Rhea, Seteth, Flayn, and Sothis met in Tarquin's private office, ostensibly to review Tarquin's documents. And to be fair, they would be doing a lot of that later. The man was deeply corrupt, and it would take weeks to properly investigate his dealings.

But that wasn't the main reason they were there. The real reason was because with Jeralt guarding the door, no one would be able to listen in on them.

"Is it...really you?" Seteth asked. "But how?"

"Indeed it is," Sothis confirmed. "My soul was fragmented, with part of it within Byleth and part in heaven. The Agarthan mage's Bohr X spell brought Byleth just close enough to death that the two pieces of my soul were able to reunite."

"One of the few things we can thank them for," Rhea said. "Kronya, Cato and possibly Isocrates excepted, of course," she hastily amended, looking at Flayn.

"The matter of relations with the Agarthans can be addressed later," Sothis said. "It has been far too long since you all last saw me. There are other things for us to talk about."

"Were—were you watching my actions in Hyrule, and the other Fódlan?" Flayn asked.

"I was," Sothis assured her. "And I'm very proud of you, Cethleann. You've grown quite a lot."

Flayn smiled and hugged her. "Thank you."

"And that boy, Dedue?" Sothis said playfully. "He's a good lad. I approve."

"Great-grandmother!" Flayn whined, embarrassed.

"Grandmother, is that really—" Seteth tried to protest.

"Oh, lighten up, Cichol," Sothis said. "If she's old enough to fight a demon king, she's old enough for courtship."

"I'd rather she not do either," Seteth muttered.

"She's not a child anymore, Cichol," Sothis said. "You need to accept that. You will always be her father, but you have to accept that she has a life of her own to live."

Seteth sighed. "I understand."

"Of course, if the nest is feeling empty, there's a solution to that," Sothis said. "Just find a nice woman to marry, and have another child!"

"Grandmother!" Seteth whined, embarrassed.

Sothis chuckled. Then she turned to Rhea. "I am afraid there is no easy way to say this, Seiros. I would like to say that I am proud of you. But I cannot."

Rhea hung her head. "I know."

"I love you, Seiros, and I always will," Sothis said. "But your obsession with returning me to this world has held you back. For the sake of Byleth, and Sitri, I will not condemn you for it. But for your sake, I would rather you had mourned me and then moved on. The way you have lived for these past thousand years has not been good for you."

She took Rhea's headdress from her head. "Manaketes were never truly meant to wear crowns. Many chose to anyway. They thought they had a duty to lead the lands they lived in to a bright future. Too many of them thought they could change humanity as a whole. They thought that they could create a utopia. But invariably, humanity refused to change, and utopia refused to exist. Too many of them drove themselves to degeneration in this way."

She held Rhea's headdress out to her. "And perhaps that wouldn't have happened to you. After all, you never truly committed to your role as the spiritual leader of Fódlan. You only ever saw yourself as a placeholder. Maybe you could have done a better job if you had. Or maybe not. Regardless, I will not be taking the leadership of the Church, the way you wanted me to."

"But...you are the only one who can!" Rhea protested. "No one else can set Fódlan right, no one else can free it from corruption and division and war—"

"All of those things existed in humanity before the Agarthan War," Sothis said. "My presence would not change that. No one can create a perfect utopia in this world, not even me. And even if I could, I have no right to take Byleth's place in this world. So, you must choose. Can you carry on as Archbishop? Can you accept that you will never be able to solve all of the world's problems, but still place yourself in the position where you will forever be fighting to get just the slightest bit closer, as the world constantly tries to unmake everything good that you build? Is that the life you want?"

Rhea shook her head. "No."

"Then this role is all wrong for you," Sothis said, placing Rhea's headdress on the desk.

Tears began to fall from Rhea's eyes. "I've...I've been a fool..."

"Yes, you have been," Sothis said, embracing Rhea. "But if I couldn't forgive that, I would have no right to call myself a mother or a Goddess."

She held Rhea as she cried for several seconds. When Rhea was more composed, she straightened herself once more. Sothis asked her, "So what will you do now, Seiros?"

"I will set right what I can in the next few months," Rhea said. "And then I will step down. Perhaps I'll be an architect. I always did love designing buildings, but since Garreg Mach Monastery, I've had few opportunities to do it."

"I imagine the Kingdom of Hyrule will need an excellent architect," Sothis said. "But don't consider that a command. If you choose to stay in Fódlan, I imagine you can design excellent buildings here as well."

"Thank you, Mother," Rhea said.

"I would love to stay with you, but I must return Byleth to her father," Sothis said. "I love you all. It was good to speak with you again."

"We understand," Rhea said. "We love you too."

The three of them hugged Sothis for some time, but eventually they had to let go and step back. "Perhaps you'll see me again at some point. But for now, know that I will always be watching over you, even if it does not always seem like it."

With that, Sothis vanished, leaving Byleth in her place. But there was one difference; Byleth now had green hair and green eyes, just like any child of Zanado.

Her ears were still round, like those of a human, though.

"Thank you for allowing us this, Byleth," Rhea said.

"Of course," Byleth said.

When the door opened and Byleth walked out, Jeralt wasted no time in embracing his daughter. "You scared me, kid," he said. Then he stepped back. "Your hair...and your eyes..."

"A parting gift from Sothis," Byleth said. "My magic power is a lot higher now too, and I don't think I'll ever get sick again."

"She's not in your head anymore?" Jeralt asked.

"I can call her back if I have to," Byleth said. "She was glad she could talk to them again, for a while."

Jeralt watched as the three Nabateans walked out of the office. He noticed that while Rhea's makeup was smudged, as if she had been crying and had hastily tried to wipe it all off, her eyes no longer held that sadness he had always associated with her.

He smiled. "Good for you, old friend."