Cordelia yawned as she walked through the camp. She had just finished caring for Aurora, making sure to give her some extra special care due to her grand performance in their last battle. Her pegasus could be moody at times, but she was a loyal companion and invaluable to her. Cordelia had managed to loose track of time and skip lunch, so she was pretty hungry. She was making her way to Gregor's tent to see if he wanted to join her for dinner.
She didn't have to go all the way to his tent, however, because she spotted Gregor running towards her from the other side of the camp. She smiled and waved as he got closer.
"Ah, Gregor! Do-" Cordelia started, but Gregor did not stop as he ignored her and sprinted by Cordelia, continuing to run until he was out of sight. She had caught a glimpse of his face and he ran by, and she was immediately concerned. He had looked incredibly distressed, and it seemed like he had been crying.
"Gregor..." Cordelia whispered to herself as she frowned. She looked back in the direction that he had come from, and her frown immediately turning into a scowl. She clenched her jaw and stalked off in the direction he had came, making a bee-line to her tent.
Cordelia had noticed that Gregor had been conversing with Tharja quite frequently as of late. That worried her, though not because she was jealous. Gregor was not that kind of man, and even if he was, he would quickly meet with the business end of Libra's ax if he tried anything with Tharja. No, Cordelia was more worried that he would come back after one of their meetings missing an eye or finger, or he'd have some horrible hex cast upon him. Judging by his reaction, Cordelia concluded that the latter may have happened, and she was not going to let Tharja get away with harming the love of her life.
Cordelia didn't bother to announce her presence as she stormed into Tharja's tent. The dark mage turned and glared at Cordelia. She was clearing items from a table, which were probably used to cast whatever hex that she did on Gregor.
"Barging into someones tent unannounced is rather rude, Cordelia." Tharja said, sniffing as she turned to continue putting away her things. Cordelia's growing anger boiled over as she lunged forward and grabbed Tharja by the collar. Tharja's eyes widened with shock for a moment before resetting into a searing glare.
"What did you do to Gregor, witch? What kind of horrible curse did you place on him?" Cordelia asked through gritted teeth. Tharja just rolled her eyes.
"I did no such thing," Tharja said as she grabbed the hand that was gripping collar and shoved it away. Cordelia kept the hand raised for a moment before lowering it slowly.
"You must have done something. I've never seen him look so upset." Cordelia said, taking a deep breath to calm her feelings of rage.
Tharja sighed. "He wanted to talk to his dead brother. He offered me his soul in exchange, so of course I couldn't refuse." Cordelia opened her mouth to protest, but Tharja ignored her and continued. "I set up the ritual and he was able to talk to his brother. It seems he was a bit overcome with emotion."
"Oh." Cordelia said, suddenly overcome with feelings of guilt. "What did his brother say?"
"I don't feel comfortable telling you that. It would be better to ask Gregor yourself. Besides," Tharja gave Cordelia a small smile, "he could probably use someone to talk to about it now, and the best person for that is you."
Cordelia nodded and looked down in shame. "Tharja...I'm sorry for barging in here and accusing you like I did. My anger clouded my judgment." she said as she looked back up at Tharja. The mage shrugged.
"Apology accepted. Now get going. You're taking up my valuable research time." Tharja said as she turned away from Cordelia. Cordelia turned to go, but she paused at the tent opening and turned back.
"Um, Tharja? You...didn't actually take Gregor's soul, did you?" she asked nervously. Tharja just shrugged.
"No. I'm too tired to perform that ritual now. I'll get around to it someday." she said, her smile hidden from Cordelia. Cordelia sighed in relief.
"Oh good. Well, I'll see you around." Cordelia said as she finally left to find Gregor.
Cordelia found Gregor standing by a large tree outside of the camp. He had one hand pressed against the trunk. His other arm was crossed in front of his face, and as she stepped closer, she could hear him sobbing softly.
"Gregor?" Cordelia said quietly as she stopped beside him. Gregor looked up at her, his eyes red and puffy as tears slowly ran down his face.
"A-ah, Cordelia. Is good to see you." Gregor said, managing a smile as he sniffed and rubbed his face. Cordelia reached out and cupped his face in her hands. Gregor blinked as she wiped his tears away.
"Tharja told me what happened. That you talked to your brother." Cordelia said as she ran her hand through Gregor's hair. Fresh tears filled his eyes. "I was so worried when I saw you run passed me earlier. I thought she had cursed you or something." Cordelia adverted her gaze. "I, um, was angry. I confronted her and kinda blew up on her. I feel terrible about it now."
Gregor laughed suddenly, startling Cordelia as he pulled her into a hug. "Oi! My Cordelia so brave! Confronting dark mage just to stand up for Gregor! Is truly blessed man to have beautiful woman love him so!" Cordelia couldn't help but smile and she laughed with him.
"Yes well, I still feel bad about it. Tharja was only helping you, right? I was very rude to her." Cordelia said, frowning as she adverted her gaze.
"Ah yes, Gregor ask Tharja for help. She not as bad as everyone think she is. Is actually big ol' softy." Gregor said with a chuckle, "You think a priest would fall in love with someone who doesn't have big heart?"
Cordelia grinned and nodded in agreement. Libra and Tharja's relationship was probably one of the oddest in the army, even more so than Virion and Sully, or Vaike and Miriel.
"Did Tharja tell Cordelia what Gregor's brother say?" Gregor asked as he ran his fingers through her hair. Cordelia shook her head.
"No. She didn't feel like it was her place to tell me. You don't have to tell me either if you don't want to. I just wanted to make sure that you were okay." Cordelia said.
"It fine, Gregor will tell you." he said as he took Cordelia's hands in his. "Gregor's brother say it not Gregor's fault that he died. That Gregor should forgive self, and that he proud of Gregor." Gregor sniffed as he fought back fresh tears that threatened to form in his eyes. Cordelia smiled and squeezed his hands.
"Oh Gregor, that's wonderful. I'm glad you got to talk with your brother again. I knew he would be proud of you. You're a wonderful man." she said as she leaned up and placed a light kiss on his lips. Gregor grinned.
"Heh, Gregor tries his best. Brother also mention Cordelia during conversation." Cordelia tilted her head, curious. "He say he happy that Gregor find wonderful woman to love, and if Gregor ever hurt Cordelia, he come back to haunt Gregor as punishment."
Cordelia giggled. "You brother sounds like he was a wonderful person. I can see where you got it from." she said as she entwined her fingers with his.
"Oh yes, Gregor's brother good man too, but Gregor much more handsome looking!" Gregor said with a laugh. Cordelia laughed along with him.
"I'll take your word for it, Gregor. You are certainly hard to beat in that department." Cordelia said as she moved her face closer to his. He grinned as their foreheads pressed together.
"Gregor has irresistible charm, and also very good kisser." he said as he closed the distance between them and pressed his lips to hers. Cordelia smiled against his lips and deepened the kiss, as the anger she had felt earlier in the day was completely forgotten.