"Lucina!"

Six-year-old Lucina stopped in her tracks. If anything had gone wrong, it wasn't her fault. Her mother would lose it if she did anything bad, so she was sure she was the best-behaved girl in the castle.

When she turned around, however, she didn't see her mother storming down the halls of Castle Themis, but a different woman entirely, her bright pink hair trailing behind her as she made to catch up with Lucina.

"Aunt Olivia? What are you doing here?" she asked as the woman drew up behind her.

"Looking for you!" Aunt Olivia said. "When I heard you and your brother were coming to visit, I just had to find you and say hi!"

"Oh." Lucina looked around. "Have you seen my brother? I want to play, but he got lost."

"Your brother? I think I saw him in the courtyard."

Lucina grinned. "Thank you!" she said, and she waved a hand as she turned to leave.

She'd barely taken a step before Aunt Olivia stopped her.

"Wait!"

Lucina looked back and scowled. At least, she tried to. Aunt Olivia didn't seem bothered by it, though, so it must not have been very good.

"Before you go," Aunt Olivia said, "I want to take someone with you."

Lucina stood a little straighter. "Really? Where?" she said, her gaze flickering around the room like a puppy up from an afternoon nap in the sun.

When she didn't see anyone, she looked back at Olivia. Only then did she notice the tiny smidge of red hair peeking out from behind her legs.

"Inigo?" Olivia said, and she pulled a boy out from behind her legs. "Come out and say hi."

Lucina stepped up before the boy could speak. It was only polite, after all. "Hi! I'm Lucina Lowel! What's your name?"

A moment passed in silence. Lucina frowned, and she tapped her foot. She thought she saw his mouth move, but that was probably her eyes playing tricks on her.

"Speak up. She can't hear you."

This time, Lucina heard something come out of the boy's mouth. It was so soft, she almost missed it.

"Hi... I'm I–Inigo Red–Redwind."

Lucina glanced up at Olivia, half-convinced this boy was broken. Olivia just gave her a soft smile and pushed Inigo toward Lucina.

"He's very shy," Olivia said. "Do you think you can play with him?"

Lucina looked Inigo up and down. He didn't look very strong for a boy. Then again, neither was her brother. And Aunt Olivia had asked nicely, so who was she to say no?

Inigo yelped as she grabbed his arm. As she turned and started walking down the hall, dragging Inigo behind her, she said, "I won't let you down, Aunt Olivia!"

After all, she would never let any of her family down, or her name wasn't Lucina Lowel.


Up over the treetops, over the rustling leaves, Castle Themis stood in all its glory. Lucina could see the red-tiled roofs on the towers, dusted with pink in the dying sun. Over the top, yellow banners fluttered in the wind, and the castle's spires twirled elegantly as they reached for the sky, every bit as decorated as the lord who owned it.

"I assume we are close?" she asked, just for good measure.

"Indeed," the nobleman said.

"I can't wait to get inside," the noblewoman said. "We'll finally be safe from all this madness."

"Madness, you say?"

The four of them turned around. The bandit twins stood a little farther down the road, their teeth glinting as they smiled. Lucina's sword was out in an instant, the tip leveled at the bandits. She glanced between the two of them, each with a certain resolve in their expressions.

"You think this is madness?" The bandit in purple grinned, but the flickering in his eyes spoke of malice. "I don't know about that. What do you think, Victor?"

"Oh, I'm mad alright. Mad at her."

Lucina's eyes widened, and she found herself staring down Victor's meaty finger. Behind her, the noblewoman whimpered. The bandits noticed it as well, not that it seemed to bother them.

"You can leave," Vincent said, waving them aside. "Our business is not with you."

The two nobles glanced over to her, worried.

"Don't worry about me," she said. "Make for the castle. You'll be safe once the guards see you."

She heard the leaves rustle as the nobles sprinted through, then the sound of fading footsteps. The bandits grinned. They thought she wouldn't stand a chance alone. While that very well may be, she couldn't let it show.

"Victor? Why don't you take the first blow?" Vincent said.

Victor replied with an angry roar. Lucina only had a second to react before a hand axe hurtled toward her. She batted it aside with a sweep of her blade. As soon as the axe flew to the side, Victor lunged for her, another axe already in his hands.

Victor came crashing down onto her like an avalanche. She raised her sword, and their weapons met in a screeching metal clang. Specks of spit scattered onto Lucina's face as Victor snarled, his face twisted with hate. Cutting off his arm seemed to have really upset him.

