"I don't want this!" The young girl screams at her older sister, hurling the small ring across the room. It clanks against the stone wall, and clatters to the floor. The sound echos around the room a million times, and refuses to settle.
Her older sister doesn't breath as the ring sits forlorn on the beautiful marble floor.
"Is that really how you want to treat our parents memory?" The words are soft, but they cut stronger than the blade in her older sisters hands.
Its not fair, the young girl thinks, she can't do anything with a silly little ring. With tears in her eyes and shame on her face, the young girl retrieves the ring. She cradles it in her palm, before closing her fingers around it, expecting the little thing to warp in the strength of her hold. It doesn't.
She turns to her older sister with fire in her eyes, "I prefer the lance anyway" turns, and leaves the room.
-\/-
Kjelle's first battle is not long after their parents death. Lucina leads her own troops, the remaining shepards, and Kjelle is left behind in the reserves to wait. Lucina tells her that she is to young, but they are only two years apart and Lucina leads her own army. Its not fair, Kjelle has never wanted to be defined by inactivity, she can't do anything waiting in the reserves. Kjelle resolves that she will triple her training regiment, and that when Lucina returns, she'll challenge her to a practice bout.
Kjelle doesn't need to. The reinforcements are called to fight, and her beautiful new armor is scratched and scared just as she wanted. Kjelle discovers that she loves it. She loves it less when Lucina comes back with a gash in her gut, blood escaping and flesh holding on for dear life as soldiers rush her back to the healers, where Aunt Lissa will save her life.
She thinks of the beautiful sword at Lucina's side, and she yells for support. The men follow her as if she was their actual leader, and they smash into the enemy lines with a vengeance. But its no use. They fight for hours, and the waves of risen just keep coming. She sees Lucina, coming towards her, paler than before, but moving and mended. They agree, between thrashing risen, that a retreat is all they can do. Kjelle's only condition is that they personally seal the retreat. Her older sister smiles and they call out for the troops to move.
The two of them are back to back, alone, bloody, and dying when Gerome and Cynthia swoop in and save them.
-\/-
"I have the right of it Lucina, we cannot stay." The pain in Lucina's eyes is something Kjelle notices, but she's never been the type to be overly concerned about such things. To Kjelle, its only a place. A palace of stone and a stronghold that will not stand. To Lucina, it is home: the place where she trained with father, rode on horses with mother, and sang songs with Aunt Lissa. Kjelle has to remind her that its just a place, and that if they stay it will become a tomb.
"Valm is where we will find Naga. We cannot stay." Lucina still does not speak, but Kjelle sees how her hand tightens on Falchion's handle. Kjelle stands her ground. "You are the exalt, you must do what is best for your country and people, even if that means uprooting them. That sword is just as much for leading as it is for slashing. Don't let sentimentality muck your judgment."
Kjelle says her piece, turns, and leaves the room. She knows she's won.
-\/-
"Let me see it." Lucina states firmly, and Kjelle knows that even if she protests, her older sister will still win. She relents, taking great pains to remove the armor on her left foot. Lucina helps, and once the armor and the legging is away, a dark purple bruise wraps around her ankle. That tight frown on Lucina's face tells Kjelle all she needs to know. She wants to stab Laurent. Once for noticing, and twice for telling.
"We will have this looked at. Even simple injuries can be very damaging." Lucina doesn't ask how long, or if it hurts, or any of those girly concern things that Kjelle hates. Visiting Brady is not something Kjelle wants to do, but there is a pecking order, and Lucina is on top of it. Kjelle could challenge it, but the bruise is sore; she has no chance of beating Lucina unless she's in peak physical condition.
-\/-
Kjelle raises her chin, and spreads her feet, as if she's to hold off an enemy advance. "Coward" She says the word with every intent that it will wound. Lucina matches her stance and gaze undaunted.
"You're being unreasonable, Kjelle. We have a chance to change everything. It would be foolish to let this opportunity go."
Kjelle lets the statement hang in the air, before hardening her features. "Craven. You want to go off to the past so you can run to daddy. So he can tell you how special his little girl is and how well you've done. And while you're admiring shadows of the past, our people will die, abandoned by their exalt."
"Aunt Lissa died giving us this opport-"
"Aunt Lissa died because we were too weak to save her! You, me, both of us! This is not something we can just run away from!" Lucina's statement had been calm and collected, but Kjelle's interruption booms with ferocity and anger. "We're failures. Our country is in ruin and you want to run off to daddy so he can save the day for us! Thats not how it works."
Lucina looks away, and doesn't answer, but Kjelle can see her grip on Falchion tighten. She is preparing her next assault when Lucina walks to the door and opens it before turning back to Kjelle. "I can't convince you that I'm right. If you won't listen to reason I'll beat it into you."
Lucina walks from the room, and Kjelle follows her in silence. The two make their way down to the practice area, once a vibrant court yard, and now only remnants of mismanaged ruins. The regular rabble of troops part to let the two princesses pass. The two argue often, and this is a common way of resolving their disputes. One of the men hands Kjelle her wooden practice lance, and Kjelle take it without even realizing who it was that gave it to her.
She turns to look at her older sister, only to see that Lucina isnt stopping, and is now moving past the ruins of the keep and into the remnants of the forest that had survived all the fires. Kjelle scrunches up her face in irritation and confusion. Its dangerous to go out to far, so Kjelle opts for her steel spear as well as her practice weapon, and follows her sister.
Lucina doesn't stop for a long time, well past the prying eyes of the other soldiers and Kjelle's temper is already in fight mode. It is enough, she decides, and stops. When Lucina doesn't stop with her, Kjelle speaks up, her voice obviously irritated. "This is enough." At that, Lucina does stop. She looks over her shoulder at Kjelle, before turning around entirely.
"Kjelle, I know that the decision I'm making might not be the right one, but it is the only path I can chose."
"Coward, thats what you are. You don't want to stand and fight when you can lose. The only path you can chose my eye. You chose to abandon your people. You chose to abandon this life we've worked so hard to preserve. Disgusting."
Kjelle readies her practice weapon, and takes an offensive stance. "We didn't come here to talk, Lucina."
There is noticeable distress in Lucina's eyes, but that melts away into anger. Lucina shakes her head. "You're right. We didn't." With one solid movement, Lucina grips Falchion's handle, and draws it. Kjelle watches in stunned silence as the sword glows in Lucina's had. They've always fought with practice weapons, never with real ones. Heal staffs are too rare to get a nick in a practice match, and yet there Lucina stood, with their father's sword, ready to fight her.
"Draw your lance Kjelle. I'll have you with me, or I'll leave you here. But know that you are fighting the exalt of Ylisse."
Anger registers in Kjelle faster than anything else. How dare she, how dare Lucina. The sword that never leaves her side, the sword that their father left behind, the holy symbol of their country, the key to saving the world; the sword Kjelle hadn't even been able to touch in the whole of her life and Lucina had chosen to fight her with it.
"Exalt of nothing." Kjelle growls, reaching for her steel lance.
-\/-
The two of them stand side by side in silence, and watch as Ylisse celebrates a long hard victory won. Chrom stands valiantly, waving to the crowd of joyous onlookers, his lovely wife beside him, with a small blue haired bundle in hand. They look happy, and in love.
They had been expected to attend, but Kjelle finds her older sister here, away from the happiness of victory and she understands that this was not their time or place.
She gives Lucina a gentle look. "Shall we?" Lucina doesn't look away from the glorious castle of Ylisse, and the happiness of its countrymen, but she nods.
"We shall."