I apologize for this... It's just something I thought of randomly (probably in the shower). It's probably terrible, so I'm sorry. Whatever, bring it on.
Lucina's POV:
"If you don't want to do this, it's alright," I said, setting my hand on my hip dubiously.
Mother shook her head, "I'll be fine. I want to spend some time with just my girls while the boys are gone."
I grinned a little, "It is funny how this is our idea of 'spending time'."
"Well, such is the life of a family of warriors," she replied, also giving a gentle smile.
"I will get Maegan," I said before turning to find my sister.
Father and Morgan had left on a mission to the outskirts of Ylisse. They were addressing some bandits that had been terrorizing a town for weeks, and were in desperate need of a lesson. While they were gone, Mother had said that she would train with Maegan and I (something that she rarely had the time to do). The younger ones were napping, so the time was perfect that afternoon. The only downside was that Mother had said she didn't sleep well the night before. I knew that she never did when Father was away, but I didn't want to disregard it completely.
Once I'd found Maegan, we went back to the garrison to figure out what to work on. Unfourtunately, when we got there, all of the training spaces were full of soldiers. Mother decided for us that we would go find somewhere outside. We located an empty place towards the edge of the castle grounds, next to the thin woods that boardered the east side of the castle. There, we could decide what to do.
"I want to get better at punching people," Maegan said with a strange amount of determination in her voice. When Mother and I stared at her, confused, she shrugged, "I'm not always going to have a tome on me. And I don't want to be helpless."
"That's reasonable," replied Mother, then she turned to me. "Go on. I'll watch."
I nodded and took off the jacket I was wearing, figuring that the chilly weather would be balanced out by how much I'd be working. I was wrong though, and Maegan and I's match only lasted a few minutes before I defeated her.
"Darn it. I didn't realize how much I needed practice," she said as I helped her off the ground.
"It's alright, Sister. It takes time," I told her. "The only reason I'm so good at it is because it was the first thing Owain and I were taught, and we practiced it every day—we thought it was fun. Then, when we got a little older, we began to learn the sword."
"No, the only reason that you're so good at it is because you're perfect," Maegan grumbled, brushing her clothes off.
"Am not," I argued. "I lose all of the time."
"Yeah right."
"Yeah. Right."
"I want to see you lose," she scoweled, then turned to Mother. "Mother. Make her lose."
Mother rolled her eyes, "If she's alright with it, then I'm happy to oblige."
"Yes I am, but don't think that it will be easy," I answered, pointing a finger. "And we must use swords."
She agreed, so I went back inside to find some practice blades. I knew that we always used different kinds, which made our matches interesting, if not unusual. She used short-swords, while I always used long ones; much closer to my Falchion.
Without wasting any more time, we began right as I got back. As it normally would, the match started out very slow and balanced.
"Your mother and father taught you very well in your world; I can tell because of right now and from watching you in the past," Mother commented as we continued on. "But I can also see that you didn't learn everything."
"And what, praytell, is missing?" I asked as our swords made contact, slightly above my head, but almost level to hers.
"I like to think of fighting someone as a balance between using their advantages and their disadvantages," she replied, gritting her teeth slightly while I pushed forwards. "Take you, for example. Your attacks are fast and smooth, meaning that you'll tire out much faster. All I would have to do is wait for your stamina to go down, and then I have a better chance at winning."
I didn't say anything, but I pressed harder in an attempt to overpower her.
"Also, using their weight balance is very important. Again, I'll use you as an example. You're weight is too far forward because of the weapon you choose to draw," Before I could comprehend what she had said, she suddenly fell out from where I had been holding her.
I gave a small yelp when I fell forwards with noting left to lean on.
Mother had very swiftly moved to the other side of me and caught my wrist before I hit the ground, "Do you see what I mean?"
I grunted with a determined expression. I didn't want Maegan to think I was perfect, but I also wanted to win because Mother was starting to get on my nerves (sometimes I truly believed that she was too smart).
Every move I made after that, she seemed to know and she met them flawlessly. Normally, we were more evenly matched, but she seemed better than before.
After I'd tried for some time, I let my defences slip and she took the victory.
"An exellent representation of my first point; you tired out," said Mother as she stood over me. "You lasted longer than last time, though. Good work."
