Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem Three Houses, all rights to the owners.

I'm a big fan of quirks, powers, whatever you want to call them. Also different species like elves or whatnot. So, naturally, when this idea struck me, I had to try and make a story out of it.

This is a bit rough. I'm bad at introductions. I don't know if this is chapter 1 or just a proof-of-concept one-shot, but I hope this turns out well.

"Running away? That's quite like you Claude." Edelgard huffs.

"Says the one following me." He shoots back. He glances over his shoulder, both at their pursuers and their third member. "Keeping up there Blue?"

"Easily." Dimitri nods. "Pray tell why we are running though."

"We need help! Three against a dozen? I know you two are sorta strong, but c'mon, those aren't good odds!"

"That is your concern? I could deal with all of these brigands in a moment if I needed too." Dimitri scoffs.

"Overconfidence ill suits you Dimitri." Edelgard scolds. "While I do not doubt your abilities, we both know that such an act would cause serious injury."

Dimitri huffs, but doesn't deny it. Claude rolls his eyes. He thinks that's ironic coming from the Mrs. Overconfidence herself. The girl who almost ran headlong into these brutes before Claude called her back.

"There's a village up ahead we can go to." Claude explains quickly. "We heard there was a mercenary company that tends to hang around it. Hopefully they'll either take pity on us, or our royal status and the promise of payment can get us some help."

"This is beneath me…" Edelgard mutters.

"You want to go die, be my guest princess."

Claude glances back again. His companions can't see as well in the dark as he can, perks of being half dark elf, not that it helps him horribly much at the moment. He can see how fucked they are if they turn around, but that's about it. He wishes he had more help. Just one or two more people! Edelgard's creepy retainer, Dimitri's cool, hunky one, or Hilda. Goddess above, Hilda would perfect. Why did they leave without any protection anyhow? Who's stupid idea was that?

They rush into the town and Claude immediately starts hollering. As it turns out, thankfully, there is indeed a mercenary company here… Jeralt's mercenaries. As in Jeralt the Blade Breaker.

Suddenly their situation is looking much more positive in Claude's estimation. Jeralt's mercenaries are all highly competent. Not only that, he's supposedly accompanied by a man known as the Ashen Demon, and you know someone with that title has got to be good.

Besides, there's a good chance the Ashen Demon is literally a demon considering Jeralt is famously a demonkin (most people prefer the colloquial term: Tiefling) and the Ashen Demon is supposedly Jeralt's son.

Some lady who looks suspiciously like a ninja fetches one of the men in question. Jeralt looks just like Claude heard. Tall, rugged, muscular, blonde hair, the telltale red eyes and slightly pinkish skin. "What do you kids want? What are you doing here so late?"

"Our apologies sir." Edelgard says politely with a slight bow. It's a drastic change from her personality just a minute ago, and Claude can't help but roll his eyes a bit. How two-faced of her. "But we are being pursued by brigands and we must beg your aid."

"While we do not have any on us at this instant, we are willing to pay." Dimitri adds.

"Money? Bah, forget about it." Jeralt grumbles as his horse is lead up to him. "I'm not going to force someone to pay for a rescue. I'm no noble."

Something akin to offense flickers across Dimitri's face for a second at that comment, but it's gone quickly. Edelgard, on the other hand, actually seems to approve.

"Politics even at a time like this huh? Prince and Princess indeed…" Claude thinks.

"Everyone, fan out along the village border! No one gets through! Kid!"

"Yes?" A monotone voice responds. Claude twists around so fast he almost gets whiplash. When did this guy sneak up behind him? He must be losing his touch! This man is of average height with dark blueish-green hair, a surprisingly delicate face, and slim build, and sharp red eyes.

"Red eyes." Claude blinks, and glances at the man's hip. "Sword, daggers, tiefling… yep, fits the description. Is this the Ashen Demon? He looks a lot more normal than I expected… says the dark elf about the tiefling, surrounded by humans."

