Chapter 10: Julia
Stahl took the Falchion which was wrapped in Chrom's bloody cloak. He felt the familiar tingling sensation when he touched it then he walked to where Lucina and Inigo stood. The paladin knelt on bended knee and presented the sword to her, "long live the Queen," he said.
Everybody present in the training grounds genuflected and chanted, "long live the queen!"
Lucina gained confidence as she surveyed the people who gave her support. Her tears stopped as she raised the Falchion aloft and said, "gather around, everyone. I know this is a difficult day for us, but let us collect the courage and strength that the Shepherds have left behind. We are their legacies and we should defend this land like they did from the oncoming storm."
The Shepherds cheered and raised their fists in the air.
"Lucina, first things first, declare your holy right as queen to the land," Lissa said. "The people will follow you no matter what."
Lucina nodded. She commanded the people with Exlted blood to go with her and that included Stahl. The rest of the Shepherds headed to the war room and awaited further instructions.
When the castle's servants saw Lucina walking in the halls with the Falchion in her hand, word spread in the castle about the situation. A servant was sent ahead to send word to ring the bells, another one was sent to the town crier. The advisors were alerted that they had a new ruler, and Lissa sent for a golden circlet, one that resembled the Hero-King Marth's own.
While they were waiting for the bells to ring and for the doors of the balcony to open, Lucina's family discussed Frederick's revelation.
"What did he mean by that Uncle Stahl?" Owain asked.
"It's something I'm willing to find out for myself too. If I have Exalted blood, then it means that my brother and his daughters have them too. Frederick did ask me to look up a historical figure way back three years ago, about someone named Julia. I don't know the exact details, but Miriel is still researching on that," he answered.
"Miriel is in the war room, let us ask her the details later," Lucina said.
Lissa perused Frederick's journal as the others were speaking. "It says here, 'My lady Emmeryn has sent me on an impossible task of finding others with Exalted blood. After years of searching, I finally found Julia and Ulster's bloodline in Southtown when I was looking at the fiefdom's records. I will set up a recruitment drive and see if their family will send someone to the army. If not, I will have to recruit one from their house by force.'" She looked up from the journal and looked at Stahl. "Who are Julia and Ulster?"
They all looked at each other and shrugged.
"I do remember Frederick going to the apothecary one day to conscript me. Since my brother was already way too deep in the business and I was just a boy with nothing to do I ended up being a cavalier," Stahl answered.
Lissa continued reading. "'The boy shows promise. Even if he is unaware of his line, he is showing more competence with weaponry than with magic. Perhaps Julia's line was diluted down the centuries and her healing magic turned into apothecary instead. Or perhaps Ulster's line is stronger as he shows promise of being a Myrmidon. No matter, I will have him take the same disciplines as my Lord Chrom, for my ladies Emmeryn and Lissa cannot wield the Falchion. At this point, Stahl wielding the Falchion is only speculation. I have yet to test if the sword will choose him too.'"
"It all makes sense now," Lucina said. "That was Uncle Frederick's reason for assigning you to be my mentor when father was away. Or perhaps, he was planning treason and wanted to have you in the throne?"
"Don't worry Lucina, I don't have any designs on taking the throne away from you. I will always be your loyal knight," Stahl said.
"I thank you, Uncle Stahl. But if we understood this journal correctly, then I guess that makes you a distant relative," Lucina said. "We can even stretch it to calling you a Prince of Ylisse and we can legitimately call you uncle now, not just as a term of endearment."
"Well think about Stahl," Lissa interjected. "We have always thought of each other as siblings, then there's our untamable hair, and most importantly your personality. It's similar to Emm's."
"Perhaps that's why she was kind to me," Stahl said.
"But can you wield Falchion?" Owain asked him.
"I guess I can. I used it to slice potatoes once," he answered shyly. "But I never really tried it for battle or anything. I did cut myself with it though."
"What?! That's a holy sword and you used it to slice potatoes?!" Lucina exclaimed. "I guess you really can wield it, because the legend says it becomes dull for those who are unworthy."
"I didn't think about the legend at the time," he answered sheepishly. "I was just trying to impress a girl with my cooking skills, but that failed."
"Who uses a sword to cook anyway?" Inigo asked, then reluctantly, "was it for mother?"
