Cordelia's Tale: Act II

Road Taken

Part IX

Author's note: I recommend listening to Going Alone from Mother 3 when you see one * mark.

*If Cordelia thought the streets of Tutidomas were barren before, by now they were a wasteland. Not even a single passerby greeted her as she walked down the foggy streets; abandoned buildings and shops lined the roads. More and more people were lost to the Risen attacks. They had grown so frequent that Cordelia brought her spear with her everywhere she went.

The clang of steel weapons clashing against each other broke the silence; Lon'qu must be training Owain. Cordelia felt as though it had been ages since she had seen any of the Shepherds, disregarding Olivia. Finally, she could discuss the dwindling population of the town with people she kne-

As Cordelia rushed to the training yard, she noticed two figures practicing. Owain was one of them, yes, but the other was not Lon'qu. This man had an axe and a dragon by his side. It had been about three months since these two had graduated the now-abandoned academy.

"Gerome?" Cordelia asked. Both stopped and Owain turned his head. "Are your parents nearby? I know Cherche is never far off from Minerva."

Gerome turned his head, revealing that Ricken's mask was adorned on his face. He had a solemn stare that was visible even through the mask.

"They… They didn't make it…" His imposing tone cracked along with his voice. Cordelia swore that she heard him sniffle.

"Owain, what about-" Before Cordelia could finish, Owain stopped and approached her. He fumbled with his coat pocket and pulled out a bloody arrow. With nary a word, Owain handed the projectile to Cordelia, who inspected the shaft to see a message scrawled on it.

'In memory of Lissa and Lon'qu.'

"I'm… I'm sorry for your losses." Cordelia handed the arrow back to Owain and began to walk away.

"C-cordelia, could we ask you a request?" Owain's bravado was noticeably absent from his voice and vocabulary. "This town is a graveyard. Get out of here as soon as possible. Gerome, Cynthia and I are starting a town with the other children." He pulled out a map and pointed to a red X. The name 'New Ylisstol' was scrawled next to the mark. "Please bring your family along, so we can all work together to survive."

"I'll tell Severa and Morgan." Cordelia nodded and waved as she walked away. She had barely any time to consider their request before a thought reached her mind.

Was Donnel still alive? She couldn't survive without her food supplier, and there was nobody else in town to give her food. She rushed to the farmer's market with an increasing heartbeat.

As she stepped into the market, she scanned around for Donnel's stand. All the others were closed, and a long line of what must have been fifty people were lined up at one stand. Cordelia walked along the line and past the stares of people believing she was skipping it.

These people were in line for Donnel's stand, but Donnel was not at the stand. Instead, a different man stood in his place.

"We only have a years worth of food, folks! So get in line!" Slayde yelled as he handed out bags of food to hungry civilians.

"What happened to Donnel?" Cordelia asked; the fact that this man tried to slander Robin's name was the least of her concerns.

"Risen attacked his farm. His boy was the only survivor." Slayde replied. "We scavenged all the food we could. If you need any, lass, you'll have to get in line."

Cordelia looked at the large wagon of food bags behind Slayde, then to the long line of peasants. By the time she reached the stand, there would be no food left for her family.

With a heavy sigh, Cordelia drew her lance.

"I need that food." She spoke in a cold tone.

"Have you lost your mind?" Slayde's eyes widened as he focused on the sharp end of her lance. "These people will starve without this food!" The people in the line began to nervously walk away.

"I said give me the food!" Her grip tightened in tandem with her resolve. Slayde raised his hands, only for him to quickly press his fingers to his mouth and whistle a sharp note.

"We got a thief! Stop her!" Slayde yelled as guards entered the farmer's market with their swords drawn. Screams filled the farmer's market as most of the civilians fled, with a few drawing steel to protect their right to a meal. The town guards encircled Cordelia, who gritted her teeth.

"Naga forgive me for what I must do…" She muttered before lunging at one of the guards with a yell.

Morgan returned from her lessons in magic with Laurent to discover the remains of a large wagon sitting outside her house. She had never seen this wagon before and wondered if her mother had to transport something from the town.

"Mom!" Morgan spoke as she entered her house. "Are you in here?"

"Hi, Morgan," Cordelia spoke as she stood at the kitchen sink, furiously scrubbing something that Morgan could not see. Behind her were stacks and stacks of crates labeled 'food.'

"Has Severa come home yet?" Morgan asked. Before she left for practice, Severa said she was going to go to Lucina's house.

"No. She'll be back soon, I guess. Could you cast some freezing magic on this food before it goes rotten?" Cordelia asked.

"Yeah, sure thing," Morgan spoke as she pulled a blue tome out of her pocket. Before Miriel passed away, she had taught her and Laurent the secrets of ice magic and its applications in daily life. One spell was enough to preserve food for a month. "Fimbulvetr!" Morgan raised her hand and read the spell from the tome, then watched as large snowflakes materialized on the crates. They were now freezing to the touch.

