Chapter 1: Storm
(Author's Note: My only ownership of Fire Emblem: Awakening is the 3DS game cartridge, otherwise I own nothing.
Thank you to Exalted_Dawn for beta reading, and giving this fic the extra amount of shine it needed! Thank you as well to NightwingDiva for the original idea, and giving me permission to do my own spin on it. And of course, thank you to the readers for doing your thing, and taking a look at this fic! Hope you enjoy!)
This was drowning weather. The ocean heaved and pitched like a wounded beast, white flecked waves as uncountable and constant as the lightning flashes. And the lightning itself was a pulse point in the clouds. White clawed fingers tore across blackened, night stained underbellies. Thunder crashed and the wind roared as constant companions. Both forces conspired to tear the sky and sea asunder.
The mermaid broke from the waves. Her form shimmered and thrashed against the storm streaked sky. A golden chain glimmered around her neck, a compass suspended on it's links and burning bright against the lightning. The metal weighed heavy on her skin, another bit of pressure trying to tug her under. She fought to keep her head above the ocean, mouth agape and gulping for air. Each wave threatened to pull her under, the water turning traitor and burning her lungs as if she'd never breathed it.
Her tail thrashed against the waves, the entire limb struggling like she was a fish on a hook. The violet scales were bright in the gloom, water running in rivulets over them and the fins of her tail. But for all that, she still struggled to keep afloat.
"H-" the sound escaped her throat, and she coughed as saltwater tried to rush into its place.
Why couldn't she swim? Wasn't she supposed to be able to swim? Wasn't she Mer? She was meant to be one of the sea folk, the waves as much a part of her as the blood in her veins.
At least… she thought that was true.
"He-" the terror of going under gripped at her.
Her tail didn't help. It burned, throbbing. It was as though something fought its way out from the inside, splitting her tail apart in the process. The same happened to her head, feeling like it was getting sliced open and her memories were cast out to the waves. She couldn't remember anything; not how to swim, not who or where she was. Nor why she'd fought to the surface, daring this storm in the first place.
"Hel-" There was one thing she knew, as the water washed over her head. As the sea tried to take back what belonged to it.
She was about to drown.
"HELP!" She cried into the tossing, churning sea. Not knowing if anyone, or anything could hear her in such a place.
-o-o-o-
'Gods, but where did this storm come from?' Chrom squinted against the wind. His reward was more rain driving into his eyes. The winds buffeted his face, at odds with how calm they'd been one moment ago. It had been a calm evening, but in a heartbeat, the stars were snuffed out like a dozen candles. A vicious wind howled across the waves and drove dark clouds with it.
'Well, if nothing else, you've found what you were sent out for. Though I doubt Emm's going to be pleased on HOW you found it.' He stared at the darkened clouds and their storms. His lips managed a wry smile... Before showing his teeth when another lightning flash threatened to strike the mast.
The ship timbers creaked in protest. It was as though the vessel growled back at the storm, showing its defiance to the force that dared to try and sink it.
Not that Chrom was about to stay idle, and let his ship get pulled under. The brig creaked again, throwing itself up into the slope of one rising wave. His grip was a vice on the ship's wheel, fighting to keep her rudder in place and their bearing straight.
"BRACE!" Came the cry. All around he saw faint forms throwing themselves forward or gripping the most stable thing around.
Chrom leaned into the wheel, his grip turned to iron. Ocean spray splashed into his face, as the prow sliced through the wave clean as a knife. Sea spray blasted out to either side. The world went from climbing to falling, the ship skidding down the opposite side of the wave.
'Still afloat.'
"Frederick!" He called out. "How does she ride!?"
Chrom squinted into the brackish gloom, searching for an answer. If the lightning wasn't so intent on flashing all about them, they would have been sailing blind. Rainwater had already splashed into most of the lanterns, snuffing them out.
"Well enough, sir!" Answered the same voice that shouted for them to brace. That voice had no trouble calling above the storm. It was one of Frederick's many talents onboard a ship, and yet another thing that made him invaluable for the crew. "We may yet weather this storm!"
