She sees crimson blood splattered across the cobblestone, seeping into the drains that dotted along the road. The sound of clashing metal reverberates throughout the empty street. Houses are deserted, if not in ruin with doors hanging on their hinges and shards of glass from broken windows litter the ground. She squints, trying to identify her location. There’s something eerily familiar about the setting before her. The sky above rumbles with looming storm clouds that flash with a bright red light every few moments.

Before her is a bend in the street. She squints, trying to make out the unmoving cloaked figures that are scattered at the end of the road across the ground. Before she’s able to make out the shapes, the ground beneath her begins to shake and a terrifying roar bellows out from an unknown source. She clutches her head and blocks her ears, praying to the goddess for safety as she begins to hear high pitched screams.

A loud thump against the wooden door to her room awakens Yeojin with a shock as she flings herself from her bed in a cold sweat, the echoing roars still ringing in her ear from the dream.

“Time to wake up, little one!” Yves’ voice comes behind her closed door and Yeojin groans as she unlocks it with a soft click.

“What the-” Yeojin begins, taking in the sight before her outside of her room. Yves and Jungeun stand with bright, excited smiles. Jungeun is dressed in heavy armour, minus the helmet as her long blonde hair billows down her metal clad shoulders. Yves pushes the door open further and invites herself into the dorm, her fur trimmed brigand armour looking exceptionally clean for someone who trains so much.

“You’re late for breakfast, again. Olivia’s already getting ready, don’t you know it’s unlucky to sleep in on such a big day?” Yves deadpans, already rummaging through the younger girls belongings in order to find her cavalier uniform.

Yeojin looks at the pair blankly, head still swarming with the images she had witnessed in her dream. Jungeun looks at her with concern, clapping a hand against her shoulder. “Everything alright, little one? Did you forget it’s the day of the Mock Battle between the houses?”

“I- No, I remembered.” Yeojin frowns, finally coming to and chasing after Yves and she begins to empty out drawers haphazardly. “Sorry, isn’t it a little too early to be in armour?”

“Are you questioning your House Leader?” Jungeun teeth begin to show as she grins at the youngest. Yves shouts in triumph as she pulls out Yeojin’s short bow and holds it above her head as the smaller girl wrestles the brigand in order to take it back. “The Black Eagles are never to be underprepared. Besides, I do not trust the Deers to not prank us at breakfast.”

The Golden Deers, however, were not in the pranking mood this morning. As the Black Eagles students poured into the dining hall lead by their leader Jungeun the members of the Golden Deers huddled around a long table stopped their quiet mumblings. Their pink haired leader quickly pulled a map off the table and began to roll up the parchment.

“Was that your scheming tactics, Vivi?” Jungeun slinks up to the full table, peering as all the students were packing up various maps and unit figurines.

“You’re late to the battle strategy party, princess. What a shame.” Vivi flashes the future emperor a cheeky smile as she pulls her plate of breakfast foods closer to herself. “We could’ve swapped ideas.”

“Why don’t you tell me all of your weaknesses,” begins Jungeun as her fellow house members come up behind her, “or would that take till noon?”

“Haha, very funny.” Jiwoo, sitting beside Vivi, deadpans as she eyes the other house. “You might think we’re weak, but we have a new secret weapon!” The excitement creeps into her voice as she tugs on the blondes hand sitting across the table. Chaewon looks up from her meal to catch sight of Olivia behind the armoured knight. “Morning, Olivia!”

Olivia rubs her eyes as a sleepy smile takes over her face at the sight of an ever so perky Chaewon. “Morning, Chae.”

“That’s right!” Yerim, the purple haired mage sitting at the table edge slams a dainty fist down against the spell books that were sprawled in front of her. “Our newest addition and priest spectacular, Chaewon!” Said girl blushes at the sudden attention pushed upon her as the eyes of the other house begin to seize her up.

“I still don’t know that much about Faith magic to be considered spectacular, Yerim.” The blonde murmurs, eyes cast down. Vivi smiles softly and pats the girls arm.

“You’ll do great, have no fear.”

As the Black Eagles mutter a few encouragements at the newest student the group slowly disperses, Golden Deers returning to their breakfast and last minute studying of spell books and Olivia dragging a chattering Yeojin off to join the lineup for food.

“Hey,” Yves lowers her voice as she leans over to Vivi, watching Jungeun go off to join a table in her clunking armour, “Where’s Jinsoul and her cubs?”

“They had breakfast earlier,” states Vivi, tapping her fork against her lower lip, “I think they were talking about heading to the Cathedral to pray.”

