"...So that's it, then?"
The two of them stared down at the ditch of grass-covered sand beneath the balcony, bringing themselves away from it.
"...I guess so."
Cordelia and Chrom both looked at each other, and then to the sky.
"So what's next for us then?"
"I don't know. We've done so much just to end this war. So much has been spent, we never really gave much thought toafter what came after."
"...Well, I for one know what you two knuckleheads can start doing."
The palace doors swung wide open, the leader of Feroxi's forces effortlessly pushing them away.
"An army is routed and a King is dead. His forces surrendered the minute our reinforcements came in." Flavia was the first to enter, calling for the two upstairs.
"Ahhh, you should've seen it! It was a wildfire, literally! And the army tucked tail the moment our big, scary axes showed up! Ya'know, like cowards!" Basilio was the first to run up, reaching the balcony to see the bodies still standing that by no means should have been.
"Yikes!" Basilio's one eye went wide open. "Ya'll look like death came early and conscripted you into fighting for it!"
"We're still alive, Basilio. Barely." Cordelia raised her one good hand, and then collapsed face first into the ground.
"I… cannot feel the hand I use to cast magic with. Can someone please get Lissa?" Cordelia words muffled under fried hair and dirt.
"Yeah, get Maribelle too while you're at it. I don't think I can feel my chest." Chrom paused as he tried to reach for it. "Oh, and the pain's coming back. I think my heart stopped. Can that happen? I feel like that can happen."
Chrom smacked straight into the palace floor with a thud. "Oww."
"Okay, tough guy and tough girl. Let's get you some healers before you die on us." Flavia called over Lissa who quickly rushed up the steps, staff ready.
"Healer here! Now where are my crispy chicken legs?"
"Over here!" Cordelia threw her tired hand up, trying not to throw up. "And don't you mean crispy chicken wings?"
"No, I really don't." Lissa got down and immediately got to work restoring Cordelia to a functional state. And soon after Maribelle joined in, rushing almost as fast as her comrade.
"Thank goodness, you're both alive darlings." Maribelle got down on the short heels of her boots, trying to bring Chrom back to the legal definition of living.
"Please don't get any worse for the rest of the day? Promise me? Because my heals and my heels are killing me."
The prince laying as still as a corpse looked up with a smile. "What a lovely heeler. How considerate!"
"As usual, your puns never fail to cease to impress me." As Maribelle spoke, a begrudging smile came to her. "Though they have developed a certain charm to them. I suppose you could say the day wouldn't be, Chromplete, without them."
"Hah!" Basilio laughed.
"Oh, fuck yourselves!" Flavia braced her hips and tried not to indulge them. "...That was horrible."
"Hey, if I could, then I would seize the chance to Chrommit to fuc—!"
"No, bad Chrom!" With an interrupting yell and her hand shooting as high as she could, Cordelia, of all things, booped her finger against his nose like a puppy being scolded.
"Wha— Whuh— what?" And Chrom grumbled, giving her a confused look.
"Oh, you think you can just swear like nobody's business? You missed your shot!" Cordelia curled her hand back and tried her best at holding her own hip. "You had one free use pass, Chrom! One free use! And only in Ferox! And we passed that border one rain episode ago, didn't we?" Cordelia would've pointed her hand back in the direction of Ferox, but frankly she was worried her arm was gonna give out or something.
"...Not you too. First my mom, then my sister, and now you?" And Chrom tucked his head and whined. It was the only thing he could tuck without feeling like his body was being electrocuted.
"Get used to it, Chrom, you'll never get a day's rest from us."
"Finnnneeeee, okay mom." Chrom rolled his head to the girl, giving her a pair of annoyed eyebrows. And she twisted her neck to see him, giving him her own glare back.
And then the both of them snickered, breaking into laughter beside the other who could barely get up.
Fingers wrapping together as they laid beside each other.
"Hyup!"
And Chrom shot up into the air, feet landing back down as he bounced and bounced and cranked his sword arm.
