#and eventually byleth finds out that hanneman can actually see and talk to sothis too and wow bffs now

[moeblob]

For that AU where Byleth runs the local church in a college-y town and Sothis is always hovering over him. He can see her when inside the church but he can always hear her even when out of the church (kinda like how she'll talk to him in game but you'll see her in Byleth's room specifically).

[yukiwrites]

Byleth, Empty

Thanks for the support as always, @xpegasusuniverse! I got carried away as always ljdaskmasd I hope you like it!

Summary: Even though they had found more answers to their questions, there was only one the three professors could not uncover: the reason why Rhea had done what she did with Byleth when he was a baby.The answer to that question seemed to lay solely on the Archbishop herself, but Sothis seemed to have an insight on it...

Commission info HERE and HERE!

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Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9 - Part 10  - Part 11 - Part 12 - Part 13 - Part 14  - Part 15

The moment the three professors came to know of Lilith's Crest, Sothis shut herself away from Byleth's consciousness. He had heard her mumble something, though was ashamed to say that due to the sudden revelation, he hadn't paid attention.

Sothis? He inquired as he looked up, as though he could simply see her ethereal form floating about like usual. Instead, his silent call was met with an even deeper degree of silence.

If Byleth could be honest, he didn't know what to think. His father had a major Crest of Seiros, most likely bestowed to him by Rhea herself, while his mother sported the one and only Crest of Flames. Through their extensive and invasive research, conducted deep within Byleth's own rib cage, they all knew that the only reason for Byleth to house such a Crest was due to the stone rooted deep within his heart -- so there was only one explanation that the three of them could come up with on the spot, apart from the non-existent chance that Lilith was one of Nemesis' descendants.

Byleth wasn't the first one Rhea had inserted Sothis' Crest stone into.

Manuela sat in stunned silence as Hanneman looked from the machine to the young professor, quickly setting to double check if the door was truly closed. After turning the key one more time just for good measure, the older man's brow wrinkled even more than usual.

"I suppose we've all come to the same conclusion," his experienced voice spoke in a low tone, walking towards one of the chairs placed in front of his desk, not bothering to go behind it to sit on his usual one. Byleth stood halfway to the words, his body moving on its own to collect his mother's lock of hair from the machine. He couldn't even begin to phrase the rush of thoughts that flooded his mind, choosing to keep his mouth and simply nodding in response instead.

Manuela groaned, holding her head with both hands. "Why am I even associating with this dangerous nonsense? When did things- ugh..." she threw hollow complaints to alleviate her tension, though it helped little, serving only to stiffen her shoulders even more.

"This is even more unpredecent than if Professor Byleth here were the only one to house the Crest stone." Hanneman grumbled, scratching his chin. "This can only mean that we simply do not know how many times the stone changed hosts! What IS the Archbishop's true goal with this madness?" He asked no one in particular, though his gaze fell on Byleth. "Assuming that Lady Lilith did not display the amount of power you did, it's only fair to conclude that Lady Rhea readily took the stone out of Lilith and placed on you with some sort of purpose -- this whole situation is even more suspicious due to the sudden appearance of a new host."

"Sneaking into her room only drove us back into the question we couldn't solve last time..." Byleth frowned, his voice above a whisper.

"You broke into whose room?" Manuela and Hanneman exchanged alarmed glances. "Is that-" the healer looked from the pouch Byleth had deposited the hair into the magical machine, "was that where you found your mother's...?"

"Ah." Byleth exclaimed flatly, remembering he hadn't told anyone about his little adventure.

"Do not 'ah' me, young man!" Hanneman got up, quite furious. "If she had gotten- how could you do something so dangerous- have you taken leave of your sense?!"

"Well, I wasn't allowed to talk to her, so..." He replied with the excuse he had at the ready, though both older professors simply groaned and face-palmed in their own way. 

"How long do you think it's gonna take for her to notice that a very UNIQUE lock of hair is gone from her things?" Manuela shook her head with a long sigh, wanting to smack that young man on the head.

