Rhea's proclamation and new Monastery policies.

"A 'proclamation.' An official decree from the Church of Seiros, on matters of policy. From an Archbishop who disappeared without so much as a word earlier this week, on an unplanned 'spiritual sabbatical,' and hasn't been seen or heard from in all that time? Am I understanding that correctly, Catherine?"

The man who would have considered himself the right hand of the Archbishop before this week, Seteth, was facing down the woman he'd considered the Archbishop's most loyal protector, Catherine, in the hallway. With the stern, green-goateed Church official scowling and the tan, well-endowed knight smiling in challenge, the two of them were learning what it was like to see the other as an enemy. Both of their weapons were sheathed, but Catherine made a point to fill the hallway in front of her with her whole body, including every inch of her broad, loincloth-clad hips.

She clapped a hand on the man's shoulder, feeling his axe-swinging muscles beneath his stuffy church raiment. She squeezed hard in a barely-friendly gesture. "It sounds scary when you say it like that, but it's nothing of the sort! Lady Rhea wanted to thank you for your hard work while she was absent and grant you some rest. Don't worry, I'll be sure to see you're filled in on every detail later."

Seteth glared at her hand and swiped it off with surprising ease. "That sentiment would be appreciated if it did not ring so false. If Lady Rhea has resurfaced, she should be doing nothing before approaching me as her advisor. If she has a new proclamation to make on behalf of our Goddess, I expect to be consulted."

"Don't take it personally," Catherine laughed, although it wasn't reassuring. "Rhea knows what she's doing."

"I begin to doubt that," Seteth replied, stroking his chin and regarding Catherine. "Even the uniform regulations appear to be fraying at the seams in her absence. Ah, I don't mean to comment on yours alone: both students and faculty are displaying a new and brazen boldness of dress. I hadn't expected the Archbishop's presence was the only thing keeping the Academy's uniform code in proper order... And, needless to say, I haven't had the luxury of time to deal with each case in person. To that end, Catherine, it would be very helpful if I could count on you to be a proper example for the students."

"Naturally! I'm a model knight," Catherine agreed, genuinely. "Is that all that has your trousers in a knot?"

The church official clearly thought he was being mocked. His severe brow furrowed even further. "I don't sense you're taking this seriously, but let us table that conversation for now. If there is a proclamation being issued I haven't been consulted on, surely I can least be permitted to witness it?" He made an attempt to shoulder past Catherine.

Catherine attempted to block his way, but was surprised at how fiercely he advanced. Since she hadn't managed to obstruct him, she at least made an effort to slow him down, grabbing his cape. She was surprised to find herself being dragged along by the stuffy church official. "S-Seteth! Lady Rhea... insisted you rest...!"

"I'll rest when I'm certain the Academy is not bedeviled!" he growled in response, continuing to trudge his way towards the courtyard in spite of her resistance. "Surely she did not... grh... insist so strongly?!"

"I'm afraid... she did...!" Catherine grunted, glad there was no one else present to see the cartoonish power struggle of two of the faith's leading figures taking place in the hall. "Look... This is Rhea, right?"

"Is that not... gh!! Is that not Lady Rhea to you Catherine?!"

"All I'm saying is... you know her... better than anyone! You've got to trust her... right?!"

"Under these circumstances... I think not!!" Finally, Seteth managed a rally that tugged his cape free from the knight's grip. She was strong, but her heart didn't seem fully in the struggle. He took some steps to gain distance, but still felt compelled to turn and see Catherine crashed on the floor, to check and make sure she wasn't seriously injured. If she was, it was only her pride. Both her curtain of blonde hair and her back loincloth had flipped forward as she lay top down and bottom up on the bricks. Her tight leather undergarment and meaty, tan ass were both presented. Holding his frown, he turned his head from the uncouth sight of her and cleared his throat. "As my last advice, Catherine, I might suggest a more strict diet if you're going to adjust your uniform so? That level of body fat and potential for a wardrobe malfunction is unseemly for a knight of the Church, who must command respect."

"Oh, stuff it! I'm done with this." Catherine complained, fixing her hair and outfit as she shifted to a more decent position. "If you're that determined, go ahead. Rhea's speech should be well underway by now. There's nothing you can do about it."

