Ch. 6

A little girl peered slightly into the door, her body still halfway in the hallway. Her eyes scanned the room and saw that there was no one in the room except for the patient.

She took small, silent steps to the bed and found herself unable to see the patient's face. With a small grimace, she pushed the visitor chair next to the bed and climbed up.

Her soft, green eyes blinked and her head tilted in awe.

The patient was breathing irregularly and his breaths sounded painful. The girl stretched her arm out to gently stroke the patient's hair.

She opened her mouth to sing.

In time's flow

See the glow

Of flames ever burning bright

On the swift

River's drift

Broken memories align

As soon as she stopped singing, a voice cried out, "Rhea-chan! You shouldn't be in here!"

With a small yelp, the little girl scrambled down the chair and ran away, saying a small apology to the nurse who came in to check on her patient. As she went through the door, she turned her head back to the doorplate.

Room 5054 Eisner, B.

However, the patient stopped shivering and relaxed for the first time he was hospitalized.

"I am such a coward," Ryuji snarled and clutched in anger. "I couldn't even do anything."

"No… Ryuji… it wasn't your fault. If anything it was mine." The Phantom Thieves' leader said softly.

"What did we do? We made his condition worsen. Eisner-sensei was better before we interfered with his cognition." Haru bit her lip and looked down solemnly. "Would it have been better if we left him alone? Should we have even tried to change his cognition in the first place?"

"He was hanging on by a thin thread!" Ann tried to argue, "But… you're right. We left him in a worse state and I feel so terrible."

"We should have just left him alone."

"No," The Oracle whispered. "We can't just leave him alone."

The Thieves all looked to their youngest member.

"I know what Professor Byleth feels. He feels that he killed his student. And judging from what he said, he actually did. But he's not like the other adults that we changed. I think he's been punished enough. He's a person who's burdened by the guilt of what he did and since we opened that can of worms, we have to finish what we did. It's our fault for bringing it up but we can help him. Just how you guys helped me."

Akira nodded but clutched his fists together even harder.

"How will we be able to change his cognition now? We can't even make him open up anymore. He's unconscious now."

"Let's… let's first go to the hospital and visit him." Ann said sadly. "We can see how he's doing."

Ann didn't like hospitals.

The last time she was here (before Eisner-sensei) was when she accompanied Shiho's unconscious body in the ambulance. Why was it that hospitals were so depressing? She saw a little girl with long, unnaturally green hair clenching her heart and taking painful breaths after only running a few paces. Her caretaker worriedly lifted her up and took her away.

Oh right—pain. She didn't like seeing people in pain.

Seeing Eisner-sensei's unconscious form was even more depressing as she couldn't shake off the thought that she caused this.

She needed to take a breather. Away from the room.

.

Ann rested her back against the wall. She stopped at the vending machine in the middle of the hallway close to the elevators to grab a drink and she took a sip of her Pocari Sweat. After a few sips, she turned to go back but saw the green-haired girl that she saw earlier struggling with a vending machine.

"Do you need any help with that?"

The girl looked at her and blinked.

"Oh… usually, Kana-san helps me with this. But I would greatly appreciate it if you could help."

Ann smiled at the polite girl and helped her through the selection of choosing through the drinks in the warm-drink vending machine. The girl pointed to the angelica root tea and Ann was slightly surprised at the young girl's choice in drinks. She looked less than ten years old but chose tea instead of sweet, sugary drinks that Ann enjoyed when she was young (and still enjoyed).

The girl thanked her again and saw down on the bench that was against the wall next to the vending machines. Not feeling exactly like she wanted to go back to the hospital room as well, Ann sat down next to her and remarked, "Your hair color is really pretty! Did you dye it?"

The girl smiled softly. "Thank you, and yes my caretaker let me dye it because she feels sorry that I will pass away soon."

"O-oh…" Ann stammered, unsure of how to respond.

"But your hair is also very beautiful!" The girl gave a small smile. "My name is Rhea! What is your name?"

"Rhea?" Ann couldn't help but connect her hair and name to the Professor's memories but ignored it for the moment. "My name is Ann." She smiled back.

