Chapter Twenty-Seven: Different Eyes

Child of Darkness: Morgan

"We'll leave as soon as they can stand on their own." None of my current compatriots agreed with my choice, a short glance at their expressions told me that, but none of them were going to argue. They knew I wouldn't give ground, having already acquiesced to defend Ylissetol. "I am now quite certain that this Marth is Lucina, and although I am unsure as to the identity of this…Gri, Lucina obviously trusts her, and she is a powerful sorceress. It is then our best course to locate the both of them immediately."

"And this isn't because of whoever that crazy Grimeal lady was?" Severa didn't wilt under my glare, not that I expected her to. Of course, I also couldn't accuse her of being wrong. That my Mother, the Lady of Grima herself, came back in time added complexity to our situation. Without Falchion, the odds of defeating the Lady of Grima in combat decreased the longer the duel progressed. During the battle, she seemed to fight against the possession, which gave me enough of an edge to stand my ground.

All of that predicated upon the idea that the Grimeal woman was my Mother. While we bore a stark resemblance, I knew full well the Grimeal could find some sorry woman to use as a weapon. Of course, how that person managed to know about me would be another issue.

"No." Severa backed down after a few long seconds. I didn't need to tell the others about my concerns. Perhaps I might tell Lucina, when we found her, but for now, I didn't want to add to the already growing burden on my companion's shoulders. "Her presence is an unforeseen complication to be sure, but not one I am concerned with at this point." As they expected, I started to smirk. "I would be more worried about our cover story falling apart. Without a looming battle, Robin, and perhaps Virion, will begin asking questions. Virion in particular will pose an issue to our story, being Valmese in his own right."

"You would rather avoid confrontation, and create potential misunderstandings." Laurent murmured, as though that would be some kind of revelation, to either me or the others.

I shrugged. "I would rather not be tied down. A week has passed, and without knowing where Lucina and her companion teleported, they could be halfway to Valm, and us none the wiser. Our priority remains reuniting the entire group, not rebuilding a city that can survive without our aid." Unlike before, I wasn't going to swayed by emotional blackmail. While my attitude might consign many people to die, more would die if we failed, so I would consider the scales more than balanced. "Plegia will not wish to see a repeat of this battle, given their objective success, and the defeat of the Grimeal's secret weapon at the hands of an unknown element. Despite her lack of experience Robin is not about to lead an army into Plegia, which should see the Shepherds relatively safe." So I could hope. "We all agreed sentimentality cannot hamper our efforts, and that is precisely what we are allowing to happen now. Grima is moving faster than we expected. We cannot afford sitting around and waiting."

"Gawds. Must you be right all the time?" I hadn't even been sure Severa listened past me saying we'd leave as soon as possible. Given her problems with her Mother, I doubted the brunette even cared about anything else I said. "Why not just leave now then?" Or, she was trying another 'clever' attempt to coherence me into doing something.

"Because Lucina put some degree of effort into ensuring the Shepherds survive to see all of us born in this timeline, and it would be foolish to squander that. Further, although they are not now, the Shepherds do turn into formidable warriors, ones who could very well aid us when the time comes to do battle with Grima's faithful. Finally, should Plegia defy expectations and invade, I wish to be able to answer them, in a manner somewhat more succinct that before." Should they invade once again, the decision to utilize every tool at my disposal had been made. Mjolnir or otherwise, should the Plegian's want a second round, I would deal with them, in a manner suitably permanent.

"Whatever." Severa returned to glaring out the window at the ruins below. Cynthia caught my gaze, rolling her eyes as she did so. I made an effort to avoid smiling at the familiar exchange. Electing to leave Severa's peculiarities to the other Princess, I checked to ensure that neither Yarne, nor Laurent displayed objections to my plan. Neither did.

"We will be heading north in a few days, unless someone around here is comically incompetent." Severa didn't react but the others nodded, or otherwise acknowledged my words. "I concede all of you were correct. Without us here, this would have ended far worse."

