10th of Verdant Rain Moon

Edelgard stood in a lonely corner of the training hall, a spark of fire fading in and out of her hand. She breathed, and the fire flickered.

"Hello Princess!" A cheery voice called out. Edelgard's hand closed and extinguished the flame as she sprang up to face Flayn, who smiled cheerfully. "How are you this fine day?"

"Fine. Well." Edelgard felt her eyes drift towards the girl's braided green hair, which had covered her ears each and every time Edelgard had seen Flayn wandering the halls of Garreg Mach. "What are you doing in the training hall?"

"Oh, Byleth and Rh-" Flayn gave a small cough. "Professor Eisner and Lady Rhea convinced my brother to allow me to study alongside other students!"

"From the argument you had on the night of the Rite?"

"Oh yes, that was the start. In the end, my brother gave up." Flayn smiled. "I see you are also studying the magical arts. Would you like to practice together?"

Edelgard looked around the training grounds. They were all but abandoned- Edelgard could recall hearing the lunch bell a few minutes ago. "…What would you want to study?"

Flayn beamed. "Oh, I'm dreadfully out of practice with reason magic, and you seem ready to master the art. I thought we might perform it together!"

Edelgard paused. "You're quite young to be out of practice with magic of any kind."

Flayn blushed, and her hand ran over some of the hair covering her ears. "Y-yes, well. My brother was quite insistent that I study magic in…previous years."

"Why is that?"

"Oh…Um…" Flayn bit her lip, before her eyes shone brightly. "He has always been very overprotective. Sometimes he tried to teach me to defend myself, other times he sought to hide me from any dangers. It's rather obnoxious." Her head tilted. "I'm afraid I don't know much about your life- have you ever had to deal with siblings?"

A hand reached out, bloody/holding a dagger- his/their face twisted in happiness. Blonde/brown/faded grey hair was ragged- no, it was black, black like the dungeon shadows and that sad woman's stare- no, it was a sad man- not her father, but he looked a bit like her father, but the words were always different the same. She couldn't hear much, but when the sounds echo, she always-

"No, just servants and nobles." Edelgard's voice was calm. "I was always being moved from place to place for one reason or another. I never had many friends my own age."

"I see. You have my sympathies. I know the…" Flayn frowned. It seemed genuine to Edelgard. "…Frustration of not having anyone to talk to."

"…Flayn? Are you there?" A new voice entered the room, and Edelgard flinched. The soft, gentle voice drifted through the air as the faint brush of long robes scraped against the floor. Rhea smiled like a midwife before labor- a benign pleasantness masking a terrible strain- as she approached. "And good afternoon, Princess Edelgard."

"Lady Rhea! You made it!" Flayn chirped. Rhea nodded back.

"Indeed. I managed to find some time to spare. Do you still wish to be tutored in magic?"

'Yes, of course!" Flayn said with an excited twirl. "Can Princess Edelgard join us? She also practices reason magic."

Rhea's eyes turned, regarding Edelgard like the imperial heir had seen court ladies look at each other's toddlers. "Is that right? If she wishes, I would be happy to assist the princess in her own education."

Edelgard paused, before deciding that she had nothing to lose by accepting. "…I suppose it wouldn't hurt."

Flayn cheered as Rhea led the group towards a private room in the training hall, built to overlook Garreg Mach's steep cliffs. At the far side of the room stood a few vaguely human shaped dummies, carved from warded rock. Practice targets for magic.

"Lady Rhea, yesterday you reminded me of the proper hand gestures I had-" Flayn paused. Edelgard could sense the girl's eyes flick towards her. "-seen in your instruction books on wind magic. Do you-"

Rhea smiled. "Show me what you can do. Attack the target a few times, and I will observe your form."

Flayn stretched her hands out and fired a blast of wind at the targets. It struck with force, sending a burst of wind across the room. Edelgard watched as Flayn yelped, and reached up to hold her hair to her ears. Rhea did the same, but in a much more graceful and natural movement.

When the gust of wind was over, Edelgard tucked her hair behind her round ears.

