One week after the events in part 2:
Dorothea Arnault searched through her belongings in her room at Garreg Mach. Gold, jewels, glassware, gifts from fancy nobles that made her queasy every time she looked at them. But she couldn't give it all away because then what was going to happen when she stopped being useful to the people around her and they threw her back out onto the streets?
And then she found what she was looking for. A book of sheet music, worn from five years of use. Most of the songs inside were basic and not especially fun to sing, but Dorothea enjoyed going through the book and humming the tunes to herself. Not because of the music itself, but because of who it came from.
Edelgard was confident Byleth was coming back, but Dorothea saw that explosion. She thought she knew war. She was almost used to torn-apart families and fields of corpses for crows to converge upon like a storm. Almost But the damage dealt by the javelin of light wasn't the same. If Rhea hadn't flown up to engage them, the entire city of Fhirdiad would be ground to dust. Thousands of lives vaporized in a snap of the fingers. When she saw the explosion overhead, the sensation of terrible awe made her knees weak.
Could Byleth survive a weapon like that?
Dorothea went back to her mirror and finished her braids. By the time she was done, it still didn't look as good as Petra's, but she bet she could pass as someone from Brigid to most Fódlanese. It was good that she asked Petra if an outsider wearing braids like this was disrespectful to Brigid culture before she…
No. Dorothea wasn't going to think about that.
A knock on her door. "Best not be late, Dorothea. Edelgard is ready to start the meeting."
Oh, Ferdie. Same self-assured tone as usual, but Dorothea couldn't even be mad at him now. Being a rose with only thorns left on it meant nobody wanted to acknowledge her existence. Ferdinand showing her any sort of recognition at all was an improvement over what she got from most of the army. She wasn't a born leader like most in the Black Eagle Strike Force. And unlike Linhardt, she couldn't coast by on noble prestige. Nobody knew who—or what—she was.
"Coming," Dorothea said. "Give me a moment, Ferdie."
She put on her boots, gripped the book of sheet music, and moved towards the door. If this is what winning a war felt like, how must harder must it be for the people on the losing side?
#
Dorothea gathered with the rest of the Black Eagle Strike Force in the ruined cathedral at Garreg Mach. It was ironic, how most of their plans to dismantle the church came from a room of worship. But it had the most open space and the most security against spies, more so than the actual war planning room, so Byleth and Edelgard decided to make it a makeshift strategy room when models and miniatures weren't needed.
The circle of chairs was still there from last meeting, and when Dorothea got there she noted the two that had been pushed out of the way. Nine became seven. Who was next? Dorothea sat down between Caspar and Ferdinand, who both acknowledged her with a nod.
"I'm glad that you could all join us today," Edelgard said. "I wish I could say that this war is finished, but we still have work to do."
Dorothea's body slouched of its own volition. How much longer could they go on before everything collapsed beneath their feet? Each step Dorothea took towards battle was unbearable.
"We still have much work left to do," Hubert said. "We suffered great losses at Fhirdiad, which has made some of the nobles ambitious. Most of them were benefiting from the powerless emperor who sat on the throne before Her Majesty ascended to rule Adrestia, and they are not happy to take orders from those who care about the people of the realm rather than them."
Dorothea pursed her lips. It was beginning. The collapse.
"We will quash these noble rebellions," Edelgard said. "And then we will attack Arianrhod to dispose of Cornelia. We may also find my uncle there, which will be a happy family reunion."
Based on the hungry grin on Edelgard's face, Dorothea could tell exactly what type of reunion she was hoping for.
"The Silver Maiden?" Caspar said. "How are we going to take a fortress like that?"
"I don't seem to recall any of you asking these questions before," Edelgard said. "This was the plan all along. Pay attention, Caspar."
Silence fell over the room. Who was going to be the one to say it?
"That was the plan," Ferdinand said, "When we knew Byleth could come up with something."
Edelgard stiffened. "They will return to us. Have faith, everyone. Remember how they showed up when we needed them most after everyone thought they died before? This is no different."
Dorothea looked at the ground. This was different, because they found Petra's dead body in Fhirdiad. So long as Byleth was alive, Dorothea was convinced that they weren't going to let harm come to any of their students. It was an impossible expectation, but Dorothea had seen firsthand how Byleth anticipated ambushes and made last-second adjustments in battle to avoid being outmaneuvered when they couldn't have possibly known what the enemy was planning. It was as if they had a third eye that let them see into the future.
"But what about the javelins of light?" Linhardt said. "Shouldn't we do some more investigating about where those came from before we make any hasty decisions?"
"The church was the one who launched them," Edelgard said. "Now that Rhea is dealt with, we should have nothing to worry about from that front."
Not that anyone had found Rhea's body. Plus, where could the church have launched those explosive javelins from? And why now, after five and a half brutal years of war? Dorothea scanned everyone's faces, looking for a tell. Edelgard and Hubert were neutral, but Lysithea wasn't hiding her grimace well. Byleth seemed to know the people who launched the javelins, and it wasn't the church. Dorothea got the feeling Lysithea knew more than she was letting on about the shadowy assailants.
"For now, take some time off," Edelgard said. "You've all earned it. We'll hold a funeral service for Petra tomorrow, and I hope to see you all there. Once we're ready to quash some noble uprisings, I'll let you know."
