I know some of you are probably very eager to see Dimitri lose his mind, but I wanted to take a moment to congratulate Byleth on making it into Smash Ultimate. It's a safe choice for the last member of the first Fighters Pass DLC, but I think they definitely handled the Professor well by utilizing multiple Heroes' Relics!
Might have to steal that idea… Or even something from the Cindered Shadows DLC in Three Houses. "Which I wrote about over at Game Rant if you want to support my day job," he says in his most obnoxious self-promotion voice.
Anyway though let's just say that with Byleth in Smash happening, Three Houses is going to be a part of my life even longer than I expected. So that means my interest in getting through this here fanfic should keep chugging along too!
Thanks again for taking the time to read through it, I love you all.
Dimitri's unrelenting laughter haunts the Holy Tomb for a good while, drawing in all the Blue Lions to their cornered foe like a beacon. Most everyone is speechless at the sight of Edelgard in the Flame Emperor's armor, exposed without her mask.
Only Byleth appears to be more concerned for Dimitri than Edelgard, as he slowly approaches the boy with the Sword of the Creator by his belt, ready to draw or put away.
But Dimitri goes silent in an instant and Byleth stops. That twisted, comedic denial of the situation falters, leaving his body somewhat limp in a state of pure dread. The tip of his lance clinks against the floor as his shoulders slump and his face falls flat into what can only be read through his dulling blue eyes as anguish.
Then, starting with a twitch of the left eye, that anguish gives way to anger.
Soon Dimitri is snarling, threatening to crack all of his teeth from how hard he was grinding them just as much as he was threatening to snap his weapon in half from how hard he held the shaft in his quaking arm.
During the brief respite, Edelgard raises her axe defensively and huffs. Without Dimitri's laughter her soft panting was the noise primarily filling the chamber, showing the gathering crowd that her mask was what distorted her voice earlier.
When Edelgard's personal defenses are raised, the six Adrestian guards surrounding her also begin advancing, surrounding their commanding officer.
Seeing them spring into action, Dimitri flicks his lance out to the side before holding it in a tense, aggressive stance. He advances as well, finding no qualms in shattering the Flame Emperor's mask under his right metal boot in an instant. It was as though there was nothing in his path at all.
Now, where once a beautifully crafted white mask with a flame pattern laid, only rested red and white embers against the musty green floor.
Byleth tries to take Dimitri by the shoulder before he got too far, but the Prince is immediately dismissive. He brushes the Professor's hand away without a second look and continues to walk toward Edelgard.
"I've been looking for you…" He mutters, words drawn out and dripping with venom. "I will take that head from your shoulders and hang it from the gates of Enbarr!"
His wild, sharp grin and sullen, beady eyes return as Dimitri starts running at her.
Everyone in the room could hear him chuckling just under his breath as the six guards run to intercept the attacker.
The four men who had led the defense stand in a line and begin to raise their lances, hoping they would overwhelm the solitary noble with numbers alone. Yet Dimitri moved with a wobbling, unstructured gait that made it hard to predict exactly how he was going to approach. It was as if each muscle in his body was loosed, overflowing with power that pulled every inch of his being in different directions at once.
He displays the overwhelming strength let loose by his furious rage through a single swipe of his lance that caught each of the four men, crashing them into one another and sending them all tumbling out of his path.
The Blue Lions looked just as shocked as Edelgard when Dimitri follows through with that elephant trunk's swipe by drawing the lance all the way back over his shoulder, flipping it so the tip would angle forward and tossing it like a javelin.
Time moves slower as Edelgard suddenly comprehends the attack when it flies over her shoulder, leaving a long scratch against the metal plating of her armor. Had his throw been just a few inches more to the left, she would have died before even realizing what he was doing. The lance cracks in half as it careens into the wall behind her.
Yet, now the Kingdom's heir had tossed away his only weapon. That emboldened the guard to Edelgard's right, who tries to run the blond boy through with his own lance.
Dimitri deftly dodges the attack and decks him in the face, immediately breaking his nose with the metal knuckle of his armor and sending a few sprinkles of blood flying out against his face.
