Chapter 22: The Not So Immaculate One.
Byleth stood up from the stone throne and stood alongside the remaining Black Eagles, and Rhea, all of them looked down at Edelgard, Hubert, and Sapphire with wide eyes and gaping mouths.
"Insulins!" Rhea snarled, snapping each of them back to reality. "How dare all of you disgrace the name of the goddess!"
"Your reign of tyranny amongst the rule of Fódlan is over Rhea!" Edelgard snapped back. "I promised that I'd save Fódlan from you!"
Rhea turned to face Byleth. "Stop these Villainous traitors professor.
Byleth took the Sword of the Creator from its sheath and walked down to Edelgard. Who stood in front of him with a serious look in her eyes.
"Byleth," she said calmly. "I know that this may be hard for you to understand, grasp, or even comprehend. And, I will be honest, I can make no excuses for what has happened. Even if you know that I never wanted things to go as far as they did. Know that I intend to walk this path."
Byleth looked at her in silence. Everything had changed and happened so fast, that he barely had time to process it. Talk about his options, what was he supposed to do?
"Maybe one day, he'll appear to you without his mask." Edelgard's voice rang through his head. "Then, you can look into his eyes, and decide what you truly think about him for yourself."
He turned his head to look at Rhea, who was giving Edelgard a creepy sort of evil smile. Something that she didn't seem too content to hide from anyone. Most of the Black Eagles still looked like they were struggling to understand the weight of what was happening.
Moving his attention back to Rhea, and then turning his attention back to Edelgard, he realized then what his decision had to be. He wasn't going to be able to run away. And, he wasn't really sure anyone would be willing to talk about this at this point in time. No, surely Rhea couldn't be that insane, surely he could sit them down and talk about this whole thing.
"Professor!" Rhea snarled. Making him jump a little at her cold glaring voice. "KILL EDELGARD NOW!"
"What? Why?" Byleth asked, barely thinking straight to even think about what he was saying.
"Her existence is a danger to all of Fódlan, she must be eliminated to preserve the peace, anyone who dares defy the goddess, the church, and the ways of peace we have established for nearly a millennium must be executed and burned in the fiery depths of hell."
"And this is exactly what we're trying to stop!" Sapphire spat back. "Your…"
"Sapphire, this is not the time." Edelgard said. "Everyone must be free to decide on their own. Persuasion and manipulation is not what we're after."
Byleth bit down on his lip. He didn't want Edelgard to run away at this point, for he promised her that he would help her build her future. Then again, she was now connected to the people that killed his father, all those people in Remire, the village children.
No, Edelgard said it herself, he had watched her chop Solon into bits and pieces. She truly didn't want all of what Solon, Thales, and all the others had done to happen. She was just as irritated with them as he had been. He had seen it himself, through Moon, and through his own eyes and ears.
Then again, this whole thing just felt...off. He still didn't know if Rhea was truly the bad person that Edelgard was claiming, bad enough to warrant a rebellion that would most likely lead to war with others? Was this truly all worth it? Was Rhea truly...No, he wanted an answer, he had to know if he could just get some sort of confirmation as to what side he could feel was truly in the wrong here.
"BYLETH!" He flinched a little at Rhea's voice. "Use the power of the goddess that you were so graciously given by me! Do what we desire! KILL EDELGARD"
There was his answer. So, his father's suspicions had been right from the very beginning. Rhea was a danger to him. His father had told him to get away from Rhea, and now that she had confirmed that she had indeed done something to give Byleth this "gift", that was all the answer he needed.
"No…" Byleth said, he sheathed the Sword of the Creator back into its holder.
"Excuse me?!" Rhea snarled.
"I...I'm not staying with you." Byleth said. "I'm...I'm going to help Edelgard." he outstretched his hand to Edelgard, who was looking at him in shock.
"Byleth...I…" she said. Her voice sounded genuinely surprised at his decision. "Thank...Thank you...but...are you sure that this…?"
"I'm sure." Byleth said to her. "I promised you that I would help you build the future of Fódlan. I also made a promise that I would cut a path that is my own."
Sapphire and Hubert looked at him with an approving smile.
"Words cannot begin to properly express my gratitude to you, Professor." Hubert said, bowing a little. "Thank you."
Sapphire looked up at the remaining Black Eagles, along with Rhea, who looked ghastly at the fact that Byleth had chosen Edelgard. "Well...what about the rest of you?"
