Edelgard moved across the darkened hallways, keeping to the shadows. The moon and stars had dimmed as a few small clouds drifted across the sky.

The clank of a guard's armor sounded ahead. Edelgard turned a corner into an alleyway, hiding behind a crate. The guard was humming an unrecognizable tune under his breath, and was holding a lantern, which creaked with every step he took. The guard paused at the entrance of the alleyway. His humming grew louder, and the lantern's light grew brighter. Edelgard held her breath and pressed into the wood.

The guard walked into her field of vision, eyes locked ahead, and passed her without bothering to inspect the crates.

Edelgard exhaled and turned back to her path. Before long, she arrived at the gardens. The gazebo's pale columns with peculiar light.


With a flash of magic, Arundel and Edelgard appeared in his underground fortress. Peculiar lights raced through the strange grooves in the equally alien stone. They were in a hallway that stretched forward, ending at a smooth metal wall. Edelgard looked behind her. The hallway extended, further and further back, until it vanished into the dim lights pulsing along the walls.

"Come along, Edelgard." Arundel began walking forward. After a moment, Edelgard followed. When they reached the wall, it split open in less than a second, revealing a large, dimly lit chamber. As Edelgard stepped through, there was a hiss. She turned around to see the wall had reformed.

"We have arrived." Arundel's voice brought Edelgard's attention back to the room. Large pillars rose from the floor and into a dark ceiling. Light, even as it danced in rhythm across the walls, was noticeably dimmer than it had been in the hallway.

Edelgard squinted. "Why are the lights less bright here?"

"That," A deep voice rumbled from the shadows. "Is to spare my throbbing head." A hunched figure sat low in a heavy metal chair; his body wrapped in thin robes. Ragged, partially groomed hair grew long, framing an old face with sunken eyes, filled with a quiet determination. Thin tubes ran through the chair and into his robes, pumping a strange liquid in and out of the man. He was in a position that haunted Edelgard's memories and nightmares. "Come closer. We must speak."

Edelgard kept her feet still and expression blank. "Who are you?"

A grunt brushed past the man's lips. "I can be one of two people. A hapless nobody conscripted by our mutual friend," His hand outstretched, past the tubes and straps reaching into his flesh. Magic flared. Edelgard's breath hitched. "Or someone more."

The light of the Crest of Flames danced in ancient King Nemesis' hand. Edelgard took a step closer.


Edelgard's eyes darted around the garden. No trace of any guard or drunken student. She turned back to the gazebo. The glare of light on the columns was too pale to be the torchlight. Too green.

Edelgard took another step into the gazebo. Memories danced in her ear.

"Wasn't there something under there?"

For a fraction of a second, she saw a flash of bright green.

The only thing out of place was the strange green artifact at the gazebo-

"There's this weird section underground that Shai refuses to tunnel through."

Edelgard breathed in. She stretched out her hand. The Crest of Flames ignited in her hand. She pushed her hand forward, further and further. "I know I saw something." Edelgard whispered. "I know Byleth was here." She felt her hand slowing. She forced it to press on. "I know something is hidden." Her hand kept reaching forward. Edelgard closed her eyes. "So stop taunting me. Stop making me second guess myself." Still nothing. Edelgard grit her teeth. "Show me the truth!"

Edelgard's hand stopped against something hard. Her eyes darted open. A strange metallic sphere floated above the ground. Across its surface, a mess of carvings peeled away a soft metal layer, revealing a glowing green core. Edelgard pressed her palms against the cool metal surface. The sphere seemed to hum with a quiet…something. Edelgard could not describe the strange feeling the soft green glow gave.

Edelgard let herself breathe. After a moment, she flexed her palms. "Since asking worked so well the first time…can you…" She swallowed, then exhaled. "Take me to where Byleth is."

In an instant, Edelgard could no longer feel the orb against her hands. The world around her faded to darkness. Before she had time to panic, dark green stone materialized around her, forming a platform of untouched, perfectly carved masonry. Columns and railings formed around the platform, the color of jade and power.

In the center of the platform was a throne, it's back stretching high into the ceiling. And on that throne sat Byleth, her head lulled and eyes closed.


