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In the years since Fhirdiad, Byleth had seen a great many things. She and Edelgard had trampled the Agarthans and all their otherworldly creations underfoot, though not without taking their technologies and using them to better the world at large. From there, she and her beloved Emperor ruled and reformed and restructured and reconstructed the entire continent for a little less than a decade. When their work was complete, El gave up her throne and they both retired to a little home a stone’s throw away from Garreg Mach.
In their first years, the pair spent little time actually living in their home; instead they traveled. They started small with Fódlan, seeing the hard-fought world they’d made together. After they’d exhausted the domestic, however, they ventured beyond the Empire’s borders and into new, exciting lands. Almyra was the first stop, and Claude (or rather, Khalid) was already waiting for them. He took them to see both the highs and lows of Adtrestia’s greatest ally, the places Byleth and Edelgard hadn’t had the chances to see during their reign as Emperor and Empress.
After that, he escorted them (and skirked his responsibilities) past Almyra and into other lands for a time, though eventually he left the two to explore on their lonesome. Sometimes they’d loop back to their little home to rest, finding it exactly as they left it, and other times they’d spend a whole year or two abroad. Petra in particular didn’t let the pair leave Brigid for several months, though mostly at Dorothea’s request.
She had streaks of grey in her dark blue locks now, but they were few and far between. Her cheeks had faint wrinkles, mostly from how much she smiled. A pair of reading glasses hung on her collar, seldom needed but there regardless. There was an odd knot in her left knee, but nothing she couldn’t power through. All in all, Byleth and Edelgard had lived full, happy lives, rich with experience and teeming with fond memories of wondrous sights unlike any she’d had the chance to see in her years leading up to Garreg Mach. The ex-mercenary was older now, nearing her mid fifties (or was she sixty now? Did she age when she was asleep? She never stopped asking that). There was little left in the world that could surprise Byleth nowadays, short of the dead suddenly re-materializing before her.
This was a close second, however.
“Well that’s a face I never expected to see again. At least, outside of portraits.” The aged professor had been relaxing on her front porch, a morning ritual she’d taken up ever since she and El had stopped traveling. It was a fine day, with scattered clouds, a gentle breeze, and a stranger standing on her doorstep.
Well, as much as one’s own self can be considered a stranger.
Byleth, or rather, a different Byleth, stood but a few paces away, slack-jawed and speechless. This doppelganger still had that eye-catching seafoam green hair (a pigment that brought too many memories with it) and looked markedly younger. Her eyes spoke for her experience, but clashed with her face’s youthful visage.
The stranger wore apparel not dissimilar to Byleth’s old ‘Enlightened One’ outfit (the Emperor had burned the garish garb the instant its certification ceased to be of any use), though with more regalia and noticeably more modest. It actually reminded the former Empress of the archbishop’s ensemble, with a fanciful diadem to match. The only thing about her that didn’t scream the word ‘regal’ was a worn and faded pendant on the left of her chest. It was blue, and it had a lion on it. It looked almost hand-made, like a gift from a teenager who didn’t know what else to give their new, mysterious professor on their birthday.
The younger Eisner still had yet to say anything, apparently far more star-struck at this chance encounter than her elder counterpart. The former Empress had to suppress a snicker, then finally piped up to save her other self from having to make the awkward icebreaker.
Or at least she would have, if another Byleth didn’t saunter up at that exact moment.
“Excuse me, do either of you know where…” The third Byleth’s words trailed off as the other two turned to face her. This other other ex-mercenary had approached them from a bit further off, apparently having the same idea as the first newcomer and attempting to make contact with the only visible signs of life. She, like the one before, also still looked young, though her eyes seemed less tired. Still the same seafoam green hair, a detail not lost on the eldest of the three.
This newcomer sported a rather different style from her same-faced counterpart. She wore a bright yellow cape, and was adorned with scattered bits of Almyran regalia. Her boots were the same as they’d always been, and the aforementioned cape had some of the same stitching as their old coat. A slightly duller, mustard-yellow sash wrapped her torso from shoulder to waist, and she had a brilliant emerald earring (just the one, on her left ear). She carried herself with a strange sort of confidence, a kind of easy-going swagger. Not unlike Claude, actually.
