Chapter Fifty : Parent and Child
Imperfect Knight: Cordelia
"Hey!" Masking at my surprise at having someone interrupt my daily practice. Turning, I matched the voice to Severa, one of the members of Morgan's group. As I recalled, one of the more prickly members of the group, a recollection backed up by her expression.
"Severa." Considering her for a while as I relaxed, I could only decide that whatever happened in this area of late exceeded my expectations. While no injuries were visible, her eyes lacked some luster, and an aura of exhaustion hung over her. "What brings you here?"
"You." Placing her hand on her sword, Severa, conjured up a smirk. "You need a sparring partner?" Half a question, half a statement, she settled into a combative stance, as though she already knew what question I'd
"It wouldn't hurt." Stepping back into a guard, I took a deep breath. "You're volunteering?" Drawing her sword, Severa grinned, blade twirling between her fingers. "Fair enough."
She exploded forwards, a quick feint and spin towards my knees, one caught at the last possible second. Undeterred, Severa broke away, pressing the attack in a blur of steel that I found myself dancing away from, unable to defend myself adequately. While Morgan's companions made no secret about possessing incredible skill, being on the receiving end proved overwhelming. While I could duck and weave about Severa's blistering assault, she left no room for me to counter, or catch my breath, and it would only be a matter of time before I made a mistake.
True to that expectation, I hit a loose patch of dirt, and lost my footing, before finding myself staring into Severa's cold stare. "Not bad." She extended a hand, pulling me back to my feet.
"Not as good as you are." While an impossible standard to match myself against, I felt it bore note none the less. The girls' lips twisted, an ugly expression for a moment, as we reset for a second round. "Why are you down here Severa? We expected all of you to be sleeping or resting from the fighting."
"Can't." Shifting on the balls of her feet she lunged.
"Why not?" We met in a flash of sparks again, albeit slower this time. Apparently content to let met poke at her defenses, Severa wove between strikes, without pressing the advantage I suspect she could find at every turn.
"Have Chrom and Robin explained what's going on to the rest of you yet?" A hint of emotion slipped past her, a coldness I didn't understand, before passing behind her mask once more.
"Not much. Just that apparently all of you came from some horrible future, and that you're trying to stop Grima's revival." Something the Fell Dragon found amusing, but I didn't feel comfortable bringing that up. In truth, I couldn't say the idea of Grima being amused sat well with me, given that I didn't know what about it brought the Fell Dragon such amusement. "Apparently Marth's name is actually Lucina, and she's Chrom and Sumia's daughter, and Gri's name is Arielle, but none of us know more than that."
"Eh, a good enough summary." I caught her eyes roll as she swatted my spear away. "Bit short on details, but that's the sort of dumb thing that Lucina would do." I could not decide if those words were insulting or fond. "All of us have parents here, at least, I think. Might be one person missing?" Disengaging she did a few tricks, before shrugging. "Being up there, in the Tree is just uncomfortable. Nobody knows what to do about this whole thing, and Lucina and Morgan aren't helping. Morgan's hiding in the library doing whatever nerd thing she's doing, and Lucina holed up in her room and won't come out."
"Given what I know of Morgan, are you really surprised?" While Morgan assumed a role of leadership, she always struck me as reluctant to fill that role. "Morgan is not a leader, and when we knew her as Marth, Lucina seemed to handle struggle with handling stress." More than struggle, although if she truly was Chrom's child, that might explain part of it. "And what of you?"
Her face twisted again, that same ugly snarl. "Cynthia's sleeping, and I'd rather just get things over with, instead of futzing around. I let it sit, and I'll turn into a right bitch, and Cynthia will ripe my head off. Again." Her eyes rolled, although I didn't sense much bite from her words.
"And what exactly does that mean?" Leaning against my spear, I arched an eyebrow, as Severa continued doing tricks with her weapon, an action I'd come to understand as habitual.
With a huff, the sword slammed into its sheath. "Sometimes, Mother, I cannot decide if you were always this dense, not." Head cocked, her smirk returned, obviously content.
My initial retort died on my lips as the words worked their way through my head. She'd called me Mother, which meant…shock, confusion, and worry hit me head on. In appearance, Severa and I were not overly identical. Angular features, long hair, and a combat style that revolved around dodging and evasion more than outright defense, were all the obvious similarities I could find. "You…you…" Taking a deep breath, I tried again. "You could find a better way to reveal that, you know. If I believe you at all."
"Well, you could take a hint a little better, maybe I wouldn't have to." Her smirk vanished and Severa deflated. "Gawds, this week sucked. Do me a favor, remind me to slug Lucina? She's super earned it." Why would I be reminding her to punch Chrom's daughter, even if she were hiding in a room being unable to handle the stress of the situation. When I voiced that question, Severa snorted. "Because she's being an idiot, and I don't have the energy or time to deal her bullshit when I've got my own bullshit to deal with. But yeah, you're my Mom, and this whole thing is a big stupid mess, that nobody wanted."
