Part Four: A New Dawn

I open my eyes. Pain. Sleep… I want to go back to sleep. As I drift off, I remember Byleth's face looking down at me, filled with a rage that wasn't theirs.

I start awake fully, sitting up.

"Thales," I say. "Where is Thales?"

I glance around the room. I recognize it from the video chats I had with Dimitri. On his desk, I see childhood pictures of him with Ingrid, Sylvain, and Felix. I gnaw on the inside of my mouth when I think about how I let Ingrid and Felix die.

And then I remember. Thales is dead. Killed by…

"Glad to see you awake."

I jerk my head over towards the doorway to see Dimitri leaning on the doorframe, shy grin on his face. I throw off my sheets and hop out of bed. The motions are painful, but I don't care. I run over and throw my arms around him.

"Careful there, Claude," he says. "Don't want to push your body too hard."

"Thank goodness you're okay," I say. "I was so worried."

"You were worried about me? I found you passed out on the ground with Thales standing over you. To think I used to believe your recklessness was calculated."

I release Dimitri from the hug, and I smile when I meet his stern gaze. I can't help that I'm so happy to see him. Six years apart, and we finally get to meet in person again. The one time when he slammed the door on me and Robin doesn't count.

"How are you feeling?" Dimitri says. "You shouldn't push yourself."

"Fine, fine. So we did it, right? Thales gone, and…"

Byleth. Shit. Dimitri sighs, and I can tell that he's picked up on my panic.

"The others thought you were going to want to know more. Why don't we all talk about it?"

Others? Dimitri walks out of the room and I shrug, then follow. I step out into the main area to see Robin typing away at his laptop on the couch, while Lucina paces around and Morgan stares out the window. All three of them look up at me when I enter. Lucina rushes over and gives me a hug.

"Oh, thank goodness," she says. "Seeing you so battered brought me back to…"

"It's okay," I say. "And you didn't let them lay a finger on me back when we first met, remember?"

"If only I had the awareness to be with you when you fought Thales."

"Not Thales," I say. "Byleth."

Robin stops his typing and looks up at me. Then he looks up at the ceiling and narrows his eyes. By the time Lucina releases me, his confusion turns to understanding.

"Yes, that's starting to make more sense," he says. "They can travel between worlds, and there's been a lot of armed conflict in the fallout of what Thales did. I've been keeping track of the people we know have Fódlan identities, and…"

He stops, then looks at me.

"Go ahead," I say.

"Sylvain," Robin says. "They haven't identified it as him yet, but I'm sure he's one of the losses."

"What's even going on?" Dimitri says.

"Rich people sending their private armies into the streets with the police at their back. They're convinced that Thales' destruction was the start of some class warfare."

"Private armies?" I say.

"Not legally, of course, but you don't have that much power without knowing how to deal in death and information alike. Not like I'm different in that regard."

"Except you fought to save the world," Morgan says, crossing her arms. "These fuckers are the Grima equivalent we need to squash."

"But not directly," Robin says. "Claude, you've come to the same conclusion that I have, right?"

"There's something going on in Fódlan," I say. "It has to do with Byleth. Or rather, Nemesis."

"That was the man who committed genocide against the manaketes, right?" Lucina says.

"Yeah. In my world they're called Nabateans. Stole their blood for power that could be inherited by the children of his allies, and used their bones and hearts to create relic weapons."

Dimitri shivers. "Horrifying."

And in Fódlan, he and I are products of Nemesis' efforts. The crest of Riegan and Blaiddyd both were gained through genocide. Though the same could be said about my status here in America, since both my parents only ended up here because of the systemic removal and slaughter of Native Americans. So much of the worlds I know are built upon a foundation of bones, and I have to make sure that ends with me in Fódlan at least.

Thales was the mastermind, but Dimitri gave me a gift by putting him into the dirt. Now I need to finish the job and confront the one person I've never been able to beat, never even been able to challenge.

"I need to go back," I say.

"We thought you were going to insist," Lucina says. "Well, we have no intention of stopping you."

"You have to fight again?" Dimitri says. It breaks my heart to hear the pain in his voice.

"One last time," I say. "I know I keep telling you that, but this is for real. I'm the only one here with the power to stop what's going on out there, and I have a duty to both of the worlds I inhabit to bring an end to this strife."

"Well, I'm not so sure you're the only one with that power," Robin says. "Lucina let me take a look at your pendant while you were unconscious. I hope that was all right."

