Title: Trinity through Time
Summary: Look after them while we're gone. Lucina and Morgan have their own baggage to carry around; maybe they can help each other unpack a little. Sibling Centric.
Pairings: F/Avatar(Robin)/Chrom, but they're not the focus.
This is my first FE fic, basically spawned from the big twin theory and I ran with it without looking back. Some of this might be confusing if you don't know about the Future Past DLC as I took inspiration from it. Also, I may have taken some creative liberties, so don't be surprise if you find things that don't jive with canon.
The cool item rested inside the palms of her hand.
The pendant had the likeness and comfort of her Mother, a gift from long ago – not unlike the Falchion that carried the presence of her Father's burden.
Her fingers curled around it as if to protect it from the world, though she knew in her bones that was a lie.
Look after them while we're gone.
An embrace from Mother and a pat on the head from Father before both were gone.
Mother's request, the softness of her voice that carried resigned determination, was the last memory she ever carried of her parent.
Your Father was killed by someone he trusted and your Mother was stolen from us.
It was pathetic.
The one being protected was always her, just her.
Lucina had two siblings.
This time she only had one.
"Do you like it here?"
Falchion's arc swung half circle; her left eye caught his serene smile.
This blue haired stranger was once the angel of her world was now a ghost from another hell.
"I would give my body to any cause just to protect this world from Grima."
A shudder jolted her senses, but her body had long since become worn out to reacting to such emotional links when Grima's name was uttered.
"Sooo, that's a yes?
"Yes, I do, she smiled."
Memories of her Father's sparring and wearing dresses for Mother pranced through her mind, memories she thought she'd never be able to create and repeat in practice.
As if reading her mind he responded –
"Mother is here, and I also have you and Father, I'm glad I can make new memories here."
"As am I."
With streams of sweat falling down her back, Lucina sheaved Falchion and stretched her back until she thought her spine would sigh.
His smile waned but didn't vanish, his expression looked starved.
"You're my only sister."
Her back was turned to him; she would not be vulnerable to him.
"Do you know me?"
Lucina touched his face, her thumb moved softly over his right eye lid.
No one knows you, but that is my burden.
She did not say those words out loud.
She clutched Falchion tight, as tight as she could, when the Shepherds journeyed to the same land in another time.
It was her present in another's.
Darkness covered the sky as the sun had long since said goodbye. Of course sun still existed. But the screams of the living seemed to have scared it away.
Any plants that seemed unable to die yet lacked the color of life.
The water seemed blacker to her than she remembered.
The silence of animal life threatened to suffocate her under the weight of its size.
To her, this was the real present.
She reached out, but her Brother was gone.
Grimacing, she followed her Mother, close enough to help, but far enough to hide away.
Seeing your dead parents would be shocking enough, seeing yourself might be asking too much.
"Halt!"
When things had settled down after her Brother's introduction into the family and Shepherds, she had told Owain and Laurent, the former due to being her cousin and the latter because he made everyone his priority, to keep any curiosities of the others at bay and just help Morgan adjust to his new life amongst them. Thankfully, they understood without complaints and, considering the situation, agreed her judgment was for the best.
After all, it wouldn't be a hassle; Owain was the only one who knew her brother from before. Lucina had definitely made sure of that, much to her past dismay and current relief. Being isolated had its benefits along with its fellow disgrace.
Owain had left the tent with a holler of dramatic flair as he went off to search for his memory absent younger cousin.
Laurent had chosen to linger behind. He didn't know the whole story, but that didn't change the fact he knew her. Concerned, he had offered advice over his assessment of the situation.
"There are other ways to deal with burdens besides silence."
Their gazes had caught each other - hook, line, and sinker. Infinite possibilities and time blinked between them so suddenly that it took a sun glare from Laurent's lens to nudge her away from it all. Laurent had given a composed, but hurried pardon before leaving to assist her Mother as her self proclaimed number one assistant.
Allowing a wry smile, Lucina eased herself up and left her shadowy tent, hefting Falchion weight to her side with her trademark stiff upper lip.
"Memories, is he better off without them?"
Her own memories had helped her as much as they hindered.
"Where are you?"
Lucina huffed, her blue dress wrinkled with dirt.
The one she sought played hide and seek like it was war.
"Found you!"
