Author's Notes:
This is officially Chapter 11, the side story "Omake – Fire Emblem Heroes" is the official Chapter 10.
However, with how Spacebattle does its threadmarks, I had to specify the side story as separate from the main story threadmark.
You do not have to read Chapter 10 to understand the story. I'm just doing this to keep the consistency between the places I upload this.
So far, I uploaded to Fanfiction, AO3, and Spacebattle. I am planning to upload to Wattpad as well in the future.
Long ago, a Goddess descended from the heavens and upon this continent. She took the form of a human, used her blood to give birth to her children, and became known as the Nabateans. With her children, she shared knowledge and skills with the people of the land. Together, they built a prosperous civilization. That civilization was called Agartha.
However, the Agarthans turned their backs on the Goddess and her teachings and waged wars atop wars. Soon, they began to believe themselves to be gods and challenged the Goddess to war.
That war was catastrophic. The land was scorched in that war, blood ran like oceans, and spears of light rained from the heavens. Humanity almost became extinct. However, the Goddess ultimately won, and the Agarthans retreated underground.
The Goddess used all her power to restore the land to what it originally was. But it took an astonishing amount of time to do so, and the Goddess rested, having done her duty. The continent eventually found peace once more as the Goddess fell to her long slumber in what is called the Holy Tomb.
The children that chose to remain built a settlement around the Holy Tomb to protect and wait for their mother to awaken once more.
Centuries passed and the Agarthans rose once more, or rather, their descendants, Those Who Slither in the Dark. They were able to convince a bandit named Nemesis that he could attain strength by killing the Goddess. And so, he invaded the settlement and the Holy Tomb. He took plundered the body of the Goddess and Those Who Slither in the Dark used the body to create a weapon and her blood to give Nemesis the Crest of Flames.
With the Crest of Flames and the Goddess's body as a weapon, he was commanded to attack the children of the Goddess. He slaughtered most of the children and, just like their mother, were turned into weapons. Nemesis named himself King of Fodlan and those who sided with him were given both the weapons and the blood of the children of the Goddess. These formed the Ten Elites.
Forty-one years before the Imperial Year 0, one of the surviving children called Seiros descended upon Enbarr and enacted miracles, creating the Church of Seiros. In Imperial Year 0, the Adrestian Empire was born. She gathered the remaining living children of the Goddess and they became the Four Saints: Macuil, Indech, Cichol, and Cethleann. Seiros also persuaded Wilhelm Paul Hresvelg to aid her in stopping Nemesis. Wilhelm accepted, and in thanks, Seiros gave him her blood, giving Wilhelm the Crest of Seiros.
In Imperial Year 32, Wilhelm waged war against Nemesis and the Ten Elites. Decades passed as Fodlan was thrown into war again. Fields were painted red with blood, forests razed into cinders, and rivers were filled with dead bodies. This was named the War of Heroes.
In Imperial Year 91, the War of Heroes reached its apex and the largest battle occurred in the Tailteann Plains of Faerghus. It was here that Nemesis and Seiros led the battle. After hours of brutal fighting, the battle led to single combat between Nemesis and Seiros.
In the end, Seiros won and slew Nemesis. The following seven years were spent hunting the remaining Ten Elites. The Elites themselves were killed, though their families were spared.
And thus, the War of Heroes ended at the Imperial Year of 98, more than a century since Seiros descended on Enbarr.
"And I'm guessing the rest is as history goes." Emiya surmised. It was a tale of human hubris and revenge. Still… "Why tell me all this?" Emiya asked as he looked at Rhea. It seemed like she had managed to recollect herself. She was calm as she said the story, though she seemed more mellow than normal. Her smile was gone as well, replaced by a slight frown.
"Who do you think I am?" Rhea asked.
That's an easy answer. You're Seiros, or at least related to the children of the Goddess. Emiya thought.
"I can see in your eyes that you already know the answer," Rhea stated as she stood up. She walked out to her balcony, overseeing the entire Monastery grounds as the sun began to set. Hearing the silent command, Emiya followed.
As Emiya reached her side, he asked, "How are you still alive? Is it because you're a demigod?"
"Indeed," Rhea answered. "As for why, I did promise you information on who captured you, in exchange for your aid to hunt them."
"Then why tell me all of it?" 'Or perhaps, what she had said wasn't all of it.'
"Because I want you to trust me," Rhea turned to face Emiya. "Because I want you to know that you are not alone in this millennia-old war. Because I want you to know that someone understands you."
Emiya smirked. "Oh? I thought you wanted a hound dog to sic at your enemies. Wouldn't I be more effective if you held the bone in front of me as long as you needed me?"
Rhea snorted and smiled. "That's one way. However, Wilhelm taught me that the best hound dogs are those showered with love, trust, and care. They are the ones who truly believe in their cause. I will groom you into that hound dog, perhaps even surpass Wilhelm. But, before that could happen, I need your trust. I've laid out my cards. What about you?"
'Shit, this woman's crazy!'
"You're not worried I'll stab you in the back?" Emiya asked.
"No. I know you will do what is necessary to save people, but you will not hesitate to kill. You understand that everyone can't be saved. Your achievements during the Siege of Cornelia's Castle has told me so. Otherwise, you would have just knocked Cornelia's soldiers or perhaps even rushed to Cornelia. Instead, you laid a bloody swathe for Lambert and his men to follow. You killed as many as you can so that there would be no casualties on Lambert's army."
Inside, Emiya was surprised. That was not something that was said during the debriefing with Lambert yesterday. Outside, Emiya kept his cool, aware that Rhea was picking every little twitch that might appear. "Oh? How are you so sure? We never said anything about that."
