AN:

There have been a number of grammatical and orthographical errors plus one consistency error relating to the eastern vs western parts of the Faerghus throughout this story. That is mostly because I edit these chapters late at night before I publish them. Plus, one is less likely to notice one's own errors.

There has also been a continuity error or two I only noticed a few days before I started writing this chapter. To those who noticed, they will be addressed, no worries.

Another thing worthy of mention concerning last chapter: Chronos the Primordial and Cronus the Titan are written the same in Greek. It's possible you'll see both spellings, plus Kronos, throughout this story if he does show up again. To distinguish them, I gave the Primordial the scythe and the Titan the sickle.

Chapter 13: Rebellion, Revolt and Revolution

Sothis awoke to a rumbling sound that went through Byleth's mindscape. This was particularly worrisome as there weren't supposed to be any such sounds here, which made her decide to head down. As the surroundings started to shake slightly, she hastened her descent from her throne and hurried down the steps. Once she was down there, she tried looking around to figure out what was going on.

When she spotted the source of the disturbance, she froze. A deep red and black writhing shadow was spreading through Hyperion's corner of the mindscape. Her heart was gripped by fear for her friend as she stared at it. He had assured her that everything going on with him was alright, but this didn't look safe at all. What if this was something that would hurt him?

I swear, if he lied to me, I'll strangle him! she thought to herself as she ran through the shadow.

At first, it seemed as though it was trying to stop her. It ceased its attempts within a second, however, and let her through without causing any further trouble. That didn't make it any easier for Sothis to see through it, but she knew where she needed to go regardless.

As she neared Hyperion's bed, the shadow became denser and obscured her vision nearly completely. Nevertheless, her hands eventually found one of the bedposts.

"Hyperion!" she shouted. She received no answer.

"Hyperion, you fool! Wake up!" she shouted again.

As her hands reached for the curtain, the shadow stopped its writhing abruptly. Instead, it started to shrink rapidly, collapsing in on its centre, which just so happened to be behind the curtain. With her hands still on said curtain, Sothis pulled it away in a hurry and looked at the being that was lying there.

Where before, she had expected a blue glowing mist with eyes and arms, there was now a reddish black shadowy form vaguely shaped like a human, though not quite. The height seemed the same as her friend's, but she couldn't be sure. There were too many things that looked different, especially around the head, from which sprouted strange protrusions. The torso was also not quite the same. While it was roughly the same in diameter as Hyperion's, there was something really strange about it she couldn't point her finger to. There also seemed to be no arms, distressing the Goddess further. At least the features were growing more defined as the figure coalesced into a more coherent, though still see-through, shape.

Said figure stirred and yawned slightly, breaking Sothis out of her observations.

"Hyperion… is that you?" She asked cautiously, readying what power was available to her. She hoped that it was him, but if it wasn't, she at least wanted to make sure that whatever had replaced him couldn't wreak more havoc. She'd owe it to him to put it down.

There was another yawn. The being opened its eyes and fixed them on her. They glowed in the brown and green double colours of Hyperion's eyes had had. "Of course it's me. Why would you- Oh"

The voice was Hyperion's. She cautiously drew comfort from that, but she was still tense. The writhing that his torso was now engaging in seemed to make that a prudent decision.

"What in the-?" she heard him ask as he continued writhing. Then, the motion stopped abruptly. He muttered again, "Wait, are those…?"

The pensive tone led to small wiggle movements along Hyperion's upper body and suddenly, he began laughing while it split apart. Freaked out, Sothis sprang back.

"What the Hell is going on?!" she shouted.

Sothis watched with wariness as the still laughing Hyperion split open, which caused him to throw off his covers in the process. When the laughing started to fade into chuckles and he sat upright, relief flooded her being. She now understood why her friend's torso had looked so weird and why she hadn't seen arms. They had been there, just hidden behind new appendages.

"Man, the cosmic jokes just keep coming, don't they?" Hyperion asked rhetorically as he stood up and stretched the pair of great wings that hung off his back.

They were akin to those of a butterfly in their shape and patterns, though the red and black colour theme remained consistent with the rest of his body. Sothis had no trouble admitting that they looked both beautiful and entrancing, but this was not sufficient to pull her attention away from the questions that went through her mind.

She gathered her wits and demanded in a rather curt tone, "Explanations first, Hyperion. What happened?"

He probably noticed that she really wasn't in the mood for any kind of joke at the moment. He gave her a light smile, which Sothis could see due to the increased definition of his face, and said, "The short of it is that the Rubedo process has started."

"I'd like to have the long of it as well," countered Sothis. Hyperion could be pretty infuriating with his evasiveness sometimes.

