I wonder how many Edelgard stans chose not to keep reading after my first Author's Note?

Edelgard hadn't believed in the Goddess for a long time. But even so, at the moment she couldn't help but feel as if she was awaiting Sothis's judgment.

Which might sound ridiculous on the surface. After all, to anyone who did not know the specifics of their situation, it would seem as if Edelgard had all the power over Rhea. In truth, though, Edelgard knew in her heart that the opposite was true. Every action she had taken was in service of a future she was incapable of creating. Her only choice was to reach out to the woman she had made her enemy.

And Edelgard knew that Rhea had every reason not to understand. Even if Rhea could put aside her personal feelings toward her, which had a great many reasons not to be positive and very few to be, Edelgard still opposed the system that had granted Rhea all of her power. All Rhea would have to do would be to ignore her, and everything she had tried to build would collapse.

Hubert had been vague about his meeting with Rhea, but he had urged her to listen to what she had to say. That once Edelgard understood the reasons behind Rhea's actions, and Rhea understood Edelgard's, the way forward would present itself. She could only hope he was right.

"I suppose I should start from the beginning," Rhea began. "Rhea was not the name I was born with. The name my mother gave to me was Seiros."

"As in...Saint Seiros?" Edelgard asked.

"The same," Rhea nodded. "But the War of Heroes is not where the story begins. That would be when the Progenitor God, Sothis, first descended from the stars.

"Sothis had many children, and I was the youngest. But I was old enough to witness the Agarthan War. Mother believed it was her responsibility to uplift humanity. She simply could not let suffering go on when she could do something about it."

Edelgard mulled over this. Clearly, something had changed. "What happened?"

"The most advanced society in the world during Mother's day was Agartha," Rhea explained, her expression darkening at the name. "Agartha had technology capable of working wonders. However, it required power to run, and the fuel the Agarthans used was running out. They had taken to declaring war on their neighbors to get more, in hopes of staving off their impending energy crisis. Mother, seeing that the Agarthan society would collapse otherwise, chose to share a secret with them. The secret of how they could generate all the energy they would need." She sighed. "They thanked her by weaponizing it.

"The King of Agartha, Cleobulus, did not want anyone else to have the secret. If they were the only ones with limitless energy and weapons capable of near-infinite destruction, the world would have no choice but to bow to them. So, he fired the most powerful of the weapons his scientists created. A weapon capable of turning the water and even the very air to poison. Of destroying an entire nation in a single moment. But not, as he found out, capable of killing the Progenitor God. We laid waste to Agartha, killing every Agarthan involved with the project. But before we could do so, Cleobulus launched the rest of the weapons, in the hopes of making the Goddess's victory as hollow as possible. Almost the entire world was poisoned."

Edelgard tried to wrap her mind around the scale of the destruction being described. "The entire world?" "It isn't poisoned now, though."

"The Goddess used nearly all of her power to cleanse the world of the destruction wrought by the Agarthans," Rhea continued. "She then fell into a deep sleep. My brothers and sisters and I took it upon ourselves to guard the world while she slept. To ensure that no such disaster could ever take place again. But some of the Agarthans who survived the destruction of Agartha chose to seek revenge.

"To this end, they recruited a bandit to their cause. A barbarian named Nemesis." Rhea's fists clenched as she mentioned the King of Liberation. "Some of the other Nabateans had left to keep their eyes on the rest of the world. But the majority guarded Sothis's resting place in Zanado. And yet, somehow Nemesis found a way in." She began to cry. "He ripped out her spine and heart, and fashioned a sword out of them. With it, he butchered my kin. He and the Agarthans, and his 'Elites'. They used their hearts to empower themselves, and their bones to create weapons!"

Edelgard was horrified. "The Crests...the Heroes' Relics..."

"Yes."

Edelgard wanted to throw up. "So, when I raided the Holy Tomb...when I tried to retrieve the Relics and Crest Stones..." It all made sense now. The reason why Rhea-why Seiros-had declared the Crests to be gifts from the Goddess...was to prevent the surviving Nabateans from being hunted down.

