Garland Moon
The five year war that engulfed Fodlan had ended with the Adrestian Empire finally achieving that supremacy it had sought for the entirety of the continent. Such victory should have been a cause for major celebrations for those who had fought for the Empire and those who wished for the changes promised by the Emperor.
But alas, such is wishful thinking…
The land is still beset with chaos, the grim aftermath of such a long and exhausting war that has cost lives to everyone, livelihoods destroyed, resentment festering between the populace and the promise of stability, still a distant goal.
The victory in Fhirdiad was meant to mark the beginning of the new age Edelgard had envisioned but no one expected what would happen after such a hard earned victory. There was no sign of peace in Fodlan and specifically the region of Faerghus is experiencing a total state of chaos and societal collapse due to the revelations brought upon by the populace in what happened in the former capital of the now defunct Kingdom.
"It has been what… Two months?"
"Yeah, two months. I nearly lost track of time myself… It felt like such a long time." A soldier stationed in Garreg Mach told his friend, the two Imperial soldiers standing guard on the gates of the main building of the monastery where the reception hall was, now simply a place where various members of the Imperial Army lounge around or visitors congregate and wait in their free time. Nowadays, the reception hall has been rather quiet due to the lowering morale of everyone.
"I promised my wife I would be home after the war against the Kingdom and the Church." He sighed. "She wasn't too pleased to hear that I'll still be stationed here indefinitely."
"Oh right, your son was born just before we marched on to Faerghus right?" The soldier asked, recalling the joyful and hopeful days of his fellow guard when he found about the birth of his son, it was a small measure of hope for the man and something he clung on to stay alive throughout two of the most difficult battles the Empire had within Faerghus' borders.
"We survive monsters in the plains and then another one who happens to be a woman of cloth in Fhirdiad… I certainly was expecting a damn break from all of this and to go home in Hevring to finally see my wife and child, instead we're ordered to stay here…"
"It's trouble out there, friend. You know that! Ever since that son of a bitch of an uncle the Emperor has, Arundel suddenly started stirring shit up and organizing a rebellion just as we won the war…"
The soldiers sighed once again upon talking about the reason for their extended duties within Garreg Mach instead of going back home to their families.
The War of the Twin Eagle, a civil war that succeeded the still debated name of the war that spanned five years, started when the Emperor's uncle, Lord Arundel initiated a rebellion formed with nobles of all regions who were none too pleased with Edelgard's planned changes to bring forth to the entirety of Fodlan, changes that would mean the lost of the power and influence that they and their houses has for centuries.
"The roads aren't even safe anymore, you don't know who is friendly or not."
"If only Her Majesty could do something about this…"
"She's trying but have you heard that ever since Fhirdiad she hasn't been truly feeling well… It does make you think about what happened to her when she fought that crazy Archbishop."
"The same battle that led Commander Byleth to what he's going through now?"
They both were silent for a moment, remembering the fate that had fallen to Byleth after he and Edelgard had successfully killed Rhea and ended the cruel madness that she had caused.
"I wouldn't want that for myself… Yes, I live but being like that for months without knowing when you'll see the light of day again? I'd rather have died–"
"Quiet down you idiot!"
The guard looked puzzled by his friend's sudden panicked outburst until he looked to where he was looking and indeed, he shut his mouth almost immediately when he saw the person who was about to walk past them into the reception hall.
"Lady Lysithea–"
"As you were." Lysithea solemnly told them as she passed by them, hearing every word the two guards have uttered about Byleth, the same guards who both gossiped about her and Edelgard's rumored romantic relationship together months ago.
The two guards both glanced at Lysithea as she walked down the reception hall before turning to each other.
"Man, I wouldn't want to be in her shoes right now. I can't imagine how hard it is to see the one you care about be like that and spending every waking moment to see them recover…"
"Idiot, she can still hear you!"
Indeed, Lysithea could still hear their discussion even as she was reaching the end of the reception hall. The halls were nearly empty with only a few soldiers taking breaks on the tables. She ignored the two guards and simply walked up the stone staircase leading to the second floor of the main building of Garreg Mach.
Going past the audience chamber, Lysithea walked past Hanneman's closed door, the aged professor working on something within those closed doors. She instead went to the open doorway of the infirmary, guarded by a pair of guards who are more stone faced and silent than the two by the reception hall.
The guards stood in attention, giving Lysithea a bow of respect as she walked past them into the infirmary. The two guards have been given express orders by Edelgard to guard the infirmary with their lives, a job of the highest security, more so than hers.
There was no one in the infirmary, not even Manuela, save for one inhabitant who lay in his sleep. Lysithea came into this room to see him, a daily part of her life that she does for hours within the day.
"Good morning, Byleth." Lysithea greeted her lover who lay unconscious in his bed. She had wished something she had been wishing for two months now, for him to open his eyes and to respond back to her much like he did the last time they slept together in their tent in Tailtean Plains.
