Chapter 21: Empress of Enbarr

"So...you'll be gone until the end of the week?" Annette asked, she and Felix were watering the plants in the greenhouse with Moon. Felix had remained quiet, just silently doing his job as the two of them spoke.

"Yeah, I'm leaving for a bit on the request of Rhea." Moon said. "Although, there was something I wanted to ask you guys?"

"What would that be?"

"I noticed that, unlike the rest of the Lions, you don't really have any future goals following your graduation. Do you intend to follow your own path?"

"I...uh…" Annette blushed. "To be honest, I haven't given it much thought, I only came here to try and find my father, but...he doesn't want to talk to me. I suppose I could always become a teacher at the school of Sorcery. I'm not someone who wants to be a knight."

"You're better off that way." Felix muttered. "The boar would probably get us all killed."

Moon tilted his head a little. "You know Felix, your future isn't exactly set in stone. It's important that one considers all his options, not just blindly or obediently follow someone around. I'd imagine life as a Mercenary would suit you well."

"Hmph," Felix scoffed. "Clearly, you don't understand how the damn nobility system works. I'm required to become the head of my house now that my brother is dead. I've got to follow Kingdom Rule and continue to serve the boar whether I like it or not."

"Oh come on Felix, Dimitri isn't some raging lunatic!" Annette said.

"That would be because you haven't seen him fully." Felix replied. "I can't imagine anyone following him if they saw what a beast he truly is."

"That's why it's important to follow the path you think is best." Moon said. "If that path happened to involve abandoning your duty as the heir to your house, betraying your friendships, or even going against the wishes of your family, it's important to understand that your choice is what matters, not how it'll affect others."

"That doesn't sound like very good advice." Annette said, frowning a little..

"I disagree." Moon replied. "In my opinion, unless the path you wish to take involves the extermination of Humanity, all actions taken can reasonably be seen as good actions, because people believe that what they are doing, is indeed for the best."

"How would that translate to...oh...I don't know...the mass murder of about five million people?" Felix scoffed. "I don't think anysort of goal could ever justify that."

Moon's eyes narrowed. "I'm not saying I support an action like that. We, as humans, can easily be manipulated and molded to be brainwashed into doing such a thing. However, I find it interesting that, in a certain context, the definition of what's wrong and right is affected only by a person's humanity and morality."

"What exactly are you trying to say?" Annette asked curiously.

"I think you'll understand when the time comes." Moon replied.

"I get why Sapphire and Hubert came…" Byleth said as the five of them arrived in Enbarr. "But why did Moon have to come?"

"Because, with such an important moment that is crucial to the timeline, any entity I may have sparked could try to disrupt or cause mayhem." Moon replied. "It is best that I monitor this moment to ensure nothing horrible happens."

Byleth, along with his four students, walked down the streets, He took his time to take sight of everything, the roads were paved in marble, that seemed to be fading a little as time had gone on, there were several bridges connecting to a center island like area where a marketplace was found in the center of the capital.

"And here's the Opera Company Dorothea used to work at." Edelgard said as they walked by a fairly new building painted in red and gold. The shining statue of an eagle was perched at the top. Byleth did notice, however, that there was a fire ballista near the entrance.

"Why do you have a ballista here?" here asked.

"You seem to forget that the empire was established back during the war with Nemesis," Hubert said. "We had to take many precautions to ensure that the emperor wasn't killed during that time frame. And even then, we are never sure when a Rebellion, or an attack from the Kingdom or Alliance is possible."

"It feels like it was just yesterday that I was walking down these streets without food." Sapphire said. "I know that's not exactly the most pleasant thing to remember, but it certainly saved my life that day. That was the day that sparked my path down the road with you, your Majesty."

"Five years can change a person." Edelgard said. "And I know you've sworn your allegiance and all that, but at least you made that choice on your own. I'm glad that you and Hubert are here."

"So, your father is going to relinquish the throne, to you? Is that right?" Byleth asked.

"Not quite…" Edelgard said. "I received a report from my father's doctors, and, given his state, he's not fit to lead the Empire anymore. I would like for him to live out what little life he has left in peace, without the strain of the Prime Minister preying down on him."

"I took the liberty to distract Duke Aegir for most of the day." Hubert said, scratching his left cheek. "Given his precarious state, he knows that Lady Edelgard's ascension to the throne will spell possible disaster for him."