The guard with the broken nose falls hard on his back, groaning in agony as blood gushes down to the chainmail around his chin. But Dimitri had flipped back into unbridled rage, and he was clearly not in a merciful mood. The Prince drops to his knees and grabs the top of the guard's helmet to lift up his head.
Then, with his free hand, Dimitri bludgeons the man's face repeatedly, letting it slam back into the floor with each punch before picking it up again.
His classmates watch in horror as Dimitri's face and armor splatters with more and more blood each time he punches the downed man.
"Stop right there!" The final Adrestian guard calls out as he races toward Dimitri, hoping he could get in a killing blow while his ally was being brutalized.
Unfortunately, he was too far away to be able to capitalize. Dimitri slowly rises to his feet; body crooked and dripping with blood from the pulpy, mangled mess below him. By the time the last guard arrives, Dimitri is able to dodge the attack and grab the exposed part of his face — immediately immobilizing him in the process.
The last guard tries to plead for his life, words nasally because Dimitri's palm was scrunching down his nose.
But again, Dimitri offers no mercy.
He simultaneously crushes the man's skull and twists his neck, killing the man in an instant. Then he looks up at an army-less Edelgard and snickers; teeth looking especially white contrasted against the scarlet droplets running down his face.
By now the entire class had gathered around Byleth, who made sure they did not approach Dimitri in this state. Their reactions varied: Annette and Linhardt each looked sick and supported themselves with Mercedes and Caspar, both of whom averted their eyes almost immediately; Sylvain was transfixed on the sight of his friend tearing through the men, as was Ingrid (though she looked more terrified than stunned); Marianne clung somehow closer to a stone-faced Byleth than Flayn and practically sobbed into his sleeve, begging for it to stop under her breath; Felix stood with his arms crossed and his eyes closed, silently saying he had warned them all — yet his body was turned away from the bloodshed as though he too took no pleasure seeing himself proved correct.
Archbishop Rhea looked pleased to see her will be done in such a swift manner, with no casualties to speak of.
Near the doorway out of the Holy Tomb, Edelgard swallows back a hard lump in her throat and steels her spirit as Dimitri slowly approaches once again. She drops her axe to her side, seeing him pull back into a more neutral state of being.
"Before I break your neck, there is one thing I must ask you," he says deadpan.
"Stay out of my way," she interjects, voice confident despite the slight shutter running up her spine.
"I don't recall giving you permission to speak," he continues anyway. This time the deep gravel to his furious tone bubbles up again. Answer my question. That is all you have left to do."
A brief pause settles amongst the dead.
"Flame Emperor… No. Edelgard. Tell me now, why did you cause such a tragedy?" His voice slowly escalates the more he talks. "You killed your own mother, and yet you haven't even had the decency to stop and consider the reasons behind your actions. Have you?!"
"I already told you," she responds calmly. "I had nothing to do with that."
Dimitri laughs. "It was foolish to think I could reason with a lowly beast. You are a monster…"
Before Edelgard has the chance to talk again, a flash of purple light surrounds her. Suddenly two more guards are standing between her and Dimitri, swords raised. Hubert is at her side, sneering at Dimitri.
The Prince has no issues dealing with the guards without a weapon. However, Edelgard and Hubert disappear in another flash of purple light before he finishes the job, leaving him panting over their slain figures and staring down an empty doorway.
"To flee is futile, wicked girl." Rhea calls out to the same nothingness, drawing Byleth's eyes even as his class continues to watch Dimitri twitch in anger. "The Church of Seiros will raise its entire army against you until you have been captured and punished! You have defiled the Holy Tomb, dishonored the goddess and humiliated your brethren. That crime will never be erased, even if you burn in the eternal flames and spill all of your blood into the goddess's soil."
Once finished with her monologue, the Archbishop saunters in front of the Blue Lions and turns to face them, arms spread like a prophet.
"Come, Professor. Let us return and decide upon our next course of action."
Before they have the chance to lead everyone out, Dimitri storms back into the fold. He bypasses Rhea as if she weren't there at all, and dozens of shocked or suspicious eyes watch as he approaches a quivering, yet ultimately frozen Bernadetta.
