Severa's Tale: Act I

Footsteps of Fate

Part III


Severa groaned as she opened her eyes to reveal the stars dancing in the night sky above against the treetops. She could sit and watch them for hours from the comforts of the sleeping bag she laid in, and she tried to remember how to trace the constellations like her mother did. Unfortunately, she could not identify a single one.

Her arms ached and wavered as she sat upright and observed her surroundings. She could barely see through the dark air, but she was able to discern a figure standing before a tree and seemingly swinging a weapon.

The sounds of Morgan's telltale snoring broke through the sounds of crickets chirping; Severa quickly turned and noticed that she was sleeping next to Inigo and hugging him like she would the body pillows at their house.

Maybe it was best if Severa didn't tell Inigo her sister had a massive crush on him. Or, she could really get under his skin and insinuate that Morgan used to have a crush on him before her eyes settled on someone else, like Owain. This plan would require several things, including bribing Owain, making sure Morgan could lie, and keeping Lucina's goody-two-shoes nature as far away as poss-

"There you are!" Lucina whispered as she patted Severa on the shoulder. She quickly turned around and smiled at her friend, whose blue hair waved in the wind and looked rather nice against the trees of the forest. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Just tired is all." Severa responded and noticed beads of sweat trickling down Lucina's forehead. "Were you…"

"Training, yes." Lucina quickly answered as she slowly placed Falchion in its sheath and set it down as though she was handling a child. Considering that was all she had to remember her father…

"At this hour?" Severa raised her eyebrow.

"Yes. After we had that run-in with Grima, I realized how woefully unprepared I am when it comes to facing gods." Lucina laid down in a sleeping bag next to Severa.

"Oh, come on Lucy. You're the best fighter I know, and just because you can't kill a god doesn't mean you should beat yourself up." Severa responded back as she focused on Lucina's beautiful eyes. Like the stars, Severa often found herself lost in their alluring glow, especially her left which contained the Mark of the Exalt.

Severa was so lost that Lucina started to wave her hand in front of her face to get her attention.

"Sev, are you there?" Lucina continued to wave her hands until Severa's eyes focused on her. "Did you get lost in thoughts again? You seem to be doing that a lot lately."

"Y-yeah… Sorry, I was just thinking about last week." Her cheeks burned as she tried to focus on the ground and not Lucina's face.

"I understand. Losing a parent is a very traumatic experience, and if you ever need someone to talk with, I'm here. Kindred spirits and all that."

"Thanks," Severa responded with a smile.

"Now, you should get some sleep. We've got a long walk tomorrow."

"Fine, fine." Severa shut her eyes and tried to roll over to face the other direction, but was stopped and pushed back as though she had tried to roll onto a log. She turned around and noticed that Morgan was laying next to her.

"Inigo's snoring really loud, and I can't stop thinking about mom," Morgan spoke with a sheepish look.

"Just don't bear hug me, okay?" Severa said. "Mother is… in a better place now."


The following morning came and went as quickly as a fleeting dream. Once they had exited the forest, they had a half a day's march through the barren fields of Ylisse. Destroyed buildings and towns were along the path, but they simply hadn't the time to investigate them for supplies.

Inigo tried to act as motivational support by repeating 'we're almost there' over and over again. Morgan chanted it with him at first, much to Severa's ire, but after the tenth time, she simply grumbled as her shoulders sunk lower and lower with each hour under the hot sun.

"We're mere moments away fro-" Inigo's perky tone reappeared much like a mole popping out of a hole in the ground.

"Shut it," Severa responded as though she was a mole-hunter with a mallet, waiting for any rodents to peek out.

"You know, instead of bickering, we could try singing a marching order to raise morale." Inigo turned his head to glare at Severa as he continued leading the front of the pack.

"If my throat didn't feel like a desert, I would sing." Morgan's voice was so raspy it took the others a moment to recognize it.

"But you're tone deaf." Severa reminded her sister.

"Oh, right…" She coughed. "Do we have any water?" Lucina quickly passed their remaining canteen to Morgan and watched as she gulped it down. Normally, she would ask Morgan to keep some water for the rest of them, but she could see a town in the distance, confirming Inigo's claims.

As they drew closer and closer, it dawned on them that this place was less of a town and more a collection of shacks and other run-down buildings. A wooden sign hung above the front gate that read 'New Ylisstol.'