Byleth simply shrugged, indifferent.

Hanneman and Manuela groaned in unison again, now it was the older man who held his head with both hands as though it was the only way to keep himself from screaming. He had only seen such absurd behavior in another crest-enthusiast young man from Manuela's class, who, in his hungry pursuit of knowledge, ignored the safe-guarding of precious books and artifacts. But that was from a boy! Byleth was a grown man!

... Still, Hanneman couldn't help but inwardly praise the young professor in his single minded hunt for the truth -- if only he applied this thirst for wisdom towards the academy, Hanneman could finally find a peer in every sense of the word.

Nevertheless, the atmosphere within the room rapidly turned sour as the two older professors were at a loss of words. Standing in the middle was Byleth, going through his fourth attempt of reaching out to Sothis.

As though reading Byleth's mind, Hanneman raised his suddenly tired gaze to the young man. "What of the Goddess, son? You told me she had no desire to answer to the whims of a greedy human once I expressed that I wanted to interview her for scientific purposes, but surely she has something to say regarding all of this?"

After Byleth's surgery, he had confessed that he housed the consciousness of the Goddess, and, finding in it the single most rewarding field of study, Hanneman tried time and again to have a talk with Sothis through Byleth, but the Goddess always turned him down.

"She actually closed herself off from me, so I can't tell what she's thinking or if she wants to say something." Byleth replied firmly while still looking up, his eyes sharp as though they tried to forcefully see Sothis floating about.

Hanneman's shoulders slumped back into the chair, as though they were raised up in expectation. Still, there was so much to take in and so early into the morning too! He would probably develop an ulcer while worrying about whether or not -- or rather, when Rhea would realize there was something missing from her room.

Not at all apologetic, Byleth sighed minimally, intent on giving up for now. Sothis would come out eventually, as she always did, so it would be a waste of time to try and call her only to receive the echo of his own thoughts back to him.

Yet, Sothis remained scarce for the next fortnight -- as did the Knights of Seiros and Rhea herself, for that matter. It was a strange, empty sight: The monastery, supposedly the base for the Knightly Order of the Knights of Seiros, was practically barren of those faithful servants.

Usually, his father would be among the ones called for action, but now...

Byleth looked down and shook his head as he walked past the pond towards the market, not wanting his thoughts to go down that way. Without Sothis there to converse with him, Byleth's mind couldn't help but wander to the darkest reaches of his self-loathing and guilt-tripping. He would remember his powerlessness at trying to save his father; his misplaced anger at the one who was only trying to help him by reverting time; the way his father's body grew colder while he carried it back to the monastery.

Father, Crest of Seiros, Mother, Crest of Flames. Tragedy. Misplaced memories of an immortal being, the throes of death that accompanied the memories of his mindmate.

There was too much going on within his mind all at once, and without Sothis there to help him sort it all out, Byleth felt even more like a mess. He couldn't keep his feelings in check; he couldn't even select what thoughts he couldn't think of at the moment as they all rushed in at once.

Byleth had grown dependent on Sothis and could only realize it once she had shut herself for a time.

While entertaining such thoughts, Byleth passed through the entrance hall into which he found Rhea, Seteth and Dimitri having a somewhat heated argument.

The Prince turned to the professor once he spotted him. "Professor Byleth! The knights of Seiros found them, Professor! The ones who were responsible for Sir Jeralt's..."

Byleth's eyes shone with unbridled desire for revenge. Without Sothis to appease or incite his feelings, Byleth had free reign over his own mind, something he had never thought he needed.

Rhea and Seteth reprimanded the boy, though couldn't refute once he presented a sound strategy, rendering the most powerful members of the Church speechless.

"... If the Professor agrees with this, then I shall give my blessing." Rhea spoke up finally, a tired Seteth sighing behind her. Byleth needed to simply nod, the bloodlust oozing out of his clear blue eyes. "Go forth, Professor, and punish those hidden within the Sealed Forest."

