A terror knocking on Death's door
Uninterested was an understatement. Almost everyone knew that Sitri Sothis von Riegan has a sour taste when it came to meetings. She found no entertainment in attending them but always found herself bothering her Mother into telling her what it was about. Like her Father, Sitri liked to know what was going on. Secrets were like salt to a wound in her eyes. Normally these meetings would be about battle techniques and advice on improving their formations. But the concept discussing unknown information perked her interest this time.
So there she was, tapping her finger out of boredom as she waited for the meeting to commence.
Sitri was surprised her Mother had allowed her to join the meeting, since her attention span was extremely limited. But she thought it was due to her brother being allowed before the accident happened.
Earlier that day, the Adestrian Empire had declared war against Faerghus and the Leicester Alliance. This sent everyone into a ‘panic mode’ which resulted in an emergency meeting.
Byleth cleared her throat, standing up from her seat. “ May I have all your attention.” All head turned to the standing woman, making her feel somewhat uncomfortable under the eyes watching her every move. “ Due to the new received information of the Empress speaking out, we cannot afford to let our guard down. “ Byleth tucked a stand of hair behind her ear, her posture remaining bold. “ Reports we have received have stated the Empress is ready to make a move against us. Claiming she is prepared to rule over Fodlan, no matter the costs. I can assure you all, I will not let that happen. The future of Fodlan is in our hands, and we cannot afford to let it be taken by Edelgard.”
Dedue was seated opposite Byleth and Claude on the other side of the table. He had taken over the role of leading Faerghus after Dimitri’s death. Dedue wanted to bring justice to Dimitri since it was Edelgard’s soldiers that ended his life so soon. He wanted her head. “ I cannot agree with you anymore, Your Highness. But we do have one certain problem… “ Dedue sighed before continuing, using his hands to exaggerate his words. “ The Empress seems to have a large amount of reinforcements by her side, over 100,000 Adrestrian Soldiers to be exact. So, How exactly to you plan on leading the Alliances into such a uneven battle? “
Byleth’s eyes widened slightly, her head turning to Claude who was seated next to her. “I am leaving that responsibility to Duke Riegan, seen as though he is the Alliances leader. But we never heard such news of there being over 100,000 Imperial Soldiers. “ Byleth shook her head as she spoke. “ We cannot loose faith. Unlike the Empire, we have the power of Serios to lead us through this war. Unfortunately, we do not have many options for what is to happen. My only instinct is to gather as much help as we can, but I doubt that will even be enough.”
“ Your Majesty. Will all due respect, I do understand the situation you are in is incredibly stressful but if you do not make a choice Fodlan is doomed to fall!” Byleth slowly sank into her chair, an audible sigh escaping her lips.
Claude huffed, unimpressed that Dudue was putting so much pressure on Byleth.
“How would the Empress have gotten that many soldiers anyway?” Sitri spoke up, leaning forward against the table.
All eyes drew towards Sitri, not like she cared.
“ Come on think about it. The Empress most likely gathered civilians to increase the number of soldiers in battle. Wouldn’t that mean a lot of them would be untrained since however many were killed in the last fight?”
Loud murmurs erupted into the room, as the commoners began speaking to another taking in Sitri’s accusation.
Sitri smiled, then sunk back into her seat. The sinking pit in her stomach was soon replaced with pride as her parents smiled proudly in her direction.
“ The Princess does have a point, Sire.” One of the Faerghus Commoners muttered to Duke Molinaro. Dedue then arose from his seat, a faint frown itched on his face.
“ Say Miss Riegan is correct with her accusation, what would that mean for us Your Highnesses? Even if the Empress is planning on using civilians to increase the number of Adrestrian Soldiers that would overpower the amount of trained mercenaries we’d have on our part. Do you have any other suggestions?” Dedue nodded his head slightly, reclaiming his seat. Another out burst of words began to travel across the room.
