Chapter Text
She should have been dead, She shouldn't be alive, how was she even alive?! Her Lord, the emperor of her country made sure she wouldn't be alive, she was sacrificed on a burning hill, without her knowing. Her last memories before she woke up just now were loosing conscience on that burning hill that threatened to swallow her whole.
But she wasn't dead, she was alive, even if she wished she weren't.
But here Bernadetta was as she woke up in a dark room, with a strange feeling. She could see bandages wrapped around her arms and legs, hear the rattling of chains, one connecting her wrists and the other coming from a ball and chain connected to her ankle. She could also feel numbness in her arms and legs and a feeling of weakness and dizziness throughout her entire body, not to mention a stinging pain from her left shoulder and right leg.
One look around the room told her exactly where she was. Sitting up from her wooden bed (standing was too hard), she could see bars to the left of her bed, a small toilet without cover (or anything else that would grant her privacy) in front of her and a small window to her right that provided minimal at best sunlight to her dark room.
'A prison cell!' she realized dazed, 'great...' she thought, she was alive only to end up in a cell, one likely belonging to the Kingdom of Faerghus, with chains on her wrists and leg with no way to escape.
For all intents and purposes, she was trapped, like a rat in a cage. Bernadetta knows there were a lot of fates worse than death and being a political prisoner and a prisoner of war for the Kingdom of Faerghus was definitely one of them.
As realization hit her so did panic, and a large amount of it in fact.
'This is bad! This is bad!!!' Bernadetta thought, immediately her mind began cooking up all kinds of awful thoughts and ideas of what may happen to her, would she be executed?! tortured?!? maybe both?!?!?
She could only imagine what would happen to an imperial noble such as herself. And as worst case scenario after worst case scenario popped into her head, so too did her heart rate and her blood pressure increase.
She was about to scream loudly, before a gruff voice spoke out to her from outside her cell.
"Hey, you're finally awake, took you long enough..." a guard said, making Bernadetta jump.
In her panic she spoke whatever came to mind, "Who are you?! Where am I?! Why am I wearing chains!?" Bernadetta asked, making the guard laugh a little, cruelness evident in his tone.
"Easy there, Miss Varley. You're in a cell in Garreg Mach. You were brought here by our soldiers after you almost died in a fire." The guard stated, "Do you remember anything?" The guard asked her, as Bernadetta was hit by a sudden wave of realization.
'That's right!' Bernadetta remembered, 'I was on the central hill at Gronder Field when-' Bernadetta thought before her thoughts got cut off by the guard still standing outside the cell, "You were unconscious for three days now..." The guard said, as Bernadetta's eyes grew big.
"Three days!?" Bernadetta asked, the guard nodded, "In G-G-Garreg Mach!?" she asked, the guard confirmed nodding again, with a smirk.
Bernadetta was sweating realizing what all of this meant for her, being a prisoner to the Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, the man who had killed hundreads of adrestrians like her, she knew exactly what would happen.
It was all over for her she thought, soon he would torture her for everything she knew about Adrestria and about Varley before killing her in a gruesome death.
'Yeah there's definitely a lot of fates worse than death out there...' Bernadetta thought, "A-am I going to be executed?! I will won't I?! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!!!" Bernadetta nearly screamed, before a nasty cough overtook her. It was then that she realized how thirsty she was.
Even the guard was overwhelmed at her panic, as he watched her coughing nastily. He shook his head at her question, "I don't think you will be executed, but that's not for me to decide." The guard said, as he handed her a cup of water through a small opening in between the cell's bars to push food through. "Drink this." The guard said, Bernadetta nodded, grabbing the cup of water.
She drank the small cup very quickly and greedily, making sure she would get every drop she could, the cup ended up empty too quickly for her liking.
Now that the cup was empty, Bernadetta thought about what the guard had told her. Her assumptions were correct at least, she was in a cell that belonged to Faerghus and the chains were there to keep her from escaping. The fire most definitely happened as well and so did Edelgard's betrayal and sacrifice of her...And apparently she wasn't going to get executed which was good at least.
But one question remained unanswered...
"Are you alright now?" The guard asked, but instead of answering Bernadetta asked him a question in response, "How am I still alive? What happened at Gronder?" she asked him, the guard huffed in response.
