The Three Houses of Westeros- Prologue 0 (Patreon)

Byleth:

They were here.

All of them.

And they were smiling.

She’d dreamt for so long.

How long?

She wasn’t sure anymore.

Entire lifetimes gone by. Years upon years. The weight of decades. Centuries even.

She’d felt it wasn’t possible.

That she was destined to lose them.

She’d failed for so very long…

And yet this time she hadn’t.

“My teacher?”

Edelgard’s voice made her turn her head, the glow of the ballroom lights casting her student, all of her students, in beautiful splendor.

“Yes?” She asked, the faintest smile tugging on her lips.

Edelgard stared at her, a curious, almost concerned look in her eye.

“I’ve just… I’ve never quite seen that expression on your face.” The silver haired girl admitted honestly. “You look…”

“Happy.” A new voice cut in, Claude, sauntering over from whatever corner shadow he’d been watching from. He smiled, that same pleased, almost smug smirk that told everyone he knew something they didn’t. “I know it's a foreign emotion Edel but you can recognize it, I think, if you squint.”

Edelgard shot the leader of the Alliance an irritated look.

“You do indeed look happy, Professor.” Dimitri commented, marching closer.

“My word Blaiddyd-” Claude gasped dramatically. “Eavesdropping!? For shame sir!”

The blonde man chuckled good naturedly. “I learned from the best.” He answered rather pointedly at the bowman.

Claude laughed. “Guilty as charged I suppose.”

“I am.” She said–admitted– really… “Happy… I mean.”

How couldn’t she be?

Leonie chatted away animatedly with Flayn (who’d been kept as far away from the kitchens as possible), while Linhardt napped on the table and Caspar drew all over his face. Alois and Catherine drank loudly and boisterously, and sat beside Lorenz. He looked as exasperated by them as Felix was by Sylvain, who was, of course, taking the opportunity to flirt. Hubert walking arm in arm with Petra as Dedue helped Ashe bring in the main course of the evening, and Ingrid followed closely behind, plate already in hand.

Lysithea stared at the dessert table as if she had all the time in the world—because she did, now. Bernadetta danced slowly in Raphael’s arms, away from the rest of the world, but with the biggest grin Byleth had ever seen on her face.

Off to the side of the dance floor, Dorothea and Annette had convinced a very pink-faced Marianne into an impromptu performance, and Mercedes was all but shoving a nervous looking Emile—complete with bouquet of red roses—towards Constance, who was failing to hide her blush under a look of indifference.

A giggly Hilda danced with an equally tipsy Balthus, while Holst looked on murderously and Yuri watched in amusement. Ignatz, furiously hunched over a sketchpad, captured everything while Hapy watched from over his shoulder.

All of her students. Here… and happy.

So… how couldn’t she be happy with… all of this?

Claude was still confused, she could tell. But he offered her a smile anyway. “Well… whatever put you in such a good mood. I’m happy that you’re happy Teach.”

“Likewise.” Dimitri answered

“Somehow the words, ‘you’ve earned it’ seem… fitting, though I’m not sure why.” Edelgard said.

Claude offered another teasing remark and Edelgard glared at him and once more Dimitri tried to play peacekeeper.

She took the opportunity, though it wasn’t easy- slipping away as quietly as she could, leaving her precious, precious students to enjoy themselves.

—

“I thought you’d never leave their side.”

She smiled again at the voice. Lilting and childlike.

Sothis glimmered like stardust, translucent and ephemeral against the night sky as Byleth stood over the bridge; the waters of the rivers below casting sound that went well with the distant music of the ballroom in the palace.

“I almost didn’t.” She admitted to the false girl who lay on her stomach, head resting on her hands, feet kicking in the air as she floated across Byleth’s face. “But I just… wanted to take it in, from a distance.” She said, looking at the bright lights of the distant palace.”

“Doesn’t feel real… does it?”

As usual, Sothis was far more insightful than she usually liked to let on.

“No…” She admitted in a whisper, as if afraid the word alone would shatter the dream. “It feels like… this should never have happened? That it couldn’t have happened.” She sighed. “I tried for so long.”

“Well you did it.” Sothis reassured, the phantom touch of her hands falling on Byleth’s shoulders. “They’re here. They're all safe… and happy. You did this… and-” She hesitated. “I… didn’t think you could do it either.” She huffed. “So congratulations. You’ve impressed a Goddess with your stubbornness.”