"Be careful!" Liz shouted as she went up to him, throwing her hands up to grab him. "What part of don't mess around so your wounds don't reopen do you not understand, you excited goober!"
"There is only one constant in the world, Liz: If there's anyone out there who's going to do something he shouldn't because he's an excited goober, it's the Prince of Ylisse,." Cordelia said.
"Hey!" Chrom snapped his head at the red girl with her eyes shut. "...Okay, you're right." He snapped his head away right that instant, crossing his arms and furiously turning red in the face. But so little time could only before that false frown showed it's true nature as a smile.
"I'm sorry, I'm just so happy I can move though!" Chrom practically boiled into a squeal of delight, jumping and cranking his arm one last time for good. "I thought I was dead like three times that fight, but compared to that, I feel light as a feather!"
"And thankfully my injuries aren't permanent. I think I can take a nice break from being stabbed repeatedly while trying to save Ylissean royalty." Cordelia opened one eye at her comrade-in-arms, winking pink-faced with her tongue out.
"And you're doing great at your job, Lady Cordelia." Frederick walked up to the ones standing together. "You'll make an excellent royal guard at this rate."
"Excuse you, this is what I have to look forward to?" Cordelia snapped her head and scoffed. "I'd like to quit on the spot right now then, thanks. Consider this—" She gestures to the girl that healed her "—my worker's compensation."
Liz giggled and snorted at her friend. "She's a sassy one, ain't she?"
"If it makes you feel any better, I agree! I don't wanna see you getting stabbed either!" Chrom rushed her and wrapped her in a vice grip hug, lifting her off the ground as she let out a shriek.
"Aii-eek! Chrom, I am going to bleed if you keep squeezing me!" She kicked her legs, hitting her boots against his pants.
"Oh!" Chrom softened his grip. "Eheh, sorry." He put her down gently, looking away and holding his hands down as politely as he could. Just as taught.
"Thank you. No more near-death experiences today, okay?" Cordelia put her hand on her chest and breathed in. And then, she stared at those unexpectedly bashful eyes.
"...You silly dork." She sighed, smiling at him. "How did the kid I met all those years ago turn out to be son of the most influential family in the country?"
"I don't know." Chrom turned back to look at her. "I was born into the job I guess." He hung on his words, caught staring at those surprisingly warm ones. "...But, I want to…"
The two of them fell silent, each gazing into the other as if time had stopped around them.
"Guys?" Flavia brought her hand up to her mouth and very exaggeratedly coughed. "Ahem. Well, I guess it's time to go check on Ferox's forces. Come on, Khan B."
"Oi, why do I have to be Khan B!" Basilio snapped his head her way.
"Cause you lost, doof! Now take the kids and run!" Flavia snapped her head back as she left, yanking Frederick's tie as she snapped her fingers.
"Alright, scoundrels, enough fun's been had!" Basilio reached for Lissa and Maribelle, dragging them away from the other two.
"Ah—!" Liz shouted as she was pulled by the ear.
"What—!" Maribelle yelled as she was dragged by her hair rolls.
"F— Stop!" Frederick bit down on his tongue as he called out.
Khans A and B dragged the trio back to behind the walls between the balcony and the throne, pushing the trio's backs again it.
"Y'all done peeping in public? Ya good? Good." Flavia breathed in and out, nodding sternly.
"...I know I ain't." Basilio immediately ducked and grabbed the edge of the wall.
"Hell no I ain't either." Flavia leaned down and did the exact thing.
"Peeping in public?" Liz gave Flavia an off look. "We're not doing anything illeg… wait…"
Liz looked back, staring at the two outside doing nothing else but drinking in a shared gaze.
"Oh my gods." Liz's jaw dropped. "Oh my gods. Mari, Freddy. You know what this means."
Liz got down under Flavia and poked her head out. The two beside her exchange raised brows, but joined in anyways.
