My apologies for the delay. I still plan on continuing this story. I just got, uh, distracted with things. Anyways, don't be shy about any feedback. I have a plan in mind, but I want to make sure the characters and pacing are to people's liking.
The wait was bearable. Even if her very own life was in peril, she still found her first semblance of sleep after the tragedy at Derdriu. Her eyes longed to shut after spending the previous day sobbing. With a promise of Lysithea's freedom and her own chance at proving herself, there was also good news to lull her into the momentary peace. It was hardly much, but the woman's body gladly accepted the chance. Though, such a lull could not last forever. The woman woke up with a cold sweat before dawn, roused by a nightmare. One that she knew all too well.
Her green eyes glanced around her cell, frantic for something. Her sword. She needed her sword. The vivid memory of a great beast loomed in her head. The dream... the nightmare dated as far back as the mission to subdue Miklan, Sylvain's brother. The graphic image of the man morphing into a monster shook Byleth truthfully. Fear was a rare emotion for her, but the man's metamorphosis was far from pleasant. The first time viewing it was no issue. It was when the thought of sharing his fate entered her brain that her sleep was disrupted.
Her nightmare entailed her holding the Failnaught, picked from Claude's corpse. The relic then deemed her unworthy and swallowed her in its darkness. Even with her major crest, there was nothing she could do as the beast enveloped her. Without her heart, this dark creature then would lash out on her former allies. Leonie, Ignatz, and Hilda already amongst the carnage. After a long guttural growl, her demonic red sights would turn to the scions of the Kingdom. Thankfully for her own sanity, the horror ended before her claws could lay a scratch on the remaining alumnus of the officer academy.
Her ragged breaths caused her chest to look like it was beating. Her eyes glanced to the outside of her cell, somewhat hoping to spot a guard and beg for water. Despite her thinking it unlikely, she blinked and gaped at a silhouette outside of her space. Her eyes squinted as she tried to make out the other's figure. As much as she tried to focus on the person, their presence eluded her. Seeing as how her eyes were not cooperating, she cleared her throat.
The gesture did not go unnoticed as the being turned in the direction of Byleth. The darkness obscured the person, but it was obvious by the height and build that the person was a grown man. However, his attire was far from that of a guard's. His identity was beyond her until he finally spoke up, "Go back to rest, teach. It's still too early and you have a big day ahead." His tone rang with familiarity in her ears. Her eyes shot fully open, uncaring of if she could not make out the faintest detail. She just needed to take in his shape.
"I don't wish to let you disappear again." She answered, her fatigue did somewhat to slur her response. Her attention was wholly on the figure. Had she not spent the previous day crying, she might have teared up in that moment.
"Missed me that much?" He snickered as he took the glance to lean against the set of bars across from her. The low visibility did little to shake her imagination. Without even seeing him, his expression and posture were not lost to her.
His obvious teasing earned a genuine nod of affirmation from Byleth, a meek frown adorned her face with the confession. "Would you believe me if I said I had wished for you to haunt me?" Her words earned a laugh from the man. Unsurprisingly, his amusement had no effect on the sleeping woman in the other cell.
Once finally calmed, the man flashed a smile, "I'm not haunting you. Though, I suppose most people might consider this a haunt. Hmmm, well, I only came to remind you to relax. I figured now was a better time than last night." The woman did not disagree with the sentiment, being that her raw emotions may not have mingled well with the sight. Her shred of hope kept her from falling into the same level of despair. It did not do her heart well to believe in her delusions, but it was a momentary distraction.
"Will I... get to see you again?" She pleaded, not wanting to close her heavy eyes. While her nightmare had terrorized her thoughts, the specter's visage was almost hypnotic. His voice carried a spell that allowed her to find respite.
He mused at her question, unsure of how to answer the woman. It was as if her own delusions had better judgment than her, "If you truly need me, I will appear. Let's leave it at that now, teach." For the faintest of moments, she could make out the apparition's smile. It was a mere figment of her imagination, but it held true to the man. She mirrored his expression as she finally allowed slumber to overtake her.
"It's a promise." She murmured before her eyes shut. No longer oppressed by her nightmares, the woman was able to wake to the tiniest glow of light from the new day and a set of familiar voices. Byleth groggily sat herself up and stretched, unbothered by the restraints on her. She was to be freed of them eventually, no point in allowing them to shackle her to despair.
Her eyes wandered to where the sounds came from. Much like she suspected, it was people entering the prison from the outside. Her guess seemed the most probable, but she still waited in bated breath to see who was approaching. After all, this next step was just as much life or death as her harrowing escape and appeal to Sylvain. Everything hinged on her ability to convince Ingrid and Felix to entertain her words.
