"Severa!" Owain called out yet again finally getting her to stop. The blonde kneeled over as he reached her, slightly winded, "You are fast, you know that?"
"That's what you have to say to me?" Severa flared incredulously.
"No," Owain straightened with a shockingly serious expression, "I wanted to talk about this. We…have a daughter, Sev."
"You must be so disappointed I was the mother," Severa turned away.
"No," Owain grabbed her by the shoulder to turn her around, "I'm overjoyed. I wouldn't want any other mother for my child."
Severa bit her lip and ran her fingers over the name carved onto the hilt of her sheathed blade, "You really mean that?"
"Of course I do," Owain chuckled, "I'd consider myself the luckiest man alive if you were to return my feelings."
"Your…you mean you already…"
"Yes, Severa, I love you. I have since we were kids even if I didn't know it at the time. I know I'm loud and a bit weird, but…I would be honored to spend the rest of my days with you."
Severa blushed at a loss for words, "W-well, when you say it like that. B-but don't get the wrong idea. I'm not going to just up and marry you tomorrow. We take it nice and steady. And you better get me lots of nice things!"
Owain full on laughed, "Of course, my Severa. Now, I suppose we should also get to know our daughter."
"Daughter," The redhead muttered, "Guess this is how Lucina must have felt."
"Indeed, it is a tumultuous feeling, but one that I believe will ultimately be for the best."
"I guess, but…" Severa looked off to the ground, "What if I was a bad mother?"
"Chin up! I don't believe that. You may have a prickly exterior, but inside lies a heart of gold."
"Heh, you really know how to cheer a girl up, huh? Well, good. More of the praise, please."
"So, you're sworn to protect me and all that?" Morgan asked as Ophelia followed her.
"Yep! Ophelia Dusk, at your service."
"Right, but aren't we cousins though? Why should you serve me?"
"I chose to take the role to protect you. We were childhood friends after all. Besides, only best may serve as your guards."
"Right, well, guess I'll make a ground rule or two. First of all, walk beside me when we're walking. I don't like talking behind me. It's just weird."
"Um, okay," Ophelia stepped up her pace to be in stride with Morgan, "Anything else?"
"Can't think of anything at the moment, but since you're here, guess we should do something. Wanna play some tome stackers?"
"I haven't played that since we were small."
"What?" Morgan gasped dramatically, "What was past/future me thinking? How could I have neglected my retainer's tome stacking abilities? Come on, let's–"
Before she could finish, a horn sounded signifying that an enemy had been sighted. The Valmese were early it seemed, "Guess that'll have to wait. I'll see what you can do in a fight up close instead. Follow me!"
"Right behind you!"
As it turned out, Ophelia was quite the skilled mage. Dark or anima magic, both bent to her will as she flexed both sides of her lineage's magical potential. Cordelia and Severa both seemed unaware they even had the ability to use such magic, but Ophelia had no trouble tapping into it.
However, she lacked Morgan's physicality. This meant she could have trouble keeping up with Morgan's bladed rampages through the enemy line. Morgan's blade glowing as she unleashed Aether on an unsuspecting foe, but also ended up separated from her retainer.
"Did it again," Morgan berated herself as more Valmese troops moved in on her, "Maybe mom and dad were right."
As Morgan prepared a defensive stance though, a small shadow flew over her. Looking up, she smiled as the sight of the pegasus and the flowing red hair of its rider. There was something to be said for aerial superiority.
After a few swipes, the enemy archers finally got their act together and took aim at the flying mount, but the rider simply dove off of it and started cleaving through them left and right with her lance. It was a blur of red motion that really surprised Morgan. Lady Cordelia rarely fought unmounted. Still, she was impressed. The area was soon cleared with their combined efforts.
"Thanks, Lady Cordelia," Morgan smiled, and the redhead tensed.
"I don't think that's funny, my liege," The girl who upon further inspection was not Cordelia, but a young woman a couple of years Morgan's junior turned to face her.
"Huh? You look freakishly like Cordelia."
"Sister!" The redhead was suddenly barreled into by the excitable dark mage.
"And I guess that explains why," Morgan deadpanned, "Guess that makes you the mysterious wing commander I've heard about."
"She has amnesia," Ophelia answered her sister's confused expression. "I only just recently met back up with her."
"I see," The redhead appeared clearly troubled, but she remained professional as she kneeled, "I am Caeledori, your loyal knight and leader of Ylisse's pegasus knights."
"Woah, woah, woah," Morgan pulled Caeledori up, "Enough with the kneeling. It weirds me out. Whatever happened in our world, I'm just Morgan here, okay?"
"Er, if you wish."
"Cool! Now I guess we should take you back to camp. Not sure how Severa's gonna take this one. Though it is kinda odd just how much you both look like your grandmothers. I hardly look anything like Sumia."
"So what do you think of everything?" Ophelia asked her sister once they arrived in their shared tent. It was late so Caeledori got out of meeting her mother again so soon. Still, it was coming in the morning along with their meeting with the tactician.
"Morgan losing her memories is problematic. She seems so…irresponsible here. It's almost hard to believe that she's the same person."
"But doesn't she seem happier?"
Caeledori sighed, "She does, but I hope that happiness does not come with a dire cost."
"Are you going to tell her everything then?"
"…Not yet. For now, we continue to protect our Exalt and fulfill our oaths to Ylisse."
Ophelia sighed in relief. Despite being her little sister, Caeledori had a way of taking charge with her serious demeanor and hard work. She was glad that she was not going to burden Morgan with the details just yet. Morgan had been through so much. Ophelia was glad she had this respite at least.
A/N: Probably going to call it there for now, though if you're interested in this, let me know. Maybe Grima wouldn't be the big bad after all. Also, preferences on Ophelia's hair being red or blonde? Caeledori would probably also be wearing an Ylissean pegasus knight outfit while the name maybe came from Chon'sin or something. Either way, Ophelia's outfit might could be explained away as Ylisse deciding to do their own take on dark mage uniforms. Or maybe something else.
What is that summer banner?