She had lost count on how many times she hoped for him to open his eyes, the blue eyes that he seemingly possesses once more like the teal hair he now has once again. He was breathing normally yet ever since his victory over Rhea…
The memory of the immediate aftermath of Rhea's death played within Lysithea's mind, a scene that continues to haunt her. The sight of the Byleth collapsing after he and Edelgard both landed the decisive and fatal blow to Rhea made her panic and even despite her state of being exhausted and feeling sick from overexerting herself, Lysithea literally dragged herself towards Byleth.
The sight of Edelgard cradling Byleth as the Emperor frantically called him, telling him to not dare close his eyes before calling out for help from any nearby medic to aid Byleth. She has never seen and heard Edelgard so filled with fear while shaking Byleth in an effort to keep him awake as his eyes begin to close and lose their shine. What haunted Lysithea was the fact that he glanced at her one last time before he tried to reach out for her outstretched hand.
Their hands merely inches away before Byleth's entire body went limp and ever since then, he never awoke from his sleep.
"Don't you dare die on me, professor!"
"Byleth! Wake up! Please don't do this to me, wake up please!"
It happened again, he had disappeared from this world once again following another confrontation against Rhea as the Immaculate One. It felt like Lysithea had lost Byleth all over again five years ago, the only difference is that his body may be here but his soul doesn't seem to be within him. It was just his husk that lay before her.
She knew that this may have been the very same fate that had befallen him after he fell in Garreg Mach many years ago, dormant and asleep for all those years and being kept alive through unknown means, something she and the others speculated to be because of being 'chosen' to possess the Goddess' power.
But this one seems to be a different case, the return of his old appearance seems to signify that the Goddess' influence or whatever foothold she had within Byleth have left… no, abandoned him following the slaying of Rhea. And without the presence of the Goddess sustaining him like they had speculated during Byleth's five year disappearance, Hanneman and Manuela were the ones who had thought of a way to sustain Byleth over the years by finding ways to give him the nutrients a human needs to survive.
Strangely despite the coma, the two professors haven't seen Byleth's body deteriorating in terms of body and muscle mass. It's as Manuela had said:
"His body seems to be in a stasis of some manner. It appears that his body and soul are at a standstill and unable to find a way to awaken on their own."
It was all a mystery for them, even with Hanneman's analysis of Byleth's blood, his findings heavily suggests that the presence of the Crest of Flames within Byleth has all but disappeared and his once unbeating heart had begun to beat for the first time in his life.
A cruel twist of irony that the moment his heart began to beat, he went into this intense coma in contrast to when Byleth's heart wasn't beating but retained consciousness most of the time.
Just when she and Byleth have realized their love for one another, just when things have begun to blossom for them, for their shot of happiness to take flight only for it to fall. Lysithea couldn't afford to wait for another five years or so, not because of impatience but because she fears that she may never see Byleth awaken once again while there was still what little life remained within her. She feared the idea that Byleth would awaken and she wasn't there waiting for him, it made her heart ache.
"Annette has shown good signs of recovering, she still couldn't speak but at least she could eat more… normally these days." Lysithea spoke to him as if he was listening, his closed eyelids unmoving as he steadily inhaled and exhaled.
Annette was one of many who were either casualties or were terribly injured during the siege of Fhirdiad. From what Lysithea has read from Annette's handwriting (the only way she could communicate), she was taken by surprise by getting her throat cut after she was forced to kill her father. Unable to accept that her father had allowed so much death and destruction to happen on account of the innocent people in Fhirdiad, Annette couldn't bear to condone what Gilbert did or had a hand in.
Due to this, Felix had refused to take up the sword once again as he decided to be by Annette's side every step of the way. That wasn't only his reason as he himself is also suffering from nightmares and thoughts of how he killed Rodrigue, the guilt associated with it and how Dimitri's fate ended. Always in a foul mood, more so than usual, it also did not help that one of his closest friends has been maimed for what may probably be her entire life.
Ingrid, despite her legs having recovered from the injuries they sustained in Tailtean Plains and Fhirdiad, will forever have a limp resulting in her days as a knight atop her pegasus. She was devastated to hear of it, having always aspired to the honor of a knight fighting for what is right and now, all of it has been taken from her and she can't do anything about it any more.
Then, there was their sole casualty in the Black Eagle Strike Force, Ashe, he survived and witnessed Rhea's death at the hands of both Edelgard and Byleth but the feeling of vindication he felt for Lonato was short lived as he had succumbed to his wounds days later, his death left behind his two siblings who were taken in an orphanage with the promise that Ashe's friends would figure out how to best approach in caring for them in honor of Ashe's memory.
While the others sustained injuries that were less life changing, they were still scarred through body and soul especially with the atrocity that they have witnessed being done to the people of Fhirdiad, innocent people who expected to be protected by those they thought who would until the cruelest of irony happened.
"I would have guessed you would be here first thing in the morning."