The pieces slid into place in the eldest Byleth’s head, and she couldn’t help but chuckle aloud and shake her head. So that’s what this is all about.
“Y’know, with three of us, it’s bound to get confusing pretty quickly.” Her two doppelgangers snapped out of their daze and faced Byleth. “Let’s keep things simple, eh? How about we call you--” Byleth pointed to the one who came first “--’Blue.’ You--” Byleth turned her finger towards the other “--can be ‘Yellow.’ I’ll be ‘Red.’ That sound good?”
‘Blue’ shifted in place, still somewhat overwhelmed and blinking rapidly, while ‘Yellow’ looked to the eldest of the trio with their signature head-tilt. “How come you get to decide? And why the colors?”
‘Red’ smirked. “Because I look the oldest, and because Blue Lions--” She pointed again to Blue, who flinched and looked down at her pendant, “--Golden Deer--” Yellow raised an eyebrow when a finger pointed her way, “-- and of course…” Red reached behind herself and grasped at her coat, shrugged off and laid out over the back of her chair. Pulling it around, she held out the front of it, on which a red pendant with an eagle was pinned. “Black Eagles.”
Both Blue and Yellow’s eyes widened slightly, and the younger two looked at one another hesitantly.
Before either could speak, a fourth voice emerged from the door to Red’s left. “Byleth, is someone at the door?”
“Oh, just talking to myself.” Red smirked at her own joke.
“Really?” The door cracked open, and Edelgard wedged herself through to peek at her wife. She held out two cups, both steaming, through the small opening. Her long chestnut-brown hair swayed with the breeze trickling past her and into the house. The tips of her locks were silver, though a much livelier pigment than that of her younger years.
“Well, I’ve got your coffee for you, if you’d like to keep sitting out here. I might join you, seeing as the weather’s so…” The former Emperor’s words petered out as she stepped out further and caught sight of her beloved’s doppelgangers. She stared at them blankly, and then towards the eldest of them still sitting beside her on their porch. Edelgard raised an eyebrow inquisitively, to which her wife responded with a noncommittal shrug.
Edelgard sighed, shaking her head slowly. “On second thought, I think I’ll spend the day in my studio. Do stop by the market later, won’t you?” The former Emperor turned and walked back inside, gently latching the door behind her.
Red huffed, then turned her head back towards her companions. Both bore oddly vacant expressions, and the elder Byleth felt as though she had a good idea as to why.
“She’s dead where you come from.” Both Blue and Yellow flinched.
“How…” Blue started.
“Because the looks you were giving her reminded me of when I’d catch Lysithea in the dining hall after dark. You just saw a ghost.” Red smirked slightly. “It’s also pretty obvious you’re from some other world or whatnot. I’m no stranger to alternate ‘timelines,’ and I can thank Alfonse and Sharena for that little tidbit. El is too stubborn for her own good, and I sincerely doubt the war would have ended in her surrender, hence her fate in any world where she didn’t win being death. For the record, you remind me too much of Khalid, and you are wearing something straight out of the back of Rhea’s wardrobe. Also skittish and uncertain, like Dimitri.”
Again Blue shifted uncomfortably, now somewhat self-conscious of her attire. Yellow, on the other hand, responded with a slight smirk of her own. “And you’re down to business, just like Edelgard.”
“I should hope so, we’ve only lived together for a good forty years.” Red paid no mind to the boggled expressions of her counterparts, instead rising to her feet and flinging her coat over her shoulders. “Now, you probably heard I’m supposed to run down to the market today, but I don’t have to go straight there. You two eat yet?” She chuckled before they could respond. “Not like it matters, right? Come on, we’ll grab a bite.”
Yellow exchanged a glance with Blue, with the former shrugging at the latter. “It’s not like we’ve got much better to do.”
Blue sighed. “I guess not.”
“Great.” Red stepped down off the porch and started down the path towards town. “Only a five minute walk, but you’ll forgive me if I can’t keep pace with you yunggins.” Yellow caught a mischievous glint in her eyes.
“I bet you could still run circles around us.”
“Maybe I could. But it’s too early for that nonsense.” She turned away and waved a hand forward. “Come on now, daylight’s a-wasting.”
