Fire Emblem Three Houses: Five Years War
I don't own Fire Emblem Three Houses, or any of its characters. This will be a series of one-shots concerning the five years timeskip that occurs right as the war starts. It will contain spoilers for the Azure Moon storyline, and the supports of some characters.
I will treat everyone from the Black Eagles as being recruited by either the Golden Deer or the Blue Lion house, except Hubert who's impossible to recruit. I will attempt to put the shipping to the side as much as possible, but here's what you can expect: Dimitri/F!Byleth, Claude/Hilda, Ferdinand/Dorothea, Petra/Linhardt, Caspar/Bernadetta, Felix/Annette, Dedue/Flayn, Lorenz/Leonie, Sylvain/Ingrid, Lysithea/Cyril, Catherine/Seteth. It will also contain the Ashen Wolves, who will get a dedicated chapter.
I might operate some minor design changes for some of the characters who don't have any post timeskip designs (Catherine, Shamir, Seteth and Flayn for example).
That said, I hope you enjoy your read.
Chapter 17: ? "The Fodlàn that was" Year ?
"Angharad, take Shiva and Dagon and get the children inside!" Sothis ordered to her eldest daughter. The castle of Garreg Mach was already filled with people, so it wasn't surprising that there were tens of thousands tents outside of the walls. They were still safe behind the shield, but Sothis was not going to take chances.
"Mama?" Sothis heard from behind her.
She turned around and spotted her youngest daughter, holding a plushy as Sothis' soldiers scrambled around them. "What is it, Seiros?" the Goddess asked her daughter, gently approaching her to then lift her into her arms. "Mama I'm scared..." Seiros said, small tears forming as the sky emitted a flash and thunder roared right above the Castle.
"Everything will be fine, I swear..." Sothis smiled, which seemed to reassure Seiros, right before another thunderous explosions happened right besides the shields, which made Seiros whimper. The Goddess was straining her energy to keep the shield alive and expanding to as many people as possible, hoping none of the refugees had been hit. "Tell you what, Seiros, tomorrow night, we will go stargazing, how does that sound?" Sothis asked her daughter.
Seiros smiled "That sounds great!" Thunder roared yet again, Sothis' senses telling her this had been a direct hit to her defences. Seiros winced in her arms, but the Goddess was quick to reassure by putting a peck on her daughter's forehead.
This had the immediate effect intended, as Seiros fell asleep in her arms, right as another explosion hit the dome above Garreg Mach. She caught one of her sons by the sleeve "Could you please put your younger sister to bed, Anubis?"
Anubis complied and carried Seiros in his arms, before heading to her children's apartments "It will be done, Mother." He said as he turned around.
Now that Sothis was left alone in the main hall, she headed towards the gates, horrified to see that there was still a small batch of refugees running towards the shield, Typhon and Kronos blasting away some of the missiles before they hit the ground. Ra approached Sothis "It's going to be the last pack of refugees fleeing to Garreg Mach, what should we do next, Mother?"
Sothis frowned "Are you sure they are the last to come here, my son?" Ra shook his head "Most of them were killed by those blasted missiles before we could reach them in time. I'm sorry we failed you, Mother."
Sothis… snarled? The expression looked so foreign on her gentle face that Ra took a step back.
"I've had enough of this." She said, her tone stone cold. She started emitting golden light as she turned into her Divine Dragon form.
She took altitude above the Shield's dome, boosting her voice so she made sure everyone in Fodlàn would hear her.
"I have had enough with all of you! I bring tools and ideas to help you, yet this is how you repay my people and myself?! By torching the land you stand on and erasing your own people?! You would even annihilate the people who would seek shelter in my home!I have had enough of this senseless bloodshed and wanton destruction!"
"Which is why, I, Sothis, the Beginning, have decided to raze you from this land altogether! Think upon your sins and repent as death comes for you!"
Sothis let a powerful blast build up in her throat, feeling it sizzle in her throat, its luminescence shining through her scales. She saw some missiles still falling towards Garreg Mach, no doubt in a vain attempt to stop her. Once the blast had been sufficiently built up, she raised her head towards the sky, and roared as the flames burst from her mouth.
To most people, the light she was projecting was blinding, and it covered the entire sky over Fodlàn. With a thought, she changed the proprieties of the shield to avoid blinding the people she was currently protecting. The last of the liquid light was leaving her throat as the attack had its intended effect.