"Lucina's still going to be mad that we didn't save Emmeryn." Were it Severa, I might have thought Cynthia was being passive aggressive. As it stood, I knew she spoke the truth and little else. However, it represented further questions for later.

"My options were to save those we did, or to annihilate half a city. I think Lucina will understand the choice I made." Even if she didn't, that burden lay on me alone. I rose, pulling my cloak tight over my shoulders, having nothing further to say. "We should put in some degree of appearance before they believe we've vanished into the night." With that, I swept out of the room, leaving them to rail against me in peace, as likely as not.

Most of the halls were deserted, all available people working to rebuild as much as they could, leaving me free to hunt for the castle library. My musings on the necessity of Falchion brought up an old memory, something I realized I had forgotten in my haste to find Lucina. Obviously just asking for access to the library of the Exalt seemed a bit presumptuous at the time, but I was confident I could sneak about long enough to find the book I wanted, without everyone distracted.

"Morgan!" Of course, if someone found me before I even reached the library, that entire idea went out the window. Pausing, I turned to consider Robin.

As far as I knew, Robin had no analogue in my memories. None of the Shepherds I remembered wore Grimeal cloaks, or wielded Grima's magic. Indeed, the first time I saw someone besides myself wearing such a cloak had been during the Fall of Ylisse, as we fled the city. Robin's tactical skills were indeed impressive, as Chrom and the Shepherds claimed. In battle, she would not hold against any Valmese soldier, but for the point in time, her skills were impressive, and her command of magic moreso. Few mages mastered, or even attempted to cast Thoron, a spell the Tactician learned and could cast in battle within a few days.

"Lady Robin." Bags hung beneath her eyes, and a general malaise seemed to dog her, although none of the grim determination I saw during the fighting had faded. "Is there something I can do to assist you?"

Her lips quirked, half a smile, half a smirk. "Unless you can rebuild a city with a wave of your hand, or summon the Exalt out of the ether, I doubt it. I'm…simply tired." Doubtless. In the future, I organized and fought many battles, but never did I have to pick up the pieces of my actions, perhaps the one advantage of the world ending around you. "I have something a bit more serious to ask you."

"I will do my best to provide an answer." Two possibilities sprang to mind. She wanted us to find the Exalt, or to join the Shepherds.

"Well, a couple things." Just for a moment, a haunted look caught her eyes. "The woman you fought…she knew you."

"Ah." Well, I didn't think any of them heard that little exchange over the cacophony of battle. None of this changed our plans a great deal however. "I believe she was my Mother."

"You believe." Robin at least had the decency to mask her skeptical tone. "Your reaction to her suggested you were quite confident." Although, interestingly her disbelief seemed to be in my certainty, as opposed to be belief.

I could only shrug. "My Mother vanished within weeks of my birth. I know nothing of her appearance, age, or any other defining feature, besides that at some point either slew one of the Grimeal, or associated with them close enough to receive this cloak. I will admit that I clung to a childish hope for the former option. Perhaps that woman was not my mother. Her appearance was difficult to discern, and in the heat of battle, fighting on adrenaline alone, I reacted more harshly than I might otherwise have. Growing up alone, without parents, I harbor something of a grudge…again, perhaps rather childishly, hence my immediate reaction being an extreme level of violence."

A strange look cross Robin's face, something between guilt, fear, and relief. "I see." Shaking off whatever bothered her, she steeled herself. "I already am fairly certain I know the answer, but I felt it wise to ask someone not tied up in our conflict."

"The Plegian army captured the Exalt. That is almost certain." This question I prepared an answer for. "Their retreat coincides with the disappearance of the Exalt, and the remarks of the Plegian general suggest they had gained something they wanted. The Exalt presents a reasonable target. She allows the Mad King leverage against the Prince." She would give Gangrel the perfect platform to justify his war after the fact, and a precisely chosen bait to lure Chrom and the Shepherds in. "I gather from your expression; you were hoping I had some insight you did not." One could have been forgiven for assuming I had stabbed a baby in front of the tactician, given her face.