The child took a sip of the warm chamomile tea. "Who are you here to visit? Is it the man who always sleeps?"

Ann blinked. And then she realized what Rhea meant. The little girl used such intelligent words but didn't understand what a coma was. Ann couldn't help but give a small chuckle.

"Yes, unfortunately, all he does when we come to visit is sleep," Ann smiled sadly.

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Ryuji didn't like hospitals.

The blonde thief wasn't a stranger to hospitals due to his bad knee but he always felt so out of place whenever he walked through the revolving doors of any hospital. Hospitals are fancy, squeaky clean, and people think that he's a gangster trying to find the guy he beat up and finish him once and for all. At least, that's what the worried glances from the workers say.

Ryuji found himself running alone one afternoon to blow off some steam. Then he found himself passing by the Tokyo Metropolitan Hospital. He checked his running app. 8 miles. It was a good enough run. Ryuji didn't really plan on coming to the hospital, but running around in Shibuya would sometimes bring him to Ebisu and the hospital was smack in the center of it. He was sweaty but underneath his warming layers and beanie, it was easy to hide that he needed to take a shower. He might as well visit his teacher while he's here.

He, again, felt out of place as he stepped into the hospital—much like the other times that he's been here. Luckily, he's been here enough as the unit clerk of the 5th floor VIP unit doesn't make a fuss about him visiting a patient. With a polite nod, he passes by her and easily finds his way to Eisner-sensei's room.

He saw the door slightly ajar but didn't think too much of it as he opened the door swiftly. However, instead of a room with just one patient, there was a stranger in the room. The stranger jumped, startled by the sudden intrusion.

"What the? Who are you?" He interrogated the unexpected occupant in the room. Ryuji didn't expect anyone inside. Master Yamamoto doesn't come in until 5pm and as far as he knows, no one at school knew where the teacher was hospitalized except for their little group. Not that this little girl would be of age to go to high school.

"I'm a patient here. Down the hallway at the pediatric unit."

"Oh… okay?"

"Who are you?" She cut him off as he opened his mouth to ask another question. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh. I'm Ryuji. Just visiting my teacher." Ryuji pointed at Byleth's unconscious form.

"And I am Rhea. And you said he's your teacher?" The girl's—Rhea's—face brightened when Ryuji nodded. "Is Byleth-sensei a good teacher?"

"…Byleth? Why are you calling him Byleth?" Ryuji questioned as he narrowed his eyes. This girl, never mind her unnatural hair color, knew the name of a person of the past. Something that normal people shouldn't. "His name is Eisner Bereto."

The green-haired girl's eye slightly flinched and her lips curled into a frown.

"I think you misheard. I said Bereto-sensei," her face looked impassive even as she lied through her teeth.

The blonde quirked his eyebrow and gave an unimpressed look. "No, you didn't."

With a huff, she pushed past Ryuji and he didn't stop her. He watched her take quick, graceful steps to the pediatric ward and ruffled his hair in confusion.

.

Yusuke never went to hospitals.

Hospitals meant treatment, treatment meant spending money, and spending money meant fewer art supplies. Oh not to mention, less food. Yusuke supposed that it meant that he didn't like hospitals.

However, he had to question, who truly likes hospitals? Do these doctors and nurses who come in to work truly enjoy their workplace? Do they enjoy treating patients? Maybe it was just this hospital—Yusuke has never been admitted to one himself—but for all of its expensive and lavish furnishings, it felt more oppressive than comforting. Seeing his sensei being tended to like a VIP in a hotel room whilst he was unconscious and unable to enjoy the luxuries was so strange.

He eyed the frivolous and gaudy mural that decorated the walls of the hospital hallway. He had to stop and shake his head at it—the color palette and composition were disappointing. Following the mural down, his legs took him from the single room VIP unit to the pediatric unit where many children's doodles uniformly decorated the wall.

Most were amateurish, but there were some talented children. His legs took him further down as he admonished the drawings, but as his eyes passed by three oil paintings, his legs stopped.

The first was Garreg Mach, the next was Sothis sitting atop a stone throne, and the last was undeniably Eisner-sensei, with bright green hair, battling a dragon.

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Makoto didn't care for hospitals.