Lysithea glanced at the doorway of the infirmary to see Edelgard, garbed in her crimson red outfit befitting that of her status as Emperor although her horned crown was nowhere to be seen, having been shattered in the fight against Rhea and still awaiting the repairing of it, Edelgard had settled with just letting her ashen hair loose for the meantime.
Edelgard stood beside Lysithea, accepting to take the seat offered by Lysithea. The Emperor placed her hand over Lysithea's own as both watched Byleth sleep with no end. They have both done this many times over the month, a solemn time of bonding over their mutual hope that Byleth would one day awaken to see his lover and his closest friend waiting for him.
"Where's Dorothea?" Lysithea inquired about the Emperor's lover, now no longer a secret to the public after Edelgard openly showed affections to the songstress after Arundel had shown his hand.
"She's tending to the orphans from Fhirdiad." Edelgard said. Dorothea had been indeed busy in contributing to what best she could do, in this case those children who lost their families and homes from Rhea's indiscriminate wrath in the now ashen city.
"Decided on what to do of what's left of Fhirdiad?" Lysithea asked the Emperor. Knowing Edelgard was on the fence for what to do with the burnt ruins.
"After this is all over? I don't know." Edelgard admitted. "Reconstruction and restoration is part of it, yes but I do not know if we'll have enough resources to allot for Fhirdiad in the foreseeable future."
What Edelgard said is true, all of Fodlan by now has had their resources drained from the prolonged war. The pillaging done also hasn't helped as well as the festering chaos that is the civil war. It will take long for order to fully gain a foothold once again in the entirety of Fodlan and only by establishing a single unified order will the continent ever find the anodyne it sorely needed from the scars of war.
"If only this civil war didn't start as soon as we killed Rhea. I underestimated the willingness of my venerable uncle–" Edelgard referred to her uncle with such vehemence and disgust. "To do something so bold as to begin another war."
Edelgard knew her Arundel would one day scheme against her and she counted on it but she didn't expect it to be so soon and right after her own army and its capable members had been either killed or crippled from fighting their enemies for such a long time. It broke the morale of everyone under her banner which led to some desertion by those who strongly felt that they should be in their homes with their families. The state of Byleth is probably the one that had the army in low spirits due to his legendary status as a capable commander and the strongest member of the entirety of the Imperial Army.
"Mother and father sent me a letter telling me they want to come here. They just needed escorts to get them to Garreg Mach without issue." Lysithea said, her expression saddened even more. "I told them they can't yet, we're low on people and it is too dangerous to travel the roads."
Edelgard looked guilty at this, her hand on Lysithea loosened.
"I'm sorry Lys, if things would have gone much better, we wouldn't be in this mess. You and everyone else would have been with their family…"
Lysithea didn't say anything in regard to it, having been vindicated by her warning to Edelgard that the likes of Arundel and her ilk could stab them in the back at any moment especially as reprisal for Cornelia and the sabotages they have done to those deep within Arundel's circle. A vindication that Lysithea wished she didn't get as she wanted to be wrong for her wariness.
"Oh, I didn't know I had two visitors here."
Both turned to the doorway to see Manuela, in her hands were some documents presumably those of medical nature. For once she didn't look like she got herself drunk last night though the bags under her eyes and the hastily applied makeup seems to suggest that she didn't have much sleep and had little time to prepare herself for the day.
"I'm always visiting here." Lysithea pointed out to the sleep deprived physician.
"That you are…" Manuela yawned as she walked past them, giving Edelgard a groggy bow along the way, and placing her things on her table.
"Hanneman will arrive shortly to check on him before I do my own check and provide him with the nutrients he needs." Manuela said as she inspected the unconscious Byleth of anything different.
Edelgard stood up from her seat, deciding now was the time to leave as she had duties elsewhere, she gave Lysithea's hands a squeeze and left the room.
"Poor girl, still maintaining a strong front despite suffering within." Manuela commented after the Emperor left, her expression feeling pity for Edelgard.
Lysithea knew exactly what Manuela meant, she knew how and what is gripping Edelgard besides the increasing stress caused by the civil war and the uneasiness she is feeling on waiting for Hubert and the others' reports before she can act against Arundel.
The Emperor hasn't been feeling well since Fhirdiad, it was obvious to Lysithea and those who knew that Edelgard too has been experiencing the same pain as Lysithea does but ever since Rhea's death, Edelgard's condition seems to have accelerated to the point that she's more prone to coughing out blood and having painful attacks in her entire body more so than Lysithea had.
Her health seems to be falling apart and it was only through Edelgard's sheer will that she's keeping herself together both physically and mentally. The Emperor hasn't confided with her yet but Lysithea feels like she inevitably will. Knowing Edelgard, she is most likely trying not to make Lysithea worry more than she does with Byleth.
Not that Lysithea is much to talk about being privy of her own condition as she too feels like her health has also turned for the worse lately. Which is why she was awaiting Manuela's arrival and Edelgard leaving the room because she too didn't want Edelgard to worry more about her, knowing the Emperor had way too much on her plate already.