For a second, his eyes flicked down. She barely had time to register it before his knee slammed into her gut. She bent over, gasping for breath. Her grip on her sword wavered in a moment of weakness.

A moment was all it took for Lucina to find her hand twisted behind her back. Victor pushed her sword away with his axe, and her sword slipped out of her hands. It clattered to the floor. Lucina tried to reach for her sword. Her fingers only brushed against the hilt before Victor kicked it away. Lucina stumbled away. Victor stepped after her, and he pulled his axe back to deliver one final blow.

From behind her, a piece of paper flew into Victor's face. As Lucina caught her breath, she looked over her shoulder. The Anna, half-hidden in the foliage, grimaced, glared at her now empty hand, and stuck it back into her backpack.

"What are you doing?" Lucina yelled.

The Anna froze. Her gaze rose to meet Lucina's, and she gave a sheepish smile.

Behind her, Lucina heard the leaves crinkle. She looked over her shoulder. The edge of an axe blade hovered between her eyes.

Lucina yelped, and she threw herself to the side. Victor cursed as his axe bit the dirt. As he tore his axe out of the ground, Lucina reached for her sword a few feet away. A boot crushed her hand. Lucina howled in pain. Standing over her, Vincent stepped over her and kicked her sword away. A shadow fell over her.

Lucina rolled away, and Victor's axe missed her side by inches. Growling, Victor stepped over her and raised his axe to cleave her down the middle.

A wooden staff hit him in the forehead with a satisfying thunk. Victor stumbled back, and Vincent glanced behind him in surprise. Anna squeaked, and she dove back behind the bushes. The weight on Lucina's arm lifted, and as she pulled her hand to her chest, Lucina watched Vincent storm off after Anna.

The glint of her sword's steel blade caught her eye. Tearing her gaze from Vincent, Lucina pushed herself to her feet. She sprinted for the sword lying on the ground, shining clearly against the dirt. Her hand reached down to grab it.

A red blur entered her vision. The world spun around as someone slammed into Lucina, sending her to the ground again. As Lucina blinked the spots out of her eyes, the sole of a boot drifted into her sight.

With a yell, Victor stomped down on her face. Something cracked. Lucina cried out, and her head snapped to the side. Bits of her mask dug in around her eyes, and the spots in her vision grew bigger.

Through the pulsing feeling in her head, Lucina felt something prod her the back of her foot. She caught sight of her sword, lying next to her. Her fingers clawed at the dirt as she tried to reach for it. Her nails scratched against the polished hilt, but that only pushed it even farther out of reach.

Hot air washed over the side of her air. "Not so fun when you're the one bleeding out on the floor, ain't it?" she heard Victor say, his voice rough and dry, like the ghost of a skeleton in the desert. In his breath, she caught a nasty stench, like the bald head of a vulture neck-deep in a rotting carcass.

"You cost me my arm," Victor continued, and Lucina felt something cold press to the side of her face. "Now, I'm thinking how I should return the favor. Should I cut your arm off too? No, you cost us those two noble snobs. An arm's hardly fair."

From the thicket at the edge of the road, Vincent said, "Stop playing around, Victor! We've still got to catch up with the boy after this!" As he turned back to the forest, Lucina heard him say, "Now where is that stupid brat?"

Victor growled. "If we send the boy after Mr. and Mrs. Redwind, he'll find a way to muck it up." He turned back to her, and his smile returned. "If I must do it quickly, I suppose I'll have to cut off your head, then."

He said something else, but Lucina missed it.

Redwind. Inigo Redwind. And now, for the Redwind name to come up here could only mean those two were Inigo's family.

Lucina gasped as the realization hit her. She'd made a mistake, and Inigo's family was going to suffer for it.

The axe blade hurled straight toward her neck. Victor let out a triumphant cry. Lucina's hands shot out, and she grabbed onto his arms. Her muscles tightened, and slowly, the axe came to a half, stopping it inches away from cutting into her.

Victor's eyes narrowed, and he leaned over her. The weight over Lucina increased, and slowly the axe dropped closer to the tip of her nose. It didn't take much to know she couldn't hold out much longer. So she kicked his feet out from under him instead.

Already unbalanced, Victor hasped as his legs gave out, and he fell to his knees. Lucina pushed back before he could recover. A cloud of dust rushed up as she forced him to the floor, pulling herself back up in the process.

As Victor tried to scramble to his feet, Lucina pulled the healing staff from under her legs. She spun around to face and raised the blunt wooden end of it. With a cry, she slammed it down.

