Chapter Fifty-Six: Confessional
Future Disciple: Nah
Three days passed since our departure from the Divine Dragon Grounds. Watching Morgan, I couldn't help but shiver, an almost palpable cold hanging in the air about her, worse than any time before. Upon agreeing to stop for the night, Morgan vanished into the room we would be sharing, leaving me sitting alone with Arielle and Tiki. Both women seemed unusually solemn, given that we had achieved the goal of this excursion.
"What happened?" Over the three days, I'd confirmed that something happened, something I didn't know, or understand, but finding the courage to ask Arielle proved more difficult than I expected.
"Your friend cares for you quite a bit." Tiki spoke first, folding her hands on the table before her, before giving a long sigh. "In all my years, I have never seen anything like her, you know." I couldn't tell if the expression on the elder Manakete's face conveyed sadness or tiredness.
"Morgan is unique." She'd hate me for saying it, no matter how true it might be. Morgan, Lucina, all of them were unique, although Morgan stood out from the pack. "She's also terrifying."
"That she is." Arielle lacked her traditional gravitas, the words seemed to lack some degree of weight and character that I associated with the Lady of Grima in all her majesty. "There is a certain horror that comes with seeing a reflection of yourself in your child, because some part of her decided that not feeling was the lesser evil in her situation." Leaning back in the chair, the woman swirled her drink drifting off into her thoughts for minutes on end. "Morgan cares for you more than I think you understand, Nah. When Naga revealed the nature of the battle outside, she broke the enchantment binding her Dragonstone, in the process doing…something, to herself."
"Something." I repeated, a bubble of concern worming its way up my chest. What the hell did she mean by 'something'? Surely Arielle knew a more accurate version than that.
Arielle's expression shifted, emotions I didn't understand flying across. "Dragons, Nah, are not a point of knowledge for me. I did not wish to break that seal by anything other than finesse precisely for that reason." Her fingers drummed into the table, her drink now forgotten. "Morgan agreed. Right up until Naga described the fighting. The army arrayed against you. Then, my daughter, in her wisdom, took every bit of magic she possessed, and forced it into the seal. Challenging my creation, something that bound her very nature for almost seventeen years, to either hold, and break."
I remembered the surge of magic just before the transformation took hold, the overwhelming weight that fell over the world when Morgan when she lost her temper. At the time, I didn't think much of that, but in light of Arielle's words, a more worrying reality set in. "You don't know what might've happened."
"No." The tapping fingers stopped, her eyes shifting to mine. "While I would like to believe it's nothing, Grima got a massive spike of satisfaction, and we both felt it."
A shiver ran down my spine. "We all felt it." Tiki's murmur drew my attention back to her for a moment. "Power and satisfaction both. I don't doubt that influenced Morgan's actions." Given that I knew of only one thing Morgan feared, that being Grima it would influence her somehow. "Despite the circumstances, Morgan's blood runs pure, unchanged by what transpired."
"Is that why she's been colder?" To be sure, the question stretched logic, but it seemed easier to handle than the alternative.
For a long while, Arielle just held my gaze, and I found myself reminded of Lucina this time, a weighty consideration of the soul, tearing away all the barriers you put up around yourself to reveal your true self to the woman. "I think you're better positioned to know that." That admission seemed to deflate her a fair degree. "You know her best."
"She'd been avoiding me." Both women traded a look, and I felt hopelessly lost in whatever they seemed to understand. "And why do you think I know what Morgan is feeling?" Lucina and Cynthia surely would know Morgan better than I?
"Nah. I do believe you know more about my daughter than anyone else alive." Arielle took a long pause, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. I made to dispute her words, but came up short. Arielle's stare held me in place, having shed much of her usual mien, leaving behind that piercing gaze. Whether the weight of her experience, knowledge, or something else that caught the words in my throat. "Go talk to her Nah. If she is avoiding you, it's best the two of you settle things before we rejoin the others, when I feel there will not be time." The tapping started again. "With Grima acting more directly, Robin…worries me."
That sounded like Morgan for a moment. I knew that undertone well, when she talked about how to handle the various people we met on the road. "You sound like her."
A flash of a smile just for a moment. "Not surprised. She is my daughter." Faint pride, and sadness mingled in those words. Rising, the Lady of Grima pulled her cloak tight, her emotions draining away. "Tiki. Nah." And with that, she swept from the room, into the darkness beyond.