Feeling his unease growing even greater, Seteth turned and powerwalked with as much dignity as his urgency would allow. Catherine was right, after all: throughout years, more years than Catherine was perhaps aware, Seteth had trusted Rhea to carry on the will of the Goddess without question and to lead the people of their continent on a righteous path. Sometimes, she seemed like the only other level-headed person at the Academy. Everything she did was for the good of the people. Even if there were some unanswered questions, shouldn't his faith be implicit?

His mind kept traveling back to the memory of Byleth and Rhea, standing in the Archbishop's bedroom and fidgeting in place like they were young girls caught staying up past curfew. It was unnatural. What had been going on back then? Had they been hiding something? He regretted not keeping a closer eye on the new teacher... "But even if she was a corrupting influence, for the head of the Church of Seiros to be so corrupted? It is beyond reason..."

Meanwhile, the courtyard had been bustling with noise, voices reverberating through the high walls of the ramparts. Nearly everyone who called the monastery home was present: every student, every faculty member, every knight, every church official. Even cleaning staff and visitors were gathered on the fringes, and the ordinarily spacious grounds were packed nearly elbow to elbow.

On the stairs up to the church, the leaders of the school's Three Houses were gathered, having been told the announcement would affect the students directly and there would be a forum for questions and comments following the announcement. Each was trailed by a procession of their closest advisors and noteworthy students from their House. Each was lost in their own thoughts about what the proclamation likely entailed, but to different degrees, each was sure it would have something to do with the box that had gone missing earlier, each believing they possessed exclusive knowledge about the device.

As each believed they were guarding a secret, there was little chatter between the three of them. Edelgard conferred with her two advisors; Dimitri kept his focus trained on the vacant arrival of the Archbishop, only occasionally sparing a glance at Edelgard's new state of dress and, even then, failing to connect it to the changes in his own classmates; Claude had plenty of conversation, but kept it between the circle of friends he'd brought with him up the stairs, each as good as another for him when it came to advice.

Finally, there was a horn blown at the entrance of the church. As the enormous double doors were parted and a procession began from it, a sight not rare to the students who were accustomed to gathering for worship, a murmur quickly began to spread. It didn't take a genius to see the commotion was centered on the spot where the Archbishop would ordinarily appear, and was catching like a wildfire blazing from her as a point of origin. Soon, every man and woman with a view of the Archbishop was standing with their jaws agape, regardless of how informed they thought they were or what theories they'd been privately considering. For those without clear view of her in the courtyard, they were all jostling towards the front of the crowd as the news made its way down to them.

The woman being presented as the Archbishop was something only a privileged few had so far born witness to. The fair face and green hair were Rhea's. The outfit and body were the out-of-this-world combination her knights had witnessed a day before. Even those who were privately growing accustomed to bolder outfits and thicker bodies appearing at the Academy were startled by the sight of the Church leader in a fur jacket, a gown so skimpy it not only showed the straps of a gold bra but the crotch of matching panties every time an errant wind blew, high heels and tall stockings, rings upon rings of jewelry, and heavy makeup. Today, the ornate-but-gaudy heart-shaped tinted shades were down, hiding her usual calm eyes and adding to her unreal appearance.

Her smile, however, was unmistakable, and when the horns had blown again to announce her intent to speak, her projecting voice, audible even over the low murmur all around the gathering, was recognizable. "People of Garreg Mach, faithful of the Goddess! I am honored to be here today in service of the Church of Seiros. Let all we do glorify Her. I pray you will all hear me and mark my words, that together, we can glorify Her more than ever before."

Hearing a standard greeting come from the tramped-up woman at the head of the staircase finally seemed to drive the crowd to silence.

"As some of you are aware, I have recently been on a sabbatical from my duties as Archbishop. During my retreat, I have convened with the Goddess directly and heard her voice, her will, more clearly than in any conference I have held... in many, many years." The emotion and elation in the ordinarily calm Archbishop were hard to miss; she seemed almost to shiver as the spirit moved her. "The Goddess has presented me with a gift that has opened my eyes to the new path of worship for the faithful of Fodlan. Henceforth, this artifact, this vessel of Her will, shall be known as the Booming Box. Blessed are we to receive it."