"That would be because you and Sapphire blatantly told him that bribery wouldn't work." Edelgard scolded. "Not that it would've worked...but I was curious to see how he'd try to make amends for what he did."

"Knowing him, he'd probably lock you in the basement again." Sapphire replied bitterly. "When your own son dislikes you, you know you've done something wrong."

"Yes, well, Ferdinand's behavior has improved somewhat now that we've spoken to him." Hubert muttered. "But we can't afford to take many chances."

Byleth didn't say anything as they continued down the streets. He'd be lying if he said that he didn't just come to get the hell away from Rhea, who had taken a strange interest in requesting meetings with him recently. Flayn and Seteth had also taken a sudden interest...well...okay, all of Garreg Mach had taken an interest. He pondered on that thought in silence.

Damn, he never realized just how much he and Sothis talked in the presence of other conversations. It was so weird not hearing her voice say something or snap advice at him. Even though he had been alive much longer than he had been talking to her.

"You've been awfully quiet, Moon." Byleth was snapped back to reality.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Moon replied. "It's just...so weird...seeing a city without...well...normal city things. I'm so much more used to a modern world with videogames, corporate advertising, billboards, cars, and uh…" he fell silent as they walked past a church, outside the church there was a statue of a woman. In all honesty, it looked a lot like Saint Seiros, the one difference being that her hair looked almost like a six legged spider.

"Is something wrong?" Sapphire asked.

"That statue...who exactly is it depicting?"

"We believe it's Saint Seiros, it has been here since the Empire was established." Edelgard said. "Though, compared to the other depictions of her, we aren't a hundred percent sure."

Moon frowned. "So many depictions of her...but this one just feels...off."

The five of them arrived at the palace, where two guards positioned their lances. They moved them aside for Edelgard, Hubert, and Sapphire, but when they made a movement to block Byleth and Moon, only for Hubert to turn around.

"They are both here from the Church," he muttered, "One is here to oversee the ceremony, the other is here in place of the Archbishop, you will let them through." Both guards nodded and removed their lances.

The five of them arrived in the throne room, where Edelgard's father sat on his throne. Byleth noted that the man looked like he was just about ready to fall over and die. His skin was very pale and wrinkly, his hair and beard were pale white, and he looked so...weak and tired. If you told him that he couldn't even get up from the throne, he'd probably believe that.

The man let out a soft wheeze as he looked at them. "Ah, El, you have come to see me in these...trying times?"

"Hello father…" Edelgard replied. Byleth noted her tone was very sincere, almost saddening. "I hope you can forgive me for asking this of you… I know how much pain you're in...how the burden of the throne weighs heavily on you...and so…"

Her father wheezed a little. "There is no need to apologize...El...You must know that...I do not have much time left in this world. I do heavily tha...thank you, for relieving me of...this…"

Sapphire walked up to the Emperor. "Emperor Ionius," he said calmly, bowing to him. "To complete the line of Imperial succession, you must relinquish your crown here, to Edelgard, in the throne room."

"The Archbishop of the Church of Seiros would normally act as witness would normally act as witness, but, Byleth will be filling that role instead." Hubert said, as Ionius moved his head around, in a motion, seeming to look for someone. "Yes, we did get her permission."

Ionius nodded and leaned back in his throne. "El…"

Edelgard got down on both of her knees in front of him. "From this day forward, the weight of the Empire's future shall rest upon my shoulders. All that I do will be for the benefit of the people of Fódlan."

Ionius nodded, before weakly standing up from his chair, only being helped by Sapphire and Hubert. He took the silver crown with a shining red ruby on its center and placed it on her head. Byleth noted that the crown also looked like a double headed eagle.

"Edelgard von Hresvelg… From this day forward… The crown is yours… By the covenant between the red blood and the white sword, and by the double-headed eagle upon your head, I hereby pronounce you, the new emperor…"

"Thank you, father."

"Are...are you prepared...to take those responsibilities as your own?"

"In accordance with the ancient covenant, and in keeping with Hresvelg legacy… I swear that upon this throne, I shall use my reign to lead Fódlan to a new dawn, and achieve peace for all. To build a world, free from corruption and lies, brought by those who seek to use power for their own personal benefit."