Nemesis' blood red eyes burnt brighter as Edelgard approached his steel chair. "I'm sure you have questions. Ask. I will answer."

"H-how…" Edelgard did not swallow. "How is this possible? How could you be Nemesis, King of Liberation? Did you truly wield the Sword of the Creator?"

"The sword of the thief…"

"Even if you had survived your battle with Saint Seiros, you would be over a thousand years old by now! Why didn't you do anything up till now? Why-"

Nemesis raised his hand and let out a sigh. "I think a great many questions can be answered by simply saying that Agarthan technology is advanced. Fantastical. Beyond the comprehension of you and I." Nemesis adjusted in his seat, looking over Edelgard's shoulder. "But never good enough when you actually need it."

Edelgard looked back. Arundel expressed a dutifully shame. He almost made it seem genuine.

"I've been stuck in an iron shell for a thousand years, slowly clawing my way back from death." Nemesis took a deep breath. "It has been-" His mouth twisted. "-An experience I would only wish on my worst enemy."

Edelgard looked at the tubes running up into Nemesis' garments. A bubbling liquid was slowly pumping into his veins. It was dark. Thick. There was a faint odor of iron.

Edelgard's eyes darted back to Nemesis'. "Why am I here? What do you want from me?"

"Because-" Nemesis stopped to cough. "We have-" He coughed again, wheezing and hacking. Arundel rushed to his side.

"King Nemesis, let me-"

Nemesis' fist shot next to Arundel's face. Arundel froze, then took a step backward. Nemesis let out one last trail of coughs and settled back into his chair. "We have a common interest, you and I." He spoke slower, more deliberately. "We both bear the Crest of Flames. We both have to endure him." His head jerked at Arundel. "And we both want the church of Seiros destroyed." But his eyes never left hers. "I've been told a story has been passed down from your father, and his father before him."

"My father has told me many stories."

Nemesis snorted. "About me, and Seiros. About our war, and all the lies her church has told. That Lycaon brat always knew how to hold a grudge."

Edelgard's lips pressed together, but she did not jump at the bait. "I'm here now. What do you want from me?"

Nemesis shifted backward, pushing into his chair. "Seiros is still alive. She still runs her church, and the rest of the world with it."

"Arundel said as much."

"But he didn't tell you what she took." Nemesis' hands gripped his armrests. "Before Seiros threw my kingdom into chaos, we were the pinnacle of invention. Cities were built, not with back breaking toil, but with machines that could lift hills away. Blasting powder could do the work of a hundred quarrymen in an instant. We mapped all the stars in the sky and saw the surface of alien worlds!"

A creaking sound ripped through the air. Nemesis paused to loosen his grip. "We invented medicines that could cure the common man of any ailment, instead of forcing them to seek a priest for magic. We did all these things, and so much more." He exhaled with force. "And now I learn that Seiros swept it all away and left my legacy as nothing more than a madman bent on destroying my own allies and kingdom."

Edelgard's eyes widened. She quietly crossed her arms behind her back. Her pulse was racing. If this was true…

"I don't tell you this to try and impress you, or to just tell you that things were better in my time." Nemesis paused to adjust some of the tubes racing up his arms. The liquid flow slowed at his touch. "I'm telling you this to convince you that even if I'm at his mercy-" He jerked his hand at Arundel. "-I want one thing, and one thing alone. I want to rip apart Seiros' church, brick by brick. I want to free my long-suffering people from her chokehold. I want to expose every lie she ever told to the world and watch the sand she built her opulence on shift." Nemesis leaned forward, his red eyes gleaming. "I want Seiros dead. And I will do whatever is needed to rid the world of that smug bitch."

Edelgard dug her thumbs into her palms. She did not dare allow her face to show emotion. If this was some cruel ploy by Arundel to fray her nerves, he was dangerously close to succeeding. "I share your scorn for the church. If what you say is true, their crimes are magnified tenfold." She put what steel she could muster into her voice. "But what is it you actually want from me?"

"You never lose focus, do you girl?" Nemesis let out a dry laugh that morphed into a cough. He pounded his chest, slowly regaining control of his breath.

Arundel spoke up. "We have learned that Archbishop Rhea is planning to attack us. She will attempt to destroy our base and all that reside in it."