Sure enough, it was three faces she recognized instantly. The first and most obvious, Sylvain, and two old faces that she nearly did not recognize upon her first glance. The golden blonde hair matched with emerald eyes invoked memories of the noble of Galatea. The dark blue hair alongside the amber eyes brought forth thoughts of the swordsman of Fraldarius. "Ingrid, Felix, it is good to see you both." She offered a tempered smile, not willing to place heavy expectations on them from the outset.
"I wish I could say the same," Ingrid huffed, clearly not yet convinced of Byleth's innocence. It did not hurt, but the former teacher would be remiss to say it did not sting. The intensity of the blonde's gaze was in vast contrast to Sylvain's sheepishness. Felix, on the other hand, looked neutral.
"Ingrid, I assure you-" The redhead tried to chime in, but his thought was put to a halt by a sidelong glare of the female.
The woman sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Do you even hear yourself, Sylvain? You told me you believed her because you saw her crying. Can you please tell me what kind of excuse is that?" Her voice was mixed with both concern and frustration. "Need I remind you that we are at war with an enemy willing to go any means to bring about her conquest?" Her points were... valid, so valid in fact that it was why Byleth had deserted, to begin with. Her wariness was much in line with her own thoughts.
Sylvain nodded his head and placed his hands up to motion for her to ease up. It was not looking like he could sway her, "I, uh... You just had to see her reaction. It was not acting, honestly. I have no doubts." His defense was... lackluster. It was to the point where Byleth herself had to intervene, lest she lose the precious ground she already made.
"I know you don't trust me, but I want you to know that I don't disagree with your statement. Edelgard... No, the emperor's methods are not in line with my values." Byleth confessed, unwilling to rely on the redhead's words alone. She had to make her case before the company.
Yet, her words did little to ease the other. If anything, she spurred the flames of contempt. "What values? The values that turned you against everyone? I admit we were not close, but I saw what your betrayal did to everyone. Even if you were not our professor, your presence was felt by everyone. Unlike Professor Hanneman or Professor Manuela, you turned your blade on Rhea. That is just... not honorable." Unlike Sylvain, Ingrid made plenty of use of bringing back uncomfortable memories. Even if she ultimately sided with Edelgard, the act of going against Rhea was not simple.
The woman momentarily choked on her words, unsure of how to respond. Her emotions flared up once again, but her talk during the witching hour certainly molded her resolve. "My values were to protect my class. Turning my sword on Edelgard and Hubert would have been a greater betrayal to me than challenging Rhea. However, I can no longer stand this. I did not want this war."
"What did you do to stop the war? Disappear for five years? Reinvigorate Edelgard's war effort? Kill Claude and effectively end the Alliance?" Ingrid shot back with great ferocity, her wariness not lost on anyone present. Much like Sylvain, her assumption was based on an attempt to assassinate the king and archbishop.
Had she not the talk with the apparition, she would have crumbled then and there. Instead, her eyes matched Ingrid's intensity, "I claim responsibility for the fall of the Alliance. That is my noose, but I will bring about the end of the Empire as retribution. I came to Arianrhod to turn myself in and be a useful tool. I want to be used." Her words were as sharp as a sword. Like a sword, she slashed Ingrid's argument. The woman was not convinced, but she was without retort.
However, it was not Ingrid's turn to speak. It was the swordsman that scoffed, "A tool? Retribution? You sound just like the boar king." Every pair of eyes shot to Felix, unsure of how to react to the other's logic. As much as it did not signal his trust one way or the other, the blue-haired man was hung up on her similarities to the king. "I thought you better than that, Byleth."
The aforementioned woman gaped. She was at a complete loss on what to say, "What do you mean? Can you elaborate more?" Her hardened resolve was uprooted by Felix's odd tendency to critique his childhood friend. The quirk was infamous, much the same way as her student, Ferdinand, was with Edelgard during their academy days.
"I do not care if I can trust you or not. I simply find your attitude disagreeable. You're hung up on the dead, right?" The comment had hit Byleth harder than she imagined it would. Her talk with the spirit did nothing in disputing the claim.
Her silence allowed for Felix to continue his thought, "You don't seem to care for who rules Fodlan. Rather, you just wish for atonement." His idea was not... unfounded. Her guilt and her delusions too added to his argument. Her own argument for survival was based around being the king's sword. "You wish to aid us, but you're nothing more than an accessory. It's humiliating. What happened to the person I often sparred with? The person who overcame her father's death and stood tall for everyone in a time of uncertainty."
"I was the same person that went ahead and betrayed the monastery..." Byleth murmured feebly, unable to formulate a valid response to the man's question. Truthfully, she had not expected this kind of pushback. To her credit, neither Ingrid nor Sylvain did either.