My hand goes to my neck, and I realize the Falchion charm isn't there. Robin pulls it out of his pocket and tosses it to me, and I snatch it out of the air. I put the necklace around my throat before I hold onto it too long and get transported to Fódlan.

"What did you find?" I say.

"The charm's magic should allow you to take someone else with you," he says. "Which I don't think you've ever tried before, yes?"

It was one of those ideas I had in the back of my mind, but I never wanted to risk the lives of anyone else around me. Good to know for certain.

"So one of you could come with me?" I say.

"Unfortunately, we're all not able to enter Fódlan," Robin says. "Our existence is tethered to our world. Out here, we're like dogs at the end of our leashes. Any further and everything snaps."

"I don't think there's time to recruit a warrior to aid you," Lucina says, "But after you win, it's something for you to keep in mind."

After I win. I've been so close so many times. And without fail, something comes up to move that goalpost further out. What must it feel like to be Sylvain, who helped conquer the Empire from Fhirdiad down to Enbarr and rooted out the Agarthans in Shambhala only to die in a battle against Nemesis? And there must be hundreds of others in Fódlan like him.

"If the fight's ongoing," I say, "I need to join as soon as possible. Dimitri and Seiros must be missing me already."

I look over at Earth Dimitri. Man, knowing multiple copies of the same person is confusing.

"One more thing," Robin says. "We also found your doppelganger. He's still unconscious for now, but we'll see if we can reverse whatever Thales did to him. I'll give you a progress update after we get back."

So much we have to rush. I want to know more details, but there's no time. I exchange the usual goodbyes with Lucina, Robin, and Morgan.

"Claude," Dimitri says. "Before you go, can we talk in my room? It will only take a few minutes."

"Of course." After all, I owe him that much.

Dimitri leads me back to the bedroom where I was being kept. I hope that means I wasn't out for too long, since nobody else has anywhere to sleep. He closes the door after I walk in, and I see his shoulders relax.

"I know I can't have you for long," he says, "But I couldn't let you go without saying goodbye."

He pulls me in and kisses me. The motion surprises me, but after my initial moment of shock I kiss him back. I keep going until he has to stop and catch his breath. Guess that's one advantage of my combat training over the years. I have the lungs to never run out of air while making out. He grabs onto my hands and grins at me.

I know I should be overwhelmed by the sensation, the emotion, but instead my senses are clear and sharpened. I can hear the rhythm of his breath, feel the soft skin of his fingers on my palm, get lost in the ocean of blue in his eye. It reminds me of battle clarity, but in this case instead of the thrill I feel like I'm at a Zen garden. I want to hold Dimitri for hours and lay by his side, hearts beating as one as our warmth keeps each other company. It's such a different feeling from our awkward tenderness back at prom.

"You look like you're taking the whole world in," Dimitri says.

"I suppose I am. The times I've felt most alive before were when I was fighting. When I was killing. When I'm with you, I realize it doesn't have to be that way. I can run away with you and never touch a bow again, and I'll be the happiest person alive."

"You've always been someone who could walk both paths at once. The way you cared for me on Earth and helped me face my past on its own was amazing to me, and I had no idea you were fighting to protect me in another world as well. Fódlan needs its master tactician one last time, Claude. But after that we can start over together."

"Starting over," I say. "That sounds nice. It's a shame that neither of us got a chance to lead a normal life. I won't squander the opportunity to take that back for us."

"Then I'll be waiting for you," Dimitri says, "One last time."

I nod. "One last time."

"I love you, Claude."

It's not the first time he's said this, but the impact of it never dulls. I realize I'm grinning from ear to ear.

"Love you too. I'll be back in no time."

We stand in silence for another minute. I don't mind the quiet, but every second I spend here is one where allies might be dying back at Fódlan. Dimitri tells me it's okay if I transport away in his room even if it means I might spook him by reappearing when he least expects it. I grab my pendant to travel to Fódlan, and when I do he wraps his arms around me.

I close my eyes. Tell myself it won't be the last time I feel his embrace. Try not to cry.

When the sensation of him holding me fades, I know I'm on my own. Time to become Claude von Riegan of the Leicester Alliance one last time.

#

When I arrive back in my room in Garreg Mach, I burst out the door to see the destruction. It takes me a few seconds to take in the rubble and flames. And the screams tell me the fight is still going on. Nemesis is here already? I hope Dimitri and Seiros evacuated the monastery.