While Manuela was setting up to start her daily life as the physician of Garreg Mach, a rather fidgety Lysithea approached her. Noticing her presence near her, Manuela gave Lysithea a tired look until they widened slightly after seeing the anxious look upon Lysithea.
"Is… there something else?"
"Professor Manuela… I…" Lysithea trailed off, almost hesitant to even ask of this from her. "There's something I need you to do for me…"
Edelgard looked grimly at the war table within the war room, looking at the map of Fodlan. The banners of both the Kingdom and Alliance were both gone but in their places were black banners that were situated in various places of Fodlan be it Adrestia, Leicester or Faerghus. The black banners signifying those who were loyal to Arundel's rebellion, the allies that he had gained by further inflaming their fears and uncertainties of Edelgard's rule and promised changes for Fodlan.
Or simply those who wished to remain in power, stubbornly clinging to the old ways that gave them privileged lives at the expense of those under their domain. Their treason is one of the reasons why Edelgard is keen on pushing for the drastic reforms she had planned, for such people value the self-preservation and prestige of their noble houses more than for the collective good of their people.
She had kept such houses' names in her heart: Houses Menja and Fenja, House Rowe (to no one's surprise) to name a few. Rhea may be dead, her corpse now reduced to ashes after Edelgard ordered her body to be burned, but the effects of her actions which led to Fodlan to what it is now still lingered.
It did surprise Edelgard that the noble houses of the regions she had subjugated showed more loyalty and willingness to fight for her than some of the traitorous houses in Adrestia. The lords of Leicester reaffirmed their fealty to Edelgard despite the call of Arundel to rise up.
Even the surviving houses of Faerghus bent the knee to Edelgard despite them being the most resistant against her conquest, even houses like House Gautier and House Dominic were willing to work with the Empire in exchange for help in stabilizing the region, the willingness of the noble houses of Faerghus mostly due to finally seeing Edelgard speaking the truth about Rhea and what the deceased Archbishop had done to Fhirdiad.
"Your Majesty?" Edelgard was interrupted from her thoughts with the arrival of Hubert and Ferdinand.
Hubert's right eye is covered even more so by his hair to hide the burned scar on it, having been disfigured by Rhea's attack. Ferdinand didn't bear any visible scars but he too wasn't unscathed from recent events as Ferdinand's father, the former Duke Aegir died not long after the total defeat of the Church of Seiros.
During the chaos that started with Arundel's call for rebellion, agents suspected to work under Arundel's employ attempted to break the former Duke Aegir free from his prison, if it wasn't for Hubert's own agents that reported the planned breaking out of the former Duke, the disgraced noble would have escaped and it would have unforeseeable consequences.
Instead, the former duke was killed during the attempted escape, something that Hubert saw as a consolation as he rather the former duke was killed before he could do any further damage with the power and connections he held.
"Report." Edelgard ordered the two.
"Duscur has refused to give us aid in fighting against the treasonous houses situated in Faerghus." Hubert said as he laid the documents on the war table, handing Edelgard one for her to read through.
"Their reason being?"
"I'm afraid it's due to resentment over the people of Faerghus in general. The people of Duscur refuses to fight alongside the people they viewed as their "oppressors'' after the Kingdom's supposed reprisal of the Tragedy of Duscur." Ferdinand lamented.
"Given what they suffered from proven false accusations, it is hard to blame them. They have been looked down on and conscripted into the Kingdom's army for many years all because of such falsehoods." Hubert explained.
"Then we do not waste time trying to convince Duscur to get into our fold. We have no time and resources to spare trying to deal with the situation at hand." Edelgard said dismissively.
Hubert and Ferdinand bowed before proceeding with the next part of their report.
"Regarding Brigid…" Ferdinand started as he passed the paper to Edelgard. "Petra is being asked back home."
Edelgard looked puzzled. "Why are they asking us? Petra isn't a ward of the Empire anymore after we made various treaties with Brigid since the war started against the Church…"
"Her grandfather, the king, wants to abdicate soon and pass over the throne to Petra." Ferdinand replied, his lips slightly pursing into a smile.
Edelgard blinked, she wasn't expecting this development. It is a welcome one as Petra has built close relations to her and their friends, many of them being heirs or influential members of the Empire. While it may deprived Edelgard of Petra's skills as a spy and assassin, the Emperor surmised that this must be something Petra has been waiting for and very much willing to proceed with.
"Has she been informed?"
"Not yet, Your Majesty. Petra was currently hunting when the Brigid King's letter came to us. I left instructions to the guards to inform her once she returns with Bernadetta." Hubert replied.
"See to it that she is informed immediately. Petra needs to know about this so that she could make her own decision about it." Edelgard instructed, feeling at least hopeful for Petra's rise.
The mention of Bernadetta had her worried as the former recluse suffered concussions during Fhirdiad and while she has mostly recovered, there was still a possibility of her feeling them again due to her cracked skull. She wondered if Bernadetta should even train or fight as Caspar himself of all people had asked Bernadetta to take a break.
