Light and Darkness: A Fire Emblem Three Houses' Story

Will to leave

Dirty, dark, and musty smell. There was not much to say: the misery was evident. However, for that nine-year-old boy, that place was his refuge. There lived his adoptive mother, Raquel, who was dedicated to being a midwife. A special midwife: a clandestine one who cared for nobles who sent their concubines and unfortunate maids to throw their bastards around. That child was another one.

The boy felt the pain in his hands. He remembered that he had had to break a chicken's neck. A small ray of light slipped through a window blocked with some boards nailed to it. That little beam illuminated the boy and someone else. It wasn't the chicken; it was a blonde, beautiful woman stripped of her humanity. The finger marks on his neck were obvious.

Ernest woke up inside suddenly but without getting excited. The dream that had woken him now was the same one he used to have most nights. He only knew little of the context or understood what was happening. It brought him terrible feelings, but he couldn't remember if that had happened.

The boy woke up in the car transporting him since midnight. It seemed that it was about dawn. He stuck his head out of the canvas that covered said float. He realized he had left Ernmas a while ago, in the far south of the Kingdom of Faerghus. According to a merchant accompanying him on his journey, they had just passed through Annan. It was already the last hours of the trip before reaching Garreg Mach.

Ernest would start his classes at the Officers School. The month of La Luna de la Lluvia Verde was already beginning, so the weather was pleasant. As far as Ernest knew, several things had happened while he was arranging his transfer from the Fhirdiad Royal School of Wizardry.

A teacher who had joined a few months ago had been involved in a series of critical situations at Garreg Mach. He had turned out to be the only person in a very long time to wield the Sword of the Creator, that weapon used by Nemesis the Liberator himself. He decided to meet her at any cost and study with her.

Ernest was a medium-height boy with dark blond hair, light brown eyes, and a somewhat vacant look. Although he had specialized in black magic and the use of Reason, his body build indicated that he must have been a relatively strong warrior.

The float finally reached the entrance to Garreg Mach. That was the name of the Monastery that represented the Seiros Church, or the Central Church. The Monastery was located in the center of the continent, on a plane within the Oghma Mountain Range, a high and extensive mountain range that crossed the continent of Fódlan from north to south.

That temple was as old as the religion that worships the Goddess Sothis. The temple comprised a series of zones divided into large buildings. The three main buildings contained the main entrance, dining rooms, and other sectors of the military and civic organization; the second building housed the students, teachers, and the archbishop, called Rhea, who was the leader of the Religion at that time. The third building was the Cathedral, which happened to be the largest on the continent.

The monastery also functioned as the Academy of Officials of the Continent. This was nothing more than a military academy in which nobles or other people from the three nations attended to receive training in all key aspects to mediate the frequent conflicts on the continent and acquire sufficient political, religious, and even economic influence. It's well known by now that Ernest didn't care about that. He just wanted to satisfy his curiosity.

The car crossed the bridge to access the Monastery and stopped at the gate to enter the place. The merchant got out first. Ernst followed him.

"Did you imagine that this place was so big?" The merchant asked Ernest with a festive look. "Good thing you left that cold magic academy. Here you will have much fun... Do you know what I mean?"