Great Tree Moon (4/1)
For as far as Byleth can see, there is darkness, nothing but void. Whatever may be the reason, she’s walking, towards what, she doesn't know.
She continues walking through the vast stillness, keeping a steady pace, when suddenly, the world around her starts rumbling.
Off in the distance, she hears something, only a smidge, but it sounds like a voice.
”...eat… grow… decadence…”
”Sothis?” she calls out, “Is that you?”
”...Eat… Grow… Decadence…”
”What do you mean?” she queries.
She tries to break out into a sprint, but with every footfall, she increasingly feels sluggish, her steps becoming slow, plodding, like an immense weight has been added to her body.
All the while, the voice increases in volume, coming to an intense pitch in her ears.
”...EAT… GROW… DECADENCE…”
”Sothis!” she cries out.
In an instant, a bright, heavenly light envelops her, dispelling the black.
An intensely divine sensation overcomes her, one that she can only describe as…
Bliss.
Byleth opens her eyes, sitting upright in her… Bed?
She ganders around, expecting to find herself in a sleeping bag underneath a tent, only to view a quaint, but familiar room.
It’s her personal quarters at Garreg Mach Monastery, the very same one she had been granted some years ago when she was enlisted to aid as a teacher.
Of course, how could she forget? She’s been settled here for a few days already, awaiting the arrival of her former students.
”Sothis, did you have that dream too?” she asks.
”Naturally! I inhabit your mind, we share the same dreams, remember?” replies the haughty voice of Sothis, the almighty goddess who dwells within her.
“Can you recall what it was about?” Byleth asks flatly.
”Unfortunately, no,” Sothis answers, “It’s strange, it’s begun to escape me.”
How odd,” Byleth wonders, “The only thing I can recollect is at the end, I felt pleasant. No, more than that…”
”Pay no mind to it for now! Don’t we have more important tasks at hand today?” Sothis chastises.
Getting out of bed, Byleth peers up at her room windows, noting how the sun appeared to be well into the sky.
”Hopefully I didn’t oversleep,” she mutters, “I need to better bear in mind I’ve inherited more than just your powers.”
”Ugh, you fool!” Sothis further berates, “Can you at least recollect which student house you taught here at the monastery before the war? Just making sure you haven’t acquired my memory issues as well.”
(Options:
-I taught the Black Eagles.
-I taught the Blue Lions.
-I taught the Golden Deer.)
”I taught the [...],” Byleth answers with a nod.
”Good,” Sothis breathes a sigh of relief, “Now hurry and get dressed! You have important people to greet!”
Doing as she’s told, Byleth adorns her regular outfit, gives her hair a quick brush to keep Sothis from further upbraiding her for looking too disheveled, and sets out.
Making her way beside the first floor of the old student dormitories passing the monastery’s fishing pond, she approaches the front doors of the entrance hall, when a commotion draws her attention.
Standing atop the steps, she observes a large crowd gathered in the marketplace, parting aside for soldiers bearing banners that display the flag of the Adrestrian Empire.
In the midst of the battalion, she sees a figure who, even in spite of her short stature, is easy to spot due to the intense crimson red of her armor.
Emperor Edelgard, Adrestia’s iron fisted ruler, and former student of Garreg Mach’s officer academy.