Chapter One

As One

Darkness surrounded her. An endless, depthless void of nothingness; no sound, no air. Only herself. Perhaps she was dreaming, or maybe... No, she was not dreaming. Scouring her memory, she searched for the answer to the only question on her mind: How did I get here? It came to her, piece by piece in no particular order, a jumble of images and voices. In her mind she laid the memories out, fitting them together like an intricate jigsaw, until at last she could see the full picture- the series of events that had lead to oblivion. A mission with the Blue Lions. The girl who killed her father. The betrayal at the hands of Solon, and the blinding surge of purple darkness that followed. Begone with you... Fell Star, he had said. She did not know what that meant.

A voice spoke to her, echoing through the darkness. "You are a fool! You knew it to be a trap, and yet you ran straight into it anyway!" Sothis sighed, resting her elbow on the arm of her stone throne, cupping her chin in her palm. A dim light surrounded her, casting long shadows across her round face.

Byleth crossed her legs to sit, though it was not much like sitting at all. Not without a floor. "They killed my father," she reminded her.

The pointy-eared girl frowned, folding one bare leg over the other. "And now they have killed you," she said. "No, worse... I too am now trapped in this void, cursed to wander in eternal darkness for all of time." She cast her gaze to the side and sighed, eyes thoughtful. "What is done is done, I suppose. This world is not like the one from which you came. It would take the power of a God to return you to your little ones."

"Is that not what you are?" asked Byleth. And what I am? she wanted to add. What else could explain the oddness of her life? Explain the girl who manifested before her?

Sothis chuckled, the sound gentle as a summer breeze. "I read your thoughts as if they were my own- you need not speak them." She flicked her eyes back, a devious look in them. "Though, you may humour me all the same. Tell me, Ashen One... just who are you and I?"

Byleth released a steady breath of air, deep in thought. "My father's diary," she began. The thought of him sent a pang of grief through her heart. Of the crinkle of his eyes when he smiled, the loud boisterous laugh when she would watch in awe as he caught a fish twice her size. The light when it had left his eyes. "In it, he said that as a child I did not laugh nor cry... He suspected Rhea as the reason behind this." All her life, she had struggled to convey her emotions. Once, she believed it to be the result of having no mother, or growing up into a mercenary's life; but now, she knew it was not so. When the archbishop had revealed the name of the goddess to be Sothis, her suspicions had only been confirmed.

"Indeed. I do not know how, but Rhea allowed me to exist inside of you. Within you lies the power of a goddess. Of me." Sothis straightened in her throne, green mane spilling down from the seat.

"A progenitor god," Byleth whispered. The Goddess of Fódlan, The Beginning and Mother of all life flowed through her veins. A heavy burden, indeed. "What must we do?"

Sothis stood from her throne and hovered mid-air- seemingly skilled at it. Where Sothis floated with grace, Byleth did so clumsily. "The time for you and I to join as one has come. But know this; once we do so, you and I will no longer have the power to converse as we do now." The frown returned to her face, different now. It was sorrowful, a grief for what was yet to come. "Do you accept?" The question rang through the airless void.

"I do," said Byleth, "but know that I do so with regret."

Sothis smiled, and Byleth was sure a jeweled tear clung to the corner of the child's eye. "I know, little one." Golden light burst from around her, specks of starlight twisting and dancing in the void. It reached out its fingers of gold, welcoming Byleth into its embrace. The light curled around her arms, wrapping her in astral ribbons. Her hair billowed about her face, bright and glowing. Sothis floated closer, hand outstretched as the light had stretched its own. Byleth found herself mirroring the gesture. By now she was squinting, the light blinding. Burning. As Sothis approached- now mere inches from her face- and as her child's body began to fade into stardust, the tear fell from her cheek. "Goodbye, friend," she whispered.

And then she was gone.

Byleth felt the power surging through her veins, the Sword of the Creator pulsing orange in her grasp. She had not remembered holding it. Her still heart burned in her chest, a wildfire spreading into her blood as if Sothis herself had sparked the flames. Somehow her arms knew what must be done. She raised her blade of yellowed bone and slashed through the emptiness, tearing the veil between darkness and light. The fabric between worlds. Byleth stepped through, but had not expected to emerge fifteen feet from the ground. She gasped as she plummeted down, falling flat onto her face. It almost made her laugh.

"This cannot be..." said a voice from above her. Solon. At last, he could pay for his crimes. In blood. The old man tried to flee, the white veins bulging from his too-large head, but he was too slow. Byleth jolted to her feet and sank her sword between his ribs. She watched the embers of life leave his black eyes- the way she had watched the light leave her father's. Solon gurgled blood as she withdrew the blade. He slumped over with a final sigh of breath, defeated. You are avenged, father... she thought, looking skyward.

"Professor?" Dimitri's voice came from behind her. Byleth spun to face him, a smile on her face. He did not return the gesture. "Is that you, Professor? You look... different." His golden hair blew in strings across his forehead. Around him, her other students took hesitant steps back.

Byleth darted her eyes between the dozen unblinking ones, all staring in confused horror. "Of course it's me, I-" She gasped. Her voice was not her own

Dimitri raised his lance to her throat, the steel biting her flesh. A scowl twisted his face. "Who are you? What have you done with the professor?" His voice was sharp as the tip of his blade.

Afraid, she brought her shaking hands to her face. They were not hers. The Sword of the Creator fell from her grip. No, this is all wrong... She stumbled backward, falling to the dirt. Mud splashed over her bloodied clothes; clothes she had not been wearing before. A silken dress once of pristine white spilled down her legs like a fabric waterfall, splattered with patches of deep red and brown. Her feet were bare, and her ankle was encircled with gold, thin and ornate. And her hair... It was too long, too light, pooling about her belted waist. Panic shook her like trees in a storm, mind spiralling into fear. Sothis...? she echoed through the chambers of her mind. Sothis, what's happened to me?

The goddess did not respond.

A/N~ Am I crazy starting this whilst writing two other 3H stories? Yes, yes I am. Anyways, this is just the introduction to a 'what if?' fic of what would have happened if Rhea's plan was a success.

This first chapter was just to test the waters a little- the next one will be a lot longer.Won't say much else because spoilers!! I'm also going to be drawing a cover picture soon to spruce it up a bit haha. Hopefully in time for Ch2.

Thanks for reading!