Edelgard dies.

It's in four sounds:

The quiet, achingly soft way Dimitri says her name, hand extended out towards her.

The muted schnick of Edelgard drawing her dagger, smile never reaching her eyes.

The twin sounds of blades finding their marks, one in Dimitri's shoulder and the other in Edelgard's heart.

And then the sound of her body falling to the ground.

The silence that follows is deafening.

The war is over, and Dimitri is King.

The war is over, and the Emperor is dead.

The war is over, and Aelyth doesn't know what to think.

(So they don't.)

Time turns back.

•

Edelgard dies.

No words are exchanged between the two of them.

Just a dagger embedded in a shoulder, followed by a lance to the chest.

Aelyth's knuckles are white around the hilt of the Sword of the Creator.

Dimitri's head is down, half hidden in the furs around his shoulders.

Areadbhar makes a sickening sound as Dimitri pulls it from Edelgard's chest, her body falling the rest of the way to the ground.

It doesn't have far to fall, small as it is.

Edelgard is so small.

So young.

(So dead.)

Dimitri rips the dagger from his shoulder with a hiss, dropping it to the ground.

Time turns back.

•

Edelgard dies.

There's nothing poetic about it.

It's messy, quiet, and over in a moment.

Dimitri grits his teeth as he pulls the dagger out from his shoulder, stained dark with blood.

Aelyth doesn't see his eyes, doesn't know what emotions Dimitri felt as he buried Areadbar in
Edelgard's chest.

He drops the dagger to the ground, stalking past Aelyth towards the doors.

He doesn't look their way. They don't look to him.

Time turns back.

•

Edelgard dies.

She kneels, defeated and broken before her own throne.

Dimitri goes to step towards her, but Aelyth reaches out first, grabbing his free hand.

"Let her be," Aelyth says quietly, and Dimitri glances back to Edelgard for the briefest of moments.

He pauses, weighing his options.

"Very well," he decides.

He turns to leave, Aelyth half a step behind him.

Two cloaks and armour is too much for such a small blade to pierce.

The dagger clatters to the ground, and Dimitri whirls back around with a snarl on his lips.

"You dare attack with no honour?" His eye is narrowed to a slit.

Edelgard does not blink.

"I should have listened to them," Dimitri spits, Areadbhar tight in his grip as he storms back over to stand in front of Edelgard, "when they told me to take your head!"

He swings.

Edelgard's head hits the floor long before her body does.

Time turns back.

•

"And just what are you hoping to achieve?"

Aelyth looks up, in the space between time.

Sothis is so small, tiny fists clenched at her side and brow furrowed.

Tears spring into Aelyth's eyes unbidden.

"Now is not the time to be emotional!" Sothis cries, stomping her foot. "Why do you keep trying?"

Aelyth tries to stop the shaky smile on their face, not moving to wipe the tears from their cheeks. "It's.... been a while."

Sothis stares for a moment, before closing her eyes and heaving a deep sigh. She falls back into her throne, cheek pressed into her fist. "Six years, correct?"

Aelyth nods.

"All things considered, I shouldn't be here," Sothis waves her free hand around, ribbons trailing. "You and I are one, remember?"

(It's not hard for Aelyth to forget, not when they still startle at the pale green in their reflection, even years after it became the norm.)

They remain in silence for a moment, before Sothis lets out another sigh. "But here is the true mystery - what are you doing?"

"I..." Aelyth starts, before faltering. "I don't know," they admit quietly.

Sothis stares down at Aelyth, gaze calculating.
Silence.

"You did not try this hard with your Father." She says, posing the phrase as a question.

Aelyth flinches. "No," they say, "I did not."

It still hurts, years after.

They tried and tried and tried to save Jeralt.

(They failed and failed and failed.)

Sothis lapses into silence once more.

"Very well," she says at last, leaning back in her throne and raising her chin. "I will assist you however many times you see fit."

"You will?"

"This does not mean I approve, however." Sothis continues, pointing a tiny hand down at Aelyth. "But you and I are one, so your wishes must be mine."

Aelyth's vision starts to fade back into the real world, and Sothis smiles gently.

"Now go," she says, "your little ones are waiting."

•

Edelgard dies.

It was an accident.

Or at the very least, not meant to kill her.

It was reflex.

The dagger to Dimitri's shoulder forces his arm to jerk, sending the tip of his weapon through Edelgard's chest.

The horror on his face speaks of a thousand words.

Edelgard dies, and some part of Dimitri does too, deep down. The part that spent time learning to dance with her hands in his.

Time turns back.

•

Edelgard dies.

Dimitri doesn't say anything this time.

How could he? He spent years calling for her head. He spent years so wrapped up in his thirst for revenge that he missed everything else.

But when it came to the moment he would get his wish, he didn't.

He extended a hand towards her. An offering for peace.

Edelgard still dies, in the end.

Time turns back.

•

Edelgard dies.

Dimitri holds his hand out to Edelgard, grip tight around Areadbhar.

He doesn't say anything.

She doesn't smile.

The lance strikes through her chest before she can fully draw her dagger.

Time turns back.

•

"Aelyth," Sothis says, voice forcefully calm.

"I'm not giving up."

"Aelyth,"

"I have to try again. I can do this."

•

Edelgard dies.

She dies a monster, a creature dark and twisted beyond all recognition.

Edelgard dies screaming.

Time turns back.

•

Edelgard dies.

At the sound of the dagger being drawn, Dimitri brings Areadbhar up.

Aelyth pushes their way in between the two, knocking the weapons off course with a couple swings of their sword.

Dimitri's eye narrows. "You dare protect her?"
"You said you wished for a world in which you could both bring peace."