Which was Frederick-speak for 'things are actually looking survivable, but don't any of you dare let your guard down.' The crew heard that inferred order. They threw themselves smartly into their tasks, anticipating the next swell already. Chrom peered over the wheel, to see Frederick making his way across the deck.
Along the way, the quartermaster-turned-knight did what he needed to set things aright. The ship was a hive of activity equal to the rain and thunder. Sumia hadn't tripped over any of the rigging, as she'd been in the masts with Virion when the winds hit. Vaike tried to do five things at once as usual, and Frederick gave the raider a stern look before delegating some of the tasks to the nearby crew. Miriel accepted the work load without a complaint. Ricken stepped up as well, and just as overbearingly eager as Vaike. Sully and Stahl worked as a duo, winding ropes and tying things down. Maribelle and Kellam were out of sight, hopefully below decks and keeping the hull from springing any leaks. And Lissa-
His sister had fallen into step behind Frederick. If her stagger could be called a step. He'd seen drunks move with more grace, and if he needed any proof that she hadn't found her sea legs yet... that was it. Though he wouldn't dare say any of that aloud, as an elbow to his ribs wouldn't help with steering.
"Um, Chrom..." her voice was little more than a mumble, and she was green in the face. "I, um-"
"She DID complete her task before her stomach decided on mutiny." Chrom swore he saw a flash of a smile on Frederick's face; a last minute jape before the storm tore into them again. Lissa groaned, and almost pitched face first into the deck as the next swell shifted the ship. Frederick's hand snatched out to stop her.
"So she can take a rest here?" Chrom managed, feeling a tremor build in his arms. Frederick simply nodded, which was all Lissa needed to collapse onto the stern bench and curl up in a ball.
"I take it back about not being delicate." Lissa moaned. "I am a delicate, wilting flower in a washtub. Chrom can you please, please, PLEASE do something to make the storm-"
She didn't get a chance to finish whatever impossible request she had. Lightning split the sky and turned the world white, and the boom of thunder drowned out his own heartbeat.
"S-stay there Lissa." Chrom managed, hating the way his voice wavered. Frederick caught the tremor, frowning in concern.
"Gods, where did this storm come from?" The knight muttered under his breath. "I've never known them to spring up so suddenly, and we're little more than a twig in a rapid, caught out in open water like thi-"
They didn't even see the next swell, barreling into them with a shudder that sent the mast ropes to snapping. Chrom's fingers wrenched from the wheel. His body went spinning, slamming, skidding across the deck until he fetched up against the brig's side.
"MILORD!" Frederick's shout could have stopped the ship, if it wasn't for another clap of thunder that drowned out even his voice.
"F-fine! I'm fine!" Chrom managed. "N-nothing broken, I just lost my grip. And balance-" He wheezed, feeling a bruise along his ribs. "And... and my breath. Can you take the wheel-?"
He barely finished the question when Frederick stepped up, hands impossibly steady and keeping them on course.
"Th-thanks..." Chrom had enough time to catch his breath. His legs shivered like a land man on their first voyage, and he had to lean against the railing to steady himself.
The wind did strange things to his ears. For an instant he swore he heard something carried on the storm; a voice, a faint cry, a plea for help.
'Just the storm and nerves playing tricks on you.' He tried to tell himself. But Chrom still felt a shiver run down his spine. One that wasn't caused by the rain running from his hair and down his neck.
He chanced a look down, over the ship's side. Only ocean stared back at him, peaks and waves numerous as trees in a forest, and the water black glass-
Another bolt of lightning came, close enough it was a miracle it didn't strike them.
But Chrom didn't look to the sky. Instead he stared at the water, and the shock of color he'd seen against the dark ocean. It had been like the blaze of a falling star against the night, there for one bright second then fading out.
"Milord-?" Frederick tried to say, only for Chrom to lean forward, staring, trying to find the sight again. Another stroke of lightning, and his eyes found it.
It was a flash of white hair, and a pair of arms feebly trying to beat against the waves and stay afloat. It was a person, tossed mercilessly by the ocean. They swept past the ship, a hand's width away from crashing into the hull.
"F-Frederick, there!" Chrom stretched a hand out, and the knight caught a glimpse of what he pointed at. That much was clear from the way Frederick's eyes went wide.