Victor barely managed to roll away, and the end of the staff exploded into wooden shards. Lucina got to her feet, the splintered staff still in her hands. Victor did as well, his axe held over her head. The sweat on his forehead glistened in the sun, pooling in the creases as his face twisted into an expression of rage. He screamed, frustrated that she'd gotten away.

He swung the axe across, aiming to draw a line over her eyes. Lucina ducked, and her hair flew after the axe as it passed over her head. He tried to reverse his swing to catch her on the way back. Lucina rammed her skull into his stomach before he could. His breath blew down her back as she drove it from his lungs, and he stumbled away.

Victor recovered quickly. he wiped an arm across his mouth, and his fingers clenched around the shaft of his axe as he prepared another strike. He never got a chance.

Blood splattered over Lucina's coat. Victor's mouth opened, and he tried to speak. A spurt of blood came flying out instead, adding another red stain on Lucina's sleeve. Lucina twisted her arm, and the splintered end of the staff dug deeper into Victor's neck.

As soon as she tore it free, Victor stumbled forward. He threw out his arms and tried to grab ahold of her coat. Lucina just slipped past him, and she fixed her eyes down the road, a new objective in mind. She broke out into a sprint, and as she took off, she heard Victor's body hid the floor.

None of that was important. Not as important as this. She'd come back to the past to save the Shepherds. She'd gotten careless. She'd messed up.

She had to stop it all before history could change course. Minds could be changed. Weapons could be repaired, but lives couldn't be brought back.

In the distance, she heard a scream. Lucina's eyes narrowed, and she pushed herself to run faster. The forest around her became a blur, and the wind rushed down her face. Up ahead, she could make out two figures struggling against each other. As one of the figures batted the other away, she made out the shape of an axe.

A battle cry escaped her lips. Heads turned to her as she closed in. The younger bandit's eyes widened, and he swept his axe over to cut her down. Lucina crashed into him before he could take a full swing like a boulder barreling downhill.

The young bandit fell back. He brought his axe in front of him in an attempt to keep her away. Lucina reared her staff back and swung. In a single strike, Lucina tore the axe from his hands. He only had time to put his arms up before Lucina pulled her staff back and swung one more time.

A wooden snap echoed over the forest as she cracked the staff across his arms. The bandit stumbled back, tripped, and tumbled to the floor.

Lucina turned her attention to the two nobles. The noblewoman looked fine, albeit a bit shaken. The nobleman, on the other hand, was a lot worse. The cloak wrapped around his shoulder had been ripped to shreds. Two more cuts ran across his chest, and the one on his shoulder had turned an angry shade of dark red.

"What happened?" she asked, then almost hit her head with her staff for asking such an obvious question.

"W-well," the noblewoman said, stumbling over her words, "that young man just jumped out at started attacking–" Her mouth snapped shut and her eyes fixed on something behind Lucina.

Lucina turned around, only to meet a fist to the face. Her mask caved in, and a dozen sharp bits jabbed into her skin. Her head snapped onto him, but his pose held no malice, and his gaze was locked onto her left... eye...

Her hands flew to cover her face. Panic seized her. He saw the brand.

That panic melted away, replaced with anger. Her mask, a relic from the future she'd brought to hide her identity. And now it was gone. Because of him.

He could not be allowed to reveal who she was.

Her fingers tightened around her staff. She stepped forward. He stepped back, and his eyes widened in fear. Some of her decision must have shown through her face. It didn't matter. He wouldn't live long enough to get away.

"Victor's soul will have justice!"

Lucina stepped back, and an axe blade brushed over her chest. She turned to the side. Vincent returned her gaze with a hateful glare. Dirt scattered about as he ripped his axe from the earth and attacked her.

His swings were wide and telegraphed. With every screech that escaped his lips, he tore through the air with greater ferocity, each strike radiating bloodlust. Lucina tried to step into his guard, but his attacks were so feral he kept forcing her back.

Then her back hit a tree. Lucina cursed. From the corner of her eye, she saw Vincent raise his axe. An idea popped into her head. As he brought his axe down, she pressed her boots against the tree and jumped. The axe whizzed over her head, brushing through her hair. A deep scraping sound shook her eardrums. When she looked back, Vincent stood in front of the tree, his shoulders heaving, a jagged and messy cut running straight through the tree

The trunk groaned. Lucina looked up, and she saw the top of the tree start to tip over. The sound seemed to snap Vincent out of his rage. He gasped, and he tried to get out of the way. Lucina moved faster.