"Is that all?" Edelgard asked until she felt pain all over her body, in an instant, she felt sick and without delay, started coughing out blood which splattered all over the war table, as she tried desperately to cling on one of the chairs until both her left and right hand man came to her side to support her.
"Guards! Call Manuela!" Ferdinand ordered those standing guard outside of the war room, having also been alerted by the violent coughing of the Emperor.
"No. Don't." Edelgard said raspily as she looked at her hand that she covered her mouth with blood and black bile on it.
"Your Majesty, these attacks have been rather frequent… I am worried that it may point to something worse regarding your condition." Hubert said with worrying concern, having been the one who is mostly by her side all the time beside Ferdinand (and Lysithea until recently), the Emperor's condition has indeed been getting worse and Edelgard refuses to allow herself to be checked and treated by Manuela.
"Lysithea also suffers from this from time to time, think nothing of it. These coughings are here to stay until the day I die." Edelgard explained rather callously, not even showing a small bit of concern for her own wellbeing.
The truth is that only Hanneman knew of the nature of what she is currently feeling, the worsening of the condition that ills her and Lysithea. Edelgard had the aged professor check on her when she began feeling such symptoms at an alarming rate and is yet to produce conclusive results especially since Hanneman has a far more important task that he undertakes under the behest of Edelgard.
"But Your Majesty…"
"Hubert, please do not be alarmed." Edelgard said with a pained smile of assurance. "You too Ferdinand. I will be fine, let's move on to more pressing matters shall we?"
Both Hubert and Ferdinand glanced at each other, both pairs of eyes telling the other that they're not buying into Edelgard's words of reassurance regarding her condition. It was a valid concern that needed to be addressed only for Edelgard to refuse having herself checked.
Whatever Edelgard did during the battle against Rhea, she's paying the toll for it much like how Byleth is. They've already lost Byleth, they cannot afford to lose Edelgard now should she succumb to what ails her. The very future of Fodlan lies on her shoulders as she is the only capable leader who could lead it from the chaos it suffers now.
Then, there was a gentle knock on the wooden frame of the open doorway, all eyes went towards Hanneman, he looked surprised until it turned to worry upon catching sight of the blood and bile that was splattered on the table, floor and Edelgard's hands.
"Your Majesty–"
"I don't recall summoning you here." Edelgard said with some mild annoyance at yet another interruption into her meeting with her advisors regarding the war.
"You did not but I am afraid that I must take your attention all the same." Hanneman said, his expression bearing grim tidings that alerted Edelgard. There was something amiss…
And it only added further anxiety when Lysithea appeared from behind Hanneman, looking very worried and was near to tears in her pinkish eyes.
Earlier…
"Professor Manuela… I…" Lysithea trailed off, almost hesitant to even ask of this from her. "There's something I need you to do for me…"
Manuela blinked before setting aside her documents and medical tools on the side of her table and sitting on her chair behind the desk.
"Seems serious judging from how you look now." Manuela said, in her mind she thought that Lysithea might be feeling nervous about her condition again (as she is one of the very few who knows) and simply wants to see if her illness has progressed too far. She honestly couldn't blame Lysithea, the Ordelia girl had seemingly lost everything she had just gained after that battle in Fhirdiad, she can't imagine the constant pain and added anxiety she feels.
"Has the coughing worsened even more?" Manuela asked, getting straight to business so she could give Lysithea some peace of mind.
"Eh?" Lysithea looked puzzled.
"Have you let out blood recently?"
"Uhm no…"
"You mean to say you haven't coughed blood like you used to?"
"Professor… I think you have the wrong idea." Lysithea responded which puzzled Manuela just as she opened Lysithea's compiled medical file detailing every health concern or data she had of her.
"Then, what exactly is troubling you?" Manuela asked, sighing in exasperation as she did so as she isn't exactly in the proper mood for her patient to be hesitant in sharing details, details that may help Manuela pinpoint the medical issue.
"Professor, I've been feeling sick lately. It's almost the same feeling I have when I get those attacks but this one feels more… normal, if you can call it that. I puke but it isn't bloody like I usually feel when I overexert myself…"
"Tell me more." Manuela ordered, getting more and more curious with her quill ready to write it down.
"My chest has been feeling heavy, I don't know if it's because of the anxiety in my heart or something else…"
Manuela nodded, allowing her to continue.
"Then, there's always this sudden wave of fatigue I feel even though I haven't done anything particularly laborious or stressful."
By this time, as Lysithea spoke more and more about what she is or has been feeling as of late, something tugged in Manuela's head, a hunch of sorts.
"Have…" Manuela hesitated because this question seemed rather invasive and seemingly out of nowhere but she had to know.
"Have you bled?" Manuela asked to which Lysithea gave her a look of inquiry before Manuela clarified it. "Have you bled under there is what I meant."
"Not really… Why? How is that important?" Lysithea asked with a questioning look, feeling like it was such a strange question to ask out of nowhere.
