A Unexpected Guest In This World (Persona 3 X Fire Emblem 3 Houses/Hopes)

[Spacewhales24]

"New beginnings, boundless potential, and the commencement of the Fool's adventure."

---

Fire, Burning, Mom, Dad, Green Sky, Angel, Monster, Screaming, flashing lights, then nothing. That's all he could remember after waking up in this forest, and seeing nothing around here didn't help either. So he began to walk in one direction to see if he could find his parents.

He found himself tripping and falling from the branches and rocks and wondered why he didn't feel the need to cry to mom like he used to. Maybe he was growing up like his dad said he would after getting a job. "Maybe this was a job?" Shaking his head, he continued to walk.

As he continued into the forest, he began to wonder why he wasn't scared right now. He remembers crying when his mom left him at school, but now he feels nothing? He knows he should be feeling sad right now, but he just can't. It was as if something was taken from him that he can't describe.

He saw a den of rabbits get eaten by a fox, and as he walked past, he realized he didn't really care about it. He thinks he should be grossed out and scared, but he just can't. If anything, seeing the fox eat just made him realize how hungry he was. He should find mom; she made the best Nabemono.

The longer he continued on his journey, the darker the day became, and with it the cold, the clothes he was wearing didn't offer much protection from the elements with his shorts. So he continued to look for his parents.

It was getting so dark that he couldn't even see what was in front of him, but the moonlight helped him find a less dense part of the forest. He was starting to grow tired of walking and not eating anything all day.

As he was about to give up, he saw a light between the trees and found a fire, and with it, a girl around his age with hair as oddly colored as him. She seemed to notice him and quickly stood up, pointing a knife at him.

"Stad an sin!" She shouts at the blue child who didn't understand a single thing she just said.

He tilted his head in confusion and stepped closer. That seemed to shake her even more and just push the knife closer to him. The oddest thing about this is that the child was not scared. He remembered knives are sharp, and sharp things hurt when he ran with a pair of scissors in school pretending to be Zoro.
"Bha mi dha-rìribh ag innse dhut stad far a bheil thu!" She is speaking in complete gibberish, but he was cold, so he just sat at the other end of the fire; at least it was warm. This seemed to startle her, and she continued to point the blade at him.

"Dè tha thu ag iarraidh!?" She was shouting at him even when he was near her. It was getting annoying hearing how loud she was. Does she not have an inner voice for conversations? Still, he should just reply to her to finish this conversation.

"Can you keep it down? I'm tired." This seemed to stun her for a moment, but she quickly snapped out of it.

"Dè bha an Dagdan sin?" Still having no idea what she just said, and after walking the longest walk he ever had without eating, he was just too tired to respond and just fell asleep.

"HIE NA Caidil A-NIS!" Was the last thing he heard before he closed his eyes.




Translation notes:
Stad an sin = Stop there!

Bha mi dha-rìribh ag innse dhut stad far a bheil thu = I was really telling you to stop where you are!

Dè tha thu ag iarraidh = What do you want?

Dè bha an Dagdan sin = What was that Dagdan?

HIE NA Caidil A-NIS = HEY DON'T SLEEP RIGHT NOW!

On the off chance that someone here knows Scottish Gaelic, I am so sorry for butchering it.

 

[Spacewhales24]

---

Everything was not going Shez's way this past year. It had been nine months since her mother got sick and five months since she died. Within two months, Shez was unceremoniously kicked out of the village due to inheriting something called "rent" that her mom was paying for, being the local doctor. After a kind villager gave Shez some supplies and a map, at the very least, she followed it to the nearest town. But the map must have been wrong; it should have taken her to a field, not a forest.

Looking up through the trees she notices that the sun was setting and decides to set up camp. Having gotten used to this process at this point, there was still one part of setting up that was always annoying.

"Stupid sticks, stay up!.."

Setting up the tent is always a hassle, no matter the situation. Sometimes, Shez wishes she was born a noble. If only so, her servants can set this tent up instead of herself. Still her complaining about it won't change things, so roll with the punches! as the old village drunk would say. Then again her mother hated when she was near the tavern. Something about "bad influences".

"There, got it. Now for the nails."

Getting up, she goes to her bag for the nails she was using for tent and–

"Of course I ran out of nails after getting that stupid stick up. Of course I can't let Shez have a not sucky day because everyone hates you."

Sighing to herself, she shakes her head and thanks the Goddess for still having her sleeping bag.

"Hey, at least I can sleep under the stars," she thinks to herself. "That's not a total waste."

Standing up, she looks for some firewood to at least set up a campfire. It would be kind of a waste to have a bedroll and freeze herself during the night.

Walking around the forest, she starts picking up sticks, twigs, and branches that fell off the trees. A rustling noise through the bushes alerts Shez. Grabbing her hunting dagger from its sheath, she peers over. A pack of wild rabbits are peacefully nesting on spots of dead grass.