"I did." With a long sigh, drew herself together again. "I can't just leave her in Gangrel's hands." That sentence was definitively leading to something. I steeled myself for what I knew to be a growing inevitability.

"Your options are to engage in open war on Plegian soil, acquiesce to his demands, or to do precisely that." Unfortunately, her options were truly more limited than that. Going to war with Plegia simply wouldn't work. They held every advantage, unless someone such as myself took the field of war, and lacked any sort of moral compunction. Which, despite all appearances to the contrary I did possess.

"I see a few more options than that." Leading indeed. Namely, leading to asking us to help. "Although I admit most of them are contingent upon the help of you, and your companions."

Despite my best effort a small sigh slipped past. "Which I am afraid you will have to do without shortly. As soon as I can in good conscience say that Plegia will not invade a second time, I and my companions will be returning to our search." Robin's face fell, before she got control of herself again. "I have every faith you will find a solution Lady Robin."

Her eyes darkened. "I feel your faith is somewhat misplaced, but it is appreciated."

"My experience has been, Lady Robin, that often those who feel least equipped to handle a situation are those who handle them best." A lesson from personal experience. She hummed, either a vague agreement, or an attempt to dodge the question entirely. "I did not feel myself ready, nor able to fill the shoes I have. That my companions turn to me for leadership never fails to concern me." That, at least, was not a lie. Robin's posture shifted, obviously confused. "When you are the court mage of a Valmese nobleman at the frontlines of the war with Walhart, you learn quickly that confidence is important." Letting a bit of my usual coldness fade, I fixed Robin with a sharp stare. "You remind me of myself, Lady Robin, if a few years older, and perhaps less jaded against the world."

"Shouldn't that be the other way around?" The remark was indeed as lighthearted, even if it elicited a twist in my chest. "I don't know for sure, but I suspect I'm more than a few years older than you."

"Perhaps, yes. But I think our experiences are rather different." She gave me a look caught between searching, confused, and disbelieving.

"Considering I don't remember a damn thing from before the Shepherds, I have no idea." I caught some trace of bitterness in the tactician's words. Her words however, left me frowning. Amnesia. While whispers occasionally suggested such a thing, I'd never known anything to confirm it. Another strange layer to a woman who threw an entire timeline into chaos by her mere presence.

I didn't answer at once, choosing to mull my words over carefully. "I cannot speak to total loss of memory, but…as to having oneself be a mystery, or at least your origins, I will admit there is not always comfort in the truth." Her brows furrowed. "My Lord sought to keep my connection to the Fell Dragon a secret from me as long as possible, particularly in light of my ability to call upon Naga's magic. Thus, the first time I cast such magic was an accident, as I tore the soul straight from a traitor's body." The Tactician shuddered, no doubt remembering the spell in question. "A traumatizing act, to be certain." Also, not strictly a lie. During the fall of Ylisse, my Fell powers had awakened, and I had indeed torn the soul of a traitor in the ranks of the guards from his body, and then spent the next years living in fear of my own magic.

"I'm not sure whoever first said ignorance to be bliss understood either concept." Trust her to pick up the point I drove at without me saying it.

"No, they did not. But, sometimes, Lady Robin, digging too far into our past can lead to unpleasant discoveries." Realizing I had drifted away from my original point, I refocused. "You remind me of myself Lady Robin, because you are a powerful mage, skilled with a sword, thrown into a situation well outside of your control and expected to cope with it. I believe you have done a far better job than I." Although she couldn't cast spells of the level of Mjolnir, slaughtering thousands was out of her control yet. "We both got placed at the heads of small, dedicated military groups, and asked to fight seemingly impossible wars." Of course, with any thought, that comparison collapsed upon itself. Granted, one needed information that Robin did not, and could not possess. "Yours, I think is a war that is quite winnable, by comparison." Any war was more winnable than one against an army of millions, or against the undead. "I do not believe you need us, Lady Robin." Not that it really mattered, we were leaving soon.

She shrugged. "I can only hope your correct, as I doubt I can persuade you to change your mind."

