Fanfic / Fire Emblem Three Houses: White Horizon

White Horizon is a Fire Emblem: Three Houses fanfiction, created by SkyRig (formerly called Demons Anarchy of Pride and Starlight's Poet) of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R-eset fame. It is a For Want Of A Nail fic, with the ultimate goal being to give the characters and story a Golden Ending similar to what the Revelations Route of Fire Emblem Fates offered.

The story plays out similar to the beginnings of Part I, but rather than being assigned to just teaching one of the three houses, Rhea decides that Byleth, as well as Hanneman and Manuela, will teach all three houses on account of the three future rulers of Fodlan's ruling powers all being present and thereby offering a chance for a new possibility of unity.

This story, alongside all other works by SkyRig, are currently on hiatus while they work on an original novel.

White Horizon contains the following tropes:

• Action Dad: Jeralt, Byleth's father. Not only is he a world-renowned mercenary, he's also regarded as the strongest knight who ever lived while working with the Knights of Seiros. Even Kostas has heard of him and considers himself lucky that he survived an encounter with the man.
• Adaptational Early Appearance: "Those Who Slither In The Dark." Though they technically appear relatively early on in their disguises, they reveal their true forms as Thales, Kronya and Solon in Chapter 2 when they meet with Kostas in Edelgard's stead.
• All Just a Dream: Byleth was initially convinced that he had hallucinated some of the events during the conflict at Remire Village in regards to Sothis and her ability to rewind time. He immediately dispels those notions when Sothis appears in front of him in Chapter 4.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: When they first meet him, Annette and Lysithea both have this view about Linhardt, when they try talking with him, but he spends more time trying to go to sleep than he does wanting to talk to them.
• Didn't Think This Through: Zigzagged. As the idea of the Three Houses being taught together in a single group has never been done before, the professors have to do several things by ear. One of the complications of the houses being taught together comes up in Chapter 2, where Manuela questions how they'll be able to hold the mock battle and the Battle of the Eagle and Lion in the months to come.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Kostas may be a bandit, but he draws a line at raping and pillaging. He's very creeped out when he realizes that Kronya is the type of person who will kill anyone they meet for shits and giggles.
• Everyone Has Standards: For all of his philandering and tendency to break things off faster than you can say Sothis, Sylvain isn't a two-timer. He will only engage in a relationship with a single partner and nothing more.
• Fate Worse than Death: Lampshaded by the author regarding Kostas' fate at the end of Chapter 2. Being killed by Byleth and his students would have been preferable compared to what "those who slither" do to him.
• Foil: Several.
  • Hubert and Dedue. Hubert has been serving Edelgard since he was a child and obeys her orders without question, but he admits to having disobeyed a few of those orders "for her own good." Dedue was spared from death by Dimitri and would follow every order Dimitri ever gave him, though Hubert notes that he is "too loyal" and would never question any of the prince's orders unlike himself.
  • Lorenz, Ferdinand, and Ashe. All three are the sons to noble houses in their respective countries, though whereas the former two are biological heirs and have knowledge about ruling and maintaining lands under a lord's leadership, Ashe was adopted by Lonato and feels that he is an Inadequate Inheritor.
  • Bernadetta and Marianne. Both are troubled girls who prefer not to get too involved with their classmates. Whereas Marianne is fearful that her secret may come to light and prefers to avoid her classmates when necessary, Bernadetta's fear mainly stems from the idea that she might offend her classmates and prefers the safety of her room, though unlike Marianne she is still able to communicate properly with her classmates (even if through the door to her room).
  • The three Lords themselves. In regards to their positions, Edelard and Dimitri are proper royalty while Claude is merely the heir to the leader of the Leicester Alliance, a Duke. Both Edelgard and Dimitri are serious and respectful while also having a positive relationship with their houses, Claude is informal and casual with Byleth as evident by referring to him as Teach instead of Professor and has a mixed relationship with the members of his house.
• For Want Of A Nail: The premise of Rhea having all three houses underneath Byleth's tutelage alongside Hanneman and Manuela creates several nails.
  • Since the three houses are now being taught together, Edelgard doesn't have time to meet with Kostas regarding his blunder, so that honor goes to "those who slither in the dark."
  • As the mock battle is now impossible since the houses are being taught together, the students are instead pitted against Jeralt's mercenary company. Byleth also isn't participating in the battle and is instead a mere observer, leaving Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude to figure out how they will defeat the mercenaries.