Byleth felt her smile grow. “Or stupidity.” She joked, remembering the age old insult that Sothis had labeled her with from practically their first meeting.

“Yes well-”

The Goddess’ words were cut short, by an arrow sailing out of the darkness and lodging itself into Byleth’s chest. She let out a breathless gasp.

Time spun, unwound.

The world twisted and bent, the laws of reality reshaping themselves for a brief window of time.

An arrow flew out of the darkness, and was caught in an iron grip, the wood cracking in her hand.

She heard a muttered curse, movement in the shadows.

Her eyes sharpened, the Sword of the creator emerging from light and falling into her grasp as she lunged.

The assassin was pale, corpselike- dressed in black, shrouded with dark magic to hide from her sight.

So were his friends.

Blades moved to intercept her, but she was faster, lifetimes upon lifetimes of reflexes honed to perfection.

The rejoicing professor was gone.

The Ashen Demon stood in her place.

The first man was cut down with a slash that nearly beheaded him, the second a cut that opened his belly, his armor parting like gossamer thin thread as it failed against the edge of the Creator’s blade.

The archer was still trying to run, still trying to get away.

She cast her sword out, the blade lengthening, individual segments tied together by the thread of a God and ancient magic, individual ligaments carrying the tip forward to skewer through the man’s lower spine with a scream before she yanked him back towards herself.

His body tumbled, her free hand blooming into fire as she thrust it into the face of a third man approaching her from the side.

That… that’s when she heard the screams.

That’s when she saw the smoke.

She whirled around, eyes wide, staring at the palace who’s golden glow of joyous lights was now replaced with the rising blaze of fire.

Her students were in there.

Her students were in there.

Her students were screaming.

Her horror saw her cut down, a strike from behind cleaving her open from shoulder to spine. Sothis screamed, time came unwound, the wound never appearing at all.

She drove forward, her strikes hacking, her blood pounding, the roar in her ears doing nothing to drown out the screaming of her students as she desperately rushed through the mob of assassins and sorcerers.

Then, the clouds in the sky parted, and a Javelin descended on wings of fire to destroy… everything.

—

“You couldn’t have known.”

She walked through… fire… and…

Corpses

The world was ash, ruin and soot. Bone and blood.

She wasn’t here.

She’d walked outside… because she couldn’t believe it was real.

She’d been right.

Now it wasn’t.

“This isn’t your fault!”

She should have been here.

She should have…

She could have changed things. Saved them.

She could’ve died with them.

“Don’t say-”

She should have died with them.

No more rewinds. No more second chances. Or thirds. Or fourths. Or however many lifetimes she’d stolen away with.

No more.

“Byleth please… we can fix this. We can try agai-”

“Shut up.”

The word slipped free of her chest. Barely there. But so loud Sothis stopped talking immediately.

She walked through the field of ash. Of bone and dead things.

The Sword of the Creator slipped from numb fingers.

She did not bother to pick it up.

—

Sothis:

She knew Byleth. She knew Byleth better than anyone. Better than even Byleth herself.

Lifetimes upon lifetimes they had been together. Struggled together. And every time, Byleth had been ready to try again. To keep trying- as long as it took. As long as it needed to take.

But something broke this time.

Sothis wasn’t sure what. But all things, mortal or God… had their limits.

Years of cradling her dead students, of mourning lost loved ones. Of burying her father time after time.

There were lifetimes where the blue haired girl had gone mad. Those Sothis kept from her memory. Because she'd always recovered. She’d always been ready to try again.

But this time… Sothis wasn’t sure. The pain was so deep, so overwhelming that removing it seemed an impossible task in and of itself.

She watched her now, cradling the shattered remains of the legendary relics Aymr, Areadbhar and Failnaught, Sothis could see it… she could feel it.

Byleth wanted to die.

A true death. A return of their souls to the great wheel.

Not another reset. Not another ‘try again’.

Not another failure.

Byleth wanted to end.

Sothis… didn’t know what to do.

She didn’t know how to fix this.

But she knew she had to try.

—

While she slept, Sothis watched.

She watched and she tried to find a way to fix this.

She’d been so close. She’d had it. She’d earned it. After so long… no one could deny her that.

And yet they had.

Fate, or Destiny, or Time…

It was all so… unfair.