Out of the corner of her eye, Morgan noticed that the water in the kitchen sink was tinted red. "Are you cleaning wine out of the glasses or something?" Morgan asked as she approached. Cordelia's shoulders tensed, and she did not know why.

Upon looking past her mother, Morgan discovered that Cordelia was washing blood off her gauntlets. "Oh, gods! What happened? Are you hurt?" Morgan panicked as Cordelia sighed and turned around. Her breastplate was stained with crimson that matched her dress. "Is this why the wagon is-"

"No, I'm fine…" She had a forlorn look in her eyes. She needed to explain what happened. It dawned on Morgan that Donnel never gave Cordelia this much food in one trip. "Let me explain…"

"How did you get all this food?" Morgan asked as she took a step back.

"Donnel's farm was attacked, and they were giving out the remaining food in town to everyone. I needed it more than they did." Cordelia's tone was unsettlingly flat, considering the implications of her actions.

"So you killed them? For food?" Morgan's voice rose.

"The guards and some civilians who fought back, yes," Cordelia replied.

"Oh, gods…" Morgan leaned up against the wall and clutched her forehead. "How many of those people had families? They're going to starve now!"

"I don't want to think about that." Cordelia resumed washing the blood off her armor. "I choose to think about how we won't starve for the next two years."

"You're a monster." Morgan glared at her mother.

"And you don't see the bigger picture." Cordelia turned her head to look at Morgan.

"You're rationalizing murder!" Morgan cried out.

"Morgan! Enough!" Cordelia yelled back. "It's kill or be killed out there, and I don't want you or Severa to be killed."

A knock resounded on the front door. Morgan grumbled as she opened it, revealing a distraught Severa standing in the doorway.

On her arm was the Fire Emblem. The royal treasure of Ylisse.

"Severa, what's wrong?" Morgan asked as Severa rushed inside. The door was shut behind her.

"Lucina's house is… gone…" She replied in a worried tone as she paced back and forth. "It was nothing but smoldering rubble… I searched through it for hours, but I could only find dead Risen…"

"Oh, gods…" Cordelia hurriedly wiped the blood off her chest plate and walked to Severa's side. "You think they were-"

"It has to be a Risen attack. I just didn't think it could happen to them…" Severa inspected the shield on her arm. "This was the only thing of value I could find."

"I'm sure they slipped out and are hiding as we speak. Olivia's a fighter; there's no way she or her children would die in an ambush." Cordelia reassured her daughters. "From now on, we're staying near this house at all times. The Risen are growing bolder by the minute, and to split up is to paint a target on your back. Owain and the other children are making a town nearby, and when the time is right, we'll leave for there."

"O-okay," Severa replied as she bowed her head. She hoped with all her might that Lucina was okay. Morgan nodded; she knew the Risen weren't the only reason Cordelia couldn't show her face in town.

It also dawned on her who had smashed the wagon. If it was intact, they could transport the food. Now, the food may as well be an anchor binding them to the house.

Three days had passed since Olivia's family went missing. Severa and Morgan began to lose hope, but Cordelia knew they were hardy. Surely, they were alright.

As the night sky shone outside, Cordelia sat on her couch and repeated that message to herself ad nauseam. Everything was going to be fine, Olivia was going to move in again, and they could leave for New Ylisstol.

A knock startled her back to reality. Who could be up at this hour? Her daughters weren't.

Cordelia opened the door to reveal Lucina and Inigo, both sogging wet in the rain and wearing clothes stained with blood. They looked pale in the face, as though they had seen a ghost.

"Oh, gods… What happened?" Cordelia asked as Lucina rushed into her arms.

"...He took her…" She mumbled. Inigo shambled inside the warm house and stood up with a soulless stare.

"Who took who?" Cordelia tried to make sense of Lucina's words.

"Grima took Olivia," Inigo spoke on his sister's behalf. "They came in the morning fog. Risen. We barely had time to grab our weapons, but they overwhelmed us. They grabbed mother and ran off. We assembled a squad and marched on the Ylissean Castle to rescue her, but when we got there..."

Lucina remembered Grima's words about stomping out the embers of her family. She remembered his rows upon rows of fangs that were sharp enough to cut swords in two. Most of all, she remembered his echoing laugh that hounded them while Inigo and her fled with their lives.

"Grima killed the troops and toyed with us. I saw him. He used Robin's body as though it was a puppet." Lucina spoke now. Cordelia tightened her embrace.

"Mother's somewhere in the castle. Trapped. She has to be; it's the only explanation." Inigo paced back and forth in the living room. Cordelia sighed. No fifteen-year-old should have to go through this.

"I'm sorry. You two can stay in the guest room as long as you want," Cordelia spoke. "We recovered the Fire Emblem from your house. Trust me when I say this, but I know your mother's alive. I can feel it."

Tears began to run down Inigo's face as he joined in the group hug with Cordelia and Lucina.