Rewind.
Kneeling in the mud, her hands soaked in blood, Byleth felt the tears of frustration falling down her cheeks.
Rewind.
She wasn't running fast enough. Fresh blood spattered all across her face.
Rewind.
This time, the blood was her own. Consciousness was slipping between her fingers.
Still, she refused to give up.
Just a little bit further, damn it! she screamed on the inside, begging Sothis's power to cooperate. This time I'll make it, I swear.
Byleth was at the beginning of the fight now. The Adrestian Empire versus the Kingdom of Faerghus. The battle began with Edelgard's orders.
"Annihilate everyone. Leave no general alive, including King Dimitri!"
The troops advanced with caution. Rainy weather and muddy terrain hindered their movements. The Kingdom's reinforcements emerged from the forest much sooner than expected. The time was running out.
"Thrust forward!" shouted the Emperor. "We have to reach the generals before we're overwhelmed."
She rushed her horse, leading the front lines through the bridge. Without thinking, Byleth ran after them. Suddenly, their path was blocked not by a handful of soldiers, but by a group of Demonic Beasts. They changed right before her eyes, screaming in pain. Just like Sylvain's brother.
"Dedue! What have you done?!" Dimitri shouted over the falling rain. He looked just as mortified as Byleth felt.
The professor had no time to fight the beasts, though. She turned to Linhardt.
"Warp me behind them!" she ordered, breathless. "As far as you can."
The mage obeyed without a second glance. Once there, Byleth cast a quick Thunder to hinder the monster's defenses. Otherwise, it would inevitably finish Caspar off with its attack.
The Knights of Seiros make their presence known, flanking Edelgard's battalion from both sides. Ferdinand and Bernadetta stayed behind to deal with them. The professor altered her path to block Rhea's finishing blow on Ferdinand. Although it was raining heavily and the visibility was limited, Byleth had the battlefield memorized. Running along the slippery road while avoiding the enemy soldiers, the woman hoped she could make it in time.
"Edelgard, stop this madness!" she heard Dimitri's voice, who refused to strike without a word. "The path you cut for yourself is filled with nothing but corpses. Must you continue to conquer, to kill?"
"There is nothing I would not sacrifice for Fódlan's new future," replied Edelgard, towering over him. "Nothing and no one. Farewell, King of Delusions."
The Emperor raised her weapon, ready to strike. For a split second, Byleth saw a flashback of a very similar scene. A mirror image of the one before her. A defeated Edelgard kneeling in front of Dimitri. The difference was, Dimitri was extending his hand to her, as if she was a wounded comrade, instead of trying to finish her off.
"Stop!" Byleth shrieked with all her lungs.
But it was too late. Dimitri fell to the ground right before her feet. She kneeled next to him, hoping that his armor took most of the impact.
"Dimitri…" The woman struggled with words. This was the first time she got to the King when he was still alive. "How do you feel? Can you − stand?"
"Professor," Dimitri said in a little more than a whisper. "Tell me, I must know. Why did you choose Edelgard?"
Why didn't you choose me?, his eyes seemed to ask where his voice betrayed him.
"Things didn't come out the way I planned," she admitted bitterly.
The man gave a short, humorless laugh. "I could say the same."
Unable to hold his gaze, Byleth looked away. Her heart stopped. Where Dimitri lied, there was a growing pool of blood.
"Gods, no!" she said in a new state of panic, leaning down to examine his shoulder. She found a deep cut in-between his armor plates. The professor pressed the wound to stop it from bleeding and shouted to anyone that could hear her, "I need some help in here!"
"Stand aside, my teacher!" ordered Edelgard, who observed the scene from a distance. "He's our enemy."
Byleth ignored her, busy with keeping Dimitri still. Despite her protests, the man moved his arm to reach into his pocket. With some difficulty, he pulled out an old piece of parchment and handed it to the professor.
Visibly confused, she unfolded it. She recognized it instantly. This was the letter she wrote to him what seemed like a lifetime ago. The letter where she told him how much she cared for him and promised to protect him, even if they ended up fighting against each other.
"You kept it," Byleth whispered.
"So it was from you, after all. I'm glad," Dimitri admitted. His smile was genuine this time.
"You knew?"
"I suspected. Or hoped, rather. You must know that−"
"Please don't talk! "she said hastily, scared by his sudden paleness.
Yet, he continued, undeterred.
"I always wished we had more time. If things were different, if we could meet again on the same side of the battlefield... Thank you, Professor. I leave the future of Faerghus… no, the future of Fódlan… in your hands."
"Nooo!" Byleth's cry terrified even Edelgard, who stood motionless, unable to comprehend what was happening before her.
With all of her might, the professor concentrated on the Divine Pulse. But she was totally out. There was no longer anything she could do.
Many questions spun in her head. Why did it have to end like this? Why him? Why Dimitri?! She protected all of her former students, even managed to save Claude. And then, near the very end, she failed to keep the person that was most precious to her − alive.
"Sothis!" she called with a cracking voice for the goddess that no longer existed. "Take me out of here!"
Author's note: To the people that expected Byleth to "fix" the Black Eagles path:
I wrote this fanfic as a response to my thoughts and feelings during the game. After playing the Blue Lions route first, I jumped straight into the Black Eagles path to learn more of the story. To my surprise, I found that I can't fully enjoy the new set of characters because I miss the group I started with. This was especially true for the house leader. Although I didn't care much for Dimitri at the beginning, he grew on me after I witnessed all the little things he did for Byleth. It was surprisingly hard not to be able to interact with him during my second playthrough. Needless to say, the unavoidable death scene was heartbreaking.
Therefore, instead of going the "usual way" presented in many stories, where Byleth uses her experience and knowledge to fix things, I decided on the contrary. There are things you simply cannot change. New Game Plus reflects this idea perfectly well. I hope you enjoyed!