Byleth felt a little warm inside, sure, Edelgard said this to him before, but, something about seeing her swear this to her father, made him confident that she would bring peace to this world she seeked to create, and he would help her.

"The Imperial succession is complete." Ionius wheezed, as Sapphire and Hubert helped him sit back down. "El, My precious daughter, I regret that I could not do more for you. When you were stolen...away to the...Kingdom. When the prime minister did those...horrible things...I'm so...so deeply sorry...that all I could was watch in horror."

"Do not worry, your Highness," Sapphire said. "For as long as Hubert and I are here, we will support her every action to this new dawn."

"Agreed." Hubert said. "It is in our Family's ties."

"Father, in those dark times, your eyes and fists were my only salvation. Within your eyes, I saw true care." Edelgard replied. "And upon your fists clenched tight with indignity, I saw the blood that dripped and fell. Even as I bled, I felt that you, too, must also be bleeding."

The door to the throne room suddenly burst open, all their heads shot towards an old, chubby man, he had a bald head and orange hair on his sides. He also had two strands of orange facial hair running down his crooked nose. This had to be Ferdinand's Father.

"Your Majesty!" Duke Aegir said, his voice full of a fake sounding concern. "You must not leave your sleeping chambers in your condition. He looked around the room, before spying Edelgard. "Ah, Edelgard. I did not expect to find Your Highness."

Hubert chuckled. "Prime Minister, you have quite some nerve misspeaking like that." he said with his evil looking grin.

"What?" Duke Aegir seemed confused.

"He is correct." Sapphire continued. "Lady Edelgard is no longer Your Highness, but rather... Your Majesty."

Byleth felt some sort of satisfaction watching Duke Aegir's eyes widened in probably surprise and horror. "Im...Impossible!" he said. "That wasn't supposed to be for another…"

"It is true." Ionius chimed in. Byleth could see a small glare on the man's weak face. "My little El is the new emperor of the Adrestian Empire. We will summon officials and prepare an ordinance at once. And as for you, Prime Minister..."

"Duke Aegir, you are hereby, dismissed." Edelgard said. Byleth did make one quick note, that Edelgard didn't seem to be taking any sort of joy from this, what he would've expected to be a good few years worth of hatred and rage, she seemed rather neutral, not too eager to expel revenge from the get go.

"It will be quite some time before you are allowed to make contact with the outside world again. However, I will not kill you, I'm placing you under house arrest. Sapphire will be escorting you back to your territory shortly after this."

"He will?" Byleth asked. "But, given the time, he won't be back for the Holy Tomb ceremony."

"Don't worry, Byleth." Moon said. "Sapphire will be back to see the Holy Tomb."

Duke Aegir had sweat dripping down his face. "How...How could this…" he seemed to silently fight himself, before sighing and accepting defeat. "Understood...Your Majesty."

"Sapphire," Edelgard said, as Sapphire, and a few guards started to escort Duke Aegir out. "If he makes any attempt to flee or attack, kill him."

"Understood, Your Majesty." Sapphire replied.

Thankfully, Byelth, Hubert, and Edelgard had made it back in time for the Holy Ceremony. Moon had opted to go with Sapphire, just in case some bad stuff happened, but that didn't matter since he wasn't going to the Ceremony in the first place.

Rhea had taken them down, far below the Monastery, it was in a hidden room near the Holy Mausoleum that required a seal from the Archbishop to be placed in order to access. They had traveled down a large contraption that seemed to take them down, and Byleth felt an urk as they passed by many, many large tombs of some greenish stone material, to the small stone throne that Sothis had sat upon during their encounters together. The other Black Eagles (except for Flayn) had followed them.

"Are you surprised Professor?" Rhea asked, with that same, creepy sort of joy in her tone. "This is the Holy Tomb. In all of its glory."

"To think that there was such a vast space beneath the monastery all this time…" Edelgard said in wonder. "It's hard to imagine that any of these things in Garreg Mach are of this world."

They continued walking as they approached the stairs leading up to the stone throne, which everybody made a walk to.

"This is where the goddess who created this world was laid to rest, along with her children." Rhea said as they arrived at the top. Byleth noted that he seemed to still hear footsteps, despite everyone being at the throne.

