Cordelia's Tale: Act II

Road Taken

Part V

Author's note: I recommend listening to Bubblaine from Super Mario Odyssey when you see one * mark, then listening to Aquatic Ambience from Donkey Kong Country when you see two ** marks.

By the time recess had begun, Severa wished for the school day to be over already. As if it wasn't bad enough that she needed to sit on an uncomfortable chair for who knows how long, the whole day had just been spent meeting her teachers and other students, most of which she already knew because of her mother. She didn't need to know who Brady was, or that he had a pet hamster because she already knew that.

Her eyes turned to the cloudy skies above, praying that her mother would fly in on her pegasus and rescue her from this boredom.

"Hey, sis," Morgan asked from behind. More children poured into the yard from the school while adults watched from the fence stretching along the perimeter. "Watcha lookin' at the sky for?"

Severa grumbled in response as she looked around the yard. Several swing sets were still open and waiting for someone to take a spot on them, along with a set of monkey bars, a structure lined with slides, and-

"Sis!" Morgan yelled as she tugged Severa's arm. "Can you at least act like I exist?"

"Huh?" Severa responded and turned to face her little sister with a blank stare. "Oh, yeah uh…" She quickly glanced and saw a boy with short, black hair waving his hands around and yelling something about 'Sacred Stones.' He struck a pose with his right hand covering his face, while a girl with orange pigtails struck a similar pose behind him. "Go hang out with Cynthia and Owain. They won't mind."

"But they're older than me!" Morgan whined as she held her arms at her side.

"Trust me, they're not. At least not in terms of age." Severa replied then thought to herself. "Now go hang out with them."

"...Fine." With a stomp every step of the way, Morgan walked to Owain and Cynthia. With her annoying sister out of the way, Severa made a beeline for the swingset and promptly set her rear upon the leather seat held up by chains.

The sounds of other children playing around her filled her eardrums as she pushed her feet off the ground, propelling the seat forward. After tucking her legs in during the forward movements of the chair, her momentum increased along with her excitement. Wind lashed at the sides of her face as she tightened her grip on the chains; her white ponytails whipped behind her from said wind.

After a few minutes passed, Severa decided she had enough thrills for now and slowed herself. By the time she stopped moving, she noticed that the swing to her left was occupied.

"Hi, Severa." Noire smiled as she began to slowly rock back and forth. Severa waved back silently as she followed Noire's rocking movements. Whenever her mother went to visit Noire's parents, Severa made sure to tag along just to visit Noire. "Are you bored too?"

"Yeah. Why do we have to do all these stupid name games?" Severa asked as she smiled. Noire smiled back.

"It's so annoying. There are only four people in our class that I don't know, and they all seem like meani-" Before Noire could finish speaking, a distinct sound cut her off.

The sound of a raspberry being blown.

"Look out! It's the freak!" One voice called out. Both Severa and Noire scanned the area to see who said that.

Standing before Noire were five boys, four of which Severa had not known before today, and the fifth one being a boy with blue hair who Severa presumed was her friend: Inigo.

"Stay back, or she'll curse ya!" The small, pudgy boy who seemed to be the leader called out. His brown hair resembled an electrocuted rat that had crawled on his bald head. Severa believed her name was Bheg, or something stupid like that.

The rest of the boys, including Inigo, laughed and pointed fingers at Noire. "I hear her mom uses her as a guinea pig for her hexes!"

"That's not-" Noire opened her mouth to protest before she was interrupted, again.

"You think her mom threatens her with more curses if she comes home late?" A quill-necked boy wearing a green bandana poked his head out from the side of the crowd and mocked. Whispers around the playground talked about Attab, the bandana boy, and his second-in-command Bheg as the feared bullies of the school.

Severa glared at all of them but especially focused on Inigo. He was a friend; a good friend. Why would he be doing this?

"P-probably." Inigo blushed as he spoke, causing his 'friends' to laugh and pat him on the shoulder as they guffawed.

"Don't you idiots have anything better to do?" Severa stood up and pointed a finger at their dumb, smirking faces.

"Yeah, and it doesn't involve dealing with you losers." Attab tossed his hands up and walked away. "Come on, let's leave witch girl alone before her mom shoves frogs down our throats!" His cronies laughed at his passing remark while Severa made sure to glare at Inigo as he walked away.

"Those morons don't deserve our time." Severa sat back on her swing and noticed that Noire was staring at the dirt on the ground.

"I knew this would happen…" She began to fumble with her bag and pulled out a slip of paper. "My mom gave me something this morning. A super-duper powerful hex that I can only use on the meanest of bullies."

