noticed a gold ring with a blue gemstone on the red hair girls ring finger. Their accessories, Jeralt realized, must have been hidden by the mud.

Perplexed, he gave Byleth a questioning glance, but she simply shrugged her shoulders and sat down to eat. Jeralt also followed suit and began eating, planning to ask about the strange stones and ring at a later moment.

They ate silently, with the sound of the two girls chowing down on their food and the harsh rain reverberating through the air.

After everyone had finished eating, with the two girls now having finished their fourth plates, Jeralt spoke, “So… regarding what will happen with you two… I was thinking… that I would like to adopt the both of you.”

“Ehhhh???”

After Notes

Spoiler

You noticed right? Well, it's not like I hid it. Alear and Veyle have their Dragonstones! Of course, they'll eventually be used and I'm very excited to use them as well because, let's face it, dragons are cool. It still upsets me that neither Alear nor Veyle get a transformation. Not even Once! It could've just been in a cutscene and I still would've been happy with it! 

Anyway, since Alear never gives her Dragonstone to Veyle, it makes since she would have it. Regarding Veyle, it says in what I believe to be her final bond conversation with Corrin that she hid her Dragonstone so this would be before that. Does the design for her Dragonstone make sense? Alear's Dragonstone is red in the game (Or at least I remember it to be because for the life of me I can't find the image where Veyle shows off the Dragonstone) so I just imagined their dragonstones to resemble their colors, which is why Veyle's is white with black streaks. And I wonder why Alear has Marth? Hmmmmmm....

Well, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Jeralt has offered to adopt Alear and Veyle so I wonder what their answer will be? 

 

[Arltom]

Chapter 4: Forever Family

Spoiler

Jeralt’s suggestion about adopting the sisters not only surprised them but even Byleth was momentarily stunned, though she quickly recovered.

“Just think about, you two have nowhere to go. Even if you have each, it’ll be tough trying to live and people might even target you, especially when two pretty girls like yourselves are all by themselves.” In fact, their appearances had stunned even Jeralt when they showed up at the table.

He had obviously expected that the two would look much better after a nice cleaning, but he didn’t expect that they would have such striking appearances.

Veyle had pale white hair resembling snow, with black streams of hair at irregular locations and wide, purple eyes. Meanwhile, the taller sister had striking red eyes and hair like that of scarlet flames. If they were to wander about with no one but each other, they would immediately attract the attention of unwanted individuals.

The sisters glanced at each other then went back to Jeralt. The first one to speak was Veyle.

“I refuse! Me and sister can take care of each other!” she said.

“I see…” replied Jeralt, “then what do you think?”

“M-me?!”  exclaimed the red hair girl, “U-um… I actually… think it’s a good idea…”

Her voice petered into a whisper, but they were all close enough to hear.

“You’re joking right, sister?!” shouted Veyle, shocking her and Jeralt.

I didn’t think she would go along with it, he thought.

"But he’s right, isn’t he? If we try to go by ourselves again, another bad person might get us,” she shivered, remembering ‘Henry,’ “besides, I don’t think Mr. Jeralt is bad man, and Byleth is really nice too!”

The sisters stared at each other for a long time, silently communicating with they eyes, before finally, Veyle sighed and gave in.

“Okay, I’ll… agree to the… adoption…” her voice trailing off at the end.

“Really?! I love you Veyle!” She brought Veyle into a tight hug.

“Yeah, yeah…” a smile emerged on Veyle’s face.

Seeing them hug was warming to both Jeralt and Byleth, who wondered if she would ever get to embrace someone like that too.

“Now that that’s all settled, there’s one more thing to do,” said Jeralt, “your names.”

“Our names?” asked Veyle.”

“Yes, I already know your name, but I would like to hear it from yourself and not from your sister,” he explained, “and I still haven’t heard your name yet little lady. Plus, I would also like to know how old you two are.”

“Oh, okay. Um... My name is Veyle and I’m six years old!” She looked toward her sister.

“I’m seven and m-my name is A-alear…” she said.

“I see, Veyle and Alear,” said Jeralt, “Well then, Veyle, Alear, from today onwards we’ll be a family. I will be your new father, my name is Jeralt Eisner, which will also be your last name now. This is your new older sister, Byleth, she’s ten.”

