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You’ve always valued human life.
So when you saw Dimitri in the Holy Mausoleum, his mind lost and his lance bloody, you weren't sure what to do next.
It seemed no one knew what to do next. Felix was standing in front of Annette, glaring daggers at the blond. Mercedes slowly shifted toward her friend as Sylvain and Ingrid exchanged worried yet knowing looks. Dedue stepped forward, though he had no words. Even the professor seemed to be at a loss.
Dimitri, however, just began laughing again and shouting nonsense.
“No one will rest until Edelgard and the rest of the Empire force are burning in hell.”
“Your Highness-”
“Did I stutter, Dedue? Or perhaps you are considering turning your back on me now?”
“Snap out of it, Boar!” Felix growled. “We’re not going to-”
“Then leave! If you no longer see me as your leader, why not go join her?’
Silence.
You could only watch as Dimitri’s eyes scanned the faces of your allies, daring your friends to take a step in either direction. No one spoke, but there was a palpable tension in everyone’s body. In the way that Mercedes and Annette clung to each other, in the way that Felix kept his hand by his sword, Dedue kept silent and steady, and Professor Byleth did not intervene. In the way that Sylvain grit his teeth, Ashe pursed his lips, and Ingrid practically strangled the pole of her lance.
In the way that you stepped forward, quiet yet resolute.
“I won’t be treated like this.”
Dimitri scowled, “You’re a soldier, aren’t you? You signed up for this the moment you joined the Blue Lion house.”
“I signed up to fight in the hopes of protecting Faerghus and its people! I signed up to honor my family and keep the ones I love safe!” you shouted over him before bringing your voice back down. “There is no honor in this.”
“And you would not serve your future king? Where is your honor in running away?”
“I would not bow to those corrupted by their emotions! No one who would act in such a manner ought to represent Faerghus!”
“Then go to her ! Run off and join the scum of the earth that march under that woman’s name!” he spat. “But mark my words, when we do meet again, I shall meet you with the fate of a traitor. There will be no mercy even should you beg for it. Do not expect remorse from any of us when your head, too, rolls upon the dirt.”
You did not allow your face to betray any emotion at all. You would show no sign of anything, despite the way his words cut through you. How could someone you practically exalted, someone you had become so close to over the past several months, turn around and talk to you like this.
Maybe your friends weren’t strong enough to stand up for themselves. Maybe they had too much to lose; people to protect and family to remain with. Ideals, relations, and possessions that could only be secure if they sided with Dimitri. A few had said as such, declaring their belief in Dimitri as their future king.
You loved them dearly, but there wasn’t a single one among them that you would allow yourself to be treated this way for. Especially not now, when none cared to stand up for you.
Finally, you clenched your teeth. If that was how he really felt, and if your friends were letting him speak for them, then that truly was the end of it.
“Maybe I will go. Edelgard would at least pretend to care whether I live or die, and the Black Eagles are actually bold enough to stand up for what they believe.”
Spinning on your heel, you left the Mausoleum alone.
In truth, you had no intention of joining the empire. At least not at first. Once you arrived back home, you informed your parents of the prince’s delusion. They seemed to be proud of your decision, and as proof of their support, chose to become a neutral faction in the war.
The amount of prestige and connections that came with that sacrifice…you were torn between being moved and remorseful. While it was true that your family had not lost too much power, as crest wielding houses tended not to do, there was still a great sacrifice made in keeping you safe from the Kingdom’s demands.
That was not the only change, however. It turns out that news travels fast when the family of a veritable noble house defects from their allies. People were stopping by left and right, bargaining troop stations, land usage, resource management, and all the other things that would keep your mother and father busy. You chose to focus on defending your land, though it did not consist of much work while both the Alliance and the Empire found it so valuable.
Needless to say, you were more than curious the day your mother called you into one of the drawing rooms to meet with one of her guests.
“Mother, what is this about? You know I prefer not to attend these sorts of things.”