"We use when we're camping and we don't have knives around. And no, it was actually for Panne," Stahl answered sheepishly.
"Panne?!" Everyone exclaimed at the same time.
Stahl fidgeted, "t-that was before I met Olivia," he answered. "It didn't work out."
"Stahl, you dog! You always kept your relationships secret," Lissa said.
"Oh, so you like girls with - "
"It's nice that you understand, Inigo," Stahl said. "Those things are great."
"Enough!" Lucina exclaimed. She handed Stahl the Falchion and looked for something to cut. She pointed at a tapestry nearby and Stahl proceeded to slice it in half. "That was probably expensive," he said as he handed the sword back to Lucina.
Lissa rolled her eyes. "Then blah, blah, Emmeryn here, Emmeryn there… oh. This is something else entirely. Here is the reason why Ylisse invaded Plegia decades ago. Gods, Frederick wrote everything. He was nothing but meticulous! But I think that one is for the war council later." She thumbed through the journal until she arrived at the last written page. "It says here that… someone close to him killed Chrom…" She looked at Stahl. This was what they feared would happen three years ago.
The earth shook again and the bells of Naga's church rang. The doors to the balcony opened and Lucina took it as a cue to declare her new status. Outside the castle, a crowd gathered, waiting for an announcement from the royal family. Lucina stepped on a dais so that her people can see her better.
"The king is dead. Long live the queen!" a herald shouted for them. Lissa placed the golden circlet on her head. The newly crowned queen held the Falchion aloft for all to see and the crowd chanted "long live the queen!" over and over again.
Lucina has only been a queen for an hour but she already headed the war council. Inexperienced she may be, but she already had ideas on what to do about the oncoming storm. Of the old Shepherds, the ones who were left were with them were Lissa, Sully, Stahl, Vaike, Miriel, Kellam, Ricken, Panne, Gregor, Henry, Yen'fay and Tiki. After the Valmese war, Khan Flavia went back to Regna Ferox and has not been in communion with Ylisse ever since. She was probably fixing the void left by Khan Basilio three years ago. Anna was out there roaming and selling her wares, Libra was in his orphanage near Northroad and Donnel was back at the village in Farfort. He hasn't contacted any Shepherd for more than a month either.
When Lucina and her entourage entered the war room, they were bombarded with questions regarding Stahl's heritage.
Miriel sat on one corner and fixed her glasses. Lucina took that as indication that Miriel should explain everything. The mage gave them a history lesson about a man named Heim and his descendants and how they traveled all around the world. One man in particular stood out, and that was Seliph. He had a half-sister named Julia and the two of them established towns that were close to each other. Seliph made Ylisse and Julia made Southtown. Seliph's descendants were well known while Julia's descendants were content to be nondescript and lost to history.
"That is why I have found you different despite you saying that you are unremarkable," Tiki told Stahl. They did not interact a lot, but whenever they do, Tiki stared at him like he was one giant puzzle.
"Alright, I'm content with that answer. I hope you all are, If anybody's wondering, yes I can use the Falchion. Panne can confirm it. And no, I am not taking over the throne," Stahl announced.
Miriel smirked, "as logically predicted," she said.
"How Panne confirm this? Gregor has questions," Gregor said.
"That was before I met you," Panne answered. "He was trying to win me over with food. He used the Falchion to slice potatoes."
"What in the world Stahl?!" Sully asked. Kellam laughed beside her. He knew that story but he didn't think anything of it when he first heard it.
Lissa cleared her throat. "Frederick wrote something crucial in his journal. It was information that was given to him by Emmeryn herself regarding the war on Plegia many years ago. My father found out that the Grimleal were planning to revive Grima and they made a suitable vessel for the Fell Dragon. He waged it as a Holy War to destroy the vessel but they didn't find it and he sacrificed his life to try and save the world. The last lines of Frederick's journal said that the vessel killed… someone close to him… Grima took over the vessel and killed Chrom. Frederick was being vague…" Her tears threatened to fall, but she composed herself.
The Shepherds who suspected Robin a long time ago exchanged meaningful glances. They looked at Morgan and Noire, both of them innocent of what their father did. It was astute of Lissa to protect them from that knowledge. Better let them think that their father died a hero.
"That pillar of light outside must be the Grimleal reviving Grima," Tiki said. "I can feel it."