She took in a breath and was about to speak, but a different voice came forth instead. "It's not about avenging the dead! It's about preventing countless more deaths. You may question her reasoning all you like, but the professor wants to see this war end and do so on your side!" Lysithea no longer seemed satisfied staying quiet and listening to the exchange. Rather, her exasperated tone told that she was sick of waiting entirely.
Felix shifted his gaze to the white-haired girl, "What makes you think that? Suppose I trust you not to be a spy, why do you trust someone who chases ghosts?" His antagonisms did little to compose the female. If anything, he spurred her ire further.
"I don't care what her reason is! She may have selfish reasons for all I know, but I will not doubt my trust for her." It was not exactly a ringing endorsement for Byleth's mental health, but the former professor gladly accepted the other's words. It placated her to hear the trust be reaffirmed.
Her explanation, however, earned a dismissive scoff from the swordsman, "What do we gain from that trust then? Some broken mercenary with a relic? There's a limit to how much a detached person can provide." It was clear that his stance stemmed from a utility.
Lysithea tapped her foot against the ground repeatedly, quickly growing impatient with his answers. "Then, will you leave her to be executed?"
"To me, she's already dead." His words caused everyone to gasp, including both Sylvain and Ingrid. The blonde, despite her wariness, faced a visible whiplash at how the blue-haired man's answer. To Byleth, his words were not far from the truth. While she was able to grasp once again her will to live, it was not long ago that she thought her life meaningless. Her desire before her talk had her wavering on the idea of dying for the sake of protest. Surely the emperor may understand her wrongdoings with her advisor's death. Though in retrospect, Edelgard's mindset of the ends justifies the means likely would not have been shaken by her death.
"That's enough, Felix!" A second collective gasp came with the fact that Sylvain interjected. Both Ingrid and Felix redirected their attention to the redhead promptly, "How can you expect anyone to get better if you continue to cast them into despair?" Byleth was no fool. She knew such sentiments went beyond her circumstances. Seeing as how Ingrid looked to be in agreement with the redhead, it was obvious that the conversation came to include the king.
The swordsman was not having it, "Well, your complacency does nothing! You continue to put your faith in him- in her... in them." It seemed that the blue-haired man was not going to dance around the other subject. He gave an exasperated sigh, "You encourage them. You give them no reason. I will fight for Faerghus, but I do not blindly accept the king's judgments."
Ingrid blinked at the other's words, "Please refrain from speaking like that. If someone overhears your tirade, questions may arise around your allegiance." Despite such a warning, Felix merely rolled his eyes.
The infighting between the friends was not what Byleth had hoped for her. She needed a gambit, some sort of trump card to break through to the duo. Willing to go any length necessary, she still had one trick left up her sleeve, "Felix, what if I can offer to save Dimitri?" Her brazen language did not sit well with Ingrid or Sylvain. She was playing into the blue-haired man's language.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" Felix was just as put off by her words. Yet, his icy glare did little to keep her frozen in place. Her strategy gave her the resolve to not sink into the floor.
"Maybe it is not my place, but I was once a professor. I can guide him. I won't lie. I do not know the extent of his condition, merely know of your fixation in calling him a boar and running into him at the Battle of Garreg Mach." Her knowledge of Dimitri's state of mind was minimal at best, but she listened. She believed Felix in some regards. She was the greatest oddity at the academy at that time. To everyone, she was enigmatic and aloof. It was a challenge to either read or predict her. There was a certain point that nobody noticed, her keen eye. Even if she was primarily invested in her Eagles, the woman made a habit of conversing with every soul within the monastery's walls. Case in point, her time spent listening to Felix.
The man was prickly as they came to the academy, but there was always a method to his madness. She never thought much of the moniker he gave on the prince, but the year spent together allowed for her to see the deeper meaning. It was not hard to put together with Dimitri's passive responses and how fiercely he was protective of his classmates.
Her eyes returned to his grimace, "I could care less of the boar. And if I did, I would be a fool to have him be the company of our enemy."
As much as he tried to shut her out, Byleth had his own words to use against him, "Tell me, Felix, what do you think of your king? What is the word you always use?" There was no determination, no desire to prove him wrong. The former professor knew better than to stoke the man's ire. In order to get through to the other, she needed to act as his equal.
Her even tone did enough to keep from snapping or shrugging off her question, "He's a boar." This discussion was not making Sylvain or Ingrid any happier, but there was a morbid curiosity in their eyes. The keen eye of the mint-haired woman noted their expressions. She stored the information. They were not daft to this point of contention.
Byleth only hoped that she was correct in trusting Felix's judgment. When she saw Dimitri at the academy, she had little reason to think anything was wrong with him. However, the blue-haired man seemed more certain than ever on the subject.
