Upon the darkness that surrounded the void, a young girl sat on the throne. Her hair as green as the viridescent fields of forests. Her clothes seemed to float about her, never touching her pale skin. Angular ears gently twitched as she breathed, a flicker of her eyes slowing opening.

There was a man cloaked in black robes holding a large deck of cards. As he made his way up the staircase to the throne, he said, "This game continues yet on, Fell Star."

"And so it is…" She replied, yawning. Her eyes focused once more on the man. A black void seemed to cover his face as he manifested a small table before him. The cards fluttered from his hand, lining up by their suits. Hearts, Diamonds, Hearts, Spades.

The young girl leaned forward. Faces, weapons and people appeared in the center of each, each designated with a signature of their names.

"So which path shall you choose with your Joker card, now?" He asks. "You have seen all these paths before. A story of the strong trampling on the weak…"

His hand moved to the King of Spades. As her eyes focused, there was a picture of young girl, her hair slowly changing from a light tan to ghostly white. These pictures changed, the young girl, now a young adult, wearing crimson red armor with a bone-like axe.

"Seeing one's ambitions to the very end…"

Swapping cards, he moved to the King of Hearts. A young boy standing upon the bodies of his fallen family, growing up to be a king. A wicked smile on his face as he cut down enemies, only to be haunted by their ghosts.

"Keeping secrets that could possibly rock the foundations of the world…"

Next, the King of Diamonds. Another young boy, his complexion darker than the other's. Mystery and shouts surrounded him as he grew up to be the next leader of a world too unknown to him and the darkness that seeped through the world.

"The idea of opening up to the world and embracing it…"

Finally, the King of Clubs. There was a young girl with green hair, watching a burning field of family as raiders pillaged her home, and stole the bones of those she loved. As she grew up, she became hostile, guiding the world as she saw fit.

The girl on the throne looked at her own hand. It was her Joker card. There appeared the body of a woman with teal-hair. A sword in her hand as she cut down enemies to her sides, only to embrace the destiny she found herself wrapped into. Without her own feelings playing into it. Guided all by invisible strings beyond her.

The hooded figure lifted his head, revealing a bearded face. His hair as white as the season's first snow.

"No matter what card you play… Do remember, the House always wins…"

Just as young girl placed her card on the table, the man and his cards disappeared. The staircase to her throne faded to oblivion. The Joker card fluttering in the air as it fell and fell and fell.

She looked down. Small tears swelling in her eyes as she pushed them back. But the redness of her face remained.

When did the cogs of fate and time churn away? What was the reasons for all this bloodshed over a simple stone crest? Perhaps the answer is impossible to grasp, lost within the deep tempest of time.

The girl slowly turned to the side, seeing the Joker card land on the head of the woman whose face was on it.

"Byleth…" The girl on the throne said, "You can't keep doing this."

Light from the woman's eyes was scratched and burned. Her shoulders slumped and clothing ragged and torn. Uneven hair strains cut by sword and axe and spear. She slumped over a ruined blade, cracked about it's formerly glorious sheen. Segmented like a spine, the sword turned grey, inert.

"S-sothis… There must be…"

"Another path? My friend have we not seen all that we have seen? Karmic destiny swirls about us like a tempest. And yet you still wish to continue this path?"

The woman coughed. A splash of blood coated her sword. "… Yes."

Sothis stood up. "How many times has it been? Hundreds? Thousands?"

"I've lost count after fifty."

"You have seen all the lives of these people. Their passions, their flaws, their dreams, and their hopes. It is fundamentally broken inside them. Fate had judged them well before we came into the story. Before we had a chance to act."

"I know…" She collapsed to a knee. Her broken blade crumbling at her side. "I know…"

Silence hung between them. Eyes matching eyes. Both so tired from their senseless wandering. A small smile grew on Sothis's face. "And yet you still see a hope. That there is another path."

"… Yes."

"Is this truly what you seek? Exchange the lives of others for those closest to you. Even if they aren't apart of your house."

"I'm a mercenary." She coughed. Her hands soaked with caked blood. "That's how it's always been. The lives of those closest to us are far more important than somebody else elsewhere."

The girl on the throne blinked. She urged her companion to continue.

"I've seen it all. From Edelgard to Dimitri to Claude, I've done and seen all I can. If I can give them one chance… Then I'll take it."

"You'll be giving up everything just to achieve this dream. Our experience, our past, our memories. I cannot guarantee our safety in this path. We may experience pain far beyond our imagining. If you fall in this path… There will be no do-overs. Even the path of the Crimson Flower could not escape you from this fate."

"Then I'll take it!" She shouted, rising to her feet. Her voice cracking like shattering glass. Daggers falling upon her body as she screamed against fate. "And just as I did the first time… I will follow my heart."

Sothis looked on. A small smile growing on her face. Her fingers curling inward with magic manifested at her fingertips. "Humans never fail to surprise me. How even the smallest flame can keep away the darkness. All it takes is just…"

"One." Byleth weakly smiled back. She leaned forward, collapsing once again.

The young girl walked down from her throne, gently patting the fallen woman. "Very well, my friend. We shall see if fate favors the bold. The willing. The sacrificial.

"And see if your love for her… Will outshine even my star."

-.-.-

Nemesis gazed upon the warriors. A small band of allies and friends he gathered over the years. Most of them, distantly looking at the cave's entrance. Lazily, he dragged a dagger against the ground. Days like these would've been filled with adventure, acting as highwaymen across a large stretch of land, taking whatever they needed.

But those days were gone. Invading forces from all sides surrounded Fódlan. Any resistance army gathered were quickly eradicated with mysterious magics. For some of the people, it meant that their lands were safer. These invaders patrolled their lands under an eagle's eye.

For others, they found themselves under the blade or before whips. Families taken from their homes, forced into large camps. It was disgusting, watching their own people become slaves.

Even worse were the techniques these invaders were using. Poisoning water supplies and setting entire cities ablaze should they have even the slightest suspicion for rebellion. These mounted warriors trampled across Fódlan like a mudslide.

"Boss, what do we do now? Look at us! Cowering in this blasted cave."

"Enough Dominic."

"Enough what?!" He shouted, spreading his arms. "Look at this shit! Are we not rulers of the roads? Masters of the Sword and Coin? Are we not the feared bandit warriors, Tartarus?"

The man grumbled, sticking his knife into the cave's soil.

"And if they capture us, we'll be flayed alive."

"Shut the fuck up Maurice." A warrior named Charon tossed a stone at his head. It missed by a hair's strain. "I don't see you thinking of a plan."

"What plan? It's all gone to shit."

Shouting matches and stones were the regular now. Being forced into a cave, hiding like rats. Disgraceful and a shadow upon their bandit group.

Just as Nemesis was getting up, shadows approached the entrance. Already blades and spells were at the ready.

"Please put your weapons away." One of the figures waved its hands down. The voice of a man. "I come without wishing a fight."

Nemesis held his knife, pointing at the figure. "Tell us why we shouldn't gut you where you stand."

"Because I've come with an offering. A way to save Fódlan. To the start of a new ruling Kingdom."

Karmic destiny surrounds us. And this shall be called, Time's Scar…

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