"Wouldn't that just prove their point that your mother is a witch?" Severa tilted her head to the side as she asked.

"I'd rather be feared than be picked on," Noire replied back as she got to her feet. "I'm gonna go get some water. Can you please watch my things?" Severa replied with a nod as Noire smiled and walked away. As she sat there, staring at Noire's bag, she found herself consumed by what exactly was in that bag.

Was it really a powerful curse? Was Noire lying to make it seem like she had a trick up her sleeve?

Her curiosity got the better of her as she opened the bag and sorted through Noire's things. A quill, a sealed ink bottle, a wrapped sandwich with a heart drawn on it, and finally a slip of paper. Severa's tiny fingers fumbled with the slip of paper as her heartbeat raced. Was she going to be cursed?

She finally opened the note and began to read along.

"Noire: sooner or later, you will attract the ire of unsavory specimens at your academy. This does not make you abnormal; on the contrary, you are very healthy for your age. Regardless, the strongest weapon you have against these buffoons is on this slip of paper. Simply read the following message aloud with no fear in your heart. 'My mother and father love me, and you cannot take that away from me.' With love (and hugs and kisses): your mother."

Severa noticed that 'hugs and kisses' was written in a scribbly handwriting compared to Tharja's refined strokes, leading her to believe it was written by Stahl. She put the slip of paper back inside Noire's bag and sat back on her swing. She felt a tingling sensation in her chest, but mostly she just felt happy for Noire. By the time Noire returned and sat on her swing, Severa just smiled at her.

"Listen, if those meanies ever pick on you again, just gimme a holler. I'll help defend you."

"Are you sure? I don't want you to get caught in the crosshairs of that powerful curse…" Noire replied.

"Oh, believe me." Severa cracked a smile. "I'll be fine."

By the time school let out, Severa was so exhausted that she had to struggle to move her legs towards her mother, who waited outside the building with her pegasus. Severa ran into the arms of her mother and almost collapsed as she melted into her embrace.

"How was your day?" Cordelia asked as she embraced her daughter.

"Decent," Severa replied in a weak tone. "I wanna take a nap…" Severa felt a force slam into her, then noticed that Morgan had joined the group hug.

"I'm so tired, and school was so boring, and…" Morgan could barely find the energy to speak before Cordelia lifted her daughters up onto her pegasus one at a time. Once both of them were onboard and slumped forward, Cordelia began to lead her steed towards their house. She waved and said hello to the other members of the Shepherds that were picking up their children.

Before Severa fell asleep, she saw Noire run into her mother's embrace and remain there for a good while.

"Severa… Severa, come on." A hushed voice broke Severa's tranquil slumber and forced her to slowly open her eyes. She moved her head across her comfy pillow and prepared to shield her eyes from the morning light. As she opened her eyes, however, she noticed that it was still dark outside.

Her mother was leaning over her with a smile on her face, and her red hair draping over the side of her bed like a curtain. "It's time to get up."

"What time is it…?" Severa groaned as she rolled onto her side on her bed.

"Approximately four in the morning. Remember how I said you should go to bed early because we have to wake up early?"

Severa replied with a groan as she slowly rolled her sheets down and climbed out of her bed. She noticed that her sister was standing in the doorway, or rather leaning on it for support judging by her posture and weary eyes.

Upon her head was a coned, rainbow-colored hat that had the number eight on it. In her mouth was a party blower, that extended out like an arm whenever she blew into it. "Grab your coats and swimsuits. We're heading somewhere warm for your sister's birthday." Cordelia handed Severa the frilled, green swimsuit that she had bought last week.

*The gentle, yet loud crashing of the ocean's waves became a repetitive rhythm to Severa's ears as she felt sand slip between her toes. Bright sunlight bore down on her as she inspected the ocean to see Owain, Brady, Inigo, Kjelle and Yarne splashing around in the deeper end, bobbing up and down with the waves. Nah and Gerome, on the other hand, were sticking to the shallower end where they could stand. They were all in the water, except for Laurent, who seemed to be relaxing with his mother underneath the shade of a palm tree. Upon closer inspection, Severa realized that Laurent's black-haired father was with them, it was just hard to pick him out from the shade for some reason.

Severa would join them, except she didn't know how to swim. Not living near a swimming pool for all her life had that effect on her, whereas her friends probably frequented one before they moved to her town.

What puzzled Severa was where Lucina and Cynthia were. She knew they were here, as they all walked through that big, glowing door to the beach together, but she couldn't seem to find them. So she walked along the coast, searching for them past the parents of her friends that waved to her as she walked by.

Eventually, she found Lucina and Cynthia towards the midsection of the beach, between the top of the shore and the ocean. They seated themselves on the sand with tiny buckets and shovels.