Claude cleared his throat in order for the room to fall silent. “ I suppose we would have to attempt the same as Edelgard. Without all the help we can get, we don’t stand a chance at winning this war,” Claude gestured with his hand, shaking his head slightly, “ We are stuck in an impossible situation, but even the inconceivable has its potential. I am sure of allies we have encountered that will lend us a hand in defeating the Adrestrian Empire.” Claude glanced to Byleth. She nodded her head in agreement, a small smile tugging at her lips.
A series of claps erupted around the room, impressed with the responses they were given.
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“ What excellent choices you made, Your Majesty! May the power of the goddess help you lead Fodlan to a better future.” Count Galatea bowed in front of Byleth, praising her actions.
Byleth smiled in gratitude, returning the bow. “ It was the best we could do for our country, Count Galatea.”
While Byleth and Claude were bidding farewell to their acquaintances, Sitri wondered to look over the scenery there were surrounded by. Her fingers grazed the stone wall as she walked to a shorter part of the wall. She pushed herself on top of it, slowly descending herself so she could sit. The view was breath-taking.
The sun was perfectly settled between the land and sky, creating an explosion of orange and yellow to dance around the sky like a painting. The clouds were tinted a magenta colour, adding dashes of brightness into the setting.
Sitri smiled, kicking her legs back and forth slightly. Moments like these were to be forever cherished.
“Sitri! Oh my goodness... Come down!” Byleth hurried over to where Sitri was sat. “ You could hurt yourself!” Her face twisted into concern.
“ Mother I am fine. There is no need to panic.” Sitri swung her legs back over the wall. She carefully slid down the shorter edge of the stone, using her hands to grip the rim of the wall. Then Sitri dropped down, landing perfectly in front of an unimpressed Byleth. “ Now wasn’t that some talent.” Sitri grinned, patting her viridescent dress down to rid of any marks.
“I would hardly say talent, but well done my Girl. You have ruined your dress.” Byleth smiled slightly, readjusting the slanted crown placed upon Sitri’s head.
“I wouldn’t say ‘ruined’ it would just need to be bathed. Any-who, the view is breath-taking! I would recommend you look out for it when we go back home. “ Sitri grinned, excitement shining in her eyes.
Byleth chuckled at her daughters enthusiasm. “ I will do.” She sent her daughter a smile before walking towards Claude who stood of to the side.
“ Do you think it will be safe for her to fight in the war?” Byleth lowered her voice the closer she got to him.
Claude exhailed deeply, lowering his head. “ As much as I hate to involve her in this mess, we have been left with no choice. We are going to need all the help we can get.” Claude placed his hand on Byleth’s shoulder comfortingly. “ But don’t worry about it, our little girl is extremely powerful. I mean, why wouldn’t she if I’m her Father. “ Claude input humor to the situation to make Byleth feel more at ease.
Byleth laughed slightly, rolling her eyes playfully. “ Yeah, yeah..” Her voice trailed off as she started to lower her head.
“Byleth?” Claude looked at her warily, concern written across his face.
Images of blood and corps flashes across her mind, reminding her of the vision she had previously that day.
Byleth’s head snapped up to meet Claude’s worried gaze. Her eyes began to fill with tears,“ W-We can’t! Even if she is powerful, that doesn’t mean she’ll get hurt. Look what happened to Khalid…” Her voice broke as she spoke.
Claude was at a loss for words. He had only seen this side of Byleth once, but even then it wasn’t as bad as this. So he did the only think he could think and embraced her, stroking her hair soothingly.
Months before this day, there was an accident in the training grounds. Khalid was attending training practice with his fellow peers. When battling against one of his friends, he gained a severe head injury, costing him most of his memories.
After this injury, Khalid was never the same. He was often found locked up in his room or outside the Garrag Mach gates. Byleth and Claude did everything they could to try and bring him back but he was beyond return. Something had switched in his eyes, a thirst for rage. The young boy wasn’t himself anymore.
Claude rested his chin ontop of Byleth’s head, tracing circles on her back. “ I promise you it will all be okay, I have an idea.”
“Mhm?” Byleth hummed, awaiting his answer. She turned her head up slightly to look at him.
“ Looks like it’s time for another Golden Deer Reunion, Teach.”