"Oho, how forward of you," he said with a teasing grin. Never mind her previous thoughts on her friend and jokes.

Damn that man! Couldn't he stay serious for once? With a small blush on her face, she shouted at him, "Stop joking around! You had me worried sick."

"Sorry, but I can't resist the opportunity for innuendo," said Hyperion, "But to answer your question more thoroughly, I visited some of the old Gods again and I walked away with the changes you see."

That did little to calm the Goddess' frayed nerves. She remembered the full retelling of the last time he had talked with them and recalled what he had told her about the black tendrils. If the old Gods had pulled him in again, they had exposed him to great danger.

And so, she expressed her outrage. "How dare they?! You could have been imprisoned there as well!"

There was a look of confusion and then understanding spreading on Hyperion's face before he responded, "Not those ones. The ones who talked with me were those who managed to escape the Darkness of Zahras."

"Escaped? How is that even possible?" asked Sothis.

Her friend looked pensive, but replied fairly quickly, "I can't really say for sure, but there's two things I know. One, Agarthans are really fond of Qliphothic sorcery. Two, the imprisoned Gods usurped the Darkness of Zahras. Based on that, I can make a hesitant guess that the Forbidden Spell is based on the Qemetiel, the Qliphothic counterpart to the Ein. It means "Crowd of Gods," which would make it quite ironic. Still, that would explain why they could usurp it and why it continues to hold them regardless."

"That still doesn't tell me how some of them could escape," remarked the Goddess.

"We're getting there," said Hyperion, "You see, if the spell really is based on the Qemetiel, it would explain how beings on its level could escape it, even if they died as well."

That puzzled Sothis. "Beings on its level?"

Hyperion nodded and continued, "Yes, beings on its level. What I mean by that are beings who represent the Ein, the Void from which all that is sprang forth. No one fits the bill better than the Primordials, who were the Gods that escaped the Darkness of Zahras, especially Tartarus. Chaos, or Chasm, might even count as the Ein Sof, the Boundless, which is one step higher."

Sothis took a moment to think this information over. Something at the back of her mind scratched persistently at her consciousness. It was a very annoying feeling, but it told her that there was at least a sliver of truth to the man's hypothesis. However, there was still another matter now that that question was at least partly answered.

"What did they want with you?" she asked.

Hyperion laughed again. "Believe it or not, they offered me a job," he said with mirth, "Specifically, they offered to make my domain one that has a job associated with it: Kingship over the Underworld. I even got a fancy crown out of it."

The green-haired Goddess blinked and took a closer look at the top of his head. Now that he had pointed it out, the protrusions on top were distinctly crown-shaped, though the delicate branches and the weird motifs she only now recognised as skulls had given her the initial impression of something akin to horns. Then, she processed what he'd told her.

"So, you inherited another domain instead of developing one," she concluded.

Her friend hummed. "Not quite. For that to happen, another God of the Dead would have had to give me their domain. None among the Primordials hold that domain. The closest you'd get would be Erebus, the Darkness through which the dead pass on their way to the Underworld, and Moros, who is the Primordial of Doom. Neither of those are King of the Underworld or even Gods of the Dead. So, instead of inheriting the domain, it's better to say that I was appointed as its holder."

That was interesting information, though now that he had mentioned it, she could picture the two Hyperion had brought up. After some more thought, Sothis concluded that he was probably right. Still, there was something she had to ask.

"Does this appointment come with any duties?"

"Eventually," answered Hyperion, "But they'll ease me into it over the next few centuries. For now, I can keep my focus on here. I even think I'll go and research some stuff in a bit, check on something that I might have gotten wrong before."

Sothis nodded at that. "I see. That's good," she said.

It seemed that things were alright in that case. She was relieved, though she really hoped Hyperion would stop surprising her constantly. She didn't know if her poor heart could stand the punishment if he continued worrying her like this all the time.

She sighed. "Well then, I'm glad you're okay," she said.

"More than okay, in fact," said the man.

That was a weird statement from him. "How so?" she asked.

There was a grin on his face. "Turns out that I was wrong. The Primordials confirmed that I am not actually dead, in fact. They said I was merely disembodied. I don't quite get the distinction entirely, but I'm ready to accept that explanation," he elaborated.

"I'm happy to hear that," the Goddess said with a smile. She let the feeling linger for a while and then decided to leave him to his projects. "I'll let you do your work, then. Have fun."

"Sothis," Hyperion called to her before she could go very far.

She turned to face him again, only to be engulfed in a hug. "Thank you for caring," he told her, "I can't put into words how much it means to me that there is someone who is so vocal about their care for me. From the bottom of my heart, truly, I thank you."

She returned his hug, content to revel in it, even when he engaged in the infernal gesture of his and put his hand on her head. For once, she decided, she would not complain.