"There you are! I was looking everywhere for you!" Severa spoke as she seated herself next to Lucina on the hot sand. "What're you doing?"

"Building a sand castle," Noire answered as she spoke from behind Severa and set a bucket of wet sand down.

"We're gonna make the best castle ever!" Cynthia smiled as she eagerly grabbed the bucket and flipped it upside-down. While Severa helped with the construction of the sand castle, she asked her best friend a couple questions.

"Did you tell your mom about Inigo?" Over the last few months, Lucina and Severa both noticed that Inigo had fallen in with a bad crowd and become the true enemy of their town. Not a follower of Grima, or a bandit. A bully.

"She says he's just going through a phase," Lucina replied as she used her shovel to begin digging a moat. "And that she'll talk to him about it."

"I know that you're his sister and all," Noire chimed in. "But I can't stand being around him."

"Bullies are the true scum of the earth," Cynthia spoke in an unsettlingly low voice as she bowed her head. Severa and the others were unnerved by how deep her vocabulary was, considering she was only ten.

"...Riiiiiight." Severa paused; maybe Cynthia had been spending too much time with Owain.

As they continued to build their castle, they almost neared completion before disaster reared its ugly head. A shadow loomed over the tiny structure of sand, an omen of ruin for their creation.

Inigo leaned over the tiny castle and raised his foot back, threatening to kick the castle over and ruin their progress. By the time Severa, Lucina and Noire noticed, it would've been too late to stop him. Cynthia, however, had noticed his approach.

"Begone, fiend!" Cynthia yelled as she grabbed a clump of sand and threw it at Inigo's eyes, sending him tumbling to the sandy ground and clutching his face as he wailed.

"Woah! Cynthia!" Another shadow loomed over the group; a shadow casted by Cynthia's father. "You can't throw sand at people like that!" He had a stern look on his face as the other children shirked away. Cynthia frowned back at him.

"He was gonna kick over our sand castle!" Cynthia pouted.

"Then you talk him down. Nonviolently." Gaius folded his arms and walked over to Inigo. He helped the boy to his feet and took his hand, then held his other hand out to Cynthia. "Come on, both of you are going to apologize in front of Olivia."

"I don't wanna!" Cynthia protested and kept her arms at her side. She stood there for a good few minutes before the disapproving stare of her father broke her defenses. "...Fine." She took her father's hand and walked off towards Sumia and Olivia, who were relaxing on chairs towards the top of the beach. Inigo followed closely behind.

Cordelia was thankful for her foresight to purchase sunglasses, as the bright sun above would've hurt her eyes if she didn't bring any protection. As she laid on her beach chair with Robin's cloak tied around her like a towel, her eyes scanned the pages of her favorite book. Morgan sat next to her on a smaller beach chair as she held her wrapped present.

"Can I open it yet?" She asked as she felt along the edges of the gift. She knew it was a book, but not what book it was. It could be a fictional tale, a story based on real events, or anything, really. The desire to know had built up inside her with every passing minute as she held the gift.

"...Oh, go right ahead." Cordelia spoke while Morgan beamed. She had picked out a book recounting the War of Shadows, but it was written so that a child could understand it. Cordelia put down her book and turned to see Morgan's smile while she inspected the title of her gift.

"The Hero King and the Shadow Dragon?" She excitedly read the title aloud and set the book on her chair. She got up and hugged her mother, who hugged her back. "Thank you!"

"Enjoy your early birthday gift," Cordelia replied as Morgan sat back down in her chair. Cordelia then resumed to read her book, and continued to read for what she presumed was five minutes before a soft hand tapped her on the shoulder. She looked up to see Sumia standing over her, wearing both a purple bikini that exposed her stomach and a smile on her face. "Oh, hello Sumia."

"Hi, Cordelia." Sumia waved and turned to face Morgan. "Hello, Morgan. What're you reading?"

"It's a book about the Hero King!" Morgan proudly held up her gift while Sumia inspected the book.

"That looks like a good read," Sumia smiled back and turned to Cordelia. "Mind if I take a seat?"

"Go right ahead," Cordelia answered as she set her book down in her satchel. She then watched as Sumia returned with a chair of her own and sat down on it. "So, how are the Ylissean Pegasus Knights doing?"

"I disbanded them," Sumia responded in an indifferent voice.

"You… What?" Cordelia stuttered and blinked; why would Sumia do such a thing?