Sothis watched with sadness what the land she had come to love turned into: a nightmarish hellscape of flames and molten stones. What was happening in front of her had been similar to what she had seen in her journeys from her home planet. Like an uncaring star, the light engulfed the lands of Fodlàn, purging the surface and the immediate underground of all life due to its sheer heat and energy.
Once the blinding light died down, Sothis turned back into her human form and prepared herself for the task at hand. Despite Fodlàn having been turned into a grey landscape, she could still see the hellish nightmare that used to be the forest of Aillel burn in front of her.
The Goddess put both her hands in front of her, the Arcana of Time appearing before her. With great strain, she started her work.
Lakes began to flood anew, the Airmid flowing towards the Great Eastern Sea, grass started to grow again, dead trees plopped back up as Sothis' power coursed through the broken continent. Though it was consuming great amounts of her stamina, the Goddess then turned to the multiple hellish valleys those blasted missiles created.
Her hands began to shake as she was closing off the planet's crust. Sothis could feel her eyes dripping with blood. A headache was building, and her heartbeat turned irregular. She could feel her life energy being drained by the Arcana. The wind around her turned her green blood into fuel for the spell.
But that was no matter. This was the only way she could make Fodlàn a land people could live on again.
Her vision was getting blurry and she could feel her nose run with blood. Her breath got more and more difficult as she was getting to repair Aillel. Suddenly, Sothis choked, feeling her heart no longer providing power to her mortal body. She felt her body fall through the clouds as her vision got dark.
She woke up in darkness, surrounded by what she thought to be humidity, when suddenly, a voice, far away but familiar reached her ears. "You… How long do you intend to sleep? Your body is awake. Your eyes must open now, and you must find the strength to stand upon those legs of yours. Like so much rain, a pool of blood has fallen to the ground… As spears and arrows pierce the earth, it weeps. And even now…it weeps."
Indeed, Sothis could feel blood seeping into the soil, slowly but surely poisoning Fodlàn yet again.
"In order to survive, they kill. And so, the people of this world are lost in an abyss of suffering. They weep as well. The only one who truly knows the nature of such things is I… Or rather, you."
"Me?" Sothis asked back to the abyss, confused. "Are we not one and the same?"
The voice huffed "Of course not! You could not ever dream to be of my level in power!"
"Then… Who am I?"
The voice scoffed "Ironic that you of all people would ask me that…" She swore she could hear the voice smirk. "But I'm done coddling you. Now wake up, your companions need you..."
The darkness around her started to fade into light…
Ethereal Moon – Imperial Year 1185
Byleth woke up face to face with a complete stranger.
"Hey, a-are you awake?!" He asked, concerned. The Professor rubbed her eyes, realizing at the same time that her clothes were completely damp. "Yes, I am. Who are you?"
"I'm just a villager here. What are you doing in a place like this? Aren't you cold wearing just this?" The villager asked again, and indeed, Byleth suddenly realized it was freezing out here. It had been snowing? But that wouldn't make any sense…
The villager took her lack of response as a cue to continue "I honestly didn't expect to find someone floating away down the river… Garreg Mach is upstream of here, but that place was abandoned."
Byleth stared at him with wide eyes "Garreg Mach was abandoned? Why?" The villager frowned "You do know the Church of Seiros was chased out of it five years ago, right?"
If Byleth's heart could beat, it would've stopped for a moment there. "Five years…?" She asked, completely flabbergasted.
"Um, are you feeling all right? You didn't hit your head or anything did you? It's the Ethereal Moon of the year 1185. It's been nearly five years since the monastery fell. Tomorrow was supposed to be the Millennium Festival, but who's got time to think about things like that?"
The Millennium Festival…
She hadn't realized she said that out loud, the villager's words buzzing in her ears as she headed towards Garreg Mach monastery.
Five years…
She had been out for five years. No matter how many times she repeated it to herself, it sounded unreal. The last thought she had had been of panic as she fell into the chasm besides the Monastery. She could remember Rhea's scream. She could remember the smirk on that mage's face. She could remember the glimpse at her students' horrified faces. She could remember all of that as if it had happened yesterday...
And yet, it had been five years since the Battle of Garreg Mach?
Guilt invaded her every thoughts. Were her students safe?
Was Dimitri safe?
