Chapter Text
Dimitri had always been driven by the ghosts of the dead. Everything he did was to appease them, to stop their insatiable cries for blood. When he was with Byleth, he felt safe. He didn’t hear their voices. Her radiance had drowned it out. When he found out she was missing he turned into a beast, indiscriminately taking lives and spilling the blood the voices craved. The one person he trusted fully, his light in the darkness, the flame that warmed him, was dead and gone. He began to fight like every fight would be his last. He had a total disregard for life, wether it be his troops or his own. It made him a liability, a wildcard. Everyone wanted their old Dimitri back, everyone tried there best but they all knew, only Byleth could bring him back.
“You... how long do you intend to sleep?” A familiar voice called out. Byleth groaned slightly. “Your body is awake. Your eyes must now open, you must find the strength to stand upon those legs of yours. Like so much rain, a pool of blood has fallen to the ground... as spears and arrows pierce the earth... it weeps. Even now, it weeps. In order to survive, they kill. And so, the people of this world are lost in an abyss of suffering. They weep as well...” The childlike voice spoke. Byleth’s head was swimming with darkness, trying to figure out what was going on.
“The only one who knows the nature of such things is I... or rather... you.”
Who?
“Ugh!” The voice groaned angrily. “You are a complete and utter fool! Have you not changed one bit?! Get on your feet! Right now! I shall coddle you no more! You are just like a child, always needing me to hold your hand!”
A blinding white light burnt Byleth’s eyes as they opened. In front of her stood a man she had never met before. She looked around as she shivered. Why was she so cold? She looked down. She was in a river? Strange. She gripped her aching head.
“Ouch...” she groaned.
“Hey! A-are you ok?” The man asked frantically.
“Where am I?” Byleth asked, still groggy from her sleeping state.
“We’re in a village at the base of the monastery. What are you doing in a place like this?” The man offered her a hand, which she used to hoist herself up.
“I honestly didn’t expect to find someone floating away down the river... Garreg Mach is upstream from here but the place was abandoned...”
“A-abandoned?!” Byleth’s face dropped. No... that couldn’t be right...
“Huh? You didn’t know? The church of Seiros isn’t there anymore. Though there have been some folks living there in the five years since... well, you know... anyway... I’ve heard some thieves have been spotted around those parts these days...”
“What year is it?” Byleth blurted anxiously.
“Ummm are you feeling alright? You didn’t hit your head did you?” The man sighed. “Well it’s the ethereal moon of the year 1185 it’s been nearly five years since the monastery fell. Tomorrow was meant to be the Millennium Festival, but who’s got time to think about things like that?” The man sighed.
“The Millennium Festival...” Byleth murmured absentmindedly.
“Uh yeah, that’s what I said. But with the war and the archbishop still missing and all... I doubt there’s a soul to be found that has enough blessings to be counted.”
The memories of her students, her mighty blue lions, flooded her mind. They had all promised to return on the day of the festival. Without another thought she turned and started to head towards the monastery. The villager gave chase.
“H-hey! Slow down would you! Where do you think you’re going?”
“The monastery.” She said, her pace unfaltering.
“Are you crazy!?” The man exclaimed. “I told ya! There are thieves running amok up there! There’s plenty of other dangers too! I heard a rumour that imperial troops went up there to investigate and got slaughtered! Every last one!”
Byleth shrugged.
“Come on, I promise I won’t say you’re a coward. Just forget about going anywhere near the monastery...”
Byleth shook her head.
“My students are waiting for me.” She said, before picking up her pace and leaving the man behind.
The stairs to the goddess tower was littered with bodies of imperial soldiers. Some blood was fresh, some was caked onto the steps like it had been there for years. There was strong stench of death defiling the once holy place. Byleth grimaced as she felt bones crack under her feet. She took the sword of the creator in her hand, ready to attack if necessary.
She moved around the steps, to where there was a hole in the wall that housed the hunched figure of a beast. Her sword clattered to the floor as she gasped, realising that the figure was very much human. The figure lifted its head, revealing a mass of messy blonde hair.
“D-Dimitri...?” Byleth gasped.
She moved closer. He had blood splattered all over him. The realisation that he was the reason for the corpses over the floor hit her. She stopped right in front of him, offering him her hand.
“I should’ve known... that one day you would be haunting me as well...” he croaked, dipping his head. Byleth’s heart broke at the sound of him. This wasn’t her Dimitri, her Dimitri was so bright and noble, full of life and hope. This Dimitri was shrouded by darkness.
“You. What must I do to be rid of you? I will kill that woman, I swear it! Do not look at me with scorn in your eyes!” He pleaded.
“Everything will be alright.” She soothed, reaching out and touching his bloodied face. He gasped, knowing in that moment she was real.
“It can’t be... you’re alive?” He exclaimed, his one eye wide in shock. She frowned, noticing his eyepatch. She reached for the black fabric covering but he smacked her hand away.
