"You have fought well Edelgard"
"Even at a time like this you haven´t changed a bit, even if I´m not the one I used to be" She said as she caught her breath. The mere thought was somehow relieving.
"Edelgard" Byleth said grabbing her arm. "Did you have anything to do with my father´s death?"
"I swear to you that his death was unexpected to me as well. If I had known I would have drowned all of them in their blood"
He looked at her, his eyes piercing hers. She then felt warmth in her body.
"Healing magic" she thought. "My Teach.."
But before she could end her phrase, he was returning to the archbishop´s side.
…
"You disappoint me Edelgard. I have never expected that an heir of House Hresvelg could do such an unforgivable crime…." Rhea said, her voice made of ice, lacking her usual warmth.
Edelgard was a few meters from him, on her knees.
"My Teacher, do you understand why do I have to follow this path?" her eyes focused on him.
"Finish her off, Professor. Her mere existence is a threat to the peace of all of Fódlan. We cannot let her impure heart beat any longer"
"She is the emperor. There must be other…"
"It is a command, Professor" Rhea said, her voice a whip. "For the greater good sacrifices must be made. For true peace in this forsaken land"
Hearing her words, he recalled something that had just happened a few weeks ago.
"Why didn´t you order his execution?"
"Instead of his arrest? Aegir is corrupt and is one of the responsible of the suffering of my family, but he isn´t the mastermind behind all of it. Killing him would only satisfy my personal vengeance, nothing more"
He closed his eyes, the words still resonating in his head. As he did so he could also hear the sound of a heartbeat.
He then approached her.
…
She could hear him approaching. Her heart was furiously beating. She then closed her eyes.
"How dare you!"
"I´m sorry Rhea, but this is not the path I seek"
She opened her eyes. Byleth was standing in front of her, acting as a shield between her and the archbishop"
When he realized she was looking at him he smiled and reached for her hand. "Can you stand by your own, Edelgard? I hope you are ok"
"Is this a dream?" she thought. All this time she had prepared herself to follow her path without him, yet he had chosen her over the archbishop.
"My Teacher, thank you, but are you sure that…no…now it´s not the time to talk"
"My heartfelt thanks, Professor" Hubert said appearing behind them. "There are no words that can express my gratitude. I must apologize Lady Edelgard, breaking the spell of the archbishop proved to be costly"
"Professor, why?! Why do you side with her?" Dimitri cried with a painful voice. "You might have deceived the Professor with your tricks, but you will pay for your crimes! I´ll hang your head from the gates of Enbarr!" he shouted, throwing a javelin to her.
Pushing her aside Byleth blocked the attack.
"Dimitri, calm down!" Claude shouted.
"What do you think you are doing?" Felix said, both of them trying to stop Dimitri.
"So that is your decision, you are just another disappointment, an affront against the Goddess" Rhea was looking at Byleth with crazy eyes "Reaching for her hand, despite the assault committed in this holy place is a sin against the Goddess herself. This sin will be paid with your blood. I will cut open your chest and retrieve your heart and what is mine!"
"Retrieve what is hers?" she wondered.
"If Sothis agreed with your decision it is clear that something would have happened by now"
"Do you find is wise opposing your creator like this? You owe me your mere existence. Your mother was my creation and the blood that flows through your veins is my own!"
"Even if that´s true I have a will of my own. I don´t want to fight against you, Rhea"
"Yet you defy my authority. Fate surely enjoys torturing me, but your betrayal has enlightened me" she said as she approached the throne. "I´ll retrieve what is mine and I will be one with my mother; that way this world will experience unending happiness" she said as she placed her hand on the throne. "Mother, grant me your strength, to destroy the enemies of the divine" as she said those words Rhea´s body was engulfed in green flames which quickly turned into blue fire.
"Protect the emperor!" shouted the remaining forces of Edelgard.
"Byleth Eisner, you might have divine power, but you can´t compare to us, descendants of the Goddess" Rhea said as she extended her hands; a sword and a shield coming to her aid.
"The sword of Seiros" Edelgard muttered.
"Indeed, it is" Rhea said as she blew upon it, the moment she did the sword grew longer, acquiring a crystal blue color. "Even if she mastered all elements Sothis always had a higher affinitive with water, and from water comes ice. I´ll shatter all of you as the demons you are"
"Stay away!" Edelgard shouted but it was too late. With a single move of the sword the air around Rhea froze, annihilating what remained of her army.
She didn´t have time to react as Rhea jumped on them, but her sword was stopped by Byleth´s.
"Petulant child! Taking pity of you has proven to be my greatest mistake and I shall correct it here and now" She could feel an immense amount of energy accumulating within her.
"I won´t let my life be dictated by others, I won´t die today!"
An explosion followed that shattered the ground near both combatants, the blast was so intense that she was sent several meters away, even though she was wearing heavy armor.
