Fire Emblem Three Houses: The Colossal King of Faerghus

Reunion at Dawn, Part 1

Byleth liked to think he was getting good at handling unexpected events. He had taken to merging with Sothis pretty well, and finding out he had woken up from a five-year-old coma was not as shocking as one might think. But as he stared up at the behemoth that was his former student, he could not find any way to rationalize this in the slightest.

"You... What must I do to be rid of you?" Dimitri demanded, staring down at him with tired resignation. "I will kill that woman, I swear it." The giant man let out a sob. "But please understand, I can't just go stomping through the streets of Enbarr! The innocent don't deserve to suffer your wrath..."

"What are you talking about?" Byleth asked him gently. It was becoming apparent that the Prince of Faerghus was not thinking clearly. At the sound of his voice, Dimitri's eye widened, as he took a closer look at his former professor.

"You... It can't be! You're alive?!" Faster than Byleth could react, the giant's hands shot out, grabbing him by his shoulders and lifting him off his feet, bringing him right up to the prince of Faerghus's face. "H-how can this be?" Dimitri demanded, studying the man he clutched in his hands in astonishment. "I saw you fall into that chasm! Are you..." The prince's fingers tightened around his professor's shoulders. "Is this real?"

"Of course it is!" Byleth assured him, wincing in pain at the amount of pressure being put on his upper body. "Dimitri, please... You're crushing my arms..." Immediately, Dimitri set him back down. The prince stood up, becoming even more massively large, then turned and cupped his hands over his face, as he began to shake with emotion. "I'm glad you're safe," Byleth told him calmly. The giant looked back at him, and it hurt Byleth to see the amount of pain and confusion in his eye.

"Am I?" Dimitri asked quietly.

-FIRE EMBLEM-

As the sun rose a little higher into the cloudy gray sky, Byleth and Dimitri had moved to the monastery's cathedral. This was perfectly fine with Byleth, as it allowed them to get away from the stench of blood emanating from the corpses that were undoubtedly his former student's handiwork. The hole in the cathedral ceiling, though disheartening to look at, also allowed for more light to seep in, allowing him to finally see Dimitri fully, which was honestly an even more depressing sight.

If Byleth were to guess, Dimitri had to be about triple the size he had been five years ago, but that was surprisingly the least of his worries at the moment. Beneath the prince's tattered clothes were a number of cuts and bruises, especially around the legs, no doubt from people hitting him there in an attempt to lay him low. His upper left chest and neck had a number of circular scabs on them, and it did not take a genius to figure out they were caused by arrowheads. Most concerning was Dimitri's right eye, though. It had fluttered open for a moment when they first stepped into the cathedral. Byleth had no idea how an eye could be so bloodshot and yet so milky at the same time, but he had a feeling his former student would not tell him even if he asked, at least for now. So he opted for a less personal question, instead.

"What have you been doing the last five years?" he questioned the giant. Dimitri slumped his shoulders, and hung his head, causing his grimy hair to fall down in front of his face again.

"Living not as a man, but as a beast. I fed off whatever crops and livestock were left whenever the Empire or bandits razed a village to the ground, and sought refuge in caves when my body grew to weary to move. I suppose Felix was right when he called me a boar, wouldn't you agree? Although, I suppose 'cyclops' would make a more fitting moniker now, due to my eye, and my size..."

"And how did you become... like this?" Byleth asked, gesturing to Dimitri's body.

"I would tell you, if I knew," the prince said tiredly. "But right now, there are more important matters at hand..." Seeing his professor's confused expression, he continued. "Do you not smell them? Filthy rats. Everywhere. And traces of those who were here long ago. And thieves, crawling from the woodwork, attracted by the promise of treasure." Dimitri scoffed. "Heh... Since the monastery fell, order in the area fell right along with it. You must have seen the state of the town near Garreg Mach on your way here. Vile thieves run rampant. They pillage and loot to their heart's content. I must kill them. Every last one. It's time to hunt down their nest."

"I take it you've been doing a lot of hunting, as of late," Byleth asserted, glancing over the scars littering the giant's body again.

"But of course," Dimitri said with a nod, his good eye narrowing in resolve. "Someone must put a stop to this cycle of the strong trampling the weak. Or do you condone their actions? Do you believe that the pillaging and slaughtering those rats live for is justified?! It is reprehensible, and they must be put down! I intend to give them a taste of the pain they have inflicted on others." The prince's face suddenly grew more distressed. "Even if it means becoming a monster myself. I swore to at least do that much... I will not let them down..." Byleth filed away asking who he had made a promise to for another another time, deciding there was a more prudent question to bring up right now.

"How many thieves are there?"

"It doesn't matter," Dimitri said, before smiling humorlessly. "The one good thing about my current body is that my size puts the odds in my favor, even when I'm outnumbered." He looked back down at his professor, and his smile became more genuine. "Besides, with your help, I'm sure we'll have nothing to worry about. Wouldn't you agree?"

Byleth considered this offer carefully. On one hand, it was fairly evident how Dimitri was going to handle these thieves, as evidenced by the dozen or so corpses decorating the front of the monastery. Byleth was not quite sure if he would be able to stomach seeing the actual process of how his former student dispatched enemies. On the other hand, though, the prince's words were true. The village below the monastery was in shambles enough as it was already. Having bandits so close would only make things worse. And furthermore, though Dimitri's current size no doubt made him immensely strong, from the amount of injuries covering his body, he was not invincible. He could use someone watching his back, and making sure he did not push himself past his own limits. That really only left one option.

"Oh, very well," Byleth said with a sigh. "I've been asleep for five years anyway. I could use the exercise."

-FIRE EMBLEM-

As the sun rose still higher, quickly becoming obscured by the dark clouds looming overhead, Gilbert's scout finally finished giving his reports.

"Good work. I should have known to check the monastery," he praised the soldier. "Let's move, quickly!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Dimitri..." Gilbert mused, as he and his allies began their march towards Garreg Mach, "I'm on my way."