As I patted Sothis' head, much to her embarrassment and my amusement, I couldn't help but be… happy. There was nothing I loved more than those precious instances when I could feel someone's affection for me like this. I had not felt like that in months, though I had come close to it once or twice, usually when hugging Sothis or Byleth. Deciding to cherish the moment, I immersed myself fully in the feeling for as long as I could.

It was maybe five minutes later when things finally started to feel a little awkward. As the sad consequence of that, we broke away from each other, though my hand stayed put on her head until she swatted it away.

"Why do you keep doing that?" she asked. Her tone conveyed slight irritation, but there was no real hear in it.

"Several reasons," I answered, "One, you're absolutely adorable with a pout on your face. Two, you're just at the correct height for it. Three-"

Here, she huffed in irritation. She had stopped growing after reaching 160 centimetres, though her body was still visibly maturing in all other areas. She looked like a young woman in her late teens now. Nevertheless, her low height annoyed her.

"Three," I went on, "I like the texture of your hair. It's really nice to touch. And four, I know you enjoy it too. Don't pretend you do not. You know I wouldn't do it as often if you genuinely disliked it."

She huffed again and turned her face away from me, but she didn't deny it either. I grinned. Messing with my friends never got old.

Sadly, there was still work to do. "As much as I'd love to spend more time with you, there are still things that need to be done."

She nodded at that. "Such is the nature of things," she said.

"Lamentable, I know," I responded, "I'll see you around."

With that, we parted ways, and I headed over to my command centre to check up on things. Research and double checking were two very important activities, after all. My memory wasn't perfect and I wanted to avoid preventable surprises.

However, there was one matter I had to see to beforehand. I wanted to see how I had changed. Fortunately for me, I could use one of the screens in front of me as a mirror.

As I looked at my reflection, I was very much surprised at what I was seeing.

Ignoring my general colouring for now, I could see that my face was almost the same as before my dissolution, though there was something different there. The bone structure was on point so it must have been something else. My eyes were of the same brown-green colouration as my old ones, though I could now see better in the distance than before. Nose and ears were normal as well. The mismatched eyebrows, one from my father and mother respectively, were still there too.

Naturally, the biggest changes were below the neck, and I realised just why my face looked a bit different. I was no longer just a big blob. Now, I wasn't exactly Adonis either, as not even godhood guaranteed good looks. Hephaestus was a testament to that. Instead, I looked like I imagined I would have if I had taken better care of myself and if my metabolism had helped me along too. Still, I certainly didn't feel any lighter than before. It seemed to me that a lot of my mass had been redistributed to my wings. At least the damage that weight had caused to my original body's legs seemed to be fixed, seeing as they were straight now, joining a host of minor things that seemed to be improved.

"Neat," I said to myself.

After that, I sighed. It was time for work again.

I turned on the monitor whose screen I had been using as a mirror and started browsing through the heaps of data available to me. There was a lot of information to cover and I didn't want to overlook anything important.

Not even twenty minutes into my research, I was glad for that piece of foresight. So far, I had discovered two things I had missed already. For one, the real Lord Arundel had betrayed Emperor Ionius too. He'd only been replaced by Thales in 1174, shortly before Edelgard was taken back to the Empire. It appeared that dear old Volkhard had tried to keep his niece away from the Empire's court intrigues. Ironically, he'd had no idea that his sister had been in Fhirdiad as well.

The other thing I had missed was that Cornelia had actually been known in the Empire. The accomplishment of curing the plague had still surpassed her previous track record, however. Nevertheless, the sudden personality shift that usually signalled the replacement by an Agarthan had only occurred after the plague in Faerghus had been cured.

It was quite disheartening to find things I had missed every time I checked things again. Alas, that was why I did it. As the saying back home went, the Devil lay in the details. I couldn't afford to miss too many things or get them wrong. It could cost us the war and, consequently, the world.

On the upside, some of the plans we had initiated were going well. First among them was the restoration of Zanado. Rhea had drummed together the most devout workers she could find for the construction efforts, making sure they kept quiet. Not only would we have a spot to retreat to if the rest of Fodlan ever became untenable, but the reconstruction efforts also propped up one of our future allies, even though he was unknowing of our full plans.

It was really a genius move to import the building materials from Galatea territory. The idea had been proposed by Seteth, who knew that the mostly infertile lands of Count Galatea's domain were rich in clay, many kinds of trees and different stones. Seteth had started buying these things in massive amounts, ostensibly to fix and expand Garreg Mach's fortifications. Of course, they would be used for that purpose, but the large excess would be used for the reconstruction of Zanado.