Everyone looked at each other almost as if they hadn't even been in a position like this.
Ferdinand was the first to walk down from the stairs.
"It is the Prime Minister's duty to follow the Emperor, and guide him or her down the right path. Set her back on the right path. I will follow you and see your revolution through."
Petra followed him. "Brigid and the Empire have been having good relationships. As the future queen, I must become the will of the Emperor. For Brigid, and for my people."
"If there's a fight, I'm going to follow and fight." Caspar followed after Petra, pumping his fist in a sort of ready motion.
"Always so reckless." Linhardt sighed. "I suppose I'll follow as well. Only because I know how foolish it'd be to try and go against you. At least within the Empire, I'll be safe."
"I can't say that this is the greatest idea, but, it's not like I have anywhere else I can go." Dorothea said, shrugging. "The empire is my home, and I will fight for it."
Bernadetta was the only one standing up there.
"Come on Bernie!" Sapphire said. "You're the only one who hasn't decided...Don't worry, we'll take care of your father as well."
Bernadetta looked at Rhea nervously. Then back down at them. Then she all but ran down towards them.
"Oh...alright…" She cried. "I'll be here for the fight."
"That makes all of us...except for Moon…" Hubert sighed. "However, I suppose as a Church Ambassador he'll probably be against us."
"Agreed." Edelgard said. "Even though he pledged his loyalty, I doubt he'd be following us this far. Especially if he wants to survive his way home."
Everyone looked up at Rhea, who looked absolutely mortified. No, she looked pissed off.
"You…" She said in shock. Her bright green eyes did not leave Byleth with an angry glare. "How...HOW DARE YOU!" Her voice was full of rage and anguish. Pure rage.
"Sorry Rhea," Byleth said, a smug grin approaching his face. "But you did ask me to take care of my students, and protect them from danger."
Rhea's glare looked like she was ready to kill all of them. She closed her eyes and let out a very irritated sigh. "I see…" She hissed. "You are just another failure!"
"What do you mean?" Byleth asked.
"I will not allow one who will side with our enemies, to wield the power of the goddess Sothis!" Rhea snarled. "I shall now rip your heart from out of your chest. AND TAKE MY MOTHER BACK MYSELF!"
"Wait...what?"
"GRAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Light green light surrounded Rhea as she slowly started to transform. She grew to about the size of the height of the Holy tomb. Her body expanded and grew as she became a four legged creature, grew a tail, and large wings. The green light vanished from around her, revealing a giant large white dragon with four horns and pearly whitish red eyes.
"What the fu-"
"Hehehe." Hubert chuckled. "That must be the Immaculate One, Right Your Majesty?"
"Indeed," Edelgard said. "These are the monsters that have ruled Fódlan for generations, Rhea, or should I say, Saint Seiros, has been their leader the whole time."
"GIVE HER BACK!" The Immaculate one roared. "GIVE ME BACK MY MOTHER YOU DAMN TRAITOR! GIVE HER BACK!" She began to charge up a giant blast of what looked like light.
"Sapphire, you were in charge of the escape plan." Hubert snarled. "You know Warp Spells don't work down here...please tell me you have one."
"Oh, trust me, I've got it all planned out." Sapphire said.
"PURIFY Ω!" The large blast of light erupted from her mouth and shot towards all of them.
"Sapphire!" Hubert snarled. "If this another one of those stupid-"
Out of nowhere, a loud demonic screech echoed through the tomb. A Black dragon rivaling the size of the Immaculate one soared down and launched a beam of plasma from its mouth. The two beams collided and exploded, however, the Tomb's magic prevented any debris from flying everywhere. Basically allowing the area to not become destroyed.
"A dragon?" Edelgard asked, glaring at Sapphire. "YOU LET A DRAGON INTO THE MONASTERY?!"
The Immaculate One glared at the black skin, blue eyed dragon in front of her. "You, you filthy vermin creature! How dare you and your malicious and cruel acts destroy my mother's tomb and eternal resting place!"
"I'd watch who you're calling a filthy vermin, Saint Seiros." The Dragon hissed back.
"How in the hell did you manage to get a Dragon in here?" Linhardt asked.
"That's not a dragon." Sapphire replied curtly. "Well...it is...but...it's not a real dragon."
Black Light surrounded the dragon, revealing Moon in its place.