Okay, not normal, but less obviously dangerous than Claude thought at least.

"Protect these brats, make sure they don't get themselves killed." Jeralt orders.

"With all due respect-!" Edelgard interrupts before the Demon can speak. "We are quite capable, and were simply outnumbered. We would happily contribute to our own defence."

The Blade Breaker raises an eyebrow and looks to Dimitri and Claude. Dimitri nods firmly and Claude reluctantly does the same. Really he'd prefer not to take a chance and just let the legendary mercenary take these guys out, but if these two noble dolts insist then fine, he'll fight.

"Fine then. Kid, lead these brats and don't let them run headlong into a ditch or something." Jeralt kicks his horse into action, and the noble animal runs off down the road.

"Weapons out." The Demon says flatly, drawing his sword. His eyes give them a critical once-over, and he quickly settles on Claude. "You, I don't know what you are, what do you do?"

"Uhh… I'm an archer-"

"You have pointed ears." The Demon interrupts.

Oh. He doesn't know what a dark elf is. That's… weird. Dark elves aren't common in Fodlan, but most people at least know what they are. Almyra's primary population is dark elves, and being Fodlan's primary outside threat most people at least know about them.

"I'm a dark elf. Well, half dark elf half human." Claude coughs. Usually he doesn't say this outright. He prefers not to draw attention to his Almyran attributes. "Sharp eyes, night vision, good ears, and a bit of minor magic. If you need a palm-sized ball of darkness, I can do that, but I'm just an archer beyond that."

"Noted." The Demon turns his back to them, gazing out at the forest in front of them. He points to a particular spot. "You said you had dark vision. Can you see them?"

He says it in a way that makes it clear he can see the bandits. Claude didn't realize tieflings had dark vision too. Interesting. Focusing on the indicated area though, he does see a bit of movement. "I think so."

"Good. Make sure we don't get flanked." The Demon orders. "Red, my left. Blue, the right. Stay alive, stay close."

"And I don't have to stay alive?" Claude gasps, feigning offense.

"Yes, you do." The Demon says, completely missing the sarcasm. "Don't be stupid, stay alive, climb something."

"Climb something?" Claude blinks. "Huh, not bad advice."

He doesn't do so immediately, instead keeping a dozen paces behind the others and watching for any unexpected extras. He barks out a warning when he sees the brigands break off into two groups, and the Demon nods in acknowledgement. He has them take up a defensive position just behind a fence, making it at least more difficult for Bandits to flank them because they'll need to climb the fence. Claude finds a nearby tree to clamber up and settles in. For once, he curses his bright outfit. He'd be much harder to notice if he was in all black, or maybe dark brown and greens.

If this hadn't technically been a 'school outing', he could have worn something else, but school outings have a dress code. Bah.

Seeing their group has stopped, the two bandit groups break into a run towards them. The Demon actually just opens the fence gate so the bandits don't break it and can come though in a narrow group.

"Stay close to the gate, cut them down as they get through, we don't want to get overwhelmed." The Demon orders. "Yellow, shoot at your discretion."

"We have names you know!" Claude calls back.

"Good for you."

Claude chooses to focus on the group not heading directly for them, trusting the Demon to deal with that. He takes shots at the group trying to take a flanking route, making it difficult for them to get over the fence without him shooting them in the neck. Not being the bravest bunch, it doesn't take long before they just give up and back away and Claude can turn his attention to the other group.

Despite being outnumbered two to one, the Demon and his schoolmates are doing just fine. Claude takes a few careful shots, but everyone being in melee makes that difficult. So instead Claude pulls out a different trick. He points one finger at the lead brigand's eyes and pushes magic out.

A small globe of darkness, about the size of a cantaloupe, appears over the man's eyes. Claude doesn't keep it there for very long (it stays fixed in place so it doesn't move along with the man's head), but he doesn't need to. The momentary distraction is enough for Dimitri to stab the brigand in the side and send the man staggering desperately away from them.