I lifted one corner of my mouth slightly. Of course, I didn't like to lose, but I knew that I had only lost because of my own mistakes. These sorts of loses meant that I needed to get stronger.
As she always did, Mother helped me stand and then we both turned when Maegan shouted.
"Yes! Lucina did lose!" She exclaimed, pumping her fist into the air. "I knew it was in her somewhere!" She then realized how loud she'd gotten and curled up a little, "I-I mean... That was really great, Mother."
"I agree," An unfamiliar voice said.
Right away, all three of us fell silent and turned to the holder of the voice. Along the edge of the woods that bordered the area stood a woman. Her obviously quite long, white hair was done up into a braided bun that had no hairs coming out anywhere. Her skin was incredibly fair, making her face appear much younger than she seemed, in reality, to be. The purple robe she wore told me one thing—she was Plegian.
"Who are you? How did you get on the castle grounds?" I asked quickly, immediately not trusting her.
"Don't worry, I'm not here to hurt anyone," she said, not exactly answering my question. "As for my identity, I believe I will leave that one for you to figure out for yourselves. At least for the time being."
Something about her demeanor screamed familiarity to me. I couldn't think of where it was coming from.
"If you don't have buisness here, I suggest that you leave," Mother said to her, clearly dubious.
"I do have buisness here, actually. I need to speak with someone," the strange woman replied.
"Who?"
She didn't reply, but the woman revealed her hand from within her robe. On her extremely fair palm laid a mark—Grima's mark.
Mother let out a small gasp, then closed her mouth and her eyebrows tightened, "Wh-what is this?"
"This is simple, Robyn. I'm your mother."
As soon as those three words escaped her mouth, mine fell open. It was so sudden—almost unbelieveable—and I knew that Mother felt the same way.
"I... have no mother," she said, clearly not trusting this statement.
"Well then, I suppose I'm just some blasted old fool who can't remember her own children," the woman shrugged sarcastically. "Well, c'est la vie."
"But Mother's mother is dead," I insisted, attempting to see if this was only some jest.
"That is what they wanted you to think. That is what everyone wanted to think," she replied. "But I do believe my being here proves otherwise."
"But... if... why would?" Mother seemed thouroghly confused, and I couldn't blame her at all. Her past had always haunted her, but she never got any answers for it. I was pretty sure that she had basically moved on. Having an answer come so suddenly must have been mind shaking.
"If you will let me, I shall sit down and explain everything, but I will not expect trust that I would not give," the woman said, her voice sounding sincere.
I looked to Mother, seeking some sort of answer, but she appeared to be just as conflicted as I was. This could have been just a hoax that someone who wanted something from the castle was trying at. But she also could have actually been what she claimed to be.
"...Alright. But we will meet here, and I must go get something first. If you don't mind, that is," Mother finally said, after a moment of consideration.
"Of course," a moderate smile spread across the face of the mysterious woman.
As Mother turned to leave, she motioned with her eyes for me to come with her, so I did.
"Mother, do you really think...?" I asked as soon as we were inside the castle.
"I don't know, but I'm not going into this unprepared," she replied surely.
I caught on to what she meant, so I quickly made my way upstairs to get my sword and attatched it to my hip. When I found Mother again, nothing on her seemed different, but I knew that she had hidden a tome in her coat.
When we came back outside, poor Maegan seemed quite uncomfortable. It looked as though she didn't know what to do or say, so she had just shifted awkwardly the whole time that we were gone.
Once we had all sat down (in a relative circle), the quiet continued. Mother seemed almost impatient, while the mysterious woman seemed to be in no rush. Caught in the middle, Maegan and I looked around as if we had never been outside before.
I cleared my throat awkwardly.
"So, what did you mean to say?" Maegan asked, attempting to end the silence.
"Well, I thought I would let someone ask a question first. That way, I do not sound like a blabbering fool," the woman replied, sounding way too much like Mother. Honestly, part of me was already convinced that she was telling the truth.
"How are you alive?" Mother asked her, somewhat sharply.
"That's simple—I never died. I have been around the entire time that you have been gone, although I wasn't in very noticable places," the woman said to her. "...Do you remember anything about your childhood?"
Mother looked down for a moment, "Only very vague details from nightmares. They probably aren't even true."
"Actually, they are. One of those dreams was, to be more precice—because I gave it to you."