“Hello,” said Byleth.

Even though she only said one word, Alear and Veyle seemed to look at her with such admiration in their eyes, you’d think that she was their actual older sister.

They agreed to it much faster than I thought they would, wondered Jeralt, maybe they also wanted family…

"U-um…” Alear stared at Jeralt, “so… what do we do now that you’ve adopted us?”

“What now?”

“Y-yes… was I not supposed to ask?” She looked down, twiddling her fingers.

“No, no, you’re fine,” said Jeralt, “What now… Well, you can help me put away the dishes. Then after that you’ll go to bed.”

“That’s it?” Asked Alear, Veyle also looked at Jeralt questioningly.

“That’s it.” What kind of life were they previously living?

He continued, “Byleth will teach you how to wash the dishes. Also, there’s only two rooms in the house so you two will be sharing a room with her.”

“Ok!” responded Alear and Veyle.

“Ok,” responded Byleth.

Jeralt frowned slightly, they seem to like her more than me…

“Then let’s get to cleaning.”

*      *      *

Alear watched quietly as Veyle slept peacefully to her right, her stomach inflating and deflating at timed intervals.

“Snooooore….”

The sound of Veyle’s snoring echoed through the bedroom.

A new family… and a new father, thought Alear, as she lay awake at night, listening to Veyle’s snoring.

Her and Veyle’s father, Sombron, was not a good father, if one could even call him one. He would kill his children without a second thought if they weren’t useful. Even so, the two still wished to have a bond with him.

But that dream was shattered when he designated Veyle a defect, as she was too gentle, refusing to kill. When Alear saw this, she tried to stand up for her half-sister, but she too was named a defect. So, to save their lives, she ran with Veyle, taking the emblem of beginnings with them to spite their father. She believed that if she took the ring, it would give them a better chance of survival. So, she took it and the two ran.

They ran and ran until they couldn’t run anymore, but no matter how far they ran, they couldn’t outrun the corrupted. They were eventually cornered but when they were finally surrounded with nowhere left to go, they were suddenly warped to another location by an unknown source.

Where they arrived, no corrupted were to be seen. They treaded carefully, wary of any corrupted that might be hidden but what they were not wary of were humans. As they traveled, they encountered a man named ‘Henry,’ living in a lone house deep within a forest.

He gave them food and shelter, then afterwards asked if they could help him with some chores, as payment for his help. He said that it was too dark and that his eyes were not as good as they used to be. The two agreed, as while they were wary, they weren’t children who didn’t know how to repay goodwill, even with their upbringing.

When they traveled into the basement, they began to hear small groans down the dark stairs. They were afraid but ‘Henry’ convinced them that it was just a draft. But as they went deeper, the groans kept getting louder and louder until they happened upon some iron bars and behind them, several children with bruises and scars all over their bodies, some of which were still bleeding. They tried to leave but their bodies felt weak, they had been poisoned with the food most likely. Unable to escape, they were forcefully dragged into the dark, damp cells.

They were tricked, the ring taken for observation, and locked into the cells for experimentation. The only Brightside was that they able to keep their dragonstones, as he didn’t know their value, but still, they did not want to use them. If it wasn’t for the sudden storm that opened a hole to escape, they would have become just like the other children locked in the basement, who were too weak to escape. The two grasping the sudden opportunity, escaped, taking back the emblem ring but if they hadn’t encountered Jeralt, they never would have been able to outrun ‘Henry.’

Will Mr. Jeralt be the same?

As Alear continued lay wake at night pondering, she heard Byleth’s voice call out beside her, “Are you still awake.” Her voice was low, almost inaudible.

“Yes...”

“What’s keeping you up?” She asked quietly, careful as to not wake Veyle up.

Alear paused for a moment before asking, “…W-what kind of father is Jeralt?”

So that’s what’s keeping her up, Byleth thought, I wonder what kind of family they grew up in.

“He’s… strong, tough, but also very kind. Everyone in the mercenary troop admires him and so do the villagers… as do I,” the faintest of smiles crept onto her face, kept hidden by the darkness, “He’s a good father, you don’t have to worry.”

Alear smiled softly and said, “Thank you.”