And as she watched her close her eyes, sleeping in the acrid ruins of what was once her hope, the private, darkest thought was whispered into Sothis’ mind.

Just let me die.

She could.

Humans didn’t know what awaited them, but Gods did.

Oh yes. Gods could die too. Their spirits cycled back into the wheel, their bodies reborn after eons. But barely a blink to the mind of a God.

It would be… easier.

But still… unjust.

And she would not–could not abide by it.

Not like this.

Not after… everything.

And she knew there was something.

One thing she could do.

The ultimate sacrilege.

There could be no amends made for it- no justification offered.

He would never accept anything she had to say.

She might even lose her Godhood… if he were angry enough.

Could she pay that price? Could she risk it?

She wasn’t sure.

And still… for her… she wanted to try.

She deserved that didn’t she? Byleth deserved that.

For someone to give up and sacrifice as much for her as she had for others.- at least once. Just… once.

As Byleth slept, she watched. She looked upon her devastated face, even in sleep. She looked up at the stars above, sensed the distant specks of life drawing closer. Unsure of what had happened.

And she hesitated.

Maybe she would wake in better spirits.

Maybe she’d be willing to try again.

They’d be ready this time. They could do things differently again. Fix things again.

Even as she thought it… she knew it wasn’t true.

She could still feel that pain. That deep, mortal wound upon Byleth’s very soul even now.

But still…

This thought… this idea.

It was terrifying.

In so very many ways. Interference on the mortal planes wasn’t strictly forbidden; small interventions were…tolerated.

What she was planning to do was not a ‘small intervention’.

She was not exaggerating when she said her Father might well strip her of her Godhood entirely.

The crime was that severe.

Hell, not even just her father- but the other Primordials whose domains she’d be violating.

Even if her father wanted to forgive her, and that was not guaranteed; they might not let him.

And yet…

She still felt she had to try.

Because Byleth deserved it.

She deserved her happy ending.

And she was sick and tired of seeing  that ending stolen from her.

Time after time after time.

For nothing more than the whims and fancies of an uncaring God who didn’t even know her.

She was sick and tired of seeing her try to save all her students–their students– again and again and again and again, only to fail. To see them perish, and have their dying moments burned into her soul, over and over and over.

It was a truly special kind of torture, one that was enough to drive spirits to despair and minds to madness. They’d skirted both often enough.

She thought- she’d truly thought that they’d done it. That they’d overcome the decree of fate itself.

But…they hadn’t. And Sothis had the sneaking suspicion that perhaps, this was the primordials message. His final little warning before he got truly angry at her meddling. At her rewriting of the tapestry over and over and over again in this little corner of the cosmos.

There were things even Byleth’s sheer determination could not overcome, that made even the brightest soul begin to dim.

Well… fuck him.

He didn’t get to do this to her, he didn't get to show her the cusp of her dream… only to turn it to literal ash on her lips because he was petty.

She could be a petty bitch too!

…

She was the one who chose to come here.

She was the one who gave the people of this world knowledge they weren’t ready for, knowing it would have severe consequences.

She was the one their true enemies had always been after.

So she would fix this. No. Matter. What.

First, however, she turned her attention towards her other half, curled up on the floor in an uneasy sleep.

The ashen world of ruins and death faded away, instead, they found themselves in front of familiar steps before a familiar throne.

Sothis reached.

With strength that belied her small form, she gently lifted her soul sister’s body, careful not to wake her as she walked up the steps toward the giant throne atop them.

She wasn’t sure what it was about this place that brought her peace, especially since they weren’t actually there in the physical world, but that hardly mattered.

She placed her other half comfortably on the dais, humming and stroking her hair until the girl settled into a deeper slumber.

She sat upon the throne beside Byleth… and gathered her power.

Then she focused.

Infinity stretched out before her, the whole of reality, of all realities, beckoning and taunting in equal measure.

She searched, for eons and seconds, all of eternity and no time at allThis path was not a kind one, it was true. But it would be a successful one, in the end.

She’d damn well make sure of it.

She concentrated, reaching and spreading herself out through time and space. She pulled a little here and twisted a little there, making tiny, insignificant changes on the cosmic scale that amounted to nothing.

At least on their own…

Still, the fruit of her labor was far from perfect; for all her power, the result never could be perfect. Not even for Fate itself if he’d ever bothered to try. .