Whenever she was sick, her sister forced her to go to the hospital to get checked up even though the younger Nijima argued that she was okay. She was familiar with hospitals enough and was familiar with how small talk in hospitals with strangers worked usually.

"Oh, hello! I'm sorry but do you mind if I can ask some questions?" Makoto asked a woman who looked like she was leaving the pediatric unit and down the elevators.

The older lady quirked her brow and shook her head. "Sorry. I'm not doing any interviews," she said as she tensed her body.

Makoto was confused about why the lady would think that she would be asking for an interview when Makoto was clearly in her school uniform and didn't have any recording or writing gear.

"No, it's nothing like that Ma'am. My older sister's daughter had been really sick and I'm just trying to help by finding which pediatric hospital in Tokyo would be the best for her. It's hard to find accurate reviews about these hospitals online." Makoto smiled softly and hoped that her lie would work.

At Makoto's words, the woman softened her expression and let her tense body relax.

"I see. I care for a child who has been hospitalized here for years."

"Years?" Makoto barely kept the shock in from her question. "That is a long time, but I think a hospital that could handle long term hospitalization may be good for my niece. She has a chronic illness. Oh, I hope if she gets admitted here or gets treatment here, she could become friends with that child. Do you mind if I ask you what her name is?"

"Of course not! Her name is Rhea. She is adorable and has long green hair. She's hard to miss."

Makoto, of course, already knew this woman was a caregiver for their target. She and her friends carefully stalked the target and could tell that relationship was not mother and daughter.

"Green hair? That is an interesting choice in hair color. Do you think there's a way for my niece to befriend her?"

"She's shy around kids her age. I don't think she has ever had a single friend her age. I feel like she thinks she's too mature." The woman sighed. "She's always just reading or painting. She looks at the TV as if it's an anomaly every single time I turn it on so I rarely do. She doesn't like toys or girly things either. Such a shame really. She is beautiful and I wish she would enjoy something fun before she—" The woman stopped her rambling.

Makoto noted the hesitation and she could guess what she was about to say. Without missing a beat or making it awkward, the Shujin High School President smiled and continued on the conversation.

"Well if my niece gets hospitalized here, I will make sure she brings paint and books to share with Rhea. She sounds like such an intelligent girl and similar to my niece in that she loves books."

The woman gave a weak smile. "Yes, that would be great. I hope I was helpful in your sister's decision." She looked like she was trying to flee from the conversation after her rambling spiraled into a more somber topic.

"Thank you very much, Ma'am. I really appreciate it!" She smiled and waved goodbye to the woman.

.

Morgana was the one who caught her singing to him.

As he quietly stepped into the open private room, he saw the girl that several members of the Phantom Thieves talked about. Looking at the heart rate monitor, Morgana could see that the teacher's heartbeats were getting more calmer as the girl sang the lyrics. The not-a-cat cat made a mewling noise, just to see what the girl would do.

She turned around, peered at him with wide, green eyes, and bent down to pat him. Morgana grumbled a bit but let the girl do what she wanted for now.

"Oh my, a cat got into the hospital. Are you lost?" Out of the child's mouth came out a childish voice, but also came out a mature tone that made Morgana stay still and let her pet him just a while longer to see what she does.

She stepped down from the chair she was standing on top of and lifted him up gently. She grimaced a little as if she was in pain, but she turned Morgana's body so that he could not see her expression anymore. With only a little bit of trouble, she stepped back on top of the chair so that she could see the sleeping teacher's face.

"I remember when the Professor would try to feed the cats in the Monastery, but they never really touched the food. He was pretty heartbroken at that."

Morgana looked at the Professor's face and he could tell that the teacher's usual tense expression was replaced by a soft, relaxed one.

Okay, Morgana thought. That was enough, he thought as gravity pulled him down, making him slide down the child's arms uncomfortably. The not-a-cat jumped out of the girl's arms and left the hospital room and back outside of the hospital to meet up with Akira.

"Should we confront her? What do we even do?" Futaba asked no one in particular. She groaned and slumped down on the dining table booth in Le Blanc.