There was a new murmur, now, especially loud at the head of the stairs where the three leaders were gathered. Each of those leaders, with varying levels of trepidation, were craning their necks to try and see if Rhea had the box she was referring to on her person, but there was no sign of it.

"Through the inspiration granted by the Booming Box, I am pleased to announce new worship services and changes to various policies of the Monastery. I ask that you listen in careful detail, although these shall be posted regularly for students and faculty to review at their leisure in the near future. The details shall be as I now present them," she declared, unfurling a scroll and reading incredible, eye-popping proclamations from it in her commanding tone.

"First, that the music presented by the Box and its Speakers, along with the icons themselves, shall be regarded as holy, just as any relic of the Church, protected by the **** of the Church, and interpreted as one of the Goddess's gifts for which we give thanks in our prayers.

"Second, that it therein follows that any effects of the music presented by the Box and its Speakers is the will of the Goddess. These shall not be limited to the inspiration to dance and the performance thereof; the inspiration to engage in joyful congress and performance thereof; the inspiration to display the gifts of endowment the Goddess has granted us and performance thereof; the increase of abundance of such endowments as the Goddess sees fit; the modification of garments both general and personal as best glorifies our Goddess and displays the granted abundance; and the inspiration of language, ideas, and mannerisms as best glorifies our Goddess.

"Third, that such performance, while glorifying the Goddess, also enriches our lives, and that tithes are appropriate recognition of such blessings; that performers shall be permitted to collect tithes for their performance while dedicating half of any such tithes to the Goddess who blesses them with such ability.

"Fourth, that for responsible payers of such tithes, witnesses to the performance may be granted privileges which transcend the previous-taught morality of the Church. These shall not be limited to the right to witness the performance; the right to lay hands upon the performer in such ways as are agreeable to the performer and demonstrate appreciation of the performance; the right to speak both to and of the performer in ways which demonstrate appreciation of the performance; the right to directly present tithes to the performer in ways which demonstrate appreciation of the performance.

"Fifth, that obstructing the practice of any of these proclamations shall be grounds for punishment by the **** of the Church."

She paused, as if expecting applause, before letting out a small gasp and reading a final point she'd neglected.

"Sixth, that while all students and faculty of the Academy have previously been required to be at least eighteen years of age, this policy is now strictly extended to visitors to the Monastery in general, except select areas to be determined and delineated at a later time." She rolled the parchment into a scroll again, passed it to an attendant, then retrieved a small, translucent but clouded orb, looking like a marble, from another nearby attendant. "What I hold here is-"

"Excuse me!" a male voice shouted from the top of the stairs. It was Claude, the leader of the Golden Deer. "Your Holiness, I apologize for interrupting."

"... Such an interruption is indeed unprecedented," Rhea acknowledged, clearly struggling to maintain her composure at her roll being slowed. "I will allow it. This is a matter which I am sure is of greatest concern to the House Leaders, so I will hear your thoughts. Please, speak your mind freely."

Claude smiled at her, gulping down his own nerves to say what he felt he had to and trying to project confidence. "I'm afraid we're at a loss to take notes, and I may be paraphrasing a bit here, but you mentioned such things as 'inspiration to perform dance,' 'change of behavior,' 'increase of abundance,' and 'change of garments.' I'm sure I'm not the only one mystified by what such terms imply. Can you elaborate what the Goddess might bless us fortunate students with?"

Rhea matched his nervous smile with a tight, firm, almost belittling one of her own. "I apologize. That was indeed vague. I am sorry to say that those blessings in particular will, unfortunately, be limited to the female among the faithful. As for what to expect, well, I'm happy to say I, myself, serve as a suitable model." She indicated her own bizarre state of dress and enormous bosom by spreading her arms, palms up. " The fortunate faithful can look forward to more free and expressive garments, more abundant womanly features, liberating freedom from inhibitions, and, notably, both the inclination and ability to perform dances beyond your wildest imagination."