The shriek caused the young girl to leap to the side. The action was enough to dodge the full weight from barreling into her, but it wasn't enough to escape the grasping fingers that caught her dress. Both tumbled down with a thud and the nearby nanny's barely eyed the two children due to having grown used to such antics. Such things were better left to the scolding parents whom the children were more likely to respond to.
"That's not how you play the game!"
Lucina scowled, but brushed the other child of dirt as she helped her up.
"Got bored, so I made it more exciting!"
The girl laughed and jumped away to cling to a nearby tree.
"Go hide. Anywhere's fine! I'll always find you."
Lucina ran, determined not to lose, and hid as high in a tree she was allowed. She could see the entire area and track her seeker with relative ease as well as stay hidden thanks to the leafy greens. If she had the chance, she'd climb down and scamper to another hiding spot that had already been searched. She would not lose this time.
Time sped by like light from a dying day's sun as Lucina's palms grew tired of clinging to tree bark.
Irrationality cracked against her spine like a whip and Lucina clawed her fingers as deep into the bark as she could.
She felt as lonely as darkness without stars or the moon.
Alone, she wondered what it would be like to be alone. This thought had formed only once before, back when she wondered what she would have done if her father – or anyone, hadn't been able to climb up and gathered her scared witless form from the tree she had been stuck in when she had climbed too high.
She counted the number of times she had been able to find or evade the seeker and the count couldn't jump past zero.
Determination to win battled her desire to climb down and shout 'I'm here' to whoever would hear.
She was never good at this game.
"Morgan?"
His nose was in book, probably his sixth one of the morning, it appeared he hadn't heard her. He was probably preparing another grand battle of the tactics against Mother. She pursed her lips, not liking his carefree nature if it left him exposed – of course she never worried about him putting allies in danger. But he still needed to worry about himself more.
A deep chuckle showed how alert he was and he gave her attention.
"I heard your footsteps, a good tactician memorizes the patterns of their comrades, you're the only one who walks too fast and stomps your feet down too hard at the same time. Funny thing is you're the exact opposite on the battle field."
"Right."
She handed him back the book he had let her borrowed earlier with gratitude for his generosity. Stretching his back, Morgan resumed his study with his sister by his side. A new flame birthed to life as a light licked the wick of a new candle Lucina had produced from his stock. The light caused her face to glow yellow while his eyes seemed to turn red.
"I saw you."
Morgan closed his book and the frown alone showed his mind was in a whirl of calculating his sister.
Her eyes widened before straining against the glare of both the flame and her brother's intensity.
"I know you well enough Lucina, you're reaching your breaking point."
She wants to refuse him, she can't bear to leave him nor can she embrace him.
"I don't have one."
"That's a lie."
Morgan stood to walk over and open the tent flap to invite starlight moonlight inside and blew out the candle fire so the darkness would have no choice but to bring them together.
She could flee, but couldn't run from family - not again.
She wasn't paying so much attention to her Mother's words so much as the tone of her voice and noting the calm, if not, almost maternal quality laced around it when they were confronted by the stranger whose face was hidden by the hood of their dark robe.
Déjà vu crept up her spine and threatened to choke her, but she fought it off.
A stranger was threatening her Mother.
Lucina hung back, ready to strike, but aware of her Mother's deliberate vulnerable gestures towards the servant of Grima.
She took the scene in as a wary watcher until her heart lurched out of her when she witnesses the gift her Mother gave away.
Suddenly her hands are clammy and she quickly gathered the fallen book from her side in desperate haste before anyone could notice.
At that moment, she couldn't imagine anything heartless but the whole in people's hearts.
Time was an odd ally, it took as much as it gave and so she couldn't hate or love it beyond what she spent of it.
"What were they like?"
From hearing his question, she supposed she was the one who slipped up.
"When did you figure it out?"
Even as she asked, her mind flashed back to there first meeting in this new world.
Her eyes had revealed her true self, just as they had with this world's Father and Mother.
Morgan's eyes, save his shimmering branded right that reminded her of a lone star, looked as black as the darkest night. Her musings on how his eyes were like the night sky almost made her miss his reply.
"When I think back on it, I noticed how you looked at me. You seemed scared and sad, and even lonely. For awhile, when you thought I wasn't looking, you would just stare in my direction as if you kept expecting something, or someone, to show up. Then there was…"
He didn't finish, she already knew.
"…I'm so sorry."
She made him worry; he shouldn't have to worry about this – not to say she never wished he wouldn't worry at all, his lack of visibly worry sometimes worried… everyone.