"I…see." So many questions lingered on the tip of my tongue. What happened to me, what kind of parent was I, who did I marry, for that matter. The later, I wouldn't ask, the former, seemed cruel. "In the future…before…whatever happened to me, what was our relationship? And what do you expect from me, Severa?" A good place to start, it seemed to me.
Throwing her arms up, Severa snarled in frustration. "Of course, you started with that. Answer me a question: Do you still have that stupid childish crush on Chrom?"
For a moment, I spluttered, unable to work out exactly how she knew that, before remembering that, supposedly they'd come from the future, and gods only knew what I did. "Given that Chrom and Sumia are married, mooning over him is a waste of my time." As that same ugly expression flashed across her face. "I gather in the future; I did not exhibit the same sensibility."
Her lips twitched. "I don't think so. Cynthia says that I'm being unfair, which, I mean, she's probably right, but I didn't really care. It just seemed like my Mom cared more about this dead guy than me." That ugly expression appeared on her face again, I still could not identify the emotion in question. "We never got along well. It's why I don't fly, even if I'm okay at it. Because I wanted to be different than you, get away from everyone comparing the two of us, all the gods damned time." Despite my best efforts, I winced, because I could imagine someone being compared to me, and how everyone else viewed me, would have been miserable. "So we fought, all the time. Right before you vanished, I said something about you loving Chrom more than me, and we had a giant fight. Then you vanished, and as far as the rest of them know, you died."
"As far as the rest of them know." Severa didn't strike me as the type to say things without a reason. "That implied you know different."
"You were captured, tortured, and killed." A sniff, and I swore a few tears prickled at her eyes. "Makes it hard to hate you, when I know that Grima did you level best to get you to tell him anything, and you didn't tell him a damn thing." In the midday sun, it was hard to say for certain, but the tears I swore I saw a moment ago grew. "Talk to Arielle about that if you want to know about that, I've already told that story once, and I don't care to tell it again." I could respect that, and I did have questions for Arielle.
"And why would Arielle know what happened to me after Grima rose to power?" Chrom did not explain how Arielle fit into the situation. Even if we took her life story at face value, she did not seem to fit into the future that had been described. I'd resigned myself to not knowing the answers, but this gave me something to latch on to.
Severa bit her lip, eyes drifting to the side as she considered how to answer. "You remember that Grimeal woman who showed up in Ylisse, right? The one Morgan fought?"
"Supposedly, Morgan's Mother, yes." She'd made quite an impression, as did the duel between her and Morgan. Nothing emphasized the gap between me and someone whose natural talent for magical arts knew no bounds than a battle that rent a city block asunder.
"What you saw was Morgan fighting Grima, possessing Arielle's body." Grasping the hilt of her blade,
Severa rolled her shoulders, gripping the hilt of her blade tight. "In the future, we weren't lucky enough to have a Morgan, or an Arielle at first. We didn't even know about Arielle until we came back in time, although Morgan suspected plenty. What she told me, is that when Chrom died, Grima possessed her." Severa's eyes returned to me, ringed in tears, but none the less, hard, cruel and cold for the first time. "The reason Arielle knows so much magic, knows more than anyone else about Grima, is that she spent a couple decades possessed by the twisted bastard Dragon."
My heart skipped.
-FE:DUL-
I still didn't know what to think of suddenly having a time traveling daughter, even when hours later, I found myself listening to her spew vitriol about one of her companions, Owain, and what she called 'self indulgent theatrics that make him sounds like he needs to spend some alone time, not fight evil', whatever that meant. As far as I could tell, Severa wanted to vent, and while I tried to work through all of this, letting her do so seemed like the least I could do. Besides that, it gave me time to learn more about the others in that group. For instance, Severa counted herself amongst the best fighters in their little group, which left me feeling a little better.
"Morgan says he's like that because it helps him cope with all the absolutely horrible shit that happened to us, and I get it, but I mean, couldn't he come up with a method that isn't utterly embarrassing?" In between dramatic gestures and rolling her eyes, my daughter slammed in fist into the ground.
"I did wonder back in Ylisse, why do you put so much faith in Morgan?" Given Robin's descriptions of Morgan and my own observations, Morgan never appeared to be a leader, although they did gravitate towards her.
