[FE8] How is the Eirika / Ephraim route split set up?

Oh, I’m not trying to do something like Gaiden or Radiant Dawn where you switch between multiple parties; sorry if that was unclear, though that is all useful information!

Really I just want to know if it’s possible to do something that works like the route/story splits in vanilla Sacred Stones, Fates, Three Houses, etc. that makes use of the “game mode” flag and alternate character ending pointer list, but that’s selected through a choice the player would make in gameplay while playing a map rather than a purely text-based menu choice like how it’s handled in… really all of the official examples I gave.

Basically, are there standard event codes, either in the vanilla game or available via patch, that can edit the current state of the “game mode” flag? Or is that something you can only change by way of either ASM or calling the interlude events where you’d pick which Lord to follow in the vanilla game?