"Don't be, I was the one who made you worry. I didn't mean to, but I did, so it's fair as long as we both keep working on it."
Even in darkness, she could make out his solid smile become uneven with the slight tilt of his head. His movements were so serene it was easy to sometimes miss the unlimited energy his body and character possessed. Their Mother had once commented one could light up the whole world with it.
He was so similar and yet so different...
"Lucina, is Morgan my real name?"
The wind intruded upon them and brushed against her back with a maternal touch. She exhaled a breath she had been holding and took her brother's image in and tried not to compare from long ago.
Lucina had her Father's looks, temper, justice, fashion sense, along with the brand shining like a star in her left eye. From her Mother; the smile, ability to bond with others, and more wit from her then her Father.
Mark was the only son. He carried the brand in his right eye and had the same deep blue hair of his Father as well as the ability to break things, an ability Lucina also possessed to the woes of many weapons. But everything else from the smile, expression, magnetic character, and the shape of his eyes belonged to his Mother.
Morgan carried the brand on her forehead, not unlike her Aunt Emmeryn – may she rest in peace, and flashed a smile just like her Father's. But appearance wise, she was practically a smaller version of her Mother.
Morgan was also… an energetic girl to say the least.
Out of the three siblings, she was the last to be born, but was definitely the most outgoing for all things considered. She climbed everything and ran everywhere as if she was the wild wind incarnate. Her parents often worried she'd never develop a sense of fear of anything that would hold her back from being too reckless. Their Father would often comment he was going to die of a heart attack one day because of Morgan and it would be her Mother's fault due to claims of taking after her more than him. Mother had always given him a pointed before loudly, for he always began lame attempts at shushing her, recounting the number of times his own lack of fear caused him to wander into traps against better judgment.
Perhaps what was more alarming was Mark's willingness to follow his danger insistent twin wherever she went which doubled the inevitable trouble.
"You're going to get hurt if you keep wandering off like that!"
Lucina, not even eleven, pulled her younger laughing siblings like a scolding nanny away from the garden and into the safety of the castle halls. She knew guards and servants surrounded the area like a flock of watchful mother hens, but Mark and Morgan's wellbeing was her responsibility, especially when both their parents were absent on their campaign.
"We're looking for Mother!"
Morgan's grin flashed her teeth and Lucina was given the impression of a wild puppy that bit out of affection.
She knew from personal experience after all, she considered those her first battle scars.
"Morgan, do you want that name?"
He considered his older woman, even with the lack of light; he saw the same stern and determined expression she tried to convince everyone was her real face when confronting the world. But Lucina did not need to confront the world, she was with him and as her friend and brother, he would never be fooled.
"Lucina, you're too honest."
He laughed at her sudden change.
"I'm fine, he continued, my life started when Father found me in that temple and brought me to Mother and you. As far as I'm concerned, I've always been your Morgan."
Lucina relaxed, even when she knew it was right to still worry about Morgan's thoughts, it wasn't correct to ever be wary of his disposition.
"Besides, it was her name. My head may not remember anything but Mother, but I still couldn't forget my bond to her. This name is proof enough, I'm sure Mother would see it that way too."
"Right, I'd like to see it that way too."
Lucina graced a smile that Morgan knew he could have seen a thousand miles away.
Another question nipped at his mind and his face broke a little in a way that could shatter anyone's heart.
"Hey Lucina?"
"…?"
"Am I a good person?"
The roar of dragons boiled the blood of innocents and the wrath of ancients stormed against all like the oceans.
Nothing matters.
Nothing is real.
Nothing fulfilled.
Just Master Grima's will.
A face once soft now as hard as steel.
I love you?
I fear you.
"Until the day I met her, I didn't know the difference – no, I didn't care enough to know the difference."
The wind was cold as it blasted against the bodies who defied it.
"I'm sorry, Mother, I couldn't forget you."
His body felt warm, he hadn't realized it was cold.
Lucina was hugging him, he didn't know if she was crying or not.
"You're my little Brother, always."
"…I didn't ask that."
"You didn't have too."
He wrapped his arms around her.
He didn't know who it was he was trying to assure himself was real.
The mournful howl didn't even sound human as the boy clutched the girl with so much might, one could think it would have made a difference.
She gave him a primal smile as her blood fed the ground like rain.
"You live, its better this way, the words mixed with her blood and his tears as they fought their way out."