The Laws of Reality and Order that upheld the very fabric of Creation were implacable, such that even Gods could not defy them.

But she kept working, kept pulling and tugging, snipping and arranging. Changing things as quietly as she could. As Claude would say, getting her ‘Ducks in a row’ before the big push. As she slotted the final few pieces into place, she allowed herself to breathe out in relief.

And then went utterly still.

Her muscles locked and she clenched her fists tightly- the deep breath, before the plunge.

And Time… opened its eyes.

And she felt it fall upon her.

She felt fear cut through her- hesitation.

Time rumbled beginning to move..

Perhaps she hadn’t been as discreet as she’d thought, or in her single-minded focus had gotten complacent towards the end, alerting him to her actions.

She felt his power beginning to descend upon her, like someone holding her arms to keep her still.

She felt his voice in her mind.

“What are you doing, child of mine?”

And she knew then- she had no more time.

Fate did not wish to be undone. And Time would not allow her to try if he knew.

She reached.

With all of her power, all of her might, The Daughter of Time itself cast the full breadth of her abilities-

And tore Fate’s tapestry to shreds.

The response was immediate, the fathomless presences of beings that shaped all within their realms starting from their slumbers- entities roaring across the fires of the vast planes of reality as they set their sights on her and drew close- fast.

Her father startled, stilling for the faintest, most brief instant where whole universes died in his shock.

For the briefest instant she was overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of his very Being as it pushed against hers and battered her consciousness from all sides, before it receded, pulling away and coalescing at the base of the steps below the throne into a male, humanoid form.

His face was a perfectly blank mask of calm, but her attempts to mentally reach out across their connection were met with a cold wall that was slowly crackling with the beginning edges of a controlled anger..

Shit.

He stood before the throne. The image of him, the raw force, disintegrated the granite stone at her back.

She pulled her other half against her more closely.

“Father,” She greeted

“What have you done?,” He  asked, his voice almost laughably blank and neutral even as entire realities burned down around them.

“Spring cleaning?” She asked. It was a truly desperate effort to stall, but she just needed a bit more time.

The irony did not escape her.

Her father’s eyes narrowed, cracking his calm facade.

He cast his gaze down towards the still slumbering Byleth.

She stood up, placing herself between the mortal and her very angry father, realizing that now really wasn’t the time to make him any angrier.  “I had to help her.”

“A mortal?” He asked. “Their lives are brief flickers of candle light. A century? Less. You have done incalculable levels of harm! Are Eons upon Eons, multiple billion lifetimes worth her single future for that pittance!?” He demanded.

He would say something like that. He who, irony of ironies, couldn’t grasp the true value of that which He ruled. Of even a single century, less even, to the richness of a mortal life.

After all, unlike her, he’d never been mortal.

He could never understand.

“She’s worth that!” Sothis snarled.

All of her efforts, the full unbridled power that she’d used to rearrange fate and time’s design and torn it down, was captured, taken hold of in an instant. A candle, struggling against a Storm as her father ripped her away and reduced her, down to a single, infinitesimal point.

“You will cease this; Now! - I am in no mood for games. I have indulged you long enough,” Father said in a tone that warned of rapidly thinning patience., “Your actions risk bringing about catastrophic destruction.I must now undo your foolishness

My actions have already caused catastrophic destruction–this is my chance to fix things.  Besides which, there likely won’t be an opportunity like this again!

“It’s already done!” she screamed. “Undoing everything now will just cause even more damage and you won’t even be able to fix it, not really.” she bit back, eyes narrowed struggling with a million limbs and a thousand claws

Her father’s eyes narrowed, fathomless eyes calculating the truth of her statement, examining the extent of the damage.

She hadn’t been gentle.

She felt his power descend over her again his voice in her mind

Sleep, and Forget.

Her eyelids began to droop almost immediately.

She started, struggling against it. “N-NO!” She screamed, forcing her eyes to open, forcing herself to resist as her father turned away.

She had to know. She had to know what he would do! That he wouldn’t undo *everything* that he wouldn’t send Byleth back there, back to that place where only death remained around them!

She resisted and he reached again, his power… plucking something- pulling it from her thoughts. Taking something, something of hers with him. Locking it away.

She realized what it was a moment later, as her mind began to empty, its memories, its reason for defiance… slipping away.

She reached, with all of her remaining power all of her strength she reached and clutched and tried so very hard to keep what was taken.