"You want to know how you're still alive?" the guard asked her Bernadetta nodded.
"I passed out in fire, how am I still alive?" Bernadetta asked, the guard looked at her with realization.
"Ah I see, well let me tell you then..."
Gronder Field was just like Felix remembered it being when he was last here five years ago. It was foggy, full of people and brimming with battle. Only difference to last time he was here...the fighting wasn't nearly as brutal.
Everywhere he could look there was blood, sounds of people dying or war cries of people fighting for their chance to stay alive. For some people, the battle was the material of nightmares, but for Felix it wasn't anything he had not seen before, albeit more gruesome than usual.
The war definitely had it's fair share of brutal battles so far but this might have been the bloodiest one so far, especially with all three nations of Fódlan fighting each other.
"Move forward, encircle the central hill with your units Felix." Professor Byleth called out, as Felix nodded from the distance to defeat another foot soldier as he closed in from the west, Ingrid from the east and Ashe from the north on the central hill.
"I'm attacking the ballista!" Felix called out, as Byleth and Dimitri took care of the soldiers that came from the southwest where Edelgard stood.
As he thought with another foot soldier, he could see from the corner of his eyes just who it was that was moving the ballista,. It turned out to be Bernadetta (much to his shock) who was having a bow duel with Ashe, which momentarily stopped her from moving the ballista.
As he was observing the battle that took place between them, he could hear Edelgard's voice calling out from where he stood. "Those fools who went up the hill will pay with their lives...in the crimson flames!" she called as his eyes widened.
Not even a minute later the mountain was burning with Bernadetta on top...'with Bernadetta on top!' Felix realised, he couldn't fathom what he witnessed, Edelgard had put the central hill ablaze, it was burning now with one of the Empire's major nobles still on top!
Felix gritted his teeth, Edelgard was fine with sacrificing Bernadetta just so she could take him, Ashe and Ingrid with her. And worst of all it was working!
For killing Bernadetta at least...as far as Felix could observe, Ingrid and Ashe saw the trap coming and moved of the hill as quick as they could while Felix was barely on it in the first place...but Bernadetta...
She was still on top of it, somehow not being able to move one bit.
'Why was this happening, and WHY is she still there?!' Felix thought, his hand, still clenched around his sword tightened. Then it dawned on him as he saw what was happening with Bernadetta, she tried to move but couldn't, her Sniper duel with Ashe had left her with an arrow in her shoulder and another in her leg. The wounds were clearly too much for her to move, and being surrounded by enemies on three, almost four sides cut off any potential escape route.
'If things continue like this...' Felix thought before his thought was cut off by a loud voice. "Felix! Move off the hill, it's too dangerous!" Ingrid called from her Pegasus, nearing him from behind now, catching him off guard with how fast she moved.
"Bernadetta!" he called, "She is still on the hill, she will die on there!" Felix called to her, Ingrid frowned in response.
"Don't bother with her, the flames will get her. Help us push in on Edelgard please!" Ingrid called, but no matter how much he tried he couldn't ignore her.
Bernadetta, his old school friend, someone who was never apart of his class yet a good friend of his somehow during their days at the academy, was about to die in a fire.
"I- We cannot let her die like this Ingrid!" Felix called to her, getting an angry reaction from her in response.
"Felix she is an enemy, we have much more important matters to attend to than to try and save her!" Ingrid called out, as Bernadetta was already about to pass out on the hill, Felix frowned in response.
"You're seriously gonna let her die like this!?" Felix asked her, as Ingrid came closer to him while still on her pegasus.
"What are we supposed to do? If we try to save her we will just die with her!" Ingrid called but Felix ignored her, his mind already made up. He was going to run up the hill and save her, even if it meant risking his life for her.
As he ran up the steps Ingrid called out his name, but Felix didn't look back. Within the fires he was ambushed by an untimely Assassin, who was for some reason still on the hill with Bernadetta and now with him too.
"Dammit, not now!" Felix called out as the Assassin began to shoot arrows at him, while Bernadetta lost consciousness behind the Assassin.