"Why would you-"
"Peace, child. Let me explain," she interrupted Mother before she could ask why someone would do that to another. "The one where I died; you know it? Well, it's strange, but I didn't actually die when you left. But I also didn't come to find you."
"...Why?" Mother asked her, appearingly starting to think that this woman wasn't completely insane.
"Because, and you may think this foolish, but I knew that you would be alright," she answered. "Yes, I know that you were still very young then, but somehow it seemed right. If you had stayed with me, we would have been discovered, and your life would have taken a turn for the worst."
Mother looked back at the ground, lost in thought.
I, however, had built up several questions already—even in the small amount of talk that had been exchanged.
"I-if you don't mind me asking... Why did you run? If you were Grimleal, what made you abandon your belief?" I asked timidly, unsure if I was welcomed in this conversation. Normally, I listened until the end, and then asked questions, but this time I was much more intrigued.
She turned to me with almost a glare, clearly not appreciating the interuption, "And who might you be, Ylissean?"
"I'm Lucina—her eldest daughter," I said while trying to contain the fear that I had suddenly felt. Something about her gaze made me feel scared.
"To answer your question, Lucina, I didn't neccesarily abandon my faith," she continued on. "You see, Validar and I... may not have completely agreed to the whole situation. The Plegians believed that because we were both of Grima's decent-"
"Wait. You were related?!" Maegan suddenly asked after being silent the whole time.
The woman looked to Mother, "My, these girls have a major problem with interupting."
I was going to say that I didn't techinically interupt, but I decided against it when I remembered the look I'd received.
"But yes, Maegan, we were second cousins, so we didn't know each other well," the woman kept going despite the last comment. Maegan seemed taken aback that she knew her name, but no one said anything. "The Plegian Grimleal belived that both of us together could create the vessel that they needed to bring Grima back. As it turned out, they were right. You were everything they could have wanted."
Mother retained her silence. I knew that she didn't enjoy speaking about the situation, so I wasn't surprsied when it seemed that she didn't want to know anything extra.
"I, however, was different. I didn't look at you and see a pathetic tool, simply for the use of the revival of our god. I looked at you and saw my daughter," there was a moment where there was a look of compassion that spread across her face, then it turned to determination. "So I took you away from the horrid things they would do to you, and away from your wretch of a father. I taught you how to read, how to defend yourself, and I taught you tactics—my former job from when I was in Plegia."
"And no one caught you out there?" Maegan curiously inquired.
The woman shook her head, "I don't believe anyone even caught a glimpse of us. We moved around, making us much more difficult to find."
With nothing seemingly left to say, a silence fell on our small group. Of course, I could have asked many more questions, but this woman (who was likely my grandmother, but I choose not to refer to her as such) clearly felt very negatively towards me, and I was mildly scared of what she could do to me if I got on her bad side.
"... How did you know my name...?" Maegan asked, almost too quietly to hear, after we had been quiet for some time.
"That is simple as well—because it is my name. I looked at the mark on your hand, and the look in your eyes, and took a lucky guess," the woman replied, very sure of herself. "But I must ask, child, are you capable of Ignis?"
Maegan nodded eagerly, clearly excited that she could answer something possitively. "Do you want me to show you? Morgan can do it too, so we practice with each other sometimes."
"No, I don't need an example; I trust you," the ghost-haired woman smiled a little at my sister, then turned to me with the same, distrusting gaze from before. "And you?"
Reluctanly, I shook my head. I didn't dare say that I could use Aether instead, for I feared that she would feel rather strongly about me saying such a thing about the opposition to her god.
"It runs through the family—it must have found you unworthy," she said, with a scoffed shrug at me, then a look back at my sister. "It is a very powerful skill; you musn't lose it, child. It will get you much farther than you know."
Maegan nodded a little, but gave a slightly sorry look towards me.
The sun was beginning to set, and the night was bringing a chilly wind across the grass. I knew that supper would be soon, although I wasn't sure what we were going to do about this woman. I doubted that Mother would tell her to leave, but I didn't think she would let her stay either. She still seemed quite leery of her.
"...I need to think on this longer," Mother said after another brief silence. "What of your living situation?"
"I haven't a home, if that is what you mean," the woman replied.