"I'm afraid not." We lingered here too long. My moral compunctions would not let me abandon them just yet, but soon I could leave them to stand without adding more blood to my conscience. Once I could be certain they'd survive, departure wouldn't be long. "We have stayed far longer than I indeed already, Lady Robin, and I fear those we are looking for will not sit idly by in the meantime." Whatever Lucina was doing, she wouldn't sit by waiting, I had no doubt of that. No doubt the silly woman didn't even think to hunt for the rest of us, instead focusing on taking down Grima.

"I understand." She didn't, of course, but thought she did, and I would take the gesture for what it was. The Shepherd's tactician drifted away, and I slipped into the castle library otherwise unbothered.

Finding the book in question took only a few moments, the layout not having changed since my youth. Thumbing quickly to the page in question, I swore under my breath as the page confirmed my memory. I now knew where to find Lucina. Of course, the downside was that Naga was involved, like everything else involving Falchion's. Returning the book to its place, I steeled myself for an unpleasant encounter long in the future. My necklace pulsed, a gentle soothing magic, as always responding to my discontent far swifter than should be natural. This time, however, it did little to settle the pit in my stomach. "No stopping it."

"No stopping what?" Unlike someone else in my position, I didn't jump, yelp, or otherwise react to the voice. I did mentally berate myself for allowing myself to be snuck up on, however.

"What I suspect to be a rather unpleasant encounter in my future." Giving elusive answers was an art. Of the three of us, I mastered it, Lucina attained a level of competence, and Cynthia didn't. Learning to spot them even more so.

"Sounds like a bit more than just something unpleasant." Cordelia. Severa's Mother. And, Fell Mage. Although hardly Robin or myself, she none the less radiated the same tendrils of inky magic, and I suspected she knew how to use it.

I elected to chuckle. "Perhaps. Is there something I can do to help you?"

She shifted from foot to foot, armor rustling. "Possibly?" My experience with Cordelia in the future had always been limited. She wasn't, for example, half as bad as Severa claimed, but I could not recall feeling Grima's touch on her before. Severa certainly lacked the ability. "You can use Grima's magic as well, can't you?"

"Unfortunately." Turning, I considered the red headed woman. Askance, but with the same sort of resolve her daughter might display. Given what I could sense, the question made sense, but I did not care to reveal to many of my abilities. "Why?"

"Do you…" For the first time, her eyes dropped, not meeting my own. One of her fists balled, and I found myself quite curious as to what might come next. "Does Grima talk to you? In your head?"

Of course he did, although not frequently. In the future, the Fell Dragon had no need to speak into my mind, because he could taunt me on the battlefield. Nothing prevented him from screaming in my head, of course. Since coming back, I avoided drawing his attention, leaving him no reason to focus upon me. "On occasion, yes. For reasons I am unsure of, he rarely bothers." She winced, lips thinning, shoulders hunching in."I gather he isn't so merciful to you."

"Ah…no. Since…." Cordelia shook her head, hair flying wildly. "Since I discovered I am capable of…" A flick of her wrist conjured a tiny black flame. My necklace pulsed, confirming my knowledge of Grima's power being channeled. "This, I've had this voice in my head …."

"Promising power, destruction, ruin of your foes, and so on?" Keeping the disdain from me tone proved harder than usual. She nodded. "I cannot promise it will ever stop, although, if ignored for long enough, he will probably leave you alone." It worked for me at least. "I will be honest, my experience in dealing with the Fell Dragon is rather limited…Fell Magic is by far the weakest of my abilities, for what I imagine are obvious reasons." Besides those, I could cause almost as much havoc via Mjolnir as I could with anything Grima used, without the bargain price of my soul. Given my conversation with Robin, I saw where this conversation might be headed., "And I would not be entirely comfortable teaching anyone magic, Fell or otherwise." Even Emmeryn required little 'teaching', so to speak, learning to cast the Divine Lances with so little input from me, I suspect Naga might have intervened herself.

"That's alright." Cordelia managed a reassuring smile, somewhat undercut by the way her entire body shrunk a little farther. "I…Gri taught Robin and I some, enough to 'not get possessed the first time Grima looked at you funny', a she put it." Well, that did paint an interesting picture of the woman, one entirely consistent with what I learned so far.