"For how long?"
"Excuse me?"
"How long have you not bled?"
"For two months… ever since Faerghus fell. Professor, I don't see how that helps in ascertaining what I–"
"It means everything." Manuela quickly got out of her chair, taking a glass she kept stored in her cupboards and then a pitcher of water that was on one of her counters.
Lysithea looked confused as to what Manuela said and why she's preparing a glass of water that she gave to her.
"Drink it." Manuela ordered the snow haired woman who thought that Manuela put something in her water to make her feel better. Without question, Lysithea drank it halfway before her eyes laid on Manuela who looked as if she got into a conclusion she was certain of.
"Professor?"
"Lysithea, you're pregnant."
The world seemed to have halted right then and there for Lysithea, for a moment she stared at Manuela as if she didn't hear her right, that she may have been out of her thoughts when Manuela spoke as she was already drawing up her own conclusions to what she maybe feeling.
"I'm… what?"
"You're pregnant." Manuela said it firmly and clearly before she casted some sort of magic on her hands, making them glow white before placing them gently on top of Lysithea's stomach.
"For nearly two months too." Manuela added to the utterly astonished Lysithea after she 'sensed' the inside of Lysithea's womb for anything out of the ordinary, Lysithea by now was beginning to shake uncontrollably, her face contorting to that of shock into deep anxiety which then led to fear.
"A-Are you s-s-sure?" She stammered.
"Yes, I am."
"C-Can you c-check a-again?"
"Even if I did, it would still be the same thing." Manuela told her as she watched everything sink in for Lysithea.
Lysithea suddenly got up from her chair and started pacing around, her right hand over her mouth as she did so without end. Her eyes then went towards the unconscious Byleth, still sleeping in his bed.
"I-I can't be… It was only… o-once…" Lysithea blabbered out but for Manuela, she understood immediately.
"Sometimes once is all it takes." Manuela replied straightforwardly. Being tempted to surmise how this all started with the desperation and uncertainty of either parties being alive after the two consecutive battles in Faerghus, they spent the night together to consummate their feelings.
A rather common tale for Manuela, having heard about such instances to other female soldiers she had looked into over the years.
Before Manuela could offer her advice and encouragement to Lysithea, another person entered the infirmary looking rather accomplished for so early in the day despite the evident heavy bags under his eyes.
"Manuela, I think I've done it–" Hanneman stopped speaking upon catching sight of an increasingly frantic Lysithea, nearly reduced to tears and a concerned Manuela looking at the former.
"What is going on?"
By now, Edelgard had dismissed both Hubert and Ferdinand as per Lysithea's request to speak about the matter discreetly. They have now returned to Manuela's infirmary with Lysithea sitting at the chair she occupied earlier, Edelgard stood behind with her hands warmly placed on Lysithea's shoulders as a measure to help ease her anxiety down.
Hanneman and Manuela both stood opposite each other with both looking on with downcast eyes, feeling pity for Lysithea, both felt as if the girl couldn't take a single break for once ever since their victory in Fhirdiad. First was the trauma of seeing such an atrocity happen, then her lover fell into a deep coma and now this.
"Are you certain?" Edelgard asked, breaking what could have become a difficult silence for all of them.
"The results won't lie, Your Majesty." Manuela responded. "It doesn't matter how much I repeat the scanning magic, it will yield the same results."
"While I understood that this should have been joyous news under the right circumstances… I must proceed with the results of my own analysis…" Hanneman said, feeling like a jerk for what may possibly be the equivalent of rubbing salt on to the wound of the situation.
Manuela could only look down on her desk bearing a look that Edelgard recognizes as that of powerlessness.
"Your Majesty, it is done." Hanneman said, which puzzled Lysithea who looked behind her to see Edelgard with her eyes wide as saucers.
"Truly?"
Hanneman nodded. "I've reached a breakthrough with what you have provided me from Arianrhod and it took me many days but I have done it."
"The cure for my Crests" Lysithea said which took Edelgard by surprise at how she knew all about it.
"How did you–"
"I knew for a long time, El." Lysithea revealed. "Ever since I chanced upon you and Byleth discussing it before you decided to assault Arianrhod."
Lysithea acknowledged that such a discovery would indeed be good news but she knew from the way Hanneman spoke earlier that there was bound to be a catch to all of this. A downside big enough to destroy the benefit that such a cure would bring, and she already knew about it.
Edelgard sighed, she was meaning to make this into a surprise for Lysithea to the point that she had Lysithea's cure for her condition a priority to be made by Hanneman's team that consisted of Linhardt and Manuela. But such a sentiment is hardly worth it now considering they have a much bigger matter to be concerned about.