Within the Cathedrals safe walls, the Blue Lions students are dotted throughout the rows of seats that face forwards to the large stained glass art that covered the majority of the wall. The morning light shines through the coloured glasses and dapples the students calm faces in splatters of faint colour. Jinsoul stands before the statue that depicts the goddess, beside her Haseul with her bow slung over her back. An overwhelming sense of calm befalls the blonde leader and a small smile decorates her face as she senses the guidance from above.

“You know,” Haseul begins, eye peeking open to look over Jinsoul, “this is just a mock battle. I doubt any of us will come to any danger.”

“You can never be too safe, Haseul.” Jinsoul drops her clasped hands that were positioned for prayer and turns to look over her house members, Haseul joining her. “It doesn’t hurt to ask the goddess to watch over us.”

“I know.” Haseul hums a melodic tune as her gaze falls upon Hyunjin and Heejin seated at the front pew. Hyunjin’s eyes are squeezed close as Heejin every so often fiddles with the hilt of the sword draped across her lap. “I strongly believe Hanneman’s recent lectures will pay off this battle.”

“As do I. It’s a shame the newest professor chose to teach the Black Eagles.” Jinsoul sighs, habitually picking at her nails. “Nevertheless, we shall persevere.”

A moment of silence settles between the pair as they watch over their fellow students before Haseul plucks at the string of her bow. “Well, shall we begin revising our strategy, your Highness?”

Jinsoul nods with a small smile and claps her hands, garnering the attention of the others as they gather around her.

-

Every year, the Garreg Mach Monastery held two mock battles for its students that hailed from the three nearing nations of Fódlan; the Adrestian Empire, the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus and the Leicester Alliance. These mock battles would take the skills that the Monastery had taught them in the art of warfare and put it to action. The first mock battle of the year acts as a way to test the three houses strengths and weaknesses.

The battlefield for the mock battle that is held within the month of the Great Tree Moon takes place on a large field dotted with forests. The sun is shining and the sky seems clear as the students of the Monastery pour onto the field at separate ends, readying themselves for battle. The loud booming voice of a standby professor echoes for all to hear.

“Remember the rules! Bring no fatal harm to each other! Each houses professor will be taking part in the battle to ensure everyone’s safety. Other than that, I expect to see each house do their very best!”

Once the announcing voice quietens, the house leaders turn to their members to discuss their strategy until a horn is blown signalling for the students to get into position.

Jinsoul and Hyunjin mount their rides, the blondes sleek white wyvern humming softly as she the beasts long neck. Haseul readies herself and her bow with her fellow archers and magic users towards the back of their small makeshift army. On the other side of the field Vivi’s pegasus kicks at the grass covered ground as she sits atop it. The brigand Jiwoo stands beside her, clutching her heavy axe in her tight grip.

A second, louder horn is blown as the long awaited battle begins. A chorus of cheers is let out from the Black Eagles students as they begin charging, meeting the Blue Lions midway. As the sound of clashing weapons echoes across the field, Jinsoul flies around her army on her wyvern, healing her fellow students when they need it. Haseul ducks and weaves through the onslaught of handheld weapons coming towards her, taking out her lance each time someone got too close to fend them off. At one point she comes face to face with Olivia and her short sword, whispering a quick “Nope” as she scrambles away from the younger girls skilled hacks and slashes.

As the main commotion between the two houses go on, the Golden Deers hover around the edges of the battlefield, picking off stragglers that wander away in a varied state of weakness. Darkness seeps from Yerim’s hands as she casts spell after spell from a safe distance with the aid of Jiwoo, protecting her from any stray arrows or thrown weapons.

From the skies, Vivi’s pegasus canters above from a safe distance and at one point she sees a flash of white fly by. With her eyes trained upon the wyvern that had just flown out of the forest, she grips the reins of her steed and chases after her foe. After a moment, she spots what Jinsoul had seen; Jungeun was alone in a clearing.

With the future empress alone and without aid she was at a clear disadvantage as the two flying units came to a hover before her, staying just high enough in the air that she couldn’t attack them with her heavy armour slowing her down. Gritting her teeth, Jungeun wipes at the dirt smudged across her cheek and begins to formulate a plan.

“I see you’re in a little bit of a pickle, Jungeun.” Jinsoul smiles innocently as her eyes dart between the blonde before her and Vivi.

“Maybe we should get off our rides to make this an even fight for the poor princess.” Vivi fakely pouts, tugging on the reins of her pegasus as she unsheathes her rapier.

“Don’t patronise me, I can take you both on from right here.”