She looks much cuter when she smiles, Byleth realized, maybe this new family will be a good thing.

“I don’t know what kind of family you and Veyle came from nor what kind of life you two lived before this, but I do know this: we will always be a family, from now to forever.”

A lone tear crawled down Alear’s eye, shimmering in the faint moonlight, “Okay…”

Byleth wiped the tear, “Now… rest, for tomorrow is a bright new day.”

“Mmmhmmm…” Alear closed her eyes and drifted off into sleep.

Byleth watched as she slept, she too closed her eyes and prayed, I hope… I am given the strength to protect you both… my dear little sisters.

And with that she fell into slumber.

After notes:

Spoiler

Look, look, I did the thing! You know! The chapter title! And the Series title! 

Being serious, I'm facing a dilemma: I have no way to explain how Alear and Veyle get to Fodlan. I've tried thinking about but nothing makes sense. I even thought that maybe the one who warped them was the zero emblem because... why not. But then I realized that doesn't work. So for now its just: they were warped into Fodlan by an unknown entity! If you have any suggestions, I would love to listen!

Anyway, hope you enjoyed chapter 4!

 

[Arltom]

Chapter 5: A new Life

Spoiler

A delicious aroma wafted through the air and filled the room, awakening Veyle from her deep sleep.

What’s that smell? She glanced around to see that only she was left in the bed.

Struggling, she gets up from the bed and slowly walks out of the room. As she gets closer to the door, that delicious aroma gets stronger and stronger until finally she drags the door, finding Alear, Byleth and Jeralt preparing the food and table.

Jeralt glances over to the source of the sound, “Ah, Veyle you’re up, come help set the table.”

He starts putting food onto some plates.

“Ok…” She says sleepily, dragging her weary body over to set the table.

Jeralt, noticing her tiredness, says, “You look quite tired, did you get enough sleep?”

“Veyle is just a heavy sleeper,” interrupted Alear.

“She was the first one asleep as well,” added Byleth, leaving out the part about Veyle’s snoring, “We thought it was best to just let her sleep.”

Haaah… this is going to be a problem, concluded Jeralt.

“Anyway, all that matters is that she’s up now,” spoke Jeralt, “let’s finish setting up.”

They soon finished setting up the table and began eating breakfast. The breakfast appeared to be quite delicious, as Alear, Veyle, and Byleth stuffed their faces full of food, though Byleth did so with an expressionless face.

As they finished Jeralt began speaking, “Today, I’ll be introducing you two as my daughters to the troop and villagers, and then we’ll help shore up the village now that the storm has moved on. Tomorrow we’ll leave to travel to the Leicester alliance for our next job.”

“What’s the Leicester alliance?” asked Alear, Veyle also had a confused expression planted on her face.

“It’s one of the nations on the continent of Fodlan.” Interrupted Byleth.

But it seemed that the two’s confusion only grew when they mentioned Fodlan.

“What’s Fodlan?” asked Veyle.

“It’s the continent we live on.” Replied Byleth.

Alear and Veyle glanced to one another before Veyle asked, “Not Elyos?”

“What’s Elyos?” asked Byleth, though she didn’t show any confusion.

“I’ve lived for quite some time and I’ve also never heard of the continent of Elyos.” Added Jeralt.

He continued, “It’s fine if you don’t know, I or Byleth can teach you later.”

Both Alear and Veyle began looking downtrodden, prompting Jeralt to ask, “What’s wrong?”

“U-um…”

“A-aren’t you going to ask about where we're from… or about these stones… or this ring…” mumbled Alear.

“No, I’m not.” Said Jeralt, “If it really causes you that much concern, you can just tell me when you’re ready.”

“Ok…” replied both.

“Now then, let’s clean up and get dressed.” Said Jeralt.

Both Alear and Veyle looked confused and Veyle asked, “Aren’t we already dressed?”

Jeralt, astonished, replied, “No, those are sleeping clothes, I have some sets of clothes that Byleth used to wear, so you’ll put on whatever fits.”

“Yes Jeralt!” exclaimed the two.

Jeralt frowned slightly, it hasn’t even been a day, I don’t know what I was expecting…

“I’ll help them pick out some clothes,” added Byleth.