"At your service, Your Majesty." he said.
"What? Moon? But…"
"If you wish to not get executed on the spot, get out of here while you still can. Seteth and the rest of the Knights will be arriving shortly, you can still brush past them with a simple excuse."
"What about you though?" Dorothea asked.
Moon gave a smug grin. "Please...this is hardly my first fight with a sacred being."
"I'm certain you have several questions, Your Majesty." Sapphire said quickly. "But what matters is that we use our distraction and get out here. Moon will make it to our reserve camp."
Edelgard looked at him hesitantly. Sapphire gave her a firm nod. "Under...Understood, Sapphire." she said. "Everyone, retreat while we still can."
Moon gave a smug grin as he turned to face the Immaculate one. As the footsteps of the Black Eagles started to disappear. Rhea was glaring down at him with an irritated glare. Which honestly would've looked terrifying for anyone other than him.
"YOU!" Rhea snarled. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"
"As I stated, Saint Seiros, I am setting the timeline straight…"
"YOU ARE CHANGING AND DEFYING EVERYTHING YOUR FATHER DID!"
"Maybe if you ever read the Giegue Legends, maybe you'd know that I wanted nothing to do with Giygas, or with you."
"You promised me everything! And now you take it away?!"
"I don't recall ever promising you anything." Moon said. "I told you the truth, that I would help Fódlan reach its designated future!"
"YOU TRAITOR! I WILL PUNISH YOUR SINS! REVISE MY ROLE! AND KILL ALL OF YOUR MANIPULATED KIND!"
"And that's your problem." Moon snarled. "You talk a big game, for someone who's corrupted the land you were supposed to watch over. Edelgard despises the corrupt Crest System that you so forcefully placed and caused with the Nobility system. You give power to people who don't deserve it and then discriminate on those who don't have it. She doesn't want to live with the lies and continue to allow people to suffer under discrimination from you."
"Humans without crests have no right to be in control! That is why the nobility system is in place! Crests are valuable and essential to the Human Lives, those who have it are closer to the goddess!"
"Is that the same thing for the Crests of the Eleven Elites?"
"Those Elites were disgraceful humans! They Betrayed Me! AND MY MOTHER! Just as that rogue thief Nemesis did! I WILL KILL YOU AND EVERYTHING YOU STAND FOR! PURIFY Ω!"
The beam of light erupted from the Immaculate one's mouth. However, a blue shield of light popped up and blocked Moon from the blast entirely.
The Immaculate one glared heavily. "WHAT THE? Impossible!"
"I suspected as much." Moon yawned. "Giygas gifted you PSI, just as he did to his other allies, I knew from noticing that you were one of the few documented cases of performing such a feat. Well...Immaculate One, let's tango." The black light surrounded him again as he transformed back into his black dragon form.
Rhea let out a snarl as she breathed fire from her mouth. Moon flew up and dodged the large fire blast, thankful that the ceiling was so high.
Moon extended his claws outwards as he slashed through Rhea's dragon neck. His claws barely made a gash, but a little bit of light green blood flowed out of a small cut. He wrapped his scaly tail around her and slammed her over his head and into the ground.
"Skewer time!" Moon hissed, positioning his tail in a ready sort of position. He jabbed it through the Immaculate one's tail, causing Rhea to let out a loud roar that echoed throughout the monastery.
Rhea pushed herself back up and summoned five spears of light each one blasted towards him, which he moved circularly around in a spinning motion to avoid the jabs of the lances of light.
Moon soared upwards as Rhea attempted another fire of Purify. He dodged the immense beam of light as it flashed under him.
"PK Rollin Ω!" A bunch of multi-colored beams of light blasted from his claws and struck the Immaculate one down as she attempted to fly up and catch him with her mouth. Rhea crashed into the ground with a loud crash. Green light surrounded the dusty area as Rhea returned to normal.
"Graahh." She growled as Moon landed on the ground and de-transformed out of his dragon stance. "You! You have all the same powers he had! Even more than him! WHY ARE YOU BETRAYING US?!"
"How delusional does one have to be?" Moon asked, pulling Saphria out of its sheath. I've read that your swordsmanship is unmatched Saint Seiros, let's see if a Millennium of supposed peace has changed that."
Rhea glared at him as she extended her hand outwards, The Sword of Seiros and a Shield with the Seiros Crest appeared in her arms as she charged at him.