"Lady Edelgard!"
Both swords had fallen to the ground, but Rhea was jumping on Byleth which he was still trying to get up, their bodies rolling through the floor. Byleth was grabbing Rhea´s claws while she was trying to open his chest. Without thinking it twice she charged at her using all her power into a brutal hit to the chest of Rhea.
"Ugh!" Rhea said as she collapsed to the ground a few meters from them.
"My Teacher, are you ok?" she worriedly asked. The area around his chest was covered in blood, but the open wound was quickly disappearing.
"Don´t worry, I´ll get out of this"
"That power, that is the power of the Crest of Flames. Impossible, there can´t be two of them…unless our ancient enemies have been acting in the shadows. Betrayal after betrayal" Rhea said with bitter laugher. "A mortal will never be able to wield such power in an appropriate manner. I will make sure to annihilate this anomaly" Rhea said, her injuries nowhere to be seen.
They were dazzled by a green light and in front of them wasn´t Rhea, but a giant dragon covered in ivory scales. "That must be the immaculate one. The true face of our enemy finally revealed" Hubert said as he started casting protective barriers.
"Yes, Rhea and her kind have been ruling this land beneath the shadows for centuries. Rhea is the leader behind that farce" she said, somehow relieved to tell the truth.
"Leave this place, it isn´t safe anymore" Byleth said as he adopted a defensive position, stopping with his sword a blast that was aimed at him.
"If we have to leave; we´ll leave together" she said as she grabbed his hand. After all that had happened, she wasn´t willing to let him go.
"Hey, wait for us!" shouted the members of the Black Eagles. Seeing all of them running would have been comical in other time, but fear and confusion were written all over their faces.
"Hubert guide them to the stables; we need to leave this place as fast as possible"
"I don´t get what´s going on!" Casper shouted as he chased them. "Are we the good guys or the bad ones?"
"I think it really depends on the point of view. You owe us an explanation for this Edelgard"
Linhardt said.
"I´ll do so, but only after we reach a safe place" She couldn´t avoid smiling at their conversation. Despite everything that had happened, they were still treating her casually. However, not everyone was following them. Flayn, who had accompanied them up to the tomb, was nowhere to be seen like Lysithea and Claude while Felix and Dedue were struggling to calm Dimitri down"
Rhea was approaching them quickly, her jaws increasingly brilliant.
"Only a bit more!" she shouted as they arrived to the platform whence, they came. The shaking ground as they went up was the proof that it was too close.
"The rest must be yet unaware about what has happened. All of you go to the stables and pick the quickest mount that you can find. I´ll use my Pegasus to act as a lure"
"In that case I´ll accompany you since only me and Hubert know where are we going"
"Can´t I go to search some things, Edie? This is all sudden I need to…"
"If you want to stay, I won´t stop you, but don´t expect me to wait for you" Hubert said.
"So harsh…" Dorothea complained.
"I didn´t know that Rhea was so scary. I need to escape" Bernadetta cried.
"It´s a pity that we had to leave so early, a dragon would surely be a boost to my own investigations"
"How can you think about something like that at a time like this?!"
"For now, we just have to leave" Byleth said as the platform finally stopped.
They divided their forces in two; Hubert and the rest headed to the east area, while they ran towards the main bridge.
"There are many things that you will have to explain to me, after we reach a safe place" he said as his grip over her hand grew tighter.
"I agree" she replied, incapable of looking at him. Since the moment she had reached for her, her heart had been beating like crazy. She couldn´t believe that she had chosen to defend her over his predetermined fate. "Here I thought I had to fight alone, yet I was wrong all this time"
"Professor, I didn´t expect to see you so early. Has something happened?" Seteth asked, interrupting her thoughts. They were still in the middle of the bridge. The security perimeter was still in place, troops to the other side of the bridge.
"We ended sooner than expected"
"In that case where is Rhea?"
"She…" his words were interrupted by a roar that came from the depths of the monastery. The moment it happened, Seteth prepared his lance to attack.
"Detain them!"
A war horn sounded, soldiers quickly approaching from both sides.
"We are trapped" she muttered, but a stronger grip of her hand made her look at him.
"Do you trust me?" he asked as he climbed to one of the sides of the bridge.
"I do" she whispered.
"In that case, let´s go" he said as they jumped off the bridge into the Abyss beneath them. Her heart was beating like crazy when she felt something soft under her.
"When did you…?"
"When a bond between a Pegasus and a rider is made our minds act as one" he said as he cherished the neck of his mount.
Listening to his explanation she couldn't avoid laughing.
"I´ve forgotten how much I loved being free" she said as they left behind the monastery, the starts in the sky watching them.
…..
"I need to talk with you, Edelgard; in private" he said as he looked at Hubert. They had just arrived to a secret base of the empire, all of them were exhausted, but they were luckily alive. Hubert was about to protest, but was stopped by a movement of Edelgard´s hand.