"And, what did you tell me moments ago? There is a limit on what a detached person can do." Her logic was scathing. Without emotions to fall back, Byleth relied on her intuition to navigate her through tight spots. "Do you truly think you stand a chance against Edelgard as things stand?" A dark thought entered the woman's head. With Claude's death, there was not a single sane mind amongst leadership left in Fódlan if Felix's words were true.
The resonant point had Felix's falling over his words, allowing another voice to speak up. "I don't know what you two are going on about, but I can assure you that the professor can turn the tide of this war." It was the white-haired woman that made the remark. All attention focused on her thereafter, "Her insight will be enough to tear apart the Empire from the inside."
Considering that she was in the process of being free, the company did seem to try to take her words a bit more seriously than Byleth. Along with a lack of rebuttal, there was no affirmation either. It appeared that the woman had the chance to explain herself, "Who knows Edelgard better than her professor? Who was the one to break the stalemate? Who is the one that the Empire's elite turn to? Who is it that cried for Claude?" The barrage of questions had everyone stiffen, the professor herself too.
She never saw herself at that level of importance. Her personal ties to the Black Eagle Strike Force and her former favorable status in the Church gave her value, but she was one person. She had a plan, but it was based heavily on luck. "Ingrid, Felix, and Sylvain, I... am not just asking for atonement or for you to believe in my change in allegiance. First and foremost, I want to end this war."
Felix recovered from the previous point, "How would you even go about that?" He posed the question, willing to at least entertain the thought. His sneer did not elate her, but no outright refusal was promising.
If there was any point in the conversation that mattered most, it was then. Ingrid and Sylvain both looked genuinely piqued. Her mind played back to the words she heard. She had no time to imagine her haunt, "I will kill Edelgard myself."
"Oh great, here we go again." Felix groaned, once again dismissive to her words. "You have to keep sounding just like him."
"That is my commitment to the cause. I will put down the monster that I nurtured. However, I will not simply kill her. I will undo her damage and restore Fodlan to peace." It was all so idealistic, nothing of substance. Byleth knew better than to fall back on empty promises or grandiose ideas. Her mint eyes gazed at her present company. Her trust in the four present was unquestionable, even if they were all her former enemies. It was not that they held her trust, but the three lions held the trust of Dimitri himself.
Sylvain was able to read the room and figuratively nudged the former professor, "What will that entail exactly?" Ingrid and Felix both were unconvinced by her intentions. Her motivation was not enough to justify the risk of trusting her.
All the company before her deserved the full truth. She could not tell all, lest there be a prying eye present on her. A few details needed to be omitted, but they had a right to her plan. "I seek to plunge the Empire into civil war. Faerghus will lead a decisive blow on Edelgard's faction while she is busied by infighting."
The premise was… ambitious to put it simply, but her contact had promised her the opportunity to strike the Empire's heart. "A civil war?" Ingrid echoed out in shock, likely unsure if she could believe the possibility.
"Division will be what fragments the Empire's forces and clears a path to Enbarr. The Great Bridge of Myrddin, Grounder, Fort Merceus, and the gates of Enbarr will be the Kingdom's in one fell swoop. They will grant us the chance to behead the Empire. I cannot reveal names, but I was prepared since my flight that my results alone could not bring a swift resolution." Byleth's explanation dragged on, harkening her back to her first lengthy lectures for the Black Eagles class.
The redhead, the one that believed Byleth of all people, stared in disbelief. It was bound to be a hard sell, even to her allies. Ingrid too looked at her like she was a madwoman, not that the reaction was unexpected. Felix all the while hummed and took in her words, "What makes you so certain about that?"
As long as he kept posing questions, it meant that she still had the opportunity to sway him, "Nothing is certain, but I have trust in my comrades. I trust that even if I am to be executed that you will still find use in my death. You can imagine that my death now would bring the Empire nothing." There was a sad smile on her face. As presumptuous as it was of her, Byleth genuinely wished to see her vision come to pass. With her lease on life extended, she was not about to accept her death. While she wanted badly to live, she found a bitter solace in how her death would not hamper them. And yet, she was willing to die for the sake of their trust in her words.
"Why are you so willing to settle for a meaningless death? Why do you act like it's an acceptable outcome?" Felix's question was different from the previous ones. He was not motivated by skepticism this time around.
Byleth's wiry smile gave the answer before her words could, "I want to save him, Dimitri, from sharing Claude's fate. I want to save all of you. And if my death is the only way, then so be it."
"If that's so, I will cut you down if you dare try something. I am not in the mood to have to watch some fool die a 'noble' death." It was clearly a threat, but Byleth did not know what to make of the implications of his statement. Was he truly implying what she believed to be the case?