"She accepts much guilt for things that are not her fault." Tiki watched Arielle leave, shaking her head in something between disappointment and exhaustion.
"Both her and Morgan." A wry look, as though the elder Manakete knew more than I. "Morgan didn't start out like that. When we grew up, she smiled, laughed, and I behaved like an actual person. She's the youngest, so Lucina tried to keep her out of the fighting at first. That worked, at least for a little while, but as more and more Risen appeared, and the Grimeal grew stronger, Morgan was forced to fight."
Tiki bowed her head. "It is the fate of far too many children in war."
"None of us knew how to cope. You've seen how some of them handle it, but Morgan? She just stopped. Feeling I mean."
"And never started again?" Tiki cocked her head, and I sighed, letting her infer that answer. "Go speak with her Nah." Standing the Manakete nodded to me. "There is much I must think about."
For a while, I just sat, thinking. What could I even say to Morgan at this point? Or what might she say to me?
"Seem to be thinking awful lot little lady." I glanced to the side. A man, mid-forties at least, had sat down, swirling a tankard. I contemplated not answering, for a time, but being rude served no purpose.
"I have plenty to think about." He chuckled at the obvious, if cliche reply.
"Oh, don't doubt it. Keepin' company like them two? Voice of Naga herself…" He whistled, whether from awe, or something else I couldn't say. "Never thought I'd see her myself you know." I fixed him a sharp look, my hand unconsciously going to Morgan's sword, the weapon still hanging loosely off my hip. I'd let the threat speak for itself for now. "Heard that bastard went after her…Didn't endear him to folk round here." I relaxed, just enough to seem satisfied. If they referred to Walhart in that manner, I'd trust them for the time being. "We…we don't give a shit about the war. Just want to live." His eyes flickered for a moment as though afraid of who might overhear the words, which left me wondering why he said it at all.
Then again, I didn't really care about the opinions of some random village. "I know." Most people wanted Walhart dead, as far as I knew, so it wasn't hard to put two and two together.
For a while the man just watched me, seeming to weigh his thoughts for a while. "You're fightin' him, aren't ya?"
"How-" While I could see how he'd managed to reach that conclusion it seemed a bold choice.
He waved a hand towards the door. "You're with the Voice, little lady. Everyone knows she's fighting. Whole damned continent has heard about the Tree by now. How some crazy Sorceress fought that bastard, and the Voice burned half an army to ash…which one of em is it?"
"I believe the stories of the battle are exaggerated." It felt like the early days of running, when stories of Lucina dueling Grima were spoken of in awed whispers, back when people still felt hope for Grima's defeat. Back when we lied to protect ourselves and each other. Evade, don't tell the truth, don't answer.
"Sure." He took a drink. "Let me tell ya something… We had Yen'fay pass through once. Man walked like he was different. Talked like he was different. Never saw anything like 'im. Then you four walked in here..." He glanced towards the stairs, the implicit reference to Morgan not something I missed. "She's the scariest person I've ever seen. Chilled my damn bones just for looking at her…" Shaking his head, the man drained his mug with a huff. "Yen'fay made me feel small…her? Made me feel like I was being judged. Like she was deciding if it was worth the effort to kill me. You know what she decided? That I wasn't worth it."
Chilling as his words were, I couldn't muster much surprise. "I don't know of a person she doesn't treat that way." Not for years at least.
"You." An instant reply, no hesitation whatsoever.
"What?" Snapping my head around, I fixed him with the coldest glare I could muster up, taking every cue from Morgan.
He chuckled, obviously undaunted by my glare. "You. When she looks at you, it's not like that. Sounds insane, but when she glanced at you, I knew no matter how twisted that girl is, how cold, she would turn out okay."
"Morgan doesn't treat me any different than the rest." My insistence was almost reflexive, and prompted another laugh.
"If I went up there, and knocked on that door, what'd she do?"
"Kill you probably." I felt bad, but it was the truth. Well, kill him if he was lucky.
A smirk started to show on his face. "And if you did?"
For a while I sat in quiet. She'd let me in, talk, and be perfectly normal about things. "Perhaps you have a point."
"Heh." He raised his drink as though making a toast. "Like to think I know what I'm talking about. Gotta be good at something. Now get."
Standing, I head towards the stairs, trying to still my heart, even though I knew that Morgan wouldn't lash out at me.
I knocked on the door, before stepping in. Morgan sat on the bed, cloak pulled tightly about her shoulders. "Morgan."
