12/24 Ethereal Moon
"Byleth?" she simply muttered. She couldn´t believe her eyes. Byleth was slowly approaching her with a light smile on his face, her heartbeats heavily resonating in her head. Time didn´t pass on him, he looked exactly like his former self five years ago, when the battle for the control of the monastery had taken place.
"Are you really Byleth?" she asked with the lightest of voices.
"Of course, I am. I´m sorry for making you wait"
"Byleth, where have you been all this time? Do you understand how much I…we suffered because of your disappearance? We searched for you in the hopes of finding you well…and with the fear that something might have happened to you. But after searching for you during weeks the only conclusion we had was that you had just disappeared…as if you had never been there. The pain I´ve felt ever since…" Hearing her words, he stopped in front of her, sorrow on his face.
"I know that I´ve been away for a long time. Believe me, I´ve been fighting all this time to get to this place. When I fell, I was cursed by Rhea and I was trapped in a frozen hell during all these years, drowned in an endless nightmare. The trials I had to endure wanted to crush my soul, my very own existence…but they couldn´t achieve it, since hope never truly abandoned me…hope of seeing all of you again…hope of reuniting with you"
"Trapped in the realm of dreams and nightmares. That certainly sounds like the words of a madman, yet I can see the truth in your eyes. I always believed that I would come to see you again…that you would never abandon us…seeing you now in front of me is truly a blessing, almost as if I was daydreaming" she was saying when she felt something warm. It was his hand, that was caressing her face.
"If I weren´t real, you wouldn´t feel it, right?" he said with a gentle smile. "Edelgard?" Byleth asked surprised as he felt how she placed her face on his chest as she embraced him. He was warm, her senses filling with his very own existence as if she was afraid that he would disappear the moment she looked away.
"Welcome back, Byleth" she muttered as she felt how tears started to form in her eyes. During all these years she had never shredded a single tear, she needed to proof her strength to her nation, but now that she was in front of him, she was feeling powerless as if all these years had never occurred and they were still at the monastery.
"Sorry for making you wait" he whispered in her ear as he gently placed his hand on her head. "You´ve been brave, you have passed through a lot, but if you are standing here right now, it means that it had a purpose"
They were like that for a few minutes, but they didn´t care about the flow of time. For them the time had stopped for a moment, a moment to rest their very own souls after a long journey of hardships. But she eventually relaxed her embrace as he looked at him into the eye. He was there, smiling, his green eyes looking at her as two glooming stars, their serene aura relaxing her.
"Promise me that you will never abandon us again, losing you one more time would be something I would regret to the end of my days"
"Of course, but on one condition"
"Which…" she couldn´t end what she was saying as she felt how their lips met. She closed her eyes as her hands caressed his back. In all these years she had never felt so alive as in that moment.
"I promise you…I´ll never abandon you. We´ll fight together, we´ll overcome many obstacles, we´ll suffer, we´ll wonder about our paths…but in the end we´ll laugh and we´ll live. I promise you that we´ll share the burden of this path, you´ll never be alone again and when all of this ends…I´ll show you the rest of the world, the reality that had been stolen from you all this time. I´ll make sure that every day counts until the dark clouds of the past turn into dust in a life filled with many blessings" he said as he kneeled before her, his lips on her hand.
"No matter what, I´ll be by your side. No matter what I´ll stay. That´s the only truth that matters, the only truth that will ever be"
"Years ago, I thought I would never be able to experience a life of happiness. But even in the middle of darkness you came to my aid, even if I hid many things from you, you still decided to believe in me, not because I was the heir of powerful nation, but because I was Edelgard. Thanks to you, I remain like Edelgard. Perhaps in a world where you weren´t by my side my heart would have turned into ice, only filled with resolution and despair. Perhaps I would have turned into a peerless yet heartless emperor, but because of you I can just simply be Edelgard. I owe you many things" she said as she helped him stand up again. "You were the first one to treat me as an equal, to see me not as a tool but as a human being, not as a lord but as someone you could open the heart with. Not even an entire lifetime would be able to pay for the many things you have done to me"
"In that case, let´s make every day count, from now on" he said as he embraced her, she closed her eyes filling her senses with his existence. For a moment she was able to forget about her duties. Perhaps she was being selfish, but it didn´t matter. At this moment she was happy with no worries that could torment her, with no dangers that could threaten her life. If time could just stop for the rest of eternity…
…
"In the end, you fulfilled the promise you made with us five years ago. Those memories are so fresh in my mind, yet 5 years have already passed since then. The world around us have changed too, the only being that seems to be the same is you. Is this the power of divinity?" she asked as she placed her hand on his hair.