The three sisters got up and began putting their plates away but were interrupted by Jeralt.

“I’ll clean up, you girls just get dressed.”

Sitri said that girls like to dress up, so I should give so time, concluded Jeralt.

“Oh… okay…” replied Veyle dejectedly, Alear also looked dejected as well.

Byleth took a glance at Jeralt, before speaking to Alear and Veyle, “Let’s go.”

She took the two, to their room, swiftly closing the door, leaving Jeralt standing there, confused.

Huh? What did I do wrong, questioned Jeralt, and did Byleth just… glare at me? No, I must be mistaken… right?

*      *      *

Okay.. all done, concluded Jeralt.

He had not only cleaned the table and dishes but as well did a deep clean of the whole kitchen area, his armor, and his weapons.

They’re still not done yet? Guess I’ll wait for them to finish.

He waited for another 15 minutes, fidgeting with his now extra clean shield, before the three of them finally came out of their room.

“You all are finally done…” His voice trailed off as saw Byleth lead Alear and Veyle out the room.

Alear wore a long sleeved black top with red and gold adornments, with a red bow at her neck. She also wore a red skirt and black high socks, along with boots of similar coloring to the rest of her outfit: black base, with red and gold adornments. Her mainly black outfit heightened her flaming red hair and eyes.

Veyle, meanwhile, wore a black and white one-piece dress with a black chocker on her neck. She had black and white stripped high socks along with black boots topped with a white strip. Her outfit seemed to meld with her long white-black hair.

He turned towards Byleth, who wore a black coat, her arms poking through the top of the sleeves through holes. With a black tank top and miniskirt, and she had spotted brown high socks with black boots. A dagger with a purple sheath sat on her hip.

None of them wore any armor, as they aren’t allowed to join the mercenary troop until they are 13. Byleth was quite happy when glancing at Alear and Veyle's clothing, but she still had her same flat expression, making Jeralt believe it was just him seeing things again.

“Wow… I’m impressed! I didn’t think we had such clothes,” exclaimed Jeralt, shocked by their transformation, he had seen Byleth wearing that outfit before, so he was not shocked by hers.

“I have more clothes than you might think.” She said mysteriously.

“Well, you two certainly look pretty.” Replied Jeralt.

“It’s all because of sister Byleth!” exclaimed Alear.

“Yeah, sister Byleth is awesome!” Added Veyle.

Jeralt frowned slightly, so they’ll call Byleth sister but not call me father?

“It wasn’t all me, I had their input as well.”  She showed a faint smile, but no one noticed.

“Well, what matters is that you’re all dressed, so let’s get going,” said Jeralt, “The mercenary troop have probably gathered already, let’s go.”

“Yes, Jeralt.” Replied Alear and Veyle.

“Yes, father.” Replied Byleth.

Jeralt frowned once again, Still no change?

Byleth seemed to have caught Jeralt’s change in expression as her eyes seemed to light up.

*      *      *

“And that’s the run-down of the situation, so I hope you all welcome my two new daughters, Alear and Veyle!” Shouted Jeralt, who seemed to be quite excited introducing his new daughters.

“Yeah!”

“Welcome to the Troop!”

“Idiot! They’re not members of the troop yet!”

“They’re basically members!”

The mercenary troop members began shouting in exclamation at Jeralt’s reveal. Some of the villagers were also present so they too joined in on the ruckus.

“Good for you two!”

“Looks like you’ll have to put in triple the effort Jeralt!”

Good grief… What an excited bunch, thought Jeralt.

Jeralt clapped twice, and shouted, “Calm yourselves, we still have a job to do men! Now that the storm has passed, we need to shore up this village as thanks for them letting us take shelter here!”

One of the villagers who were present yelled, “You don’t have to do that Jeralt! You already kept a look out for people stuck in the storm!”

“Yeah he’s right! You’ve done enough!” Another added.

“I’m just paying back what is due,” explained Jeralt, “Besides, we have to wait for all the water to dry up for safe travels! Better to keep my men moving than let them get complacent!”

As the whole mercenary troop heaved a heavy sigh, Veyle approached Jeralt.

“Jeralt, can we help too?” Asked Veyle.

“Sure, kiddo,” replied Jeralt as he smiled softly.