"And this will be granted to them how?" Claude continued in stride, folding his hands. He knew the answers to the following questions due to his conversations with and observations of Hilda and Marianne, but he wanted to **** the Archbishop to spell it out to her confused congregation. "Will a seamstress travel among the students, altering their garments? Will diets be enforced that promote such, ahem, abundance in womanly features?"

"The Goddess will grant these gifts directly," Rhea answered simply, as if peeved she was even being asked something so simple. Truth be told, even having studied the Box, she'd be hard-pressed to describe how the changes happened.

"The Goddess will grant them in a way, then, that might most closely be described as magic?"

"As a miracle beyond comprehension."

Claude yielded, raising his arms palm-outward before rubbing at the back of his neck. "Great. So that's what the women can look forward to. Now, for us lucky male faithful who get to witness these blessings, you mentioned some more interesting points. About the 'laying of hands,' the 'speaking of and to,' the 'direct presentation of tithes,'... All of this in a way that 'transcends the previous-taught morality.' Care to offer an example?"

Rhea smiled peacefully in a way that said she saw Claude thought he was being clever and she was completely unbothered. "Very well. The performer may see fit to allow the audience to touch her body, including her womanly assets. She might allow or even encourage the audience to, in the spirit of excitement, call her such things as pet names or even derogatory ones as a measure of respect for her ability to perform. Such as 'baby' or 'bitch,'" she added, not missing a step. "And she may judge that the most effective way to receive tithes is for such tithes to be placed in the garments she wears, or even in the curves of her body. All of this is completely appropriate and endorsed by the church, when in the service of performances which glorify her. Is that clear for you, Claude von Regan?" She leaned towards him now, in a way that seemed to be leveraging her own "abundant endowment" as a measure of maturity over his naive youth.

Whether stunned by her display or simply judging he'd said enough, Claude only chuckled and nodded. "Amazing. Sounds like we all have a lot to look forward to. Dimitri, you look like you have something to say."

The crown prince of Faerghus had a rare look of shock on his fair features. When he was addressed, he took a moment to begin speaking. It was clear that the gears in his head were working to catch up, understanding that his statements here could be matters of diplomacy rather than simple questions. As such, when he spoke, he spoke slowly, with an appropriately diplomatic smile. "Lady Rhea... Putting aside my own opinions, I'm sure I don't need to remind you how entrenched some of the faithful are in the current doctrine. This is particularly true in my homeland, as well as my House. It may not be my place to say, but I feel a transition period..." He trailed off, realizing Rhea was having a strange reaction to his reasonable words. "Is something the matter?"

Although she worked to keep it hidden, it was, for only a moment, clear the Archbishop was doing her best to avoid laughing at Dimitri's words. When she spoke to him, she was wearing the same smile she'd favored Claude with a moment ago. "... Dimitri. Just as it may not be your place to advise on matters of the Church and its policy, it may not be my place to speak of the nature of your Kingdom's people or the students of your House. However... I'd say there is evidence to believe integration of the Church's new policy and freedoms will be swiftly and readily accepted, even in the Kingdom. Is that not so, Annette? Mercedes? Ingrid?"

Dimitri turned to see the three Blue Lions shifting uncomfortably and apologetically. There seemed to be some clouding of the notion for them that they were inappropriately dressed, but, at the least, each woman had their own traitorous thoughts about how agreeable Rhea's policies seemed. For everyone else, it was clear how they served as examples that, somehow, a rollout of "changed garments" and "increased endowments" was already underway in the protesting Prince's own House. "... Perhaps it is as you say," Dimitri remarked, turning back to Rhea, bowing in apology, and biting his tongue as he considered his next steps.

"Any further comments or concerns?" Rhea asked, rolling the marble she held in one palm idly as she passed her benevolent smile over the House Leaders. "Anything from the Black Eagles, Edelgard? I'm aware you've had concerns with the doctrine of the church, yourself, but as one who will be directly blessed by the Booming Box yourself, I'm sure you're elated." She looked at Edelgard's short skirt and the glimpse of her thighs with approval.

... So distracted, she missed the fire burning in the purple eyes of the Adrestian heir, along with the challenging smile she wore. When she spoke, Edelgard's voice conveyed the challenge in it plainly. "My only concern is how long you intend to continue with this farce, and just how **** the church is for funds and followers that it would resort to these measures."