Moon dodged her swift sword strike as he did a quick leg sweep to trip Rhea before doing a quick cross slash across her body. He then quickly placed his palm on her back and unleashed a concentrated PSI Blast across the room, blasting Rhea into a column.
"PK EARTH!"
A bunch of knight statues made from Amethyst appeared amongst the Holy Tomb as Rhea stood back up.
"Agena's Arrow!"
Two large arrows of light fell from on top of the Holy Tomb and blasted into the knights as they moved towards Rhea's heavy breathing body.
Moon's hand flashed a yellowish color.
"Misma Δ times 3!" Three blasts of purplish gooey color spat from his hand and blasted into Rhea's body. The Sword and Shield that she held onto flashed green light and suddenly restored her injuries, proving to be quite the nuisance.
"You dare use my own spells against me?" Rhea snarled.
"Shut up Snape." Moon hissed. "Hades Ω!" A vortex of purplish light like a tornado surrounded Rhea and launched her up into the ceiling.
"I know your powers are limited." Rhea snarled as she stopped her fall by landing on her legs. "That is why you must hold back."
"PK Hydro!" A large blast of water erupted from Moon's hand, forming into a hand of its own he grabbed Rhea and slammed her into the ground." Rhea came flying out of the smoke from the ground and quickly did five slashes with the Sword of Seiros. Which Moon dodged most of the hits, with the finishing hit cutting him slightly.
"AURA!" Rhea roared. A geyser of greenish light erupted from the ground, which Moon quickly jumped out of as the blast started its main possible power.
"You can generate...Aura...that's an interesting power? Where did you learn that one?"
"Another old ally of mine!" Rhea snarled. "You aren't deserving of that name! You'll just go after her as well! Agena's Arrow!"
The two arrows of light shot from the sky, which Moon teleported around the area as more continued fall and blast into the ground. He swiftly appeared behind Rhea and did a quick Sword Jab through her body. The sword made a small pierce.
"You don't wear any armor, I see." Moon hissed at her. "I guess that means your skin is thicker than most. Shame that thickness ran into your skull to support that small brain of yours!"
"HOW DARE YOU!" Rhea snarled. She backhanded grabbed him and tossed him off of her body, throwing him across the room. Moon landed on his side and kicked off with his feet to jump back towards Rhea. Both of their swords Klanged against each other with a loud metallic blast in the area.
"I would've thought all these years later you would've realized the mistake you made." Moon hissed. "Yet you still remain loyal to him! You are a fool!"
"I will not be deterred by the likes of you." Rhea snarled. "We were there when he created you! You and your friends! You were supposed to be the ultimate weapons to help us keep our grips on our worlds! How dare you defy your role!"
"Aura!" Rhea snarled.
The green geyser of light erupted from the ground again, which Moon swiftly dodged as Rhea attempted to grab him and stop him.
"You were there?" Moon asked, shock overcoming him. "Who else? Who else watched us?!"
"Me, Giygas, Tabuu, Cethleann, Macuil, Indech, Cichol, our other allies whose names I will not mention. You all were fussy little brats. Tabuu's Salem thoughts managed to calm you four brats down. We each gifted you powers...gifts from beyond."
Moon's memory flashed to a room with four crying babies and a bunch of people, along with Giygas and Tabuu, who were watching him. He spotted Rhea, Seteth, Flayn, and two other people that he guessed were Macuil and Indech...the other one of whom bore a strange resemblance to the statue of the spider-haired woman he had seen in Enbarr.
"Lord Giygas, you're a genius…" He heard Rhea's voice.
"I am not sure that this was a good idea." Said Seteth as he looked at the four babies. "Perhaps it would've been more beneficial for you to mate with a human...however unsettling that may have been. I do not think kidnapping four babies was the right idea."
"Silence Cichol." Giygas snarled. "Tabuu, analysis.
"I did tell you that there were four babies…" Tabuu said in a calming voice. "I didn't expect you to already have found all of them. These are the four babies I was going to tell you about."
"They all look so cute...What are their names?" Flayn asked, a cheery sort of look in her eyes.
"I believe Lord Giygas mentioned that to you before, Cethleann." said the spider haired woman, her voice sounded calm and very serene, but still managed to have a creepy and unsettling tone. "Moon, the Prophet, Sarah, his lover, Erick, the wise, and Dyson, the warrior. Giygas's four children. Each of them will become the most dangerous aspects of the Multiverse."