"MAN OVERBOARD!" Frederick bellowed into the storm winds. "Get a rope out-!"
Chrom leaned further over the railing. He tried to keep sight on the castaway; as though he could keep them from vanishing by watching long and intent enough.
'Gods, how can someone swim in currents like that!?' He couldn't stop staring in strange fascination. Battered as the person was, some unknown strength kept them struggling against the waves. Even he'd be tried badly by that, and yet this person still fought.
"Just hang on," he whispered to the swimmer, even if he knew the words wouldn't reach. But he had to do something. He had a foot on the railing, half readying himself to jump over and after the stranger. The rational part of his head screamed protest and tried to hold him back.
The figure lifted their eyes, meeting his for a heartbeat. The breath froze in Chrom, at the intensity in that gaze-
He didn't see the next wave, this time crashing against and over the deck. The surface went slick under his feet, the force of the wave pitching him head first over the rail. The ship tumbled about him, only to be replaced by empty air as he shot over the side.
Confused, he thrashed and choked down a shout when his shoulder scrapped against the siding, hard enough to draw blood. The impact threw him outward, dazed as the air swept past him in a free fall.
The waves leapt up, eager to snap over him.
-o-o-o-
The ship appeared before her, like an island looming out of the gloom. It shot life into her limbs, reminding them how to struggle through the water.
The mermaid stretched her arms out and swam towards the ship. Her tail thrashed and kicked, even if every stroke was akin to swimming through needles. Somehow she had to find the strength and reach that place, the one safe and solid thing in the storm.
She didn't have anything left in her lungs to shout for help. Instead she focused on climbing the waves the same way the ship did. The waters carried her, eager to get her to the vessel... or smash her against it.
There was no guarantee the humans on board would be friendly to her either. Not with how many ships her own kind had sent to the depths. Perhaps it would be better just to sink back into the ocean-
'No!' she screwed her eyes shut. Her head still ached from trying to remember, and the constant flashes of light did nothing to help. Her form tumbled through the currents, fins still churning and trying to find a stable point in the water-
"MAN OVERBOARD!" The cry went out, strangely harsh on her ears. Her head yanked up, up above the walls of the near fortress of a ship. Outlined in the flare of lightning was someone staring down at her. Hair the color of calm waters was plastered against his face, and framed storm-colored blue eyes. Those eyes were fixed on her. Staring at her like the storm was little more than a drizzle, and she was almost lost in the deep, azure color.
For an instant the pain in her head ceased, as she met his gaze.
A lurch in her heart made up for that pause when he tipped over the side. The movements were almost sluggish. He slumped against the railing, hung against it like a wave about to break, and then toppled over the edge. His arms and legs moved uselessly in the air, as effective as her tail would've been on land.
For a split second he was outlined against the storm. Lightning crawled across the clouds in curious patterns, his form a dark blur against the silver streaked sky. He hung in the air.
The next desperate breath, he hit the sea with a spray and splash that drowned out the thunder in her ears. The waves swallowed any ripples and bubbles.
He didn't surface.
Above, voices pitched into a frenzy; someone was crying a name, "Chrom!? CHROM!" in a panic. A figure in blue carapace resembling a lobster hung onto a yellow dressed girl. She looked ready to throw herself into the sea as well. Their eyes searched the waves, and washed blindly over her.
And still, the man whose gaze she'd met didn't breach the waves.
She almost sank. Pain spread along her throat like someone had taken a sewing needle along her neck and was sealing up rents in the side. Her breath came harder and harder, the waves determined to drag her down.
She tipped her head to the sky, catching a brief blink of silver traced clouds. The next moment she shut her eyes and took a deep breath. Then she lunged forward and let the waves take her.
Something fluttered desperately at the sides of her neck, and she recognized gills trying to pull the last bits of air from the water. They tried their best to grant her another breath before they vanished completely. Her tail churned and sent her down, and she never turned her sight back to the surface.
Through the flickering beams of light, she saw the drowning man. He kicked, almost but not quite swimming; the great cloak that tangled about him was a weight around his neck. The silver ornaments around his shoulder added to the burden. All of it conspired to pull him down, into the darker waters.