"Because I did the same during the Battle of the Tailteann Plains," Rhea answered. "I fought Nemesis on my own. While soldiers died for us to reach him, he focused on my presence. I alone charged into battle against him to make sure that he focused on me, and me alone. I could have asked for help from Cichol or even Wilhelm, but I knew that I was the best at fighting him. They would have died if they tried to help."
Emiya shook his head at her reasonings. "I can't believe you. I'm essentially an unknown and you've laid out a lot of things to me, and you don't even think I'd be an enemy?"
"If you were an enemy, then telling you the history of Fodlan doesn't change anything. Those Who Slither in the Dark already know history, or at least their sick version of it. By telling you the history that I lived through, then you've gained another perspective to choose from."
"Then, do what you want." Emiya turned towards the inside of the room. "In the meantime, I'm going to do my job as a hunting dog." He proceeded to leave the room to prepare for his departure.
'Something is wrong with her. I'd understand if she did what she did if she complete control over me, but to do so when we just met… She's insane. How did she stay as archbishop of the largest religion in this continent like that? Did her hatred for her enemies make her trust just about anyone who had an agenda against Those Who Slither in the Dark? No, if anything, it should make her more suspicious.'
Deep in his thoughts about Rhea, Emiya didn't realize that someone saw him leave the descended from the third floor to the second floor.
Seteth was confused. He had only come from spending time with Flayn by fishing in the Pond within the Monastery grounds. It was by sheer coincidence that he noticed Emiya coming down from the third floor to the second floor.
'Why was he coming from the third floor? The only room there is Rhea's… Did Rhea bring him there?'
In truth, Seteth found Emiya to be suspicious. He was far too perfect as a spy. He has an agenda against the enemies of the Church. He had suspicious magic, never seen before. He had no memories, or so he says. It was the perfect alibi if someone asked about his past. Of course, that in itself was suspicious too. And on top of that, he sold himself as the perfect weapon to hunt and kill Those Who Slither in the Dark.
'I must confront Rhea about him. She's trusting him too much.'
He took the stairs up to Rhea's room and knocked on her door.
"Rhea! It's me, Seteth. I have something to talk to you about."
"Enter."
Seteth opened the door, saw that Rhea was on her balcony, and approached her.
"What is it, Seteth? You don't usually visit like this." Rhea asked as Seteth stopped behind her right side.
"I just saw Emiya coming down from your floor. What happened?" Seteth began.
"I told him my side of history." Rhea simply responded as she continued to stare at the Monastery grounds.
"What?! Why would you do that?" Seteth nearly shouted in surprise. He knew that Emiya had somehow gained her trust, but to have her reveal the truth about Fodlan? "What do you see in this boy? What makes you trust him so much?"
Rhea turned towards Seteth. "I told you before, Seteth. It was like looking at a mirror; I saw myself in there." Rhea smiled fondly. "I saw Seiros in him."
'What? Seiros was filled with hatred and thoughts of vengeance. How would…'
Seteth's eyes widened in realization. "He also has a survivor's guilt?" He asked pointlessly; he knew he was right. While Seiros was filled with hatred and revenge, all of those were backed by her want to get back at Nemesis, as a way to atone for failing her mother and siblings.
However, that still wasn't enough. Seteth felt that Emiya was ultimately different. Rhea, or perhaps Seiros in this case, was someone that wanted to kill as a way to atone. If Emiya truly had survivor's guilt, then what was his way to atone? Kill the people that experimented on him? No, that couldn't be it; there was no 'survivor' in that.
And so, Seteth thought bigger. With Hapi as evidence, then it was safe to assume that there were more experiments. Then, from that, does Emiya's way of atoning be trying to save others that were experimented with?
If that was the case, then how is Rhea seeing herself in Emiya? Their cores should be different. One wanted vengeance, the other wanted to save. Yes, there are many similarities, but at this point, Rhea was ignoring the differences.
'Projection. Was Rhea projecting herself onto Emiya?'
"Rhea, I see what you- "
Rhea waved her hand to interrupt him. "Enough, Seteth. I know that worrying is your second nature, but I trust him. Is that not enough for you?"
Seteth grimaced. Of course, he trusted her. She was one of the last of his family. But Flayn comes first, just as it always.
"Rhea… For now, I will have faith in your decision. I pray that nothing occurs to shake that confidence. If the boy does something that feels suspicious, know that I will unleash the entire force of the Knights of Seiros on him. Flayn is here now; I will not risk her safety, even if you trust him."
Rhea smiled again. "Of course, Seteth. You would not be you otherwise."
Author's Notes:
So, yea, a new chapter. The last bit is similar to Seteth talking to Rhea about hiring Byleth. The comparison makes sense to me.
And yes, I've had this idea in my head that Rhea projecting to Emiya. I felt that Rhea projected Sothis on Byleth a bit in canon, and Byleth staying as Byleth in the Holy Tomb broke that projection.
When I compiled the history of Fodlan, I used FE Fandom Wiki, Bogus Ganon in YT, and FE Datamine site for in-game transcripts. With all three combined, I feel that I got the history right. If I missed something, let me know. I know that I didn't explain Seteth and Flayn, but I felt that their story is Seteth and Flayn's story to tell, not Rhea's. I also think that would be how Rhea would react.
Someone mentioned that Emiya doesn't have survivor's guilt. I think that he still does, to just a lesser extent than Shirou; it's just that Emiya is willing to kill the few to save the many. Nameless in F/Extra also said that he is the embodiment of survivor's guilt. I know that Nameless isn't technically Emiya, but we all do it anyway.
Final notice, but university has officially started. Updates will be sporadic in the future. I'm not sure when I can work on this again, so don't "Update?" I will ignore it. I have future plans for this fic. Writing this fic has been great at curbing my gaming addiction, so I'd like to continue this as far as I can.
2021/02/10 Edit:
Formatting changes.
Added missing words.