"Probably better than I could do, particularly in a short time frame." Seeing the confusion flash up, I acted to forestall the question. "As soon as the city is able to stand on its feet, and Plegia is assured to not be returning, we will depart."

For a long second, Cordelia didn't speak. "That's what you meant, about something being unpleasant?"

"More than likely." Given that I expected my reunion with Lucina to be with Naga watching, yes. "I am…somewhat displeased with the person we are looking for. She and I need to have a rather in-depth discussion involving a number of unpleasant topics." Not quite lies, but also hardly truths. The other reason I wanted to leave. These stories were getting more elaborate by necessity, and I didn't want the lie to fall apart now. "My half-sister can be more than a little hardheaded, and I fear that we are going to argue ourselves in circles for a while. She tends to act without thinking consequences through, and we but heads over it." Which was not untrue, Lucina and I did indeed argue over her tendency to act and solve the results on the fly, at least when we were younger. A few years into the war with Grima that died down, as we both mellowed, and the reality of war sunk in to us both.

"I see." Cordelia considered. "Yet you sound rather found of her?"

"My sisters?" In a split second decision, I concluded that it wouldn't hurt to be entirely honest. "For all our fighting, we're close. Their parents died fighting at the start of the war, so we are all the family we have. Of course, that didn't stop Lucy from running off on her own for Grima only knows what reasons." I frowned, realizing far too late some of my bad habits from the future were going to be frowned upon in this time. "I suppose with the Grimeal running about, I need to stop swearing to Grima."

That, of all things, prompted a true, honest laugh. "I don't think anyone is going to mind too much. Gri did the same, although she was raised to do so."

"Raised to…she was one of the Grimeal." That would explain her ability to kill Validar, to be certain, as clear up a few possibilities. Of course it raised half a dozen further questions, and threw out most of my understanding of this enigmatic woman out of alignment.

"According to Robin, until she was a teenager, when she…left." Likely violently. Good riddance. Anything that weakened the Grimeal deserved at least a chance. "Apparently they weren't kind to her, growing up."

"They worship a god devoted to bringing about the apocalypse. I dare say they lack the empathy or sense to raise a child, even in the best of circumstances." I tried not to shiver thinking about my own Mother, and the potentially implications thereof. However, discussions of the Grimeal raising children could wait until I possessed more knowledge of this Gri, either as an ally or an enemy. "Everyone speaks of her quite highly."

"Gri?" I nodded. "She was…is rather unique. I don't think any of us really knew anything about her, besides her prodigal skills with magic, her somewhat antagonistic relationship with Marth, and that most of the regular soldiers felt her to be the most terrifying woman they ever met." A former member of the Grimeal would be intimidating to those who were uninformed or ignorant, so that made sense. "She bore a rather striking resemblance to Robin, actually." Severa corroborated the story, having spent some time interrogating the regular soldiers. "Always insisted they weren't twins, or anything like that, but if not for the fact that Gri carried herself…differently, you couldn't have told them apart." Carried herself differently?

"I see." More useful, but equally, useless information. Whoever this former Grimeal woman was, I knew for certain her name was not Gri. Not only would the Grimeal consider such a thing presumptuous in the extreme, but it seemed like an excellent snub. "A mystery for me to mull upon at a later time." Cordelia shrugged, and I swept from the library, content to muse upon the new information.

-FE:DUL-

By the time I collapsed against a wall that evening, I sorely regretted promising to lend my limited Divine casting abilities to healing others. While it did not render me unconscious like Robin, prolonged usage of Naga's magic exhausted me. Whatever connection I bore to Naga, it was weaker than my connection to Grima, and restorative magic's went against everything Grima desired, making their use tiring. Healing myself could leave me gasping, never mind dozens of others. Not, of course, that I allowed such weakness to show.