"...You may stay here, but you are not allowed upstairs," Mother pointed her finger at her. "Do you hear me? I mean it—you will be arrested."
"Very well," the woman nodded and stood. "Where am I to stay?"
"Lucina will show you to an empty room on the west side of the castle. That is where you will sleep, and you will go nowhere without me knowing," Mother said.
A small gasp escaping my mouth, I turned to her and pointed to myself. I mouthed, "me?" and she nodded. Clearly, she didn't sense how negative this woman's tones were when she spoke to me.
"Very well," the woman repeated and nodded towards me. "I would hope that you know where this is?"
"Y-yes," I answered with an unusual amount of stutter in my voice, motioning for her to follow me. I picked up my sword that had laid next to me and reattatched it to my hip—just in case.
There was an incredibly awkward air between us as I lead her all the way across the castle. I knew why Mother did this, because this particular room was quite far from the staircase leading to our bedrooms upstairs. She didn't want this woman anywhere near her children, which was understandable.
But there was a question that burned in my mind.
"If I may, milady..." I began slowly.
She looked at me with her dangerously deep brown eyes, expecting me to go on.
"Why did you come now? Mother has been here for almost four years since she lost her memory, and she's already gotten married and everything," I continued. "Why did you wait so long?"
"I'll tell you this much; I came here on a mission, although it may not be something that you want to know," she replied in a strangely sinister voice.
I raised an eyebrow, "What are you doing...?" I then let out a short scream as she flicked a small burst of magic into my left eye.
"Let that be your warning, child. Don't question my motives," the woman told me with a glare.
I breathed heavily with my hand covering my incredibly pained eye. I tried to say something, but then stopped when I thought of what she could (and likely would) do to me if I proceeded.
"Now. I believe this is my room, no?" She asked, motioning to the opened door that we had come to.
I nodded and she went inside, closing the door behind herself. Briefly shaking my head to quell the pain slightly, I straightened up and found a guard nearby.
"You are not to let that woman out of that room. No exceptions," I told him. "If she even tries, find myself or my mother right away. Tell all of the other guards of this as well."
"Yes, milady," the guard answered obediently.
With my heart still beating rapidly, I went to find Mother. I decided not to, however, when it seemed that she wanted to be alone in her room. Instead, I found Maegan to hear another opinion on the matter.
"Oh my gosh! Are you alright? What happened?" She exclaimed as soon as I came up to her.
"Yes," I replied. My eye was lazy and I couldn't see through it at all (instead of the only light-vision that I normally had in that eye), but I knew that it would most likely be fine again. Then I lowered my voice to answer her last question, "I asked her why she was here, and she struck me. She didn't want to say."
"She has to be doing something evil," Maegan crossed her arms. "I was about ready to trust her, but that sounds awfully suspicious."
"I agree. But there isn't anything that we can to about it now," I said. "Have you spoken with Mother?"
"Yes. She definitely doesn't trust her, but I think that she also might be a little... scared," she had a look of concern on her face as she said this. I don't really blame her though... because I know how much she wonders about her past. Having something so shaky, but important show up so suddenly must be really strange."
"Is she asleep? I may go and tell her what happened..."
Maegan shook her head, "she said she was just going to rest and think a few minutes before making sure that the littles get their supper."
"I will see you later then; I want to make sure that she knows," I turned to go down the hall to Mother and Father's room. When I got there, I asked if I could come in. There was a moment beforehand, but she answered yes.
Walking inside, a normal person might not have guessed that anything was wrong—but I knew better. The room was perfectly clean, which meant that Mother was worried about something. Usually, the desk that sat in the corner of the room was a mess (even with whole seperate offices that both of them had). Now it was in complete order, and I knew that Mother only cleaned it when she was stressed or worried.
"Mother, are you alright?" I asked after I had been quiet for a moment, observing that she had hardly even looked at me, only fully staring at her hands that sat in her lap. "I know that was... a lot to hear so suddenly."
She sighed, "It was, but yes, I'm alright."
I moved to lean against the footboard of the bed, then I saw a picture across the room that gave me an idea, "Would... would you like me to call Father in?"
"No; I believe that it is a blessing that he isn't here. Based on how that woman treats you, I cannot imagine how she would feel towards him," she replied with much more surety in her voice. "Come here, Lucina."