"Yes, it is about a cure for your condition." Hanneman confirmed, under the right circumstances he would have been happy to speak of this but what he found out earlier…
"And I have it on good authority that it will work. I ran the test with the blood samples I had of you and the cure worked. You are aware that the thing that determines how a person could manifest a Crest is the potency of their blood, specifically the potency of the antibodies within that individual's blood cells, by reverse engineering your blood through the research notes found from Cornelia's laboratory in Arianrhod, I managed to synthesize your blood into making it… 'pure' again, free from the antibodies that gives you your two Crests. A daunting task is to remove just one but more so with two…"
"But there lies the problem." Manuela added, her arms crossed below her chest. "When we found out about Lysithea's pregnancy earlier, Hanneman took a sample of her blood and ran some tests with it…"
"And let me guess, due to the unforeseen changes in her body, the cure isn't viable anymore?" Edelgard asked, expecting the worst of news.
Hanneman shook his head. "No, Your Majesty. It will work, Lysithea's Crests will be gone when we administer the cure into her bloodstream but the issue is…"
The aged professor almost couldn't continue, his eyes looking sadly at Lysithea's hands almost protectively touching her womb that now houses a developing child. It was through seeing this that Edelgard knew of the possible side effects.
"It will bring harm to the child within Lysithea." Edelgard guessed correctly to which Hanneman sighed.
"Even I cannot be certain of it, Your Majesty. I designed this cure for Lysithea without a developing child to be concerned about. The cure will no doubt bring massive changes within her body into a cellular degree. It may or may not cause the growing child harm and I have so little data to work on to make an accurate analysis to foresee what can happen." Hanneman admitted defeat.
"Then, can we not just wait for Lysithea to give birth and then give her the cure?" Edelgard asked, trying to find some hope for Lysithea but was then again met by discouraging reactions.
Manuela was the one to speak this time to answer the Emperor's question, a question with an answer that she has no satisfaction providing.
"Your Majesty, Lysithea asked the same thing earlier and…" Manuela trailed off, trying to gather the necessary willpower to tell the Emperor the bad news and for Lysithea to hear of the grim truth once again.
"Lysithea's pregnancy further complicates her already complicated condition. The strain of even carrying the baby will weaken her body and her body is already beginning to fall under the weight of her worsening condition brought by the two Crests. Should Lysithea forgo the cure, bear the child within her, there will be two possibilities and both end in her death."
"Such… as?" Edelgard asked, a feeling of dread welling up within her heart for what she was about to hear.
"She dies as her body's immune system weakens from the pregnancy, her two Crests will progressively kill her much faster than the initial predicted time, this also will result in her baby's death before it could further develop or be born." Manuela explained further. "Or if the strain of her pregnancy's progression won't kill her, it will kill her by the time she gives birth as her body will bear so much strain and I'm not even sure if Lysithea could even reach the end of her pregnancy because of the first possibility."
Edelgard's world shattered at that point and she could only look down to Lysithea before her, Lysithea could only let her tears flow freely at the grim and uncertain future that lay before her. It was the greatest irony that the salvation that she had long hoped and also had given up hope for had come to her far too late and with a possibility of losing something precious to her, her own child with Byleth.
The thought of herself dying didn't frighten her but the thought of leaving behind Byleth and their child's very possible death is what she dreads the most. She has so much more to lose now.
"Is there really nothing we can do?" Edelgard desperately asked for any sliver of hope for Lysithea. Her eyes begged the two professors to find another way.
Manuela looked away, feeling ashamed of her powerlessness to help while Hanneman shook his head.
"The only semblance of a chance that she has is to take the cure with all the unknown risks it may have on her body. It is what we can only call the optimal solution to save her and the child, otherwise they will die without it."
"You're proposing for Lysithea to gamble it all?" Edelgard almost sounded infuriated but she managed to control such outraged emotion, not wanting it to get to her and she understood Hanneman's predicament as well in suggesting such a solution.
"I'm afraid it is our only choice." Hanneman lamented. He often said to others that Crestology or science in general has always been delving into the unknown and finding out the many possibilities out there but this is one of those instances that Hanneman wished he didn't follow such logic to find out the results of what is not yet known. He wished he knew.
An uncomfortable silence reigned all over the room, Hanneman and Manuela could only look down feeling that they failed Lysithea with their own field of expertise. Edelgard didn't know what to say anymore or if she should even speak to give Lysithea any form of encouragement, and the very possibility that she would lose her made her heart wrench. She had already lost her only remaining brother from illness, her mentor and friend is in a state of deep coma and now this?
Lysithea however, knew that she had to make a choice. Perhaps this was to be the biggest choice she had to make in her entire life. Lysithea walked over to where Byleth is, still in his endless sleep, she took his hand and placed it over her womb, trying to at least make him feel the growing life that they created within her. She wanted to know how Byleth would feel when he hears he is to become a father, will he be happy? Nervous or perhaps he wouldn't want it? She would have wanted Byleth to be awake to be with her to make a decision that involved her and their child's fate.
She never yearned nor thought of a possibility that she would ever bear a child, she didn't think she would be in love her entire life but here she is and she must make a decision that wouldn't only affect her own fate but hers and her child.
