2It had been a year since Edelgard had launched her attack against Archbishop Rhea, and with the disappearance of Professor Byleth, there had been opposition to her advances but nothing the empire's armies couldn't handle. At first, Faerghus had been a thorn in her side, but the death of Dimitri and instatement of Cornelia had managed to at least temporarily reduce her problems from three to two. Admittedly, she regretted the fact that Dimitri had to die, her feelings for him had not managed to lessen since she'd learned he had been her childhood best friend, but he had made his choice that night on the Goddess Tower, and she couldn't let some petty childhood feelings stop her plans.
There was no room for childish sentimentality or his naive views of the world, not anymore. Not so long as the Church of Seiros still stood.
So she'd done her mourning in private and moved on, which brought her to the next phase of the war: quieting the Leicester Alliance and their dissent. She looked over the reports Hubert had brought her with mild interest, noting down which lords she might be able to use to help tear the alliance apart faster. Perhaps she could talk to Claude as well, their goals were similar, and he might be willing to…
As her mind busied itself with thoughts of the war, she felt a tickle in her throat, letting out a light cough.
Perhaps she was growing ill. Edelgard shrugged and returned to her research, not giving anymore thought to the cough beyond a note to catch some rest.
Perhaps if she had, she would have noticed the small blue anemone petals that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere on the table.
"Lady Edelgard, I have the books you've asked for." The past two weeks had been nothing but hell for Edelgard as Hanahaki season had once more come into full bloom. For the first time in her entire memory, she had been afflicted by the terrible disease. And none of it made sense.
She was sure the only person she had any feelings regarding whatsoever had been Dimitri, which given the wide array of blue flower petals that had been expelled lined up with her theory, but as far as she knew the object of your affection had to be alive in order for your unrequited love to be a problem. As far as she knew, he was dead.
Which was why she'd requested Hubert bring her books on Hanahaki disease. She coughed after accepting the book, releasing some blue rose petals. "Thank you Hubert, you're dismissed for now."
Hubert hesitated for a second, as though he wanted to say something more. "Very well." He placed a small vial on the desk, next to the book that Edelgard was reading. "Ferdinand suggested I bring this to you, he remembered a stall near the monastery that sold it, and how it used to help Dimitri with his illness." At the mention of Dimitri's name, Edelgard coughed up more petals, this time those of a daffodil. "Lady Edelgard–"
"I'm fine, Hubert." Edelgard raised her hand before looking over the small amount of potion. "I remember he used to take this. He mentioned it to me when he mentioned he was suffering from the affliction." Deciding she could at least use a few hours where bloody petals wouldn't erupt from her lungs, she downed the medication. "I appreciate your concern. Tell Ferdinand I say thank you." The noble was still a pest, but at least he had his moments like now.
"As you wish." And with that, Hubert left, leaving Edelgard to her research as she started pouring over the books.
It had taken three days for Edelgard to finish going through all the available research on Hanahaki disease, and in those three days it became more and more clear there was only one explanation for what was going on with her.
The facts had been simple, it was only possible to show symptoms of Hanahaki if the subject of your unrequited love was still alive.
Meaning after all of this, Dimitri was still alive.
Whether she was disappointed by his survival, or relieved that things between them may not have been completely pointless, Edelgard couldn't say, but she did know that regardless of her feelings on Dimitri living she had to find him and deal with his survival herself. And so upon the realization she had loaded up her travel bag with as many vials of the Hanahaki suppressant as possible, and set off across the continent for evidence of wherever Dimitri may have been hiding.
For a while, it had seemed like chasing down rumors of what had happened to Dimitri might as well have been a wild goose chase. The overthrown king had either done his best to vanish entirely, or had his three close friends doing a better job than she could have ever imagined when it came down to hiding him.
It wasn't until one night, in a town not far from the Adrestian Empire's borders, she heard rumors of an abandoned building no men dared to settle in due to the beast that wore a man's face hiding within that Edelgard decided she had finally found the lead she was looking for. Clutching Amyr tightly in her hands, Edelgard emerged from her horse and into the building in front of her.
The sight she saw tugged at her heartstrings, and in spite of the medication she had taken, she felt the resounding urge to cough as vines clung to her throat, begging for the petals to escape.
For in front of her was the former King Dimitri. His once well maintained blond hair had grown out considerably in the year since she had once seen him, starting to fall towards his chin. Something had likely happened to his eye in his escape from Cornelia, as he now covered it with an eye patch. A ragged breathing shook his blue cloak that he had huddled underneath. He looked absolutely horrible, but that wasn't what had almost made Edelgard wince in shock at what she saw.
What broke Edelgard was the single eye that was not covered by the eyepatch. Those weren't the eyes of the living, they were the eyes of somebody already dead. Dimitri may have been breathing, but inside he had already died.
For all she could tell, Dimitri was staring right through her, seemingly uninterested in the cloaked figure that was standing in front of him, but as she stepped closer he'd gripped his lance, pointing it at Edelgard. "Do not take another step closer if you value your life."
It was likely, judging by the threat, Dimitri had expected her to stop, perhaps to flee. But if there was anything her shortened lifespan had taught her, it was that Edelgard wasn't bothered by the idea of her own death. "Dimitri." She stepped towards him, watching him stiffen.
"Edelgard?" He stared at her in shock, as though trying to reconcile her under her cloak with the woman who was well on her way to becoming the empress of all of Fódlan. For a moment, she saw the boy she remembered from the academy, but it hadn't lasted long before the bitter tone that he'd threatened her with earlier returned. "No, you're just one of the phantoms haunting me, all because I couldn't save you from the dark path you'd left me for."
