Baldr left shortly after bestowing her blessing on me and granting me her Crest. My guess was that she was already breaking quite a few rules just by being in Fodland and didn't dare risk overstaying her welcome. The Agarthans may have been nothing to her, and she may be nearly invincible but clearly, she respected Sothis's abilities as the 'One God' of Fodland.
I'd decided to get some more rest. My thoughts were far too active, and I wanted to sleep to slow down my brain a bit... With how fast my thoughts were moving, I genuinely thought my head might have exploded.
The next morning, I woke up bright and early- once again pulling up a chair next to Levy's bed and holding her hand as I waited for her to wake up.
My God Eye manifested as I looked at her just to be sure that nothing was wrong. I was relieved to see there was nothing wrong with her, but I did notice that her magic seemed more... More... The only word I could think of was it seemed more abstract. It was still flowing correctly, but there was something off about it...
Was Levy adapting to the Fire Emblem World? She didn't have a System like I did, however she'd traversed the void and come out the other side alive... Was it possible that travelling through the void had some effects on her? Was she also capable of obtaining the [Rule] of a world like I had?
I shook my head, cursing mentally. The thoughts were flowing too damned fast again.
My head snapped towards the door as it opened, Manuela entering the room with casual elegance- showing off her background as a songstress.
"Ah, you're awake again," Manuela smiled. "Feeling alright this morning?"
"I'm fine," I told her simply.
"That's good," she nodded, her eyes landing on my own and blinking in surprise. "Your eyes- let me examine them- something is wrong-!"
"Nothing is wrong," I cut her off, turning my gaze back to Levy. "This is a Spell of mine- you could refer to it as 'Eye Magic.' It changes the appearance of my eye and gives me special visual abilities. One of them essentially being letting me see behind me as well as I can in front of me."
She blinked in surprise. "I've... Never heard of such magic."
I just raised an eye at her and flapped my wings once.
"Ah, that would do it," she looked sheepish and cleared her throat. "I'm just going to check up on you both, is that alright?"
"Go ahead- just avoid my wings."
She nodded and murmured a soft incantation under her breath as she slowly held a hand over Levy and slowly dragged it over her body.
My eyebrow lifted higher... How interesting, was this some sort of White Magic Spell from this world? It never showed up in the games- likely a spell to check someone's condition more in depth and thoroughly than just healing them and hoping for the best.
I'd originally sort of written off the Fire Emblem Magic System- even if I had full intentions of studying it myself. However, the existence of a spell like this indicated that there was much more to the System than what I'd seen... In fact, the existence of that seal that locked Byleth away until she became the Goddess also indicated that there was more to the Magic System of this world.
Well, now I just had another good reason to stay at the Monastery.
"She's fine," Manuela assured me, taking my silence for worry. "She just needs some rest- she'll likely wake up today."
I just nodded- no need to tell her that I could already see that better than her spell could scan, she'd been nothing but kind to Levy and I and there was no reason to be a prick.
"If possible, Lady Rhea would like to speak with you today," she added afterwards, "If not today, she can delay for a few days."
I observed Levy... She wouldn't wake up for several more hours.
With a crack of my neck, I rose from my chair, "Is now fine?"
"Perfectly fine," she assured me with a kind smile as she stood up and took the lead.
Casting one more look at Levy, I followed behind her.
The infirmary wasn't too far from the hall where Rhea generally received guests- the same place Byleth met her for the first time. As a result, I didn't see too many people. But even the few I saw whispered and stared at me- more specifically at both my halo and my wings.
I held back a sigh- being a Flugel made me powerful, but it sure also made me the centre of attention... I didn't like this part of being a Flugel.
We walked through the open doors into the Audience Chamber, where Rhea stood with her back to me- hidden beneath her archbishop robes.
I'd never turned off my God's Eye, so I could see the Mana swirling through her body- centred around her heart... As expected of a Dragon- her magic was far greater than anyone else I'd seen so far. I wasn't sure if Byleth had even more since I hadn't looked at her with my eye, but I imagined she had quite a bit given her ability to rewind time.
I may have made Time Magic look easy- but it wasn't. If not for my near limitless magical energy, I would struggle to cast so many spells. Time Magic was extremely consuming in terms of Magic, and the fact Byleth could rewind time 3 times in a battle- and just to start?
That showed how much power she truly had hidden in her body.
"Lady Rhea, I've brought him," Manuela spoke up, bowing respectfully as she did so.
Rhea turned, and for the first time I saw the appearance of the Archbishop.
