Light and Darkness: A Fire Emblem Three Houses' Story

The Bastard of Darkness

Byleth didn't understand anything at all. This new student seemed to be a box of surprises, or worse, a "Pandora's box."She felt a slight chill despite somehow not understanding the details. It was expected to feel like this due to the gloomy face that her student showed again.

"Arundel?" Your father?" Was all Byleth could articulate.

"Correct, Professor," Ernest replied, his voice monotone. "I assume you must have heard of him."

"I mean... in name only," the teacher replied, confused. "At least I heard that he is Edelgard's uncle and the Chancellor of the Empire. That's what she told me herself. But I don't know much more since I have little time to establish a relationship with the Black Eagles. However, she approaches me quite often to talk to me."

"Because she loves you madly, Byleth," Ernest answered, his smile returning. "But we didn't come here to talk about who likes us. You should know more about it, and now I can only tell you part of it."

"Oh...okay." For the first time, Byleth looked embarrassed. "Go on."

"Volkhard was a rather 'restless' young man. He had an affair with a maid, a very beautiful one. She hid her pregnancy so well that it didn't become apparent until she was about to conceive. It was inevitable that she had to give birth in secret. And, I must say, my stepmother was an excellent midwife, apart from having a special network of contacts to hide the children. Rather, sell them at a good price."

"What... It's disturbing what you're telling me," The teacher commented.

"Well... and I've only just started. Arundel washed his hands of this whole affair to tell the truth. My mother crossed the continent to the Alliance to give birth. She disappeared. She ran away from everyone and left me lying there. I still don't know what Raquel saw in me when she adopted me as her stepson."

"Surely... you were an adorable baby." Byleth realized that she had spoken without thinking.

"I think it was the same thing she told me," Ernest laughed cheerfully when he heard his teacher. "Well... I grew up there until I was six years old. One day, a gentleman appeared. He was a subject with a dark and cold look. He gave me this dagger when he approached me and said, 'You must use it. It will be your best friend and your food source. You will be the best at using it because you carry the talent for it in your veins'."

"In your veins?" Byleth asked, looking at Ernest seriously. "Maybe he wasn't wrong after all. Perhaps he saw your talent."

"I don't know... I don't think it's talent. I think it was my blood."

"Your blood... what do you mean by that?"

"My father is Thales, and he is not a human," Ernest declared, resting his elbows on his legs and his chin on the backs of their clasped hands. "Thales is Agarthan, of that race that swore to destroy the children of the Goddess. He is the leader of a group that some like to call 'Those Who Slither in the Darkness,' which is nothing more than a kind of euphemism to define the shit they are."

" Agartha ..." Byleth repeated one of Ernest's words, looking at the ground. "But that is the race that is talked about in some books. Many say that Sothis exterminated them."

"Other sources say they hid underground," the boy replied. "And they did it, like the creeping beasts that they are. No offense to the animals that live underground, of course."

"He taught you to kill?"

"No... I learned by myself. No matter how much I denied his words, the bastard was right. These Agarthans have an innate talent for killing. Although Thales said he was surprised by my abilities."