"I still think calling them your children is bullshit. After all, it was Cethleann's magic that allowed only your soul to go into them. And I don't believe a soul makes them your children."
"Silence Indech." Giygas hissed.
"I do agree that Saint Indech has a point. You've even gone out of your way to make me create five weapons for them. Why did Moon need two?"
"Did anyone ask you Macuil?" The spider haired woman asked calmly.
"Seriously, do you know how much material I had to gather to make him both a Staff and a Sword! Do you know how much power I put into these?"
"The sacred weapons I have set in place for my little children are all there." Giygas hissed. "I must thank all of you for getting me here. In due time, we will have allies from all around. Each of you gave them blessings from your worlds, so they will be more powerful than ever before."
"Those villains aren't nearly as useful as everyone else is." Rhea said, shaking her head. "Apart from that...Lavos creature."
"Lavos does his own shit." Indech snapped back. "Going after Chrono would be awful."
"Silent, all of you!" Giygas snarled. "I swear, most of you get more annoying. Except for you S-"
"SILENCE!"
Moon was snapped back to reality as Rhea stood over him. "Your memory seems to have been jogged just a little hasn't it? Did you honestly think you'd go very far against someone who has been their since your beginning "
"I'll…" Moon hissed. "I'll...I'll kill you…and everyone one of those shitty people who follows you."
"In due time, you shall become the Dark Prophet…"
"LADY RHEA!"
Moon looked over her shoulder as Seteth, Flayn, Catherine, Alois, Shamir, Gilbert, and Cyril ran into the Holy Tomb.
"You!" Seteth snarled as they approached Rhea's Side, he was holding onto a shining silver spear in the same materials of the Sword of Seiros. Flayn was also holding a staff similar to those. "How dare you betray Rhea! Betray us?"
Moon stood up, clutching his side, which had a large gash on it.
"All of you fight under the goddesses name. I'm certain most of you don't even know what you're truly fighting for," he hissed. "And if you do...then...you all are foolish...lost causes."
"You're outnumbered kid." Shamir said calmly. "Just give it up."
"You made Lady Rhea hurt, I'll never forgive ya." Cyril said.
"I knew you were trouble from the moment you arrived." Catherine said. "I'll kill you for Rhea."
"You dare defy the goddess?" Gilbert asked. "You must know what a sin that would be."
Moon gave off a smug grin. "I think I'll...I think I'll see myself out of here." He vanished in a flash of pink light and reappeared behind them towards the tombs exit.
"Thank you again for letting the Black Eagles get out of here without any problem." he said to Seteth. "At least you can do one thing correctly. PK Earth!"
A wall of diamond sprung up in front of all of them, blocking their escape. Moon quickly turned around and ran from the tomb, still clutching onto his side as Blackish ooze poured from his body. All he had to do was run. He heard Rhea let out another roar of rage as he fled.
Felix cracked his neck by tilting it to the side as he emerged from the training grounds. It had been a really long training day, well, that one was on him, there was no one to spar with, and it wasn't like doing drills against a dummy was much help.
Regardless, he was tired, and a little hungry. He made his way to the dining hall, passing only the courtroom class yards where each of the house's classes were set up. Strangely, Byleth's class had yet to return from the Holy Tomb...weird. Felix yawned a little as he walked past the Blue Lions room, before the all too familiar rage rang through his ear.
"OUTRAGEOUS!" He heard Dimitri snarl in a cold and unforgiving tone.
Felix rolled his eyes a little, he knew that there would eventually come a day when the boar would snap. That was the same cold voice that he heard from the rebellion day he had to suppress in the Kingdom. He turned his attention to the room, where his entire class (Save for Annette) were huddled around Dimitri, who was holding onto some weird paper.
"What's going on boar?" Felix muttered as he walked into the room.
"Where exactly have you been?!" Dimitri snarled at him.
"Training grounds your highness." Felix muttered. "Am I not allowed to train?"
"Have you seen this bullshit?" Ingrid snapped at him. "This is a declaration of war!"
"Unless it was posted in the training grounds, no." Felix replied. "Can't any of you listen?"
"I will tear that woman's head off!" Dimitri snarled, earning himself a raised eyebrow from Felix, all of the other Lions didn't seem as concerned with that.
