It's about time we finally checked in on our star diva, Dorothea. It's gonna be pretty stressful, to say the least.
Chapter 110 – Regret and Despair (Harpstring Moon)
Dorothea moaned softly as she slowly rose from her bed. The brunette's whole body ached, but she managed to pull herself unsteadily to her feet. The diva looked around at the room, not recognizing where she was.
Where was she, she thought. How had she gotten there? What had happened to her? These questions and more spun in her head as she tried to recall her last memory.
Her mind was met by a mess of sounds and horrors. Memories of men and women killing and dying in a display of carnage that shook her to the core.
She remembered she had been fighting at Gronder. She remembered the inferno that had engulfed Claude's army, conjured by Cornelia Arnim. She remembered the Church's forces being decimated when they tried to help the Alliance. She remembered Dimitri perishing at Edelgard's hands. And she remembered Byleth's retreat from the Emperor and the Duchess, aided by the Song of Swiftness.
But there was a part at the end of it she couldn't remember. When she tried to recall it, pain shot through her head. She clutched her forehead and grasped a nearby chair as she nearly toppled over.
All she could see in the memory was fire and stone. And all she could hear were screams of men and women.
Something had gone horribly wrong. But what?
This question ate away at Dorothea's thoughts as she stumbled out of her room, hoping to find a familiar face who could help her piece things together. But as she made her way through the building, she saw no one she recognized, though she could see a few who wore Alliance uniforms, so she knew she couldn't be in Imperial custody. However, everyone she saw was giving her a look of contempt.
The whole situation left the diva with a feeling of dread. Why were they looking at her in such a hostile manner?
She had to find someone she knew. She had to find her friends.
Dorothea found a door leading outside and gingerly opened it, hoping to see a familiar face outside.
She stepped outside to see a large crowd of soldiers from the Church, Alliance, and Loyalist armies. They were busy tending to their wounds, but soon after she stepped out, several of them realized her presence and turned their scornful gazes toward her.
"It's you…" one of the Loyalist soldiers said with vitriol.
"Of course, you had to survive that disaster," growled another soldier, this one from the Church.
"Especially when you're the one who caused it!" said a third one.
"I – What?" Dorothea asked in confusion.
"Because of you, the Empire's gonna win this war!" shouted a fourth.
"Yeah, you and that damnable song of yours!" said a fifth.
"W-What are you talking about?" Dorothea asked in fear.
"Don't play dumb, witch!" said another soldier. "We could've turned it around if it hadn't been for you and your singing!"
"You caused us more losses than to the Imperials!"
The shouting and jeering continued as Dorothea, utterly horrified at the accusations being made, stammered as she tried to deny their words. But with how many were yelling at her, her protests fell on deaf ears.
"I-I-I don't know what you're talking about! I swear!" said Dorothea. Then, as pain gripped her head again, she clutched her forehead and said, "I just – I can't remember what happened! I–"
"A likely story!" shouted one of the angry soldiers as he stormed up to her threateningly. "What do you take us for?! Complete fools?!"
"You think you can just forget what you did so easily?!"
"You deserve no less than what you did to our comrades, witch!" A particularly vicious soldier stormed toward her as he said, "Let's string her up! Maybe she'll remember what she did right before she dies!"
As several of the soldiers agreed with their comrade, Dorothea backed away from them in terror as she reached for her magic, shocked that they didn't just hate her, but also sought her life.
"Stay back! I'm warning you!" Dorothea said in panic. "GET AWAY!"
When one of the soldiers moved to grab her, Dorothea instinctively sent a bolt of lightning into the man, blasting him to the ground. It wasn't enough to be fatal, but the others flinched back as they realized how dangerous she still was.
Dorothea, on the other hand, was now shaking at the realization she had just struck an allied soldier, even if he had tried to hurt her.
"I… I didn't… I…!"
"HEY! What are you all doing?!" shouted a man's voice.
In her fear, Dorothea did not recognize who had shouted it. She spun around and ran as fast as she could away from the soldiers, who turned as Sylvain arrived with Raphael, Ingrid, Caspar, and several others arrived to subdue the violent men.
She did not turn back as someone shouted for her to stop.
…
Byleth had dropped a discussion on Derdriu's defenses upon hearing of what happened. She had been waiting for news of Dorothea's recovery for some time, but upon hearing that the soldiers had tried to lynch her, she had rushed over fearing the worst.
The Archbishop had tried hiding the diva away while she was unconscious. She knew many of the soldiers resented her for mistake at Gronder, but she had hoped they wouldn't try to harm her for it. Her hope, it seemed, had been misplaced.