"It is said that our creator, the goddess Sothis, sat upon this very throne." Rhea continued. "Byleth, do you recognize this throne?"

Did he recognize it? Like hell he did. It was so creepy, it was like some bullshit straight out of a fairy tale! Like one of those...pentagrams that could summon a demon.

"I do not." Byleth replied.

Rhea shook her head, possibly to clear that slight look of anger he had caught. "There is no need to hide from the truth, you can trust us. Please, sit upon the throne."

"I swear Moon, if you lied, I'm going to crush you when I break free." he cursed.

"Professor?" Rhea asked.

Byleth shivered uncomfortably as he moved over and sat down upon the throne. The only thing he could feel was a cold shiver, as Rhea looked at him with some sort of expecting look. Like a child expecting candy for helping clean the dishes.

"So long, I have waited for this day!" Rhea whispered. "Please, sit upon the throne, receive your revelation." he sat there in silence, but, Sothis's voice didn't come back. So, he just waited.

Nothing happened. He just sat there in silence, looking at his students, and Rhea. Whose face fell from sort of joyful, to almost irritated and sad. And for some ungodly reason, the sound of footsteps getting louder clanked into his ears.

"I...I don't understand." He heard Rhea whisper. "It was supposed to be but a step away...he told me...what did I do wron-"

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" Edelgard's voice echoed through the tomb.

Everyone's heads shot around as they looked behind them, Sapphire ran into the tomb, being backed by a large group of soldiers in red uniforms and metal armor. Each of them embedded with a black double-headed eagle. He had an angry sort of look in his eyes.

"Don't move, any of you." Sapphire said calmly. "We don't want to hurt anyone."

"What is the meaning of this?!" Rhea snarled.

"Thank you ever so much for guiding us this far, Archbishop." Sapphire replied curtly. "The Imperial Army will now take possession of everything in the Holy Tomb!"

"Sapphire?" Dorothea asked in shock. "What are you...what is the Imperial Army doing here?"

"Wait...so...Sapphire works for the Flame Emperor?" Ferdinand asked irritably.

"Yes, I do." Sapphire said calmly.

"So, the Flame Emperor is connected to the Empire?" Linhardt said in shock. "I...never thought that was even possible."

"There's so much you don't understand." Sapphire said. "And the fact that none of you have pieced it together by now certainly means we did our job properly."

"Edelgard…" Bernadetta asked nervously. "Did...did you...did you know about this?"

"Looks like Playtime is over, Your Majesty." Hubert said quietly.

Edelgard looked at the Black Eagles as she walked down the steps to Sapphire, followed by Hubert. When she arrived she turned back around. "Yes, I did know about this…" she calmly. "In fact, I gave the order myself."

Byleth felt his heart plummet to the bottom of his chest. That could only mean one thing.

"So...you mean to tell us that…" Caspar stuttered.

"Lady Edelgard…" Petra said in shock.

"I...Edelgard von Hresvelg, am the Flame Emperor."

Moon stood outside the Monastery, awaiting something within his mind.

"When do I get to go in?" Moon sighed as Jeritza approached his side.

"As both I, and Sapphire mentioned, you are not permitted to be here." he replied.

"I desire blood, the flesh of our enemies to become corpses to the ground."

Moon turned to face him. "You know, Death Knight," he said calmly. "You aren't in the same predicament I am in."

Jeritza scowled at him. "You know nothing about me." he said.

"You think you are nothing but a cold blooded killer?" Moon asked. "Perhaps, but you don't have to be that way. The Empire only needs you for your strength and ability to fight the scoundrels that have made up this world. People that you, like me, Edelgard, Sapphire, and Hubert, we know the scum that people ride on."

"Hmmm." Jeritza didn't say anything to him as he looked up at the Monastery.

"That desire to continue killing, that voice that lurks in your head, telling you to bring the heads of those you hate to the ground. It doesn't have to be this way. You don't have to be the Death Knight. You can go back to being the boy you once were."

"You couldn't possibly understand what that's like." Jeritza said in his cold voice. "There is nothing left of this cold hearted body of mine. I am just an animal that hunts its prey, eager for my next bloodbath."

Moon turned to face him. "Maybe," he said calmly. "But, your desire to fuel bloodshed will not be here and now. As Edelgard said, you are not to return here and cause havoc unless otherwise told by someone of authority."

