Seiros walked into the dungeons of Garreg Mach alone. The first time, she brought Seteth with her, but it was clear that he wasn't helping the situation. So instead, she walked alone on the stone paths of the underground, and her thoughts wandered. A millennium was so long to accumulate mistakes and regrets. How did Seteth live with himeslf? Though they weren't in power for 900 years like Seiros was. She envied them for that, though she would never admit it to Seteth. To her, it was almost yesterday that the two of them were fighting side by side to stop Nemesis from consuming the world. Where did she go wrong after that?
The answer, of course, was too many places to count. They all popped into her head. Seiros squeezed her eyes shut, but the memories only came back stronger. It wasn't even what she did that bothered her as much as what she didn't do. An ever-growing list of lords who exploited commoners beyond reason, let plagues spread, sent them off to skirmishes so that they could claim little pieces of land. The Alliance was the worst, since it was where the nobles had the most power. Rhea wasn't responsible for the Kingdom and Alliance splitting off from the Empire, but she let it happen. It was beneficial for her, since it meant all three needed to stay on her good side or open themselves up to holy crusades from the Knights of Seiros, and that was all Rhea cared about.
Seiros knew this path well enough that she opened her eyes right before approaching the door. Opening it revealed Edelgard von Hresvelg in her prison cell, who managed to carry an air of command even behind bars. She looked healthy, which was good. Proper nutrition and medical care wasn't a luxury Seiros herself had been given in Imperial captivity, but she was ready to forgive and forget.
"What are you expecting to get out of me this time?" Edelgard said. "I'm not helping someone who's ruling humanity from the shadows."
"Not from the shadows so much anymore. I am open about being a child of the goddess."
"As awful as the Agarthans are, they're right about Sothis," Edelgard said. "Some alien falls out of the sky and starts taking over the land and we're all supposed to listen to her and her spawn? Count me out of it."
"These are the views of yours I wish to explore." Seiros pulled up a chair and sat down across from Edelgard. "Your words touched many, and I want the church and the new government of Fódlan to reach people the same way."
"I'm not talking to someone who wants to subjugate humanity."
Seiros bit back a sigh. She was tempted to tell Edelgard about the plan right then, but this wasn't the time. If revealed too early, nobody would like what she had in mind, not even Edelgard herself. Seiros was worried, of course, since her own health was troubled. But Seteth knew where the note in her room was. Even if he disagreed, she knew that he would honor her last wishes.
"I wanted to bring Claude along," Seiros said, "But he's busy tracking down Thales. The arrow Hubert gave him is helping him quite a bit in that regard."
Edelgard's expression turned somber as she nodded. How old was she? Barely above 20. A mere child, pressured to lead an entire Empire to military conquest and forced to process the consequences of her actions. Perhaps it was a blessing for humans that most of them died before their memories could fester long enough to consume them.
"Did he tell you that he can jump between different dimensions?" Edelgard said.
That was news, but not especially shocking to Seiros. Claude always had an edge that she could never explain. Twenty years of experience wasn't enough to come up with many of the solutions Claude did, military and political alike. But if he had support and knowledge from another reality, bringing that over to Fódlan wasn't too hard. He was the first person she considered for her plan, actually, but Seiros was certain he would turn her down. Plus, Edelgard was better suited to it.
"So much mystery within your little cabal," Edelgard said. "Claude voyages across worlds, you've ruled for a millennium from the shadows and can turn into a dragon. How long will Fódlan's peace last with people like you in charge?"
"I don't have time to respond to your goading, Edelgard. I'm here to hear about your political theories."
"This again? How many times do I need to tell you know?"
"If you do this for me, I'll allow you to go on a supervised walk through the monastery and gardens."
Edelgard raised an eyebrow. "Why does this mean so much to you that you're willing to risk giving me an escape route?"
"I can't say yet. But my reasons will be clear eventually. Believe it or not, I do want to get you out of this prison cell. I heard about your experiences in Enbarr."
"And you didn't do anything about it."
"Your decision, Edelgard. Will you talk with me?"
Edelgard sighed. "Fine. But know that I'm suspicious about why you want my opinion so badly."
As if that weren't obvious. Edelgard was suspicious of everything. Her and Claude both.
"What role do you see for the church in a modern Fódlan?" Seiros said. "Let's say we abolish the crest system and the nobility."
"The church and the crest system are one and the same. For it to be relevant, the church has to be an institution of power. To remove the stranglehold it has on Fódlan, it must be crushed entirely."
"Are you so certain?" Seiros said. "What do you think faith will look like if we disband the church entirely?"
"Everyone will choose their own faith. I'm not against spirituality, you know."
"And won't people want to gather in communities to share that faith? Humans are social creatures, you know."
"Ah yes, you would know that from all the observing us you've done. Fair enough. Spirituality will form communities."
"And then won't those connections spread out to other communities?"
"I…" Edelgard paused. "I never really thought about it."
"That's how it happened for us," Seiros said. "Much of our religion spread on its own. You must know I was fine with Shamir being in our ranks despite not following Fódlan's religion."
"So what you're saying…"
"Is that Fódlan's religion formed naturally. If you crush it, another one will rise. I became the leader of the church by capitalizing on a faith that was already there, not building it up and forcing it on people. Someone else will do the same if we dismantle my church."
"And if that's what I want?"
"So be it, but you still need to tell me what you values you want this church to espouse."
Seiros kept her gaze pointed straight at Edelgard as the girl's eyes wavered. She had never given this any thought before, had she? This child-
No. Seiros herself had fallen into the same trap before of wanting so badly to tear something down that she had no idea what to prop up once she won. Edelgard could be better. Would be better, if Seiros had anything to say about it.
Which is why Seiros had to stay alive. There was so much that she had to set up to prevent Fódlan's bloody history from repeating itself.