I see a group of church soldiers and run over to them. When I open my mouth to ask what's going on, I catch their expressions and see the cold rage written across their faces, so strong that it makes them look inhuman. They level their weapons at me.

What in the Eternal Flames is going on?

I adopt alert stance as they charge at me. I tell them to calm down and ask what happened, but nothing I say gets through to them. I have to end up counterattacking and dropping them with my silver bow as they keep taking swings at me. Even as they fall, the others keep on fighting without regard. The way they keep trudging forward instead of breaking and running when the fight turns against them is eerie. Soon, I have a pile of unconscious bodies in front of me. I hope I didn't kill too many of them.

Could one of the Slithers have done this? I want to foist all the blame on Thales, but when he possessed civilians back at Remire it was all more… extra. Yelling about killing and eyes wide with madness and all that. Turns out Thales is a bitch for the overdramatic. Or was, anyway.

I examine the bodies of the church soldiers and see that they're all high-ranking officers within the Church of Seiros, though many of them are not knights. A twinge goes up my spinal cord as I root through the memories. The top members of Seiros' inner circle… there's something more to that. It's on the tip of my tongue, but I can't recall it.

That's when I hear the roar.

I look up to see the Immaculate one soaring through the sky. Her flight pattern is wild and erratic, nothing like I've ever seen her before. Nothing except…

Fhirdiad. Flames and snow. Death raining down from the sky. When she flew up to meet the nukes, her maneuvering was as wild and uncontrolled as it is now.

Seiros was supposed to be different. Reborn as a new person. What could have-

I go back to my conversation with Seteth. When Seiros is close to death, the power in her blood, her crest, can take over her body and force her to go on a rampage. And when that happens, the elite church members who were initiated by receiving a part of her crest stone get corrupted as well. I look back at the bodies on the ground in front of me.

Shit.

I gnash my teeth together. I wasn't here to stop Seiros' transformation. And it occurred at the worst possible time, as Nemesis is using Byleth's body to rampage across Fódlan. Why is it that the one time I need to leave to stop violence on my home world everything falls apart without me? There's no way I can fight The Immaculate One or Nemesis on my own, much less both of them back to back. I'm sure I still have allies, but I have no idea where they are.

Time to fix that. I run over to the wyvern stables, the pain in my chest tightening. I find Omar, who seems calm despite the destruction going on in the distance. Must come from being bred for war, I guess. I let him out, saddle him up, and take to the skies.

When I scan the area below, my heart sinks. Many of the regular church soldiers are fighting against our new corrupted foe, but The Immaculate One has smaller white dragons and massive automatons patrolling the streets in addition to regular soldiers. I don't see any sign of the Kingdom and Alliance forces, so they must be off fighting Nemesis. I can only hope that they're having a better time than we are.

As I fly over Garreg Mach, I see a few familiar faces. I descend and land by Seteth, Flayn, Linhardt, Bernadetta, and Dorothea.

"Oh thank goodness you have arrived," Flayn says. "We need someone to make order out of this chaos and lead us to victory."

"I'm not sure I can be that person when I have no idea what's going on," I say. "Seteth, is there a way we can reach Seiros?"

He averts his gaze. "This is my fault. She told me to kill her. I… hesitated."

"I doubt that one moment made the difference," I say. "Even if you stabbed her, it wouldn't have killed her, right? Either way, she was going to transform."

"I… suppose."

"We need to stay strong for now. What's the plan?"

"He told us we have to kill Seiros," Bernadetta says. "There's no other way. It's up to us to make sure nobody else gets hurt."

I meet her gaze, and I flinch at the conviction in her eyes. This is the first time I've seen her be so confident about… well, anything. And we'll need every advantage we can get.

"The question is how," Linhardt says. "We're outnumbered, outarmed, and we don't know everything she and the white beasts of hers can do. Makes me want to forget all of this and take a nap."

"Oh no you don't," Dorothea says. "We're in this until the end. I learned in Enbarr that my healing isn't enough to keep up with all the carnage, and I'll make sure you save lives if I have to drag you by the collar to do so."

"The bottom line is that we don't have the forces for a proper battle," Seteth says. "I mean, we do have the raw numbers to make something happen, but most of our best commanders are out fighting Nemesis. We'll have to wait for them to return before we can do anything else."

I wonder about that. There has to be some way to turn this situation to our advantage.

"We have the Imperial officers imprisoned here, right?" I say. "If all we need is military commanders, I bet we could convince them to take up arms against Seiros."