To say she wasn't beautiful would be a lie- she was stunning, gorgeous even. Far more than the games were capable of conveying and showing. Her beautiful green hair and matching eyes, her impressive bust and her curves? She may have been dressed as an Archbishop, but even her dress wasn't capable of hiding her beauty- all topped off with a cape.
There was no doubt in my mind she wore that cape in order to hide the absolutely dump truck she had back there.
"Thank you for bringing him to see me, Manuela," Rhea said, her voice soft and warm- motherly. "You may go; I believe it best the two of us talk in private."
Manuela nodded and gave me a reassuring look before she left, the doors closing behind her.
The two of us stood in silence for a moment...
"... So, you want me to bring up that you're a Dragon or-?"
Rhea didn't look offended or shocked; she just seemed amused. "Divine Dragon is the proper term you're looking for," she informed me. "'Dragon' is a bit too ambiguous, given there are Fell Dragons out there."
There was truth in her words... Divine Dragons were basically 'Good' Dragons, and Fell Dragons were 'Evil' ones. She probably didn't want to be confused with the Evil ones like Grima.
"So, which God do you serve and why have you come to these lands?" She asked, her voice calm.
It was no surprise she wanted to talk to me- with Byleth here, she likely thought the revival of Sothis was coming extremely soon and didn't want to see the interference of other gods.
"The God I serve died long ago- with no hope of revival," I told her honestly- Artosh was long since dead. "I came to these lands purely by accident with my human lover. If anything, my intentions are to help you deal with the remnants of the Agarthans who are stirring up trouble."
Rhea's calm smile faded and her eyes widened. "... They still persist?" She hissed. "No matter how many times I squash them, they just keep popping back up."
I just nodded. "The Agarthans are challenging the authority of Gods. While I do lean towards humanity in struggles, they are taking it too far. You don't need to worship Gods, but to outright rebel against them when they have been nothing but kind? That is something I cannot allow."
She gave a nod of understanding at my words- clearly pleased that I wasn't against her at the very least. That I was an ally to her rather than an enemy. "What do you intend to do?" She asked. "Of course, you will be welcome at the Monastery..."
"I'd like to be a student," I told her. "The Black Eagles, if you can."
The Dragon blinked in surprise, clearly not expecting my words. "A student? But why?"
"I want to experience human life and bonds," I explained, "If you can, my lover as well..."
"A simple matter," she assured me with a kind smile.
"I also have the ability to see Mana with this eye," I tapped just below my blue eye, "I'll report to you about any unusual sightings- it wouldn't surprise me if the Agarthans had found some sneaky way to slip into the Monastery right beneath everyone's noses."
She blinked in surprise and her eyes focused on my blue eye. "How interesting," she smiled, "A very useful eye indeed... Then, I will leave detecting any Agarthans to you. I will put my focus on nurturing the Three Houses for when they appear."
I gave a nod, not yet giving away Edelgard's allegiance. It was still early, and I believed it was more than possible to turn her away from the Agarthans and unite the Three Houses against them.
Thanks to my perfect memory from my Flugel Bloodline- so long as there was no interference like from Tet's Commandments- I was able to remember anything and everything, I just had to search my memories for it.
I was eternally grateful to my past self for being obsessed with lore about various games and anime and doing a deep dive into learning and understanding everything- it meant that I had all the information about Edelgard's backstory and how she'd been groomed by the Agarthans to be their scapegoat and weapon.
Given the fact Edelgard had the Crest of Flames, my guess was that their original intention was to manipulate Edelgard into becoming a replacement of Nemesis. They likely planned to use the Sword of the Creator as a way to 'prove' that Edelgard was the successor to 'Nemesis' and would therefore be justified in taking over the continent.
The Church of Seiros would have no choice but to agree, otherwise it would go against the history they supposedly worshipped.
The Agarthans had no way of knowing that the Crest Stone was being used as Byleth's Heart, meaning that their plan was doomed from the very start... It was likely why Edelgard eventually came out of hiding instead of taking over silently- they could no longer position Edelgard as a successor to Nemesis.
"Why do you trust me?" I asked her, tilting my head.
She just smiled, "I like to think I am a rather good judge of character. I believe you are sincere and will not harm the Monastery."
I just stared at her blankly.
... The same woman who hired Tomas, and didn't realise that Monica was Kronya, or that Jeritza was the Death Knight, or that Edelgard was the Flame Emperor...
'Oh... She's a dumbass.'