"I also said I would not let my personal feelings cloud my judgement," Dimitri points out, scowl drawing his features tight. "She drew a weapon, with no intention to let me live. Why should I grant her the chance?"

"Dimitri..."

"Don't make me cut through you." He warns.

Aelyth refuses to move.

Areadbhar swings through the air.

Time turns back.

•

"Aelyth—"

"Again."

•

Edelgard dies.

She draws her dagger, a flash of metal glinting in the light before being buried between her own ribs.

She doesn't let a single sound pass through her lips as she dies, light fading from her face.

Edelgard dies young.

So young, so very very young. Too young for a war and all the bloodshed that came with it.

She dies a small broken pile on the floor, dress dyed the wrong shade of red.

Time turns back.

•

Edelgard dies.

(Or maybe she doesn't.)

Dimitri's lance hand moves fast, but Aelyth moves faster.

They reach up to Dimitri as Areadbhar pierces their armour, hand stopping just short of his cheek.

His lone eye is wide in horror, a cry frozen in his throat.

Aelyth lets the corner of their mouth twitch upwards, finally finding success.

It's bittersweet, knowing they will never see the peace after the war.

Time turns back.

•

"Aelyth!"

Aelyth winces at Sothis' tone.

"What were you thinking, throwing yourself in front of a weapon like that?!"

Aelyth is struck by a sudden sense of déjà vu.

"Honestly..." Sothis flops down in her throne, massaging her temples. "I had to shift time myself, since you seemed so insistent that was the best way to succeed."

Aelyth doesn't respond.

"There has to be a better way about this..." Sothis leans forward to rest her elbows on her knees, looking to Aelyth before continuing, "One that does not involve you doing anything so foolish or reckless."

She sighs when Aelyth still doesn't respond.

"My power grows thin, Aelyth," she says quietly, voice echoing through the space between time, "you may only have a few tries left."

Aelyth remains silent.

Sothis doesn't say anything more.

Time fades back in.

•

Edelgard dies.

For years the path Edelgard was forging was leading to her dying alone in the dark.

Dying with nobody by her side.

But Aelyth is there, watching as the girl, so young, so very very young, too young for this burden, seals her own fate with the drawing of a knife.

Dimitri doesn't hesitate to end her life.

Edelgard dies in the light of the sun, with her family by her side.

Dimitri does hesitate to leave afterwards, eyes lingering on the tiny body curled up on the ground.

Aelyth's heart shatters. Or maybe that happened long ago. Maybe they were born with it broken.

(It had never been a real heart, after all.)

Time turns back.

•

"I cannot guarantee you will survive this," Sothis says quietly, in the space between time. "Human bodies are fragile, after all - even those blessed with divine power."

Aelyth nods, jaw clenched.

Sothis stands up from her throne and floats down the steps. She stops in the air in front of Aelyth, green hair a wave behind her.

"My dear Aelyth," she says, usual pout replaced by something more pensive, more solemn. She brings a tiny hand up to rest on Aelyth's cheek, and they lean into the touch.

"This is your final chance," Sothis's voice is soft, hesitant. "My powers are at their end. If you push any further you could destroy yourself."

Aelyth tears their gaze away from Sothis'. "I have to try," is all they say.

"But why?" It's not harsh, not at all, but Aelyth draws back from Sothis, still avoiding her gaze.
"I..." they pause, searching for the right words. "She — Edel-"

"Do you love her?"

Aelyth is so caught off guard by Sothis' question that they can do nothing but stare in bewilderment.

Sothis breathes out a laugh, the sound short-lived in their shared void. "Okay, not that."

"No," Aelyth agrees, "but she is so young — the world failed her."

Sothis reaches up to brush a stray hair from Aelyth's face. "My dear Aelyth," she says again, like she holds all the world's secrets in her hands.

(Perhaps, in a way, she does.)

"The world failed them all."

Aelyth thinks of the students-turned-soldiers, of each and every child. Of the hearts trampled and families lost, of bonds broken and dreams shattered.

Many of the little ones had gone through so much, even before the war began.

The war had not been kind, but the world had been harsh from the start.

"I have to try."

Sothis places a kiss to their forehead before the world starts to fade back into place.

•

"El," Dimitri says softly, crouching down to her level and setting Areadbhar on the floor by their feet.

Edelgard looks up.

"Do you remember?" He continues, holding a hand out to her.

"I told you before," her voice is weak, but she raises her chin all the same. "That Edelgard is as good as dead."

Dimitri sighs, rocking back on his feet to sit fully on the ground. "Even so," he says, "you never truly forgot. Neither did I."

"I forgot for a long time," Edelgard replies, "for years I held a knife close to my heart, but could not explain to myself why."

She draws the dagger. Holds it out in front of her, palm upturned. "You said this was to cut a path to my future."

Dimitri nods. "I know our ideals are different," he says, "but perhaps we can work towards a better world, together."

"I already said that was impossible." Edelgard's fingers curl around the hilt of the dagger, voice as sharp as the blade itself.

Aelyth's grip on the Sword of the Creator tightens, before they will themselves to loosen it again.

"El, please." Dimitri reaches forward, resting his hand on top of hers. "This war has to end someday."

She sighs, long and deep, tilting her head back to stare at the ceiling. "I'm tired, Dimitri," she says softly.

"I know."

Sunlight cascades through the windows, Dimitri's face alight in the soft glow.

Edelgard's hair is wreathed in silver, forming a halo around her.

Aelyth remains in the shadows, a silent watcher.

Dimitri and Edelgard sit on the floor, hands holding the dagger between them.

And finally, Edelgard breathes.