Felix dodged arrow after arrow, making sure to not get hit while he was busy fighting the soldier. Time was of the essence here but he can't risk getting hit or else he will die here too, and he wasn't planning on dying today.
"Hah!" Felix called out as he swung his sword at the Assassin, who parried his sword hit with a sword of his own that he drew out with lightning speed. The two swung their swords, metal clashing against metal, until Felix found an opening with which he was able to stab the Assassin he was fighting.
Finally he was able to rescue Bernadetta, but as he turned to her something frighting caught his eyes. She was caught on fire, both arms and legs caught on fire infact, with the two arrows still remaining in her thigh and shoulder and the flames burning penetrating through the clothes she wore.
Realizing how urgent the situation was he rushed up to her and took off his coat, trying to quell the fire, but it was spreading too rapidly and trying to quell it while everything burnt was not an option.
As it dawned on him how bad the situation was he realized how quick he had to be, even quicker than he imagined. And even though he was already quite tired from all the battling, he felt a new amount of energy surge through him, no doubt from the adrenaline he was feeling.
He slung Bernadetta over his body as best as he could and quickly rushed north and out of the burning flames that surrounded them. He took off towards the river as fast as he could, confusing his allies and half dead soldiers along the way, as he rushed to get to it as soon as he possibly could.
Even though it only took a couple of minutes it felt like hours to get to the river. Eventually he arrived at the river north of the hill and jumped right in with Bernadetta in tow, the river was cold but not too deep and he could easily move back out once the fire was quelled.
It didn't take long for things to calm down, as Bernadetta's limbs and his clothes were freed from the fire they caught. Finally things could calm down again.
As he climbed out of the river with her in his arms, he was surprised to see Sylvain stand right before him, who looked just as suprised as Felix did to see him.
"Felix why where you in the river!?" he asked, as Felix collapsed to the ground from the running he did to get to the river quickly.
"Bernadetta...she-she was...caught on fire...the hill." Felix explained out of breath, as shock entered Sylvain's expression.
"Felix take a breath, why did you carry Bernadetta, she is an-"
"I know what she is! Now quick fetch Mercedes or Marianne, we need someone to heal her!" Felix called out Sylvain nodded, understanding what needed to be done.
"You have a lot of explaining to do later, I hope you know this." He said before he rode off with his horse to find someone with healing capabilities.
As Sylvain rode off, Felix began to examine Bernadetta and her wounds, "I can't believe that woman would sacrifice one of her trusted allies, just to use her as bait like this..." Felix muttered, angry at the sight before him. He may have had a...difficult relationship with Dimitri to put it mildly, but he knew that no matter how beastly and far gone he would be, he would never sacrifice one of his friends or allies, clearly unlike Edelgard.
"Hey! can you hear me?" Felix asked her, but to no avail. Bernadetta was passed out, and it didn't look like she would wake up anytime soon, "Probably inhaled too much smoke..." Felix thought to himself as he began ripping parts of her clothes off to make healing her easier for Mercedes or someone else to heal.
He examined the wounds on her and frowned, the wounds from the arrows didn't look too bad but the burns on her arms and legs would definitely make for very nasty marks.
'Hopefully, Sylvain will be back here soon...' Felix thought, waiting for him and a healer to arrive.
It didn't take long for Mercedes to come rushing towards him, with her riding together with Sylvain on his horse.
"Were here!" Sylvain called as Mercedes hopped off even before he came to a proper stop, getting a snort from their horse in response.
"Felix!" Mercedes called, "Are you alright?" Mercedes asked, Felix nodded.
"I'm fine, it's not me you have to worry about, It's Bernadetta whose really looking bad here." Felix said, surprise entering Mercedes face.
"Bernadetta, but she is not part of our army!" Mercedes exclaimed, Felix glared at her.
"I don't care, heal her up and then tie her up if you must. Just make sure she doesn't die here got it?" Felix damn near yelled at her, Mercedes nodded but not with out sending an disapproving glare back at him.
"Jeez Felix calm down, stressing about this won't make things better y'know." Sylvain said, putting his hands behind the back of his head, annoying Felix.
"What's gotten you so relaxed you moron?" Felix asked irritated Sylvain smirked, his carefree attitude digging under Felix's skin, especially right now.