~~~~
The odd trio of Byleths walked at a rather slow, but deliberate pace. Almost immediately, the topic of profession had come up, as Yellow was incredibly interested in Blue’s attire.
“So I’m guessing you’re Archbishop in your world?” She asked with a casual tone.
“Yeah. I work pretty closely with Dimitri, though we rarely see each other outside of work nowadays.”
“Figures. Rhea tried passing the job onto me too, but I ended up with ‘Queen of Unification’ instead.” Both Blue and Red looked at her, though the former had a look of vacant confusion, while the latter held only a bemused smirk. “Claude’s words, not mine. Apparently some of his biggest advocates called him ‘King of Unification,’ but since he went back home, the moniker stuck to me instead.”
“So you’re both the undisputed rulers of Fódlan?” Red asked.
Blue stammered a bit. “W-well, Dimitri’s King of Fódlan, and I’m just--”
Yellow scoffed. “Please. You might be doing your best, but if you’re still working ‘closely’ with Dimitri, then it’s pretty obvious the position of Archbishop hasn’t changed much.”
Blue frowned, looking to Red for some back-up. “Don’t give me that look. I’ve got even meaner stuff to say about the position. She’s right, and you know it.”
The archbishop’s frown deepened before she sighed. “I’m trying. I really am, it’s just… really hard to dismantle that kind of power when I could do so much good with it.”
“Tell me about it.” Yellow crossed her arms. “I never really wanted to be some high-and-mighty ruler with no equal, but I didn’t see any other way to rein in all those damn nobles.”
Red could only chuckle at the two. “Thank Sothis I never got into politics.”
The other two gave her incredulous looks. “Didn’t you, uh…” Blue started.
“Marry, y’know, Edelgard?” Yellow finished, causing Blue to stammer over her words again. “What? That little display back there made it painfully obvious as to their ‘relationship.’”
“W-well, I just thought they might have been good f-friends, like me and Dimitri.”
“Pfft.” Yellow didn’t bother suppressing her snickers. “Were we really this innocent once?”
“Pretty much.” Red sighed. “Then again, so was Dimitri, so if they’re as close as she says, then it’s no surprise that part didn’t change. And to answer your earlier question," She raised her left hand to show off her ring, "I did marry Edelgard, which did make me Empress, but my job was mostly to sit around and look pretty-slash-menacing. El handled all the courtrooms and policies, I just got to punch nobles every now and again. When I wasn’t busy fishing, that is.”
“Talk about living the dream.” Yellow laced her fingers behind her head. “I can’t tell you the amount of nobles I’d love to send home with a broken nose.”
“Or how many days I’d love to sit back and fish.” Blue chimed in.
“And I’ve had nothing but time for the latter for the last thirty years. Even when El and I were on the road, I always found time to fish.” Red smiled as she remembered the gigantic, spear-like fish she’d caught in Brigid.
“Thirty?” Yellow cocked an eyebrow.
“Oh, El and I gave up our crowns after our work was done.” Red noticed the other two had stopped walking, and so turned to face them.
“Work?” “Done?” Since they both spoke at the same time, it was hard to tell who said what.
“Yup. Once the nobility was dismantled and the Agarthans were crushed, we stepped down.”
“I…” Yellow scratched the back of her head. “I guess I always thought the role of ‘leader’ was a lifelong position.”
“It can be, if there’s still work to be done.” Red explained. “But there wasn’t anything else for us to do. El was always thinking ahead, and she’d had all this planned out from the start. We’d dismantled the thousand-year-old system of oppression, snuffed out the very concept of ‘nobility,’ and got rid of the two biggest underground groups who’d been perpetuating conflict for ages. There was no more reason for us to be around, so we left. We just wanted to be normal people, not ‘Emperor’ and ‘Empress.” We just…” Red sighed. “We just wanted to be human again.”
Yellow moved a hand to her chest, a motion Blue mimicked. “Human, huh?” The queen frowned. “I guess I also thought that was out of reach.”
“It’s not anything physical that defines your humanity, y’know.” Red drew closer to them both, grasping their shoulders. “It’s your actions, your feelings. El always used to tell me how she was scared of becoming a monster, not because of her crests, but because of her actions. She knew history would see her as blood-stained, but she was scared that she would prove history right. Whether you rule for a hundred years, a thousand, or just a dozen, as long as you keep people like Dad and Alois and all your students in your heart, then you’re as human as them.”