Will she let time move forward and claim her and her child?
Or will she seize her own fate and bet everything into this cure which was to be her salvation from the very curse that still plagues her and threatens to be the catalyst to her child's death?
Tears flowed from her eyes and some drops fell on Byleth's hand that touched her womb, Lysithea had made a choice and she conveyed it to her unconscious lover with a squeeze of his hand before letting it go to face Edelgard, Hanneman and Manuela again.
Edelgard could see the decision Lysithea had made behind her tear filled eyes and she could only close her eyes and take a deep breath.
"Do it." Lysithea told Hanneman who looked conflicted despite telling her that it was the optimal solution to make.
"Are you sure?"
"I would rather jump and take the chance of the only way that can preserve both me and my child's life." It was the only logical choice for Lysithea and the baby, she had to take the chance and from what Hanneman told her earlier before they met up with Edelgard, the chances of them succeeding without much risks to the baby is to take the cure as soon as possible while her pregnancy isn't far too advanced yet.
"Then, we should start. Manuela, please ready Lysithea's quarters for what we need. I will retrieve my own equipment and the serum–"
Just as the two professors scrambled about, Edelgard approached Lysithea. Both didn't need to say something to one another as Edelgard searched her eyes if she was resolved to do this despite the risks it poses only for Lysithea's steel-willed resolve within her eyes to answer it.
The two sisters held each other's hands and embraced one another.
"No matter what happens, if the day comes that I die but my child survives… Promise me, El… Take care of my baby. Promise me."
The Emperor nodded as tears threatened to spill from her eyes. This wasn't an easy choice to make and she couldn't imagine the turmoil that Lysithea is feeling in making such a heavy decision.
"I promise you that I will. You will get through this Lys, you and the child inside you. Don't falter and lose hope."
For hope is the only thing that they have now.
Lysithea's eyes opened as she found herself lying down on a grass covered ground surrounded by forest trees with birds chirping, the place felt tranquil in contrast to the entirety of Fodlan in its current state.
Standing up all alone in the middle of the forest, Lysithea took a moment to look around. She knew this was one of those dreams, dreams that had long appeared before her, then they suddenly stopped before reappearing once again in her sleep.
This was one of those times when she dreams of this exact same place after quite a long time since she last dreamt of it.
Lucidly dreaming, Lysithea clearly recalls the last thing she saw before she fell asleep in her room was Hanneman injecting her with a serum straight into her veins. Pain was first to take hold then exhaustion and finally, drowsiness.
Despite being aware she is dreaming, Lysithea felt this one was different from the other times she had. She knew exactly where this dream went once she had heard of the sound of the ocean waves crashing upon the rocks below the cliffs to where she was going, walking past the many trees before the bright light of the sky embraced her.
Before her was the sight of the neverending ocean from the scenic cliff she was standing on. A beautiful but repetitive sight she kept on seeing in her dreams. But unlike most times, the three moss ridden graves were nowhere to be seen near the edges of the cliff, in their place was a sole figure standing dangerously close to the edge.
In most cases, Lysithea would be blinded by the gusts of wind that seemed to purposely blow through her in order to hide the identity of this person whose back is always turned towards her.
But not this time, there was only a gentle breeze that she felt like she could truly feel, and due to the lack of the turbulent wind, Lysithea could clearly see the figure.
Lysithea approached the figure for a closer look and as she got nearer, the appearance of the mysterious figure in her sleep began to become clearer for her to perceive.
The person appeared to be a child, wearing a black robe that reached past the knee, that wind kept tossing the bottom of the robe which revealed a red dress within that toss together with the outer black robe.
Then finally, the most striking feature Lysithea has ever seen from this mysterious figure so far was the color of the hair, it was teal… the very same shade of green that Byleth possesses once again following the death of Rhea.
Swallowing the nonexistent contents within her throat, Lysithea wanted to satisfy the curiosity she had of this dream once and for all, what it all meant after much mystery.
"Who are you?" Lysithea called out, she needed the child to turn around and face her, to finally see this through before she got snapped back to reality like the previous times.
Then without warning, the child turned around to look at the one who had called her.
Standing before Lysithea in a background of an everlasting gentle ocean was a girl who appeared around 5 or 6 years old. Lysithea has finally seen the child, now a girl before her was looking at her as if recognizing Lysithea before smiling widely.
But what came as the most shocking thing for Lysithea is seeing the eyes of the girl, it was the same pinkish red eyes that Lysithea possesses. Then, the child opened her mouth for Lysithea to finally hear her voice.
"Mommy."
Back in the infirmary, darkness has mostly taken hold of the room after Manuela had cleared her desk to turn in for the night, its sole inhabitant still in his endless sleep as the guards outside of the open doorway maintained their vigil of him.
Then without warning, a pair of blue eyes opened immediately and quickly tried to reach out for the air as if trying to hold something or someone.
"Lysithea…" He muttered out in a hoarse and raspy voice, his throat dried after a long slumber.