She hadn't been here in the last five years to guide them as she did back during their academy days… That made her quicken her pace towards the Monastery, along the snowy road.
Garreg Mach had seen better days, Byleth thought. Indeed, its walls were partly smashed in, while its ballistas and catapults had been broken down, no doubt because of the Imperial assault. There was an eerie silence to the place, which she couldn't help but compare to the days when the Academy was still open. There used to be cheery children running around the market, though now it only housed rotten fruits and rusted weapons.
Though the water was still running in the small pond, the mechanism bringing it from the canal had been damaged, providing water to the pond only periodically. When Byleth went through the kitchens, she was surprised to see how clean they were. Truly, the pans and utensils couldn't have been this clean if five years had gone by, right? The professor went up to the main hall, which had most of the tables where the students used to study smashed to pieces, added to the rubble of the broken ceiling. The Battle of Garreg Mach had certainly left its mark on the venerable building.
"I wish we could be together forever."
Those words had stirred something inside of Byleth. She couldn't recognize the feeling it caused back then and neither could she now. She started a small jog towards the Goddess' Tower, passing through the Cathedral's interior, not paying any attention to the rubble sitting in front of the altar.
As soon as she reached the small bridge, the smell of iron hit her nose. There had been a battle earlier here. Byleth skipped a few steps until she reached the top floor of the tower, to avoid stumbling on the dead Imperial soldiers.
At first, she only saw corpses littered around, until, piercing through the snowy clouds, the morning sun shone down on the room, revealing the sitting form of someone she could all too well recognize.
Byleth realized with horror that the prince was missing an eye, as he lifted his face to look at her. Rather than looking happy, angry, or frustrated, he just looked… confused and sullen. With knots in her stomach, the former professor approached Dimitri, stretching her hand to him.
He just looked away, seemingly frustrated, hiding his look behind his long and bloody blonde mane "I should have known… that one day… you would be haunting me as well…"
He then growled when Byleth didn't move "What must I do to be rid of you? I will kill that woman, I swear it. Do not look upon me with scorn in your eyes!"
Byleth bent down so she could be at Dimitri's eye level "Dimitri? Everything will be alright." She said as she moved a strand of hair out of his face.
She could see the multiple expressions running through her Prince's face "You... It can't be! You're alive?! If that is the case…" He grunted then tightened his grip on the Silver Lance in his right hand. "That can only mean you are another Imperial spy. Did you come here to kill me? Answer the question."
Byleth's face fell "No, of course not." She shook her head "Now, let me just help get you up." She said with her hand still outstretched.
With a grunt, Dimitri pushed himself up with his lance and walked past Byleth as if she wasn't there at all. She trailed behind him as they climbed down the Goddess' Tower. She hesitated before saying "I'm glad you're safe."
Dimitri didn't even turn back to address her "Am I?" They continued their little stroll until they entered the Cathedral, at which point Dimitri stopped, staring at nothing particular right beside the gravel. Gathering her courage, Byleth went ahead and asked "What have you been doing for the last five years?"
Dimitri's answer was curt and to the point "I have been dead, more or less…" Byleth tried to lift the mood and let out a humourless chuckle "So we have that in common, at least."
This only seemed to irritate the Prince further "What do you hope to gain by joking at a time like this?" he scowled at her. "There are more important matters at hand anyway…"
Dimitri's mouth curled into a cruel smile "Do you not smell them? Filthy rats. Everywhere. And traces of those who were here long ago. And thieves, crawling from the woodwork, attracted by the promise of treasure" He chuckled, before starting to walk out of the Cathedral.
Seeing Byleth following him, he continued "Since the monastery fell, order in the area fell right along with it. You must have seen the state of the town near Garreg Mach on your way here. Vile thieves run rampant. They pillage and loot to their heart's content. I must kill them. Every last one. It's time to hunt down their nest."
Byleth frowned "What do you plan on doing?" Dimitri continued walking, not even turning around to talk to her "I told you. I will kill them all."
The fact Dimitri had said that without even a sign of doubt or guilt froze her over. She had expected her students to change over five years, if it had even been that long in the first place, but this… "We don't have to kill them to stop th-"
Dimitri cut her off "We have to kill them." He stopped, glaring at Byleth "Someone must put a stop to this cycle of the strong trampling the weak. Or do you condone their actions? Do you believe that the pillaging and slaughtering those rats live for is justified?! It is reprehensible, and they must be put down!" He noticed how he was winding and so calmed himself down before continuing. "I intend to give them a taste of the pain they have inflicted on others. Even if it means becoming a rat myself. I swore to at least do that much… I will not let them down…"
Seeing the look in Dimitri's eye, Byleth relented. "Do we have any chance of dealing with them by ourselves anyway?"