“...” Yellow was silent for a time, but Blue adopted a faint smile.
“Thanks.” The archbishop sniffed back a tear. “I needed to hear that, I think.”
“I’ll say.” Yellow finally said. “Never expected to get life advice from myself.”
Red huffed. “Well if it makes you feel any better, I’m pretty sure we stopped being the same person the instant we chose to teach different classes.” They all shared a small chuckle at that. Blue shifted again, and asked a question after a moment of silence.
“So what are ‘Agarthans?’ Sorry, I just realized I don’t know who those are.”
Both Red and Yellow blinked at her, and then at one another. The queen shrugged. “You brought them up, not me.”
The former Empress sighed again. “I suppose I did. Though it surprises me you don’t know about Sothis’s greatest enemy considering your ‘position.’” Red saw the look of confusion upon the new archbishop’s face, causing her own to crinkle. “Ah. Let me take a guess, Rhea not only gave you the position, but also personally tutored you for it?”
Blue nodded, and Yellow groaned. “I’m also guessing you never met a man named Thales?” She shook her head, causing the queen to groan again. “Don’t tell me they’re still running around in your world.”
“Did you ever kill someone named ‘Arundel?’” Red inquired, and a flash of recognition danced across the archbishop’s eyes.
“Oh, Dimitri’s uncle? Er, I guess Edelgard’s uncle too. Yeah, he’s dead, he died in Derdriu.”
“Well then that’s at least their leader out of the way.”
“Leader? Wasn’t Thales their leader?” Yellow asked.
“Remember Kronya?” Red said darkly.
The other two frowned. “How could I forget?”
“He was like them. Thales replaced Arundel some time before he took El to Faerghus.”
“Oh.” Yellow, looked at the ground. “I guess that explains why he was missing from my meetings with the Adrestian nobility.”
“So…” Blue looked sad. “It was all his fault then? Why Edelgard became what she was? Why Dimitri nearly went mad?”
“Pretty much.” Red nodded solemnly. “If the head snake’s gone, that doesn’t guarantee they’re all gone. I assume you ended up in Enbarr at some point?” Blue confirmed with a nod. “You probably fought some suspicious dark mages then. El always speculated that she might have ended up falling back on them if things got bad enough. Luckily she didn’t have to with me, but if I wasn’t on her side…”
The implication was clear enough.
“Well, in any case, if and when you get back home, tell Dimitri to do a thorough sweep of Hrym.” Red explained. “Not just surface level, either. They live in an underground facility.”
“And be ready for a fight.” Yellow cut in. “They’ve got more than just those metal dolls up their sleeves.”
All three shuddered at that.
“Can’t believe Rhea would keep that from you.” Yellow’s brow furrowed. “You’re the Goddess damned archbishop now, how come she’s still keeping history a secret?”
“I bet she hasn’t even told her about the relics’ origins.”
“Speaking of which,” Yellow faced the eldest of the trio again. “If noble families don’t exist anymore, what happened to the relics?”
“Oh, the families are still around, the crests exist, they just have little value in terms of politics.” Red explained. “They’re not bargaining chips anymore. As for the relics, we destroyed them.”
“Really?” The queen seemed genuinely surprised at that bit.
“Mm-hm. Well, we dismantled them, really. Anything not made of ancient bones or hearts was discarded, and the actual remains were surrendered to Seteth and Flayn. They watch over what remains of Rhea and her kin, now, even if most of it is ashes at their own request.”
“Seteth and Flayn? They lived?” Blue asked, a baffled expression on her face.
“Oh yeah. Edelgard spared them after the second battle of Garreg Mach and they went into hiding until the war’s end. When El and I got ready to step down, we found them and asked if they wanted to oversee the church now that its powers had been properly diminished.’ They agreed, though I could tell Seteth wasn’t entirely happy to be on Adrestia’s payroll. We figured it was only fair they got to protect what little remains of their heritage. I think the museum might actually be finished by now, El and I should stop by sometime.” Red added wistfully.
“So Edelgard actually spared her enemies…” Blue looked troubled.