"Food for tonight– dang it, I left my bow and arrows back at camp. And it's almost night time now, so I won't be able to set up traps for them either."

Looking down at the knife in her hand, she thinks back to how the owner of a tavern handled one of their patrons extorting another customer.

"No choice but to throw the thing and hope for the best. Now how did he do it again?"

Flipping the knife, she recalls the movement and slows her breathings.

Breath in.
She holds the blade back.

Breath out.
She calms her heart.

Breath in.
"It's just like shooting with my bow." She spots the one that's closest to her.

Breath out.
"Don't think about the blood, think about the food." She focuses on her target.

Breath in.
She throws the blade as hard as she can.

Breath out.
It lands with a disgusting squelch and the other rabbits scatter off.

"WOOO, THAT'S HOW YOU DO IT!" Shez cheers for her own victory. "NOW.. HERE COMES RABBIT SKEWER FOR TONIGHT!!!"

Running towards her upcoming dinner, she takes the dagger out and wipes it clean. After that is done, she grabs her meal and heads back to grab the sticks she left on the ground. Picking the sticks up, she rushes towards the camp to start a fire for her dinner.

Setting down the sticks she collected, she eagerly goes to her bag to get a rag to carry her prize. Having found it, she wraps it up so it doesn't get dirty while she starts the campfire. Looking around a bit, she finds and uses the larger stone around her to make a circle. After that was done, she tosses the firewood within the circle along with some dry foliage. Seeing as that was complete, she searches in her bag to find the flint to start the fire.

"Where is that stup– ah there it is." After finding the flint, she began to grate it against her dagger to create the sparks needed for the fire. Seeing the tiny sparks growing on the leaves, she slowly starts to blow on it so the fire could grow larger.

The heat radiating from the fire brings a familiar comfort to Shez, although the scent of the embers is too strong for her liking. Looking at her finished work, she sits on a log and looks towards the sky. Through the gaps of the trees, clusters of midnight stars were visible.

"Always the best view no matter what.. huh, Mom." Thinking back on the times with her mom made her sad. "But hey, I will always have you with me right." Tugging at the bun her mom used to wear made her smile.

"Alright, got to start cooking."

Getting up from the tree stump, she heads back towards the unfinished tent to get her kitchenware from the bag. Looking at the items she took out, she grabs her small pan and some of the tomatoes she bought from a traveling trader. She places them down and starts to look for the rag with the rabbit in it. Having found the rag, she unties it and begins to skin the rabbit, holding it by the ears.

"Okay, time to get this over with."

After skinning her meal, she removes the organs and cuts up the rabbit into four sections, separating the legs and back. Making sure the meat was clean, she assembles the meat and vegetables on a skewer over the fire and waits for the meal to cook.

While keeping an eye on the fire, she tunes in on the forest sounds surrounding her to make sure she wasn't being stalked by larger animals. Hearing nothing, she thinks to herself.

"Well, Shez. Here we are after, getting into fights with the other kids. This is what it led to– getting kicked out, because you couldn't keep your hands to yourself. Because they were making fun of Mom's eyes." Shaking her head, she looks to the stars and laughs to herself. "I'll still do it again though. Nobody makes fun of my mom."

After checking if the rabbit skewers were fully cooked, Shez proceeds to bite into her dinner and notices how gamey the meat tastes. The wild rabbit had barely any fat, compared to the livestock that the village provided.

"I wish I used stronger seasonings to hide the bloody rabbit taste."

While not being the best meal she made, it was considerably filling. Having almost finished it–

Snap.

Dropping the skewer, then quickly grabbing the dagger, she cautiously stands up and scans the area around her. Although she moves in a calculated manner, her heart beats erratically. When the noise disappears, she does her best to calm herself down.

"It's okay, Shez. It's probably one of those rabbits, or you're just imagining things." Rationalizing her fears, she sits back down on the log and her heart rate slows down.

Rustle.

Glancing at the bush next to her, multiple scenarios rush into her head like flashing lights. She frantically begins plotting the actions she would take to get out alive.

"If it's wolves, just throw the cooked rabbit at them and hope they take the bait. If it's a bear, play dead. If it's a bandit, just give them some gold, and run praying they don't chase you."

Furrowing her brows to see what she had to deal with, she stands up and points her knife at her potential opponent hiding in the bushes. Still, what came out of the bushes only leaves her more confused.

"...A noble?"

Well, she didn't expect that at all. Directing her vision to the source of the noises, she notices a blue haired boy around her age with dirty clothes. His stained collar and uniform shorts still look better than whatever rags she is wearing at the moment.

Noticing him about to move, she bluntly shouts the first thing that comes to mind.

"Stop right there!"