Before he could even take a step, Lucina rushed past him and swept his feet out. He tumbled down, flailing his arms in an attempt to drag her down with him. She stepped just out of reach just as the tree trunk started to fall.

With a creak, the tree splintered off, ignoring Vincent's cries as it crushed him. The leaves rustled for a few moments more, disturbed by the fall, before they fell still and drooped down, dipping into the growing pool of red.

Lucina watched as the blood under the tree soaked into the dirt. The air felt cool against her face as it swept through, and that's when Lucina remembered that her mask had broke. She hid her left eye behind her hand, and her eyes scanned the road for any sign of the young bandit. In the confusion, however, he seemed to have vanished.

"Please, you can't die. We're almost home."

The noblewoman's voice brought her out of her thoughts. Lucina looked back at the pair, still on the ground. The noblewoman held her husband close to her chest, her face wavering like a fading candlewick. The cavalier in her arms only smiled back.

"I'm sorry. I don't think I'll be able to make it," he said. "I can barely move as it is."

Lucina glanced down at the staff in her hand. One end was nothing but splinters, blood soaking the jagged wood. The other end, the healing end, was still intact, its round turquoise jewel shining faintly.

The two nobles turned their heads as she approached. When she caught sight of the heal staff in Lucina's hands, the noblewoman's eyes widened, and she looked up at Lucina, hopeful. Lucina smiled at her.

"Don't worry," she said. "You're not going to die, sir."

She knelt down next to the cavalier and held her staff over his chest. A second passed. Nothing happened at first.

Then the turquoise jewel lit up. A soft blue-green glow spread over the cavalier's chest, and his wounds began to seal. Lucina held it in place a few seconds longer, and when she was sure the wounds had completely closed, she let herself fall back, exhausted.

Just then, a streak of red broke through the leaves. Lucina tensed, and her bloodied staff rose off the ground. The second she realized who it was, though, she allowed it to drop back onto the ground.

"Am-am I too late?" the Anna said, bent over and gasping. She took a good look around the clearing, at the blood pooling under the fallen tree, and the three of them sitting on the floor, and she sighed. "I guess I was."

"Where were you?" Lucina asked.

The Anna straightened herself out. She snapped, and in an instant, her smile returned to her face. "Oh, I was trying to find help. I mean, you almost died against those two last time, so I thought I'd go find help. And you'll never guess who I found!"

As she spoke, three more figures emerged from the treeline. On the flanks, two knights clad in bulky suits of armor stood at attention, their giant shields casting long shadows on the ground. And in the center, a very large nobleman loomed over them, his long blond hair flowing behind him like a river of gold, and a set of pink robes draped over his broad shoulders.

"Lord and Lady Redwind! Are you unharmed? I heard you were attacked by a pair of bandits," the nobleman said, his booming voice shaking the leaves above. Over the treetops, Lucina saw a flock of birds depart for the sky.

"D-duke Themis!" the noblewoman squeaked. "No, we're alright. T-thanks to her." She pointed to Lucina.

Almost immediately, she found herself under the man's gaze. He narrowed his eyes, looking over every inch of her with his blazing amber eyes, and Lucina shrunk back.

"Tell me, what is your name, good madame?" he said.

"Lucina," she blurted out. Anyone else might have shied away. Lucina, however, rose to her feet, dropping her staff as she did so, and held out her hand.

The Duke of Themis looked down at her hand, his expression unreadable. For a moment, Lucina feared she had angered him.

Then his face broke out into a smile, and he grabbed her hand.

"I think we'll get along just fine, Lucina!" he said. "Manners! There aren't many who keep the importance of courtesy in their heads, so to find someone like you is an absolute marvel!"

"I see," Lucina replied, trying her best to keep her face straight while what few bones remained in her hand crackled and popped.

"Duke Themis, at your service!" To her relief, he let go of her hand. "Now, I suppose I should set up accommodations for you and your daughter. Vulneraries for whatever's got in your eye, too. What are we standing around here for? We've got to get back to Castle Themis as soon as we can!"


Is it too action-y? I feel like two action scenes between three chapters is a little much.

Anyway, things are going to slow down a bit. I want there to be some time to cool off and to develop the characters. Hopefully I can hold off on tossing in another action scene for the next five-ish chapters.

This is longer than what I've usually done, since I've got more time on my hands now (Thanks quarantine).

Wishing you all well during this current pandemic. Stay frosty my good readers.

Feeling a little burnt out about now. Might be some time before the next chapter, you never know.