The former Empress rubbed her chin. “To be fair, there was no reason to kill them. They were already at odds with Rhea’s brutal campaign and declining psyche. By the time they left, the kind archbishop had already begun to revert back into the War Saint Seiros. She was obsessed with tearing out my heart for my ‘grand betrayal,’ and both Seteth and Flayn couldn’t take it anymore. I guess I can take the blame for that one, but I don’t regret what I did in the tomb that day.” Red didn’t have to say what happened to Rhea.
“She went mad, huh.” The archbishop looked toward the ground. “Even when she was teaching me to take her place, I could see the cracks in her mask. She wasn’t really all there anymore. Years of captivity and believing me dead took their toll on her.”
“Nearly went crazy on us too.” Yellow said. “Only reason she didn’t was because the Agarthans up and revived Nemesis. Killing him gave her closure, I think.”
“Hm.” Red turned away from them. “She was a troubled individual, that’s for sure. While I could understand her pain, it didn’t mean I could condone her actions. In the end, I was little more than a puppet to her, and I chose to cut my strings when I sided with El.” She waved a hand around in the air. “Enough of that. I’d rather not think about her anymore.”
“Fair enough.” Yellow rubbed at her chin, pondering what to ask next. “Well, without the crest-based aristocracy, what do you have for a government now?”
“It’s a sort of merit-based democracy.” The old Empress explained. “The people directly vote on bills and leaders, and if someone wants to get onto the Council, then they have to first prove themselves by accomplishing things for their community. Community service, military experience and the like. They have to prove they’re here for their people. Then the people vote on the council themselves, granted they’ve read through the candidate run-downs provided. Every three years there’s an election, and no one person can be in office for more than two terms. No one over the age of sixty, either, and yes we keep track of immortal, ageless entities like Seteth and Flayn. The Council itself only upholds the laws the people voted for and deals with foreign affairs. There’s eleven districts in total, all with even populations, and one Council member from each district.”
“Sounds so… strange.” Blue said. “Not bad, just… strange.”
“It’s a far cry from what you’re used to, I’m sure. It’s not perfect either, but I’d argue it’s a major improvement. El fought tooth and nail for it, and in the end she still couldn’t quite manage to do away with a central leader. The council has a Chancellor, though the position is mostly just a tie-breaker. They don’t have any real say in major decisions, instead acting as an advisor or delegator. They get selected from a pool of people who have already served on the Council, and voted for by the people as well. They only get a vote if the council is split fifty-fifty. No more Emperors, though. No Kings, no Dukes, just the people and the knowledge we provided them.”
“You got a public education system up?” The archbishop looked genuinely interested.
Red nodded. “Ferdinand handled the logistics at first, while Hubert proof-read the proposals. El and I were strong advocates, and with the combined help of our friends like Sylvain and Lorenz, we managed to strong-arm the more ‘traditionalist’ nobles into funding the schools. Everyone’s free to learn now, though places like the Officer’s Academy still exist for people who want to go further beyond the basics like literacy.”
“Considering the pain I’m going through getting my education system off the ground, it’s no wonder you and Edelgard retired early.” Yellow let out a small laugh.
“I’ll say.” Blue frowned again. “The looks on the cardinal’s faces when I asked why the Academy couldn’t just be free…”
“I’d have paid the tuition twice over for a photo of that.” Red chuckled, then paused at the inquisitive looks on her counterparts’ faces. “Oh, I guess you guys don’t have cameras yet.”
Both shook their heads, and Red looked to the queen.
“You guys didn’t take anything from Shambhala?”
Another shake of her head. “There wasn’t much to take, and even what we did find wasn’t salvageable. We also didn’t have the benefit of knowing how any of it worked. Last I heard, Hanneman was still busy combing through what little notes we recovered. It’ll take decades before we’re able to make use of it.”
Red smiled deviously. “Then I’ve got a lot to show you. Trains, electricity, the works. Radio’s pretty great, makes keeping up with the gang easy.
The former Empress chuckled again to herself as she turned back towards town, ignoring the baffled and confused looks the queen and archbishop were sharing behind her.
“Oh we’re gonna have so much fun together. You two are going to love all the refrigerator. The convenience of an ice-chest with half the mess and none of the ice magic. So many leftovers.”
With that, the three continued towards town, their minds now firmly fixated back on food.