The Bright Star [Fire Emblem: Three Houses AU]

Writing (Edelgard)

Edelgard brought a diary with her to Garreg Mach to write about her daily life. After school, she would write at minimum a short paragraph that detailed what she did that day. For today's entry, she wrote:

25th of the Ethereal Moon, Imperial Year 1180.

I was hoping that Professor Byleth would meet up with me today. I want to return home to see my father, where I can assume the imperial throne in secret. Then, I can take over the Crest system and destroy the Church that glorifies it.

She was about to write further when Byleth knocked on her dorm door. "Hello?" he asked. "Are you here, Edelgard? I've come."

Edelgard closed her book shut and left the feather she was using to write on top of the book. She went over to the door and opened it. "Hello, Byleth," she said to him. "I just hope that you're willing to listen to me today. I don't know if you'll see me the same after this."

"What do you mean not see you the same after this?" Byleth said, walking into her dorm room. He sat down on a chair and looked at her.

"I want you to come with me to the Empire," Edelgard explained. "I am going to assume the throne in secret. My father is old and sickly, and surely his time will come. If I don't do anything about this, Duke Aegir will take over the Empire the moment he dies. My father is only a figure puppet because of him. Succeeding him in secret would mean that I will have more power than Duke Aegir when he dies, therefore he won't take over the Empire."

"I see what you mean. But why me of all people?"

"Professor Byleth, I trust that you will be able to get me there safely. I trust you with this information."

"I don't know how we would get there though," Byleth said. "I would assume you'd want to come back to the academy quick so you wouldn't miss your studies. I could take however much time off I need to escort you to the Empire, but wouldn't Lady Rhea be suspicious of it?"

"Yes, unfortunately. Maybe we can rent pegasi to make it faster?"

"That could probably work, but I can't say so for certain. But I promise that I will take you, okay?"

"I thank you so much."

Byleth thought for a little bit. "I know. Since next week is a week off for academy students, how about during that one week I take you to the Empire. I can ask Lady Rhea about renting pegasi and then taking you to the Empire there. Would you be fine with that? I apologize for the one-week delay, but that's the only time I can take you without causing you to miss your studies."

"I don't mind the delay." Edelgard smiled. "I thank you so much, Byleth."

"Can I help you with anything else?"

"Not really help, but I notice you're still wearing your costume hair ever since the ball." She paused as Byleth fluffed his hair. Either he attached a wig so well it wasn't coming off or it was his real hair. "Is it your real hair? Tell me. Something's going on behind the scenes that I don't know about it."

"Lady Rhea told me not to speak about it to anyone." Byleth paused. "I can tell you about this, but don't mention it to others, or Lady Rhea is going to kill me for this."

"You can tell me anything, Byleth. I trust you."

Byleth sighed. "I guess you can say I'm the chosen one."

"What do you mean? I can't recall a recent Fódlan prophecy. Did Rhea tell you about a prophecy in secret?"

"No, she's told me nothing about a prophecy."

"Then why do you call yourself a chosen one?"

"Because Rhea chose me for the power I have within my skin. I don't know everything about it, but it's something that makes me different from everyone else. She wants me to take the role of resurrecting the Goddess of Fódlan. I guess she's trying to say that she wants me to almost be completely like her." He looked down. "She sounds like she wants me to be a bigger figure to Fódlan. I would say that I already am, as people know me as Jeralt's son, but I don't think she means that. Perhaps she wants me to become the next archbishop. But I don't want to. I've been training almost my entire life to join the Knights of Seiros, a dream that I've had ever since I was young, and becoming the archbishop after all that would just be a waste."

"Confessions and truths about Rhea, huh? Then I have something to say as well about her. I don't like her either. I hate how she glorifies Crests when they have caused nothing but suffering in our society. I watched as all my siblings died and went insane because they didn't have my Crest. How some families have disowned their children simply because they didn't bear any Crests. I'm going to strip Rhea of her power and take over Garreg Mach. Now, I won't be abandoning the faith entirely. I'm going to have the Southern Church be the main base of operations for the Goddess's faith. Now, to fully execute all these plans I have in mind, I need to ask you one thing."

"And that is?"

"I want you to fight by my side. I want you to join the Empire."

Byleth was silent.

"You don't have to. It's just that I see a bright future ahead of us when we work together."

"I would love to join your cause, but I don't think I'd be able to."

"Why not?"

"Rhea used to mean everything to me. She was almost like my second mother. I would feel awful betraying her, but at the same time, I just feel like I need to. I feel like I'm used."

"I see. If you don't want to join me, I understand."

Byleth stood. "I should go speak with my father. He's expecting me. I'm not trying to be awkward or anything, but I just want to, well, catch him up. I will do my best to support you, Edelgard. But considering that Lady Rhea is always watching me, as a member of the Church from birth, I don't think it would be completely possible."

"I understand, Byleth. Take care."

Byleth went to the door and opened it. Before leaving, he looked back one last time. "I'll ask Lady Rhea later if we can rent the pegasi."

"Thank you, Byleth."

He then closed the door and left. Edelgard opened her journal once again, turned to the page she was writing on, and put ink on the tip of the quill. She continued today's passage with:

I just talked with Byleth about my plans. Now I know that there's more to Lady Rhea that I don't know. I just wonder what she truly is hiding about us. But all that I know is that I'm just on the surface.