"I agree, after all that has happened you deserve an answer to all your questions. Hubert, please, leave us alone. Make sure that our companions get some rest, I´ll have to talk with them later"
"As you wish, emperor" Hubert said with a rigid bow before leaving.
"The circumstances have quickly changed in a matter of days" she started to say.
"However, the assault to the throne room was only the final step of a long time ago prepared conspiracy, right? Since when were you preparing for it?"
"It started way before our paths crossed in Remire. The illness of my father and the control of the Empire by Lord Arundel and Aegir were at its apex. After the experimentations I suffered, I promised myself the time of retribution would come to them, but first I needed to guarantee my own survival. My purpose in Garreg Mach was to collect information about the Church. I knew that Solon was already working as a spy at the monastery and I thought that it would be advisable to have my own informant"
"Jeritza"
"Exactly. He started working at the monastery by recommendation from the Empire. Arundel thought he was gaining a new tool, but he has only been loyal to me. However, even if I had a confidant I would always be under the close watch of Solon. Making him our professor was key to avoid raising unnecessary questions about our exchanges so I designed beforehand a plan to scare off one of the professors"
"So, the bandit attack was of your doing. The chief of the bandits said something about wanting to kill some nobles. Was also that in your plans?"
"It wasn´t, but if I hadn´t told him something like that even an idiot like him would have started to have doubts about the purpose of the plan. We were accompanied by the knights of Seiros; a group of bandits would´ve been easily defeated by them. If he was caught, he would just say he was ordered to kill some nobles, the original plan safe"
"But it didn´t go as planned. You, Claude and Dimitri were separated from the group"
"Actually, it was Claude the one that left the group as Dimitri followed him. I knew that there was a group of mercenaries in one of the villages nearby so I decided to indirectly guide them to that place. I´m glad that I did it" she smiled.
"But wouldn´t have been better for you if they were killed? They are the heirs of their respective nations, if they died during the attack everyone would have thought it was just a tragic accident"
"You´ve just sounded like Hubert" Edelgard sighed. "It is true that it could grant me some benefits, but chaos is the last thing I desire. Chaos would only bring more power to Arundel and their lackeys. They already have infested the Kingdom with their devious presence and they don´t lack allies in the Alliance. Killing them would've only brought them more power; the last thing I wanted to do"
"Lord Arundel; when was he killed?"
"Back when I was at the kingdom. His change of behavior was really violent. Thales is the one that killed him. He is the leader of the Agarthans"
"The Agarthans. Solon, Kronya…all of them have in common their hatred against the Goddess" he said as the blurry images of some of his visions came to his mind. "Their hatred is the source of their power"
"They want to rule this world. They want to replace a tyrant to put themselves in power, continuing the cycle of tyranny that has infested this land for ages"
"In that case they must be eliminated, they will only bring more suffering"
"And they will, but even if their plans have backfired most of the time, they know how to keep their secrets well protected. Their base is still unknown to us, but Hubert is confident he will eventually find its location. We are in the middle of a battlefield between two ancient forces. The children of the Goddess are the current rulers of the world and they´ve allowed this land to rot" Edelgard said as she looked to the outside world through one of the windows. "Those who hide themselves in the shadows are power hungry and will certainly cause more harm than good. This war isn´t about the Empire against the Church; it is about the destruction of these ancient foes. Without them, the world will be finally liberated from this poison"
"You are planning to make them clash with each other so you can get rid of both of them"
"Once they outlive their usefulness, they will face their fate. Rhea had the opportunity to face them, but she chose a false peace. Her inactivity had allowed their forces to grow stronger and they´ve been causing problems all over the land. The death of my family or the tragedy of Duscur are mere examples of what they are capable of. She had her chance, but now it is the time to give a fresh air to this land"
"We aren´t talking about a mere group of bandits. You´ve seen what they can do, they must have spies all over the land to make sure that they know every move we make. Even if you could surprise them with your secret plans for the coronation that doesn´t mean that they will be so blind to a threat about their very own existence"
"I´m sure that Thales and their lackeys aren´t blind about this, but they think that they can handle the situation. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. That´s the principle they are applying, the same I do. Each one of us is preparing their knives to strike the other down. But things got even more interesting when the archbishop named you as the new Professor, an unknown player entering this battle in the shadows. I was intrigued by you since the night the bandits attacked us and that only increased when I realized you were the bearer of the Crest of Flames"
"Both of us were experimented" he said, almost to himself.
"Nemesis died a thousand of years ago and didn´t have any offspring. My body was tortured in order to obtain the power of the mystic crest, but in your case the proceeding must have been different, yet you ended developing the very same crest I wield. Do you understand why they committed such atrocities over my body?" Edelgard asked as she showed before him her own crest of flames.
