Nelson may have been a rich and smart man but he was a sleazeball. He had gone too far. Now he was using the last thing she cared about as a bargaining chip. She had set down her mother's ring for five minutes to wash up and change, next thing she knew, Nelson had stolen the ring with the intent to sell it or horde it for himself. He soon learned how much power he had over her afterward. Even at the mention of selling the ring, she had pledged herself into his service to keep it safe.
"Urgent news, sir! Armed soldiers approach! Their leader claims to be Chrom of Ylisse!" One of Nelson's thugs yelled from the gate.
"Dammit! Why would he come here? Well, if they insist on dogging me, I've got hounds of my own to welcome them with" grinned the former Valmese general.
"I'm not your dog, scum!" Severa mumbled a few feet away.
"No, only a stray mutt that refuses to stop yapping. But you'll be a good dog and do as I say if you ever want—" the dastard hung the ring by a chain in front of her like a carrot in front of a mule, which was appropriate in a way, Nelson was an ass.
"Yes, yes, if I ever want to see it again. I'm well aware."
"I trust you're equally aware of your position, Holland?"
"..."
"Loquacious as ever, I see. You'll fight for me, or I'll have that lazy tongue pried from your head. Now, then. Chrom may have the Fire Emblem in his possession... And if I claim that, I've practically claimed the throne. So go out there, kill anything that moves, and get me that Emblem!"
"Gawds... we get it, you're power hungry." Severa turned to Holland, her only friend in this hellhole. "Come, let's get ready to fight. And leave him to his petty whining."
"All this grief over something so small... Once I get what I came for, I'm out of here. Maybe I can convince Holland to come with me" Severa mumbled to herself as she patrolled the side gate. "I'm not giving that dastard nelson my obedience anymore, hold on Holland, I'm on the way."
Quickly, she drew her blade and marched back inside to find her friend and face her former boss. She wasn't more than two steps inside before she heard a familiar wing beat.
"...Oh, gods. It's you." A tear managed to break past her emotional wall when she saw her mother's face. 'No, this is Cordelia, not mom!"
"Have we met? If so, I'm afraid I've quite forgotten." Oh no! Did she actually say something! this day couldn't get any worse. Cordelia looked so much like her mother, down to the way she moved. Even this younger version made Severa want to cry in her arms. "Excuse me? Young lady, have we met before?"
Maybe Severa could repair this, make her think they worked together somewhere else and she would forget what Severa had said. "Well, excuse me for being so forgettable!" Maybe that was more her emotions talking but Cordelia seemed to brush it off.
"Look, there's no time for this. If you're a friend, speak now. If not, then stay out of Chrom's way or I'll have to cut you down."
"Chrom, Chrom, Chrom! It's ALWAYS Chrom with you!" Now she had lost control of herself. She wanted to stop talking now but her heart wouldn't let her.
"...I'm sorry?"
"You should be! And I don't care about your stupid Chrom, so you can just drop it! ...I only want to talk to Holland" She finally regained control of herself. She adjusted her armor and stood tall.
"Holland?"
"Yes, Holland! That sad sack over there." She pointed across the hall at the shorter man nervously holding a spear while a chevalier gave orders. "Watch my back so I can get to him safely, and then I'll help your stupid army!"
"O...okay?"
"Oh, and Holland's not here of his own will, so don't you dare hurt him!" That man was family to her, better family than the mother that had abandoned her to fight for a man beside her father. If anything happened to him, she wouldn't be able to live with herself.
"Severa! What are you doing here? If he knows you left your post..." Holland's spear shook as his mind raced with the possibility of death.
"I'm leaving, Holland, and you're coming with me" she pointed at her parents' army.
"Severa, I... I can't. You know I can't. I have a wife. If I don't earn Nelson's coin, she'll starve. I know it's blood money, but—" if he didn't work, he would likely be killed and his family could possibly suffer as well.
"Your wife is PREGNANT, Holland! You know that, don't you?!" Severa dropped her sword and shook her idiot friend.
"Of course I know that! And it's none of your concern!"