The Prince huffed "It doesn't matter. All that matters is that we will kill those who deserve to die." With that he stormed off the Main Hall, with Byleth close on his heels.
The journey down to the village was silent save for the crunch of their boots on the fresh snow. Byleth was glad her Enlightened outfit included full pants and shirt, she would have frozen to death had she been in her old mercenary garb. She had discarded the cape though, letting it dry in the kitchens. Suddenly, Dimitri went and ripped out one of the indoor banners displaying the sigil of the Knights of Seiros, then handed it to Byleth.
She rolled herself into the makeshift cloak "Thank you." Dimitri only grunted in return "I have no use of you if you are frozen to death." She could hear the sound of wyvern wings in the distance, but Dimitri paid it no mind as they continued down the large path down the Monastery and towards the village at the bottom of the mountains. Once they were close by the village, Dimitri sniffed the air.
"It smells of blood and sewage" His lips curled into a bloodthirsty smirk "It seems we have found their nest…" Byleth put her hand on his shoulder "We should approach this methodically, Dimitri."
The Prince grunted "Fine. As long as we have exterminated this vermin by the end of the morning." In a moment's notice, a whole lot of bandits were on them. Thankfully, they weren't very skilled with their swords, as both of Dimitri and Byleth dodged out of the strikes.
Dimitri then retaliated by splitting one of the thieves in two with a single swing of his lance. Now, Byleth wasn't quite unfamiliar with such brutality, she remembered how Thunderbrand cut through Gaspard and Imperial soldiers like a hot knife through butter. But the way how Dimitri had the blood of his victims sprayed around him was unnerving to her. But worse yet was the look in his remaining eye.
It was disconnected from the glee his smirk showed. It seemed lost in a haze, unfocused and not looking in front of himself. An arrow whizzed past Byleth and disturbed her train of thought "Watch out, Dimitri! Archers!" He acknowledged her warning with a grunt. She extended the Sword of the Creator into one of the archers, taking his head off, before she retracted the sacred blade and deflect an axe strike. She slashed through the bandit's chest and leaped onto the rooftop of a building by using the several craters lying around.
She ran forward to assess their situation, and was surprised to see bandits gathering at three other points across the small town, with one of the groups getting closer to their position. "Dimitri! People approaching on your left!"
"Understood." He answered, his gravely voice ringing out of the alley as Byleth jumped down into the street, right in front of the two newcomers, one being an orange haired Fortress Knight with a beard streaked with white hair, while the other was a grey haired archer…
"Ashe?" Byleth asked. The knight's eyes grew wide as he recognized her as well "Professor?" She instantly recognized his voice as Gilbert's, while tears were starting to form in the corners of Ashe's eyes "Professor, you really came back… Like we promised five years ago!" He wiped a tear from his eyes.
"Ashe, bandits problem first, emotional reunion later." Byleth told him, patting his shoulder affectionately nonetheless. "It seems you have found his Highness before us…" Gilbert said. "No matter, we can catch up on the situation once the battle is over." He added sternly.
"Right. There seems to be a second group southwards. Any ideas on who it is?" She asked the old knight. "Aye, that would be Annette and her friend, Mercedes."
"Right, we should get on assembling both our forces then assault the thieves' main stronghold… Wait, where's Dimitri?" Byleth looked around, only to find him getting surrounded by the enemies… But any worries she might have had were swiftly dealt with, as all the thieves had suffered gruesome ends at Dimitri's lance.
Right as that was happening, Annette and Mercedes arrives on their right side, the orange haired mage waving her arms from afar, tears streaking down her face. "Professor, I'm so glad to see you again!" She cried into Byleth's shoulder as Mercedes came behind her, obviously relieved to see their old professor.
Byleth didn't have the heart to cut the embrace short, thus Mercedes helped her with that "Annie, may I remind you that we are in the middle of a battle?" Annette wiped her tears "Right, I gotta show you how much stronger I've gotten these past five years!"
