"Do you swear by your father, and his father before him, to uphold the pillars of justice that keep the kingdom held high?" Byleth wasn't used to this much public speaking. But as archbishop, it was something she was going to have to get used to, whether she liked it or not. She still didn't feel "right" in the ceremonial garb she now donned. It reminded her too much of what Rhea would wear, and she didn't want to just be the next Rhea. Standing in the shadow of her predecessor wasn't something she was planning on doing.
Dimitri, kneeling below Byleth, didn't seem to be feeling any less awkward. Ceremonial displays were never his strong suit. He could become the best dancer in a ballroom, hold an engaging conversation, and even smooth-talk if need be, but as soon as there was a script to follow and actions to rehearse, he became as stiff as a board. "I swear," he said.
"And do you swear by the honor of Faerghus to serve not just as a king, but as a protector, a diplomat, and a leader of men?" Everybody was watching them. All the pews in the recently rebuilt chapel in Garreg Mach were filled. Just about every important figure in Fodlan was present. The noticeable exception was Claude, who was still nowhere to be found after Leicester was absorbed into the Holy Kingdom. She wondered if he was okay, as he assured he would be before seemingly vanishing into thin air.
"I swear," Dimitri said once again. It was funny how she was the one who had to memorize all the lines, yet just repeating two words had him in a sweat. His usually disheveled hair was tied in a ponytail, which looked far better on him than she had assumed.
"And do you swear to the Goddess above to protect the church?" That part was harder to get out. It made Byleth uncomfortable preaching about a religion she was still so unfamiliar with. It wasn't like she was an unbeliever; she was living proof of the Goddess. She had talked to her, seen her, and, eventually, become one with her. But when she was still trying to memorize scriptures every night, it became hard to trust in herself to be the leader the church needed.
"I swear." With that, Byleth grabbed the ornate crown off the table next to her, holding it in both hands. She slowly, delicately placed it atop Dimitri's head.
"Rise, child of the Goddess," Byleth said. Dimitri stood up and turned to face the chapel. "All hail Holy King Dimitri. Long may he reign." A chorus of "hails" echoed across the room. Even with how uncomfortable she felt, she couldn't help but smile. When she had first met Dimitri, she saw him as a student. But now, after everything they had gone through, she saw him as a compatriot, a friend, and a king worth following.
Byleth just wished she could enjoy the afterparty. But that was unbecoming of the archbishop. So she sat in her personal chambers, finally free of attendants and followers for the first time in what felt like an eternity, though she knew it had only been a few hours. She flipped through holy texts, muttering the passages to herself. "And thus the holy fruit was split in twain, given to the…" She stopped, sighing and setting the book aside.
Resting on the wall was the Sword of the Creator, giving off a gentle orange glow. Byleth looked at it, frowning. "I wish you were here. You'd probably complain about how stuffy this whole ceremony is." She brought a hand to her bosom, clutching it into a fist. "No. You are here. I just can't see you like I used to. But you're here all the same." She closed her eyes, trying to feel Sothis. But as always, she only felt herself.
A gentle knock at the door caught Byleth's attention. "Enter," she said. The doorknob twisted, and in stepped someone she didn't expect to be seeing so soon. "Rhea. You're looking well."
Last Byleth had heard, Rhea was still recovering. And that was clearly true – she could see it in her face. It was tired, pale, delicate as porcelain. But it bore a smile that seemed to defy this. "It wouldn't be right for me to miss the king's coronation," Rhea said. The poor woman had been held captive in Adrestia for years before the war was finally over. She never spoke of what had happened, but it had taken a permanent toll. Hence why Byleth had been appointed the new archbishop.
"What is right is for you to rest," Byleth said, standing up and walking towards Rhea. The two embraced. "Still, it is good to see you."
"It truly is," Rhea said, her voice wispy. "How far you've come in such a short time. You delivered your words perfectly."
"Thank you, archbi—Rhea. Apologies, I'm still not quite used to this."
"Do not apologize, my child." Rhea shook her head. "This transition will be trying, but you will emerge stronger in both body and soul. It takes fire to shape a blade, after all." She walked over to the sword hanging on the wall, her face becoming solemn. "But if anyone can triumph over such a daunting task, it is you."