"Your uncle plots my death. I plan to kill him first, and raze his laboratories to the ground." Byleth hummed.

Edelgard held her breath. "How can you be so certain? And why don't you just take all your equipment and abandon the base?"

"Much of our technology is hardwired into the very walls. It would take years to relocate even a fraction of our necessary equipment to another base. Not to mention," Arundel gestured to Nemesis, who let out one last wet cough. "King Nemesis is currently immobile. Any attempt to move will greatly endanger his life."

"What I need you to do," Nemesis took a long breath. "Is to strike the power behind the throne. To throw a wrench in Seiros' plan. To strike at someone Arundel's agents could never touch." He beckoned with his hand. Arundel snapped his fingers, and the wall beside him opened by some strange magic, folding on top of itself again and again, forming a table. A canister slowly arose from inside the table, the metal parting like sand against the glass. Inside the canister was a dark, murky liquid. Next to the canister was a long, gleaming syringe. "To silence someone who will never allow Seiros to be judged by you or me. Someone who has seen the future, but never mentioned me."

"What I need you to do," Nemesis rumbled. "Is to remove Byleth Eisner."


Byleth was still in her chair. Her breathing was silent. The only sign that betrayed life was a stray hair, swaying to the rhythm of her breath.

Edelgard bit her lip. After a moment's pause, she raised her foot. In another moment, she put her foot down, softly as she could. The stone echoed under the footfall, softly but audibly. Edelgard studied Byleth for any reaction. The misplaced hair did not lose its rhythm.

She took another step. And another. And another. She stood at the foot of the throne now. Byleth did not react. Edelgard swallowed.

"…Byleth?" Edelgard whispered. No change. Edelgard pressed her lips together. "I want you to know…whatever I do, it isn't personal."

Edelgard studied Byleth for a reaction. None appeared. "Between you pushing me for the last few months and my uncle pulling me wherever he pleased for years, I've…" Edelgard stared down at her hands. "I knew what I was getting into when I started down this path. I knew that I must sacrifice myself and others. That I must suffer discontent and indignity. That I would awash the continent in blood for the hope of a better world."

Edelgard reached into her belt and pulled out the syringe. "But now, a new choice has been thrust upon me. And for once…"

The black liquid inside the syringe looked so familiar now that Edelgard looked at it. The concoction was cold to her fingertips. In the light of the chamber, the oily, almost metallic color gleamed just like it did in her nightmares.

The device shivered in Edelgard's hand. "I will make my own decisions. Not Arundel's. Not Nemesis'. Not yours. Mine, and mine alone."

Edelgard raised the syringe to Byleth's eyeline. The professor remained unconscious. Edelgard's hand was still quivering.

Her eyes darted to the railing. Below stretched an unlit darkness, ready to swallow anything whole. Edelgard looked back to Byleth. Her neck bare and unguarded. It would only take a second. Her pulse raced. The needle rattled against the glass. The darkness below stretched wider.

"I know you will make the correct decision. Humanity's future is in the balance, after all."

The Crest of Flames sparked to life in her hand. Edelgard stared at it. She could try to peer into the future, or one of her many pasts, or whatever she had been seeing or hearing. Surely she had enough time to compare notes. To take account of what decisions she could make. Surely this was not the first time she had been put in this position. If only she could weigh the consequence of each action more thoroughly. If only there was an easier way to make this decision.

*Clang*

Edelgard jumped. Her dagger had somehow gone loose and fallen to the ground. She rushed to pick it up before it could make any more noise, but her foot shot out in haste and kicked the dagger even further away. Her back now to Byleth, Edelgard now saw the cavernous room a massive stairwell led down to. Her dagger landed on each step, the scrape of metal hitting stone growing louder with each second, before finally falling silent.

Edelgard's head slowly turned back. Byleth's eyebrows were furrowing. Edelgard froze, not daring to breathe.

Byleth's fingers twitched against the armrests, before exhaling. Tension left her face, and she returned to peaceful slumber.

Edelgard allowed herself to exhale, slowly. She peered down into the floor. With another breath, she began the long walk down the steps.