"Then... Chrom was used as a sacrifice," Miriel stated.
The Shepherds were shocked.
"Please, everyone calm down," Lucina said. "There are other matters at hand and they are far more important than Uncle Stahl's lineage. First of all, we have to consider that most of the Shepherds have perished in Plegia in a trap. With my father gone, we are expecting an invasion soon. So I will declare martial law," she said to the Shepherds, old and new.
"It is the only reasonable thing to do since we have no idea what is going to happen, and with that we need to tighten the capital's security. I will also assign you to new posts around the city. However, since we are expecting the worst, I need my own tactician." Lucina looked at Miriel.
"We should formulate a plan of course, but the knowledge I have is mostly theoretical and specifically in the field of theoretical thaumaturgy and science. Laurent has more practical applications than I do, and he already serves as your advisor. I suggest that the office go to him," Miriel answered.
Laurent's brows furrowed. "I'm inexperienced in war too, milady. I'm afraid I won't be much help in the upcoming battle."
"I suggest we fortify Ylisstol's defenses. We set up communications at strategic points in the city, with Pegasus Fliers for fast news delivery. We then send archers to man the walls and have beacons set up in the corners to warn us of oncoming attacks. Once we have them in place, we send signals to each other through drum beats, that way the enemy wouldn't intercept messages and commands. Since it is martial law, there will be a curfew at, perhaps, nine in the evening, for the civilians. One soldier will be assigned per block, and if we can't spare that many, then one soldier per two. Shift rotations will be every six hours. An immigration committee will be made and set up near the gates so that any refugees entering will be documented. Bam! We have order!" Morgan said as she hit the table to make a point.
"Okay, Morgan. Tell me again why I didn't hire you before?" Lucina asked her.
"I was twelve? I was too busy playing with Owain and Cynthia?"
"Fair enough. You are my tactician now," the queen answered. "I would also like to make an investigation in Plegia. Though I hate to admit it, I assume that our loved ones all fell there, but I wanted to know who was responsible for my father's death."
"Who else would it be? It was that dastard - " Sully began, but Stahl gave her a meaningful look that stopped her. No, not in front of Noire and Morgan.
"Nya ha! I have an idea who. I bet he's out there plotting something nasty. Maybe I should've joined him and see what it's like to fight you guys," Henry said.
"Henry, we talked about this. This is the reason why they always bench you," Ricken said.
"Stop before we get derailed. I need volunteers for a reconnaissance mission. Uncle Frederick also didn't come back with the Fire Emblem. So the recon team will also serve to retrieve it. It will not be easy, but we have to know what we are up against," Lucina commanded.
Vaike raised his hand. "Ol' Teach needs to know what happened to Maribelle," he said. Sully raised her hand, then Panne, Ricken and Miriel followed. Their children protested vehemently.
"Should it be you? You have family here who needs you. Why can't it be those who have no one to live for? Like me?" asked Stahl.
"If you haven't heard Stahllion, you're needed here," Sully said. "Like Frederick said, you have to protect them. Now, aren't we Shepherds? Aren't we supposed to keep the peace?"
"Yes, but…"
"We're off to Plegia. We'll be back," Ricken said.
"Not yet, Lucina," Morgan interjected. "Sending people to Plegia right now is a suicide mission. You said so yourself, we are expecting an invasion. Let us fortify the city first."
Sully, Panne and Miriel took their rings off and gave it to their respective offspring. Vaike, who normally didn't show any sign of weakness, hugged Brady really tight. Miriel took off her hat and gave it to Laurent. Ricken ruffled Owain's hair and told him to name a special move in the name of the moon. Panne stopped Yarne's tears and told him to shape up.
They stood from their chairs and were about to leave the room when a wounded Anna barged in the war room.
"Libra is dead… his orphanage… gone. Risen… everywhere!" She shouted. The merchant looked like she escaped a pack of wolves just to get to Ylisstol then she collapsed. Yen'fay caught her and propped her up in a chair.
"Prithee, what other news dost thou have?" he asked. Brady healed Anna enough for her to catch her breath and talk properly.
"So many dead babies. Southtown is destroyed and an army of Risen is heading here…"
Everyone in the room panicked. They did not want to hear of any more news about their friends dying.