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Quiet. It was so quiet, like a blanket was laid out across the battlefield, heavy and thick. The once raging fires nothing but ash staining the stone. Fresh blood pooling through the gaps in paths, now nothing more than dark smears tarnishing the once elegant scenery. He couldn’t see the bodies that lay against the grass, not from here, but he knew they were out there. Many and more, a mix of the enemy’s, their own and innocents. No one had been spared in the fires of war, nowhere had been safe.
Raspy breath wheezed through sore muscles. Everything hurt, everything cried out to rest.
Hubert blinked blearily against the dawn of the new day. It truly was a brand new day, the light of the church had finally set last night. The hope of a better future was now high in the sky, casting it’s new purifying light down into the world. As the ever faithful and closest ally of the now true ruler of Fodlan, that made him smile at such a thought, that was how Hubert saw it. Their dreams, their plans, their carefully weaved threads had all finally come together. Wound together and over another, mixing flashes of new colours into the weave. Unexpected allies, the worry that such threads would corrupt their work, stain and threaten the stability of the whole. Afraid the carefully laid plans would soon unravel and all of this would have been for naught.
The pain grew in his chest even as he strained his neck up towards the light.
He had grown so accustomed to moving in the darkness, avoiding the light that was the church, that to be here right now was nothing short of a dream. All for the light of his life, the one spark that had once upon a time been almost snuffed out. It was now a roaring inferno, she had always been his beacon in the darkness. To light the way.
He was so tired. But he knew this wasn’t the end. Even looking over the serene battlefield, to his allies, to the exhausted faces of the citizens of a new Fodlan. He knew he wasn’t done quite yet. Soon he would have to turn his back on this light of the new dawn, to step back into the darkness, to find the worms that almost destroyed that small spark he had met in his youth.
It would never end until all trace of them was wiped off this earth, there was no room and no need for monsters such as they. This new light would never shine on them, the glory that was his Lady was too powerful and righteous for them to corrupt her ever again with their filth.
Hubert knew he had to start weaving once more, to carry on his journey and to end ‘those who slither in the dark.’
“Oh Hubert. Here you are. I was worried about you.” The minister was quickly knocked from his musings and glanced up at the Emperor of Fodlan. A sudden itch told him to stand to attention before her, but his body was too sore, too tired, too weak. The energy that had swam through his system barely hours ago had now drained from him, leaving his damaged body to recover without it.
He smiled up at his Lady. “Lady Edelgard. You do not need to worry about me. I am quite well.” He missed the warmth that flitted in her eyes.
A sudden movement, a twist with a rustle and clink of cloth and armour. Until the one true power of this new Fodlan… was sitting by his side. The uncomfortable brick biting into their backs even as they sat together. Two warriors raised in the shadows of this world, sitting in the light of this new dawn.
“How is she?” The mage asked of her, knowing how much the professor meant to the Emperor. She had fallen at the end of the fight, he had seen her in Edelgard’s arms. Even as he asked the question Hubert knew the answer, the ex class leader would not be sitting here with a small smile at her lips otherwise.
“She seems…. human.”
“My apologies…” Hubert started, unsure. “But your meaning is lost on me.”
“Sorry Hubert. I mean… she is no longer whatever Rhea made her into. Whether it be one of their kind or a vessel for Sothis or… whatever exactly she had done. The spell seemed to break with Rhea’s death. The professor once told me that her heart doesn’t beat, that it never has. Whatever magic existed inside her was keeping her alive. Yet now… her heart beats just like the rest of us.” Her voice was tinged with elation, a happiness that was infectious as even Hubert began to feel it, smiling past the wounds that pained him.
“I was worried before… about what would happen to her, a person moulded and created by Rhea… by the very church we were against…”
“You said so yourself, she chose to be at our side.” Hubert spoke up. Edelgard chuckled under her breath.
“Yes… I did say that. She did. And now she is human again.” The Emperor continued. This time her words dipped. A negativity that bit into the undercurrent of her tone.
“Are you worried she would not have chosen to be human?”
Edelgard glanced away… before straightening up and looking back out to the field of battle.
“I am unsure…” A sudden hurt stung at his side as Hubert sat beside his Lady. But he ignored it.