"Perhaps a bit less power Flayn. Focus on smaller, more precise strikes." Rhea chuckled sweetly. "We can work on the larger spells later." The archbishop turned to Edelgard, her expression shifting from warm and inviting to benign and pleasant almost seamlessly. "Tell me Edelgard, when did you first become interested in magic? I had thought you were focusing on more physical and diplomatic pursuits."

"It's been an interest of mine for some time now." Edelgard said smoothly. "I grew up around many mages, so I have always known the basics of spellcasting."

Rhea nodded. "I see." A blast of wind erupted from the other side of the room and Rhea's hand was already running down the side of her hair, smoothing down loose strands. "Still too powerful, Flayn." The girl chirped out an apology as Rhea nodded. "And do you have a particular affinity for a type of magic, Edelgard?"

Her uncle's hand pressed deeply into her own as his voice remained as cruel as she could remember. The dark magic felt like a thousand needles as it hovered in her hands. "You will learn something of real spells. On your life."

Try as she might, her uncle's visits refused to be drowned out in the havoc any other memories in the cell inevitably descended into. "Fire magic." Edelgard said. Rhea nodded again.

"That is to be expected. From what I have read, the imperial household always had an affinity for fire- some scholars suggest it has something to do with the Crest of Seiros."

Edelgard minutely raised and eyebrow. "The church keeps records of details as minute as magic preference?"

A dash of confusion touched Rhea's face before being smoothed out. "Well, yours is a very important, and very well documented family. Not just to the empire, but to the church as well. Even with the more recent strains. Not to mention that people are naturally curious, and look for patterns."

Edelgard let her head tilt. "Do you mean the dissolution of the southern church when you say strains? That's recent to you?"

Rhea smile was alarmingly gentle. "I suppose you are correct. I was thinking in historical terms, and one hundred and twenty or so years is not much compared to the millennia our institutions have shared together." Another gust was summoned by Flayn. Its blowback was subtle, nary a hair on Rhea's head blew out of place. She ran her hand through it all the same. "May I see a demonstration of your own magic?"

Edelgard held her hands up, and a flame sprang to life in her palms. Rings of symbols floated around her hands, before she willed the flame to strike the target. Her fireball struck the head, but the warding held firm. Only light singes showed.

"Very impressive." Rhea beamed. "I could barely manage that at your age."

An hour passed, and the three continued to practice. Rhea was patient and calm throughout it all, correcting any mistake Edelgard made with a gentle voice and a soft smile.

Edelgard grew to loathe both. Here was a woman who had just sentenced a dozen men to death without so much as a thought. She had lived for millennia as an inhuman creature, and throughout it all never once changed the church she had led. The common folk remained trampled upon by nobles, who flouted their 'divine' blood as though it made them superior to anyone and everyone. But here she was, playing at domesticity.

"Widen your stance, Flayn. Wind magic isn't like holy light spells- If you are not grounded, you can be thrown back by your own power."

"Yes, Lady Rhea!"

The archbishop turned back to Edelgard, smiling as always. "And I daresay you have all but mastered the basic fire spells. You are a natural."

Edelgard met Rhea's smiling visage, her ears as hidden as her history. In the darkness of her cell, she looked up to Arundel, his malice now plain as day. "As you say."

"I do." Rhea said earnestly.

Edelgard bit her lip and allowed herself a question. "Archbishop, may I ask you something…of a delicate nature?"

Rhea's face brightened. "Of course, Edelgard. As I said after the Rite of Rebirth, I am more than happy to answer any question you wish to ask."

"Why are you helping me?"

Rhea paused. Her eyebrows furrowed. "Should I not?"

Edelgard kept her posture firm. "Are you not busy with your other duties? I have not seen you socialize with any other students, nor heard any rumors to the fact."

"That's not true. Lady Rhea often helps instruct me!" Flayn's smile was earnest. Edelgard looked to the girl, and the smile dipped with confusion. Edelgard, heir to the imperial throne, looked away from the sister of the church of Seiros' lieutenant and back to its archbishop. Rhea wore a modest frown, but her brow suggested contemplation.