It shouldn’t be taken. It was hers. It was her.

She had chosen to find love, have children, and create a family. She’d made those choices.

And he had no right to take those choices from her! No matter how angry he was!

And she had chosen to join with Byleth, to share in her laughter and strife, and grow to care for the children she taught.

She slipped, her eyes closing, darkness settling around her mind in fugue as bits and pieces slipped through, like sand clutched in a tightly clenched fist.

Children that both of them would do anything for, to ensure their happiness.

The children!

She started, jolting back to full awareness.

Byleth still sat…slept. She was sleeping. On… ash? No. A throne.

Sothis groaned, pulling back the shards of her mind with all of her might, the barest traces of herself fully returning in a futile attempt to keep them.

But… just a little bit longer. .

She wasn’t done yet.

Ignoring the now bone-deep temptation to fall back into slumber, she instead forced her Being outwards again, searching the new timeline she’d created.

It was still there, fully intact. At least as far as she could tell… Yet the fact that she was unable to determine if Father had done anything didn’t bode well–either his touch was subtler than she remembered, or she was weakening much more quickly than anticipated.

She Looked again at her new path, with all its swirling possibilities, With the risk of her father’s interference dogging every step, the little ones would now need every advantage they could get for this course to succeed.

She heaved a deep, heavy sigh, and pinched the bridge of her nose so tightly she felt nail indentations develop. The urge to sleep was so great now that she could no longer sit upright without swaying in exhaustion, and her brain felt like it had been wrapped in about three layers of thick cotton as she pushed and forced the last details into place.

Stay awake…remember…concentrate…

There was still one last thing she had to do.

Her other half had already lost so much more than she ever should have, yet if given the option, Byleth would have offered anything and everything that was asked of her in an instant for their students’ safety, and damn the consequences.

She reached across the connection she shared with her other half for reassurance.

Theirs was a unique bond, unlike almost any other in reality.

They were a part of each other, two halves of a whole, two beings as one, one being as two.

But…

The sum total of her soul-linked’s existence was a mere droplet in comparison to her ocean, making it laughably simple for her to keep secrets from her other half.

The thought of what she was about to do made her stomach churn with guilt, but given the devastation her other half had experienced when her hopes got smashed that final time…It was for the best. It had to be.

Sleep, Dear One, and… Forget.

She was old, and she had many burdens.

And so many, many regrets…

What was one more, if it meant sparing Byleth?

…

Macuil…Indech…Seiros…Cichol…Cethleann…Sapphi…Em…Byleth

She would remember them. This time, if nothing else, she would remember the people she cared about, she would remember–

She would remember…

Remember what? Did she forget something?

Surely it would come back to her after a nice…long…nap…

So tired…

…She was so tired…

Sothis shut her eyes and let go, slipping back into the void of existence, and Forgot.

(X)(X)(X)

And here we go friends this is the start of my next "Big Project"

Fire Emblem Three Houses and A song of Ice and Fire.

This project is being worked on by both myself and AngeltheAnomaly who is a member of the Patreon and is also a member of our discord server

https://discord.gg/jZGz2kqz

You guys as my patrons, get early access to this; the story will officially make its debut on other sites on Monday.

For those of you who don't know a lot about Fire Emblem don't worry a lore post will be coming very very soon, more or less giving an *overview* of the lore in a general sense- at least the necessary information needed to understand *what* just happened here in this prologue.

Though I will say that over time we will be delving more and more into the Game of Thrones side of the equation more than the Fire Emblem side.

Now; in regards to what this story intends to be; its not *just* transferring all characters from one universe to another there will indeed be some fundamental changes to the SoIaF world because this is more of a "Fusion" crossover than a straight up Isekai. Because Sothis literally just shattered multiple realities and made her own amalgamation trying to rewrite everyone's fate or free them from Fate's design.

So expect some differences. Not saying the world will be totally unrecognizable, but Song fans are going to realize pretty quick that someone changed their hairstyle for a new look in the grand scheme of things.

Also; this work will not have the same update cadence as WF. WF has an update rate of about one chapter per week. This fic will have an update rate of one chapter every 3-5 weeks to avoid burnout on my end.

To compensate for that the chapters will be significantly LONGER than WF chapters. WF average update length is 11-14 pages. This one will probably have an average length of 15 to 20+ pages.

So yeah. More chapters incoming :D