As a result, Count Galatea was now very happy that his House's financial troubles would soon be a thing of the past. It was also a nice bonus that this increased the likelihood of Ingrid avoiding an unwanted marriage. I really hoped this would be the case.

Jeralt's operation was proceeding well too. Abyss was nearly fully mapped out and the most important pathways had been cleared. As such, Rhea would head down to the chasm below the Monastery in a few days and retrieve the Chalice of Beginnings while everyone above was too distracted with news of Lonato's rebellion.

Hanneman had also done an outstanding job on his front and had already gathered Crest-bearing blood from the Monastery's residents. The only one unwilling to give hers so far had been Marianne. That would hopefully change soon, making the Crest of Macuil the only one we would still need at that point. Until then, specialised spells would keep the blood he had already secured fresh.

Yuri had been very busy as well. Instead of helping Jeralt with mapping out Abyss, the Savage Mockingbird was at this point managing a series of espionage missions targeting the Western Church. There was a lot of information we needed to have from there if we were to proceed with our preferred cause of action. There were still back-up options, but plan A would definitely be better.

My ruminations came to an end when I felt Byleth enter his mindscape. Quickly closing an opened file, I stood up and went to approach him. There was a gift I had to deliver to him, after all. I wondered how he would react to seeing me like this, though.

When he noticed me, he just stared for a full ten seconds. "…Hyperion?"

I put on my best impression of a flamboyant actor and loudly proclaimed, "Yes, it is I."

Byleth continued to stare for a while longer. "What happened?" he finally asked. There he was with the loaded questions again. When he wasn't teaching, he really was a man of very few words.

I smiled despite his curtness. "I made a nightly visit to the realm of the dead and scored a new job. I got roped into becoming the newest God of the Dead. At least the people down there seem to be helpful. One of them even gave me a gift for the two of us when I asked."

Now he seemed curious. "A gift?"

My face took on a more serious expression as I elaborated, "One of the beings I met was Eros. He is one of the Primordials, who escaped the Darkness of Zahras. His domain is love, mostly the type that is passionate and can drive a person mad, but he's also very experienced with romantic love. So, knowing that the both of us have problems with figuring out our feelings, I asked him if there was a way for him to help us. This is what he gave me in response."

I lifted my left hand and willed the strip of fire Eros had wrapped around my wrist to appear. In my open palm, the second strip appeared as well, and I picked it up with my other hand's fingers.

"Hold out one of your wrists. You'll need to have this around it for it to work," I said.

Byleth stood there, frozen. It took some time for him to say something, but he finally lifted his arm and asked, "what does it do?"

"It'll sink into your skin shortly after it's put on. After that, you can will it onto your wrist at any time with nothing but a mental command," I explained, "Eros said that all you have to do if you want to figure out whether a feeling you have is love, is to tug on it. I haven't tested it myself, but I don't plan to until there is a reason for me to use it."

While I was saying this, I wrapped the strip around his wrist. As I had said, it sunk into through his gauntlet and into his skin shortly afterwards, leaving no trace of its presence.

As for my green-haired friend, he simply stood there like a statue for a while longer. I was getting worried after half a minute, but he suddenly stepped forward and wrapped his arms around me, surprising me greatly in the process. He'd never initiated a hug without being prompted before.

"Thank you," was all he said.

8th day of the Garland Moon 1180. Main Hall of Garreg Mach Monastery.

Garreg Mach's population had been very busy this last week. Knights had been hurrying around, the monks and nuns had been spooked the whole time and the rest of the staff had been, still was, generally nervous. Today, the curiosity of the students would be sated, it seemed, as the Archbishop had called for a general assembly of the Officers Academy's students.

Not long after the appointed time, she stepped on a small podium some Knights of Seiros had brought into the hall an hour before. Her gaze swept across the assembled students and she began speaking.

"Dear students, it is with heavy heart that I inform you of this unpleasant development, but it must be done. Lord Lonato Gaspard has risen in rebellion against the Church of Seiros. He has assembled a host of knights, men-at-arms and levies."

A collective intake of breath went through the hall. Levies were not raised in Fodlan. Yes, conscription during war time might be necessary, but the militaries of the continent were made up of professionals. To simply arm untrained civilians and throw them into battle was both considered uncivilised and a violation of an unspoken rule.

Rhea continued her speech, "Fortunately, a large force of Knights of Seiros was already assembled for the purposes of wargames when we received the declaration. As I am speaking, an army of 5'000 Church troops is marching on Castle Gaspard."

That was nearly half the total forces available to the Central Church. This was big news for commoners and nobles alike. The political fallout of this would be great, without a doubt.

"While such a force could be seen as excessive," Rhea went on, "I have considered it better to send a big army so as to minimise casualties. Additionally, there shall be a rear-guard led by the three Houses of our Officers Academy and a complement of knights under the command of Catherine."