The fight is trivial after that, and Claude is almost disappointed. He's been hoping to see whatever abilities Dimitri and Edelgard have. They're human, but they obviously have some superpower. All the nobility in the Kingdom, the Empire, and even the Alliance tend to be either not human or have a superpower, but it seems this fight won't be enough to coax them out.

Shame.

The Ashen Demon actually fights very little, and instead spends most of his time simply batting away his foes while letting Edelgard and Dimitri kill them and giving quick orders. It's not for lack of skill, so maybe the Demon is assessing them? Maybe letting them show their skills? He's quite the commander though.

The Demon does finish the last enemy himself though. A single clean strike to the bandit's throat is all he needs. He nods and starts scanning for more foes.

Claude doesn't even see it coming, but apparently the Demon does. He abruptly steps in front of Edelgard and flicks his sword across his body, somewhat deflecting the throwing axe that came flying out from behind a tree. Claude can see the wounded form of the bandit leader there, who snarls and vanishes into the forest.

Claude says the Demon "somewhat" deflected the throwing axe, as in it didn't hit the man in the chest. Instead it's embedded in his shoulder. The Demon doesn't seem all that bothered. He stares at it for a moment, drinks a vulnerary, and promptly yanks it out. He doesn't whimper, growl, grunt, or even grit his teeth. He doesn't even flinch. Instead, he studies the axe, holding it with his uninjured arm. Claude has no idea what the man is looking for, but he drops the axe after a few moments and turns to them. His wound is already starting to piece itself together thanks to the magic of the vulnerary.

Dimitri and Edelgard are both varying degrees of impressed and wary. Claude is too. People who don't react to injuries at all tend to be either too drugged up to notice, or sorta crazy.

"Well done." He says curtly, eyeing the small scratches on Edelgard and Dimitri. "Drink a vulnerary if you need it. Our job isn't done. We must stay on alert in case more brigands come this way."

No other bandits actually end up coming. About ten minutes later Jeralt rides over to alert them that they've killed or chased off every bandit they can find, and that they can come back to the village now.

The Demon walks along ahead of them to speak with his father, and the three heirs quickly fall into a conversation of their own.

"He's just as emotionless as the rumors say." Dimitri murmurs.

"And a competent commander it seems." Edelgard adds. "That is surprising. I was expecting a peerless warrior, not a tactician."

"He was analyzing you two." Claude offers. "He let you two do the bulk of the fighting intentionally."

"Really?" Edelgard blinks. "I did not realize. How interesting."

"He might be a fine addition to the Kingdom's ranks." Dimitri muses. "Competent commanders are difficult to come by."

"Oh? Is that so?" Edelgard phrases it as a question, but her tone suggests an accusation. "Perhaps that is because the Kingdom pulls only from aristocracy for it's commanders."

"You speak as if the Empire is much better, considering the abhorrent cost required for command schooling." Dimitri retorts. "And it is not on my wishes we pull from aristocracy. That is an old tradition, and a difficult one to change. The aristocrats in question generally aren't agreeable to having a privilege of theirs stripped away."

Edelgard's mouth twitches into something resembling a sneer for a moment, but it's gone quickly.

Claude, usually chatty, instead listens carefully to that conversation. He's not foolish, Edelgard has always struck him as quite the ambitious person and he knows she has some sort of agenda. Any clue he can discern is another piece to that puzzle. She thinks pulling commanders from only aristocracy is foolish? That's something to note.

They get back at the village just in time to see Alois and the Knights of Seiros arrive. They're just in time to totally miss everything.

"Fear not everyone, the Knights of Seiros have arrived!" Alois bellows as he charges into the village center. He glances around, seeing the confused looks and raised eyebrows he's receiving, and lowers his axe. Then he notices all the mercenaries gathered around and clears his throat. "Ah, I suppose everything has been dealt with already, has it?"