She lifted her head, and I realized her hair wasn't up in her traditional ponytail instead hanging loose, cloaking her entire face in shadow. "Nah." Her chin dropped back into shadow, resting on her knees, as Morgan curled back into herself.
"You're brooding." Leaning back into the door, I waited. Minutes passed in silence, broken only by Morgan's breathing, and the occasional noise from outside.
"I am not brooding!" To quick, to sharp. "Just…thinking." Green eyes bored into me, hard, cold. Unfeeling. A ball settled in my chest.
"You're brooding." I kept the correction light, level voiced, without much bite. "Your hair is down, you're curled into a ball, and your mere presence chilled the room. You're brooding."
She made a rude gesture. "I hate feelings, Nah. I don't have time for feeling. I need to fight, to keep everyone safe, and feelings don't have a place." Lifting her chin from her knees, Morgan fixed me with a hard stare. "I can't think about people I killed, about how satisfying it was to rip a man's head clean off with my claws." I might have told Tiki a lie, a little while ago, about Morgan coping. She didn't cope, more repress. "Not that it was really satisfying because I ripped his head off, more that he wasn't a threat."
"A threat to what?" Given Morgan's usual tendencies, that didn't make much sense. As Morgan so eloquently pointed out, she didn't care much for emotions, or satisfaction on the battlefield. "We've fought far worse than regular soldiers, you know."
"I know that." A sharp retort, before her eyes narrowed on me. "Under normal circumstances, that is true. But, I don't think those circumstances qualify as normal." Rising from the bed, Morgan shed her cloak, giving her hair a violent shake. "Normal doesn't include someone deciding the appropriate solution to the problem is to fight, by themselves for days on end, beyond all means of reason." She stalked across the room, standing across from me. "What the fuck, Nah?"
"I would do it again."
That, clearly, was not the right answer, as she stopped in front of me, glaring harder than before. "I know."
For a moment, nothing happened, just us staring at each other.
Then Morgan stepped forwards, grabbed the collar of my dress, and slammed her lips into mine.
Even after, Morgan's body remained cool to the touch. Her eyes were closed, but the irregular nature of her breathing told me enough to know she wasn't sleeping. Where she sleeping, Morgan would appear at peace, instead of caught in a half relaxed state, as though her mind and body couldn't agree.
I traced a finger down the length of one of her few scares, a vicious wound that ran the length of her right arm, and to my understanding, proved the impetus for Morgan's ability to fight with either hand. Or so she said. I couldn't say for sure, as it happened well before I knew Morgan properly. Since then, I never thought to ask for details, and it hardly mattered regardless.
"I am unsure if Mother is going to kill me, or laugh at me." Morgan broke the quiet.
"Neither." I felt her eyes bore into me. "You give her to little credit." Another quiet.
"And Robin?"
"What about her?"
Morgan snorted. "Do we trust her?" Why was she asking me? "You are in tune with the world in ways I am not…and well, you are not a cynical, emotionally repressed killer. I'm not going to decide what to do about Robin."
"She's your Mother. Or the woman who would become such." Giving a long sigh, I spread my fingers. "I can't deny Grima influences her…"
"Grima does more than influence her, Nah. You felt it, when he tried to possess her." Morgan's hand came up to cover mine. "Same as when Mother arrived in Ylistol."
"Could you…"
"Kill her? If I have to, yes." Morgan took a shaky breath. I do not want to, but I will." Her eyes danced black for a moment. "She does not understand or know what she can do with her power." Compared to Morgan, few did, but I understood her meaning. "But we need her. Walhart…"
"He worries you." Now that was a strange thought. Morgan feeling worried by anything or anyone less than a god.
A shrug. "With the backing of Duma, he is more threatening than expected. Name how many things can fight me on even ground, Nah. Then consider he fought both myself, and my Mother, a woman who is by all accounts my greater."
"Half a dozen." If that many.
"If we show our hand, yes." Morgan sat up, stretching. It was strange to watch how the tension bled from her muscles, then coiled back up again. "We have probably lingered enough in this place." Turning, she flashed me a quick smile, before I watched the mask slide onto her once again, almost in time with her shirt falling over her head. "Let us go."
Minutes later, you wouldn't have known anything happened between us. Morgan's sword hung from her hip now, her cloak swirling gently about her heels as we descended the stairs. All told she remained the picture of quiet calm, emotions hidden behind years of practice.