For a while, Severa didn't answer. "Morgan has…a presence, I guess. Kinda like Lucina does, where you just…listen to her. She grew up with Lucina, and half of Ylisse basically forgot Morgan wasn't actually a Princess; she carries herself like one, and acts like one, so I guess I don't totally blame them. When she talks, people listen, even all of us kids. We're fighters, not leaders, so we'll let Morgan or Lucina lead, and as long as they don't go totally nuts." Severa tossed me a smirk, albeit a hollow one. "Kinda like how all of you follow Robin around, and trust whatever stupid ass plan she comes up with." That did make some sense, in its own way, when one cut past all the sarcasm and vague bards she threw out. I had learned that beneath that, Severa did possess quite a bit of insight into people and the world around her. "I trust Morgan, despite her tendency for coldness and cruelty. She is Lucina sister, and somehow, still a good person."
"Somehow?" That qualifier struck me as odd.
Severa nodded. "You know what Grima's magic does. How it feels. I know a little bit, you know a little bit. Morgan? She knows more than anyone besides Arielle, and Arielle spent years possessed by the actual Fell Dragon himself." A bitter laugh. "I ripped souls out of people. Morgan? She decided it would be kinder to obliterate an entire city worth of people to eliminate those who supported Grima using the spell that she flattened Walhart's army with, instead of rip out their souls. She, just like Lucina, carries a mark on her soul, more than anyone else. Or something like that, empathy is Cynthia's thing, not mine." I did figure that part out, yes.
Another question that came up over time. "You talk about her quite a bit." More than anyone else, even Morgan and Lucina, who Severa seemed to evidently share an adversarial, if friendly, relationship with.
"Duh? She's my girlfriend. Totally a dork too, I guess." Catching my amused expression Severa fixed me with a truly withering glare. "What?" I failed to hide a giggle at her response.
"How did the two of you end up together? You sound like polar opposites, when you get down to it?" There was a good story in here somewhere, and I did want to find it, as talking about Severa meant not talking about me.
Severa sat down, and sighed. "That's a long story. And not a very good one." Pulling her legs up underneath her chin, Severa went quiet for a while, and I could see a bit of shame, in her expression. I didn't want to interrupt, and so stayed quiet, content to wait for whatever answer she gave.
So content to wait, I didn't notice someone approaching until they spoke. "Sev?" Cynthia stepped around a tent, coming into view. Without her armor I almost didn't recognize her. "Why are you being mopey again?" Her eyes darted to me, a quick smile flashing across her features. "Hiya! Sorry about Mopey. She's not normally like this."
"Oh? And what am I normally like then?" My daughter beat me to the question, although I caught a brief quirk of amusement on her face.
"Prickly." Cynthia declared with finality, flopping down with an equal lack of grace at her side. "And you never got on with your Mom. I kinda expected to find you stabbing each other." I couldn't tell if that was a joke or not, although perhaps that was the point.
"Stabbing her isn't going to fix it, and you know it." Severa shrugged. "But, you get to explain then. Us, I mean." Chin dropping back onto her knees, my daughter went quiet again.
Cynthia rolled her eyes, but didn't seem overly bothered. "And why do I get to do it? She's your Mom?"
"I believe you are the one who said I have the emotional range of a rock, and that's probably a story that needs someone who is at least emotionally competent." Severa shot back, earning a punch in the arm for her trouble, although I got the feeling there passed some measure of consolation between the duo although I couldn't understand.
"Fine. Because Grumpy here is being herself." Cynthia offered Severa a fond smile, before turning back to me.
"And don't go making it into one of your heroic stories either." Severa cut in. "I'm not going to sound like some stupid villain or something." Cynthia rolled her eyes, but didn't object, and kept going.
"We grew up knowing each other." Well, that made sense, I doubted all of our children would grow up not knowing each other. "And Sevy hated my guts. I was a Princess, even if nobody treated me like that, and Severa pretty much hated us, for being Daddy's kids." I did get the impression Severa didn't care for Chrom, although hating his kids seemed extreme, although children were known for pettiness. "Everyone wanted her to be a Pegasus Knight, so we spent a lot of time training together. Severa spent a lot of time being horrible to me, until she decided it was all stupid and went off to go get beat up my sisters."
"I wasn't trying to beat her up, I was trying not to die. Your sisters are utterly insane, and were trying to kill me." A halfhearted protest, at best, again that vague sense of amusement.
"You were horrible to me, of course they were. You know how Morgan is, Sev, she's protective. And, they got better." A pause, longer than would be required for a comedic beat. "Well, you got better, I'm not sure they stopped for a while. We were kinda enemies, for a while. I didn't get why Severa was so mean to us, and she just hated our guts, and we argued all the time. Mom thought it was cute, although I think Mom understood more of what was going on than I did at the time. Morgan just ignored it, mostly, being obsessed with magic, and Lucy…is herself. No idea what you thought." For a while, she went quiet. "None of that changed until Grima attacked, and Mom died. We followed Lucina, because, well, it seemed best. She had Falchion, and we believed in her. And, Lucina respected Severa's ability to fight, so she and Morgan put the two of us together, because they're protective and if they couldn't keep me safe themselves, they'd have the next best thing, meaning Sev."