"It has. You're getting slow Alois. I trained you better than that. Getting old, are we?" Jeralt calls out.

"Captain Jeralt!" The warrior calls out. "Why, it's been years! It's so good to see you! We have to get a drink!"

"Maybe some other time. We're leaving tomorrow and I can't afford to be hungover."

The Demon blinks hard upon hearing that and their eyes flick to their father for a moment, which gives Claude the feeling that Jeralt just lied. Alois seems to know that too, though for an entirely different reason.

"Since when has a hangover ever stopped you from getting a drink?" The man laughs. "I won't believe you've changed that much Captain!"

Jeralt sighs, then chuckles. "I suppose that's true. Fine then, come on!" He turns to the Demon. "By, make sure the brats get somewhere to sleep, yeah?"

"Okay." The Demon, nods.

"Wait!" Alois says, glancing between Jeralt and the Demon. "Who's this? There's something… ah, you're a tiefling too! Jeralt take you in kid?"

"He's my father." The Demon replies flatly.

"Father? Father!" Alois blinks, and a massive grin crosses his face. "Ha! That explains why you left, eh Jeralt? What's your name kid?"

"Byleth."

"Byleth." Claude notes. "He's named after the demon Beleth? That's not a suspicious name at all. Great name you gave your kid there Jeralt."

"Byleth! A wonderful name!" Alois says and throws an arm around Byleth's shoulder. "You have to tell me tales of your father! The things he won't want to say."

"Absolutely not." Jeralt growls. "Kid, don't tell him anything."

The Demon blinks, and glances to Alois. "I have a few stories."

"Traitor…" Jeralt grumbles.

Claude desperately wishes he could hear these stories now. Maybe he'll have to sneak out of his room to hear them.

###

Claude doesn't know when or how it happened, but Alois managed to convince Jeralt to come to Garreg Mach. He, Dimitri, and Edelgard talk at the Demon the entire way there. He pays attention to them but says very little. He occasionally nods or shakes his head, but mostly stares at them with a lack of visible emotion.

It's not long before Dimitri and Edelgard try to recruit the man, and Claude can only shake his head. Rather than let him ply his trade everywhere, they want him to be theirs and strip the benefit from other factions. Claude, personally, appreciates how Jeralt's mercenaries will work for any side so long as they pay decently enough and aren't total scumbags. There have been a number of bandit groups or monsters they've taken out in Alliance territory that the regional lords were too busy squabbling to deal with. That doesn't mean he wouldn't want the Kingdom or the Empire to get the same benefits.

Still, he supposes, it's natural to want to employ someone useful. It's not like he wasn't considering something similar. More of a sponsorship rather than outright employment, but still.

Despite this, he plays his part as heir to the Alliance and tries to recruit the man. He doesn't particularly care to shackle Byleth to him, but Claude feels he'll be far more reasonable than the other two so he might as well try and keep the Demon out of Edelgard and Dimitri's political machinations.

It's hard to tell how the Demon is reacting, who he's leaning towards, or if he even cares. His blank stare gives away very little.

When they arrive at Garreg Mach Monastery, they are forced to part ways as Jeralt and Byleth are shown to the cathedral to meet with Lady Rhea.

It's only later he hears whispers from a priest that the Demon has been hired as a teacher. A teacher. Considering his general demeanor, that's going to make for an interesting year…

I never realized just how useful Claude is for a story. He's an amazing protagonist actually. I have a new appreciation for him.

It's hard to get all of the ideas I have into one chapter, much less an introduction. This is barely scratching the surface. There's so much more than half dark elf Claude and tiefling Jeralt and Byleth I have in my mind, and more nuance to be explored with those two things anyhow.

Ahh, whatever. If people want to see more of this, great, if not, oh well (I mean, I'll probably make semi-connected one-shots about some of the ideas anyhow, but not a full story).