"Your highness," Dedue said calmly. "I know that your anger with this situation is very strong. But you have to consider the possibilities, you cannot stay and fight. The Kingdom cannot afford to lose you before you must ascend to the throne."
"That vile woman...she caused the incidents in Duscur, she killed them...all of them!"
"Your highness." Ashe said. "The Archbishop has already told us what to expect, we don't have the capability to prepare for this threat, we don't know how big of an army we're facing."
"Yes, calm down Dimitri," Sylvain said, placing his hands behind his head. "Maybe if I had flirted with Edelgard, this wouldn't have happened."
"Not now Slyvain." Ingrid snapped. "If anything, your flirting would've caused this war!."
"What the hell is even going on here?" Felix asked.
"Edelgard has revealed herself as the Flame Emperor." Mercedes said calmly. "She's calling for nobles all across Fόdlan to join a rebellion against the Church of Serios, she's making some very...outrageous claims against them, and the nobility."
"So what?" Felix asked, rolling his eyes, "This sounds like an Edelgard versus the Church Thing, not an Edelgard versus us thing. She's only asking for backup."
"The archbishop has called for the immediate evacuation of all students." Dedue continued. "His Highness has already given an order of his own. We all are heading back to Fhirdiad."
"What order?" Felix growled, though, inside, he felt like he already knew what was coming.
"When we return to Fhirdiad I'm going to ask my uncle to relinquish the throne to me." Dimitri growled. "Then, we're going to support the Church of Serios, so we can kill Edelgard, and I can finally get my family avenged. I hereby declare war on the Adrestian Empire."
"Wait, back up you stupid boar." Felix snarled. "You mean to tell me that you honestly think that Edelgard caused that stupid Tragedy? You both would've been freaking 12 at the time?!"
"She killed them...she killed all of them!" Dimitri snarled back at him. "And I will have my revenge. I will tear her head from off her neck. And avenge my family. Let's go."
Felix snatched the piece of paper from Dimitri as the Blue Lions walked by him, following their future king. "Alright boar, let's just see if you're worth following."
To the People of Fódlan, and The Church of Seiros.
Rhea is not the woman she claims to be, she is actually a terrifying monster known only as the Immaculate One. We have seen it with our own eyes. We will be leading an assault to change the way she has made the world function. As much as we expect that you may not wish to accept this, even you must admit that the system she has set in place does not work. The Crests and Nobility system has caused corruption throughout all of Fódlan. We are calling for anyone who agrees to take up arms against the Church of Seiros.**
By the power gifted to me, as the new Emperor of the Adrestian Empire. I, Edelgard von Hresvelg, hereby declare war, on the Church of Seiros.
-Edelgard, the Flame Emperor, and Empress of Adrestia.
**Notice; Anyone who attempts to fight with the Church of Seiros under their name will not be met with kind results.
Felix cursed to himself as he scanned over the paper. Was it too much to ask for some peace?
KA-BOOM!
"Felix?" he turned his head as Annette approached him, she looked genuinely confused, it seemed like she was almost unaware of what was going on.
"Hey," he said. "What do you want?"
"I...I was wondering where everyone is." Annette said. "I was in the Kitchen...and….well, I'm certain you just heard the explosion...I...I blew up the kitchen again...we need to clean it up."
Felix looked at her with a deadpan stare. How could she have been so clueless? Surely Edelgard had posted this all around the Monastery...ah who was he kidding, he hadn't seen shit until recently.
"You're...not going to clean that kitchen." he said calmly.
Annette's eyes widened. "What? But...I have to...it's our responsibility to the Church."
Felix handed her the piece of paper he had been holding onto. He waited a little as she read.
"Remember how Moon asked us about our future plans?" he asked.
"Yeah…" Annette mumbled as she looked up. "I guess this is what he meant. What's the plan?"
Moon landed on the ground in the seal forest, de-transforming from his dragon form, still clutching his side as Black Ooze poured out of the gash.
"So...Rhea knows how to use PSI…" he muttered. "I guess that would explain…" a Sharp pain shot through his forehead, which he clapped his hand to and grunted.
"I guess...that explains why I can't heal myself...she found a way to...block it...only temporarily though...but...why didn't she know PSI could be shielded?"
"Well...Saint Seiros seems to have taken our news a bit harshly." Dark Mon hissed. "Though, she did manage to get a scrape in on ya, eh?"
"What did she…" Moon grunted. "What did she mean...by...The Dark Prophet."
