Mako's Message: I don't know why I chose this one to post... It's one of my favorites though. For someone who loves Edeleth, I sure seem to write tragic versions of it. It'll probablly be worth it in the end though. Probably. Oh well... I'm gonna need to put some real work in tomorrow so I don't run out of these anytime soon.
#8 - An Idyllic End
In the throne room of the palace at the imperial capital of Enbarr, a long and hard fought battle was over.
Edelgard struggled to keep herself from falling, holding herself up with her sword, both hands wrapped around it's handle, her ax lay abandoned on the ground, having grown too weary to wield it's great power what felt like ages ago. The exhaustion she felt was almost worse than the defeat itself. The few wounds she sustained were minor, and she doubted even all of them together would be life threatening, unless she intentionally left them uncleaned and untreated. Truly, despite the heavy stakes, including their own life, Byleth, her treasured Teacher, seemed to be avoiding any fatal blows, pushing only hard enough to make sure she could not retreat. It was hard for her to believe, but it felt like they were seeking only to subdue her, despite the fact that no one else would accept anything less than her immediate execution.
Still, she found herself beaten, weary and weak, struggling simply to not collapse onto the floor.
Byleth stood before her, their face a mask of indifference. It had been a long time since she'd seen a real expression on their face, and she regretted the possibility that it was her own actions that had reverted them back to this. Not that it mattered.
At the sound of approaching footsteps, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, searching for words that would say the most in the seconds she surely had left. She looked up when the steps stopped in front of her, prepared to speak her last words, only to be stopped short at the sight of a small bottle being held out to her. She looked at it, confused, because surely it wasn't some healing concoction, but what else could they be offering at a time like this?
"I offer you a peaceful death."
Ah. Poison.
She gripped her sword tighter with one hand and used the other to brush the offering away, "I may be defeated, but I still have too much pride to end my own life."
"It is the bottle or the sword, Edie, and if you drink this all your pain will go away, your body will relax, fall asleep, and then your heart will stop beating. The sword will be far less pleasant."
"I don't care," she said turning her head away, "A death in combat standing for my ideals is far preferable than giving up to die in my sleep."
Byleth didn't respond at first, but after a moment they said, "If you insist on dying by my actions..."
At the sound of the stopper being removed, she turned her eyes back only to have them widen in shock as Byleth put the bottle to their own lips and drained the bottle. They grabbed her chin while she still gaped in shock and leaned to kiss her. The sensation of their lips against hers, something she'd hesitated to even imagine at the best of time, almost blinded her to the poison flowing into her mouth. The kiss went on longer than necessary to simply force the poison on her, and when it did she swallowed.
If that was the chosen punishment from her Teacher, then so be it.
Byleth, still gripping her chin, wiped away a stray drop from her lips before standing and stepping to her side.
"Stand," they said, putting a hand under her arm and lifting. Utterly defeated and accepting her fate as a dead woman walking, she followed Byleth's urging to stand and walk with them to the steps leading to the throne, where they sat and brought her down gently to lay in their arms, head resting on their chest. It had been a long time since she had felt like crying, but embraced as she was, feeling like the student she was nearly six years ago, she couldn't help feeling like maybe this wasn't such a bad ending for her.
The pain was already leaving her.
Byleth held her close, stroking her hair and rocking her gently, "I want you to listen to me, and try to imagine what I say."
"Yes Professor," she said reflexively, starting to feel just the slightest bit drowsy.
"I want you to imagine a house, a small one, only one bedroom, but one is enough for us," the implication made her eyes widen, and almost broke through the sleepiness she felt, "And set by a lake. Can you see it?"
"I know just the place," she said, nestling into their beloved professor's arms.
"It's far from Enbarr, but messengers seeking your counsel arrive all the same, even though you've abdicated the throne."
Edelgard's eyes opened wide as she gasped, though they closed again with a smile on her face.
"We take long walks around the lake almost every day, or we ride through the hills, and sometimes we sit together on a small dock, dangling our toes in the water while I catch fish for our dinner."
Contended noises came from the nearly sleeping woman, letting Byleth know they'd been heard.
"As time passes the messengers become fewer and fewer, leaving us to each other, for the rest of our days…"
Byleth could feel the steady but increasingly shallow breath from their former student, assuring them the poison was swiftly doing it's job. They leaned down and placed a soft kiss to her temple, before whispering in her ear, "Farewell, El."
Byleth turned their face to the ceiling, not willing to look upon the dying girl. Though their face might as well have been a porcelain mask, tears formed at the corner of their eyes, threatening to spill across their cheeks.
Seteth was the first to approach, not sure what to say, but decided on what he was sure was the most pressing issue, "Will you be okay?"
Byleth turned to have him and the tears spilled down their cheeks, "I'll be fine. It had to be done."
Though they were obviously distraught, Seteth felt he needed to push further, to be sure he was understood, "I do mean from the poison. Are you sure you didn't swallow any? Do you need an antidote? Should we bring a healer?"
Byleth coughed in what Seteth thought might have been a laugh, though he had no idea what could be found humorous in this situation.
"I will be fine Seteth. It's not normally a poison, but a medicine. It helps one to sleep and relaxes the muscles. In a high enough dose however, it forces you to sleep and will relax all your muscles until even your heart stops beating. But even if it does cause me to fall asleep, my heart was never beating in the first place so I'm sure I'll be fine."