“Oh, I know very well, darling. This one is a bit different, though. Someone has requested to confer with you directly, and I would have been in a bit of a tight spot to say no.”
“What do you mean?”
“It is no secret that we have been both opening up to and prospering from negotiations from several sides of this war. There have been enticing offers to nullify our neutrality and pledge allegiance here or there. You know this.”
“Oh,” you were beginning to catch on. “So then someone must have made an offer that you liked?”
“Just…promise me you’ll keep an open mind.”
“Of course.”
With an odd tension about you, you braced yourself for whatever would be found in that room. Your mother was not usually one to be so cryptic. A quiet sigh left your lips as you turned around.
The doors opened in front of you.
“Ah, I see you made your way here without much trouble.”
…what?
“Lady Edelgard? What are you-...Shouldn’t you be heading the war effort somewhere?”
What was this, really?
Remembering yourself, you lowered yourself in greeting, “Forgive me, your Imperial Majesty.”
You rose, trying to process the image in front of you. The Emperor of Adrestia sat poised on the sofa with a cup of tea your mother had no doubt been the one to offer. At her side stood Hubert, dutiful as he was so often described.
Soundlessly, she set down her cup, “Everything I do is for the future. For this war to end. I took notice that you were not among your former classmates’ ranks and grew curious. Needless to say, I did not need to look far to find you.”
“It was not my intention to run and hide,” you stated, taking a seat on the couch across from Edelgard.
“I never meant to imply as such,” she began. “On the contrary, I believe you still have a place in this war. If you left for the reasons I believe you did, that is.”
The conversation that followed consisted of platitudes and ideals; the type of which you both seemed to agree upon. You found your own ideas of the values of talent and human life to be eerily similar. It was decidedly reassuring that she had come to you directly, so that you could see them reflected in the leader of the Empire firsthand.
In time, you would join the Empire’s ranks under a woman named Cornelia while your house remained neutral. It would not have been in the best interests for a house so distant from the Empire to declare fealty, after all.
~~~~~~~
Several years later, you would be uncertain of your decision.
After everything you had witnessed Edelgard do up to this point, you weren’t so sure she viewed your ideals in the same light. Crest beasts, experiments, secret treaties, and deals made in the dark of night…you couldn’t get behind it, but your family had already made its decision.
Even so…
I agreed to fight for the empire, you reminded yourself, not for this woman.
Right now, you were being assigned to defend the Kingdom’s capital in an effort led by Cornelia. Ironically, the sorceress seemed to be the epitome of everything you stood against, yet here you were as her ally.
How far you had come from home.
She had positioned you between a pair of horrifying machines; two technological terrors known as viskam.
How low you must have come from your initial meeting with the Emperor.
You watched as your previous house leader’s army dispersed. Some soldiers veered left, others went right, but Dimitri’s main force charged up the middle, directly at you and the mechs Cornelia had placed.
Watching diligently, you noted how the Kingdom soldiers would take on multiple of Cornelia’s fighters while Dimitri would sneak past.
Well, as sneaky as someone with a bright fur cape and a target on his back could be.
A thought came to mind with every step forward he took. It came slowly, not sudden in the slightest, but sure.
If I were to kill Dimitri, all of this would end.
It was true, you knew. You were unsure how you felt about it, though you deduced that part of that uncertainty came from your past friendship with the prince. But had he truly reverted from the monster you left in the Holy Mausoleum?
There was only one way to find out, you supposed. You would face your past friend head-on. If he turned out to be the same man you saw that day, you would not hesitate to kill him. Anything to end this war.
Just as he made his way to the staircase, you walked forward, blocking off the top.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Dimitri’s eyes went wide, but you didn’t buy it. He had a clear view of you positioned just below Cornelia since the moment he walked into her sight.
So what, then? Were you to believe his surprise came from the idea that you were actually trying to stop him? You’d be lying if you said that wasn’t the slightest bit insulting.
