Mibu no Tadamine

#30

The dawn moon
Was cold and indifferent
Ever since we parted,
There was no misery
More grieving than the daybreak


That day was exceptionally hot. However, the heat did not stop the bazaar, which was buzzing with inaudible, idle talk between customers, travelers who came far from Ylisstol, and the locals, from catching Severa's attention. Sometimes, she could make out either heated or friendly conversations that are going on around her with the two little ears of hers. Her gaze swept through the crowded tents and displayed goods, looking for something worthwhile to bring back to the barrack, aside from the huge bags of groceries her father already held with both of his arms.

Lon'qu hated the heat. All he wanted to do after a day long walk of grocery shopping was to return to the barrack and cool off. He stood still, ignoring the many people who bumped into him as they were walking away, although he grew more and more irritated at the black-haired girl, who doesn't seem to understand how annoyed he was. Lon'qu let out a heavy sigh. "Isn't it time to go back?"

The girl didn't turn her head around to face him. Her eyes were glued to a pair of displayed hair ornaments. The ornaments were hexagonal snowflake-shaped and strangely bore different colors, scarlet and black obsidian, depending on how the light fell on them. Severa carefully picked the hair ornaments up and dangled them as she observed how they gracefully change colors. "Oh, it's fine! We still have time until the sun set! Hey, mister, how much does this pair cost?"

An old man with remarkably thin eyes and white, long beard let out a thunderous laugh, which, by the way, successfully irritated Lon'qu even more. If only he could sheath his sword at him without Chrom and Robin's warning resonating in his head, that old man must be muted for good now. "You have good eyes, young lad! That pair on your hand was brought especially from Valm. Originally, these babies were carefully crafted by the hands of Valmese craftsmen and were either sold to or stolen by the Fexori barbarians. They'll look good on you, miss! I'll get you a cheap price for them, so care to ask your scary brother there to buy 'em for ya? Hee hee."

"M-my brother? Old man, are you blind?! Can't you see that old-timer right there is obviously my da—" Severa responded in haste. Her cheeks were flustered with pink shades that later turn as red as the ornaments on her hand. However, before she finished her sentence, she glanced at Lon'qu through the corner of her eyes, and almost immediately her expression turned dark with realization and apparent disappointment. "Ah..."

Lon'qu tilted his head and raised an eyebrow at his future daughter's sudden change. Part of him was glad that perhaps she was going to comply with his desire to return, but Severa stood up without saying anything or even looking at him. She seemed to have lost interest over the hair ornaments, for she stared coldly at the old merchant, who was still trying to promote his goods at her, told him to go die by the jaws of a thousand Wyverns, and walked away.

"Oi, Severa, the barrack is not that way—"

"Shut up, leave me alone! I'm not going back with you!" Severa growled at Lon'qu. She started walking again but turned around, irked when he followed her. "Nobody said you can come with me! Don't you want to go back? Then go!"

Lon'qu sighed and scratched his head, making a completely troubled face. "...Why are you angry?"

"Does it matter to you?! I'm a grown woman! I get pissed at everyone every now and then for no good reason! If you're my dad... you're supposed to understand that about me already..." Severa paused, looking down at her own feet and clenching her fingers inside her palms. Her palms started hurting her, but she didn't care. "...but you're not him, and I'm not your daughter... The two of you look so much alike that I start to believe that you're the same person as my dead, good-for-nothing father... What was I thinking?"

Without saying anything else, Severa turned her back at him and started running as fast as her feet could take her, ignoring the continuous call Lon'qu made from afar. She kept on running, bumping into one person to another, until she could not hear his voice anymore.

When she lifted her head, all she could see was the pitch black of a hazy and warm night. Houses surrounding her illuminated the rocky road with dim lights of lanterns and oil lamps, which is visible from their wooden windows. It was quite apparent she ended up at one of the villages just outside Ylisstol.

"What's with you? All you talk about is CHROM, CHROM, and CHROM! If he is all that matters to you, why didn't you just marry him?"

The fire on the oil lamp flickered as a result of the double banging Severa made on the table. She turned her face away from her mother's, who stared at her with disbelief and parted lips. Her father said nothing, but his face was stern. He stood against the wall, both arms crossed, and eyebrows furrowed. "Severa..." Cordelia let out a heavy sigh. She glanced at Lon'qu, but her husband didn't budge. "We're leaving at daybreak."

Deep down, Severa knew that nothing she said would change her parents' mind. They're going to fight for what mattered. "...You're still going?! Do I matter that little to you two? Che, do whatever you want! Just don't come home crying like a headless pegasi because I wouldn't care! You stupid parents!"

"AAAAHHHHH!"

A frightened scream broke the quite night, startling Severa who was walking aimlessly, and waking everyone else who was ready to tuck themselves in bed. Almost immediately, a swarm of Risens came out of the woods surrounding the village. They were dead and running toward the village, smacking everything on their way. They swung their axes and swords—sporadically and aimlessly, along with the stench of bloodlust coming from their every single movement. Severa could smell the reek of rotten meat and blood from where she stood. Just the thought of it made her sick.

"Mamaaa!"

Severa unsheathed her sword, clashing it with the giant Tomahawk that was aimed at a little girl, who is stumbled on the ground, crying for a mother who is nowhere to be seen. Severa clenched the hilt of her sword and bit her lips harder. The risen tilted his head at her in an eerie manner and pressed his axe harder at her.

What am I supposed to do, then, except to fight every single day, wishing for peace that may or may not come?

"Get out of my face, you freak!" With a swift, single cut through the neck, Severa pushed the risen away from the girl. She skillfully twirled the sword in her hand and delivered another cut, a stab right though the Risen's heart, which altered the dead fighter's body into dim purple dust that ultimately vanished.