Byleth stood next to Rhea, looking at the sword. "It feels wrong to wield it. Now that I know what it is. A piece of your mother, fashioned into a weapon…how cruel."
"She wishes for you to wield it, Byleth," Rhea said. "As it is a part of her, so too are you." Byleth brought her hand back to her chest.
"Rhea, my heart…it was my mothers, was it not?" Byleth's question received a nod. "She asked you to give it to me so that I may live. But why did she need it? Why was it her heart in the beginning?"
"She suffered the same condition," Rhea explained. "Without that heart, she would not live. When she was given the heart, life flowed into her. And what a beautiful life it was. Sitri would be proud of the woman you've grown up to be."
"Thank you," Byleth said, looking at Rhea. "But why did she need that heart as well? Was it a disease that was passed down to me?"
"That is…complicated, Byleth."
"I don't care how complicated it is. I want to know." Byleth took Rhea's hand in her own. "Why did this heart, the essence of your mother, need to be in me and my mother so we could live?"
"Sitri was…unique." Rhea took a step back. "As I am no mere human, she too was something different from others. She did not emerge from a womb as you did."
"What?" Byleth found herself confused. "I don't understand. She had to have been born. Everyone is born."
"She was indeed born. But she was not born from a mother. She was created. By me."
Byleth couldn't make sense of what she was hearing. "My mother was created? By you? What do you mean? Like a doll?"
"I wish there was a more apt description," Rhea said with a sigh. "Surely you noticed, back with the Ashen Wolves. How her body was untouched by time."
"But if this is true, then why? Why did you create her?" Byleth asked.
"So she could bear her heart." Rhea's words reached Byleth's ears, but they weren't understood. Her mother needed that heart to live. But why would she live solely to contain her heart? It didn't make sense. It was out of order. It had to be. "Humans already have hearts, but your mother was created without one. So that heart was implanted in her. And thus, she lived."
"You haven't answered my question, Rhea," Byleth said, feeling somehow heavier. But she couldn't figure out why. "If she was created to hold this heart, then why was that necessary?"
"For what you have achieved, Byleth. The return of the Goddess." Byleth was relieved by that. Now it made sense.
"So she was originally intended to ascend to archbishop as I have. To merge with Sothis. I see now." Byleth felt the heaviness go away.
"…No." Rhea's word was barely above a whisper, but Byleth heard it all the same. "No. she wasn't." She looked guilty. Why did she look guilty? "I…I must tell you something, Byleth. And you must listen to me with an open mind, and, most importantly, an open spirit." Byleth said nothing. "This…wasn't how I had planned things to go. Sitri wasn't going to become the archbishop. She was supposed to ascend to something greater, but then she fell in love with Jeralt, and then there was you, and I knew that she would no longer work. I knew that when the time came, she would have you live in her place."
"Ascend? Rhea, you aren't making any sense. I've merged with Sothis. What ascension is there past that?"
"You weren't supposed to merge, Byleth." Every word Rhea spoke was pained. "You were supposed to be her. You were supposed to be Sothis. Don't you remember? You sat the throne, and for that brief, glorious moment before Edelgard showed her true colors, you must have felt her. You must have felt my mother." Now she sounded almost desperate.
"I…no, I felt nothing," Byleth said, feeling that heaviness return. "There was nothing. I sat on the throne, and that was it. Nothing changed."
"Then why!?" Rhea asked, emotion suddenly bursting out. "Why did you feel nothing!? It was supposed to be different! She was supposed to…you weren't…"
"What was she supposed to do, Rhea?" Byleth asked. But she wasn't entirely sure if she wanted to hear the answer anymore.
"She was supposed to become you. She was supposed to replace you."
There was a long silence.
"…What?" Byleth asked, her voice quiet and trembling.
"She was to take control of the vessel she was placed inside, to return to us, after so long."
"But if she replaced me, then where would…" Byleth's breathing grew shortened. The heaviness made her feel sick. She could feel it, deep within her heart. "You were going to kill me."
"No. No, that's not—" Before Rhea could finish, Byleth's body moved on its own. She shoved her arm against Rhea's throat and shoved her against the wall, knocking the breath out of her.
"You were going to kill me!?" Byleth began to hyperventilate. "You were going to kill my mother!?" Rhea tried to speak, but Byleth's arm pressed tighter against her neck. "Was that what this what? What my mother was? An experiment!? You created a living being, a person, and then you planned to KILL HER!?"