“If you want my advice…”
“Always Hubert.”
“...then I think you should talk to her. But, you were the one to say to me that I should trust her choice. To stand by her decision. I believe she knew what she was doing. After all the words you spoke in her defence how could I not. I trust your judgement and decision on her. Lady Edelgard.”
Edelgard snapped her mouth shut, her eyes cast down as she examined the ground, in thought.
“Anyway… either way. She is resting now. I wanted to see where you were.”
Hubert brushed strands of messy sweat soaked hair away from his face, the movement sent shockwaves of pain and aching through his form. Nothing that needed immediate attention, after all, nothing he could ever feel would ever compare to the pain his Lady had endured. So he didn’t bring it up.
“I am quite well Lady Edelgard. Just taking in the fact that the reign of the church is over.”
At his words, the tone of the conversation changed, from one of concern to a heavy shock that had just been brought to light. Settling over them even as the warmth of the morning washed over their forms.
“...yes. I almost can’t believe it. After all this time… all of our work, all of the sacrifices… I had always dreamed, dared to hope but…”
“You are the true Emperor of this new Fodlan. A step closer to a world without the persecution of crests.”
“Mmm…” Edelgard hummed, agreeing with him. “Some would say we are already there.”
“Those same people do not know what lies in the dark.”
“I know. We are far from done.”
Edelgard’s words were sombre, they each knew their journey was far from over. They still had so much to do, this would not be over until they had smoked out the rats from the shadows and destroyed them like the vermin they are.
“But… we can still take solace in what we have accomplished today.” The Imperial minister spoke, when had he become the voice of positivity? These friends of theirs were finally rubbing off on him.
Another rustle sounded out beside him, alerting him to the movement of the Emperor beside him, he flicked his eyes to her. She was removing her crown, removing the position of office that held so much meaning today. Her hair tugged and came undone with the movement, unfurling from the tight plaits that held in place on the battlefield. Cascading down her form, over her blooded and dirted armour, the pure, stark white hair of the same little girl that had reappeared from the Kingdom all those years ago. He remembered the pain, the hurt, the agony that existed in her eyes, even as her face was blank, a look of shock, of nothing. A mask to the torment that was plain to see for anyone who cared to look.
He had swore that day to forever be at her side. He pledged more than just his loyalty, more than a sense of duty. He… loved her. In his own way. He didn’t seek or need her to return such feelings, but those feelings had fueled him thus far, they were precious to him. And to see the little girl from all those years ago… beside him with a soft smile on her face. The mask had not just slipped, but had fallen, the pain was softer, easier to deal with. It would never go away, but today, they were both lighter. A stop on the scarlet path he had laid before her.
She shuffled closer to him along the rubble. And rested her head against his shoulder.
“Thank you, Hubert.”
Her words were soft, low. Only for him.
“That’s quite alright… Lady Edelgard.”
Dorothea scanned the rubble of the battlefield. The aching and soreness of her muscles and light wounds pulled at her, begging her to stop and rest, after that long night. But she was searching for the Emperor. She was supposed to be around her somewhere…
“Edie?!” She called out. Where was she? A small breeze fluttered through the area, light, like a gentle caress after the long drawn out fight of the night before.
The mage ran over the grass and broken paths, over to where she could have sworn she had seen Edelgard walk to before. No voice sounded out in response but she didn’t know where else to go.
Just as she rounded another broken and stained pillar she came to a stop. A warm smile broke at her lips.
There she was… sitting on the ground, leaning against the minister of the Imperial Household. Fast asleep. Her head against Hubert’s shoulder. Her face was so peaceful, finally, she must have been beyond exhausted, for her to simply drop off in a place like this. Next to her Hubert too was likewise gone from the waking world, his head lying atop his Emperor.
The two warriors who had always known war, even back in the peaceful days of the academy, now that Dorothea understood. It had previously thrown her memories of them into disarray. However… they were still her friends, true to the end. And she had chosen to stand with them.
Maybe Dorothea could just leave them for a moment longer…
The singer and mage of the Empire backed away from the two warriors of new Fodlan, turning away from her friends with a smile on her face. Those two needed their rest.