Seteth shakes his head. "They're all loyal to Edelgard. You won't be able to get through to them."

That's true. Surrounding herself with people devoted to her and having Hubert root out the dissenters was the smartest thing she did.

Which leaves only one course of action.

"The keys to all the cells are in the dungeon itself, right?" I say.

Seteth blinks. "Yes, but like I said, they won't listen to you."

"Thanks. I'll try to be back with commanding officers in no time."

Before he can respond, I fly off. I don't have a second to waste, which is good because it means I don't have the time to second guess this plan.

Time for the so-called master tactician to make one last gambit. And this time, it relies on connection and compassion instead of strategy.

#

After grabbing the keys to the cells, I walk through the dungeon and pause at the important door. I know what's behind here, but I'm not sure I have the strength to face it. Still, there's no other way. On our own without experienced officers to organize us and protect the people, the fight is already lost.

I open the door and walk into the cell block containing Edelgard von Hresvelg. She looks up at me when I enter, and a cold smile comes to her face.

"Surprised it took you so long to mock me," she says. "The jailers are late on their delivery of sludge, you know."

I pull up a chair and sit down across from her. When the keys in my pocket jingle, I see her frown. She reads my expression with narrowed eyes.

"So tense," she says. "What's going on, Claude? Are you not here to gloat?"

Does she know nothing about what's going on outside? Though now that I think about it, the sounds of battle don't reach down here.

"You should know that's never been my style," I say. "I'll tear everyone else down without hyping myself up."

"Now that I can respect. Some people need an axe to the face, but gloating over their death feels… pathetic. Like you're covering up an insecurity." A pause. "Why did you visit me, Claude? Did Seiros recruit you?"

Edelgard's exasperated tone tells me the archbishop's visits were more frequent than I imagined. I wonder what Seiros wanted with her. Not that it matters much now.

"I'm here to ask for your assistance."

"Oh, well if you want to play these games, then-"

"I'm serious. You have no idea what's going on out there, do you?"

Edelgard hesitates. The flash in her eyes tells me she does know something.

"So you are aware of what happened to Seiros," I say.

"What?" Edelgard frowns. "I thought you meant… no, I have no idea."

She's so taken aback that I don't think she's lying. But she thought I meant something else? The only other event happening is Nemesis invading, but I doubt anyone told her about that, either. Don't want Fódlan's most important prisoner to have a key opportunity to escape while all eyes are turned elsewhere.

Unless it was someone who cared about her.

"Someone told you about Byleth," I say. "About Nemesis. Was it one of the other Black Eagles?"

"They want nothing to do with me now. They supported my ideals, but they weren't willing to pay the price. Even Lysithea… this is why the world keeps stagnating, Claude. The people who want to change it are too afraid."

Then who?

"Seiros?" I say.

"I don't think she knew when she last talked to me. I didn't know when she last talked to me."

I gnaw on the inside of my mouth. I can't see anyone else telling her, except…

"Byleth themselves," I say. "In the dream world."

Edelgard lets out a sigh. "This is why I've always envied your quick thinking."

"What did they say?"

"That Nemesis was rampaging across Fódlan in their body. That they needed to be killed to stop him."

"Nothing about how to beat them?"

"Nothing. Except…" She trails off. "They had a message for you. Byleth told me they could pull off a miracle once, but not more than that."

I breathe a sigh of relief. No facing Divine Pulse in the fight against Byleth, and they even have one use that can help us out. Or, well, help me out, since the others won't recognize that time has rewound and will take the exact same actions.

"I've told you what I know," Edelgard says. "Now, what is happening with Seiros?"

"Lost control, and took the upper church echelon with her. Stopping the javelins of light at Shambhala made her weak, and the crest took over her body."

"And nobody believed me when I said that crests were the problem."

"Yeah, well you were working with the people who committed genocide against the Nabateans and put the crests of the Ten Elites inside of people like my ancestor, so excuse us if we were a bit skeptical."

Edelgard opens her mouth to respond, then closes it. I let myself exhale in response. We're not doing any good by bickering with each other here.

"Seteth says she needs to be killed," I say. "There's no other way."

"And this is what you wanted my assistance with?"

"You have a reason to make sure Seiros stays dead. And right now, that's exactly what we want."

Edelgard smiles to herself. "After a year of us fighting a bloody war against each other, you want us to team up?"

"I never wanted to crush and kill. I did what I had to so that your Empire couldn't swallow Fódlan and subjugate the people of the former Alliance and Kingdom."

