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Byleth laid on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. Sometimes, if she couldn't sleep, she would trace out the whorls in the wooden beams and make shapes. A cloud. An apple. A lion. Of course, that was on the occasions she was alone and she couldn’t sleep. She had not wanted tonight to be one of those nights, but now she had no choice. And she couldn't even bring her mind to trace out what she knew was there: a star, a stag, a fish.
Dimitri is the Flame Emperor.
The truth screamed in her mind as if it had been glaringly obvious before. How had she not noticed? She, his professor? He had often been absent, right around the times when the Flame Emperor had shown up. He had excelled in magic when he had sheepishly admitted it wasn’t his strong suite at the beginning of the year. How had she, his lover, not notice? How had she not noticed how tired he was after his absences? How had she never questioned his lack of hatred for the mysterious forces in red and black, when he had been sure it had been their symbol he saw the night of the Tragedy? How, when she traced the scars on his skin, she never guessed why some were so fresh?
Byleth buried her face in her hands. The days events were burned into her eyes. Magic filled the Holy Tomb like static in the air. Rhea had watched her expectantly, blathering on about the Goddess. Then the door opened. In poured soldiers with strange symbols on their armor and robes, and at their pinnacle was the Flame Emperor. He was tall, his form cutting across the battlefield. His red and white porcelain masked gleamed in the low, green light of the Tomb. With a single command and a flourish of his cloak, he ordered his men to seize the Crest stones no matter the cost.
How foolish Byleth felt now to have wished Dimitri had been there, to split the Blue Lions in half and take on the forces. She had thought he had been called away on some manner of king business, and that it was okay because Rhea was in a hurry, and that her remaining class was good enough as witnesses for whatever she had been planning that afternoon.
“I’m sorry, but its urgent, my uncle-“ Dimitri had said, when they had a moment alone after the arrival of the two invitations.
“Say no more.” Byleth said, silencing him with her fingers on his lips. “We’ll survive without you.”
He had kissed her fingers. Then he held her hand by the wrist and kissed her palm, his eyes closed, like she was a balm. “I love you.” he had said.
If Byleth had a heart it would have melted. “I love you, too.” Dimitri pulled away from her then, and Byleth already felt the chill in the winter-soaked halls of the Monastery without him beside her. “It’s supposed to snow, today.” she said.
“I’ll be careful.” Dimitri said, stealing a glance at the gray sky out the closest window. “I’ll see you tonight.”
And Byleth had believed him. She carried that promise in the place of her heart, it filled her with warmth and light, as she and her pack of students tramped across the Monastery on the cold winter’s day and down into the Tomb.
With the Flame Emperor standing above them all, Rhea ordered Byleth and her students to attack. Byleth pulled out her sword and charged the Flame Emperor, the only name and face she could put to the havoc of the past year, the only one she could pin her father’s murder on that still lived. She fought him, swinging her sword to kill. Yet, the Flame Emperor dodged, and he would not attack. If he did, his spells missed Byleth by leagues, as if he was trying to scare her off rather than harm.
Byleth activated the whip in her sword and with a cry flung it at the Flame Emperor. It struck him in the face and his mask cracked. He yelped as he tried to catch the pieces. It was too late. The pieces fell through his hands and the Flame Emperor looked up.
And there was Dimitri. His eyes were wide. Byleth faltered and her sword lowered. Dimtiri opened his mouth, looked like he wanted to say something to her, but then the battle froze.
“You!” Rhea snarled. “You who would be Holy King, you have joined our enemies!?”
Dedue ran to Dimitri’s side. “Your highness?” he asked.
“I-“ before Dimitri could begin, a group of mages swarmed him and with a flash he was gone.
The Blue Lions erupted into chaos, and Rhea cursed Dimitri to hell. Byleth stood in the middle of it, her eyes transfixed on the post where Dimitri had disappeared. Her sword was still ready to strike.
Byleth sighed. The candles in her room had gone low, and shadows danced high on the walls. Dimitri was the Flame Emperor, and she had been blind to it.
There was a quick but quiet knock on the door. The knock of someone in a hurry and not wanting to be caught. Byleth sat up and looked at her bedroom door as if that would be the answer to who was beyond it. There was another, quicker, knock. Byleth got up and opened the door. Her stomach dropped to her feet.