For a while, I contemplated returning to the room that had been mine, or would be mine, as the case might be, and sleeping. It would feel good, to have a bed, a bath, and to let myself come to pieces for a few moments. But, if I did, I couldn't ensure Morgan, Court Mage of Valm, would return in one piece. Unfortunately, that façade carried precedence over my personal needs.

"Lady Morgan." And, of course, Frederick would come searching for me. Although limited, my memories marked him as a good man. He, above many others, did not deserve whatever horrible fate Grima engineered for him. That did not stop me from feeling a flash of resentment that whatever hope I had of slipping away and resting vanished.

"Sir Frederick. I would stand, but healing is not amongst my more refined skills." If forced, I could still fight and kill, however without that weight hanging over me, I elected to remain as I was, and rest.

The man's armor clanked as he came to a stop in front of me. "Lady Lissa asked me to find you, and ensure you were well." Of course she did.

"Humph." I must have looked worse than I felt. "I am merely drained, Sir Frederick. I will be fine come morning. Exhaustion heals with sleep alone." Not quite true, but enough truth to fool one without too much knowledge, such as Frederick.

"Somehow, I doubt that. While I am no expert in magic, or it's related fields, I am quite certain that you will need more than a single night's sleep on almost no rations to recover from everything you have been doing." And, of course, Frederick the Wary retained every bit of his sharp eye for detail in this time as he had during out times.

"Regardless, there is less healing to be done tomorrow unless more injured have been dragged from the rubble." Grima preserve if they had, I might well come to pieces from exhaustion.

"I am unaware of others yet." He offered me a hand. "Lady Morgan, you will be good to no one, us or your companions, if you cannot walk a dozen feet without collapse." I could, I simply did not want to, and had the luxury to make that choice. None the less, I accepted the hand, swaying a bit before 'finding' my feet.

"It is rare I have had the luxury to simply collapse and sit, Sir Frederick. It is…nice, and I try take the chance when possible." His expression morphed to confusion, for which I couldn't blame him. "Fighting is a constant of my life. Crossing the Plegian desert presented enough travails before the Grimeal returned, and none of us slept lightly after their first attack." Perhaps, another small piece of truth. "Even before that, much of my time could be consumed with studying or my duties."

"I see." I knew full well we were walking in the direction of the mess hall, a place I made a particular point of avoiding since coming here. Both for the social interaction, and the memories it no doubt would call up. For a while, the implications of my statement hung in the air, as I came to the realization I wouldn't get out of this without satisfying Frederick that I took at least basic care of myself. By the time he finally worked out the question, I managed to restrain myself from tearing apart the food in front of me, despite the urge to do so. "Surely one of your age would not have so much experience with warfare?"

"My sixteen years have not been kind, Sir Frederick.". In truth, age didn't mean much to me, but I held a reasonable degree of confidence I had lived for sixteen years, or so. "My childhood was brief, if relatively pleasant. Once my magic came, things changed." A true statement. The manifestation of my magic did indeed radically change things, both for me, and the others. "At first, I could not control my own magic, causing all manner of problems. Learning control took years of practice, and often destructive failure." For a moment, a wry smile played across my features. "Not exactly the typical way a nine-year-old would spend their days, I think."

Several gasps from our gathering listeners. "Age nine? Surely that would rather young to begin training?" Laurent's mother. Miriel. Purportedly just like her son, or rather, her son took after her.

At this point, I could probably cut my losses and avoid giving any further information. Of course, I would only be allowing them to draw their own conclusions at that point, and allowing the uneducated or uninformed to do so proved problematic. "Ordinarily, yes. However, I represent an anomaly, both in power and depth of magic. Where your conventional mage can easily perform magic focused on Fire and Wind, most will struggle to manifest Lightning, which I can do on a near subconscious level. This is due to one of two problems. Either a lack of power, or a lack of control. I occupy the opposite end of the spectrum."

"To much." At this point, my impromptu story/lecture had acquired an audience of nearly half the Shepherds, and one of the voices I didn't recognize immediately filled in the gap my slight pause left.