She smiled and ran back towards Alear and Byleth, who both patted her head. Jeralt gazed happily at the three before revealing a faint frown.

How did she get so close to the two of them, pondered Jeralt, well, at least she’s bonding with others, that’s what’s important.

One of the troops noticed Jeralt’s frown and asked, “What’s got you looking all dejected Captain Jeralt?”

“Ah Thomas,” Jack, like Cassian, had been in the troop for several years and had been with Jeralt long enough to notice his faint changes in expressions, “I was just wondering how Byleth got so close to the two. They even call her sister but don’t call me father. I know its only been a day but still…”

“Just let girls be girls, besides they’re closer in age,” explained Jack, “You can’t rush things like this, they take time.”

“I know, I know…” said Jeralt, he sighed and started walking forward. He clapped his hands again and shouted, “Ok men! Let’s get to work!”

“Yes Captain Jeralt!”

“Yes Jeralt!”

“Yes Father.”

*      *      *

After a long day of work the family returns home.

“I’m tired.”

Byleth wearily heaved the door open as she dragged herself into the house.

“Me too!”

“Me three!”

Alear and Veyle too struggled to pull themselves in but a hint of excitement was plastered across their faces.

“Okay people, it’s time to bathe,” stated Jeralt, as he walked in to the house seemingly not exhausted.

The chores they had to due was from clearing mud, to cleaning and rebuilding damaged houses, building storm and flood protection, and more. Thus, leaving the three sisters totally exhausted.

They all headed to the bathing room, including Jeralt.

“Huh? You’re coming to bathe with us Jeralt?” Alear’s question completely astonishing Jeralt.

“What! No! There’s a separate bathing room.”

“So why didn’t you bathe at the same time as us yesterday?" Intervened Veyle.

“Haaah… to prepare dinner.”

“So then… you went to sleep without bathing?”

“No… I bathed after we ate and cleaned.”

“Oh!”

I really need to teach them some common sense…

The three girls entered the bathing room, Jeralt swore that he saw Byleth snickering behind the two but convinced himself that he must’ve been hallucinating from the little exhaustion he had accumulated and entered the bathing room.

After about 10 minutes, the three sisters left the bathing room to find Jeralt, who had already finished bathing, preparing dinner. They then began helping preparing dinner and it was soon ready.

As they ate, Jeralt reminded them, “Remember, if the weather is as good as it was today, the troop will begin traveling to the Leicester alliance for job from a noble.”

“Okay.”

""Okay!!""

The three expressed their agreement.

They finished eating and begin cleaning up. As they cleaned Jeralt noticed that Veyle had fallen asleep at the table.

“Ah… she’s asleep.”

“I’ll take her.” Declared Byleth, picking up Veyle and carrying her to their room.

Then it was just the Alear and Jeralt.

“She must’ve been tired.”

“Yeah. She kept dozing off while bathing too.”

""…""

Now that both Byleth and Veyle are gone, I conversation doesn’t seem to flowing. What do I say now?

Ah! I got it! Exclaimed Jeralt.

“She’s changed a lot, Veyle has.”

“She has?”

“Yes, she was very hostile at first. I’m still surprised that her attitude changed so quickly.”

He really was surprised. He didn’t expect Alear to agree to the adoption idea, let alone Veyle.

“That’s because… she was scared,” Alear hesitatingly said, “And besides, Veyle has always been a gentle child. That’s why…”

Her voice trailed off as spoke and she began to bite her lip as fear inflamed her eyes, soon that was burned to ashes by anger and resentment like smoldering flames.

“…That’s why…” but before she could finish, a large mass of warmth covered the top of her head. When she looked up, she saw Jeralt’s hand covering her head.

“You don’t have to say anything, just tell me when you’re ready,” Gently stroking her head.

“Okay…” Her eyes began to redden as he stroked her head. She lunged at him, hugging him with her tiny arms that couldn’t even wrap around his waist.

He just stood silently as she hugged him, trembling. Whatever they had lived through before must’ve been hard on them.

He heard a faint creak and glanced over to see the faintest of smiles, if it even was one, on Byleth’s face as she watched the two hugged, his eyes widening in astonishment as he saw her. He blinked again, wiping his eyes with his unused hand, and looked once more and the faint smile was gone, replaced with her always expressionless face.