What am I supposed to do, then, except to secretly pray and cry by myself every night, wishing for parents who would never return home?

Severa had seen such spectacle hundreds and thousands times over, but in the future, there was no definite end. There was no "this war will end tomorrow" no matter how much she fights. Severa stared down at the little girl, trying to see if she has any injuries. She was still trembling and crying in fear but stopped calling out for her mother. "It doesn't look like you're injured anywhere. Gawds, just what are you doing here alone? Where is your mo—"

In a fraction of seconds, before she finished her question, Severa noticed that the girl's face turned blue. She was looking at something behind her with indescribable fear. Her eyes widened and her mouth was parted, but no cry came out at all. When Severa hastily turned her around and looked up, the corners of her eyes caught a glimpse of a Risen swinging his sword directly at her.

With every little time she had to react, Severa reached to the little girl, grabbed her and threw herself forward as far as she could to dodge that attack. The palm of her right hand was hurting her because of the friction it had to endure in order for her to stop and balance herself. She thought for a second she safely dodged any serious injuries from that attack, but when she saw blood gushing out from her left thigh, she knew it is not going to be pretty.

It was daybreak. Young Severa stared at the backs of her parents as they walked away. She remembered the coldness of both the air and the moon above her head. The sky was still dark, but gentle colors crept in as the sun rose. The moon was visible, however, and there was no way Severa could never forget how indifferent and cold the half-moon was.

It was as cold as the sensation that slowly crept in her heart as she clutched her chest to restrain herself from running over to her parents. She hated daybreak ever since but couldn't help but to wake up and stand by the door of her house, watching the scenery as the sun rose in the distance and hoping that, at that moment, she would see her parents again.

But she never did.

As though the Risens were moving in sync, another dead fighter looked up and stared at them as the previous one tried to get his sword off the ground. His strength was so monstrous that the rocky ground was cracked by the swinging of his sword. Severa kept the little girl behind her back and reached for her sword with her free hand, but the wound on her leg became unbearable all of a sudden. It came to a point where moving away from where she stood was impossible. The other Risen charged, raised his arm, and was about to deliver a blow with his spear when a swift figure blocked the attack, protecting them through a loud clash of metals.

It was Lon'qu.

"Dad!"

Lon'qu backed away and raised his sword once again. He twirled it on his hand, in an identical manner as Severa twirled hers, and delivered a stab right through the Risen's heart. The Risen that was armed with sword also charged as soon as the spear-armed one fell, but this time, Lon'qu did not even give him a chance to raise his weapon. In a blink of an eye and a single cut through the neck by the cutting edge of his sword, the Risen was brought down to his knees and disappeared. Lon'qu let out a sigh and sheathed his sword.

"Reene!" As soon as the last Risen vanished, a young woman appeared, calling out for her little girl. The little girl's face lit up as she saw her mother, and she ran to her arms. "Oh, thank gods you're okay...! I'm so sorry I scolded you... Promise me you will never run off like that again. Young lady, thank you so much for protecting my daughter..."

"N-no, I didn't really do anything," Severa blushed. She turned to the little girl and smiled, relieved that the little girl is now smiling so happily. "It's good that you get to see your mother again, isn't? Take care of her now."

The little girl nodded and waved her arm as her mother bowed at Severa and Lon'qu. When they are gone, Severa turned to her father, slightly embarrassed. "I didn't need your help! ...but thanks for saving me anyway. How did you know I was here?"

Lon'qu did not answer at first and glanced at Severa's leg. The bleeding was not as bad now, but he ripped his sleeve and squatted down to tighten the cloth around her thigh. Severa protested, but he ignored her. "People were saying that a black-haired girl is fighting Risens by herself... and I'm your father, whether you like it or not, so of course I'd know immediately it was you they were talking about," he said finally and turned his back to her. A gentle smile was carved on his lips as he offered her his back. "All right, hop on. We're going home."

It was weird, but, for some reason, this scenery did not seem like it just happened for the first time. Lon'qu must have carried her on his back when she was little too, although at that time she believed that his back was much wider. Severa did not say anything and reached for his father's back. He then stood up, carrying her on his back, and started walking. His body warmth was the same as she remembered.

A crescent moon was hanging over them. The cold daybreak moon she once knew emitted a dim light. However, she did not hate it when she looked up. The sky was dark, but she knew from the light pink color that slowly spread itself that the sun will soon rise. She closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth that somehow felt overwhelming, and clutched onto Lon'qu's back. It did not matter which world or time he came from—his kindness was still the same. His gentle smile, warmth and everything she ever remembered of him were still the same. Nothing had changed even one bit.

Just before they reach the barrack, Lon'qu suddenly stopped walking. He put the confused Severa down and reached for something in his pocket—it was the pair of hair ornaments she saw earlier that day. "I don't know if I ever got you something like this in the future," he smiled only a little, but it was the gentlest she had ever seen of her father. He handed the hair ornaments to her, which Severa reached to and dangled in front of her eyes in disbelief. "It doesn't matter what will happen in the future. It may not be much, but I want to make up the time we lost, even just a little, and apologize for leaving you alone in the future."

Severa could feel her eyes heating up, and, almost immediately, she jumped into her father's arms. He fell over with a loud thud, but Severa did not bother to do anything else but cry. She started and kept on crying in his arms for the longest time she ever remembered herself crying, letting go of everything she had to endure with Lon'qu comforting and warm hand on her head.

For the first time, ever since they parted, the daybreak seemed to be the happiest time she ever found herself in.