"Patience, Annette. Let us first consolidate with His Highness before raiding the bandits' hideout." Gilbert said as he moved towards the main street. They followed him there, taking out any thieves hiding in ambush on the way.
Annette was about to launch herself into Dimitri's arms as soon as she saw him around the corner, but stopped her steps short. The Prince was holding a thief by the neck, glaring holes into the poor man's eyeballs, right before Dimitri snapped it between his clawed gauntlets and threw him away like a broken doll. "You took your sweet time." He grunted as greetings. His old classmates were stunned into silence, though Gilbert managed to muster a few words after a small bow "Your Highness. We will assess the situation once the thieves are dealt with."
Dimitri grunted "Good. Prove your usefulness and help me capture the main plaza." Without another word, he started climbing up the rows of stair, just as a wyvern landed right next to Byleth "Professor!" She recognized Cyril's voice, though he had grown up quite a bit and wore what she recognize to be Almyran armour. Ashe, who lowered his bow, greeted him back "Cyril, where have you been for the last five years!"
"I never left Garreg Mach! Everyone was worried about you, Professor! I'm glad to see you back!" He pushed his wyvern back into altitude as they advanced towards the town's main square, Ashe loosing an arrow into a thief trying to flank Dimitri. The Prince didn't even acknowledge it, continuing his advance as if nothing had happened.
They had just invaded the main plaza, as Dimitri ran his lance through the bandits' leader, who disappeared in a purple light. The door to the left opened to reveal Sylvain, Ingrid, Felix, Ferdinand and Dorothea coming to greet them. "Ingrid, the bandits' leader couldn't have gone far, find him!" Byleth called out to Ingrid. The Pegasus Knight nodded, right before answering her "I can see him trying to flee!"
Dimitri snarled "Do not let him escape!" Cyril and Ingrid heeded his words and flew over the gates barring the rest of the small force from getting to the bandits' leader. Ashe got down to lock-picking the door and Dimitri kicked the gate open as soon as he heard the small click.
They could see Leonie dealing with one of the thieves as their leader was engaged in combat against both Ingrid and Cyril. Dimitri jumped a few steps towards his prey, knocking his sword away his lance, before grabbing the man by the neck. "Any last words?" he snarled.
"I thought it would be easy money… Maybe it wasn't… meant to be…" the bandits' leader said right before Dimitri drew the sword by his belt and stabbed the man through the chest. The Prince dropped the corpse down before climbing back up the stairs towards the main plaza quietly followed by Ingrid, Leonie, Cyril and Byleth.
"Your Highness, professor, I am glad to see you both alive and well." Dorothea smiled, her voice still as melodious as ever. Dimitri only scowled at that "Why are two Adrestrians among your ranks? Are you working with the enemy now?" Ferdinand did a short bow to Dimitri "Peace, your Highness, we became knights of Faerghus after Garreg Mach fell to the Emperor's hands."
Dimitri grunted "Do not call me that. I am not a prince, but a walking corpse." Gilbert sighed before shaking his head "That's what Cornelia would have us believe, and yet, here you stand before us, Dimitri. Though, how did you manage to-"
"Dedue." The Prince cut Gilbert off. "He died in my place so I could escape. Closed the doors into the Royal Palace on me."
Ashe, Annette and Ingrid gasped, while Mercedes whispered a small prayer to the Goddess. Felix, Sylvain and Ferdinand kept their sight steady on Dimitri despite the obvious hurt in their eyes, while Cyril, Leonie and Dorothea looked down. "Look, Dimitri, I'm sorry-" Byleth started before being cut off again "It doesn't matter now. He one name added to the long list of the people I must avenge by separating the Beast's head from her neck." the Prince said all the while levelling his gaze at the two Adrestrians in their group.
Ferdinand and Dorothea winced, while Gilbert, sensing the tension, broke the silence "Then we will be sure to honour his loyalty." Felix huffed in the back, and while the old knight glared at him, clearly trying to defuse the situation, Dimitri paid his childhood friend no mind. "As for the state of Faerghus, the lords of the west pledged their loyalty to the Empire, turning the Kingdom into a vassal state wrapped around Edelgard's finger. We have Cornelia to thank for that one."
Byleth saw Dimitri tense twice, both at the mention of the Emperor and this Cornelia, so she shifted the subject to something else "Do we still have allies who would be willing to fight alongside us?"