Of course, I obeyed, and sat on the bed next to her. She placed her thumb gently over my injured eye. It hurt to move it, but it hurt even more to be touched, so I flinched a little at the touch.
"I knew you wouldn't miss it," I told her.
"I'm so sorry, baby. I don't understand her feelings towards you," Mother said, slowly pulling me closer so she could kiss me on the forehead.
I felt my cheeks get slightly warm, "I believe she doesn't like Naga very much... Being Grimleal likely doesn't help," I hesitated a moment, "Mother... do you think she is telling the truth? Is she really your mother?"
"Honestly, I have no idea what I think anymore," she answered with another sigh. "I thought that it would all be over—that I could finally be free of the ghost that is my past. But it only continues to haunt me. I just want to know something for certain."
"That is understandable. I know what it's like to have what you've done haunt you—even though, in your case, it's what you don't know that you've done," I said. "But, in all seriousness, what will this change? Someone like Maegan or even myself might be drastcally changed by their lost mother returning; only out of naivety. We are young, and are influenced greatly by the people above us—people that we can look up to or hide under. You, however, are different because you are older. Not to say you are old, to be clear. You are older than us, and you have already set your emotional status in stone, and you are the person to look up to."
Mother didn't move, but I assumed she was listening.
"So, it turns out that she is your mother. What will this change about your life? Probably nothing. You'll still have the same family and friends that love you. You'll just possibly have someone else as well," I continued with a shrug. "And even if it turns out that she only wants something from you, it won't likely be granted. She will then, most likely, leave. And then, you don't have to give a damn about her ever again."
To my surprise, a corner of her mouth lifted, "Why do you sound so much like your father?"
I shrugged again, this time with a small smile, "Good genetics, I suppose."
She breathed out a stifled laugh.
"And remember, Mother, that Maegan and I are still here. I know we are technically your children, but our age difference grants us the opportunity to be support for you," I added. "Even if—agh!"
I stopped when there was suddenly a sharp pain in my eye. It felt as though someone had poured flaming oil right into it and it had seeped into my head.
"Lucina, are you alright?" Mother asked, her voice almost rising to a shout.
Panting and rubbing my face, I nodded, but knew it was a lie. The pain began to spread down my cheek and my neck, then to my chest and straight through my heart. I screamed out in pain and I fell forwards onto the bed. My heart throbbed as if it was on fire, and I felt as though it could come out of my chest. Cold tears trickled down my cheeks.
Mother placed her hand on my face and immediately there was a cooling feeling throughout my whole body. The pain subsided to a dull soreness only in my still blinded eye.
"That is an incredibly powerful magic that she cast onto you," said Mother in a calm voice. "The only thing that fuels it... is hatred."
I swallowed hard, not raising from my position.
Without saying another word, Mother stood up and walked out of the bedroom.
Not having the energy to get up any longer, I simply laid on the bed and eventually fell asleep.
The next morning, I awoke to find myself in the exact same place. Mother was nowhere to be seen, but Maegan and the younger versions of ourselves were fast asleep on the large bed. Clearly, Mother was much more worried than she wanted us to believe.
Very carefully, as to not disturb the little ones, I crept off of the bed and out of the room. Although I was completely blind in my left eye, it no longer hurt, which was a strange feeling. Part of me wondered if I would ever get my vision back.
I heard voices down the barely lit hallway, so I went to track them down. Unsurprisingly, I found the two people I had most expected to be up so early. Mother and the strange, snow-haired woman were sitting at a small table on the east balcony. Both had cups of some sort of steaming liquid, which sounded appetizing to me at this point (it was quite cold that morning). Deciding that they most likely wanted privacy, I waited just around the corner from where they sat.
"If I may, I would like to ask something," Mother said to her apparent mother.
There was no response.
"Why did you come now? If you actually are my mother, and really do love me, then why wait? You would have been allowed a much clearer conscience if you had known that I was safe," continued Mother, repeating the question that I had previously asked. "Why now?"
There was a moment of what sounded like hesitation before the woman replied in a serious tone, "Because I need you to come back to Plegia."
I could hear the breath catch in Mother's throat, "Wh-what did you say?"
"You heard what I said, or else you wouldn't have been so surprised," the woman said.
"Why would you ask that?"