"You seem a very intelligent young woman, Edelgard."

"I've had to be."

Rhea's mouth opened, but stopped before sound came out. Her expression shifted, before settling on a dignified show of grief. "Then I will pray your wit serves Adrestia well." Rhea's face smoothed over, becoming a more pleasantly neutral canvas, the likes of which Edelgard could only recall seeing on her uncle's face. "I won't deny my wish for us to have a…happier relationship then our predecessors." The smile Edelgard had grown accustomed to returned. "But any serious consideration of that matter is far into the future. For now, I only hope to aid your education. I have been giving thought to helping tutor a few students as my schedule allows."

Like the girl who could control monsters, Edelgard did not say. "I see."

Rhea's lip curled. "I suppose you do." She blinked, and a bit of levity entered her face. "If I may offer some advice, as the head of the church of Seiros, I know full well what it is like to have everyone else painfully aware of my position and power." Her lips thinned into a slight smile. "I can only ask you to use your sharp intellect and try to discern who favors you purely for their own ends."

"You think the church and the empire should reunite formally." Edelgard did not ask, but declare.

Rhea remained still for a moment. "If the people of the empire wish it, I would welcome them with open arms." Her eyes twinkled. "The scriptures speak of greeting others as old friends."

"And then what? We become as close as we were at the empire's founding?" Edelgard kept just enough cordiality in her tone.

"That could never happen." Flayn said confidently. "That bond was all but marriage." Edelgard turned, confused.

"What?"

Flayn nodded eagerly. "It's true! Saint Seiros and Emperor Wilhelm were closer than any other husband and wife. In fact, I-"

"Flayn." Rhea's voice was soft but strained, gentle but growing forceful. Her eyes were caught between widening in surprise and narrowing at a threat. "I understand you are a passionate student of history, and wish to see Edelgard and I become friends, but now is not the time for conjecture."

Flayn bit her lip and looked to the floor. Edelgard felt confusion rush across her face. "Marriage? Saint Seiros and Emperor Wilhelm? What-"

"It's an old wife's tale." Rhea said quickly. Too quickly. "There is much speculation as to what exactly the two's relationship entailed, but…"

"I certainly have never heard of such a story." Edelgard agreed. And so it would require further investigation.

"Alright, enough of this dreadful matter." Flayn said with a stomp of her foot. "Let's just focus on learning magic!" Her fists curled together. "I wish to try my hand at fire magic!"

Rhea smiled. "Of course, Flayn. It is much the same as wind magic, but requires more control- you must keep your hands below the flame, lest they burn." As Flayn turned back to the target, Rhea's smile turned to Edelgard once again. "And would you like to move on to the next level of fire magic?"

Edelgard bit her cheek. "I suppose."

"Good. Close your eyes and concentrate. I will guide you as you gather the strength required."

Edelgard took a breath and closed her eyes.

"Very good. Now gather your strength. Hold a simple fire spell in your hand. Now let it smolder, feed it magic, but do not allow the spell's size to grow."

Edelgard did her best impression of the twelve-year-old she used to be, and the spell grew ever so slightly more towards Bolganone magic.

"Good, good." Edelgard could hear the patronizing smile. Another gust of air blew over them, and Edelgard could see Rhea brush down her hair. "Continue, allow yourself more power. Take more strength. Let it grow."

Edelgard wondered what might happen if the woman could no longer hide what she was from the world. Would she still speak so softly, so gently? Or would her grip tighten as her inhumanity was revealed?

Rhea's voice remained just as gentle, at just the same pitch Edelgard had heard many court ladies speak in just before the insurrection. "And now you must once again contain it. Let it appear as any other fire spell. Do not allow any foe to see its true power until it is too late." Like Arundel spoke before Faerghus. Before-

Her uncle looked down on her, his face full of the honest contempt. "You will accomplish this much at least, girl. You will be what you were destined to be. What you are needed to be." What he demanded her be.