"Do you love your child, Holland? Do you love your wife?"
"Of course I do!" How dare she even question him!
"Then stop making excuses! I know that parents will do anything for their children..." she was practicably the authority on being an orphan. "But I also know how it feels when a child loses her parents. This world's got far too many kids who've gone through that. If you stay, you'll be killed or worse. And your child deserves better!"
"Severa, I...I'm sorry. I didn't know. That must have been hard for you. ... You're right. My child deserves better. Let's get out of here." He dropped his weapon with a loud clang.
"Really?!"
"Yes, really. But we have to hurry!"
"You go ahead Holland, I have a few things to take care of first."
"You take care Severa, I owe you an ale after this."
Severa gave him a quick smile as the man hurried out the front entrance, and passed... her father... no Robin. Same tall, wise man she remembered from when she was a child. But something was different, maybe it was his youth, but he seemed less tormented and there was more of a carefree nature to his walk. He was headed toward Nelson's treasure horde, same place she needed to go if she wanted to reclaim what was her's.
"Yes, here it is!" She cheered finding the gold ring resting on top of Nelson's throne once the battle was over.
"Is that a ring?" A blue haired swordsman asked while nursing his wounds. He must be Chrom, Severa quickly realized. The man looked a lot better than she remembered. Maybe being exalt was more work than she thought.
"It's MY ring, and I'll thank you to stop staring so lustily at it! It's worth more then anything in the world to me... That rat Nelson stole it one night while I was changing!"
"Well, I'm glad you were able to get it back."
"...Hmph." She crossed her arms angrily as Cordelia approached and Chrom departed to check the condition of his troops.
"Oh. ...You."
"Wh-what do you want?!" Severa scowled.
"Just to thank you for helping us. You fought bravely, er..." Cordelia gave her a well ment smile and offered her hand. "I didn't catch your name."
"Severa. ...My name's Severa." It took so much of her willpower to not cry.
"It suits you somehow. Oh, and my name—"
"Cordelia. I know." Severa cut her off.
"Er, yes, that's... But how did you...? I'm sorry, did I introduce myself before?"
"I guess you must have if I know your name. Gods..."
"I...I see. Well, thank you all the same, Severa."
You already said that! And besides, it's not like I did anything special. I was just fighting to get back what's rightfully mine." She rolled the ring between her fingers, it was comforting. The only thing that prevented her from being a basket case.
"Are you referring to that ring? Oh, goodness. It looks exactly like..." Busted, Severa had been found out. She could see the gears in her mother's head putting the gears together. "Ah, I see. That would explain how you know my name. You're a friend of Lucina's, aren't you? ...And you're my child. Isn't that right?"
"So...lonely... without you and Dad..." she mumbled to herself.
"What was that?"
"I SAID, I thought you'd be lonely, so I came here to see you! ...You're welcome." She jumped forward and embraced her mother as her blade clanged to the stony floor.
"That's very sweet." Cordelia's arms wrapped around her.
"D-don't mock me! You don't care! You don't care at all..." she felt emotionally exposed and her wall went up.
"How could you possibly think that? I'm thrilled beyond words to meet you."
"...Then why'd you leave me? You said you had to go off to fight for what really mattered, and you never came back! You picked Chrom over me!" A tear dripped from her eyes onto her mother's white armor.
"You have me at a disadvantage, Severa. I can't answer for my future self. But when I said I was fighting for what mattered, I probably meant you. I'd want nothing more than to build a world where you could grow up happy and strong. At least, that's what I want right now."
"You think I don't know that...? I mean, I DO know that, but..." she isn't the one that raised her.
"I'm sorry I wasn't a better mother to you." But cordelia was a fantastic mother, best she could have had.
"Well, you're still MY mother, which makes you the best mother in the world." In the last hour, her entire outlook on family had been turned on it's head, now she needed her mother and father.
"And the luckiest, it seems."
"Oh, Mom, I missed you so much! I...I'm sorry I was so mean... I just... I didn't want to lose you again... Promise you won't leave, okay? Promise!"
"I promise."