"Plegia is in shambles. We lost many to the alter when Grima was awakened. You must rise as a leader and bring them together in worship. Hopefully, one day, he will be back to avenge his loss," the woman answered in a clear voice.
"No," Mother told her with no pause.
"My, such a rash decision already," the woman seemed to think that this was humorous. "At least take a moment to realize the request."
When I peeked slightly around the corner, I could see Mother's fists clenched so hard that they could have bled from her long nails. Her lip was bit and there was fire behind her eyes, but she didn't move. I went back to my listening position before either of them noticed me (although I couldn't garuntee that Mother didn't already know).
"How could you even consider asking this of me? I have a husband and six children who need me. I have an army that-the gods know-needs me. I have a life here," said Mother, through her teeth. "Plegia doesn't need a ruler; they need to reconsider their ideals and decide what is best for them. They have ground themselves into a deep hole that they need to dig themselves out of. But they likely never will, because they are so focused on their god, and giving anything to him. They are stupid people."
There was a quick snort from the woman, but she didn't say anything.
"You don't understand this, but some mothers want to be there for their children; to watch and help them grow. And I am one of them," Mother continued. "So no, I won't go. Ever. Ylisse is more of a home to me than Plegia ever will be."
"Then you, my daughter, don't understand what you are doing," the woman replied bitterly. "Treason is a crime—one that you will pay for."
"And I am willing to pay the price," Mother said firmly.
I heard one of the chairs skid on the stone flooring of the balcony, then a stiffled gasp from the clearly delusional woman.
"My castle—my rules. You will not go anywhere where I cannot see you," Mother told her. "And if you even think about taking Lucina or Maegan, then you, my mother, do not understand what you are doing."
I swallowed again and walked away from my position. Hearing Mother call that dispicable woman her mother hurt. I think that part of me had thought that her mother was a good person—someone who could possibly even be considered a hero. We hadn't known anything about her, except her initial action of saving Mother as a child. Then when we did learn, I had thought that the story was actually good until when she had said that she let her go on purpose. She was a selfish woman, and now all she wanted was to restore her god—proving that Plegians really didn't think of anything else.
Coming out of my parents' room, Maegan looked to me and seemed surprised.
"Where were you? Where is Mother?" She asked.
"Back on the east balcony, speaking with... her," I said slowly at the end, then leaned in close and whispered, "Listen, I eavesdropped on their conversation and... I know why she is here."
She seemed interested, leaning in closer to me.
"She wants to take Mother back to Plegia so she can assemble them back together," I told her, very quietly.
Maegan's face immediately drooped, "B-but she won't, right? I need her here..."
"Don't worry, she isn't leaving," I quickly said, putting my hand on her shoulder. "She 'showed that woman who is boss', as Morgan would say."
She smiled and gave a small giggle, "Good."
The next time I saw Mother was later that afternoon, and she didn't seem terribly affected. When I asked her if she was doing alright, she said that she was ready for Father to get home, which I understood.
The whole day passed and I never saw that our strange visitor again. I knew that she was in her room, and that she definitely hadn't left, but I was still on guard—as were Mother and Maegan (the little ones had, reasonably, been kept completely in the dark about this situation).
That night, I tried to sleep, but couldn't. The conversation that I'd listened to worried me. Of course, I knew that Mother would never leave Ylisse. It wasn't that aspect that I was concerned about. It was what the woman had said about her paying the price for what she had done by refusing. Her magical capabilities were outstandingly powerful (I could say this from simply opening my eyes), and I was unsure of what she was planning.
Decided that it was pointless to try to sleep any longer, I wandered out of my room and out onto the same balcony from earlier. What I didn't expect was that my sister sat there as well.
"Hello, Sister," I said softly, as to not startle her. "Could you not sleep?"
She shook her head, and I immediately understood.
Smiling a little, I heaved myself up to sit on the railing with her. The town below was silent and dark. The only lights still on where the ones in some windows, with doctors taking care of the sick, or anyone else who was awake at such a late hour. The wind was cold, but neither of us wore a coat. The gentle wind blew our hair and filled the silence between us.
"Lucina... you said earlier about Mother... that she wouldn't go," Maegan finally spoke in a very quiet voice. "Are you sure? I... I don't know what I would do without her."
"Of course I am sure. Why would she want to leave all of us just to go be the queen of the country that she probably hates the most? You have absolutely nothing to worry about," I told her strongly.