"Von Hevring. Von Bergliez. Von Varley."
Linhardt, Caspar and Bernadetta all flinch in turn when called out in that disturbed, spine-chilling tone.
"You three bear the blood of Adrestian houses." Dimitri takes a deep breath through his nose and raises his hands, threatening to clasp at Bernadetta's neck.
She squeals and backs away, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Tell me. What did you know about this?!"
"Nothing!" Caspar calls out as he tries pushing past Ingrid and Felix to get to Bernadetta's side. Most everyone else is still with a tense fear.
"Are you all conspiring against us?!" Dimitri yells.
"No!" Bernadetta cries, arms squeezing hard around her messy purple hair.
"Did you 'join' us under the pretense of being Edelgard's spies? What have you told that wench about us?!"
"W-We… Hng…" Bernadetta backs into the balcony railing and loses her ability to speak after looking over her shoulder at the long drop down.
Before Dimitri can reach her, Sylvain runs over and stands between them. His gaze is chivalrous, undeterred by his friend's swinging moods and daunting strength.
"You're acting like a madman, Dimitri." His voice quibbles, but just barely. "As if Bernadetta, of all the people here, would be capable of 'conspiring' against anyone."
He briefly glances back at her.
"No offense."
She quickly shakes her head and cowers behind Sylvain's much larger form.
"That is exactly why we would never expect her," Dimitri continues. His approach is unceasing, though by now Dedue and Byleth were also coming from behind to surround the Prince. "She's a perfect spy. A truly despicable rat."
Sylvain steps forward and latches his hands to Dimitri's chest, shoving him away.
Dimitri catches his balance again almost immediately and lunges forward to punch Sylvain in the jaw. A few gasps emerge from the watching crowd.
The redhead yelps in pain as he stumbles to the side and doubles over, hand cradling his face. Dimitri stands back, panting, and watches as Sylvain spits out a viscous glob of dark blood onto the cool, jade ground.
"Your Highness!" Dedue says forcefully as he and Byleth come to either side, threatening to grab Dimitri by the arms if necessary.
The Prince is momentarily dumbfounded as he looks around. First at Dedue, then Byleth, each stern yet worried. Then he looks at Bernadetta, cowering against the railing. Finally his gaze falls back on Sylvain, who has an 'I'm not angry, I'm disappointed' kind of look and moves his hand to reveal an enflamed, throbbing welt forming on his cheek.
Thoughts swirl around in his head as the thick tension in the room begins to simmer down. He backs away from Bernadetta and the reach of Dedue and Byleth before turning to face the judgment of his peers.
All the Blue Lions blend into one: A mess of sad eyes and a haze of mutterings.
As Dimitri's eyes dart around that amorphous blob of his friends, they eventually settle on a familiar head of blue hair. Marianne was hard to spot, as she took to cowering behind a sneering Felix and forlorn Mercedes. But once he spotted her he could see the odd blend of fear and pain in her eyes, even as they too hid behind her unkempt bangs. The cleric practically tore the top of her dress apart from how much she nervously pulled and kneaded at the fabric with her arms pulled tight to her chest.
Dimitri swallows back as he turns his attention to the floor. All of the overwhelming rage had dissipated, and in its place was shame.
"… I'm sorry," he mutters. "I don't know what came over me."
Dedue's immense shadow blots out the shrunken form of his liege, and the Duscur man wraps an arm around Dimitri's shoulders before starting to walk him back toward the door to the descending mechanism.
"It's okay, Your Highness. This day has been hard on us all."
Very weak and unsure agreements ring out from a few voices in the crowd, a poor showing if they hoped to reassure their house leader.
But soon enough they all fell into line as Byleth brings Sylvain and Bernadetta (now wearing his loose coat like a blanket) back over.
He starts to lead everyone toward the mechanism just behind Dimitri and Dedue, but takes a brief moment to lock eyes with Marianne. In an instant he gathers everything he needs to and responds with a simple, reassuring nod. She nods back, and they all return to the Monastery proper in silence.