"This place smells awful." Severa pinched her nostrils with her fingers as they walked down the bustling streets full of ragged men, women, and children. The source of the rotten stench was revealed when they walked past a cart full of corpses being wheeled from house to house.

"Bring out your dead! Bring out your dead!" A hooded man stood in front of the cart, chanting as he shook a bell in the air. Lucina watched with a heavy heart as a disheveled woman shambled out of a nearby house, carrying a small bundle of cloth in her hands.

She pulled the cloth away to reveal a dead newborn whose eyes gave off the impression that the child was asleep rather than departed. "Sorry for your loss, ma'am." The hooded cart-driver bowed as a tear went down the woman's face. She took one last look at her child before wrapping it back up in cloth and gently putting it on the cart.

Whereas Morgan was on the verge of tears after watching the mother shamble away, Lucina, Inigo, and Severa just stood in silence. They had seen enough death in their lifetime to the extent that they felt empathy rather than shock.

"Ah, over the horizon, our new Herdsmen emerge!" A loud voice yelled as Morgan's eyes lit up. At the end of the road stood Owain, Cynthia, and Gerome; Owain was waving his hands frantically as he ran to meet the three. "It is good to see you, Lucina and Inigo." He shook Lucina's hand as his smile stretched across his face. "And you two as well, Severa and Morgan."

"Hi, Owain! Gosh, it's been forever since we last saw each other!" Morgan ran to hug Owain, then hugged Cynthia. "Cynthia! How're you doing?" Before she could answer Morgan had already gone to Gerome. "Hey, big guy!" Severa noticed that despite the run-down nature of the town, Owain's brown hair looked remarkably well-kept.

"Hi, Severa!" Cynthia waved to Severa enthusiastically and she waved back. Cynthia was a close friend of hers while they grew up, but as the years went by they saw less and less of each other.

Inigo and Lucina shook hands with the others and made small talk before Owain brought them to the headquarters of the Herdsmen. It was a rather well-kept house decorated with bright curtains and the symbol of a knight protecting a herd of sheep hanging above the front door. Once they entered the house, the four discovered that it looked like a miniature mansion with a front lobby, a kitchen, and several bedrooms. The rest of the Herdsmen were inside the house doing various chores to help either the house or people around New Ylisstol.

Yarne, Noire, and Kjelle were just about to leave with crates labeled 'rations' to distribute them to the people. Brady, Laurent, and Nah were doing paperwork as Morgan stepped into the dining room. Had it not been for Severa reminding her that they had a meeting to attend with the leaders, Morgan would have spent hours doing paperwork with those three.

The meeting room had a large table and enough chairs for every member of the Herdsmen; Morgan and Severa walked in to hear Gerome's normally-low tone hit a high pitch.

"What do you mean you forgot to bring the Fire Emblem?" He slammed his hands down on the table as Lucina sat opposite him.

"I'm sorry but we were busy hurrying out of the house to grab it," Lucina answered back in a calm voice.

Severa remembered that Olivia had given Cordelia the Fire Emblem, the royal treasure of Ylisse, and that Cordelia had hung it on one of the walls in their house. One would think Severa and the others would remember to grab something that important, but the fact of the matter was that they paid so little mind to it that it was essentially camouflaged against the walls.

"Well, how are the commoners going to react when they hear that the Fire Emblem wasn't brought here by the progeny of the Exalt?" Gerome paced back and forth as he noticed that Severa and Morgan were now present.

"They don't have to hear. We can go back to the house and acquire it." Lucina suggested. Gerome paused and tried to think of a snarky remark, but drew a blank.

"Just be quick about it, okay?" Gerome sighed. "Now who's going with you?"

"I would think it would be Severa, Morgan and my brother."

"We need either you or Inigo here to give speeches to the public. Morale is sinking and there have been whispers of a revolt. If they see the children of the Exalt doing work and helping out the common folk, they can continue to trust us." Gerome looked at the map of the known world that hung on the back wall. "One of you can go and the other must stay."

"It's my fault that I forgot it, so I'll be the one to get it." Lucina stood up. "Severa, Morgan, I trust that you'll accompany me?" She looked to the two who were sitting quietly with their arms folded.