Pointing the dagger directly at the boy doesn't seem to deter him. In fact, he just looks more confused and continues forward. "Didn't they teach these kinds of things to nobles?," Shez thinks to herself. "Even a commoner knows the dangers of a blade."

"I'm being serious right now! Just stop where you are!"

She was shaking. She knew she had to defend herself if it came down to it, but she never really killed anyone. In her mind, killing small animals for food is entirely different than killing a person. So, she was startled when the boy, without a care, stopped and sat down by the fire.

With a quick glance while he was sitting, she confirms that she was right about him being disheveled. The "noble" has bruises and scuffs on his knees, while also having an unhealthy pale complexion. If he wasn't looking perfectly fine by the fire, she would have thought he needed medical attention. Suspecting that he and his family were probably attacked by bandits, simply ran from home, or gotten lost, it didn't change the fact that she needed answers.

Calming her nerves, she steadies the knife back at him and finds the resolve in herself to ask this mysterious, rich kid some questions.

"What do you want?"

From what she was told growing up, most nobles only cared about taking things from commoners and rarely gave back. Looking at the unfinished camp with her stuff, she knew she couldn't afford to give anything away. Otherwise, she'd starve. So, if this kid thought she was gonna roll over, he's got another thing coming.

Staring at him, she watched as he opened his mouth and finally stopped giving her the silent treatment.

"Shizukani shite kurenai ka. Tsukareta."

"…What?"

The first words she hears this blue boy speak are absolute gibberish.

"Wait no, maybe another language. But looking at him, he's definitely not from Almyra. But wait, maybe he's from that island near the empire. What was it again, Brigid? Wait no, I read they look more similar to Almyrans than they do to us. So, that only leaves Dagda… They went to war with Brigid right?" After rationalizing what was on her mind, she asks him another question, to be certain of herself.

"What was that? Dagdan?"

Short, simple, and to the point. Hearing the word "Dagdan" would at least get a reaction. If he was from there, it confirms her assumption.

Giving a moment for him to respond, she notices that the boy is closing his eyes, drifting out of consciousness–

"Um..." As fast as she could react, she hastily shouts, "HEY, DON'T SLEEP RIGHT NOW!!!"

Apparently that didn't seem to work, and the boy went to sleep after collapsing shoulders first on the cold, hard ground.

"Does this guy have no sense of self preservation at all?" For all he knew, she could kill him in his sleep and take his belongings.

Examining his tailored clothes again, she presumes how costly and profitable they might be.

"I can steal his clothes as payment for giving him a perfectly safe campfire to sleep at. I mean he has to pay me back right?"

Just as she was about to get up and take his blazer, she stops herself with a sigh of disbelief.

"No, Mom wouldn't want me to do this, even if I was low on funds. Still, I have to think of something to have the advantage in this situation."

Making up plans is not Shez's strong suit she'll admit that. But this golden opportunity would slip between her fingers if she were to let it go. Scanning the forest surrounding her at a loss of what to do, she glances at her hands and remembers she is currently holding onto.

"Wait, that's it! I can employ myself in his service and hopefully find a noble willing to help us send him home. Then, when he gets back to the rest of his family, they will obviously pay this heroic commoner. With infinite riches and a permanent job, I'll be set for life!!" Eyeing the sleeping boy, she starts to chuckle to herself.

"Oh, don't you worry, Blueberry. I'll protect you real good. Once you get back home, you are SO going to pay me back with an easy job for life, and a roof over my head."

Thinking about having a home again brought a longing smile to her face. Thanks to her mom teaching her how to read, she could maybe teach the little lost prince the language of Fodlan and receive a bonus from it. Heading to bed with a hopeful smile, she couldn't wait until morning for this easy job.

---

Waking up in the early morning and packing everything back up was something Shez had gotten used to after living on the road for so long. Having to make the most use of the daytime, she turns to look at her future money ticket, spotting him still sleeping on the dirt ground.

"Geez, I must have been more distracted than I thought. Should have at least given him a pillow." Seeing the blue noble sleeping so still almost made her think he was dead.

"Wait he's not actually dead, right? He can't be dead yet! I just started, dammit! ...Still could sell his stuff." Quickly rushing over to check on him, she realizes he is still breathing, which is enough to quell her worries.

Seeing that she still hasn't had breakfast yet, she decides to wake the boy up so he can stay put. So, shaking the boy awake, he starts to get up with his messy hair that looks like a berry bush with all those leaves and sticks still in it.

"Oki teru yo."

Oh, right. She forgot the language barrier and had to get creative with this. Grabbing some leftover sticks for the fire last night, she uses them to form a circle around him.

Pointing at him, she bluntly speaks

"YOU."

Opening her palms, she continues her sentence.

"STAY."

She then points at the inside of the circle.

"HERE."

She brings her finger up back to his face.