She closed the distance in a blink, and her hands wrapped around the cords binding the armor to his form. His own hands followed, reacting to the touch. His eyes blinked, unseeing in the water, but his fingers were still nimble and helped her unhook the weights. The silver armor fell from him, the white cloak billowing like a sail before sinking.
The fluttering in her neck ceased. The waters closed in around her, darker and crueler than before, intent on stealing her breath. She had to get them to the surface before-
Before something happened. Or something reached them. She couldn't remember what. Couldn't think clearly. Her tail thrashed again, her nerves twitching from anticipation and a still building pain.
There were other gleaming bits of metal; something at his side that drifted at an odd angle. Her hand brushed against it, and a hot streak followed as a cut opened in her palm.
'Sword blade.'
Blood went up in a red cloud and mingled with a tear in the man's shoulder. But she couldn't dwell on a small cut like that. Instead she seized him by the shoulders and pulled him upwards. Each push from her tail was a struggle, a fight against currents that wanted to pull her down and keep her trapped under the waves.
Her tail screamed, feeling like it was being split down the middle. But she still fought to the surface. The space above the ocean was growing brighter, almost a strange pale blue as something shone down from the clouds-
She broke through the waves, right as the pain turned white hot. It shot from limbs to head, blinding her thoughts. A flare of blue light lanced through her vision, taking her sight. A keening noise slipped out of her throat, only to turn into a sob. Her feet twitched in a faint kick, weakness washing over her. Something had gone wrong with her legs and feet.
'Feet?' She had enough strength to feebly wonder why that felt so strange. The sensation of legs kicked out, but they couldn't fight the sea. Another wave crashed down on her, and she almost slipped under. Her hands groped out blindly, and fastened around something.
Rope.
Now that they were back in the realm of sound, a shout went up from the ship.
"WE HAVE THEM! PULL!" She wasn't sure if the order was meant for her or not. She shivered, weakness gnawing at her arms and her hands almost slipped from the line. Her head dipped dangerously close to the sea surface.
A pair of arms wrapped around her and kept her from going under.
"Are you-?" A voice sputtered in her ear, and a second pair of legs kicked at the water, keeping them above the frothing waves. "Are you okay? J-just hang on."
Robin only managed a gasp in answer, her hand reaching out and snagging in cloth. Her other clung to the rope.
A hand wrapped around hers, tightening their shared grip on the rope. The other looped the rope around them, the coil going tight and biting at her bare back. Her head listed to the side, thumping against a sodden chest.
"Hold on, okay? Hold-"
Her last sight was of azure eyes staring at her underneath waterlogged blue bangs. Almost as blue as the sea itself.
-o-o-o-
If her stomach hadn't been sick before, then watching Chrom vanish did the job of twisting her guts into knots. Frederick was the only thing holding her still as Lissa strained after him.
"Milady, we don't gain anything with another person lost at sea!" His voice brought her back to reality, and Lissa hung slack in his grip.
"I-I know, but-!"
"Eyes open, lady Lissa." Frederick continued. "We'll get a rope out as fast as we can, if we can only find him and the other castaway."
The lightning hadn't paused in the commotion. Silver patterns still hung in the sky, pulsing as if they had a life of their own. The howling of the winds and driving rain paused for a second, as though the storm was taking a breath.
And then the sky split open.
That was the only way Lissa could describe it. A ring of blue opened like an eye. It stared down at them from the clouds, bathing the ship and sea with teal tinged light. Faint script in some ancient language seemed to encircle the ring, shifting between gold and silver.
"...Oh Naga," Lissa whispered low, terrified somehow of raising her voice. And yet... she seemed to recall a passage of text describing Naga's eye as looking close to that.
Activity froze along the deck, the others looking up. The stillness forced Lissa to look about on her own, to keep an eye out for any rocks. Instead, she spotted two figures, bathed by the ambient light and drifting in the waves.
"I-I SEE THEM! THERE, THERE!" She cried out, her voice squeaking in a mix of fear and excitement. Frederick snapped to attention, barking orders. The discipline of the crew held. They threw their focus from the spectacle overhead to the task of rescuing Chrom and the stranger.