"Actually, I'm feeling kinda tired and I was hoping Severa and I could have a few days to ourselv-" Morgan spoke before Severa covered her mouth.

"Absolutely. We can leave whenever you want." Severa blurted out. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Morgan and I are gonna go and get dinner." Severa grabbed Morgan by the arm and dragged her out of the room, then grabbed a sack of spending gold that had her name on it before they left.


After wandering the town for a bit, Severa and Morgan found themselves standing in front of a building with a sign that read 'bar' hanging above the door. They entered and it was indeed a restaurant, with several tables set up along with a long wall of drinks behind a wooden bar.

Severa sat down on a stool at the bar and Morgan followed her lead. They both sat for a while before the bartender, who sat in a wheelchair, wheeled his way to them. His legs seemed to be broken.

"Hey, welcome to Holland's Watering Hole. I'm Holland, and how may I help you?" He asked in a gruff voice.

"Gimme your strongest wine," Severa spoke as she hunched over. She had always wanted to try alcohol, much to the dismay of her mother. "Oh, and she'll have a root beer." She pointed to Morgan, who smiled and waved to Holland.

"You don't look a day over eighteen, and you sure as hell don't sound like it, so I'll just make that two root beers." Holland chuckled as he wheeled himself to the tap, leaving Severa to sit and make small talk with Morgan.

"Well, this has been a whirlwind of a week." Severa sighed. "I never got to ask how you feel about it, though." She turned to face Morgan, who hunched over as well.

"Well, when mom passed away, I felt sad. Then when you went missing I felt even worse. But when we found you, I felt really good." Morgan always had a simple way of speaking that Severa liked. It reminded her of a child rather than a fourteen-year-old.

"That's good to hear. I'm just glad that you're holding up alright."

"H-heeeyyyy, bartender…" A slurring voice spoke behind the two and caught their attention. "Whe-" He burped. "Where's my freeee drink? I come here eerrday and I de- demand my free drink!"

Morgan drew her hood up and leaned over. Severa turned around to watch the drunken, shirtless man stagger around the bar.

"Sir, there is no such thing as a free drink policy. Either you pay, or you don't. You can't pay, so either sit quietly or leave." Holland yelled back in an angered tone. This drunken oaf had been showing up every night and demanding a free drink, and Holland was worried that he might try something stupid. "Here's your drinks, girls. Just try and ignore him." Holland whispered as he passed two root beers to Severa and Morgan. Unfortunately, the drunk noticed their drinks.

"Oh, so those two get a drink but I don't?" He yelled. "This is outrageous!"

Morgan's cheeks were bright red and Severa watched as the man staggered closer and closer to her. "Gimme that drink, you bit-" He lunged for Morgan's back with a grasping hand.

Or, he would've, if a clenched fist had not swung into his head and knocked him to the floor. The patrons watched and cheered as Severa cracked her knuckles and stood in front of the man.

"That wasn't very nice of you, was it?" She glared as she spoke. The man's head rolled back and forth in a daze. "Now, what do we say when we do something mean and want to make up for it?" She grabbed him by the hair and looked directly into his furious eyes.

"Go to hell." He spit directly on her face. Without saying a word, Severa swung her fist into his head again, and again, and again. He was down on the floor now as Severa rained blows upon him.

A minute later, the battered and bloody man was thrown out of the bar by a group of angry patrons. Severa went back to her seat as she panted for breath and inspected her bloody knuckles. She then turned to Morgan, who was covering her head with her hood and whimpering.

Severa knew that her sister always hated conflict. Whenever her father and mother had a fight, Morgan would always shut herself in the room and cry until they made up. It was even worse if Severa and Cordelia had gotten into a fight instead.

"You're a gods-damn life-saver." Holland sighed and laughed to himself as he extended his hand to shake Severa's. She silently shook his hand and took a sip of her root beer. "Drinks are on the house."

"T-thank you for saving me." Morgan buried her face in her sister's lap.

"Don't worry about it," Severa responded as she patted Morgan's back.


After they finished their drinks, Severa and Morgan returned to their new home through the moonlit streets. They were assigned rooms, and Severa happened to be sharing hers with Lucina.

"How was your night?" Lucina asked as Severa entered the room and shut the door behind her.

"Uneventful," Severa responded as she sat on the bed and inspected the faint traces of blood on her knuckles.