The room below was lit with magic, the lights dimly glowing from hundreds of glowing blue stones lining the columns from floor to ceiling. As Edelgard grew closer, she began to see what it hid. Small tombstones stretched from wall to wall, ancient green stone softly reflecting the pale light.

Where on earth was this place? Who was buried here?

As Edelgard reached the bottom, her eyes darted about the floor, before locking on to the dagger's metallic sheen, standing out amongst the stones. She inspected the blade. The handle wrappings had frayed and snapped from the fall. The metal was scratched and tarnished from impacts it was not meant to take.

Edelgard sheathed the blade. It could be mended. All it would take was some time and a modicum of effort. But for a blade that had been with her for so many years, it would be effort well spent.

Edelgard looked about the cemetery one last time before ascending the stairs. Despite the ominous air, the masonry was a sight to behold. The deep green stones gave the space an almost ethereal quality. The silence had an intangible feeling of calm- perhaps that was not the right word. It was more unnerving than any garden Edelgard had visited, but there was a strange feeling all its own. The tombstones were all unmarked, without any name or sign of identification, only adding to the strange mix of unease and quiet. The lights only enhanced the enchanted quality, bringing out a lush turquoise palette, even with one section under a column being more granite colored-

Edelgard blinked. The granite was something else. Something that did not belong amongst the decorations. She walked closer to investigate. It was a statue, facing away from her, more than twice Hubert's height. It was of a woman, that much was certain. She held a sword and shield, and a long braid of hair ran down her back. But Edelgard's eyes widened as they reached the top of the statue- a set of Wyvern wings were placed atop her head.

Rhea standing above her, fists raised, that same crown perched behind her hair-

Edelgard rushed to the other side of the statue, dirt and mud visibly drying at its base. The woman's face was lifelike and stern, staring ahead with a grim certainty, but angled subtly enough for the viewer to guess the woman was looking down at them. Her ears were hidden behind long hair and a crown of flowers.

"When your time comes, you must put aside weakness, and walk the leader's path. Byleth will become an obstacle that we must overcome."

It was undoubtedly Rhea, carved in stone centuries ago.


…et…

Byleth's eyes shifted. Something was waking her from slumber. It felt like someone shaking her brain. Still, the pleasant warmth of a dreamless sleep kept her asleep, if just barely.

…leth…

Byleth felt another tug at her mind. She ignored it. Creating Lysithea's potion was an exhausting process, requiring an enormous amount of magic. If the Agarthans tried to send an agent to cause havoc, they lacked enough inside leverage in Garreg Mach to cause any harm to any student or fellow professor. And because of the few times the Agarthans had grown brave and desperate enough to try an assassination against her, they could not reach the tomb and would be left fruitless. None of their agents had the subtlety or skill to get past the monastery's tightened defenses in wake of the Rite of Rebirth.

…Byleth…!

She felt a pang of concern. Who could possibly be calling her name in the tomb? Rhea and Seteth were the only ones who knew she had access to it. Who could be calling her name now when she was alone in-

Byleth's eyes opened to see what Sothis was trying to shake her awake for. At first, her vision blurred, in and out, small blobs of light and dark forming. Byleth blinked, and some of her vision cleared. A figure was standing in front of her. Byleth raised her hand to wipe away some of the sleep-

But she could not. Byleth frowned and tried again. There was no response from either of her arms. Her legs were just as unmovable. She tried to wiggle her fingers, but she couldn't feel them.

Byleth, I can't turn back time!

Byleth's vision finally came into focus. Someone was standing in front of her, eyes wide and arms trembling as they pressed something against Byleth's neck.

Byleth made her own effort to activate the divine pulse, but to no avail. Sleep was returning to claim her, but this time it would offer no comfort or rest.

…yleth, please, wa…

Byleth blinked one last time. The face was familiar. Pale white hair and lavender eyes framed a trembling mouth.

Byleth felt herself smile as unconsciousness rushed in. "It had to be you, didn't it?"

Edelgard's eyes widened once more, and her hand rushed to shake what Byleth guessed was her shoulder as her vision faded.

And then, darkness consumed all her senses.


As always, thanks to Dox for beta reading!

And so it begins. Get ready for a ride, because this was the last station of cannon for a good long while.