Was it really just a hallucination?

It didn’t seem that Alear had noticed Byleth or Jeralt’s shock, as she continued to hug Jeralt while trembling. Whether she was trembling from fear, resentment, or joy was unknown. The only thing discernible was their hug and that was all that mattered.

 

[Arltom]

Sorry about no chapter last week, I've been busy last week and I will be for the next couple of weeks as well. I'll release (or at least I'll try to) chapter 6 (and maybe 7 as well) this Friday.

[Arltom]

Chapter 6: To the Leicester Alliance! 1

Spoiler

It was the afternoon when the mercenary troop was prepared to leave the village. The villagers had gathered around them, shooting off congratulatory messages.

“Thanks for everything!”

“Have a safe trip!”

“You’re always welcome here!”

As they were thrown congratulatory messages, Jeralt checked on the condition of his daughters. Byleth, since she knew how, was riding a horse with Veyle on and Alear was on his horse. The two were not opposed to splitting up this time as they were when they first met Jeralt.

“Are you guys ready?” asked Jeralt, though he already knew the answer.

""“Yes!""" They answered in unison.

“Good,” he cleared his throat and shouted, “Are you ready men!”

“Yes Sir!!!”

Their combined shouting seemed to shake the very foundation of the earth, causing the everyone else to cover their ears, though it seemed to only cause the villagers to get more excited.

Alear had noticed that the mercenary troop was almost twice as big as when she first saw them, realizing that some had stayed behind to protect the village.

Her attention wavered as she began to look around the whole village, thanking it, as it was the reason why she and Veyle had met Jeralt.

As she ‘reminisced,’ Jeralt continued to order his men.

“Then let’s get moving!”

“Yes Sir!!!”

With another earth-shaking roar, the mercenary troop set off from the village as the villagers cheered from behind. Soon the village became a mere dot on the horizon.

As they traveled, Jeralt began teaching Alear and Veyle some basic knowledge.

"First off, we live on the continent of Fodlan, which is divided into three powers: The Leicester Alliance in the east, the kingdom of Faerghus in the north, and the Adrestian Empire, the largest of the three, in the south. There is also another power, called the church of Seiros, that exists all throughout Fodlan, as a sort of peacekeeper between the three.”

"“Okay.”" Alear and Veyle in unison.

They seem to have understood that well. They're both pretty smart for kids their ages from what I can tell, they just don’t have any common sense, Jeralt concluded.

“All of Fodlan follows the imperial calendar for dates. Today, following the imperial calendar, would be the fifteenth of the Verdant rain moon, Imperial year 1170, this can be said as 8/15. When we get to the next town, I’ll buy you both diary’s so you can keep track of the days.”

"“Okay!”" They said in Unison again.

"Now then, next is-” He paused as he noticed Veyle began to shyly look down.

“What’s wrong Veyle?”

“O-oh, u-um…” She seemed caught off guard by the sudden question, “…um, when is Sister Byleth’s and Jeralt’s birthdays?”

She looked up slightly with upturn eyes which was absolutely adorable.

“Hahaha, well, Byleth’s is the twentieth of the Horsebow moon and my birthday is… “

Alear, Veyle, and even Byleth stared at Jeralt in anticipation as he revealed the secret of his birthday.

“…a secret.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

They gazed wide-eyed at Jeralt in silence. Upset at his reply, Veyle and Byleth turned their backs toward Jeralt and began chatting.

“Hey sister Byleth, what do you usually do when traveling?”

“Well, I like to count the trees or listen to the horses, but we can come up with a game.”

“Veyle? Byleth?” Jeralt tried to get into their conversation, but they ignored him.

“Yeah, let’s play a game where we have to guess where the other is looking at!”

“That would be fun.”

“Girls?”

“Okay, I’ll go first.”

“Hey look, I’m sorry-“

He tried to apologize but both of them glared at him, or at least what he assumed to be Byleth glaring at him, as she still had her usual blank expression. Despairing at their cold eyes, he turned to Alear for help.

“Hey, Alear.”

“…”

But she too looked away and just observed the fluffy, white clouds hanging in the beautiful blue sky.