"It might be" he admitted. All of his students have changed, such was the nature of time. Her hair roots have turned completely white, probably because of the nature of her dual crests. "However, instead of worrying about an uncertain future let´s enjoy the time that has been provided to us. There are many things that I want to do with you by my side, even this war will come to an end. When I decided to side with you, I already knew which path I was following, a path of many risks and suffering but the one I was willingly choosing. I regret nothing about making this decision"
"The flame of hope in your eyes…forgive me for having doubts even at this moment. You have my eternal gratitude. No matter the obstacles, we´ll overcome them…
"Together" he said with a smile as he took her hand.
"The rest of the members of the Black Eagle Strike Force have been waiting for your safe return. It is time to regroup with them as we used to do at the monastery" she said as she offered her arm to him.
"Yes, it´s been a long time, I wonder how much they have changed"
….
"Professor?!" asked a surprised Dorothea.
"Where have you been hiding, Professor? I was searching under every single rock, but I couldn´t find you. You must be really good at hiding" Caspar complained.
"Were you really doing something like that, how annoying you are at times. Although considering the unusual capabilities of our Professor it could be a possibility. Professor have you been sleeping under a rock or something like that as of lately?"
"How can you say something and contradict yourself at the same time, Linhardt" Ferdinand sighed. "Instead of focusing on such things you should just be glad that the Professor has returned with us. I have trained very hard during all these years; I am looking forward on training with you again. Having you here, I cannot ask for more" Ferdinand said with a wide smile.
"The spirits must have served you well, I always had hope in meeting you again, Professor. With you here again, there is nothing that can really stop us" Petra said as she patted Bernadetta in the back.
"P-Professor! I´ve been giving my best too! Look at me, I´m not hiding anymore" Bernadetta said with a shy smile.
"This really looks like the old times of the monastery" Mercedes said. She was a few meters apart from them, but she was genuinely smiling when she noticed the group behind him. "More students have come with you as well, you must be tired, right?"
"A good meal would do wonders to me" Balthus grinned while patting his belly.
"A bed in my case" said a half asleep Hapi.
"I´ll accompany all of you then" Mercedes said as she guided the group outside, after a good night of rest he knew that there would be plenty of things they would want to share with the rest of his students. "Although I´m a teacher no more" he thought as he looked at them, but he didn´t mind that they would consider him their Professor.
"You seem to have caused quite a sensation, Professor" Hubert laughed, his eyes scanning him as he was trying to pierce through his very own soul. "Five years have already passed since the last time we were together, yet you have not changed a bit"
"You must tell me your secret someday, Professor" Dorothea giggled. "What Hubert is trying to say is that he is happy to see you as well, right?"
"You have just taken the words out of my mouth, Dorothea" Hubert said with a light nod. "Having the Professor here will be quite an asset to our plans…but I must admit that I feel happiness on a personal level as well. After all this time I have come to the conclusion that you are a positive influence to all of us"
"Hubert, that´s like saying that water is wet, you really like making long phrases" Caspar laughed.
"Well, as you can see all of them have been waiting for your safe return and they are pleased to see you well. The Black Eagle Strike Force has been battling together all this time in the hopes of seeing you again. Not even one of our members have opted to leave us in this war"
"All of them? Edelgard why don´t you just admit that you are the happiest of us all? Your face speaks volumes"
As a reaction to Caspar´s words, Edelgard´s cheek turned red, as she tried to avoid his gaze.
"You were really gloomy at times, compared to now it´s just day and night difference"
"I have to agree with Caspar on this matter, your ranges of emotions have greatly increased" Linhardt commented.
"Edie, you are such a sweetie, you should see yourself on a mirror right now. A bit of color on your face really suits you"
"W-Well, we should put an end to this conversation for now, as you know we are at war" Edelgard said as she coughed, although her face was still really red.
"Edelgard is right about this matter. We are at a crucial state of the war. A few miles away from here the border of the Leicester Alliance is waiting for us" Ferdinand said as they reassumed their military plans.
…
"What do we have here?" asked a metallic voice. He didn´t need to look back to know who was standing behind him.
"I haven´t seen you in a while, Jeritza"
"For years I´ve been waiting for you, for the opportunity of having a mortal dance once again. My existence has been too boring since you disappeared. Kill or be killed, that´s the only thing that matters on this world. I want to…"
"Jeritza, remember your vows" Edelgard said, her voice was soft but firm.
"I haven´t forgotten. I´ll resist this urge I have until your enemies are defeated, but when this war ends, I want to have another duel with you, one where our lives will be at stake"
"Why are you so obsessed with fighting and death?" Such distorted vision of the world was something beyond his current comprehension, but he suspected that he wasn´t like that since the beginning.