She didn't reply right away, but she lifted her gaze eventually, "I was just-"
"Why, what a surprise to find you girls out here," there was suddenly a painfully familiar voice behind us. "Children your age must be in bed at this time, I would think."
"How did you get out of your room without a guard seeing you?" I asked the unwelcomed guest, clenching my teeth.
"Oh, you mustn't worry about such things, princess," she replied, brushing it off playfully. "But, as long as I am here, we can speak with one another."
Maegan looked to me, concerned, as this woman walked over to lean on the railing next to me. My sister and I didn't know what to do. We weren't going to be the ones to tell her to go against her will—we had seen how strong she was.
"Wait... Lucina," Maegan whispered to me. "Your brand..."
"What about it?" I asked her, for it seemed that the woman was not paying us any attention.
"It's... gone," she replied under her breath. "And your eye is... purple."
Alarmed, I put my hand to it, then realized that that was not going to do anything and stopped myself. I then turned to the woman, "What did you do to me...?"
"Well, I did give birth to your mother, so I suppose I had some part in your existence," she shrugged.
"That isn't what I..."
"You know, the three of us have not had the opportunity to speak together before," she brushed the topic off, much to my annoyance. "So tell me something about yourselves. We are indeed family, so I see no reason for discomfort."
Neither Maegan or I said a word. At this point, both of us were unsure if she was trying to get at something, or if she genuinely wanted a conversation.
"Maegan, you come from the future, correct?" She asked after a few moments of silence.
"How did you know that...?" Maegan inquired, awestruck.
"Another lucky guess. I've heard about the time travelers who joined the Ylissean army to save the past; as most have. And I knew that your mother is far to young to have a child as old as you. So, really, it was quite elementary," she answered casually. "Tell me, in your future, where were you?"
"...What do you mean?"
"Where did you live?"
"Here. Until I was about seven, and then I lived in... Plegia," Maegan replied, ignoring my hand motions to stop when I realized what this woman was getting at.
A slightly terrifying, but still modest smile grew on the guest's face. "And why were you there? Clearly, this is your home."
I mouthed "lie" to my sister several times before she noticed.
"I... went there to try and take a number on the Risen. I was going to leave to report back to Lucina, but time was short and we left for the past before I really moved back home," she said. A lame excuse, but better than saying the truth.
With narrowed eyes, the woman turned to me, "Is this the truth?"
I nodded and added to the story, "Yes. It helped us to predict when an attack would come. She was on the border, so she could say when they were coming into Ylisse."
She gave a small laugh, "Well, you girls certainly inherited your mother's wit—lying to my face. I can only hope that your brother is the same way."
Both Maegan and I gasped and my sister asked, again, how she had known that.
"Some simple dark arts told me your whole story, child. Do you think me a fool?" She replied, sounding rather fed up with us. "I only wanted to see how much you fear me."
My sister and I exchanged a worried glance. No one said anything for an uncomfortable amout of time.
"Well, since it appears that you have nothing more to say to me, I shall retire for the night, I believe," the woman dropped the intense tone from before to a very casual one.
"I will show you to your quarters," I said before she could try to go on her own.
"How very kind of you," she responded, standing up straight again.
I got myself off of the railing and followed her inside. There was the same awkward air as the previous day, although this time I had more to think about. This woman was clearly a very talented dark mage, with escaping from her room, and finding out Maegan's origins. It was frightening to think about what she could do.
The thought came into my head about what she was trying to accomplish while here. This made me angry. I didn't want her taking such an advantage over myself or my family.
Suddenly, I felt that it was time to release what I felt towards this woman.
I turned to her as we came to her door, "By the way, you'll never get any of us to go with you."
What I didn't expect, however, was her reaction. She grabbed my throat and roughly shoved me up against the wall.
Her hold was so tight that I couldn't move anywhere, but I attempted to pull her wrist away from me. The only thing I succeeded in doing was biting my lip hard and exhausting my breath.
"Do you truly believe that you can stop me? You're just a naive little girl—there's nothing you can do," she told me through her teeth.
Immediately, I thought of something that I could do. As I normally would, I closed my eyes and concentrated hard. Just as Father had taught me as a little girl, I calmed my head and only thought about my blessed blood so that it could be expressed through Aether. To my surprise, nothing happened. My eyes opened, panicked, as all of the calmness in my head melted away.