Frederick left her side to oversee the rescue, leaving Lissa to stagger to the bench. Her hands fumbled at the base, looking for the drawer that held her own supplies.
"Oh gods, oh gods-" Lissa whispered over and over again. The mantra kept her from throwing up AND kept her hands moving. She readied the medical supplies; glass vials full of vulnerary, and a healing staff laid out, waiting for the patients to be heaved out of the waves.
Sully was on the ropes, pulling with all her strength and cursing Vaike for a weak-armed boaster... which oddly seemed to only spur him onto equal shouting and yanking. Together they got Chrom and the stranger hoisted atop the railing and dripping onto the deck. Chrom shivered, trying to find his feet but settling for his hands and knees. The newcomer simply lay sodden on the deck.
Lissa rushed to their sides, leaving her sea sickness on the ship's bench for the time being. Frederick was behind her, already speaking.
"Our healer can take over from here! Those of you who can, return to your stations! Kellam take the helm- oh I see you're already there. Carry on then." The crew scattered under his directions, Frederick turning his attention to Chrom.
"Well milord, we have you safely back up. Though I can't say I approve of you taking a sudden dive and swim, however accidental that may or may not have been- oh."
At first Lissa didn't know what made the knight pause. But a second glance over her patients told her exactly what. Chrom was blinking up, adjusting to being on a solid surface again. The woman at his side... and it WAS a woman, that much was clear from her curves. Her head simply listed to the side, eyes too exhausted to stay open, her sides rising and falling in fluttered breaths.
Lissa was confident in her assessment of that, given that there wasn't so much as a scrap of clothing on the stranger's body. Her only adornment was a gold chain and disc about her neck… and that didn't cover much up.
"Chrom. Do I even want to know." Lissa said.
Chrom gave an "uh?" at that, before looking to the side, and the woman laying next to him. And also took in her state, eyes growing as wide as saucers. "I- uh, I-"
A clink of armored boots stopped Chrom's sputtering, as did the rough blanket draped over the woman.
"...I would like to state for the record," Frederick grumbled under his breath, while making sure the stranger was covered. "That this wasn't in my plans for this travel. I was NOT intending to have any base staring. Or encounters of women in states of undress on the deck of THIS particular fine ship. And yet. Milord seems to have a knack for heroism and awkwardness both."
"I-I guess so-" Chrom's face lost any paleness from his soak in the ocean, picking up a bright red blush in its place. Lissa snorted over the entire exchange, kneeling down to look at the woman.
"Well, on the plus side, she doesn't SEEM critically injured, apart from some cuts and scrapes. She's breathing fine, though both of you had better get into a cabin the second you can. You don't want to go chilled-" Lissa no sooner said that, then Frederick helped Chrom to his feet, while Chrom scooped his hands under the castaway. His arms shivered, but had just enough strength to gather her up. Lissa wanted to tell him to take it easy, but Frederick beat her to that. The knight guided Chrom and the stranger both to the stern cabin.
"Well, at least that's one crisis taken care of…" Lissa muttered to herself, already dreading the sick feeling spreading through her stomach. She glanced above the ship... which proved to be a mistake.
Kellam was still at the helm, fighting to keep their bearing. The wind lashed the scraps of canvas they risked having up, and she could barely pick out Sumia clinging to the rigging.
But beyond that, was a wall of water off to their side. The swell loomed impossibly tall, ready to swallow them up to the mast. And they had little to no chance of turning into it.
The wave thundered down on them, crashing across the deck. When it washed over Lissa she was half terrified it would send her into the sea. If it didn't swamp the brig first, or send them careening into rocks.
But somehow she and the ship held up against the punishment. Lissa glimpsed foam washing across the deck and trying to pluck up whatever it could. Miriel pulled herself up from her spot against the railing, blinking up at sodden sails. The wind and waves hadn't quite managed to tear the masts loose, and the ship was still floating.
Barely.
"...That was a little too close." Kellam murmured under his breath. Only the slight waver in his voice showed his panic. And proved situation's danger, that even he was rattled. They wouldn't be able to survive many more waves like that.
'And I don't WANT to see how many we can weather!' Lissa whimpered to herself. Groans from the other crew drifted across the decks.