Murmurs went through the hall. Nervousness as spreading amongst the students. None of them had expected something like this to happen.

The Archbishop's gaze was steely as she finished her speech, "Of course, as per your enrolment contracts, only the lead students will head out into the field since this is not technically open warfare. However, I must remind everyone why the Officers Academy was founded: War. When the Almyrans invaded and Fodlan was nearly conquered by them, the Officers Academy was founded in order to prepare the military commanders of the future for war. Remind yourselves that the possibility of such an event is ever-present." After few seconds of silence, the look in her eyes softened and she said, "Your Professors will brief you on the details. You are dismissed."

With that, she stepped off the podium and made her way out of the hall with her bodyguards in tow. Before chaos could break out, the Professors stepped up to the podium and called for the lead students to assemble in the Blue Lions classroom.

Despite the short distance, it still took nearly twenty minutes for everyone to be present there. Not a good time, Byleth thought. They would have to increase their reaction time and efficiency in drills later on. Alas, there other matters to see to.

Fortunately, some things had already been taken care of, such as updating Baron Ochs on new information Hyperion had found while digging into his records. He had not been pleased to find out that the actual Lord Arundel had been a traitor too. Still, the man had appreciated being informed about the matter. The appreciation had also been present when Lord Lonato's rebellion had been brought up. As such, forces were ready for the next phase of the big plan.

Still, as the students finally finished gathering, Byleth had to focus on the tasks ahead of him. Notably, most of the students looked nervous. A few were calmer, some far more jittery. And then there was Ashe. The boy looked devastated. Understandable, considering just what was happening and who was involved.

The person to open the briefing was Hanneman since he was the Professor of the Blue Lions. "As you have just been informed, all three classes of the Officers Academy will be part of the rear-guard of the campaign against Castle Gaspard. I know that some of you might be queasy about going into battle against civilians, but since we will be at the back, it is unlikely that we will be attacked."

With his piece said for now, Manuela stepped in. "That said, we need to be prepared for surprises. Don't go thinking that picking up the pieces is all that we will do. It's even possible that we will have to gear up for a siege, depending on whether Lord Lonato meets the main force in open battle or not."

The students did not like that piece of news at all. All Professors had pointed out that sieges were long, nerve-wracking and very costly in terms of money, supplies and manpower. Disease was nothing unusual in siege camps, after all. It was now sinking in that that last bit meant something very troubling for many of them: There was a chance that many of them could die a horrible death on the sickbed.

At last, it was Byleth's turn to continue the briefing. "Another point some of you will have noticed is that Lady Rhea said that we would lead the rear-guard. That means all of you will command a small detachment of soldiers. Therefore, we will intensify your tactics lessons until the day of our departure. All said, we have a week to bring you up to snuff."

A week would sound rather rushed for a regular campaign, but their force was small and easy to supply via Magdred Way. In terms of combat readiness, that was actually rather generous. Apart from provisions, all supplies necessary were already gathered at the Monastery. The only thing that would take time was the students coming to terms with the situation.

Hanneman picked up again. "On the topic of instruction, you need not be worried. Ordinary lessons class activities will still take place. However, we will mostly have to content ourselves with tents instead of classrooms. We as your Professors have a duty to educate you to the best of our abilities, after all."

The students took a moment to digest that before they paid attention to Manuela as she said, "With that, the mission briefing is over. If you need someone to talk to about this, we are available to you. Otherwise, I suggest you speak with Seteth or Lady Rhea. Dismissed."

Later that evening in Edelgard's quarters.

Things were definitely not going as planned. For once, Edelgard thought, there might be an upside to that. She had thought she'd seen through the lies of her "uncle's" associates, but clearly, she had been wrong. Both Baron Ochs and the new Professor had ploughed through her apparently not as carefully prepared as previously thought plans.

The incident with the Agarthan impostors at the Monastery had made things very complicated. She was glad that Dimitri, even when enraged, had been able to give off the impression that he hadn't known about Lady Patricia's true identity, at least. That, or he might simply have been too shocked at Cornelia's betrayal.

Just at the corner of her eyes, she almost felt tears spring up at the thought of her mother. She was most likely dead. Edelgard hoped she was dead. If she wasn't, then she was in the custody of the monsters who had tormented the rest of her family. Thinking about that scenario made Edelgard ill.

Fortunately, there were also good news. The conversation after the fight had opened the possibility of dialogue and alliance, for both it and the Baron's tutelage had shaken her conviction in certain things. Naturally, her goal was still a society where people prospered because of personal merit and not their birth, but there were new paths to take to get there if what the Baron had taught her held true.