"Oh I don't know, maybe the fact that we pretty much won maybe." Sylvain exclaimed happily, surprising Felix.
"What are you talking about?" Felix asked irritated, in all his stress he had completely forgotten about the battle that took place, the battle that resulted in this mess.
Sylvain smiled at him, Felix could sense relief behind his smile, "Weeell, Seteth just told me that the alliance called a cease fire with us, and considering how far we pushed south and east, I wouldn't be suprised if the Empire gave up for today soon too!" Sylvain said, as Felix took in the news.
"Ah I see..." Felix said, turning his attention back to Mercedes and Bernadetta, "How is she doing?" Felix asked Mercedes hummed.
"I was able heal the wounds on her leg and shoulder but the burn marks have burned too deep for my magic to heal. I believe that the fire will leave it's mark permanently..." Mercedes said, getting a frown from Felix, "But on the bright side, her condition has stabilized, I believe she will live." Mercedes said as Felix let out a sigh of relief and Sylvain got a genuine smile on his face.
"That's great! You're the best mercie!" Sylvain said, getting a giggle out of her.
"Oh it was nothing Sylvain." Mercedes said smilling back at him, "Since the battle is over, let's embark on our way back to camp. There isn't much left to do for us here after all." Mercedes said.
As the two got up from where they were and decided to embark back to camp (Bernadetta in tow) Felix remained near the hill where the fire happened, the fire was still burning now, he couldn't believe what happened.
Unfortunately things were about to get more unbelievable for him very soon on the same day no less...
"And that about sums it up." the guard said finishing his story, while Bernadetta was sitting there shocked, taking in the story she was told.
Felix had risked his own life trying to save her, all the effort he had put in made her feel guilty, "I see..." she said to the guard looking down at her lap and her bandaged hands and legs, feeling nauseous.
She couldn't believe it, sure they were friends before the war but still. He was so brave for trying to do something so risky for someone who was his enemy, it made her heart twist itself with guilt, at that moment she wished they would have been on the same side of the war, regardless of whether they were fighting for Faerghus or Adrestria.
She can't believe that Edelgard, who had warned her so much about how dangerous Dimitri was, was willing to sacrifice her life like this and that Dimitri, the "blood thirsty monster" as she and Felix described him was kind enough to even let her be saved and not executed on the spot.
But now she had something different to dwell on, if she was still alive then when would she die, would she even be executed at all? She supposed there was no way to know for now, not without asking at least. "So...if I won't be executed now...what will happen to me?" Bernadetta asked, the guard looked at her with frown.
"We'll see, his highness normally isn't fond of keeping prisoners for long but considering your status you might get luckier." he began, Bernadetta gulped at his choice of words. "For now though we can't do much more than wait." the guard said, Bernadetta frowned at his response.
"I see..." she simply said, she thought about maybe asking if she could speak to Dimitri or...anyone really about what fate awaited her but decided against it, figuring that nothing she could say would accelerate the process with which her fate would be decided.
"Well, since that's all, I must now move to inform his highness and his advisers about your awakening. I will also inform a medic to examine you now that you are awake again. Please excuse me." the guard said, moving away from the cell to go who knows where, as a new guard took the spot left empty by him.
Figuring that there was nothing else for her to do, Bernadetta laid back down on her cell bed, which wasn't really a bed as much as it was a plank of wood with a pillow, and began to reflect on everything that led her to this moment.
It was so stupid, she went from being a prisoner in her own home to a prisoner of her own mind at the academy to free back to being a prisoner again. If the goddess was real, Bernadetta figured she wasn't a particularly kind one.
Thinking back to the battle of Gronder Field, she couldn't believe what happened even now. Edelgard, her role model, some she deeply admired for her strength and sense of justice, someone who had rescued her from her father during those 5 years of the war, someone she thought was an important friend of hers and perhaps the most important person in her life...
Had completely thrown her away, discarding her like she was worth nothing, completely betraying her all just to kill her enemies all of which survived anyway.
Before the battle, Bernadetta didn't have much, now she had nothing. And she had to dwell on that thought now, not knowing whether it would be the thought she would be dying with or possibly scarier, the thought she would have to live with.