"I want…" Edelgard cleared her throat. "First, the church should relinquish any sort of military. That's asking for it to become a vast political power."
"Already done."
"Huh, so handing the Knights of Seiros over to Dimitri wasn't for show? I'm not sure if I believe you. Second, a good religion should prioritize the differing experiences of faith. People should be free to do and think as they please, so long as they are not hurting others."
"Do you think the religion itself should discuss freedom?"
"I believe so. Faith should be expand people's worldviews, not shrink them. This means that the church's efforts should mostly be empowering the common people and standing against the rich elites instead of propping up their crests as divine."
Seiros hid a smile. Everything Edelgard laid out was, in some shape or form, a doctrine of the Church of Seiros already. The church was one of the few ways commoners could lobby against their local lords, and Seiros was proud that she had managed to keep them in check for so long. These chats of hers were confirming Seiros' suspicion that any religion could be what each individual made it.
"So your ideal religion," Seiros said, "Is one that focuses on the spirit of the people. The divinity in all of us that takes on shapes and forms. We are all holy, so we are all valid as people."
"We should be valid without needing to be holy."
Semantics, so far as Seiros was concerned. She still didn't understand where Edelgard was deriving her morality from. Yes, people were valid, but why? Still, they were after the same end goal. That gave Seiros hope that Fódlan could move forward hand in hand with Edelgard and her followers.
"There's something in us that gives our lives meaning," Seiros said. "I prefer to think of it as a spirit. You might conceptualize it differently. But it's there inside both of us."
"Again, I don't understand why you are so insistent that we work together."
"And I thought you'd be more excited to have the possibility of your ideas being implemented."
"Loses its luster when I can't be the one making the change I want to see." Edelgard frowned. "I thought I was clear. It is in both of our best interests for you to consider me the loser and ignore my existence. People like Hubert didn't get a second chance, so why am I any different?"
Yes, Hubert was a mere child as well. Seiros saw that he was harsh, but she couldn't bring herself to hate him for it. She got the run-down from Claude and Dimitri after taking Enbarr, and she wished he had surrendered instead.
"Same as you, I have a vision for Fódlan's future," Seiros said. "And though it might not seem like it now, these conversations of ours are key for building up a better tomorrow. There's one thing I must ask you, Edelgard. Do you think religion should ever be used as a means to commit violence?"
Edelgard stayed still for over a minute. When Seiros was wondering if the girl was ignoring her, she spoke up.
"That's the reason I couldn't let the church stay alive," Edelgard said. "Because even my ideal religious organization is too passive to make the change I want to see. Whenever a religion is used as an excuse to commit violence, people will twist that destruction to their own ends from the shadows."
And there it was. That one statement meant that her plan wasn't a lost cause. It was as far away as the stars her mother Sothis descended to the ground from, but it was becoming more and more real by the day. Centuries of attending official meetings taught Seiros to keep her face neutral, which she was grateful for now. There were still many steps to go before her plan could come to light.
"I think that's enough bothering you for now," Seiros said. "Thank you for your time, Edelgard."
The girl responded with an absent nod. Seiros rose from her chair and walked over to the door.
"You know," Edelgard said, "If you were more like this while I was a student, we might have been able to get along."
"There was no chance of that," Seiros said. "Not for someone like Rhea who was so determined to cling onto power. Sometimes we need a clean start to see the broader horizon of who we can be."
When she glanced over her shoulder, Seiros saw Edelgard mulling over her words.
"A clean start, huh? Must be nice. Well, you'd best be on your way, Archbishop."
Seiros nodded and continued on her way out, closing the door behind her. After putting on the appearance of being strong, she could feel the fatigue start to set in. It was worth every moment of pain to stop those javelins of light from burying Dimitri and the others in Shambhala, and she hoped that she could recover quickly in case Thales and his allies decided to launch another attack. When she stepped out into the sunlight of the monastery, she worried that a breeze too strong might topple her over.
"Seiros."
From above. She looked up to see Seteth's wyvern circling down to the ground. Seteth hopped off their back and faced Seiros, his skin ghostly pale.
"What happened?" she said.
"There's…" Seteth shook his head. "An army bearing the Crest of Flames banner made its way through the Great Bridge of Myrddin. Holst von Goneril engaged them, but was wounded and fell back. Dimitri has already taken out a strike force to meet them, and I told him that we'd join once we found you. The leader is Byleth, but the person inside of their body is…"
Nemesis. It had to be. Memories flashed through Seiros' mind. Her charging Nemesis at the Tailtean Plains, vision throbbing with anger.
Ba-dump.
No.
The next image was her stumbling upon Zanado after Nemesis paid his visit there. Her home. The same place where her mother Sothis told her stories and took on journeys to wildflower meadows. The bodies… the red… She was too late to stop it.
Ba-dump.
Please.
"Seteth," Seiros looked up at him. "You have to kill me."
A pause. Seteth opened his mouth, but didn't respond.
"Do it." Seiros could hear her own voice shaking. "It's happening. You know what ensues if you don't end this right here."
"If you are certain."
Seteth drew his lance. Leveled it at Seiros.
At the lase second, he hesitated.
Ba-dump.
Too late. Seiros recognized it, and opened her mouth to scream. Instead, what came out was a roar, deep and primal. She fought to stop her mind from drifting off.
Not this, she thought. Anything but this.
…
…
Mother…
Her consciousness continued floating off. In her last aware moments, she confronted the truth of what was happening.
She was no longer Seiros. The Immaculate One was out, and she was here to stay.
Seiros is one of the characters who goes ooc the most, I think (another being Claude himself), but writing her in this chapter was a lot of fun. Turns out I can't give up writing about political schemes even in a war game. :P
Time to queue up A Funeral of Flowers on the playlist for later.