Dimitri stood before her, her Dimitri. He looked grey, like he was going to be sick. His gauntlets were chipped from where he had picked at them with his strength. He shot her a weak smile. In the dark night, snowflakes caught the shine of lamp light as they began to stick to the cobblestones in front of Byleth’s room.
Before Byleth knew what she was doing she pulled Dimitri into her room and shut the door, glancing to see if any guards had been alerted. She gave him the once over: he was lacking most of his armor and his blue, house leader cape. His Officer’s Academy jacket was missing as well, leaving him only in his black under shirt.
Byleth thought about wringing his neck, of yelling at him, but instead she threw her arms around his neck. Dimitri held her tight, one hand pressed into her lower back and one buried in her hair. He pressed his face into the crook of her neck and held her like a lifeline. Dimitri only pulled away for a fraction of a second to cup Byleth’s face in his hands and to kiss her like he never would have the chance to do so again. He was clammy and cold.
When Dimitri pulled away from the kiss, Byleth reached back up and pressed one more to his lips. “I didn’t know what happened to you!” Byleth’s words came out in a rush. “You were gone, but you promised you’d be back.”
“I’m sorry,” he murmured, his voice low like the one who had shouted commands int he Holy Tomb.
The spell was broken. Byleth looked up and saw the welt on Dimitri’s cheekbone where he sword had hit and broken his mask. Byleth shuddered. “I’m going to ask you once.” she said. “Are you the Flame Emperor?”
Dimitri lowered his gaze. “Yes.”
Byleth pulled away from Dimitri, shaking her head. There were tears in the corners of his eyes. “Please, let me explain-“
“Explain what?” Byleth asked. She folded her arms across her chest. “That you’re the one responsible for all the misery this Academy has been through? That you’ve been parading around in a mask and voice changer?” Dimitri would not look up. “Though I see you’ve removed your cloak.” Byleth said.
Dimitri trembled. He should be nervous, it was only right, Byleth decided. After today, after everything, and he had the nerve to show up at her door. Right. Her Dimitri. “Red not your color?” she taunted.
She was surprised he even got into the Monastery. Then again, he could warp and he was traveling by himself and not with his retinue of goons.
“Professor, please, I came here to talk. To explain everything.” Dimitri said.
“To explain you’re working with them?” Byleth asked, she had wanted her voice to come out harsher, like Rhea’s has been in the Holy Tomb, but instead it was small and hoarse and full of disbelief.
Dimitri hung his head. “Professor, trust me-“
“Trust you?” There was an edge of laughter in Byleth’s voice. “How can I?”
Dimitri drew himself to his full height. “You already are.” He took a step closer to her. “You can scream right now. Alert the guards of my presence. You could stab me. In the throat, I’m close enough to you and you’re fast enough. But instead you’re talking to me.”
There was no honor in the logic. Byleth blinked back tears. “I miss the Dimitri I knew.”
Dimitri made a choking sound. “The Dimitri you knew…is still here. He’s still me.”
“Not like this.”
“Well…I guess you just didn’t know me well enough, Professor.”
Byleth grew quiet. She looked up at the face of her beloved. “You helped murder my father.”
Dimitri’s face shattered. “I swear to you, I didn’t. I knew nothing and if I did, if I even had and inkling of what those plans were, I would have prevented it from happening.” He took her hand in his. “I swear on the love we share…”
Byleth did not rip her hand away. Yet she did not take his hand in hers. She shook her head. “How could you?”
Dimitri sighed. “They murdered my family. I’m sure of it. This is how I get my revenge.”
“By joining them?!”
“By infiltrating them! Taking them down from the inside!”
“And you’ll be their puppet? Killing countless other innocents before you do so?”
Dimitri’s face turned to iron. “If I must. I will sacrifice my own humanity to avenge those I’ve lost.”
“And so shall I.” Byleth let her hand slip out of Dimitri’s grasp. “I now have two I need to avenge against the Flame Emperor.”
Dimitri looked down. “So be it.”
He warped away with a flash. Byleth choked on a sob, and the candle in her room finally went out, leaving her in darkness.