"Now that all of us have exchanged kind words with each other it is time to focus on the task ahead, am I mistaken, Lady Edelgard?" Hubert said as he looked at Edelgard.
"As you must have noticed by now, the Imperial army is preparing to attack the Leicester Alliance. Claude has been able to join all the forces of the Alliance into a common army while moving troops from the eastern borders to the south and west"
"Such move is highly worrying since it means that we will be facing the veterans of the Alliance. Most of them will be well-trained soldiers capable of being a threat to our advance"
"The access to the bridge will be heavily guarded. It is highly probable that they will try to bottleneck us. Even if our numbers are greater, they could slow down us considerably with such tactic"
"In that case we´ll need to overcome their defensive lines with a decisive strike" he said as he observed the structure of the bridge. "There are two paths, the main bridge and an adjacent fortress. If we can take control of the garrisons in the middle of the main bridge before the troops in the fortress try to counterattack, we´ll have enough troops on the bridge and the might of numbers will decide the battle"
"However, until then we will be under enemy fire from both sides. Even if we overcome the first defensive lines, we´ll suffer heavy loses" Hubert said
"It´s true, in that case we´ll need a distraction"
"We have siege weapons and catapults. We could focus the fire on the fortress while our troops try to advance. Besides, I´ve thought about something else" she said as she pointed to their side of the map.
"Are these things boats?"
"Exactly. Not enough to carry our main forces but enough to cause a great disruption in the rearguard. The currents of this area are dangerous, but the low temperatures have reduced the flow of the river. This strategy couldn´t work in spring, but right now, it could allow us to have an advantage"
"Any information on the Alliance generals that might be guarding the bridge"
"Judith, she is one of the most famous generals of the Leicester Alliance. She will be a tough nut to crack. She is a charismatic leader and she is loyal to Claude. However, if we are able to defeat her, the troops will probably lose their will to fight. She has mastered the rapier, so a close combat fight will be certainly dangerous"
"You can leave that to me" he said. "How about we take her prisoner? A general like that will be of great value"
"Probably so, but I highly doubt that she will ever agree to such terms. According to the information I have, she is a warrior at core and most warriors will rather die than have to withstand the shame of imprisonment" Hubert chuckled. "She is one of the pillars of the Alliance. If she dies in battle, she will be glorified by many as the fight continues, although it seems that she has a great faith in the strategy of Claude. If he has something different prepared for her it is unknown to me"
"What about the reserve forces to the other side of the river? As I approached this place, we could spot many military camps. There are plenty of soldiers that could arrive at any moment while we are at battle"
"Claude´s strategy for now has been highly defensive. He has only moved his forces waiting for an attack, but the generals guiding such forces do not have the same qualities as Judith. If she falls, they will probably retreat. Those forces will take some hours to arrive. They will not be able to attack us unless they completely stop us at the bridge"
"But that is really strange. Why placing some other troops miles away when they could move them next to the areas surrounding the bridge? Doesn´t sound it strange?" he said as he took a closer look to the map. Indeed, it was. This wasn´t a surprise attack against the great bridge. It was clear that to this side of the bank of the river the armies were preparing to launch an assault, yet some of the troops were miles away of the place where they were supposed to be.
"Proceed with caution is the only thing we can do, if we postpone the assault just to make sure of the true intentions of our enemy, we´ll be losing a valuable time that they can use against us. Claude has already prepared his strategy and so we have. Tomorrow we´ll see which side was correct on their assumptions. The objective will be to secure the bridge so we can bring enough provisions, if we can keep it, the advance through the Alliance territory should be easier"
"Besides, it seems like the Professor has attracted some of their armies to the middle of the Alliance, they might think that we are already there, poor souls"
"However, underestimating our enemy would be reckless, we must remember that we´ll be fighting on two fronts at the same time. In the following days, news about our attack will certainly come to the ears of the Kingdom and the Church and they might move its armies south. One of them had already been spotted approaching the border, the moment they realize our attack to the Alliance they´ll increase their pressure on the other side"
"If that´s the case, the campaign to conquest the Alliance must be short. We´ll need to assault the capital as soon as possible, otherwise we could find us in a difficult situation"
"Hopefully so. Luckily, the roads of the Alliance are well-maintained and more so in this time of war. That will allow us a quick approach to the north, but those plans must wait. First of all, we have to secure the land to the other side of this river" Edelgard said as she stood up. "Relax your minds and take plenty of rest, tomorrow we´ll be needing the best of all of you. A tired mind or body could be the difference between life and death".
"Your words are always wise, Lady Edelgard" Hubert said as he bowed. "You have already heard the Emperor, prepare your minds and bodies for battle, the fate of this battle will be decided tomorrow"
"The meeting is over, take some rest"
One by one they started to leave Edelgard´s tent. He was about to leave as well, but looking at her he knew that she wanted him to stay for a bit longer.