"Eh?...that's a little secret…"
Moon's eyes narrowed.
"You aren't quite ready to take that responsibility...though."
"Haven't you had enough of using me for shit?"
"The Dark Prophet wasn't my idea for you, just so you know."
"Who is the spider-haired woman?"
"Like I'd tell you."
"You realize that's only going to make me more curious...your allies will all perish."
"Trust me, she's better off being ignored."
Moon frowned. Then, the stinging pain shot through his side again.
"Damn it." he hissed, panting. "I need...to get this treated…" His head suddenly throbbed again, giving him the vision of Giygas, Tabuu, the Saints, and the Spider haired woman again.
"S-Sarah…" He hissed. "I...I need you...answer…"
(Imperium Cluster; Skyworld)
Erick and Dyson both watched Sarah sitting, huddled in a corner, hugging onto her and Moon's adopted Mr. Saturn, Astro. Her skin had gotten paler, probably because she barely ate anything. She was shaking drastically, and her dress and ribbon were all wrinkled.
A knock on the grand golden door in the room saw them turn to face Ness and Paula, who walked into the room, looking over Sarah's miserable state with a hint of sadness.
"How's...How's she doing?" Ness asked, nervousness all over his voice.
"Well...if one good thing...she's at least stopped sobbing…" Dyson said, shaking his head. "But, she still refuses to eat much."
"It's...It's a start." Paula sighed.
"How is everyone else doing?" Erick asked.
"Mostly everyone has returned home." Ness said. "The remaining people here are all members of the council or are members of a certain cluster there. Akira, Luigi, Byleth, Ridley, Captain Falcon, Samus, Kirby, Link and Zelda. Not to mention Palutena, the Pits, and most of Basidiomycota making sure Luigi doesn't do something stupid."
"Guys." All of their heads shot towards Akira, the Phantom Thief looked at each of them quizzically.
"Hey Akira, what's up?" Erick asked. "Byleth hasn't had a memory relapse or fade has he?"
"No…" Akira said. "Thankfully, it seems as though everything is going smoothly. This is about...the thing…"
Erick sighed. "Well...we all have discussed that thing, Sarah is kinda just zoned out most of the time...so we should be safe talking about it here. What's the word?"
"Well...I had Futaba do a bit of poking around through the technology of Skyworld, Anthony's research, any sort of Dalaam records, and other sorts of information. We can safely say that, if you do truly wish to awaken those souls within you...it should work just as you theorized."
"You didn't just ask Anthony or Noct yourselves?"
"They both can be a bit...private, with their work" Akira replied to Paula. "Plus...it gives us something to do."
Ness looked at Erick and Dyson hesitantly. "You aren't...actually going to do this? Right?"
"Given our circumstance, we might not have any other choice, Friend Ness." Dyson replied. "The more Friend Sarah suffers, the more Friend Moon suffers, if we could activate them, not only would we lessen the blow on Friend Sarah...and that should hopefully help Friend Moon."
Astro's nose did a little snort alerting them to Sarah. "Zoom! Momma Sarah better?" it asked.
"A...A little." Sarah wheezed, her voice was really hoarse, but it still managed to break through and sound as sweet and kind as it usually was.
Suddenly her body did a big twitch as her eyes widened in surprise as she dropped Astro from her arms. Her body spazzed a little as she started breathing rapidly.
"Friend Sarah?"
"Sarah!"
Erick and Dyson quickly ran over to her and they both placed a hand on each side of her shoulders. Paula picked Astro up as they watched Sarah's body twitch and spaz.
"I assume this is more of their weird connection boundation thingy?" Akira asked.
"Yeah." Ness said. "Although, I don't think we've ever seen her this bad."
"Momma Sarah? Zoom?" Astro asked. "Beep boop? What wrong?"
"I will never get over how weird Mr. Saturn's are." Akira said. "Like, how is it that when we throw one, it just destroys shields?! Like, how does that make any sense?"
"M-Mo-Moon!" Sarah huffed out, her breath was very quick and her pale body kept twitching a little. "Moon...he...called me."
Everyone raised an eyebrow. "Really?" Ness asked hopefully. "What...What did he say?"
Sarah's breathing forced everyone to wait a little as she caught her breath, though, color didn't seem to return to her very easily. She huffed a little as she struggled to maintain composure in front of all of them. To Erick, who was holding her upright, her body felt incredibly hot.