“If that is the case, that can only mean you’re another imperial spy. Did you come here to kill me? Then I will have to kill you first.” He said reluctantly. Byleth opened her mouth to speak, but the words were knocked out of her before she could form them. She stumbled back, the blow to her stomach, sending her reeling. She fell by her sword, and saw that he had retrieved his own weapon. She frowned. She didn’t want to hurt him, but if he was so hell bent on fighting her, she had to defend herself. She grabbed the relic, taking a defensive stance as he hurtled towards her once more. Their weapons clashed together at such force that sparks flew across the room. Dimitri snarled like a wild beast, then all of a sudden, he changed tactics, and with a sweep of his long leg, he took her own legs from beneath her, making her fall to the ground with a grunt. She rolled out of the way before his weapon could meet her. She adjusted her grip on the sword and ran to the other side of the tower. She adopted the same defensive stance, trying to tell him she didn’t want to fight him.
If Byleth was fighting the Dimitri from five years ago, she would’ve been able to defeat him without much of a struggle. She knew his patterns, but she had no clue with this Dimitri. He was unpredictable, driven purely by instincts, and after five years of sleeping, Byleth didn’t fully believe in her own abilities.
Dimitri was relentless, throwing all he had at her and not giving her a moment to gather a strategy. Dimitri once again charged at her, his lance reaching out ahead of him. Byleth engaged the lance with her sword, and put everything into prying it from his grasp while keeping a safe distance. The sword extended, wrapping itself around the lance and tearing it from his grip. She quickly untangled the sword and threw the lance behind her, out of his reach. This didn’t discourage Dimitri, as he continued to charge for her. He threw a punch at her that she dodged. He was getting sloppy. It was clear he was exhausted.
“Dimitri please!” She pleaded.
“Silence witch!” He snarled back.
Byleth knew she would have to knock some sense into him. She resigned and decided her vest strategy was to take him down. She threw her sword by his lance, she didn’t want to badly injure him. A flash of confusion flirted over her opponents face, but he quickly regained composure and flew at her once more. Byleth exhaled lightly, readying herself does his attack. He went to punch her, but she caught his fist, luckily activating her crest and giving herself a boost. She twisted his arm, bringing him to his knees, where she then kicked him to make him lie flat against the stone floor. She quickly drew the dagger from her belt and straddled him, pressing the blade to his throat.
“Well! You won, go on, kill me.” He snarled.
Byleth withdrew her knife from his neck. She frowned in realisation that she had cut him. She immediately placed her hands over the wound and poured some faith magic into it, healing him.
“If you had listened before, I’m no here to kill you.” She snapped. Dimitri’s brow furrowed as she climbed off of him, and went to retrieve their discarded weapons. She handed him his lance back.
“So I’d appreciate if you’d stop trying to kill me.”
Dimitri grunted and got up, barging past her to go downstairs.
“I’m glad you’re safe...” her voice softened, causing him to stop in his tracks for a moment. He then replied with a grunt once more and left the tower.
Byleth followed him silently, all the way to the cathedral. Byleth gasped at the wreckage. It was once a beautiful place, full of life, but now, with the overwhelming amount of rubble, it was hard to imagine it as the place she and her students had once loved so dearly.
Dimitri stopped at the rubble covering the back wall, his back to Byleth.
“What have you been doing for the past five years?” Byleth asked gingerly. It took Dimitri a moment to answer.
“I have been dead, more or less.”
Byleth blinked. “Why do you say that?”
“What do you hope to gain, asking me that? There are more important matters at hand.” His voice was a low growl. It shook Byleth to the core.
“Do you not smell them? Filthy rats, everywhere. And traces of those who were here long ago. And thieves crawling from the woodwork, attracted by the promise of treasure.” His voice grew manic. “Heh.” He laughed bitterly. “Since the monastery fell, order in the area fell right along with it. You must’ve seen the state of the town near Garreg Mach on your way here? Vile thieves run rampant. They pillage and loot to their hearts content. I must kill them. Every last one. It’s time to hunt down their nest.”
“What do you plan to do?”
“I told you. I will kill them all.”
“B-but even the thieves are just trying to survive!” Byleth protested. “We don’t have to kill them to stop them!”
“They must die. Someone must put a stop to this cycle of the strong trampling the weak. Or do you condone their actions?” He almost snarled. “Do you believe that the pillaging and slaughtering those rats love for is justified?! It is reprehensible and they must be put down!” He spat. “I intend to give them a taste of the pain they inflicted on others. Even if it means becoming a rat myself. I swore to myself to at least do that much... I won’t let them down...”
There was a moment of uncomfortable silence before Byleth spoke up.
“How many thieves are there?”
“It doesn’t matter. All that matters is killing those who deserve to die.” He said before marching away. Byleth watched him for a moment, feeling helpless.
“Dimitri... what happened to you when I was gone?” She mumbled to herself, feeling a weight in her chest. She soldiered forward, following the empty shell she once called Dimitri.