"There is no such thing as to much magic." Folding my hands, I tried to organize the information a bit more concisely. "Merely greater difficulty with control. The greater a person's innate magical strength, the more difficulty they have utilizing the basic Fire and Wind spells every mage is taught at the beginning of their education. In my case, I am almost unable to do so without substantial effort to restrain myself, or overpowering the spells, and accepting whatever mess results." With a flick of my wrist, and a whispered word, I created a fireball over my left hand. "Alternatively, exhaustion will suffice to limit my strength enough to use Fire." Letting the spell fade, I bit the inside of my cheek as the realization of my captive audience sank in. "This made learning magic a near suicidal endeavor, until we discovered my lack of control. Even now, years of learning and practice later, the weakest piece of Wind magic I can cast without hurting myself is Arcwind." Miriel, Ricken, and a few others sucked in a breath. "When I said I represent an anomaly, I perhaps understated things. I possess more raw magic than everyone in this castle, combined."

"Everyone?" Sumia, a younger less hardened version of the woman I knew, pipped up from the corner. Her eyes were wide, just a bit of awe lingering there.

"Everyone, yes." Pulling my cloak tight around my shoulders, I sighed. That statement meant nothing in context, so perhaps context was needed. "Lady Robin comes the closest to me in strength, with the Exalt being close behind her. I am told you fought against Validar." Addressing Robin directly I only waited a few seconds for her agreeing nod to continue. "From the descriptions of your battle, you were more or less evenly matched in strength. Validar, and his ilk borrow heavily from their God, allowing him to overwhelm you." Now for the speculative portion of this little talk. "The woman who killed Validar, Gri, is by necessity substantially more powerful."

"By necessity?" Cordelia pipped up. "I knew her to be quite powerful, but I don't understand what would necessitate her being so much stronger?" A good question all things considered.

"The spell she used to kill Validar." Fingers curling over my necklace, I pressed on. "In order to use that sort of magic, you need not only a rock solid connection to Grima, but a reserve of personal strength far above average. In theory, I am capable of such a feat, although I have no desire to sell my soul to the Fell Dragon." My necklace pulsed once, warmth flooding my limbs. "Not only that, but her usage of elemental teleportation suggests a great deal of skill, knowledge and power." I still didn't know how she made that work.

"What about the woman you fought during the battle?" Chrom. From the side of the room, leaning against a doorframe, he fixed me with a hard stare. "How's she fit into this?"

Now that, at least offered an easy answer. "She doesn't. Whoever she was, the woman I fought was possessed by Grima, and thus gifted with magic well beyond the abilities of any mortal." Now, for the shock of a lifetime. "Regardless of what you believe, I lost." A wave of protests from the less magically inclined rose up, but from the mages, I could see a bit more contemplation. Eyes narrowed, brows furrowed, and Cordelia bit her lip. "I claim great power, not godhood. While the human body is limited, Grima can push those limits in ways we cannot, it seems. Where I not exhausted from battle, perhaps I may have fared better." Only my knowledge of how Grima fought allowed me to survive the onslaught of magic and blades.

"After the first exchange of spells, I lost track of that battle entirely." Robin admitted, drawing startled looks. "Both for a lack of knowledge and because they both are more skilled than I." I hid my surprise, half smiling. "Maybe someone better with a sword than I could follow, but even that exceeded my abilities." Chrom, and several others voiced their agreement.

"Fortunately, I doubt you will face such a foe again. I got the feeling from their expressions that was a cold comfort.

-FE:DUL-

"So, what's this about you giving lectures on magic?"

Of course, Severa found me, late into the night, staring out over the city. Her usual smirk absent. Although we both knew that didn't really mean anything.

"Is there something you want, or are you just going to laugh at me?" I lacked the patience for dealing with Severa tonight. If she lacked anything valuable to say, I might well throw her out the window, or something of the sort.

"Believe it or not, your sister is worried about you." She leaned into the window, arms folding. Melancholy didn't suite Severa in the least, but Cynthia would never bring up whatever bothered her to me. "You're off, even for you, Morgan." Before I could ask the obvious question, Severa carried on. "More…pre-Mila tree Morgan." I flinched. "And whatever the hell happened with your Mom."