For one, much of what she had thought was the Church's fault was far more complicated in reality. The only place outside of Garreg Mach where the Central Church had any real authority was the Leicester Alliance. The Eastern Church mostly adhered to the Central Church's doctrines, causing it to actually lessen the importance of Crests within the territory. While they were still seen as extremely valuable, they were mostly desired because they proved the descent and by extension the degree of legitimacy of a child.

The matters of religion within the Empire were handled by House Varley, as had been the case ever since the Southern Church's rebellion. The current Count Varley's mismanagement of ecclesiastic funds and his neglect of actual religious matters had led her to the impression that the Central Church had regained its influence and caused the current religious issues within the Empire. However, as Baron Ochs had impressed upon her, it was Count Varley's greed that had done so. He preyed upon people by promising them absolution in exchange for money, lying to them and saying that the money would be spent on projects to improve the lives of the poor while he lined his pocket with riches.

Faerghus took its religious guidance from the Western Church. The obsession with Crests of its noble Houses could largely be attributed to that faction. The Western Church itself was also obsessed, albeit with the Saints and the 10 Elites. At times, it seemed that they considered them almost holier than the Goddess. Their fanaticism actually put them on bad terms with the Central Church and had led to increasing tensions. The issue was not helped by the fact that the Western Church was being manipulated by the Agarthans.

Edelgard was forced to admit that the Central Church, at least, seemed to be… reasonable. While many of them still exhibited far too much zeal for her liking, the leadership was friendly enough. The Archbishop herself made her queasy, as she knew that neither the woman nor her advisor were human, but it appeared that she wasn't acting maliciously. Seteth, for all intents and purposes second-in-command of the Central Church, was a man whose stern exterior hid a deeply compassionate personality. The Princess had been able to surmise as much once she'd disregarded that he was not a human either.

That was another thing she was forced to contemplate. When she had dropped subtle hints about Rhea's nature at Baron Ochs, he had instantly figured out what she had meant. It had come as a shock to her that he had already known that the Archbishop was not human, and had asked her a very loaded question.

"Does it matter, Your Highness? Are you not fighting against prejudice based on birth?"

That question and the realisation coming with it had been like a slap to the face. Ever since, the Princess had been deep in thought about the matter and had been forced to conclude that no, it did not matter whether Rhea was human or not. A complete re-evaluation of her planned actions was what she had to do now.

Sadly, there was one big problem with that.

I still know far too little for comfort, she thought in dismay.

As a result, Edelgard was conflicted. She had no clue how to proceed, and with Lonato's rebellion having started, the time to make a choice would come soon. Following the old plan appeared ever more like a mistake, but opposing the Agarthans would no doubt bring in many unknown factors. And so, for the first time since she had been released from that abhorrent haven of atrocities that was the Imperial Palace's dungeons, she was undecided.

Even as she lay down on her bed, she couldn't stop thinking about it. Unpleasant memories came to the fore of her mind. Indecision and doubt were supposed to be a thing of the past. If she doubted again, she would be back in the dungeons. That was false, of course, but her feelings couldn't be convinced by her mind.

Back then, she'd still held some semblance of faith in the Goddess. She had prayed and prayed until all hope for salvation had been buried together with the defiled carcasses of her siblings. A part of her knew that her disdain for the Church was a side effect of her feelings of betrayal, but what was one supposed to feel when all cries for help went unanswered?

Alas, now that her convictions were shaken and she didn't know what to do, something in the dark recesses of her mind whispered to her. What if I tried again? She hated that she even thought of doing that, but then she had a thought. If Fodlan's Goddess had forsaken her, she could turn to others. She knew that the peoples Duscur, Brigid and Almyra worshipped other Gods. Why shouldn't she try to contact one of them?

She didn't know any of their names or their appearances and she was sceptical that any of them would even hear her, however. It was with hesitance and a tired mind that she half-heartedly prayed for a sign to whomever happened to lend her their ear right as she fell asleep.

"Now this is new."

Edelgard's eyes flew open as she heard the unfamiliar male voice. She tried to spin around, trying to figure out where the voce came from. However, she couldn't move at all. She also couldn't see very far. All she could make out was that she was floating in a sea of grey.

"Reveal yourself!" she shouted.

"I would if I knew how. This is new for me too," the voice answered.

This only served to unnerve her further. "What is this place?"

"No clue. As I said, I'm new to this. All I know that I was in my bed and asleep when I got the feeling that somebody wanted to speak with me. Next I know, I'm here and can't see shit, if you pardon the expression," said the voice with some irritation.

The Princess' mind came to a screeching halt. Had that insincere prayer actually been answered? "Are… are you a God?" She asked with both disbelief and apprehension.