All of the murmurs surrounding those gathered stopped. Even more jaws dropped than when the Archbishop had first appeared. None were more stunned than Hubert and Monica, a pair of white faces over Edelgard's shoulders that glanced at each other, each looking for a sign that the other was responsible for the bad advice their liege was heeding.

Rhea recovered from her shock, her eyes narrowing suspiciously and her smile growing less friendly. "It seems you are far from elated. What seems to be your concern?"

"Concerns, plural," Edelgard corrected her. She stepped further up the stairs, making her opposition plain. "I will present them point by point, in counter to your proposals.

"First, you claim that the Box and its music are gifts from your Goddess. I challenge this claim outright. I do not believe you can support it with evidence; therefore, I present no evidence for my accusation that this miraculous 'Box' of yours was not first delivered to you, but was presented to you by others. Not by a Goddess, but by a mortal. Any claim of 'divinity' is fabricated for your own purposes.

"Second, the 'blessings' you describe are not offered for students to accept or deny as they please, but **** upon them. Upon hearing the music, women are compelled to undergo the changes you describe. I have reason to believe this is regardless of the faithfulness, or rather, in spite of the faithlessness of the woman in question. I argue you may intend to use these 'miracles' to shackle the people of Fodlan to your faith.

"Third, most disturbingly, you refer to 'tithes' the church ought to earn as a portion of performances by the affected. This is nonsense! As the Church has nothing to do with providing the skill and inspiration to perform the dance, its appropriate 'portion' of such tithes is whatever percentage the performer sees fit, be that all of it or none of it."

"Fourth, I see no way in good conscience a man can be permitted to lay hands on or **** a woman who is performing lewd acts not of her own will. This opt-in must be optional; it cannot be mandated, and for a woman of faith to suggest it should be is sickening.

"Fifth... You're making obstruction a crime? So, if, in a hypothetical case, a good and upstanding student was to try and save one of his or her fellow classmates from falling prey to the curse you call a miracle, they would be guilty of breaking the Church's law and subject to the Church's justice? This is-"

"Enough!" Rhea commanded, silencing Edelgard with a thunderous voice and furious eyes hidden by her ludicrous tinted shades. "You have made your concerns abundantly clear. If you would simply have allowed me to finish and demonstrate the effects, you could have had the answers to your questions without so much unsightly and uncalled-for animosity. I have no need to rebut you point by point, but let me make clear that the '****' activities, as you refer to them, are guided by divine inspiration and that, as always, participation in the faith of the Goddess of the Church is a choice of all Her citizens. Before I was interrupted, I was attempting to introduce the Speakers which shall deliver Her message."

Rhea lifted the marble she'd been holding, which really didn't do much to show the trinket to anyone besides those close to her. "While there is but one genuine Booming Box, the Speakers contain the songs of the Box and shall be placed throughout the Academy, allowing faculty and students alike to partake in worship of the Goddess. They shall be hidden where they cannot be damaged or absconded with, but they shall provide the Box's music to those who wish to hear. A clearly-posted schedule will make apparent where and when such music will play, so that participation and witnessing will be strictly optional."

Shamir, the dark-haired knight who'd been standing with the others at Rhea's guard, raised an eyebrow and spoke out of turn. She seemed to realize that was inappropriate, but had a concern she couldn't keep quiet on. "The schedule you showed me earlier said-"

"Order, please," Rhea interrupted her, raising hand testily. "This is not an open forum!"

Edelgard spoke again, not appeased. "So the question of **** participation is answered, dubiously. This does not change the fact that the Church is extorting its students. I continue to argue it is unseemly for the Church to demand a part of the money it has no claim to."

Dimitri raised an eyebrow, and Claude laughed. He spoke to himself, quietly, so as not to raise Rhea's ire. "The tax is your sticking point now, Edelgard? One might think you're on board for everything Rhea's advocating, aside from giving the Church a slice of it and doing it in the Church's name..."