As expected of the information relayed by the knights of Seiros, the enemy was truly easy to find once Byleth's forces (the combined might of a detachment of the knights as well as Jeralt's mercenary band and the Blue Lions) entered the Sealed Forest. The woman who had thrusted a knife deep into his father was standing in the middle, a wide grin splattered across her face while a mad glint shone in her eyes.

"Hello! You're here! Welcome to the forest of death! My name is Kronya. This weakling girl was just a borrowed look for me." She spoke giddily as some sort of dark mist covered her body for a moment before revealing a pale, underdressed woman. "This is what I really look like! Now, you vermin... I'll take down every last one of you!"

Byleth confidently stepped forward, leaving the nearby Demonic Beasts and random enemies to his students and subordinates. As he unsheathed the Sword of the Creator, a crimson blaze engulfed the blade, its power somehow augmented through sheer will alone.

Kronya cackled madly, throwing her head back. "You're a fool to be so brazen. You'll never avenge your father at this rate. I'll have to kill you too! With my own hands!" She jumped at him first, however, it didn't take long for the difference in skill to be plain for anyone to see:

She was going to die.

Byleth easily overpowered her.

It was a wonder she managed to dodge the swiftness of the whip-blade as long as she had, but even so, her entire body was covered in wounds.

Gasping for breath, the assassin's senses screamed at her to leave at once -- she wouldn't be able to survive much longer otherwise -- and that was precisely what she did. Abandoning the ones under her command, Kronya melted into the forest, unabashedly running with her tail between her legs.

But Byleth wouldn't allow it. He followed her through the thick woods like a bloodhound after its wounded prey, his cold eyes piercing a hole at the back of Kronya's neck once they were out of the forest, making her trip and fall in the middle of some kind of ruins.

In front of her, there stood Solon, looking down at the incompetent woman. Byleth gripped at his sword before he, too, stepped into the ruins, but the moment he did, a rumbling sound shook the earth.

"You did well to find us thus far, Fell Star, but that will be the end of it." Solon's voice scratched the ears of those who listened, making them cringe in displeasure. "A single pawn will not make a difference." He said as he crushed Kronya's heart with his bare hands, a thick darkness flowing out of the body, intent on swallowing the entire ruin.

"Kronya was just the beginning." Byleth replied almost calmly, even though he felt the tentacles of darkness gripping at his feet. He pointed the Sword of the Creator in Solon's direction. "I'll destroy you all. You'll pay for a thousand of years of suffering!" He roared, which only made Solon cackle as the murky darkness engulfed the youth away.

"Begone with you, Fell Star."

Byleth was still midway to his declaration of war when he opened his eyes to the everlasting darkness around him. He was somewhat used to seeing a vast set of nothing whenever he and Sothis conversed inside his head, but that wasn't somewhere in his mind. It was real.

"You fool!" A childish voice echoed through the place before Sothis finally revealed herself after so long. "How could you fall for such an obvious trap?! Are you daft?!"

Byleth simply sheathed his sword back into its scabbard, pressing his lips into a thin line. He could feel how shaken Sothis had become from being trapped within this darkness, though he himself was unable to feel anything.

He had set out to shed some blood for his father's sake, but even though he watched the one who stabbed Jeralt die, he felt no better. "Sothis..."

"Ugh, this darkness is so terrifying it's sending chills into my bones! And I DON'T HAVE BONES!" She complained one more time, then sighed once she realized Byleth was having none of that. "You want to know why I disappeared." She felt her chest tighten with worry, but now couldn't discern it from the fear of the eternal darkness around her.

The Professor nodded, watching as the throne and the stairs faded into view. "You know why Rhea did it, but you had to shut yourself off if you didn't want me to find out."

"Hahh..." Sothis' breathing trembled, as did her hands. "It- she is a very pitiful child, my young friend. As I said before-"

"I won't resent her." Byleth replied before she could ask, making Sothis stiffen a scoff.

"It was that simple, young one.” She sighed, taking a step down the stairs towards Byleth. “She wanted to see me again."