"Nah. Morgan." Arielle greeted us with a nod, although I couldn't manage to get a good read on what she was feeling. "Shall be proceed?" Like Mother like Daughter indeed.
"Yes." Folding my hands behind my back, I met Arielle's eyes, and unconsciously shivered. She knew. How, I couldn't begin to but she knew. Then again, very little happened that Arielle didn't know about.
"Good." And before long, we were back on the road, moving with a bit more haste than previous days.
Most of the day passed in silence, until ahead we could see banners approaching. Walhart's banners.
"We aren't going to be able to avoid them." Tiki raised a hand to shade her eyes.
Morgan sighed. "Unfortunate." Her Dragonstone pulsed gently. "Fleeing, or general march?" Even straining I couldn't make a guess.
"Fleeing." Tiki declared with certainty. "They do not march in ordered rows, and seem to lack much order. They also do not have any supply wagons, or other followers." She cocked her head. "Nor are they fielding scouts, as any sensible commander would do."
Morgan hummed, and I elected to wait for her to come to a decision. "Three Manaketes, and Mother. If it comes to battle, we are advantaged." She tapped her blade. "Should it come to that."
"It will." Tiki stopped walking, her eyes narrow. "They're scared, leaderless, and just fought against overwhelming foes. The will fight. With desperation and fear driving them."
Morgan hummed deep in her throat, almost a growl. "I am sure they will." Typical Morgan, in her own way. Then again, confidence made sense. "We do not fight unless they do." Nods from the others, as we kept walking.
As we got closer, I could see the things Tiki pointed out, as well as the fear on the faces of the soldiers. The ranks broke, and a woman on horseback rode out to meet us, the soldiers holding position in the distance.
"To what do we owe the pleasure?" Arielle spoke, pulling her cloak tighter to hide the hilt of her blade, no doubt an attempt to avoid appear threatening. Her tone carried a measure of sharp disinterest, but also authority, in that way that Arielle could.
For a moment the woman on the horse stared at us, before dropping off her mount, armor clanking, meeting Arielle's eyes. "We don't want to fight."
Surprise and worry flared in me. "Really now?" Arielle hummed, low in her throat. "An interesting development." The soldiers milled restlessly, seeming able to sense the tension in the air. "Allow me to make a few guesses." She was in full Lady of Grima form, a low hiss entering her tone, threatening and safe all at once. "You came from Fort Steiger, which the Ylisseans' recently attacked."
"They didn't attack." The officer whispered, a fresh horror bloom in her eyes, her cheeks drawing gaunt. "They leveled the damn thing. The dead turned into monsters, and the fort is gone. Destroyed." Fighting down a gasp of horror proved more difficult than it should have, given the circumstances.
"How?" Morgan offered no chance to refuse the question, the stone on her collarbone shining brighter than ever.
"No idea." The woman shrugged. "One minute we were fighting for our lives, the next the whole damn place vanished. Some giant roar, and gone." A giant roar, and nothing. I knew of only one peice of magic able to do that.
Extinction. Grima's signature magic, magic that Morgan once described to me as beyond any human understanding. Who…or how… If Morgan couldn't, then none of the Shepherds could. Which meant that it would have to have been Grima.
"I see." Closing her eyes, Arielle seemed to reach a verdict. Imperceptibly, Morgan and Tiki both stiffened. "Go." Cold and assured the command rung about all of us for a few moments. "We don't seek a fight." Relief, honest relief flared across the face of the woman, before she controlled it. Spinning on her heels, the woman remounted her horse, returning to her soldiers.
We moved out of the way, and soldiers trooped past, giving us sidelong looks the whole way.
Once they had passed, Arielle sighed. "Foolish girl." That would mean Robin then. "Dabbling in things she doesn't understand." Her hair waved dramatically with the shake of her head.
"We cannot wait." Tiki took a long breath, sounding surprisingly tired. "The longer we delay…"
None of us wanted to finish that thought.
"Arielle!" Lucina met us a good distance from the fort, Falchion in hand. "Morgan." Her eyes were bloodshot, her stance ragged, and her tunic visibly scorched through, cold steel visible beneath it. Mud and grime caked her, which I did not recall happening, ever.
"Lucy." Morgan nodded in her direction, before coming up short. "What happened?" A weight started to settle over us, as Morgan's mask returned. Lucina regarded her for a few moments, eyes flickering to Arielle, Tiki and then back to me.