Upon arriving, she found Sylvain and the others had pacified the soldiers, though their anger was still palpable. One of them was giving Sylvain a glare that looked like he was about to attack the redhead at any moment.
"You should've let us have at her, Lord Sylvain!" said the soldier. "After what she did–"
"I don't wanna hear it," interrupted Sylvain. "Not a word. What she did was an accident."
"An ACCIDENT?! You heard her sing that goddess-forsaken dirge! You call that an accident?! And you're gonna give her the chance to do it again?! I should've cut her throat the moment she–"
Sylvain punched the man in the jaw before he could finish his sentence. He was about to strike him again when Ingrid rushed over and grabbed his arm.
"Sylvain, stop it!" Ingrid shouted.
The blonde managed to stop him from striking the soldier again. Struggling free of her grip, Sylvain turned away from the wounded soldier before pointing at him and shouting, "Throw him in a cell!"
Two other soldiers marched over and grabbed the wounded soldier. Byleth watched as the man cursed Sylvain while being dragged away.
Though part of her wanted to punish Sylvain for striking a subordinate, there was already too much unrest going on in Derdriu. Refugees had been pouring into the city as the Empire ravaged its way through the Alliance, and morale remained dangerously low. Yet she saw no easy solution to these problems, and the infighting amongst their forces wasn't helping things. She feared if things got any worse, their army would collapse on itself.
And yet, despite all this, all she could think about was finding Dorothea.
So, after asking Sylvain and the others what they knew, the Archbishop took off into the city, hoping she would not be too late to find her dear friend.
…
Dorothea had spent half an hour trying to find some place safe in Derdriu where people weren't giving her contemptuous glares. However, wherever she went, people knew of what she'd done, and no one she met looked like they were willing to tell her just what had happened. Afraid from how the soldiers had tried to kill her, she did not dare speak to any other who looked at her with such hostility. She could find no sign of her friends, either. No one would tell her where she could find them, nor could she discern any information on their whereabouts. And with how massive a city Derdriu was, she wasn't going to find them easily without directions.
Eventually, the diva found herself at a small chapel. No one was around outside, so she decided to find a place to rest in a small garden next to it. She had never been faithful to the Goddess, despite her faith in Sothis's successor.
Silently, she wanted Byleth to be with her. She had no idea where the Archbishop was, only that she was somewhere in the city.
As she stood before a fountain in the garden, Dorothea took a deep breath and began to sing to herself, hoping to soothe her heart with Yulia's Hymn.
Tue lei ze croa riou tue ze
Croa riou ze tue riou lei neu riou ze
Va lei ze tue neu tue riou tue–
Vivid images and sounds flashed into Dorothea's mind again, as did unbearable pain. Dorothea let out an agonized yelp as she clutched her head. Memories poured into her mind, as though triggered by trying to sing Yulia's Hymn.
Desperate to stymie the pain, Dorothea stumbled into the fountain and fell to her knees.
As she immersed herself in the water, the memories suddenly became clearer.
She heard herself singing the Hymn that Anna had attempted in Abyss.
She remembered the unbearable agony she had felt as she lost control of the Hymn.
She saw the sky turn red as fire and brimstone rained from above.
She saw the meteors crash down, destroying friend and foe alike.
She saw hundreds, if not thousands, die within seconds of her calling down Hell itself from the heavens.
And then, Dorothea's eyes went wider than ever before as she saw two familiar faces: Bernadetta and Brigitte, just before a meteor struck right next to them.
…
It hadn't been easy for Byleth to track Dorothea. Most of the people in Derdriu weren't willing to help her or hadn't noticed the brunette. Fortunately, an elderly man had seen her and pointed Byleth in the right direction.
As Byleth neared a small chapel, she heard a woman sniffling nearby. The Archbishop went to the nearby garden and saw the woman she had been looking for on her knees in a cold fountain.
Her heart sank immediately upon seeing Dorothea, her arms limp at her sides, as she looked to the sky and cried silently.
Every part of Dorothea's expression was one of utter despair.
Hearing Byleth's footsteps, Dorothea slowly turned her head to look at her friend as she knelt next to her.
"Dorothea…?" Byleth asked softly as she knelt next to her, ignoring the chill of the water.
For a moment, there was silence between the two.
Then, as though a dam had broken, Dorothea buried herself in Byleth's embrace as she sobbed inconsolably.
Byleth could do little but wrap her arms around the diva as she cried, "B-Byleth… Th-Th-They're gone… Bernadetta… Brigitte… They're dead… And… I… I… I killed them… I killed all of them… our allies… our friends… they're all dead… because I tried to save them…"
Byleth continued to stroke Dorothea's head as the diva kept crying. "It's okay… It's okay…" Byleth said softly.