Sylvain nodded "Yup, we still have plenty of houses, like Felix' or mine that are stubbornly opposed to Imperial rule." Felix spoke up next "It wasn't easy, but we made it work because some of us actually thought you were alive, boar." The contempt in his voice wasn't as obvious as the last time Byleth heard it.
"Please, Dimitri, let us fight at your side once more" Ashe said "Other than anything, we need you to lead us to battle if we hope to win this." Gilbert nodded "Indeed, as rightful heir to Faerghus, it is your right and your duty to overthrow the Imperial rule and claim our land back from the invaders."
"Our work is cut out for us, Dimitri, we only need to follow this path, and we will have our victory." Byleth concluded as she stepped in front of the Prince, who smirked in return "Indeed, it does seem like it."
He addressed the small gathering "You all seem to agree that neither the Empire, nor that woman can be forgiven… Then we will… no… must wipe them out until not a single one of them remains." He announced with dark determination. Half of her former students looked to her in alarm at such a statement, but Byleth mouthed to them that they would talk later as Dimitri looked away.
Gilbert cleared his throat "I suggest we all move back to the Monastery to get some shelter from the snow, and assess the damage this place has received." Dimitri grunted as he headed back to Garreg Mach.
Byleth sighed as Leonie came by her side "So, you've been alive this whole time? We're going to have a talk about that, that's for sure!" Feeling exhausted and remembering how their last conversation went, Byleth almost turned Leonie down, but she really could go for a drink "Sure, as soon as the dining room has been restored."
…
After talking to Gilbert about the current situation in Faerghus, Byleth went to the Main Hall where she stumbled upon a small army not bearing the Kingdom's colours, and while at first her hand drew to the Sword of the Creator, she relaxed once she heard the Knights of Seiros cheer as they saw her. Their leaders started climbing the stairs.
Seteth approached her, beaming "Professor Byleth! So you were alive after all!" He wasn't wearing his usual attire, swapping it for a Wyvern Lord's armour with a Holy Knight's cape flowing behind him. Flayn, however, had not changed one bit "Miss Byleth! My brother and I were so worried about you!"
Alois, still wearing his signature goofy smile despite a few tears in his eyes, came to embrace her in a bear hug "Ah, thank the Goddess." Once the Captain of the Knights of Seiros relented his crushing embrace, he wiped a few tears off his face "I couldn't bear the thought of letting Captain Jeralt down by not finding you."
Shamir came up to them, ditching her usual smirk for a full smile "Guess you lucked out." She had let her hair grow quite a bit and was wearing bits of silver armour, while Catherine approached from behind her.
To say Byleth barely recognized the blonde knight would be an understatement. She was styling her hair in a high ponytail, and had added a dark red cape to her armour, but the most notable change was the massive scar on her left cheek reaching into her left eye. "We've been looking everywhere for you!" Her smile slightly wavered "But… I can see Lady Rhea isn't here…"
"Gustave has told us everything. Our strength is yours to command." Hanneman announced, while Manuela arrived by his side, wrapped in a fluffy coat. "Who's Gustave?" Byleth asked. Catherine turned to her "Right, you might not know, but Gilbert changed his name back to his Faerghus name." Byleth had heard from Dimitri and Annette about how they had known Gilbert from before the academy, so she nodded.
As one, all the knights then bowed to her "Your Grace, the Knights of Seiros are at your service." Alois announced. Thankfully, Byleth remembered what Rhea had said at the beginning of the Lone Moon nearly five years ago and nodded "I thank you for your aid, my friends. I'll leave you to make an account about the repairs needed on the Monastery, you can find me in the Archbishop's office."
She was quite thankful that Rhea had thought of installing a couch in her office, no doubt the Archbishop's duty was tiring during peace times already. "So that is the state you found His Highness in…" Seteth pondered after Byleth told him her account. "And as for you state for the past four and a half years… well, after what Rhea has done to you, I can't say it surprises me greatly…"
Byleth sighed, tired of the continuous revelations happening lately "What Rhea has done to me… You mean that you know about it?" Seteth nodded "Yes, I'm sorry, but I consulted Jeralt's diary soon after you and your class went to the sealed forest." The Enlightened One was going to ask what he knew, but Seteth lifted his hand "I can try and tell you what I know, but I fear I lack the bigger picture. If you want the whole truth, you will have to ask Rhea."
