Eve fiddled with the ring around her finger as she stared back at the multitude of faces eagerly awaiting her story. While the soldiers from both the Church of Seiros and the Kingdom had gone to the castle's great hall to celebrate their victory, the former students of the Officers Academy gathered to finally get answers on what had happened to Eve these past five years. She didn't know where to begin, though. So much had happened and much of it, for better or for worse, she didn't remember.
"Dimitri and I flew straight here from the Battle for Garreg Mach to warn the King Regent about the coming war." Eve finally began. "The moment we left our audience with him was when Cornelia's plan was set into motion. It was announced that the King Regent was dead and she pinned it on Dimitri. I'm sure you all know Dimitri's side of the story from there."
Her audience nodded and she paused again to think about how to proceed. As she looked over everyone in front of her, she locked eyes with Felix. He was watching her so intensely she felt like his eyes were burning into her. She felt terrible for leaving him, for making him believe she was dead all this time. And as she continued to look into his eyes, she made the heartbreaking realisation that after all this time he still loved her. He had gone on all this time holding her in his heart.
"H-Hubert was waiting for us." Eve stammered as she continued. "I believe he was counting on me being the one to take Dimitri to the capital. After he had retreated from Garreg Mach, he headed directly to Fhirdiad to intercept us there. When Dimitri was captured, Hubert took me into custody and took me to Enbarr."
She told them about her journey to Enbarr, how once they got close enough to the city Hubert had forced her to drink some kind of potion that induced sleep. Eventually she had woken up in the room that would be her prison for the next two years with no idea how long she had been asleep for. After that, there wasn't much to speak of. Each day had gone by much the same as the one before it. Eve was confined to her quarters by a chain around her ankle that allowed her to wander around the entirety of the room but never make it past the threshold of the door.
"Edelgard made me attend her war council meetings; that was the only time I left my room." Eve stared at the floor as she recalled her time in the Empire capital. "I think she wanted me to see that she was winning the war so that I would swear my fealty to her. It didn't work, of course, but I'm glad she did that. Without being in those meetings, I would've known nothing about the progress of the war."
"She let you know all of her strategies?" Yuri asked curiously.
"No." Eve shook her head. "I only ever sat in on the reports. After that, they took me back to my room. They also never let me attend the council meetings that had anything to do with Fraldarius or Gautier territory. I don't think they wanted me knowing if you lot were alive or not."
She went on to describe how Hubert would spend time with her every day to try and convince her to take their side. Some time between when someone would bring her her lunch and her dinner, Hubert would come to her room with tea and speak to her at length about Edelgard's vision for Fodlan.
"At first, I think they truly thought they could convince me." Eve sighed. "They knew I disliked Rhea and the institution of the Church, so they thought I would side with them."
"But how did you end up escaping if they kept such a tight watch on you?" Ingrid asked.
"I faked my own death." She answered, matter-of-fact. "It all started when they realised I was never going to agree with them."
Eve remembered it so clearly, the argument she had gotten into with Hubert that started the ball rolling. He had been talking about Edelgard's devotion to making a better Fodlan, how she would stop at nothing to achieve her ideals. And it had reminded Eve of the assault on the Holy Tomb. She asked Hubert if Edelgard was going to make a habit of trampling upon the memory of the dead to reach her goals.
"Do you know why I hate Rhea so much, Hubert?" Eve asked when he reiterated that Edelgard would do whatever it took to achieve her vision."Do tell." Hubert sat back in his chair, that stupid smug look on his face that made Eve want to tear him limb from limb.
"She would do anything for her ideals." Eve grimaced. "I will not serve anyone who disregards life for their own personal gain. Edelgard is no saviour of Fodlan, she is its destroyer."
Hubert had, of course, jumped to defend his precious Lady Edelgard and Eve had responded with some less than savoury words regarding the Emperor. It had ended in a screaming match where Eve finally admitted aloud that she would never swear her fealty to Edelgard no matter how hard Hubert tried to convince her.
"After that happened, Hubert became much more cruel than he had already been." Eve sighed again. "Up until that point, I wasn't allowed to know anything about anyone I had known at the Academy. I was completely in the dark about who was alive and who was dead. So he told me about Dimitri's execution. I think he wanted me to break. And in a way, I did— just not in the way he wanted me to."
"Your little princeling is dead." Hubert smirked, standing just in the doorway of Eve's quarters.
"What?" She looked up from the book she was reading to stare at him.