“Look, I didn’t mean to-“

“I think it would be better if you stayed silent Father.”

“…”

After being harshly scolded by Byleth, Jeralt decided it would be best to stay silent. Alear eventually fell asleep while Byleth and Veyle continued their game. After an hour of unbearable silence, one of the men approached Jeralt.

“Captain!”

“What is it, Trevor?”

A young man –Trevor– approached Jeralt. He had joined the mercenary troop a year ago after Jeralt and the troop saved his village from bandits.

“There seems to have been a mudslide on the road ahead and the horses won’t be able to pass through.”

“Damn it, we’ll have to go some ways back to that split.”

During the hour of unbearable silence, they had passed by a split in the road. He had decided that though both eventually connected again, the other road would take longer to traverse so they decided on their current path. But with the mudslide blocking the path, they’ll be forced to take the longer road, delaying their travels.

 What luck…

 “Hey girls, we have to turn back.”

 “Okay.”

 “Hey! Byleth focus!”

 “Sorry Veyle.”

 Neither of two seemed to mind the sudden delay and Alear was still fast asleep.

 “Okay men let’s turn back!”

 “Yes sir…”

 The entire troop sighed as they were forced to turn back due to the mudslide.

*     *     *

After turning back and traveling through the longer path, the sun began to fall and it was decided that it was time to set up camp in a clearing they found.

“I’m so sore!”

“That will happen when you’re on a horse for so long.”

“But you look completely fine sister Byleth?”

“That’s because I’m used to riding horses already, especially for long trips like these.”

“Oh. What about you sister? You were asleep for most of the ride.”

“I’m fine, though some areas are sore.”

The three sisters chatted happily as they sat on some tree stumps. It was a refreshing sight for the men of the mercenary troop.

“Since you two are so sore, how about some light exercise,” suggested Byleth.

“Like what Byleth?”

Alear asked but Byleth didn’t answer, instead walking towards Jeralt. She seemed to have had a good idea as Jeralt nodded his head in reply, he then walked over to some other men and began asking them for something. Alear and Veyle merely glanced at each other in confusion, not sure of what was happening.

“Come on you two.”

After finishing her discussions, Byleth returned to the two, pulling them to everyone else.

“Here you go.”

After being pulled to the middle of the crowd, one of the mercenary members handed Alear and Veyle iron axes, causing the two to look at Byleth even more confused.

“Byleth suggested that as an exercise and a test, you two will do some light exercises with different weapons to see what you’re best at. After all, we can’t just allow you two to be damsels in distress all the time, now can we?” Explained Jeralt.

"“Oh!”"

As they realized the situation, they looked wide-eyed in astonishment.

“Hahaha!”

The whole troop laughed so loud the ground shook as they saw the two’s shocked expressions.

“Anyway, all you have to do is follow the moves of who ever is in front of you, okay?”

“Wait but why iron weapons?” Asked Alear.

“We don’t have any training weapons, so this is what we have to work with. Any more questions?”

"“No Jeralt!”" The two said in unison.

“Then let’s start!”

And so began their light exercise. At first, nothing too exciting happened at first. Both were above average with axes and spears. It was only with bows that everyone started to get excited. Both sisters displayed excellent aim, though they just barely missed the center of quickly made targets.

Finally, it was swords. While Veyle showed swordsmanship somewhat above her use of axes and spears, Alear displayed such swordsmanship that it far outclassed the man they had to follow, leaving the whole troop silent.

Jeralt was the first one to speak up.

“Alear?”

“Yes?”

“How did you learn to use a sword?”

The question left Alear stunned as she realized why everyone went silent.

"A-ah, well…”

“Forget it. You can tell me when you’re ready.”

Jeralt patted her head as Alear stammered an answer. In truth, what was most shocking wasn’t the fact that she could wield a sword so well, but how she wielded it. Every one of her strikes seemed to have been designed to kill her target as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Just what kind of environment did they grow up in?

“All that matters is that you know how to protect yourself. With Veyle, since you showed talent with both a bow and sword, you can pick either one to practice. Alear can continue to practice the sword. Besides, maybe you two have a talent for magic as well, not that we have anyone here who can teach you magic.”