"GOT IT?"

Watching his expression remain unchanged, he finally says something.

"Chikai."

She still doesn't understand what he just said.

"I'll take that as a yes."

Getting up, she retrieves her bow and arrows to hunt for food. Just as she finishes setting up, she notices the stranger getting up and going out of the circle.

"NO! NO! NO!"

Rushing over, she uses medium force to push his arm back in the circle. He resists at first but ends up struggling, and is surprisingly weak.

The boy looks annoyed. Recalling the time since they met, Shez notes that he showed the most expression on his face just now. Not that she could blame him; she would be annoyed at being told to stay in a small circle of sticks.

"Okay, so you didn't understand me. Yeah, I shouldn't have expected it would be that easy."

Thinking of a better plan, she grabs his hand again, and pulls him into what used to be the middle of the camp. She raises her hand to point at the forest around them.

"Chikai."

...And there's that word again.

Letting go of his hand, she continues to point at the forest, moving her arm to point at their surroundings. Without delay, she forms an X using her arms, portraying the situation as no good. The boy glances at her with that same annoyed look but defeated– he closes his eyes, sighs, nods, and sits down.

Finally thinking that was over, she decides to go into the forest to hunt for some food.

Just as she is about to set her foot down, she pauses midway.

The only reason she found her camp last night was the smoke from the fire. Due to it being morning, she can't use that, so now she has to confront a personal problem she's dealt with for her entire life.

"I'm gonna get lost once I set foot out there."

Turning around, she spots the little blue prince lying and sleeping with her pack beside him. Peacefully as ever, the clouds in the sky drift overhead.

Not taking any chances, she immediately turns around and opens her travel pack on her knees, fumbling to grab the map. Noticing her come back so quickly, the boy opens his eyes and tilts his head at her with a look of confusion. Feeling too embarrassed to say anything after making that big show for nothing, she turns her back, opens her map, and tries hard to spot the nearest town.

"Okay, map reading still sucks, but the two of us being in a forest does narrow it down. Now, let's see where we are."

Spotting the forest on the map, she notices she is on the eastern part of Ordelia territory, just about to cross over into Goneril territory. Noticing this almost makes her want to cry, but she doesn't because she's too old to cry, yet young enough to be mad.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME? AHHH, I HATE THIS STUPID MAP!!"

Her shouting wakes the sleepy boy, who is about to enter REM mode. Her blue haired spectator stares at her with that same blank look. If she hadn't annoyed him earlier, she would have thought his face was permanently stuck like that.

"Ōkina koe."

After speaking in Dagdan, he goes back to sleep.

Rolling her eyes, she looks at the map again and berates herself.

"Okay, Shez. Two months on the road to try and get to Diamuid, and you went in the exact opposite direction. Sigh, story of my life."

She would have torn the map apart if she didn't need it herself.

"Okay. We are somewhere in the forest between Oredellia and Goneril. So, if we follow the road down south, we should be able to reach Cernow and resupply."

Looking down at her satchel where she keeps her gold, she gives it a shake, only hearing a couple of clinks.

"Well, with as much as we can anyway."

Glancing at the noble next to her, she laughs to herself.

"What am I doing? Of course, the rich kid here has gold in his pockets to buy us lunch. I don't have to spend a piece of gold at all. HA, my luck is turning around already."

After laughing to herself about her good fortune, Shez runs her hand through her hair and stands up.

She begins doing arm and leg stretches to prepare herself for the journey to Cernow. In the corner of her eyes, she witnesses the Blue boy staring at her in confusion. She starts smiling to herself, thinking that she is gonna have to get used to that dumb look on his face.

"Come on, there are better places to take a nap than on the ground. You know, like an actual bed."

She reaches her hand out towards him.

"Give me your hand."

Even when she knows he can't understand a single word she is saying, it seems the gesture is universal, as he grabs her hand while she pulls him up.

"Well then, come on and follow me." She walks into the forest beckoning him to follow her. "We gotta find a road, so we can head towards Cernow."

Step.

Pausing for a bit, she checks her map again to be sure.

She realizes she was going the wrong direction again, so she turns around while still holding onto his hand.
"This way is to Cernow. I'm sure of it."

Even with not being able to understand her, the blue haired boy knows she's gonna be a hassle, so he can do nothing but just exhale.



Translation Notes:

Shizukani shite kurenai ka. Tsukareta. = Please be quiet. I'm tired.
Oki teru yo. = I'm awake.

Chikai. = Personal space. (Too near/close.)

Ōkina koe. = Loud voice.

Authors Note: I would like to thank my good friend Hamster with the editing this chapter would not come out nearly as good as it did if it wasn't for them.

This amazing art was created by artist @Marshal_Kiske on Twitter: https://x.com/Marshal_Kiske/status/1810409911198859682