"Follow." Spinning on her heel, Lucina started towards the ruins of the fort. "I presume all four of you know some of what happened." Half a question, half a statement.
"Robin decided to let Grima possess her momentarily and cast Extinction." Arielle rattled off. "Which apparently didn't kill everyone in the vicinity." I didn't consider one of those things a certainty, but given the situation, perhaps I should have.
"No." A muscle tensed in her neck, her Falchion shaking from the strength of her grip.
Cresting a hill, I gasped, in both awe, and horror.
-FE: DUL—
Lady of Naga: Lucina
I felt the shift when Arielle saw the devastation. "Where. Is. Robin?" Layers filled her voice, magic, anger, fear, and other emotions building upon one another. Purple flame swirled about her eyes, her fingers curling to cast spells, a sure sign of emotional control slipping.
"She has yet to awaken from whatever she did." And when she did, she would have a good explanation or she would die on the spot. "Whatever happened, Grima, or her own power, Robin has been in a coma since her battle with Pheros." Leading them towards the tents where the Ylissean army encamped, I offered a short recap of the fighting. "Father reported hearing Naga's voice before the spell." Arielle hissed, and Nah spat a quiet curse.
"At least she holds up her end of the bargain." Morgan mumbled, in her usual spiteful manner. "Nah." I caught her gesture towards the medical tents. "If you would?" I didn't understand what passed between them, but I caught a hint of a smile in Arielle's eyes.
"Of course." They started in that direction, arms brushing against one another.
"A Dragonstone is a source of magic just like anything else is. It just so happens to play nice with the same healing technique as Falchion. I believe Morgan is relishing a bit in her abilities." Arielle sounded surprisingly found, in her own way. Then again, perhaps she found some satisfaction in her daughters abilities. "If nothing else, they cannot hurt anything."
"Lucina!" Father found us. "Oh, ah, Ladies. You've returned." Although he tried to hide it, I could see the relief on his face, and see the weight lift off his shoulders. "We weren't expect you for a few more days."
"Luckily for all involved, we weren't delayed as long as expected." Tiki bowed her head, a small bit in his direction. A gesture of respect, one Father and I, did not expect.
"Yes." Father took a breath, seeming to brace for something. "Lucina told you what happened?"
"She did." Nodding in my direction, Arielle rolled her shoulders, obviously preparing for what would come. "She remains unconscious?" He nodded. "Then we will wait until morning to see her. We've traveled quite far, and I doubt anything will change in a few hours." Unspoken, I heard the added, 'and if it does, I'll handle it', that Arielle mastered long ago. Whether or not Fathered caught the underlying, words I could not say.
"I…that sounds alright." Father nodded, suggesting that he at least understood a bit of what was going on.
"If it would reassure you, Prince Chrom, I'll keep watch." Tiki spoke up into the uncomfortable quiet, perhaps sensing that no one knew how to proceed. "Indeed. Perhaps that is best in general." My eyes narrowed on her. The Voice of Naga never did anything. "By your leave."
"Of course." Father watched her leave, all his attempts to keep calm falling apart. "I don't know what I'm going to do."
"You'll endure Prince Chrom." Both of us stared at her. "You're a good man…stronger than you give yourself credit for." Arielle almost seemed to smile, softly, at him, perhaps even a bit of fondness entering her tone.
"One of my best friends is unconscious, apparently was almost possessed by a world ending Dragon, and blew up an entire castle!" Emotions boiling over at last, Father rounded on her, eyes wild, lips pulled tight back. "Naga, Naga, an actual god intervened! I realize this is normal for you, but for the rest of the world, Gods messing about in our lives is a cause to freak out!" He gestured violently.
I stared at him, struck entirely dumb by the outburst. While I never truly knew him, I got the feeling totally uncontrolled emotional outbursts were a bit out of character for her.
"You said something much similar to me, in the would be future." Still oddly melancholic, Arielle's gaze drifted into the middle distance. "Albeit at a much different time, and place." Doubtless, given the differing paths events took. "Then, I didn't have much of an answer for you, because then, I was thirty seconds from striking you dead…now, I fear I can offer you only cold comfort, Prince Chrom."
"What do you mean?"
For a long time, the Lady of Grima stood, unmoving, watching the sky above. No aura, no magic, no light danced behind her eyes. "I came back to slay Grima, Chrom. Centuries of plot and scheming where thrown to the wind in minutes. Minutes. I don't know how this will end." She brought her gaze down once again. "Do you worry for Robin? She will be fine." A lie. I saw all the tells of a lie, in her lips, eyes, stance.