"Is that not what you are doing to the Empire right now?"

"Perhaps. But you weren't going to stop until one side was destroyed, were you? It wasn't like you left us much choice."

Edelgard shrugs. I guess that's as close as she'll get to conceding the point.

"What I'm trying to say," I tell her, "Is that I've only ever hated you because I had to. And now I don't need to."

A pause. Edelgard stares up at the ceiling. Then she smiles at me.

"You've gotten sloppy, Claude."

"What?"

"You shouldn't have revealed how desperate you are. Now I can demand anything I want from you and you can't say no. I know you won't let Fódlan burn."

"Even now, you can only think about personal gain?" I say.

Edelgard hesitates. "This is about seeing our ambitions to the end. It always has been. I thought you understood why it is worth going to any lengths to build a world of peace and prosperity."

I did understand that about Edelgard, but now I need her to be different. We don't have time to squabble and negotiate while Garreg Mach crumbles. Though I doubt she's the one who cares.

"Your friends are out there fighting too," I say. "The other Black Eagles."

She averts her gaze. "They made their choices, and I made mine. I'm open to helping, Claude, but everything I do goes towards making sure I can create a Fódlan without the church telling us which babies are chosen by the goddess and which ones should be left in the dust. And that doesn't sound like something you're willing to negotiate on."

"I'm not putting you back in power."

Edelgard sighs. "It's the same as before. We're not so different, Claude, but there's no trust between us. If we're on even ground, it's only a matter of time before we start competing and backstabbing each other out of necessity. There can only be one person like us in charge of the world."

"Well, it's going to be neither of us," I say. "Because after all of this, I'm going to step away."

Edelgard's eyes widen. "Then what was this all for?"

"I've set up the political system I wanted. And I'll still be around in case Dimitri has questions. But I need a chance to live a normal life. And… there's someone I care about. Someone I've been neglecting."

"I know the feeling." Edelgard's voice is soft.

A pause. Will she get angry if I take that point and run?

"You know Byleth is out there, right?"

She nods.

"And I bet they want you to kill them."

She hesitates, and then nods again.

"But you still won't follow their wishes just because you want something from me?"

"Even if I'm on board, I don't believe that you trust me," Edelgard says. "I've hurt you—I've hurt everyone—too much. I accepted that it was the price to pay for the Fódlan I wanted to see, but I'm aware that my actions have consequences. If you release me and tell me to fight at your side, there's nothing stopping me from bolting away from the monastery and trying to get myself reinstated as the Adrestian Emperor. Why would you risk that?"

"Because I have to," I say. "My feelings towards you are the same as they've always been. I don't trust you as far as I can throw you, but I sided with you against Rhea at Fhirdiad because working with you was better than ruling over a Fódlan reduced to ash. I'm doing the same now."

Edelgard narrows her eyes at me. I want to snap at her that I'm not a monster, but I stop myself when I realize this is the same way I treated her when she had Byleth on her side. When one of us has power over the other, the trapped one squirms and hisses like a feral animal because that's our way of keeping our sense of self alive. What helped me not hate Edelgard as much?

"If you help me," I say, "I'll let you go free with the promise that you won't cause trouble for Dimitri's new Fódlan."

I in no way have the authority to make this offer, but Seiros is actively destroying the monastery as we speak. I need to do something.

"That's quite generous," Edelgard says, "And it's curious you're offering this now and not when I told you I could make demands from my position."

"I'm sick of fighting you. I'm sick of arguing. It feels like yelling at a mirror. For just this once, I want us to be equals on the battlefield. I want us to work together to take down Seiros and Nemesis. That was what we were supposed to do at the Officers Academy, right? Forge connections and walk into Fódlan's future side by side."

"Which as you know, I never planned to do."

"Because of Thales. Who's dead, by the way."

Edelgard looks up at me. "How do you know? Byleth told me that he was about to take you away. Though I guess if he did do that, you wouldn't be here."

"Thales fled to Earth, the world I'm from," I say. "Someone there covered my ass and took him out. We have advanced weapons called guns that are essentially small crossbows that use explosions to launch projectiles, and it's easy to learn how to use them."

"That sounds futuristic beyond comprehension. So everyone in your world is a master warrior capable of dispatching groups of Fódlan knights based on their weapons alone?"