That prompted a series of nods from around the room. After Edelgard rose from her seat and left, people started to disperse. This wasn't okay. People were acting like they could all keep on going as normal, but that wasn't possible without Byleth and Petra. Dorothea could already imagine Fódlan sliding back into the same bloody stalemate it had been a year ago.
On her way out, Dorothea caught Lysithea and motioned over to a private corner of the cathedral. Lysithea followed along, and Dorothea could see her brain working at high speed as if she were solving a math equation. At Garreg Mach she heard that Lysithea was supposed to be a prodigy and assumed it was the usual noble being praised for not acting like a complete idiot, but Lysithea worked harder at her studies than anyone Dorothea knew. She only got her opportunities because she was a noble, but she made the most of them.
"You caught Edie's mistake, didn't you?" Dorothea said.
Lysithea hesitated. "I don't want to go against Her Majesty's word."
"Cut the bullshit. You believe Byleth over Edelgard, right?"
"Their explanation makes sense, when I think about it. The three biggest threats to Those Who Slither in the Dark are Rhea, Edelgard, and Byleth. Might as well use their big magic when all three are present."
"Do you think Edie knows that they did it?"
"I told her as much."
Dorothea drew in a sharp breath. "So she lied to all of us. No shame, no decency."
"Is that what you believe, Dorothea? The time you and she spent together as part of the same team-"
"Was because of Byleth," Dorothea said. "After they leave, it starts falling apart. Noble revolutions. Edie treating us as pawns. That's not new for her, either. She killed Judith at the Great Bridge of Myrddin. She killed Mercedes during the Battle at Gronder. We might be next on the chopping block."
"You don't mean that." Lysithea's eyes widened. "You can't mean that. We're in this together, Dorothea."
Did Dorothea mean what she was saying? That Edelgard was only ever reasonable because she had Byleth to hold her back, and that she was a twisted sociopath underneath? Dorothea didn't know. But each time she trusted a noble, she got burned.
"Petra died for this," Dorothea said. "And it's not over. Edie talks about how her path is laid out in blood, and I can't see that ever stopping. For her or Hubie."
Lysithea averted her gaze. "Marianne. Raphael. Judith. Leonie."
"Lysithea?"
"I watched my friends die at the hands of the Empire. And I decided to join you and Edelgard. Do you know why?"
Dorothea didn't know. How could anyone keep fighting in a war that had taken so many of their friends?
"Because Those Who Slither in the Dark are going to destroy this world," Lysithea said. "You saw what they did to Fhirdiad. And the experiments they did to me and Edelgard…"
Lysithea hugged her arms in shivered. In that one moment, she looked like a frightened child half her age. Dorothea reached out to hug her by instinct, but hesitated.
"What did they do to you?" Dorothea said.
"Horrors." Lysithea's voice was a whisper. "They made us into who we are today. That was their mistake. Together, Edelgard and I will destroy them until not even shattered remains are left behind. And we need your help."
But Edelgard refused to acknowledge the dangers of Those Who Slithered in the Dark. She was still bent on razing the church to the ground. How many more Knights of Seiros and Kingdom soldiers needed to die before this war was over?
"I'm not strong enough," Dorothea said. "I'm an opera singer, not a soldier."
"Do you think Edelgard and I are fighting this war because we're strong? We don't have another option besides war. This is our only way we can take control of our own fates. The thought of running off now is unbearable."
"Our own fates, huh?"
"Please, Dorothea. Cracks in our army turn to gashes in an instant. Everything could come crumbling down, and Those Who Slither in the Dark could march over our bodies."
"You say that this is the only way for you to live," Dorothea said. "My only way is to leave. Byleth brought me the false promise that they could protect all of us, and now that they're gone the reality is setting in. I have to go."
Lysithea deflated, her shoulders slouching. "Then go. I won't tell Edelgard. No point in getting you executed for desertion."
Dorothea offered a thankful nod. She wasn't sure if Lysithea caught it. Now, who else could she persuade to go along with her? She was planning to ask everyone except Hubert, since he had no problems turning her over for execution if he thought she was a threat to Edelgard's reign. But she could already guess what most of their answers were going to be. Running away was too much work for Lin, too anxiety-inducing for Bern, and too far outside Caspar's sense of justice. There was only one person who she was holding out hope for.
Someone who was never afraid to stand up to Edelgard, even when the others cowered in fear. Someone who lost all of his land when Edelgard took control of the throne, and had nothing left to even prove he was a noble. Someone who insisted on caring about her despite her attempts to push him away. Someone she had misunderstood for the past five—no—ten years.
She closed her eyes and pictured him. Long, orange hair like a stallion's mane with a too-confident smile aimed at reassuring her.
Ferdie.
Notes:
-In Edelgard's route, TWSID destroys Airianrhod with their magic nukes and Edelgard blames it on the church, which leads to some distrust in her army.
-The line about being a rose with only thorns is taken from one of Dorothea's battle quotes.
-One of the gifts you can give in the monastery is a book of sheet music, which is one of Dorothea's preferred gifts.
-In Dorothea's A support with Petra, they talk about Petra's braids and they agree to wear matching braids and it's super sweet. I thought that I should have Dorothea honor Petra properly.
-Dorothea's support conversations with Ferdinand are a classic enemies to friends (to lovers?) that are also amazing.