"I went to war against him. I and my nephews, Cichol, Indech, and Macuil, and my grand-niece, Cethleann. Your ancestor, Wilhelm von Hresvelg, fought Nemesis alongside us. I killed Nemesis, and the Ten Elites were slain, along with all but three of the Agarthans who were empowered by Crests. Thales, Solon, and Periander. Though the latter was later killed, and the Crest he bore stolen once more, by another Agarthan."

"Another Agarthan..." If the stolen Crests gave the Agarthans long life, then..."Corvis? Hubert did say he mentioned he had been human, once. And that he implied he had long life."

"It must have been. If it had been a human, they would not have been able to keep it secret."

"I see. Go on."

"Wilhelm and I helped each other after the war. We founded the Empire and the Church. Having retrieved my mother's Crest stone, I attempted to find a way to bring her back." She sighed. "It was impossible. I have kept the peace as best I could since then."

Edelgard tried to hold back her anger. She failed. "Kept the peace. Okay, you couldn't let the truth about Crests come out. But you had eleven centuries to change the perception of Crests! You could have dismantled the Crest system, even if you had to do it slowly!"

"The Crest system kept Fódlan from falling into civil war every generation!" Rhea countered. "And what makes you so sure that whatever replaced it would be better?"

"Anything is better than the feudal system!" Edelgard shouted. "You were just too afraid to try to do anything about it. I don't know why I bothered." She marched toward the door, but when her hand touched the handle, she stopped and rested her head on the door, her arm feeling too weak to turn the handle. "Why can't I open the door?"

Rhea seethed for a moment, but her anger soon died. After a moment's silence, she spoke softly. "Lian was always friendly and willing to help others. Whenever someone was sad, he would always try to cheer them up."

Edelgard looked at her. Rhea continued, "Renfred loved numbers. He enjoyed nothing more than trying to solve some puzzle no one had ever been able to solve before."

Edelgard walked over to Rhea's bed and sat down next to her. "Rudolf loved arms and armor. He was always asking about the newest piece of equipment the blacksmiths would make. If you questioned him, he would shout, 'Adestrian weapons are the finest in the world!' He wanted to be the greatest blacksmith in all of Adestria."

"Myranda was always jealous of my flower arrangements. When we were young, she hated that mine were better. She finally swallowed her pride when she had me make the flower arrangements for her wedding."

"Eva was the youngest of our siblings. She hated having to wear a fancy dress and going to formal events. She would rather have just played with her dog." Edelgard placed her hand on Rhea's shoulder. "I am sorry."

"They say that time heals all wounds," Rhea said. "But mine have only festered with age."

"I know," Edelgard told her. "Mine haven't healed, either. Those Who Slither In The Dark experimented on us. Tried to implant a second Crest into us. I was the only one who survived." She sighed. "I blamed the Crest system. I thought Arundel's goal was to somehow turn us into worthier rulers. I only learned Arundel was actually Thales later. And by then, I had convinced myself I knew how to solve all of the problems with Fódlan's society."

"And I was in the way," Rhea finished.

"Yes. And...I was angry with the Church because the Goddess didn't save me or my siblings. I blamed her, and that made you guilty by association." She looked at Rhea. "If I had been honest with you about my problems with the Crest system and the changes I planned to make, would you have listened?" Edelgard asked.

"I would have listened. I would have agreed with you about many of the problems facing Fódlan. And then I would have told you I had a plan, and tried to convince you to keep the peace while I pursued a solution that wouldn't have worked, while telling you nothing," Rhea admitted. "I would have been of no help. But were you ever honest with anyone but Hubert about your plans?"

"No," Edelgard admitted. "I tried to convince people to swear unconditional loyalty to me, and then maybe I would have been honest with them. I am no Emperor. I am a failure."

"At least you might have been honest with them then," Rhea said. "I didn't even let Cichol...Seteth...in on my plans. I only even let Byleth in the night before you attacked."

"He was right to choose you. I would have only led him astray." Edelgard sighed. "I spoke with you because Hubert told me that once I understood you, and you understood me, the way forward would present itself."

"Did it?" Rhea asked.

"Yes. We tried to change the world on our own, and it did not work," Edelgard told her. "We need more help. And I think I know where to start."