Blood mixed with fallen tears that burned her skin alive, but she paid it no heed.
"Put me through hell; just have mercy on my Brother."
She prayed to any who would listen.
"Give him the real Mother we lost."
The darkness descended upon him before her. The clash sound was so invasive and chaotic he couldn't tell if it was laughter or screaming he was hearing. He thought his mind would rip apart and his spirit would obliterate into a million mismatched pieces that no one would put together again.
A touch quieted the world.
So be it, a voice called out.
He was gone.
A woman stood over the girl.
"I never hated you."
The corporal woman in red closed the girl's eyes and hummed a forgotten rhyme.
"I won't forget you."
"I'm sorry, Lucina."
And she saw her Father's light.
The two siblings untangled themselves from their hug and felt shivers from the cool wind in part thanks to their now sweaty clothes.
"You're my Brother, okay?"
It didn't matter where this Morgan came from what version of Mother had given birth to him, he was still her Morgan.
He was the only Morgan she had left.
"You're the only Lucina I remember, the only one I started my life with."
Morgan's full smile was back, he seemed adjusted. This was the reality he chose, nothing else mattered. Morgan would always accept what was in front of him with no regard for hesitation or doubt. His straightforward, if not, extreme approach to living made it easy for others to feel confused over whether to view Morgan with vulnerable admiration or terrified respect.
"Lucina?"
"Yes?"
"They shouldn't have to be a burden."
The subject didn't need elaboration, they both knew without words needing spoken.
"…You're right, Morgan. I was wrong to doubt our bonds. Neither you nor she deserves that."
"Together, we've got this."
She could tell his eyes were closed, the shimmer of his bloodline disappeared for several blinks.
When he opened them, his voice was full of yearning.
"I don't know what happened, but I won't leave you, not again."
She ran and ran, her legs felt as though they were not her own as the concept of wear and tear became extinct for her body.
Her feelings were becoming memories, her memories were becoming dreams.
HOPE
HOPE
HOPE
Rinse and repeat, she couldn't forget the word, even if at times she forgot the meaning.
Hope leads somewhere, her Father always hoped; she wished his strength hadn't left with him.
Lucina.
That was her name, the name her Mother gave her. It meant light, to give birth to light was the role Lucina had to live up to. Even in darkness, even behind another name, she would learn to grow strong enough to live up to the name her Mother blessed her with. If she was not ready, then she would pretend she was until then.
"I have to make another world."
"One of light, not darkness."
"I can not make my own light."
"I'm not worthy."
"I couldn't protect the light of my own siblings."
The sounds of laughter had ceased, but the weight behind them still pressed and pushed her thoughts forward when she entered the new world of old.
"…Morgan, you're not my second chance."
He nodded; his eyes didn't look so red when the next candle had lit, the blue brand in his dark grey eye reminded her of the afternoon sky post rainfall.
"What's done is done, you're not mine either."
Her face had taken a more golden glow, flame and starlight mixing and complimenting against her skin.
"You're my friend and you became my family."
"I can't replace you."
"I won't fail you."
She learned from her past, as long as she was alive, she could look forward to the future.
"Do you want me to tell you more, about my life?"
His eyes lit and smile up like fire.
"Yeah, tell me everything!"
She sat next to him and nostalgically ruffled his hair the same why Father used to do for her.
"Where should I begin?"
"Where ever you want."
Lucina stood a distance off from her friends.
Graves for her parents had finally been made, now that she felt confident they wouldn't be defiled or broken.
Victory had been won; lives that would have been lost had been saved.
The sky was a brighter blue than she ever remembered and it made memories she had once thought lost resurface in a daze.
"I won't make graves for you just yet."
Their graves would be built the same day hers would.
She would like to keep hope alive.
Until the day she died.
"I pray for your happiness, if you're still out there, wherever you are, even if it isn't with me."
She gave a start when she felt the breeze rustle her long hair, almost like it was being pulled on.
She gave a soft laugh.
Morgan would have done something like that if she had been by her side.
She gave a salute to her both her parent's graves and walked back to her throne.
For the first time, she felt completely confident things were, and would be, okay.
Note
The reason I chose Mark for the name of (M) Morgan had to do with finding out some translators naming male Morgan that before the game was localized. I figured I'd go with that since naming twins the same name would be weird.
The pendant of Lucina's Mother comes from her support with Gerome.