Jinsoul chuckles as her wyvern emits a soft hiss. “You might be tall, but I doubt that heavy axe of yours can be thrown that well.”

“Who said I needed to use my axe.” A grin stretches across Jungeun’s lips as she raises her axe in the air. A crackle of thunder seeps through the field as dark clouds begin to form above the trio of house leaders. Vivi’s pegasus panics from the sound and for a split second she’s distracted by calming the white stallion to even notice the strikes of lightning coming down from the heavens.

By the luck of the goddess, Chaewon’s running through the nearby forest and reaches the clearing just in time to see the dark clouds form. She notices her house leader is too distracted by her pegasus’ sudden panic to notice the looming doom that was arriving in mere seconds. “Vivi!” The blonde yells as she quickly tugs at a book strapped to her belt, finding the spell for Rescue within moments and casting it as a quick green light surrounds the pink haired girl before she disappears as a bolt of lighting strikes the ground that she had been flying above.

Vivi appears atop her pegasus beside Chaewon, her steed awfully confused as it frantically looks around. “,” Vivi curses as she steadies the pegasus, flashing a relived smile at the blonde, “That was close, I owe you Chaewon.”

Jinsoul however is not as lucky as the Golden Deer leader. A bolt of electricity strikes the side of her wyvern as it lets out a blood curdling screech and falls to the ground, taking Jinsoul with it.

A horn is sounded as a loud voice booms, “Blue Lion’s Jinsoul is out of the battle!” And a chorus of cheers is let out from fellow Black Eagles and Golden Deer students alike at the news of a major threat being taken out. Jinsoul groans as she pulls herself up from where she had landed and rushes over to her wyvern, hands already emitting a faint green as she begins to heal her trustee ride back to health.

Jungeun grins at the scene, pride flowing through her chest. The ground around her is charcoaled black from the lighting and her axe crackles with leftover Reason magic.

As Vivi and Chaewon watch the scene unfold, rustling from 10 feet within the forest catches their attention as Haseul runs past murmuring a quiet “, , -” For a split second Vivi and Haseul’s eyes meet, the archers eyes scanning over the Heiress’ body for any signs of injury before jumping into the clearing with a notched arrow aimed right for the Black Eagle leader. In the same instant Hyunjin stampedes out of the forest behind her, charging on her steed with her lance aimed low.

Quickly, Vivi pulls Chaewon onto the back of her pegasus and takes off into the skies. When Chaewon looks back at the charred clearing she sees a glimpse of Jungeun defending herself against Haseul’s onslaught of arrows and Hyunjin circling her, lance jabbing forward at any opening she could find between the thick armour. Just as Chaewon’s view of the scene disappears, she catches sight of a fuming Heejin leaping at Jungeun’s back with her sword held high.

-

The Black Eagles won the battle with the Golden Deers coming in at a close second. A great feast was thrown back at the Monasteries dining hall in celebration for all houses doing their best. Great tales of victory and losses were swapped between the houses, some bringing laughter to the tables of which students sat at. Apparently Yeojin had lost her horse mid battle and was left climbing trees, sniping units at a safe distance as Jiwoo chased her, whopping her great axe down against the trunks in an effort to shake the small girl down. Jinsoul had patted Heejin and Hyunjin on the backs when she had heard that the duo had decided to team up with Heejin joining the other girl on the back of her horse as they mowed down opposing students with their sword and lance.

The rowdiest of them all were of course the Black Eagle students.

“You’d have a chance of winning if your house didn’t edge on the sidelines.” Snides Yves as she takes a sip, goblet doing nothing to hide her teasing smile towards the pegasus knight.

“That’s called war tactics, my dear.” Vivi quips, “You should try them sometime instead of screaming bloody murder and charging into the battlefield.”

“We won, didn’t we?” The Black Eagles leader butts in as she slides up next to Vivi, the mead in her goblet sloshing onto the wooden table. “So I suppose our war tactics work perfectly.”

Jungeun and Yves knock their goblets together in a cheers as Vivi scrunches up her nose in distaste. Her features soften immediately upon the sight of Chaewon, Olivia and Haseul coming to join the table on Yves’ side. The table immediately fills with chatter and congratulations to the Black Eagle members. Chaewon talks animatedly about her first real battle, hand constantly landing upon Olivia’s arm and squeezing it in excitement causing the dark haired thief to become flustered.

“For a second I thought you were about to kill Vivi, Jungeun!” Chaewon’s wide eyes turn to the armoured knight as she takes a big swig from her goblet. “That was a powerful use of Thoron!”