"Oh dear god, it's finally happening." Sully sprinted up the steps just to kneel behind the wall on the left on her own.
"That's it, I'm watching this damn idiot do this. We need this catharsis. I need this catharsis." Sully peeked her head out, biting her lip and shaking up and down her fist.
Then came Reflet running in, hands waving around. "Guys! Guys! I accidentally sank the ice shield—!"
"Hush, small child of indeterminate origin!" Liz grabbed her by the shirt and yanked her on board.
"Woah! What's happening?" She ducked under Liz, hand on the ground and her eyes wide.
"Look over there!" Liz grit her teeth, staring at her while she pointed ahead and whispered loudly, "Them…"
"Them? What are they—"
All it took was one look at the two for a banshee's squeak to rip through the room.
"Shh!" Liz put her finger to her lips and sealed them up. "Stay quiet! We can't let them know we're here!"
Then came Marth speed-walking in. "Everyone? Reflet set fire to the ice shield, don't ask me how she—Wait, what are Cordelia and Chrom doing—"
Marth squeaked as loud as the other girls in the palace.
"Shhh!" Sully yanked her behind the wall and zipped her up. "Shh-shh-shh! Do you want to mess this up for them! Anyone who wants to watch get over here, but hush! This is important for them, doofuses!"
"They're not doofuses, they're my—!" Marth shut herself up this time, hands on her own lips as she spoke quick. "Okay, I see your point for being silent."
One by one, the Shepherds strolled in. Everyone walked up the steps. Some gasped, some squeaked, some cheered and high five each other—Nowi, Ricken, Henry, Vaike, and a begrudging Tharja—but there was one thing they all did for certain.
They all hid behind the three walls to watch the moment playing right before their eyes. And the total count hiding there as part of the peanut gallery amounted to...
About… thirty-two pairs of eyes. Give or take.
And they watched. Watching so intently enough, Anna started giving away popcorn for free, munching away at her own bag fast enough to eat her own hand. Vaike cracked open drinks, passing them around the group. And Gaius, Frederick, Lissa, Reflet and Marth all drank from sparkly, sugary bottles of fizziness, straws and all.
But the spotlight was on Chrom. Him, and the one who caught all his attention.
"I…" Chrom opened his mouth, but the first words he managed to get himself to say was,
"Hey."
"...Hey yourself." Cordelia shifted from one side to the other, flipping between staring at him and not staring at him.
"...So, what are you going to do once we get back home?" he asked.
"Oh you know, maybe some stuff with Sumia. And then maybe shop with Liz and Reflet, and, yeah," she said.
Cordelia grabbed her hair and twirled it around, Chrom stepping close and reaching for her, but pulling his hand back.
"...So, what kind of stuff is it gonna be?"
"I don't know, do you have an answer for what stuff is gonna be when stuff hasn't come up yet?" Cordelia laughed softly at him, and Chrom couldn't help but fondly laugh back.
"Yeah, I guess not." Chrom held his head with the hand he reached out with, looking down and away.
"...Can I help you with your stuff?"
Cordelia giggled even more than before, having to turn away from the response alone. "Well, the minute I figure out what stuff to do, you'll be my first to know."
"Good, good." Chrom nodded his head accordingly.
The two of them caught each other staring, then started laughing once again.
"This is so awkward!" Cordelia pulled her head down and pressed her hair over her eye.
Chrom leaned in and grinned at her. "As awkward as it was when we first started this?"
"Hey, blame yourself!" Cordelia leaned back, poking him in the chest.
"Blame me, how is it my fault?" Chrom leaned away poked her the same way.
"You're the one who keeps chasing me around!" Cordelia pointed her finger right in his face. "I swear, everytime you ran by, it was like a lovesick puppy came speeding over to see me!"
"And you were like a kitty running away everytime I tried to say hi!" he fired back, grabbing her wrist and taking it in his hand.
"Yeah, well I wouldn't have ran like that if it wasn't because of you…" Cordelia darted her eyes down, then lifted her arm back up and got in his face.