"It is the only crest capable of controlling the Sword of the Creator"
"Exactly. I was the person supposed to wield such weapon, but the sword chose you. With such weapon on your side you were capable of overcoming anything. You turned into the light of hope I needed, but at the same time your mere existence was a major threat to the likes of Thales"
"That´s why they sent Kronya, to avoid a possible alliance between me and you"
"Yes, they needed to keep an eye between me and you. All these months I´ve been handling this problem, although the worst outcome happened"
"The Tragedy of Remire" he muttered.
"Why in all places they would conduct an experiment next to the powerful Church? The objective of their plan wasn´t to experiment on the villagers but to frame the Flame Emperor. Jeritza was there because Thales ordered me to send him for a task. I didn´t expect that such task would be to be complicit of such crimes"
"And it somehow worked. When you appeared as the Flame Emperor, I thought you were the responsible of it, yet you appeared in front of us without weapons. IT was strange that you risked your own life because of it"
"I did it without thinking. Hubert was really mad at me, but I needed to do something about it. I wanted to tell you my fears and hopes, but that event created within me the fear that you will turn me down. And then, the next tragedy burned down that bridge"
"The death of my father"
"Yes, those dreadful events were the ones that destroyed any chance I had to explain you everything, but even if that was the case, seeing you devastated was what really hurt me. Losing someone you hold dear is a feeling that it´s familiar to me. I didn´t want you to crumble, yet I felt powerless"
"I´m sorry I wasn´t my usual self. When I heard that they were near us last month I risked everything for the sake of vengeance"
"I can´t really blame you for that reaction and I´m glad that Solon and Kronya met their end, but what happened to you? You told me that the Goddess gave you strength, but how could that happen?"
"She had been inside my head all this time. We could talk to each other freely and she aided me in times of need"
"The Goddess was inside you?" Edelgard asked surprised. "But you are talking about it in the past, what happened?"
"We were trapped in the void, in what appeared to be the former capital of the Agarthan civilization. There we fought against an enemy we couldn´t overcome until she fused with my body. She granted me her powers and thanks to it I was able to return"
"That explains the changes that have happened to your body, the moment you said you received the powers of the Goddess I thought you would side with Rhea no matter what. After all, she is one of the children of the Goddess"
"One of them? Do you mean that Seteth and Flayn are as well?"
"As far as I know they are the only ones, but only Rhea is the true menace to the fate of Fódlan"
"That brings us to the assault to the Throne Room"
"You are right. The Crest stones located there have an incredible amount of energy. My objective was to retrieve them, but to do so the defensive mechanisms of the room had to be deactivated first"
"Your plans had only a fatal mistake, your lack of trust in others was what made them backfire. You should have opened your heart. It might sound like a naïve advice, but I have the feeling that your path would have been easier if you were able to trust"
"You speak the truth and I´m sorry that I didn´t reveal any of this to you until now. All these weeks I had fear, fear that revealing my hopes and fears would turn you into a new enemy, yet doing nothing would have ended up in the same way. Hubert advised me to get rid of you. He told me that you were a hiltless sword, a sword that could be a blessing or a curse and from a rational point of view I did understand his words. When you collapsed after returning from the Abyss, Hubert was willing to end your life there yet I ordered him to let you live"
"Why? Why would you do something like that? If I had sided with Rhea your path might have ended in that room. Why would you risk your dreams and hopes for a hiltless sword?"
"Because I love you, and even it that was the most rational solution I was unable to do so" she said as she finally looked at him directly.
"So, what happened in that garden…"
"It was my way to at least have some memories of you. I´m sorry if I left you confuse, but the more time I spent with you the more doubts I had about the path I was seeking. In the end Hubert is right, I´m just a naïve girl that just wants a normal life"
He walked forward her, placing his hands over her shoulders.
"Byl…?" she didn´t have time to end her question as his lips met hers. Her skin was warmth and he felt like he was drowning in her sweet fragrance. He could feel her arms surrounding him from behind, making him feel alive.
After what appeared to be an eternity, it finally ended as both of them looked at each other.
"I accept those feelings" he said with a smile.
"I…I´ve never expected something like this to happen" Edelgard said a single tear leaving her eye. "I´m afraid that all of this is just a dream and that when I open my eyes there will be no one to my side"
"Don´t worry" he said as he embraced her from behind. "It is real, like the air we breathe. You said that you would follow your path even if that meant your own demise. Instead of dying for an ideal let´s live following it"
"Yes, even if death comes one day, let´s live for now" she said as they looked to the outside world through the window.
Sothis is the star that precedes the annual flooding of the Nile. That and the descriptions about the water of desperation made me think about her affinity with water. Rhea also had that power, but she is capable of turning the water she creates into ice. In SS her awakened form had ice attacks as well so that´s the connection I made. Hope this isn´t very confusing.