"That's not…Byleth…" Rhea desperately gasped out, trying to pull Byleth's arm away. But she wasn't strong enough. "I loved Sitri…I love you…"
"Then why!?" Byleth demanded, trying to hold back tears. "You were going to wipe me away, replace me with Sothis!" Rhea didn't say anything. "Tell me I'm wrong!" Still nothing. Byleth pulled her arm away, grabbing Rhea by the shoulders and slamming her against the wall hard enough for the frame the Sword of the Creator sat in to shake. "TELL ME!"
Rhea was crying now, but she made no sound. "I loved Sitri…I loved her like my daughter…"
"THEN WHY WERE YOU GOING TO KILL HER!?" Byleth slammed Rhea against the wall again. "WHY WERE YOU GOING TO KILL ME!?"
"I wasn't, I wasn't, I wasn't…" Rhea kept repeating it over and over, but for Byleth, it was hollow.
"You wanted your mother back so badly that you'd erase another's mind just to do it. You were willing to take a life, to take my mother's life, to take my life to do it."
"She didn't…" Rhea said, hiccupping. No longer could she carry on her gentle demeanor. "She didn't come back…mother…"
Byleth realized the same thing that Rhea must've known for years, ever since that day at the throne. But she didn't feel pain for Rhea. Instead, she felt disgust. And so she used that disgust to hurt Rhea as badly as she could. "She didn't come back. She chose to let me keep my mind. She chose me over you."
Rhea sobbed quietly for a few moments before grabbing Byleth by the shirt. "Why!?" She screamed, her cheeks red as tears dripped down her chin. "Why did she choose you!? I'm her daughter! I've spent centuries trying to bring her back! I've kept her teachings alive all this time! I've held out hope for so long, and she chooses you! Why did she choose you? WHY!?"
Byleth didn't have an answer. And even if she did, she wouldn't have given it to Rhea. Instead, with anger boiling inside of her, she clenched her hand into a fist and punched Rhea hard enough to send her tumbling to the ground. Byleth looked at her hand, only half-aware of what she had just done. Rhea seemed to just crumple on the floor, continuing to sob. "Mother," she repeated over and over, an ugly bruise quickly forming on her cheek.
Byleth watched Rhea, this woman who she had believed in, trusted, fought for, and worst of all, loved, now with nothing but horror and contempt. She took a step back, her hands fumbling for her cloak and ripping it off. She hastily tore off every trinket, every ceremonial piece of jewelry she wore, and let it all fall to the ground. She couldn't do this anymore. Not after this. Not after watching Rhea collapse into what she truly was, all this time.
"You're a monster," Byleth said with disgust and shame in her voice. But more than anything else, she was ashamed in herself for still feeling something other than hatred towards Rhea. "You're a disgusting, contemptible, monster."
"Mother…don't say such things…"
"I'M NOT YOUR MOTHER!" Byleth screamed so loudly that she felt her throat ache. "I've never been your mother. All I've been, this whole time, is your victim." Byleth took the Sword of the Creator off the wall, and for a moment, she pictured herself running Rhea clean through with it. But even with that temptation, she stopped herself, instead throwing it to the floor in front of the disgusting woman still sobbing on it. "I won't be that victim any longer."
"The church needs a leader, it needs you," Rhea said breathlessly. "IT NEEDS YOU!"
Byleth walked to the door to her room, opening it. She stopped, not even looking back towards the pathetic woman weeping on the ground. "If that's truly the case, then it should die. That's what it…no, what you deserve." She left. As people rushed to and past her, drawn by the screaming and shouting, she ignored them all. She just kept walking towards the exit of the monastery. She knew the way by heart.
Only one person stopped Byleth for the briefest moment. Dimitri, having noticed the commotion, was now looking at her. He knew something was wrong, and he knew that whatever had been done could not be undone. "Byleth," he said. "What happened?"
Byleth couldn't work up the courage to speak to Dimitri. She found it impossible to even face him after more than a few seconds. So she didn't. She walked past him, towards the gate, intending on leaving the monastery and never looking back. It was all she could do. She had no idea what would happen once she got far enough away, but she knew one thing for sure.
Byleth would never let herself be controlled again. No matter what.