“It’s you…but why-”
You threw a dagger at him, which whiffed as he sidestepped, “That’s all I get? It’s you? After all those years, not to mention the amalgamation of everything you said and did once the Flame Emperor unmasked herself, you cannot even say my name?”
His eyes softened as though hurt, “I didn’t think I had the privilege, anymore.”
“Then fight me! You have always given yourself the privilege to take the lives of others,” another dagger, this one closer to hitting its mark before Dimitri barely moved out of the way, “Do not let mine be any different.”
“I’m sorry,” he approached you, climbing the stairs, “I understand why you left, but know now that I do not wish to hurt you. Just step aside so-”
“And then what? Let you kill Cornelia? Condemn thousands of others in some future conquest?”
What were you doing? This version of Dimitri was worlds apart from the boy you left in the Holy Mausoleum.
So why were you still fighting him?
A loud noise disrupted your thoughts. You turned to face it, noting that Dimitri paused, as well. Farther away, Cornelia let out a dark cackle.
“Wonderful job getting the poor princeling right where I need him. Your death will not be in vain.”
You did not allow yourself to fully process her words as a bright light shot out of the viskam that had made that awful noise, earlier. With the future king just paces away, you could guess where it was going to land.
But Dimitri had turned to face Cornelia.
It appeared you had a choice to make.
“Don’t resist,” you closed the distance between yourself and the Kingdom's rightful heir. He had grown since your last encounter; holding this grudge could only do more harm than good.
Maybe that meant you would not survive this, but in that moment, what was your life next to his?
So, in the second before he could react and before the viskam struck, you pushed Dimitri down the stairs.
And it was when the world went from bright white to pitch black that you knew your death would not be in vain.
~~~~
“A…ing…rk?”
“We…bre…ag?”
“I bel…sh…wake up in…!”
Everything ached, and you couldn’t move. It would probably hurt if you tried, anyway.
At least you could feel something, right? At least you were alive. Though if you had to go through life like this, then perhaps you were better off dead.
But then a cooling sensation began to make itself known throughout your body. It was strongest in your head, torso, and legs, though you could feel it spreading and connecting in your arms and neck.
Tentatively, you allowed your eyes to open.
“Oh, thank goodness! Mercie, we did it!” Annette beamed from her position at your head.
Felix scoffed, “About time.”
“How do you feel? Are you alright?”
“I can’t feel my legs,” you managed, surprised at the strength of your own voice, “and…I cannot move.”
Scanning the area with your eyes, you realized you hadn’t been moved, either. You were still lying on the floor by the stairs; exactly where you remember being struck down.
“Is Cornelia…?”
“Dead,” Felix confirmed.
“And I remember pushing his Highness down the stairs. It was the best I could do with my own strength…” you had known you weren’t strong enough to normally push him far enough out of the way nor to pull him far enough before he instinctively resisted, ”but he isn’t hurt too badly, is he?”
“Oh goodness, no! Annie told me she saw the whole thing. Apparently, Dimitri caught himself rather quickly.” Mercedes reassured you.
Annette frowned, “I’ve never had to spend this much time on an injury, and certainly not while working with others. I’m surprised it’s taking this long.”
“I’m surprised you’re alive.”
“ Felix !”
“What? You and I both saw that thing,” he turned from Annette back to you. “If you had sustained any other injuries before getting hit by that thing, you’d have been dead on the spot.”
Annette and Felix continued their banter as you shut your eyes and listened. Finally, you began to feel your body coming back to life; stronger and back into your control.
“Okay, I think that should do it! How does that feel?”
Annette waited another moment for your response before calling your name in confusion.
“Oops,” Mercedes giggled, “I think the magic might have lulled them to sleep. We did go a little overboard, I suppose.”
“Is everything alright?”
The group turned, looking up at the new voice that joined them.
“Prince Dimitri! Yes, everything is fine. They should be all better upon awakening.”