"Yep, one of only two left alive in this world," the voice said, "I'm a very recent addition too. Until a few months ago, I was just an ordinary human so I'm new to all that God stuff. You may call me Hyperion. Pleased to meet you, Edelgard."

"How do you know my name?" the Princess demanded, "And what do you mean by 'recent addition?'"

Hyperion was quick to answer. "I recognised your voice. As for the other question, it's how I said it. I was a human, now I'm a God. It's not like it never happened before. Psyche, who played a part in my deification, and Asklepion are but two names on a very long list. Though, I must say, I am quite surprised."

"Surprised? How so?" Edelgard asked.

"Well, from what I know, you're not one to pray much, if at all," said the strange God.

An icy feeling went down her spine. "How would you know that?"

There was a small chuckle before the answer came. "I know a lot of things I have no business knowing, but rest assured, I didn't go out of my way to violate your privacy, nor am I omniscient," he said, "Still, it is quite intriguing that you would pray. Even more intriguing is that you'd pray to me, not to mention awkward as all Hell."

Still put off, Edelgard reluctantly accepted his answer and decided to throw him a bone. "I was… contemplative. I did not want to pray to the Goddess of Fodlan and was curious if some other deity would heed my call for help."

"Interesting," said Hyperion, "Well, if it's advice you want, I can give you mine. I'm not experienced enough to hand out any boons you might want though."

The white-haired girl was silent for a few seconds before she finally talked again. "There is a big decision I must take soon. I have been set on a course for years now, so the choice should be easy, but matters have become complicated recently. The path I've intended to walk for so long will bring much suffering to a lot of people, but the goal I am striving for must be achieved at any cost."

Hyperion hummed. "It seems to me," he began, "That you have succumbed to one of the most common pitfalls of great leaders. Where many would lose sight of the forest because of the trees, you are more likely to miss the trees in favour of the forest. When any single tree becomes an acceptable sacrifice in your efforts to improve the greater whole, you end up with a field of stumps you call a forest."

Edelgard was angry now. "Your insults do little to help me," she bit out.

"It was not meant as an insult. It was my assessment of your way of doing things," Hyperion said in a flat tone, "People with great ideals who excel at leading often achieve positions of great power, only to realise that the real work only begins once they are in charge. Then, they see that their plans for the ideal world, which they have so carefully crafted, are crumbling before their eyes, and they try desperately to fix it, causing incalculable damage in the process. Lenin, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, all of those killed millions, dozens of millions in some cases, all in pursuit of their ideals. These names mean nothing to you now, just as your name will mean nothing to anyone if another series of atrocities kills everyone who might remember it in the future."

The Princess felt as though she had been slapped. "That-," she tried to say.

"One of these should be of particular interest to you," he interrupted her. "Hitler was a proponent and leader of a movement called National Socialism, Naziism for short. It was a variation of an ideology called fascism, which called for the survival of the fittest on the largest scale imaginable: war. Only the strongest or those who submitted to them would be permitted to survive. Naziism added the racial element to this. Only the master race and its slaves would be permitted to survive. Hitler sought to elevate his race above all others and declared war on the majority of the world in order to bring about his ideal. That war would later on be referred to as the Second World War."

Edelgard protested, "How is that relevant to me? I desire no such thing."

"We're coming to that part," Hyperion answered, "You see, even though Hitler's Germany and the other major fascist states were defeated, the ideology never truly died. Like an insidious cancer, it spread among the dissatisfied and power-hungry. Ideals of racial supremacy continued to persist and the old philosophy of the Nazis continued to persist, particularly their reverence for the sun, as they viewed it as a symbol of victory. Their mysticism also continued, most interestingly featuring a hidden city at the centre of the world, a Utopia where only the master race lived, all impurities were gone and everyone lived in perpetual happiness. A Utopia with a most striking name: Agartha.

Do you see it now, Edelgard? Nothing good can ever come from allying with these people. The ends do not justify the means in this case. Nothing short of preventing total extinction could ever justify cooperation with that filth."

The Princess was not just unsettled, she was freaked out. She knew that the Agarthans, Those Who Slither In The Dark has Hubert called them, desired to rule Fodlan, but she had had no idea about the true extent of their depravity, it seemed.

On further thought, there was more for her to panic over. She had not mentioned the Agarthans or the type of decision ahead of her. "How did you know what I was talking about?" she asked shakily.

There was a short and dry laugh, though it did not seem mocking. "I told you, I know lots of things I have no business knowing. The reason for my deification, the reason for my presence on this continent is to crush the Agarthans. To that end, I have acquired a wealth of information and contacted quite a few people through means other than what we are doing right now, most notably Byleth."