"And how do you know that?" Father sounded surprisingly broken, all things considered. "You only barely avoided being possessed, how could Robin…"
A pit settled in my chest, as I realized what was coming next. "Chrom. When I first met you, in the Plegian war, doing battle with my family, you knew me by the name Robin."
"You're…" He stopped, glancing towards me. Seeking confirmation of something I knew he wouldn't find.
"I suspected, but I did not know for certain." And last I knew, Arielle only suspected, but the way she said it, I wondered.
"I know she will be fine, Chrom because I almost won. I fought tooth and nail, and it took him years to beat down my will. Robin is more knowledgeable, more experienced, and better equipped to fight off Grima than I ever was. So I am certain she will be fine. Just might need some encouragement." That meant something. What, I couldn't say. I made a note to ask Arielle later.
"I…" Father took a breath, then another. "I want to believe you."
"But, I am the embodiment of the Fell Dragon, everything you ever thought you knew about me is a lie, and it seems very convenient for me to say this now." She rattled off quickly, as Father's expression wavered between agreement and resigned. "Even if you are not the Chrom I knew, you share some traits with him…even if you have lost some of the…innocence that defined you." Stepping forwards, she put a hand on his shoulder, a gesture of surprising camaraderie. "Don't lose that faith in others Chrom, and that belief in the impossible, otherwise, I fear we are all doomed."
For a while, they just met each other's eyes, some kind of soundless discussion going on. "You certainly sound like Robin." A lopsided half smile made its way onto his face. "I don't promise anything."
"Then you have learned something over my Chrom." More fondness, a strange sound . "Go find your wife. I suspect she's half mad by now." Watching my Father run with a flush of embarrassment would forever be amusing, although it then left me standing alone with Arielle, watching as the solemn air faded away, leaving a tired resignation on her face. "If there's a hell, I am destined for it."
"Why?" While Arielle did plenty of terrible things, most of the time she had a reason for them, or at least attempted to justify them.
She didn't answer, drifting through the camp. Matching her stride for stride, it didn't take long to figure out her destination, although I didn't know how she determined which tent was mine. With a heavy thunk, she dropped onto the cot, finally meeting my eyes. "Rarely, Lucina, am I confronted with evidence of mistakes in rapid succession. Morgan, Tiki, Robin…this…." She clenched her fist. "Grima's blood."
"I don't understand?" Arielle spoke in terms of mistakes fairly often, but rarely did she list them off so bluntly. Nor did they seem to influence her so strongly.
"In the future. So many things I could have prevented. So much death. Tragedy. Loss." She shed her cloak onto the cot. "I just…tried , Lucina." She met my eyes. "I suppose it is inevitable that I'd reach the end of my rope someday. The irony being that it took my daughter coming to terms with such things to make me realize my own failings."
Morgan coming to terms with her own? "What do you mean?"
"I'm sure you noticed how close she stood to Nah today." Thinking about it, I did. "Morgan finally came to realize her feelings."
"You noticed?" I couldn't say I expected Arielle to pick that out. She never struck me as one to be conscious of such things.
Her laugh was dry, cold and analytical. "It's not hard to see Lucina. Nah is a manakete. On the short list of people who can fight her on even terms. Yet, it only takes on look at Nah's clothing to know Morgan threw every once of knowledge at her disposal into her protection. Protection she well knows Nah doesn't need. Even your own wards are not as complex as Nah's, and you are Morgan's sister in all but blood."
"While true, that doesn't mean I expected you to catch on." Sitting down beside her, I cocked my head to the side, waiting for her to go on.
"Perhaps. Still, I spent years trapped in my own head with nothing to do but think and watch, as I've said." The Lady of Grima created an orb of fire floating before her. "Regrets are not new to me Lucina. But…perspective is."
"Even for you Arielle, you aren't making sense."
She hummed. "It's a cliché trite thing, but it's no longer impossible for me to die in this conflict. With Duma rising from the dead, Naga taking an active role, and Grima working to possess my current self..." A few moments of quiet. "My previous solution to problems was to avoid them, push them off to a later date, when they could earn my full attention. When, well, I was ready to handle them. It took me eight centuries to be able to come to terms with fighting Grima." When our eyes locked, I found myself unable to drag my gaze away. While always intense, the sudden rise in her intensity. "Acting swiftly is not my preferred course, Lucina, even less when I cannot assure the outcomes of it."