"Most of us don't know how to use guns, at least in combat. Oh, I think Thales also took inspiration from our world for the javelins of light. They're powered by…" Actually, I don't have time to explain nuclear energy and weapons to someone who doesn't know what atoms are. "We're getting off topic. Are you in or not?"

"If you let me fight by you, I will go for the killing blow on Seiros. I know you're fond of her, but she's too dangerous to be kept alive right now."

"That's fine. Like I said, even Seteth told me we have no choice but to kill her."

"Glad to see he's capable of being rational about this. Did I tell you how he recognized Rhea's faults and agreed to stay out of the war after we spared him and Flayn?"

"By 'we' I'm guessing you mean Byleth, since you killed Mercedes while she was running while Byleth spared Ignatz. But yes, Seteth did tell me as much."

"I… do regret that. I was thinking strategy, but there were ways I could have cut her off without killing her. And I bet she would have surrendered."

I realize my hands are balled into fists. It's so easy to kill, and we can never take that back. I bet I'll be second guessing how I killed Hubert for years even though I know it was necessary.

"Glad we're… maybe not on the same page, but at least reading the same book," I say. "Let's get you out of here, then."

I pull the keys out of my pocket and unlock the cell door. Edelgard steps outside, looking towards the doorway with yearning.

"You don't know how glad I'll be to leave the rats behind," she says.

"Before that, I need you to gather up the imprisoned Imperial officers and tell them that we're working together for now. They'll need to treat the church soldiers the same as their own. Do you think they can do that?"

"It's a tough sell, but given the urgency of the situation I think I can talk sense into them."

"Great. They're over that way."

I point Edelgard in the direction and toss her the keys. She snatches them out of the air, looks down at them, and then at me. She raises an eyebrow.

"Like I told you," I say. "I have to trust you. If you decide to betray us, we lose. But if I do nothing and let Nemesis and The Immaculate One have their way, we also lose. This is the only way Fódlan has a chance."

"Perhaps I misread you this whole time," Edelgard says. "I… will do my best to fight at your side. What will you do while I talk to the Imperial officers?"

"I'm going to head over to where they confiscated your weapons and see if I can organize them for you. Be right back."

As soon as I leave the room and close the door behind me, I let out a laugh. What am I doing, teaming up with Edelgard after six years at war with her? And on nothing but a whim, no less.

But this has the chance to work. And at this point, that's all I can ask for.

#

Turns out, weapons are heavy. Still, I manage to bring back a good assortment of axes and lances, including Edelgard's relic weapon Aymr. My arms are burning from carrying them all the way to where the Imperial officers are held, and when I arrive I drop them all on the ground. Edelgard still has them in their cells and is drilling into them to value the lives of the church soldiers they'll be working with.

"Careful with Aymr, Claude," Edelgard says. "I thought you'd know how to handle a relic." A pause. "Wait, you're trusting me with my most powerful weapon?"

"All yours."

Edelgard walks over to the pile of lances and axes I dropped and picks up Aymr. She swings it through the air a couple of times to test for balance and then grins.

"You know I could kill you right now if I wanted to, right?" Edelgard says.

I nod. "In these close quarters, I'm aware of how little chance I stand."

"Color me surprised once again. Let us work together, then, and save Fódlan one last time."

"I guess sometimes all it takes is one person to break the cycle of distrust," I say. "For this battle, if you ever falter, I'll be here to reach for your hand."

Her eyes widen "What did you just say?"

"Uh… Do you want me to repeat the whole thing?"

"Never mind. You… have a way of hitting straight at the heart, Claude. I see now why Lysithea and the others think so highly of you." She turns back to the Imperial officers. "Let's get you all out of here and slay an archbishop together."

I wonder if there's any chance that me and Edelgard can stay amicable after this fight ends. It would make the whole war seem pointless, but what's done is done. Edelgard should face consequences for what she did, but I also hope that she can leverage her passion for meritocracy in a way that benefits Fódlan.

Is that too much to hope for?

And here we have it. After about 300k words, we finally have Claude and Edelgard teaming up.

Phew, this was a long time coming, and I bet I already scared off most of the pro-Edelgard part of the fandom. Still, one of the parts that interested me in VW was how Claude says that he and Edelgard are similar in a lot of ways. I liked that idea, and wanted to apply it here even though my Claude is very different from VW Claude. VW Claude and Edelgard have similar ideals, my Claude and Edelgard have similar levels of conviction and realism.

The final battle is going to take a hot second to get through, but we're approaching the end. Thank you for reading all this way! :)