"Yes, very good. Now, open your eyes and strike one of the targets."

Edelgard took a deep breath, as her vision slowly returned to her. Rhea smiled all the same. Her hair still neatly combed to hide her ears. It was almost too obvious now that Edelgard knew what lay beneath.

Edelgard took another breath, and closed her eyes. She allowed herself to imagine casting the spell alight in her hand, of burning away Rhea's defense, of what would happen when it was revealed that Edelgard was the one to unmask the inhuman beast ruling the church- she could do anything then. Her uncle would mean nothing. And Rhea and her church that could save no one, would fade away. All Edelgard would have to do was force the woman to reveal her ears, and then-

Rhea stood in a desolate field, the wage of war offering its smoking tribute as the storm clouds above let loose a monsoon upon the cracked and broken earth. She wore a strange garb, at once regal and warlike, with a crown of wings atop her head. From beneath her hair, long, pointed ears, just like Byleth's protruded.

Her face was awash with dirt, blood, and fury only alike her uncle's once he had realized she was his experiment's last chance to succeed. Edelgard tried to move, tried to run, tried to fight, but in a flash of lightning, Rhea's fist descended, and-

"-lgard! Please, speak!" Edelgard's eyes blinked open. Rhea's voice was frantic, her hand having shot forward to grasp Edelgard's fingers. The magic had faded, instead leaving her darkened and singed gloves, and the terrible sting of first-degree burns. Faith magic ran across Rhea's own hands, slowly healing the damage. "What happened? Are you all right?"

"I-I-I…" Edelgard swallowed, and tried to steady her breathing. "I don't know. I-" She hissed as Rhea's had moved over a patch of exposed skin. "I haven't been getting much sleep, I suppose…"

Rhea frowned. "I see."

The lesson ended shortly afterwards. Flayn hovered in between Edelgard and Rhea while the archbishop cured the rest of the imperial princess' wounds, all the while insisting that Edelgard make certain to not let sleep escape her, but just before Rhea could insist that Edelgard see Manuela, Edelgard's mind began to drift to whatever she had just seen. Had it been a vision of the future, granted by the Crest of Flames? Her overly active imagination? It couldn't have been a memory. But it had almost felt like a memory. But she had never seen Rhea in that clothing, nor had she ever seen such a battlefield. It at once made her nostalgic in the same way her uncle did, and forgetful and puzzled and made her feel something intangible, like-

the practice room's door creaked open, and Byleth stood surveying the scene with her usual unflappable stoicism. "Lady Rhea." She said, not missing a beat. "Seteth would like me to remind you that we have a staff meeting in a matter of minutes."

Rhea frowned, and her eyes darted towards the window to see the shadows. "Ah." She turned back to Edelgard and gave a polite nod. "I must apologize, Edelgard, Flayn. I must be going now. Flayn, can you make certain I did not miss any burns?"

"Of course, Lady Rhea!" Flayn eagerly took the Archbishop's position next Edelgard as Rhea quickly walked towards the door. Byleth's eyes drifted from Edelgard to the archbishop as she stepped out of the way, before giving a quick nod to Edelgard, and falling behind Rhea.

Something cut at Edelgard's heart. A gnawing feeling, demanding she do something, about… something.

"Wait!" Edelgard called out. Both Byleth and Rhea turned.

"Yes?" they asked in union, their green eyes both almost glowing in the shade, both hiding their ears under long locks of hair.

Edelgard bit her lip. "I…" A pang cut through her. "I…nothing. My apologies."

Rhea smiled that same smile, before turning back to her path. Byleth remained for a moment more, before waving. "You can see me anytime, Edelgard." But all the same, Byleth resumed walking after Rhea. Edelgard stood next to Flayn, feeling a desolate loneliness as gnawing, uncertain, raw emotion pushed against her.

Broke 44k views! Thanks everyone! As always, thanks to Dox for beta reading!

I look through the game's scenes now and then, and I've probably said this before, but it is truly amazing how few conversations Rhea and Edelgard share.