"Put yourself in my shoes: How about you find yourself alone in a place where everyone thinks the worst of you, and all of a sudden, the one thing you can't stop doing is think about your friend who you haven't been with in years!" Cordelia put her finger to his face again, slipping right in with a grin.
"Hello, Kettle to Pot? I'm in your shoes!" Chrom took her by the hand again, stepping in and smiling back. "The palace wasn't fun for me either, I couldn't stop thinking about you since we stopped seeing each other! Just give me a day back at home, I'll show you a thousand ways we can have fun again!"
"You're on!" Cordelia turned away, crossing the better of her arms once again. "I look forward to it."
Cordelia looked beyond the balcony, watching the gold sky shining upon the water.
And Chrom stepped with her, watching it too.
"...So, why did you run from me once we were together again?" he asked. "Couldn't you have talked to me like before?"
"That's because…" Cordelia put her hand to her head, and spoke.
"Because I didn't think I should have talk to you. I didn't think I could talk to you! I'm a girl from an average home and an average life in where in the world is Talys, and then I find out my best friend's the son of a man whose death would cause his sister to ascend to the mantle of Exalt, and what am I supposed to do with that a few years after! Just go up to palace and say 'Hi, I'm Cordelia Tiamo San Diego, I'm the friend of the son who was taken from the Royal Exalt when he was like four or something. Can he come out to play?"
By the end of it all, Cordelia had one hand raised and a smile like a merchant trying to get people to buy stuff. The floating pair of comically-sized eyes and popcorn that was Anna taking notes in her book and nodding accordingly.
"...You know when you put it all together like that, no yeah that checks out," Chrom said.
"Thank you! I like when you agree with me!" Cordelia shouted. "I'm sorry, I've holding that in me for like, a decade."
"Hey, next time your holding something in, just get me! I'll be there to wring it out of you! I'll wring you dry!"
Cordelia fluttered her eyes.
"What's the"—Chrom fluttered his eyes back—"for?"
"...Nothing." Cordelia slowed to a smaller string of blinks. "Something just reminded me that the very prince of all of Ylisse really is that same goober I met."
And she breathed in, and she breathed out. "You're so… silly." She grabbed her head again and broke into a soft laugh. "You're just silly, Chrom! I can't believe you sometimes! How did this guy become my prince who I love?"
Cordelia's eyes turned themselves wide open. "I—"
"...You love me?" Chrom pulled his head back and looked at her.
"I…" Cordelia curled her eyebrow. "Hey yourself?"
And she breathed in, and she breathed out.
And she kept doing that.
And she kept doing that.
And she kept doing that.
Until the cat had hidden herself like a turtle with its head tucked in.
"Ge-heh." Cordelia hid her head in her own shirt, wanting to disappear from this plane of existence.
Chrom lifted his hands up and reached forward, pinching the ends of her shirt, and pulled it back down.
Cordelia lowered her hands down and reached back, pinching her shirt and pulling it over her face again.
"Let me hide, please?"
"No."
Chrom pulled her shirt down again, leading to Cordelia finally giving up on hiding behind it.
"...Can you forget I said anything?" she asked.
"No?"
"...Why not, though?"
"Cordelia, listen to me."
Chrom grabbed her by the hands, pulling them down between the both of them.
"...Is what you just said true?"
Cordelia made a very small nod amidst her burning face. "Uh-huh. You…"
"I like you, Chrom." Cordelia took his fingers between hers. "I've liked you for years, and probably even before that. I can't even think straight around you anymore."
"...Uh-huh." Chrom paused and nodded along. "Is that why you're always calling me your prince? ...Is it because you found out I was one all along?"
"I… yeah." Cordelia looked him in the eye, trying to stop herself from frowning.
"Wait, no…"
She slowly tried to open her lips, her voice getting through.