With the matter of Alear’s swordsmanship pushed to the side, it was decided to leave Alear and Veyle’s training to when they get to their destination in the Leicester Alliance. While most of the troop were watching, a few members of the troop who were on cooking duty prepared dinner for everyone.

“Oi! Foods ready! Get your sorry butts over here!”

“Food!”

“Wait Veyle!”

Veyle immediately dropped her training sword at the sign of food and broke out into a mad dash straight into the quickly setup canteen tent, with Alear following close behind.

“I’ll go after them, we wouldn’t want them to eat the entire canteen.”

Byleth dashed after the two, vanishing into the canteen.

Meanwhile, Jeralt was pondering over what Byleth just said.

Huh, Did Byleth just tell a joke?! That’s new.

Jeralt chucked inwardly as he realized that Alear and Veyle were already influencing Byleth.

“You all should hurry up as well before Alear and Veyle eat up all the food. I’ll clean up here.”

“C’mon Captain Jeralt, there’s no way they would be able to do that.”

“Suit yourself, but I warned you.”

After warning them, Jeralt bent over to pick up the leftover weapons from the exercise at a leisurely pace. Meanwhile, the troop had gone pale as they remembered that Jeralt warnings almost always came true.

“You don’t think…”

“Well, Veyle did look pretty hungry.”

“That’s true, she looked like she could eat a horse.”

In fact, Veyle was hungry. Tremendously in fact. The journey to the camp site had worn her out and after participating in Byleth’s exercise, her stomach was completely empty. The moment the food was announced, her last pillar of reasoning had collapsed and she simply couldn’t wait any longer.

Distressed over Jeralt’s warning, the troop quickly made their way to the canteen to find an astonishing sight; In the middle of the canteen sat Alear and Veyle gulping down food, beside each of them lay 4 plates neatly stacked.

Byleth, who was eating a normal amount of food, saw the troop wide eyed and pale as they stared at Alear and Veyle mow down food.

“I would hurry up if I were you.”

Realizing the impending crisis, the vicious glint passed through the eyes of the men. A shiver went through the cooks.

“Hey, everyone will get their share so let’s settle thi-“

One of the cooks tried to speak up, but it was too late, the canteen had turned into a battlefield. The men charged forward like savage beasts. They punched, pushed, elbowed, and toppled whoever who stood in their way. The cooks, witnessing the ferocious horde, despaired and prayed for the goddess' mercy.

Please have mercy on souls goddess

And the goddess delivered.

“What’s going on in here?!”

Like a divine messenger from the fairytales they read as children, Jeralt appeared. The cooks, who just moment ago were despairing at their impending doom, were now lit up with hope.

Meanwhile, Jeralt, who had finished storing away the weapons, was currently questioning his sanity.

He had warned his men that Alear and Veyle may eat up all the food, but he was, for the most part, merely joking. Yet in front of him sat both of them with 4 empty plates stacked beside them and were eating their fifth plate of food.

And all around them stood his men, who looked as if they had just gone through the most intense battle of their lives, with bruises and bloodshot eyes, while some even laid on the floor after being trampled by the horde. They had now all gone stiff as they realized the massive scolding they were about to receive from Jeralt.

“Have you all lost your minds! This is a canteen, not a battlefield! Is there so little food that you have to frighten the living daylights out of the cooks! Act like the mercenaries that you are instead of like savage beasts who haven't eaten in days! Now, in an orderly fashion, get in line!”

For a moment, the men didn’t move, but after receiving a glare from Jeralt, they quickly, and silently, formed an orderly line. The cooks, meanwhile, looked as if they were just moments away from falling to their knees to worship Jeralt, but they held it in and began serving the men.

As the men were being served, a loud burp echoed throughout the canteen. Everyone looked to the source only to find Alear gazing at Veyle in astonishment and Veyle looking down, her face red from embarrassment.

“E-excuse me…”

Byleth patted Veyle on the back, causing her to produce another, slightly lower, burp.

“Was it good?”

“Y-yes…”

“Good, I would be more surprised if it wasn’t good after you ate so much.”

“Sorry… I was just a little hungry.”

Her last statement caused everyone, even Byleth and Alear, to shudder in fear as Veyle classified eating 5 whole plates of food as ‘a little hungry.’

 

Edited April 19 by Arltom