"Dimitri has been executed for treason." Hubert was fully grinning now, enjoying watching the blood drain from Eve's face.
"You're lying." Eve breathed, heart racing in her chest.
"Am I?" He raised an eyebrow at her.
"You bastard!" She shrieked, launching herself forward to grab at him.
But he was standing just outside of her reach as her chain snapped to its fullest extent and abruptly halted her approach. She flailed wildly, trying to make any purchase on him, but he continued to stand just out of her grasp.
"You lied to me." She choked. "You said you wouldn't hurt him if I behaved."
"I never said that." Hubert smiled at her. "I said I'd kill him if you misbehaved. I never said he'd be spared if you stayed on your best behaviour."
"You bastard." Eve seethed. "You're a scourge to this land. You will regret this."
"Oh? Will I?" Hubert taunted. "What could you possibly do from your cage, little bird?"
"My face will the the last one you ever see, this I swear." Eve gritted her teeth, holding back her tears.
"Lady Edelgard will not lose this war." Hubert shook his head.
"I'm not talking about the war." Eve drew up to her full height to glare at him with as much force as she could muster. "You will die. Win or lose, you will die at my hand. And I will take great joy as I watch the life drain out of your eyes. I promise you."
"No matter." He shrugged, unfazed by her threat. "Nothing you do to me will bring back Dimitri."
Eve balled her hands into fists at her side as she fought the urge to once again try to strike Hubert. She knew it would be futile with this damn chain on her ankle. So all she could do is watch as he turned and walked away before stopping a few paces down.
"Oh, and by the way." He said over his shoulder, not even bothering to look at her. "I do hope you know this was your fault. If only you had sworn fealty to the Emperor, your prince didn't need to die."
All Eve could do was let out a bloodcurdling scream as Hubert walked away laughing.
"I trashed my room after he told me." Eve admitted sheepishly. "It was the only way I could let all that grief and rage out of my body."
She chanced a glance at Dimitri then, noting that he looked shocked she had cared enough to be angry. For a moment his astonishment stung before Eve realised she had no idea how he felt about her. It made sense that he would also be unsure of her feelings for him.
"Sometime that evening, I think everyone grew tired of my screaming and throwing things about." Eve continued. "A mage came to my room and brought me more of the potion I had been made to drink on the way to Enbarr."
She spared them the details of the fight it had been. The first mage Hubert sent, she had gravely injured once he stepped foot in her room. Eventually, it had taken 5 mages to subdue her enough to force her to drink the potion. She could still vividly remember the sensation of sinking her teeth deep into the arm of one of them as they tried to hold her down.
"It went like that for a few days." She blinked away the memories and looked up at her peers. "I would scream until I was hoarse and then in the evening they would bring me that potion to shut me up long enough for everyone to sleep without my screams waking them up."
The subsequent days hadn't been as much of a fight by the time the mages came. Eve had tired herself out enough that she could barely move at the end of the day. It was still fresh in her memory that fatigue she had felt, her limbs feeling like they were made of lead as she lay in a heap on the floor surrounded by her own mess.
"During this time, Hubert said something that piqued my interest and got the wheels turning for my plan of escape." Eve motioned vaguely, feeling increasingly uncomfortable under the curious gaze of all the Blue Lions.
"You're giving her too much." Hubert hissed, his voice lowered.
Eve inched forward as quietly as she could, mindful of her chain as she tried to overhear what Hubert was saying to the mages just around the corner.
"But she's uncontrollable, sir." The mage replied.
"Might I remind you that potion was made to be an undetectable poison." Hubert said. "If you continue to give her this amount day after day she will be dead before the week is out."
After learning this, Eve had calmed down her outbursts as she put together the details of her escape. She began asking Hubert during their evening tea if she could have a small bit of potion with her dinner to help her sleep. He had hesitated, but ultimately agreed. The mages brought her half of what they had been giving her and she calculated that within a little under two weeks she would have enough to execute her plan.
"I kept all of the doses I was given, hidden about my room so that if one was discovered they wouldn't find all of them and get wise to my intentions." Eve explained. "And once I had enough, I drank all of them. I was sure to scatter the bottles close to me so that it would be clear to Hubert what I had done."
After drinking the potion, Eve didn't know anything of what happened. Her plan, which she assumed worked, had been for Hubert to believe she had drank enough of the potion to kill herself. She had strategically drank all of the potions after her lunch so that Hubert would be the one to find her when he came by for their daily tea.