• Inadequate Inheritor: Ashe believes this is the case for him, as unlike many of the nobles in the Officer's Academy, he is only a noble by title only. Ferdinand and Lorenz both insist that, while he was born a commoner, the people will still look to him for leadership if Lonato is unable to govern Gaspard for any reason.
• Likes Older Men: When the houses are all brought together for the first time, Sylvain mentions to Leonie that, given how often she talks about Jeralt to the point where she sounds like his hardcore fan girl, many people believe that she has a thing for older men. Understandably, Leonie is annoyed by this misconception and makes it clear that she does not prefer older men.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Like in the game, Byleth has little information about the Church of Seiros and the Knights due to Jeralt purposely keeping such talk away from him. While he did know about the Knights of Seiros, he believed they were another group of mercenaries and not an army belonging to a religious organization.
• The Mole: Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude suspect that someone infiltrated the Officer's Academy and leaked the training camp to Kostas and his bandits, as only the teachers, the Knights of Seiros, and Rhea knew that the future Emperor, King, and Duke would be at the camp.
• Only Sane Woman: Hilda is the only one among the House Leaders' second-in-commands that doesn't have an extreme Undying Loyalty and is put-off by the fact that both Dedue and Hubert both openly tell the other not to get in Dimitri and Edelgard's way respectively, including making blatant death threats.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Kostas is aghast when Thales tells him the purpose behind his attack on the three lords was to try and kill them. He promptly tells them they're mental since doing so would result in the Empire, Kingdom, and Alliance coming after them in retaliation. While he's eager to make coin, he's not suicidal.
• The Rival: Played for Laughs. Ferdinand and Lorenz develop a sort of rivalry when they both offer Ashe advice on how to rule over Gaspard in the event something happens to Lonato or if he is not present to properly maintain his territory.
• Take That!: A subtle one towards Leonie, who, while not The Scrappy levels, is not well-liked by fans for a few reasons. When she proclaims herself as the first apprentice to Jeralt to Byleth when the Three Houses are introduced to him, the following exchange happens.
  Byleth: Father never mentioned he had an apprentice.
  Leonie: W-wait, seriously? N-not even in passing?
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Despite the goal of the Officers Academy being to help facilitate new bonds and relationships among the three countries, and due to problems relating to each of the countries themselves, students rarely interact with anyone from other houses while competing against each other in various activities in order to bolster the prestige of their respective houses.
• Thou Shalt Not Kill: The Flame Emperor gave Kostas explicit orders that he was not to kill any of the instructors protecting Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude, as the goal was to kill them in the midst of the confusion. Since the bandits fatally injured three instructors and left them to die, the Officers Academy is sure to not repeat this mistake again and lessen their chances of assassinating the three royals in the future.
• Undying Loyalty: Both Hubert and Dedue are loyal to Edelgard and Dimitri respectively, though Hubert believes that Dedue is too loyal in that he never questions Dimitri's orders and will follow them down to the very letter, whereas he will occasionally disobey an order if he thinks it won't benefit Edelgard in some manner.
• We ARE Struggling Together: The Leicester Alliance, despite having sworn loyalty to each other, are the least united among the three ruling powers of Fodlan. According to Manuela and Hanneman, one major point of contention is regarding Claude being named the heir of House Riegan, which has led the Alliance of countless years, when no one even knew Claude existed until that point. One side still supports House Riegan, while the other voices suspicion regarding Claude's legitimacy as heir to House Riegan.
• We Used to Be Friends: In Chapter 3, Jeralt mentions that he once served under Rhea after she saved his life, with the implication that their bond may have gone beyond a boss and her subordinate. He refuses to elaborate about the Noodle Incident that caused him to question his faith in Rhea and leave the Knights of Seiros when Byleth prods him for answers.
• Wrecked Weapon: How Jeralt got the nickname "Blade Breaker." According to Kostas, anyone who ever clashed swords with the mercenary ended up having their weapon shattered into tiny pieces.
• You Have Failed Me: Like in the game, Kostas is called out on his failure, but unlike his meeting with the Flame Emperor, "those who slither" are quick to make use of him as a guinea pig.

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A new future is looming over the horizon.