"The Ylissean Castle fell two years ago, and Ylisstol followed, so I gave the remaining knights a choice: move to Tutidomas with me and operate there, or retire," Sumia answered as she laid on her back. "Most joined me at Tutidomas, and a few retired. We are now known as the Storm Clouds of Regna Ferox"

"So you didn't really dissolve the knights, but more… evolved?" Cordelia turned to face Sumia.

"I guess you could look at it like that." Sumia shrugged her shoulders. "To be honest, I like working close to home anyway. It gives me more time to spend with Gaius and Cynthia."

"Did Cynthia really throw sand in Inigo's eyes?" Cordelia remembered seeing a commotion near the shoreline and Gaius bringing Inigo and Cynthia to Olivia.

"...Yeah, she did…" Sumia sighed as she slumped back in her seat. "Sometimes I worry that she'll get into serious trouble with her lack of impulse control."

Before Cordelia could even discuss the subject further, Sumia changed the topic to avoid Cordelia chewing her out. "So, how's your work as a mercenary?"

"How'd you know I was doing that?" Cordelia hadn't necessarily told anyone besides her family and Olivia that she changed professions.

"When all the wanted posters in town are missing, you tend to notice. Also, Gaius saw you take one last month. You're doing Naga's work, by the way. Keeping the town safe is no easy feat." Sumia answered.

"To be honest, it's not so different from what I did with the pegasus knights. It's just on foot is all." Cordelia had gotten into a rhythm of doing a few bounties whenever her children were at school. It kept her wallet full and gave her something to think about. "Now, why did Cynthi-"

"So how far are you into Ribald Tales?" Sumia blurted out and changed the subject entirely. Cordelia went along, again.

"I'm nearing the end. Seliph and his army are advancing towards Belhalla to defeat Julius." Cordelia replied, but knew that this was a ploy by Sumia.

"That part in the last chapter, where Seliph went to the coast after striking down Arvis, and he sees the ghosts of his parents…" Sumia's eyes watered for a moment before she wiped them. "That got me right in the heartstrings…"

"That was a great moment. In my eyes, however, the best scene was Finn rescuing Leif from the burning Leonstar manor." Cordelia made her counterpoint as she began to pull the loose fabric of her one-piece swimsuit.

"Oh, gods… Finn… Can you imagine being the sole survivor of an army, then to fight for the children of your deceased friends?" Sumia replied. Cordelia loved discussing books with Sumia and made a mental note to do this more often with her.

"You shouldn't worry about Cynthia. I heard that Inigo deserved it." Cordelia changed the topic, much to Sumia's dismay.

"She still threw sand in his eyes. Your kids look so easy to take care of…" Sumia sighed as she noticed that Gaius was approaching.

"And your daughter has a great sense of justice that will serve her well, and you'd do best to point out her strengths rather than her weaknesses," Cordelia replied in a normal tone. The intent of her message was not to criticize Sumia, but to help her.

"I… You're right, as usual." Sumia laughed to herself as she stood up and hugged Cordelia. "Thanks for being a steady shoulder to lean on."

"Anytime." Cordelia smiled and waved to Sumia. Her friend walked to Gaius and planted a kiss on his lips before walking along the beach with his hand grasped in her own.

Lucina sighed as she inspected her finished palace of sand. She had drawn the Ylissean royal insignia on the front and felt a sense of pride in her construction. Of course, she owed it to her friends as well, as their skills worked in tandem with hers to make a finished product they could all appreciate.

"That's quite a nice castle you've built." A woman with green hair and a red bikini sat down next to Lucina.

"Hi, Tiki." Lucina remembered Tiki from seeing her around town. She wasn't sure what exactly he did, but the other townsfolk treated her as though she was a deity, so she must be important in one way or another.

"I'd say it's a grander sight than the palace of the Hero King." Tiki smiled as she began to drag her finger along the sand. She then looked up to see a flock of seagulls flying against the blue sky.

"...How do you know that?" Lucina's curiosity was peaked.

"You do know I was alive in the era of the Hero King, right?" Tiki asked; she could never tell if people knew her history or not. Sometimes she enjoyed being treated as a normal citizen, and others she relished in being an eyewitness to legends.

"Wait, whaaaaaat?" Lucina's jaw went agape and her eyes widened. "You knew my great great great great great great great great great-"

"You ancestor, Mar-Ma-" Tiki stopped herself and paused. She shook her head and resumed speaking. "Your ancestor, Marth. I was a close friend of his, back then."

"You knew Marth? What was he like? What was his favorite color? Did he have a lot of friends?" Lucina had always wanted to know about her family tree, yet there was only so much she could learn through tomes.

"Please, slow down!" Tiki laughed and held her hand up. "Well, he was strong, like his blade, yet his heart beated in tune with the many souls of his army. Their troubles were his troubles, and behind his smile, you could see a man tormented by the ghosts of his past."