"See? You're not much without you little power, are you?" She smiled in her sick way. "Unfortunately for you... Ignis cannot be cursed."
"L-let me go..." I stuttered out, desperately trying to wrench myself from her grip. Her hold only tightened—so much so that I could feel her long nails digging into my skin. My left eye stung from the dark magic reacting to her touch, and my right stung with tears from the pain in my neck. Desperately, I cried out for Maegan, who I could only hope had not gone back to sleep. The woman shoved me harder into the wall, making me completely unable to make a sound.
"Maybe, if you had been more careful with your words, you would still have them," she said to me, seemingly not strained at all. "And maybe if-"
There was suddenly a blast of magic that hit her square in the chest. It wasn't very powerful, but it was definitely enough to get her attention, and her grip around my neck loosened ever so slightly.
"Let her go," shockingly, I heard Mother's voice say, exremely harshly. I turned to see her with a thunder tome of some sort in her hand. She was fully dressed, so I could only assume that she hadn't ever gone to bed.
The horrid woman looked at her for a moment, then, to my chagrin, her grip tightened again. Her nails dug in farther this time, making me give a small whimper in pain.
"Stay back. This is what my country deserves," she muttured, still strongly.
I gave a desperate glance towards Mother, tears beginning to fall down my cheeks as I panted quickly.
She seemed conflicted. She looked between me and her mother with an expression that rarely crossed her face—incomprehension. Then she firmed up again, "I said to let her go."
"And I said to stay back," the woman replied. "If-"
Mother didn't hesitate another moment before throwing a much more powerful spell at her.
Finally, I was released, but I couldn't find the strength to stand, so I fell to the floor. My head spun and my ears rung loudly. My left eye was pounding hard—so bad that it only made my head feel worse. Lifting my gaze, I gasped when I saw my sister standing in the hallway as well.
"M-Mother...?" She said quietly, then she looked at me and her mouth dropped open. She glared grimly at the slightly taken aback intruder. "Did you do that...?"
"Maegan, control yourself," Mother warned her gently.
My sister breathed through her teeth while staring that woman down. She then seemed to feel a surge of anger and sent a large blast of dark magic at her—Grima's magic.
"I knew you had it in you," the ghost-haired woman gave a small smile before sending a shot of another spell right to poor Maegan's center.
At this point, I believe Mother had realized what needed to happen. She built up magic in her hand, then said something that I couldn't understand to Maegan. My sister then, stood straight again and closed her eyes, much like I had before. This time, the familiar, pink aura came around her and she released an extremely powerful stream of magic.
Once it hit our unwelcomed guest, it exploded and rained down into white flower petals.
"Gah! Curse you," the woman grunted, clearly very injured as she fell to one knee. "How d-dare you use that against your own blood!"
When she tried to stand, Mother sent the magic she had been building up as Thoron. The spell went straight through the woman's chest and coming out of the other side as well.
"Unfourtunately for you... Ignis cannot be cursed," Mother said with a triumph in her voice. Then I could see her possitive expression fade slightly as she looked over her moribund mother.
The woman put her shaking hands to her bleeding chest and her voice softened, "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, my sweet little bird... my ….I'm..." Before she could say anything else, she faded away into a purple mist—the same of her late husband.
Mother's tome fell to the floor. She stared with trembling hands at the place that her mother had been, with only the cold floor there now.
I quickly stood to run over and wrap my arms around her. I understood exactly how she felt—not knowing what had become of her mother, then learning the truth and having to rid of her. Seeing her experience the same thing hurt, so I wanted to comfort her as much as possible. Maegan came up to join me.
"I-I... I can't believe that... that my past is finally dead..." Mother breathed out after a moment.
I smiled a little and backed off, "And now, you can only look to the future."
Mother also smiled and wiped the tear that rested on her face. She then put her hand on my cheek.
I could feel my sight coming back to my eye, then a weight seemed to be lifted that I hadn't realized was even there. Now, I could see the light-vision that I had previously had—meaning my brand was right where it should have been.
"And, what's good about that is..." Maegan gave the signature, Morgan-esque grin. "I'm there!"
Mother gave a small laugh and pulled us both in for a close hug—as her real family.