"I am aware. Morgan's the same way." A wry smile, that time.
"I'm sure she's." Fondness, tiredness alike bled into that. "It's strange. I liked to think I knew you very well when I first laid eyes on you, after coming back. When I offered you my life." I didn't see where this was going, at all. "Since then, the vast majority of what I thought to be true, was not." A hum, and a throaty laugh. "What are we, Lucina?"
"What do you mean?"
"Just what I said? What are we?" Arielle broke eye contact at last. "We started this miserable situation as begrudging allies…and from there, grew some measure of respect for one another. I suppose at that point the generous might have called us friends. Now…what are we?"
"I don't know." Thinking about it, I never put much of a term to how Arielle and I interact any longer. We just…were. That's how we prefered things.
"Figured." A snort, and a sigh, before she fixed me with a sideways look. "Neither do I. We just sort of…became." Her hand came to rest over mine, icy cold even through her glove. "When you are in that plane…with Naga. The world works differently." That didn't make any sense whatsoever. "She…I would like to believe Naga can't affect me with what she says. But…"
"It did."
"Mm." Arielle's other hand closed into a fist. "Feelings, Lucina, are dangerous for Grimeal. They give Grima a way in, a way to control and manipulate us. Most of them, give in to that. Morgan of course, doesn't. I…taught myself to control them."
"The few times we saw, well, you, there were questions if you felt anything." Mostly from Cynthia.
"At the time, I don't really think I did. So close to Grima, feeling, I couldn't." Vulnerability from Arielle would only be called rare already. "At first, I resolved to keep you at arms length."
"And we know how that ended." A raw snort was my answer to that.
"Correct." Magic bubbled about her, less controlled and more the natural reality of her existence, as I came to understand it. "Naga pointed something out to me, as we tore apart yet another of my mistakes." I bit my tongue, hard enough to taste blood, but waited. "Living in fear for so long, I developed some bad habits. Waking me up without warning is a recipe to get stabbed. Grima's blood, I can barely sleep in the same room as other people these days. I wrote off my eventual acceptance of you, and comfort in your presence as just familiarity setting in, you being the first person I got close to in many long years, but ...that doesn't make a lot of sense. I felt no attachment to those who deified me, and died in my name in the future, at least, not beyond preferring to keep them alive as they didn't deserve to die."
"I don't believe I understand."
"Four years ago, had one of my followers been in Cynthia's position, I would have let them die."
"What changed?"
Her eyes turned back to me, the aura of magic reaching out, curling about my limbs, a comfortable cool-warmth. "You." In the half light, Arielle's eyes glowed, a sudden intensity to her gaze. "You changed, Lucina.
"I did?"
Arielle nodded, the shadows dancing with her. "Cynthia dying would hurt you, and that I will not abide." More swirling in the shadows, a weighty certainty filling the air.
"You are implying a level of feelings for me." Perhaps I should cut to the chase, as I didn't think Arielle would.
Her free hand came up to cup my cheek. "Yes." A simple, factual statement from Arielle if ever there was one.
"And where does that leave us?"
A half-hearted shrug. "Well outside of my knowledge base Lucina. Magic, fighting, legends, and Grima are what filled my life, not matters of the heart or romance." Typical Arielle. Although her admitting a lack of knowledge was new. "I suppose we could just skip to what the camp believes, and be done with things."
I muttered something rude, and Arielle laughed, forehead leaning into me.
AN: So, uh...sorry. This chapter has been done for almost a month, but my life has been super crazy so I haven't manged to get around to finishing Branded's edits and getting it posted. (He's already gonna kill me, for taking as long as I did to publish it, lol). Life's been a wild ride the last month, with a lot of medical issues in the extended family so FF's not been high priority.
Also for those of you who may follow GFL, the next major event is coming, and I've been scrambling to get guides cause fuckin MICA didn't giving us a break. No, I'm not salty at all.
Anyways, hopefully you enjoyed this chapter, as it's very different from my usual fare. It was hell on wheels to write, but I'm pretty happy with the end product. It's been a long time coming, and been modified a few different times, but we're getting to move along so arcs now, so yay for that.
As always, questions comments, etc are appreciated! Even if it's just to tell me I'm a loser for taking so long, as I do kinda deserve it.