"I can understand that." Pushing aside the thoughts of loss and suffering, I jumped ahead to the obvious results. "And I gather you got along exactly as well as expected." That is to say, the two fought, and argued, without end. How that led to the two of them being together didn't make much sense.
Cynthia shrugged. "We just didn't talk to each other. Then, she stabbed a guy who stabbed me, and dragged my unconscious body back, and apparently screamed at Lucina for like an hour, and acted like she actually cared."
"Well, nobody gets to kill you except me." A good-natured grumble, as morbid as it sounded, at least if I interpreted my daughters eye roll correctly. "And I chewed you out for almost dying when you woke up."
"She did that too. We got along a little better after that, but we still fought all the time." Another long quiet, Cynthia chewing on her lip as she thought. "Before we went to Valm…the group split up a bit. Each of us went in a different route to the port, to try and keep them off any one group." Severa hummed, putting a hand over Cynthia's, and I got the feeling the tone of their tale would change going forwards. "Lucina's nightmares are worse than mine, but…" When it came to nightmares of war, I suspected that comparing served very little.
"Pretty hard to dislike someone when they wake up screaming in the night." Severa took over, tonelessness pointed in the face of the situation. "Unlike Lucina, who let's Arielle steal her dreams, or some crazy crap, I can't do that. And, well, I'm not great at comforting people. So…" An uncomfortable pause. "I opted for the solution of distracting her, and I guess some screwed up part of me liked having power over Lucina's sister, and Chrom's kid. But, even I'm not that much of a bitch, and well, she learned quick, so I couldn't complain, much." I tried to hide my own rising flush. "And, well, one thing followed another."
Red faced, but grinning, Cynthia picked up the thread again. "We spent a qhile figuring out how to be friends first."
"By friends, she means we figured out how horrible we can be to one another, without someone being hurt by it." Severa corrected, earning yet another halfhearted glare.
"Yes, that." An exasperated sigh. "It kept us safe, and sane, in a future that, well, super duper sucked. Everything was depressing, all the time, and my sister's are super glum all the time." A fond glance at Severa. "So we gravitated to each other, because, fights or not, they gave us something to look forwards too."
"Grima is an overwhelming foe, so I can only imagine living in a world under this thumb." Severa hummed in agreement, a small flare of magic accompanying it. "Made worse by how only a few of you could challenge him in combat."
"If you aren't Morgan or Lucina, Grima plays with you." Deliberate and cold, Severa began to speak, seeming to chew on her words. "Even those two he toys with, I'm pretty sure, just, they're stronger, and make him try harder. Lucina, I can beat, if I get lucky. Morgan, I haven't sparred with of late to know where I stand. Grima, I can't beat him. He tossed me around and…" Bitterness entered her tone again, probably against herself. "I needed Lucina and Morgan to save me. Again." Again? They saved her a previous time?
It took some pain to admit to"You did far better than I would have, in your position, if you fought him, and survived." Severa jerked, evidently taken aback by the compliment. "I can hardly function when Robin does something drastic, I can't imagine what being around Grima himself would do to me."
"We're both got magic, duh." Waving a hand, Severa dismissed the point almost as without merit. "You aren't used to dealing with that constant feeling of discomfort, and how it sucks the life out of you." She flipped her wrist, a small black fire sparking over her palm, and my stomach turned. "Not that I knew what it was back then." She sighed, flame vanishing as she slumped back into her knees. "Gawds this is depressing."
"A bit, yes." There didn't seem a way to avoid that fact. "If you want to talk, Severa, I'm always here. In the future that is." I caught a grateful smile from Cynthia, just of Severa's sight.
"Not like I'm gonna have a choice. We're gonna be sticking around, I think. Lucina's apparently not gonna be stupid for once, and we'll be staying this time…unless Morgan gets annoyed or something." She paused, giving Cynthia a questioning look.
"Nah, Morgan's just mad at her Mom. They'll be fine." Cynthia sounded more confident than I felt, thinking back on Morgan but I let it slide. Pulling Severa to her feet, the blue haired girl gave me a quick smile. "And we probably should go make sure Lucy isn't being silly and hiding all day again."
"Urgh. She's your sister, not mine." Severa let herself be pulled upright, before considering me for a while. "Mom." Before I could say anything they turned, and were off.
AN: Righto, this is an interesting one to write. Cynthia is actually a pain to write, it turns out, and I'm not very happy with how she turned out, but we'll see how she turned out. Writing Cordelia is kinda fun though, she might feature a bit more a POV character than I originally intended when her POV showed up as a one off. Once again, we shall see.
Feedback is always appreciated, as always, next chapter is up on , and I shall see you next week.