“I had to get them somehow, they were in the sky!” Jungeun’s expression falters for a moment, eyes searching for Yves’ to back her up. The other female nods quickly in agreement, echoing a soft “Yeah!”

“I’m lucky Chaewon got me out of there. Poor Jinsoul, getting knocked out that quick…” Vivi trails off as her gaze settles upon Jinsoul on a seperate table with Heejin and Hyunjin. The rest of the tables heads turn to look at the blonde princess, garnering the attention of Hyunjin who glares back at them for being weird. “She’s pretty upset about her wyvern getting injured.”

“She should be happy that it wasn’t her who got injured.” Olivia shrugs before Haseul reaches around the table to smack the back of her head. “Ow!”

Chaewon sighs softly, nose crinkling. “I wish my magic was that powerful, I feel rather useless as a priest.”

“Yerim could teach you Reason outside of lectures.” Vivi offers before her gaze switches to Olivia’s. “Even Olivia could teach you a bit along with your extra sword fighting training.”

“You know Reason magic?” Chaewon arches a delicate brow, nudging the girl beside her with her elbow. “And you never thought to tell me?”

“Everyone needs to stop hitting me, seriously.” Olivia sighs in annoyance, rubbing her arm that was bruised from the battle. “I know a bit, Jungeun says it’s good to have a backup force when you’re in trouble.” Mentioned girl nods feverishly across the table in agreeance.

“You should teach me! Right now!” In seconds Chaewon is up and tugging at the younger girls arm, pulling her up from the table with a groan.

“We should get some rest, Yves. The Professor's lecture tomorrow sounds rough.” Jungeun states as she takes a stand, her empty goblet clattering to the table after one last swig. Yves nods mutely and moves to follow the princess of the Empire out of the hall, throwing a quick wave at the students left at the table. Olivia and Chaewon follow suit, talking quietly between themselves as Chaewon continues to pursue the taller girl into training her.

“I fear the day she has to experience her first blood.” Vivi’s eyes soften as she watches the blonde figure of Chaewon disappear around a corner, the bright teal colour of her robes leaving the hall looking darker than it did before.

“It will be soon, with the sudden increase in bandits that have been terrorising nearby villages.” The archer reaches out a hand, resting it upon the pink haired girl’s shoulder before squeezing it in comfort. “But you’ll be with her. Chaewon is strong, she has much potential.”

“I think that’s thanks to Olivia for training her to fight with weapons.” Vivi emits a soft chuckle, relaxing into her seat and turning her attention back to Haseul across the table. “Which wouldn’t of been possible if it weren’t for you convincing the two to train together weeks ago. So thank you, Haseul.”

“You owe me at least two dinners, but it was my pleasure. We’re all here to train in the art of warfare, are we not?” Haseul’s head tilts slightly, a hint of a grin dancing across her lips.

Vivi nods, matching the other females smile before they settle into a comfortable silence. The quiet murmur of chatter from other students that lingered after the feast matched nicely with the crackle of logs burning in the nearby fireplace. After a tentative moment of thought, Vivi asks. “Do you think we’ll ever have to face in a war?”

Haseul glances up from her calloused hands, rough from years of training with a bow. “I thought the Alliance weren’t ones to take part in such a fight?”

“The people of the Alliance remain neutral for the most part, but you never know.” The heiress shrugs, quirking a brow. “Jinsoul might step out of line one day.”

A melodic laugh escapes Haseul’s lips, capturing the attention of a male student that walks by until Vivi stares him down. “I’d be lying if I said the Kingdom wouldn’t go to war for the right reasons.” She thinks of Jinsoul in the future, a crown atop her head and hundreds of armies at her disposal. “I dread the day our weapons are aimed at one another outside of the Monasteries mock battles.”

Vivi reaches across the wooden table and takes Haseul’s hand in her own, features softening as she catches the faraway look in the short haired girls eyes. “If I can help it, I would never allow it.”

“Look at you, Heiress to House Riegan refusing to raise her weapon at a simple noble from the Kingdom.” Another laugh leaves the female and for a moment she pictures her parents disappointed gazes upon her as she holds the House Leader of the Golden Deers hand. “We’re supposed to be enemies, you know.”

“I have no such enemies!”

“You looked pretty intent on pushing Jinsoul off her wyvern in that last battle.”

“The skies are a Pegasus’ domain. She had it coming.”



------

 

I totally forgot what the Cathedral looks like. I also have very limited knowledge of the religion so I'll be researching that before the next chapter, sorry for any incorrect details!

If you have any ships/friendships you'd like to see please leave a comment!

Catch me on twitter @gondryblue if you want to discuss Three Houses and this AU.