"Oh blessed Naga," Lissa found herself half muttering, half praying. One hand clutched her stomach and the other wiped sodden bangs from her eyes. She leaned against the rail, in case her stomach decided it still had something other than shivers to heave up. "I PROMISE that if we can find safe harbor and get out of this storm that I'll never ever prank anyone again-"
A splash sounded.
She halted on that prayer and promise. Something moved through the waves below her, a flicker of brilliant blue at odds with the black of the storm wracked sea. It wasn't a wave, too solid and moving at odds with the current. From the way it rose in a great curve, it belonged some sort of aquatic creature. Droplets caught the sparks of lightning and caused blue scales to shimmer. A finned tail lifted and splashed against the sea.
'It has to be as big as a person!' She thought, astonishment muffling her fear and nausea for an instant. The creature didn't feel a need to dive far beneath the waves, holding Lissa's sight.
Lissa leaned to watch the finned tail moved toward the prow. For a moment she swore she saw an almost human torso, but then another shroud of water and foam obscured the sight. The tail vanished, angling away from the ship. Lissa leaned a little further, wondering if she could catch sight of it again-
She didn't glimpse the scales. But what she did see, illuminated by lightning for a split second, was a collection of tall rocks off to their side. Big enough and widely spaced enough to form a cove.
Shelter.
"Woah, woah! Hold on a sec, Lissa." A hand clapped over her shoulder, pulling her from the rail. "I think we've had enough royalty falling overboard for one day, right? Not that I'd have a hard time with pulling you in; you're a lot lighter than your brother."
"V-Vaike?" She sputtered out, and lifted a hand to point towards the rocks. "Y-you see that too?"
He blinked over that, until he followed the line of her hand.
"Ogre's teeth! Point us over there!" He shouted out. Kellam gave a grunt in answer, the prow slowly swinging about and pointing to the cove. A wave seemed to gather around them, and sped the ship towards a safe haven from the storm.
All the time, she never noticed how the great ring of light had closed up once again, finished with its task.
-o-o-o-
Overhead the ship's outline faded in and out, illuminated by each flash of lightning. Perhaps the storm was growing weaker, having finally spent all its fury.
The mermaid kept her eyes fixed above, trying to get one last glimpse, to assure herself the crew found safe harbor. There was something important about that particular ship; something that drove her to try and lead it into the cove.
The currents stilled around her, letting her sink to the bottom of the small harbor. Any rage the storm had left broke on the rocks and islands that now encircled them. There was no current left to struggle against. The gills in the sides of her neck pulsed, still working to get her breath back from the desperate swim.
Heaviness clung to her limbs, exhaustion turning her into a sinking weight. Her azure tail gave a few weak flicks, guiding her down to the sand before giving out. It trailed behind her as she sank into the silt, the fins fluttering and weakly giving a few last twitches. The limb felt strange to her, like she'd only gained it after splashing into the waves-
'I can't-' remember. Or think clearly. The crash of waves made a muddle of her thoughts. Her hair fanned out around her, a second, long veil of deep, sapphire-blue. The hypnotic sway of the strands made her mind run all the slower.
What she DID remember was tumbling through something. Sky, her thoughts tried to provide, grasping at vague sensations. The shriek of wind, an electric taste to the air, and then hitting the water and finding herself swimming. But how she'd found her way into the sea, WHY it was so important that she guided the ship... none of that was something she knew.
Above, the shadow of the ship drew across her. The waves settled into a choppy, but no longer roiling, pattern. The ship stayed afloat, dropping anchor into the sandy bed nearby. So she'd accomplished that much at least.
A lost feeling crept over her, and made her curl into the sand. Her cheek was pillowed by her arm, her tail curling in and fins folding up as exhaustion swept through her. No fish swam in this harbor, having found shelter from the storm. No others like her came swimming out of the ocean, either. Whoever... whatever she was, she was alone in this stretch of cove.
There was one thing she did have, however. And it drifted into her mind, soft as moonlight spilling across clouds and into the waters.
'Lucina.'
A name. It whispered past her lips with a wisp of bubbles, and she had the faintest hint in her mind that it suited her. That it felt right enough to be her own.