"I have spent the last week of my life weaving an ever more intricate lie, about a life I actually led, to people who I remember having died, about their deaths." I sighed, truly sighed. "When we went back in time, I consigned myself to never knowing the truth about my parents. No records existed of them, so my quest for that truth became pointless the moment we stepped into the Gate." My cloak rustled as I shifted my weight about. "Out there? At first? It was Grima. Possessing someone, who claims to be my Mother."

"We got that part." Brown eyes bored into the side of my head.

"Even at his weakest, I never could match Grima in open battle. At best, I drew even until Lucina arrived, and only when I engaged Grima well rested. Picking a fight with him after fighting for hours on end, drawing on Divine power the entire time, left me at a considerable disadvantage. Couple that with the power of his Vessel, and I did not win that battle Severa. Save for Mother, if that was her, I may will be the most powerful wielder of magic alive at this moment. Despite that accolade, I could not stand against Grima. Only because Mother fought against him."

While I didn't see the eye roll, I knew it happened. "Looked to me like you were winning."

"Because Grima fought with a disadvantage, and I know how to fight him." Both true. "And then my display after that…" None of them brought it up, but how I'd reacted to that claim had been less than ideal.

"Because when your Mom is supposedly the embodiment of all evil, blowing up at her totally a bad thing." Snark sounded far more reasonable from Severa. "I'm pretty sure we all get it Morgan. You panicked, flipped out, whatever."

"Yes." In essence, correct. "When is the last time I lost control?"

"Ylissetol. Mila Tree. Temple. My Birthday. Lucina's Birthday. Brady's Birthday."

Without thinking about it I growled, low in my throat. "Thank you Severa. I don't recall any of those incidents involving me going berserk." Well, the mess in that temple did, but we all agreed that had been fairly reasonable. I turned to glare, before my anger flooded out. "I am tired Severa. I am doing far more of the Princess thing that I have any business doing. Diplomacy, acting, lying…lying that is going to bite us later on down the road, when we want the help of all of your parents." Not for the first time the enormity of the task at hand sank in. "Lucina is a far better actor than I…which is why we created Marth. Yet, here I am, doing that exact same thing, with doubtlessly worse results."

"Gawds you worry too much." When I tried to glare, Severa rolled her eyes. "Morgan, you've probably the scariest person ever. You eat people's souls, can obliterate cities, and all sorts of crazy stuff none of us understand, while just smiling mysteriously. I don't think it's going to blow up in our face, considering you can outplan Grima, ya know?" She punched me in the shoulder, hard enough to stagger. "Relax. Gods, you're worse than the other two combined!"

"It is my job Severa. Someone has to keep you idiots alive." More or less. Lucina kept us alive. I told her how. That's how we defined out lives at one point. "I am not Lucina. I never will be. And right now, we need her more than ever…and she is farther away than ever." For a long while we watched the skies in silence. "This is the first break since Ylissetol." She grunted in agreement. "It's been my job to handle all the what ifs, and maybes, and other minute stupid details either of my sisters don't. I'm the brains, they're the charisma and optimism. We balanced each other. I kept us safe, they kept me sane…and now that I don't have that…it scares me, Sev. I scare me."

For that, she didn't have a snappy response.


AN: AHAHAHAHAHHA….Morgan is weird. Didn't really intend to have a chapter in her POV for quite a while, but as soon as I started writing this chapter, it happened, and I think turned out pretty good for itself.

She's also pretty fun, all things considered. Slowly coming apart at her own seams though. Yet another person for the hugs list. Even if she's not likely to get much more love for quite a while, she's got a fair way to travel yet. And a few more big colossal booms.

Either way, we return to our regularly scheduled protagonists next week. Not sure who yet. Next two chapters can come in any order, so I'm not sure who we'll pick up with next.

Reviews, comments, questions, and concerns always appreciated.

I shall join you next week for our next installment of Bad Things Happen To People Who Don't Deserve It.

Now if only writing this means I can get Morgan in Heroes. Maybe? Please?