"What do you want then?" Jeritza asked.

"Go back to the Imperial camp. Alert Ladislava and Randolph that the preparations can begin."

"And what do you intend to do?" Jeritza asked.

"What I seem to do best." Moon muttered. "Defying and overthrowing some insane green haired woman who thinks she can play god with whoever the hell she wants."

Jeritza scuffled on the back of his horse as he turned to leave. Recalling the faint sound of his sister's warm giggle as he turned to face the boy, before shrugging and continuing back.

That's all for today's chapter, I hope you all enjoyed it, However, I do have a little treat for everyone.

The Flame Emperor reveal as Edelgard is a big twist, however, the scene that takes place differs for each house, so, I present to you, the Flame Emperor Reveal for the Blue Lions. Starring, Female Byleth.

Dimitri approached the masked Flame Emperor, gripping his lance tightly.

"You!" He snarled. His voice cold and heartless. "I've been looking for you... Tell me, Do you know how many lives you claimed? Why cause such grumsome deeds? Do you have any idea just how bloody Duscur was?!"

"I already told you... I had nothing to do with that." The Flame Emperor snarled. "Why even bother with this? Stay silent and fight!"

Dimitri stabbed his lance through the mask, barely making a dent, however, the lance head pierced through and allowed him to fling the mask to the ground. And, beneath the mask, all of the Blue Lions gasped in shock.

"I...I don't believe it!" Byleth said. "It...it's Edelgard?"

Her head immediately turned to Dimitri, who stared at Edelgard in silence. Then...he started laughing.

"Ha...hehe...AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Dimitri cackled with a psychotic look in his eyes. "IS...Is this some type of...IS THIS SOME TYPE OF TWISTED JOKE?!"

"Dimitri..." Byleth extended her hand outwards to stop him. But the young prince forced her hand down and stomped up to Edelgard, still being surrounded by Imperial troops.

"I've...been looking for you..." Dimitri hissed, stepping on the Flame Emperor's mask and crushing it to bits. "I shall rip your head off that sick twisted neck of yours... AND HANG IT FROM THE GATES OF ENBARR!"

Sapphire clearly took offense to that, "Stop him."

Dimitri single handedly jabbed his lance through each solider before taking the chance to throw one who jumped on top of him. Before throwing his lance at Edelgard's face. Missing only by mere inches.

"Stop right there!" an Imperial troop attempted to strike him. But Dimitri ducked under before jumping and tackling him into the ground. Byleth heard a bunch of bones in the soldier's face crack as Dimitri quite literally crushed his skull with his hand. Byleth only looked on in horror, out of the corner of her ear, she heard Felix mutter.

"Told you so."

I took the liberty to change a few things. Such as adding Sapphire, and a few other things like giving Felix dialogue, but you get the bigger picture. This scene probably doesn't make much sense out of context. But, it is more justified if I showed off more of the Blue Lion's story. Which I will dive a bit into some time in the future.

I was legitimately taken by surprise that Edelgard was the Flame Emperor. Technically, it does make sense, given the special dialogue she has with Solon, Kronya, and the Death Knight as enemies. How they seemingly refer to her as an "Ally." being surprised that she would even attack them.

Now, why did I choose to have Sapphire join her? Well, to be fair. Normally, Sapphire's place is taken by a character named Metodey, or something like that. He immediately gets killed in the following battle so he didn't really matter. It was obvious from the get go that Hubert knew Edelgard was the Flame Emperor, so I just figured that, given Sapphire's origin, it would just make sense for him as well.

There's a lot that I love about Three Houses, how big lore reveals, twists, and some many other things just pop up and reveal themselves one after another after another. Granted, next chapter will have many more reveals, but still.

Also, for anyone still debating about playing Three Houses, let me tell you. In order to access the Crimson Flower route, you must get a C+ Support with Edelgard, and, the month you visit the holy Tomb, you must go talk to her during your Exploration option, and accompany her to Enbarr to see her become the crowned Emperor. During the Conflict in the Holy Tomb, you will be given a game changing option, but, I'm sure you know what that option would be after seeing it.

Anyway, sorry this chapter is a bit shorter than normal. But I decided from the beginning this was how I was going to handle the chapter. Leave a review if you want, or just say nice chapter if you want.

See you all, next time.