His words stung. Edelgard couldn't deny that as she took another step closer. "I'm not a ghost coming to haunt you."
At her answer, Dimitri barked out a laugh. It was uncomfortable, so unlike anything she'd have thought him able to make. "Of course you're not." For the first time, she got the feeling that he was actually looking at her. "You couldn't be satisfied with me out of the way forever, is that it, finally decided to put me out of my misery."
Perhaps that would have been a kinder fate then leaving him alive, given his state. She swallowed down another cough, unwilling to show any sort of weakness. "No. I have not Dimitri."
"Then I suppose it's the opposite then." A grin crossed Dimitri's face, a deranged grin that left Edelgard worried for her own safety. "If you're not here to kill me, then that must be a sign that it's time to separate your head from your neck."
"Dima–"
"You have no right to use that name anymore." The sting of the rejection from her former friend hurt, not just emotionally, but she felt a burn in her chest as she began coughing once more, letting out a mass of anemones, even in spite of the suppressant that still should have been doing its job.
For a moment, neither of them spoke. For both of them, it had just become painfully clear why Edelgard had decided to show up and find him.
She wouldn't let him stop her from forming a united Fódlan, but that didn't stop her from loving him even now.
Suddenly Dimitri was laughing again. Unlike the first, which had been aggressive, this laugh made her feel tense, like Dimitri had finally lost the last threads of his sanity. "Of course it would be something like this. So many years of enduring the Hanahaki disease only to finally be rid of it to see the very person I was in love with suffering from the same affliction for me now."
"I'm painfully aware of the situation I'm in, Dimitri." She didn't need his jeers or laughs. They only made things worse, in her opinion.
"If you were looking for some form of heartfelt confession, you won't have it." Dimitri looked almost disgusted that the petals expelling themselves from her lungs came from her love for him. "I feel nothing but hatred and disgust for you."
"I understand that you disagreed with me about the war, b–"
Once again, she was cut off. "The war? You think this is about your forsaken war?" The sheer anger in his voice convinced her to keep her mouth shut aside from some coughs and scattered petals. "Fódlan could burn for all I care about its fate. This is about getting revenge so they'll finally be at rest."
There it was again, the second reference to those dead as though they were still with him. "What are you talking about, Dimitri?"
"You were responsible for the Tragedy of Duscur. You and the rest of your empire of monsters."
Oh.
Oh.
She gripped Amyr tighter to her, wanting to be prepared in case Dimitri lashed out again. "I had nothing to do with the Tragedy of Duscur."
"Lies! You're the Flame Empreror. It could only be you."
She had only one shot at this. Had he not believed her, had he proven himself to be the King of Delusions as he showed himself to be right now, then she would have no choice but to rid the world of him once and for all. "What you say is true, I am the Flame Emperor, but while I am working with those who orchestrated the events that transpired at Duscur, I was not the cause." Dimitri remained deathly silent, as though waiting for her to continue. "Dimitri, think back to that night we last spoke on the Goddess Tower."
"What about it?" He hadn't attacked her yet. That was good.
"Dimitri, during the Tragedy of Duscur I was still undergoing the experiments to give me a second crest." She summoned the Crest of Flames to her hand once more, watching his reaction as recognition of the moment she was talking about flickered across his face. "I couldn't have anything to do with its planning."
"Yet you admit to working with those very same people. You expect me to believe you're better than them?" Loathe as Edelgard was to admit it, Dimitri had a valid point. Thankfully, one she was prepared to go against.
"I don't," she said simply. "But they're simply tools. Once I've finished taking down the church I plan on taking them down as well." The truth was, she had no way of confirming that her uncle had anything to do with the Tragedy of Duscur, but she couldn't put it past him to have had something to do with it at least. "They've controlled all of this from the beginning, and hurt both of us. Some justice must be served, but they are also powerful. To not take advantage of them would be drawing out this war for no reason."
Dimitri remained skeptical, just as he had all those years ago. "What do you gain from telling me all this?"
Well her life, for one, but she didn't say it out loud. "Ignoring the fact that I'm unable to get rid of my...feelings for you, you're a powerful fighter. If we worked together, we could stop them for good." She extended her hand out. She'd placed all her cards out on the table. If he was still interested in killing her, she'd have to take him down like the animal he had become, both to stop the flowers from consuming her lungs and out of mercy for what he had become.
He was silent, as though weighing his options before grabbing her hand. Edelgard let out an inaudible sigh of relief. "I will serve at your side, my emperor, until my revenge is complete."
In spite of the fact that he wasn't killing her anymore, it was clear that for the moment revenge against Those Who Slither was going to be the only thing keeping Dimitri around.
But that was okay. It was a step up, and for now, that was enough.
Inspired by that one post on tumblr about the idea of Chronic Hanahaki.
Half of this was written in March, the rest finished now. As such I've probably forgotten a few details like which flowers I used in the first sections.
Flower meanings for Dimitri's Hanahaki.
-Carnation - Pride and admiration
-Rose - I love you/sorrow and regret
-Gladiolus - Remembrance
-Marigold – Death
Flower meanings for Edelgards Hanahaki:
-Blue Rose - I want you but I can't have you
-Anemone - Forsaken
-Daffodil - Chivalry/Regard/New Beginnings
Both obviously mean the opposite person.
Anyways all that aside, thanks for reading!
~Foreteller Ava/Nicole Peach