Makoto looked frustrated. "She doesn't know that we know of Eisner-sensei's past. She might be able to help us but they didn't really leave on the best of terms from what I remember."

Akira nodded. "That is true, but she didn't harm him even though she was in the perfect position to while he's in coma."

Morgana listened to the group talking amongst themselves and finally interjected.

"She sang this lullaby to him. It made his vital signs more normal and his expression less tense. His brain can recognize the song while he is in coma and I think it's connected to his past. We can't wake him up from his coma in his cognition, but maybe we can do something from the real world."

"I just have to say," Yusuke paused as he drew the attention of the group to him. "The Archbishop is an excellent artist.'

Ryuji groaned. "The hell… I thought you would say something more important dude."

"'Sup Rhea." Ryuji greeted as he blocked the exit of the private hospital room.

"Good evening to you as well. I will now take my leave." Rhea dropped down from the chair she was standing on top of and prepared to pass by Ryuji, but over half a dozen more teenagers came in from behind the blonde and Ryuji tilted his body to let them all inside the room.

The girl stepped back as the teens filed into the room. She looked at the new incomers as she recognized a few of the faces.

"It was my understanding that having more than four guests at a time was not allowed." The young girl said with a clipped voice.

"Yeah we know. But we need to talk."

"I'm a patient, but I'm not powerless. I can also call for help," She threatened as she stepped back to the side of the bed and grabbed the call light that was hanging next to it.

"No no, we are not threatening a little girl, no matter how old she actually is." A with short brown hair pushed the rowdy blond back. "Rhea," the girl looked to her. "I'm Nijima Makoto. We just want to talk about Eisner-sensei. His past mostly."

Rhea looked at the group cautiously.

"I don't think I can really help with that."

"We know about Garreg Mach. We know about the Professor's past life." A girl with glasses and long orange hair spoke, hiding a part of her body behind a tall blue-haired teen. "We know you are Archbishop Rhea."

Rhea's breath hitched at hearing her past title and the place she has called home for over a thousand years.

"How… how do you even know of such things? The Professor was always a quiet person. I doubt that he would talk about this so easily with students, no matter how close you are."

"I don't think we can say we are very close. We just… know a little too much and caused Eisner-sensei too much trouble." The black-haired boy with glasses stared at her. "We need to show you something. Are you able to make a small trip?"

"Outside?" Rhea bit her lip. "I'm afraid... that a trip would be difficult. I have a heart condition and I am unable to do very much. Even walking a kilometer is difficult for me. Not to mention my caretaker will be returning soon."

Akira faltered. In all their hurry, the Phantom Thieves failed to consider the young patient's condition which made her stay admitted to the hospital for a lengthy period of time.

"Oh… um. How about we just talk about ourselves first then? I'm Kurusu Akira."

.

After their introductions, only Ann and Ryuji stayed as there were too many of them and they would soon be kicked out if they were found congregated in one room. The rest decided to work out how to help the girl make the small trip though.

As Ann and Ryuji sat down in other chairs in the room, Rhea scooted the chair she was using as a stool earlier to see Eisner-sensei's face.

"I apologize. I was lying before." The former archbishop stated.

"Huh?" Ann asked.

"My hair is naturally green. It's just easier to tell strangers that my hair is dyed to be green. I suppose that now that I know that you know my past self, I don't have to hide it.

"Then... Is it true that you're dying?" Ryuji questioned.

"Isn't everyone?" She questioned back. "I'm not sad about it. I have already lived for over a thousand years. I've experienced life to more than any humans could ever experience and… I've made too many mistakes. But I thought maybe this life, I may have someone akin to parents. Whoever they were, they wouldn't actually be Mother, but I still hoped."

Ann and Ryuji shared a look that the green-haired girl didn't see.

"But my parents apparently passed away before I could start comprehending the environment around me and the last relative I have is a wealthy grandfather who I've only seen once in my life. There's Kana-san that my grandfather hired. She comes for a few hours every day to assist me with things such as laundry but I've lived in this hospital for six years now."

"Six years?" Ryuji exclaimed in shock. "How old are you now?"