"I don't know how much time passed, but I eventually woke up in their morgue." Eve shrugged. "I don't know what they had been planning to do with my body, but they had kept me out on a table. All I had to do was find some clothes and then I just walked right out."
"Just like that?" Yuri raised an inquisitive eyebrow.
"I walked out in Empire garb." Eve explained. "There are so many people that go in and out of that castle no one thought to look twice at me."
"I'm so sorry all of that happened to you." Ashe said quietly.
Eve both hated and cherished the pity that she saw in his eyes. She hated being pitied, having people believe that she was just a product of her circumstances. However it lifted a burden on her heart to know that her friends still cared for her. She had only known them a short time before disappearing for five years— three of which they had believed her to be dead. Upon returning, Eve had been fearful of the reception from the Blue Lions. She was unsure that they would still view her as an ally much less a friend.
"I'm more sorry that I was late." Eve shook her head. "I'm sorry I made you all believe I was dead for so long."
"But why would they say they executed you if they believed you had killed yourself?" Ingrid asked. "That was what the fliers said that were distributed by the Empire— that you had been executed for treason."
"I don't think they wanted to admit that they had lost control of me." Eve surmised. "If they admitted I killed myself, they would be admitting that I'd rather die than serve Edelgard. But if they said I had been executed, they could use it to further their propaganda that Dimitri had brainwashed me into submission and was therefore responsible for my death."
"Regardless, I believe I speak for all of us when I say we are thankful you have finally returned to us." Dimitri finally spoke up, turning to look at Eve with meaning. "Now, perhaps we should allow ourselves some time to enjoy the revelries."
Everyone else murmured in agreement as they finally broke away to join the rest of the soldiers as they celebrated their victory. Eve, however, slipped away to the very same balcony she had stood beside Dimitri on for the first time in years. She needed the fresh air after reliving all of those events. After her initial escape, Eve had not given it much thought as her sole focus was surviving. But having to now dig up all those memories had taken more out of her than she had anticipated.
And for what felt like the first time in years, Eve looked up to the stars.
Sylvain watched Eve as she craned her neck to gaze up at the stars above. He was wary to leave her fully alone, but also didn't want to interrupt her moment of respite. She had been through a lot these past years and he wasn't sure how to be there for her. He couldn't stop thinking about what he had seen during the battle in the streets of Fhirdiad. The way she had used her own body paired with her Crest as a weapon had been both terrifying and saddening to see. There was more that had happened to her than the story she told them, but Sylvain didn't want to force her to relive all of that pain.
He watched as she let her hair down from its ponytail, shimmering like the night itself. She ran her fingers through her hair, briefly twisting her long locks into a bun before letting it fall back down. Seeing her like this, he was reminded of the faded memory he had of her in his childhood— back when he had no idea who she was. Over the last five years he had thought often about the times he had seen her in his youth. When they were quite young her hair had been long like it was now, always swishing between her shoulder blades as she walked. Now that he knew her, Sylvain couldn't fathom how he had never noticed her back then.
As he continued to watch her, Sylvain realised that she looked lonely. She hadn't just gone out this way to collect herself, she had been afraid to join the other Blue Lions and risk feeling alienated. And he knew that after all this time she felt she didn't have a right to stand beside them.
So he took it upon himself to stand beside her, to show her that they all still loved and cared for her the way they did five years ago. Sylvain walked out silently, not saying a word as he came to stand beside Eve on the balcony and look up at the stars as well. He heard her breathe sharply, startled by his sudden presence, but she otherwise stayed silent as well. After a few moments he felt the weight of her body leaning against him as she rested her head upon his shoulder. He felt the myriad questions he had for her regarding her lost years bubbling up, but ultimately felt he could not ruin this moment with words. So instead, Sylvain simply wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer into his side.
The two of them stood like that in silence, staring up at the stars, as the town below them sang about their king come home. There was so much both of them wanted to say— I'm sorry, I forgive you, I missed you— but the words felt like whispers that couldn't speak up. And as they stood there, Eve turned her head to rest her cheek on the hand Sylvain had on her shoulder. He could feel in this gesture everything she wanted to say. He knew she was sorry; sorry she left them, sorry it took so long for her to come back. But for some reason he knew she didn't regret it. He knew that if she was given the choice she would do it all over again. And on top of all of this that such a simple gesture imparted, he knew she was telling him she didn't blame him for sending her away. He didn't know how to tell her he understood, so instead he said all could muster.
"Welcome home."