Lucina's eyes widened as this information washed over her like the waves behind. "Also, his favorite color was blue." She took another gaze to the sky and sighed. "After all these years, my memories of him and my friends remain in my mind. I suppose it is my curse; they are up in the stars while I am down on this earth."

"Aww, don't worry, Tiki." Lucina stood up and held out her hand. "I'll be your friend."

"Why, thank you, Lucina." Tiki smiled as she shook Lucina's tiny hand. "I know that Marth would be proud to call you his descendant."

Tiki's attention focused to Lucina's palace of sand. "Now, how about we build some impenetrable defenses for your castle?"

**Severa tapped her bare foot on the sand at the edge of the ocean. The wet sand stuck to her toes, no matter how forcefully she tapped to remove it. She stared at the ocean, glaring at this beast who she could not traverse.

A hand tapped on her shoulder; Severa turned around to see her mother standing behind her.

"Do you want to go for a swim?" Cordelia asked.

"You know I can't," Severa replied as she folded her arms.

"Come on, I'll teach you." Cordelia took her daughter by the hand and slowly walked towards the crashing waves. Severa winced as she felt the cold brine from the ocean wash over her feet. Is this what the ocean felt like? She had never known until now.

She moaned in discomfort as Cordelia led her on, digging her feet into the sand to stop her mother as they walked deeper and deeper into the ocean. Alas, Cordelia's strength overpowered her as she was now neck-high in the water.

"Mom! Please let's go back! Stop!" She screamed as she used her other hand to splash around in the bobbing waves. Cordelia turned around and noticed the panicked look on Severa's face.

"Here, cover your nose, eyes, and mouth on the count of three." Cordelia placed her hand gently on the top of Severa's head. "If you're still scared, we can get out and go to the shore."

"...Fine." Severa pinched her nose with her fingers and covered her eyes.

"One…" Cordelia spoke. Severa's anxiety began to build. "Two…" Severa took a deep breath. "Three!"

Severa's heartbeat climbed as she felt herself slowly pushed underneath the waves. The cold water washed over her, but she did not die like she thought she would. Instead, she simply sat underneath the water and held her breath. By the time she surfaced, she opened her eyes to see the smile on her mother's face. "How was it?"

"I wanna do it again, but with my eyes open," Severa replied as she ran her hands through her wet, sandy hair.

"Use these," Cordelia revealed in her free hand that she had a pair of goggles. She helped fit them over Severa's eyes. "Do you want to do it on you own or-"

Without an inch of fear in her mind, Severa lowered her head underneath the water while Cordelia watched with a smile on her face. Her pride in her daughter built with every second that she spent underwater.

Underneath the waves, Severa found an azure world of beauty that she could barely describe. Light bounced off of the waves and illuminated the floor of the sea, giving it a blue glow. She quickly surfaced, gathered her breath, then bobbed underneath the sea again. She took all the time she could to scan the sea floor before she surfaced again.

When Severa went back underwater, she found a new sight before her. Her mother followed her beneath the sea; her hair flowed and weaved like a flame. A flame emanating from a smiling sun, that is. As they both surfaced, Severa waded through the water into her mother's arms and looked up to her.

"Can we go deeper?" She asked. Cordelia nodded and took her by the hand, but now Severa was actively following rather than resisting her tug.

"Here, float on your back like this…" Cordelia lifted her daughter up by her legs so that she was floating on her back. She stretched her arms out and rested atop the waves. To her surprise, she floated on the water as though she was laying on the ground. Cordelia held her by the arm and slowly dragged her across the waves while she relaxed.

Time seemed to lose all meaning as Severa relaxed on the waves, rocking up and down with the motions of the water. She noticed that her mother was swimming, for a good while even. But after a short while, Cordelia seemed to step on something and find a footing.

"What are you standing on?" Severa asked; she felt water slip into her eardrums and dreaded having to get said water out.

"The sandbar," Cordelia answered. "You can stand here too."

Severa broke her float and found that there was indeed a raised bar of sand that they were standing on. They were a good distance out from the shore; her friends and their parents looked like ants from this distance.

"We're so far out…" Severa stated as she gripped her mother's hand.

"Your father always liked coming out this far whenever we came to the beach," Cordelia spoke; Severa noticed that unlike all the other times her mother mentioned her father, she did not seem upset. Instead, she seemed… happy.

So they remained there, floating up and down on the gentle waves. It may have been for five, or ten, or fifteen minutes.

Severa couldn't care less about time; the only thing she cared about was floating on the waves next to her and smiling.