Rhea sighed, her good humor from earlier vanished. Somehow, she had expected to present these terms and have them readily accepted by all, even cheered. Now, she had to deal not just with opposition, but with direct defiance that seemed deep-rooted beyond a simple disagreement with her new terms. "Very well. It is clear the student body has concerns with the new policy, and it is clear Edelgard has named herself as a representative of the entire student body," she declared, stepping down towards Edelgard and squaring up to the young woman. It was easy to suspect she'd taken the opposition personally. When she spoke again, however, her voice was calm. "This is a place of learning... a holy place, full of the history of humanity and the Goddess's wisdom. There is no reason we cannot settle this dispute in a reasonable and appropriate fashion."

"Naturally," Edelgard agreed.

Hubert spoke up as respectfully but directly as possible, his shifty eyes wincing beneath his dark mop of hair. "A private forum would be far more appropriate-"

Rhea spoke over him easily and ruthlessly. "You claim, Edelgard, that the blessings offered by the Box are not divine in nature. I claim they are from the Goddess herself, directly. Therefore, if we were to have a competition, and we were to see that I, the Goddess's most faithful, triumphed over you, the faithless, we could put that particular disagreement to rest, could we not? If you are so confident the Box will grant you the same gifts regardless of your devotion, why not prove it in competition? Let me be more clear: a dance competition. If you prevail against me, you shall have the say in what happens to the Box. If I am the victor, it shall be known that the Box is of divine origin, that the Goddess has manifested Herself in it, and that Fodlan's faithful are to pay heed and tribute to it. Is that agreeable?"

"Naturally," Edelgard agreed again, having now brought her face close to the Archbishop's in challenge. Standing chest-to-chest, the two looked like temperamental schoolgirls about to get in a catfight rather than dignified wielders of power in the highest tier of Fodlan politics. "I have full confidence."

"Then it is decided. Posting of the rules will be delayed until after tonight's competition, after the divine nature has been proven beyond the shadow of a doubt and my words verified as the Goddess's own doctrine."

In a gesture only seen by the Archbishop herself, Edelgard actually rolled her eyes before stepping back down to her earlier position. "Thank you for the opportunity. Pray to your Goddess you do not regret it, and ask Her if She can find forgiveness in Her heart for a young, faithless woman going all-out against one of the Church's most faithful and venerated elders."

"I will pray for forgiveness for even the most misguided, the least deserving, and the most pitifully outmatched in terms of womanly blessings," Rhea hissed in a catty whisper that was not quiet enough to avoid being heard by the other House Leaders. She cleared her throat and projected again. "Thank you all for attending! May the Goddess bless her faithful. You are dismissed. The results of the competition shall be made known through public posting tomorrow morning."

As the Church officials filed out, including the curvy Archbishop herself, the rest of the Courtyard remained abuzz with separate conversations. It remained that way until knights stepped in and began dispersing it by official order. Some of those present most devoutly faithful to Rhea, after all, were about to come to blows with those who believed she'd gone insane. The tension was thick, and that atmosphere would likely hold until the night's intense competition... An unlikely, ill-advised, and preemptive clash between the defiant heiress of the Adrestian Empire and the Church that held power in the Monastery.

The fuming Archbishop, far more frustrated even than she'd been displaying in public, stormed past the stone-faced, dry-throated advisor who'd been waiting for her. Seteth cleared his throat, loudly and roughly, then began to speak, struggling to keep up with her furious pace. "Rhea-"

"Not now!" she shouted back at him, tilting up her shades to reveal smoldering eyes Seteth hadn't seen for many, many years. "That wretched...! Gggh, she's hardly even a grown woman, and she thinks she can challenge me?! Deny the Goddess and take Her gift from me?! I'll see her brought low, humiliated and-" she continued, muttering various curses unbecoming of an Archbishop before loudly slamming the door behind her.

"Rhea..." Seteth's mind raced with the considerations before him, whether he needed to continue to beseech Rhea for reason or actually consider a coup of the woman he'd faithfully followed for what felt like lifetimes. Suddenly, he thought of something even more important. "Oh, Goddess... Flayn!" With his own concerns and pearls to clutch, Seteth abandoned his powerwalk and broke into a run, determined to immediately confine the young woman to her room, lock it, and do whatever else it took to separate her from the madness that seemed to be overtaking the monastery.