"No… no, it's not… Byleth, I… I ruined everything… I lost us the war… I killed our friends… Those men were right… It's all my fault…"
"No, Dorothea. Please, don't blame yourself for what happened."
"But–"
"I know you. You were only trying to help, and we all make mistakes, Dorothea."
"…stop it… just… stop, Byleth…"
"Dorothea…?"
"How… how can you forgive me for what I did? If it weren't for me, we'd still have a chance. And if it weren't for me, our friends might still be alive! How can you say I'm not to blame for all of this?!"
Byleth released her embrace of Dorothea and kept her hands to the brunette's shoulders as she locked their green eyes together. There was a long silence between them as Dorothea saw tears well up in Byleth's eyes.
Then, after several seconds of staring, Byleth answered, "If anyone is to blame for losing the battle, it's me." Tears began to stream down her face as Byleth said, "Because I struck Edelgard down… and then spared her life."
Dorothea's eyes widened in confusion as she said, "…What…? Byleth, what are you–"
"I ran her through after she killed Dimitri. I knew it was the only way to end the war. But when I did, I… I turned back time."
"Turned… back time…?"
"It's a power Sothis gave me. She called it the Divine Pulse. It lets me turn back the sands of time. I've had it ever since I first came to Garreg Mach. When we were fighting at Gronder, I used it after I drove my blade into Edelgard's heart. I just… I had to let her live… I had to let her live…"
Dorothea was silent for a moment, awestruck at what she had just learned. She never imagined such a power even existed.
But as she realized Byleth was telling the truth, she said, "Then you have to go back!" She desperately grasped Byleth's hands in her own and said, "Turn back the sands of time, Byleth! Please! Do whatever you have to do! Kill me if you must! BUT YOU HAVE TO STOP ME, NO MATTER WHAT IT TAKES!"
Dorothea's desperation was palpable to Byleth, but after a few seconds, she replied remorsefully, "I can't."
"You… can't…?"
"I can't go back that far, Dorothea. The Divine Pulse only lets me go back a short distance through time, at most thirty seconds."
"…thirty seconds…?"
After a few seconds of realization, Dorothea once again buried her head in Byleth's shoulder and began to wail in anguish.
"Dorothea, I… I'm so sorry…" Byleth sobbed. "You had to use that Hymn because… because of my failure. I knew I had to kill Edelgard. I knew that. And yet I… I let her live… And because I did, I… I betrayed everything we've all fought and suffered for!"
Byleth and Dorothea now cried in unison as the fountain soaked them to the bone.
And as they did, they did not notice a redheaded merchant listening in on them, shocked at everything she had heard.
Poor Dorothea… She really needs a lot more hugs.
It's long overdue for Byleth to trust Dorothea with the knowledge of the Divine Pulse, something she never shared with anyone in Three Houses. She may have told Claude about Sothis living in her body in Verdant Wind, but she still didn't tell him about her ability to go back through time. Sure, learning about it may have arguably worsened things for Dorothea, but it's meant to speak to how much Byleth trusts Dorothea that she would tell her about it. And Byleth has her own share of grief at how her sparing Edelgard's life meant the war would continue.
Given how everyone in the allied army seems to have it out for Dorothea now, she's going to need her friends more than ever, especially since she thinks she killed two of her friends. Byleth and the others haven't learned yet that Brigitte and Bernadetta survived, which will have consequences for Dorothea.
As for the next chapter, Anna's going to have a lot to say about this matter too. Let's just say Byleth's in for at least a reprimanding. And, just to note, Byleth still doesn't realize that Cornelia mind-controlled her. We'll be touching a bit on that next chapter.
Something else I'd like to discuss is how this website seems to be crapping out with regards to emails and notifications. From what I found on Reddit, someone broke something in an update in October and it hasn't been fixed yet, causing all email notifications from this site to stop working, even if you turn the options on and whitelist the site or add it to your contacts list. It's been going on for weeks, which says something about the people maintaining the site.
Now, I plan to at least finish Part 2 of Songstress here, but I've been contemplating moving any "Part 3" onward to somewhere like AO3. I may also move this and the first part to AO3 if this site gets any more broken. I'm not fully decided on that yet, though, so keep coming here for now for story updates. Moving to AO3 would be time-consuming and I'd have to stop myself from retroactively updating too much. I also probably wouldn't do such a move until after Part 2 is finished (I plan to go until around 120 Chapters like with Part 1).
In the meantime, I do know that you can get an app for this website for mobile devices that will still give you notifications. I'll be getting that, and if you're having the same "no emails" issues, it might be a good idea for you to do so as well. Hopefully the app will alert me to your reviews.