"Is there something bothering your mind?"
"I must admit that even now, after countless battles, I still feel uneasy the day prior to a battle. No matter how many strategies you prepare beforehand, something can always go wrong, and the main consequence is the death of many" she sighed as her eyes looked at the map before her.
"That´s the nature of the battlefield, you must always be prepared for the worst"
"The songs of this land really praise the battles of old, but behind each song there are many corpses and tears behind. I know that a war without casualties is something irreal, but I think that the sacrifices of those left behind must be remembered as well. If someday a song is composed based on this war, I want it to acknowledge the costs of it as well. History books only tell us about the important figures that battled or died in the past. For history the death of many is only a number to make the reader think about the size of the armies, but there is more to it"
"If some of your generals hear you, they would think that you have lost the will of fighting"
"Not at all, I´ll fight until the end. With you I can be completely honest, no matter what, although you must apologize me, recently I can only think about war" Edelgard sighed as she put her crown on her lap. The hornlike crown was really unique, catching his attention.
"Why did you choose such design?"
"You must be wondering because of the horns. Well, the Church demonizes me in their writings and I have decided to wear it as a sign of pride not of weakness. Horns represent demons for many, but the horn by itself isn´t something necessarily evil. Many animals have it and aren´t dangerous at all, and the horn is also described as a sign of wealth in some tales. In the end, we see what we want to and we create our own reality based on our own believes. You had a similar title as well, the Ashen Demon" she said as she served him some wine. The smell made him recall the forests to the south of Fódlan. "It is a wine from the Empire, the best ones are to the far west of the Adrestian Empire, an area that hasn´t suffered the effects of war"
"Although it wasn´t a title that I chose by myself, actually my mercenary group chose it when they saw me battling in the battlefield"
"What happened to your mercenary group?"
"They disbanded although some of them headed south. Perhaps they aren´t in Fódlan anymore. A mercenary is as free as the wind, after all"
"A wind of bad omens, some would say, since they are always after battles"
"Am I a bad omen to you?" he joked as he took a seat. The tent was wide, yet practical but his glimpse was caught instantly by an axe. Looking at its golden color, he realized what he had in front of him.
"Never, you truly have been a light in my path. Without you, I wonder how I would view the world around me. In a world without an equal I could lose contact with reality and turn into a ruthless ruler…"
"Edelgard"
"Yes?"
"I have a question to make to you"
"Sure, I trust you, you are free to ask anything you want"
"Do the rest of them know about us? Or do you want to keep it a secret?"
"I-I haven´t said anything about us…" Edelgard said while flustering, her face getting a dangerous crimson red. "It´s not something you would normally say given the circumstances, although some of them suspect, mostly Dorothea. She really was teasing me since the times of the monastery"
"She really has a good eye on such matters" he smiled. "Sorry for having pressured you, I just was curious about it. It´s ok to me, if you want to keep it like this, I understand that war has a priority…and I don´t want Hubert to kill me during my sleep"
"You really have changed. When we first met, such phrase wouldn´t have sounded as a joke as you do now. I´m happy to know that you have awakened many emotions since our paths first met" she said as she approached him. He could feel her sweet fragrance approaching, his eyes drowning in her.
"When everything comes to an end, I want to take my time to walk with you through the Imperial garden, do you remember last time?"
"You really left me confused back then, I wondered if what I felt on my lips was the reality or just an illusion" he said as he recalled the events of that night in the past.
"It was my way to say farewell to my feelings. Back then I was afraid of what you would think about me, that you would turn into my enemy even it that was the thing I feared the most…but now it´s different" she said as she kissed him gently on the lips. "Now, there is only hope and gratitude…thanks to you I didn´t abandon my feelings. Tomorrow we´ll be a difficult day, but we´ll overcome it as we have always done. Please, take some rest" she said as she lightly caressed his hand.
"Good night, Edelgard" he said as he left her tent and headed to the one that was prepared for him. The wind was blowing outside, its cold making some of the soldiers outside shiver, but he didn´t feel the cold. For him, the world had just turned in a warmer place, the sweet fragrance still resonating inside him. Looking at the sky he wondered if his father had felt like him in the past, when he met his mother. "I´ll protect that smile" he thought as he continued his path.
Wow, it´s almost a year since I first published this story. Time really passes fast. It has been a challenging year, with hardships and blessings. Writing this story truly feels like a trip to the unknown. Time wise it can be demanding at times since as a non-native speaker I have to recheck everything I do (yes, I reread everything I write), but I don´t really regret it. I think that is a really unique experience. Anyway, I wish all of you a good day :)