"Byleth… Professor Byleth?" she asked, dismayed. For some reason, knowing that he was involved hurt her.

"I did not tell him about most of your involvement beyond mentioning that you are the Flame Emperor and have been roped into the Agarthans' plans unwillingly, if you're worried," the deity said, "I hate emotional manipulation and I did not wish to make him guilty of it when he saved your life. Admittedly, I shared with him the basics of what happened to you in Enbarr, but only what was necessary for him to understand the severity of the situation. He does not know your greatest fears, for example."

That was a minor bit of relief for Edelgard, but then she followed her thoughts through and came to a conclusion. "I take it that you have already made plans to counter my own," she said weakly.

"I did," he answered.

"In that case, my decision appears to have already been made for me," she concluded, bitterness in her voice.

Hyperion countered that statement, "In a sense, but it was your choices that led you here. You chose to pursue a noble goal, which is why you even have the luxury of choosing now, skewed as the choice may be. If you had chosen your previous course of action out of malice, I would have stopped Byleth from saving your life. So, take heart and remember that even though we're often presented with an unchangeable fate, the destiny it leads to is ours to determine."

"I see," Edelgard murmured.

"Furthermore," the man went on, "I wanted to show you the face of the true enemy. The Agarthans are too volatile to be allied with and you need to realise that before it's too late. They already killed and hurt billions. They even hurt Sothis, without whom no one on this planet would be alive right now."

That brought up a new question. "Who is Sothis?" The Princess asked.

The tone with which Hyperion answered was serious. "Sothis is the Goddess of Fodlan, for all that it helped her. When she arrived on this world to save its people, the Agarthans declared war on her and those who followed her. It was a conflict of such cataclysmic proportions that the planet came close to being destroyed. As a result of that, humanity only just barely avoided extinction."

Here, the tone shifted from serious to angry. "The damage to the ecology of the world so extensive that Sothis nearly killed herself while she restored it to a habitably condition, forcing her into a healing sleep while her Children saw to the rebuilding effort. But that wasn't enough, no! A long time later, the Agarthans made Nemesis retrieve Sothis' comatose body so they could use it to commit their atrocities."

A growl escaped Hyperion as he went on, "The disgusting part here is that her healing sleep kept her aware of her body and its immediate surroundings. She was conscious as they cut her open and took her apart piece by piece. Then, they had the temerity to turn her desecrated body into a weapon with which their pawn Nemesis slaughtered her Children in order to make more weapons out of their bodies as well."

Edelgard, though she could not see him, could feel Hyperion's anger and revulsion. She herself felt ill. She knew what it felt like to be cut open and her experiences in that regard enabled her to imagine the same thing that had happened to the Goddess happening to her clearly enough to make her want to vomit.

"That is revolting," she managed to say through her nausea.

"That it is," stated Hyperion, "So you see, Sothis could not help you when you prayed to her thanks to the same people who tortured you and your family. They always did like playing their enemies against each other, and they nearly succeeded in this case, didn't they?"

The Princess contemplated that statement and was forced to admit that he had a point if what he had said was true. There was one question that remained, however.

"What changed?" she asked.

"Complete coincidence," Hyperion answered with a calmer tone, "My arrival to be exact. The probability for it was low but still high enough that dead Gods plotted and enabled me to help Sothis recover what she lost."

"I don't understand," was Edelgard's response to the cryptic statement.

Hyperion did not seem to want to elaborate, however. He merely said, "It's a long story and we seem to be running out of time. I'll have to tell you later. Plus, you already have a lot to think about anyway. I'll leave you to it." As an afterthought, he added with a chuckle, "Oh, and sweet dreams, Princess."

With that, his voice faded and Edelgard could see that the grey that had surrounded her seemed to fall apart, giving way to an empty black space. Her eyes grew heavy while and odd feeling settled in her head, and soon enough, she was asleep.

No nightmares plagued her on that night.

AN:

Greetings, dear readers, to an early chapter. I'm as surprised as you are that it's already finished production, so to speak, but it's best to not complain when the muse drops in unexpectedly.

To explain part of the last segment, the Nazis were, for some obscure reason, very fond of appropriating Hindu mythology. The swastika and Agartha are two prominent examples of this. Agartha is also often confused/conflated with Shambhala. Go figure.

As for the past history of Fodlan, I will at some point wite a chapter about Sothis' birth, her personal past, her arrival on Earth and the conflicts that followed. It'll have to wait, though.

Now, this chapter's recommended story is The True Monster by lord of the land of fire. It's a very interesting Naruto and Rosario + Vampire crossover story, written before crossover tags even were a thing on this site. It's also one of the first stories I ever actually read and I still enjoy re-reading it from time to time. I heartily recommend it.