"My current body is ten years old. And please. Don't feel sorry for me. To be completely honest, I should already be dead without the and I think it is a waste to use the treatment that they give me. But maybe the tantalizing prospect of continuing to live and making me wish to go outside the walls of this hospital but knowing that it'll never happen is a fitting way for me to be punished."

"What do you mean?"

Rhea looked to the two with a confused look. "Do you not know how I died? I…" she stopped and looked down again. "Actually I don't wish to talk about it right now."

Ann was curious but didn't want to push the girl. She knew that Rhea wasn't actually just a ten-year-old girl, but rather a thousand years old woman who could transform into a dragon. However, the former archbishop was now a girl who may die soon and hadn't set foot outside the hospital in the past six years.

Akira was there the next day, ready with a plan. Rhea didn't know what to make of it.

"So you want me to hold onto this cat and we will suddenly be there?"

The cat in response mewled at her, but she couldn't understand him. Not yet, apparently.

"Not exactly. We'll have to drive for a little while but we will be there in less than thirty minutes after that. There won't be any strenuous activities."

"I'm sorry, I'm still very confused."

Akira sighed inwardly. It was difficult to explain the metaverse and the navigation system especially as the former archbishop was unfamiliar with many of the technologies spread throughout the world as she was admitted to the hospital for so long.

"I think we'll have to have a long talk about this world's technology after we come back, but you said that your nurse is coming back in three hours, right? We will have to be back before then. I'll grab onto your shoulder. We might be separated, but Futaba and Morgana could always find me."

The girl was still apprehensive, but she reached down to grab Morgana who mewled to Akira.

"Ah wait. Morgana wants you to support his hind legs so that he doesn't slip. Eisner-sensei's cognition is jarring and confusing compared to other places we've been to, so you have to grab onto Morgana tightly so you won't get separated. Not too tightly that he will get hurt, but enough that he won't slip."

Rhea wanted to huff at the boy and tell him that she was over a thousand years old and could take care of animals, thank you very much. It was just that her body was too small, too weak, and too pained to hold anything heavy. But she didn't voice her annoyance. The girl merely nodded and suddenly the world around her became hazy and distorted.

.

Rhea almost screamed as the already sufficiently heavy cat suddenly grew in size in width and weight in her arms.

However, she heeded the leader of the Phantom Thieves' words and didn't let go of the cat. The sudden weight made her body burn in pain, but then all the pain suddenly stopped.

As she looked around, she found herself surrounded by greenery. Her eyes grew wide at the change in scenery. It had been so long since she had seen a forest. A forest like this.

The luscious oak trees that were growing were so familiar. The mossy scent of the forest welcomed her. Due to her shock, she almost forgot to let go of the heavy load in her arms but she finally let go as the cat struggled and demanded to be let down. When the cat jumped down, Rhea saw that the small cat had transformed into a giant cat that was two-thirds of her own height. The cat wasn't grotesque, but it was still jarring. Furthermore, it was talking. However, it wasn't the most strange thing that she saw and it wasn't as important as her problem. Or rather, the lack of the problem.

Rhea put a hand over her chest. For the first time in her new life, she found that her heart didn't hurt. The pain was always there. Even before she was hospitalized. Sometimes it would be radiating throughout her body and sometimes it would be contained within her heart. But she never asked for pain medication that her caretaker encouraged even when the pain blinded her. The former archbishop took the pain as her punishment.

Should she feel guilty that she gets this pause between her punishment? Or should she feel relieved at this break from her pain? But her inner conflict was interrupted when the black-haired teen called her over to an automobile. She definitely didn't see that before.

But the teen explained that Morgana could transform into different vehicles in the Metaverse. Now, this was definitely one of the more strangest things she has ever seen. She nodded as if she understood but still didn't actually understand what was happening. She took the seat next to the teen who took the driver's seat and he drove the car through the forest. She has seen cars several times from the hospital windows and the television that Kana-san sometimes watches. She was sure that she had to be driven to the hospital some point, but she didn't exactly remember what happened when her illness developed more seriously and she couldn't conceal the pain anymore.

Shaking her amazement of riding in a car—a bus?— Rhea pacified her inner turmoil saying that this break from her punishment was only temporary and helping the Professor would alleviate some of the burdens she felt.

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