"I'm sorry I couldn't help her better during the battle…" Byleth said, a tinge of guilt in her voice. Seteth only smiled sadly "Ultimately, she was ready to sacrifice herself for the rest of us, it's why she made you her successor if anything were to happen… I suspect all the information we've given you throughout the day might have tired you out. I would advise you to rest, I will handle the administrative side for now."
"Thanks, Seteth." Byleth smiled tiredly, while Seteth nodded in return "It's no problem, Your Grace." Byleth made a mental note of having to get used to the title.
…
That night, Leonie and herself closed themselves off into her old room. Despite the fact she technically owned the archbishop's room on the second floor of the main building, Byleth kept her old room due to the fact she had rested there what felt like yesterday for her. After having cleared out the cobwebs and dusting the cupboards and desk, Leonie brought some of the mead the Knights and Faerghus soldiers had brought as supplies.
Already a little tipsy from the three pints they had drunk, Leonie shared stories about the past years to her friend "… and that's how Catherine lost an eye. We almost all lost something with this war going on. I heard Raph's tavern was destroyed, so now he's gotta work for Claude. Ashe lost the place he called home to the Empire and Petra can't go back to her home country. Neither can any of our year's Black Eagles anyway."
Leonie sighed "First, Edelgard takes Jeralt away from us, and next she takes our lives. At which point will it be enough for her…" She noticed how Byleth gulped down a fourth cup of mead then threw the wooden cup against the wall, before hugging her knees. Worst of all, Leonie could hear a sob "What's the matter, Byleth?"
Leonie could see streaks of tears falling from Byleth's eyes "I failed them Leonie." Leonie got closer to her friend "What? Who are you talking about, Byleth…"
"Everyone! You were right, I never truly appreciated father back then! I never returned the love he felt for me like a child should! Do you know what I said to him when we confronted the Flame Emperor?"
"Then perhaps it's a good thing we came to the monastery, if only so I could see your face lit up like that." Jeralt had smiled, but then his smile faded. "Or maybe there was never any reason for us to leave the monastery in the first place..."
Byleth stared at him with wide eyes "Excuse me? We never had to leave the monastery?" Jeralt winced "Ah... I've put my foot in my mouth, haven't I?"
Byleth frowned "You mean to say that you don't think that I needed to take my first life at age 12, Jeralt?"
Jeralt sighed "Look, it's complicated. It's nearly time for me to reveal the truth to you. If you're still angry with me afterwards, it's fine. Just know I did all of that because I thought I'd protecting you-"
Byleth cut him off angrily "Yes, because dragging your own child from battlefield to battlefield was safer than staying at Garreg Mach monastery!" She was about to leave when Jeralt grabbed her arm "Look, when you've cooled off, come find me at my office. We'll talk." Byleth shook him off and left him to join back with her students.
"I didn't want to talk to him until it was too late… You've got to trust me, Leonie, I did everything to prevent his death! But it wasn't enough…" Leonie grabbed her shoulder "Look, I went through some tough times when Jeralt died… And what I said to you back then was entirely uncalled for, and I want you to know that I'm sorry for what I said."
Byleth shook her head "But the same thing happened again! I didn't listen to Rhea and I left all of you behind! I turned Dimitri into what he has become!" Leonie's brow rose up "Lady Rhea? I thought there only was this big dragon that you went to help?"
Byleth wiped off her tears "Right, Lady Rhea stayed behind in hope the Imperial Army would be satisfied after capturing or killing her. The dragon appeared right after to protect her." Leonie was too drunk to question that, Byleth thought thankfully "Don't worry, Byleth. I know he may look pretty roughed up right now, but the Dimitri you once knew has to still be in there. He has to."
"But if I don't manage to bring him back?" Byleth sobbed "Then we support you until the time you manage to pull him back from the darkness he dived into! Simple as! You can't give up yet, Byleth!" The professor had a small gleam of hope in her eye after Leonie's little speech.
There was a war to be won, and though it may have broken some bonds, there was still time to rebuild them.
This chapter almost wrote itself, not gonna lie.
I still plan to write different POV chapters, I just wanted to establish what Byleth's characterization would be for this series, and she just respawned back into Fodlàn at that point. Also, the Sothis bit was quite fun to write, though a bit short.
Thank you to Starlit Storyteller and ratchetncp for following this story, I am glad you appreciate my work. As usual, do not hesitate to review to give me feedback on the story.
Next Chapter: Knight of the Lions