“Ah, that’s good. I am sorry to have left you all here for so long. Sylvain, Ingrid, and myself were working on reconciling with the remaining soldiers.”
Felix raised a brow, “Then where are they?”
“Once the issue of alliances was out of the way, Ingrid told me they could handle the rest,” Dimitri directed his eyes down to you. “Sylvain…said it might be best if I came to check on them.”
The swordsman’s expression didn’t change, “Well that doesn’t make any sense. There’s already three of us-! Hey!”
Dimitri balked as he watched Annette get up and drag Felix with her. Mercedes followed close behind, smiling back at him.
“Let us know if they need any more help!”
“Y-Yes of course…” he stammered, confused.
“Of course what?”
Shocked to hear your voice, the Blue Lion’s leader dropped his gaze unto where you had been resting on the floor, “Ah! You’re awake!”
You made a small noise, blinking against the light of the sun as you began to sit up.
“Mercedes told me to fetch her if you were having any issues. Are you alright?”
Methodically, you tested each of your limbs, “Yes…Yes, I think so.”
“Good,” he sighed, and you swore you saw him relax the slightest bit.
The ensuing silence was uncomfortable, to say the least.
“Forgive me for this. I know you’ve just recovered, but I’d like to thank you for saving my life.”
“You're welcome,” you said, “but why are you apologizing for that?”
He maintained eye contact with you, “Because I would also like to ask you why you did that.”
At first, you didn’t really have a response. The more you thought about it though, the more clear everything felt in your head. There was really only one answer.
“I just did what I thought was right.”
“But I was terrible to you!” Dimitri didn’t hesitate, “I said horrible things to you, and I treated you like…”
“Like I was worthless?”
It was as though all the words left Dimitri's mouth. After another moment of silence, he finally averted his gaze, “I do not deserve your forgiveness.”
“No, you really don’t, do you?”
…no reaction. So he was telling the truth.
“But, if you were to apologize, I might forgive you.”
He looked to you slowly, a look of timid surprise written on the blond’s face, “Surely, it would take more than that…”
“It should not take more than that if you are genuine,” you painted your face with a small frown, in conflict with yourself, “You’re not the same person you were 5 years ago, Dimitri. I am not about to make a habit of forgiving people just because some time has passed, but I know that many more people can be helped if we clear the air right now.”
“Right,” he swallowed, extending his hand down to you. “In that case, know that I am truly sorry for the way I treated you, both within the Holy Mausoleum and the several days before. I also apologize for the effect it has had upon both you and your family, though it seems you have found a way to make the most of your situation.”
You laughed a bit at that, accepting his offer to help you to your feet, “I suppose you could say that.”
Now it was the prince’s turn to frown, “I am being serious. This will not happen again. I promise to respect and honor both you and all that you do for the Blue Lions.” He paused, suddenly unsure, “If…you do choose to come back, that is.”
Turning away to hide the small blush that appeared at his phrasing, you looked at the stairwell, “It would be thoughtless not to join, seeing how I almost died for you.”
At the feeling of his hands on your arms, you turned back to him, surprised.
“You must promise to never do that again. Do you understand me?”
“I…you know I could never promise that. You’re too important.”
“Swear it anyway,” he pleaded.
How uncharacteristic, you wondered.
“Really, Dimitri-”
“I don’t care if it’s a lie,” he let go of you, taking a step back while never wavering his gaze, “Just…”
He seemed to have run out of words, and all the two of you could do was stare at each other. Eventually, you broke first with a sigh. You couldn’t bear to maintain eye contact knowing you could never rely on your words alone to determine your future. Regardless, you spoke.
“...I…promise…that will not happen again.”
A grimace appeared on Dimitri’s face out of the corner of your eye, but the two of you spoke no more after that. Wordlessly, you left to go find Mercedes and the others. Where Dimitri went in the moments following, you had no clue, but the conversation would stay in your mind throughout the rest of the war.
Only time would tell if your promise was kept.