"We need...to make peace...with Palutena." Sarah wheezed before she passed out in Erick's arms.
Well Well Well, we seem to have reached the end of this chapter. From since we learned about Sothis as the goddess, I had a heavy suspicion that Rhea was either a descendant of Saint Seiros, or was Saint Seiros. However, the reveal of her as the Immaculate One is kind of just thrown at you the second you side with Edelgard. It's like "Hey, You, Rhea can turn into a dragon now." No build up in the Crimson Flower route for this one.
Something of interest is that Edelgard is actually shocked to see you choose to side with her, I admire her that she was straight up willing to walk this path with or without Byleth, it showed how committed she was to making her dream a reality.With that being said, I must commit to this, Felix and Annette betraying the Kingdom was decided before I started the story. I started out with only Annette in mind since she is my favorite character. I kept my mind open as I played through the Blue Lions and Golden Deer route to learn more about the world of Fodlan and make this story as accurate as I could, and that's when my eyes were opened to Felix.Now, I will be honest, yes, there was a bit of Bias in this choice, however, I wanted to make sure that those who I chose to join Edelgard and the Black Eagles made sense for them to join. And, as a hacker discovered, it was at one point planned for Felix and Annette to potentially betray the Kingdom, in a specific battle in the Azure Moon route, if you hack your game and remove them in your party and change the settings to where they are set as "Not a part" of their house, they will appear as enemies. There's even unique dialogue and their Hero's Relic weapons are presented with them. This was what ultimately swayed me into choosing both of them. However, since I'm certain someone will complain, I'm going to talk about every character and why I ultimately decided against it.
Dedue: The fact that he's not recruitable in any route shows that he's too loyal to Dimitri, which makes sense, given that he owes his life to Dimitri.
Ashe: Even though he does lose his adoptive father to the church, his supports with Catherine, Dimitri, Dedue, and the rest of the Blue Lions, show him learn more about Lonato and Chistophe's actions, convincing him to stay with them.
Sylvain: I'll give him credit, he has all the reason to support all of Edelgard's actions with removing the Crests thanks to Miklan trying to kill him all the time. However, based on his supports, he does truly care about his relationship with Dimitri, and he really improves his behavior post-timeskip to become a Knight, like most of the Blue Lions.
Mercedes: She hates violence and supports the goddess as a wanna-be-bishop. I do like Mercedes...but the more I look at her character, the more I just can't imagine seeing her work with Edelgard, who essentially wants to destroy all her dreams of helping people by starting a war.
Ingrid: She is way WAY to committed to being a knight. Out of every Blue Lion, I cannot imagine a world where she betrays the Kingdom that she believes she was sworn to protect.
Hilda: She's also not recruitable to the Crimson Flower route, though strangely she is recruitable to Azure Moon and Silver Snow, the popular theory joke is that she knows Edelgard would actually make her work for once in her life (Jokes on her in Verdant Wind).
Lorenz: I'll be honest, Lorenz's family has canonical relationships with the Empire. Even though I like his character, I didn't think he'd bring enough to the table.
Raphael: I just don't like his character, same reasons I don't really like Caspar. He appeals to one set of people, I am not that person. He's like the pure neutral of the bunch.Ignatz: He's on a similar basis to Raphael, however, he does appreciate Claude's view on the future of Fodlan, plus, Ignatz and Raphael are kinda inseparable (I probably sound like a hipocrate)
Lysithea: Like Lorenz, she has all her reasons to support Edelgard's cause, but, for specific reasons, I decided against it.
Marianne: There's a certain plot element that I want to use with her. But, in the end, I found myself overrun with characters.
Leonie: She does promise to protect you with her relationship to Jeralt and was also heavily considered, but in a similar case to Marianne, I found myself overrun with characters, I wanted to give most of the characters a bit of justice.
Hanneman: His home is the Empire, but honestly, nobody really cares about him or Manuela
Manuela: Again, nobody cares.
Shamir: She sees herself as more of paid mercenary than a Knight of Seiros, But, she's been working for Rhea for a decent amount of time.
Alois: In a case similar to Leonie, but again, Knight of Seiros, been serving longer than Shamir.
Catherine: Unrecruitable to Crimson Flower, and, WAY to devoted to Rhea
Cyril: Unrecruitable to Crimson Flower, also WAY to devoted Rhea