"I didn't start liking you cause you're a prince, I did it because you were always helping me. It was the big moments first like when you saved me, but then it was all the little things. Like when you try to calm me down. Yes, finding out you were a prince changed a lot about how I thought about you, but you won me over before that." Cordelia turned her red face away, gripping his hands tighter and closer to her.
"Whether you're a prince of one of the strongest bloodlines of Archanea, or a kid from the backwoods, you're the one I want to stand by. That is who my prince is. And that is what he means to me." She pulled his hands to his chest, trying not to look at him.
"Uh… Uh-huh. I see." Chrom nodded his head once more, then huffed with both warmth and relief. And then he paused, looking directly at the girl in front of him.
"I… don't know what to make of this. I don't know what words I'm supposed to say, or what words I should feel—I mean, what things I should feel." Chrom winced at his own misplay with words, but tried to keep going and speak his mind.
"I guess I don't really know what to say at all." He stepped in closer, her hands held just as tight. "But… I know you mean a lot to me. I think you're great. You're funny, and always fun to be around. And you always try to keep my head intact, and my body apparently."
Chrom found himself sighing all over again, his face all red as hers. "So… I know there's not another woman in the world who I'd want to spend the rest of my life fighting with." He finally turned his head away, voice stiffening. "And... can you not run away from me again?"
"...I don't want to run." Cordelia looked into his eyes. "If I had the choice, I'd never want to run."
"Then will you stay by my side?" Chrom looked into her eyes. "As, y'know, a knight and a prince?"
"Of course. I'd do it any day of the year," the knight said to her prince.
"I'd do the same," the prince said to his knight.
The two came close. Heads resting against their necks. Hands staying together and intertwined.
...And so did half the pair of eyes fawn and cheer and shout all very quietly, clapping silently at the show.
"...And we'll be best friends forever!" Chrom shouted, lifting his head up with a smile. "Ye!"
"What—!" shouted Sully quietly, as did the entire gallery watching them.
Pulling herself away from him, Cordelia's eyes went as wide as they could.
And then, she beamed. Smiling as happily as she'd ever been. "Yes! Let's do it!"
"WHAT—!" shouted Sully loudly exclusively.
The red cavalier pulled herself away from the scene and furiously glared at the collective consciousness exploding on itself behind her.
"Howwww!" Liz shouted, knocked down behind the wall when she threw her hands wildly above her. "Howwwwww!"
"I… I was gonna use this for inspiration." Sumia laid down on her hands and knees at the at the very bottom of the staircase with a notebook that said 'Flower Power on AlmO3' in her hands.
"Chrom, turn back. No…" She raised her pen up to the heavens, then clicked it, before falling down for good.
"This explains everything," Ares said, fingers pressed to his temple. "Marth, you see how this explains everything?"
"How the hell do these two manage to freakin'..." Sully grabbed her hair, then yanked back hard enough to nearly tear it. "Graahhh! What the hell is this shit!"
"Ee-heheehehehe!" Seti was laughing like a mad dog, kicking his feet as he hung upside down from the railing of the walkway upstairs. "Ohhh! What great fun! Wooh! Shot me in the back!"
Sully breathed in loudly, only to yell out even louder. "You mean we've waited after all this, just for them to pull this shit?"
Sully exhaled, bringing her head down.
"...I'm gonna fucking kill them!" she shouted.
She looked back at the duo who were, by all accounts, still hugging, still holding each other close, and still staring in the other's eyes like no one else in a fifty meter radius mattered. And she looked back, jaw wide and hung at the same time.
"I knew Chrom was dense enough to do this, but not her. Not my girl. I thought she was aware of this, but no! It's like whenever they're around each other, they both lose the one braincell they share."
"...Is that the appeal?" She asked the Shepherds, hands throwing back to the two they all were watching. "Is this what we were all here for? For these doofuses to achieve peak dumbassery? Who in their right mind chose to make this happen? To bring this into existence?"
Vaike sipped from his beer, pointing the finger of the hand around it at her. "I thought you were the one who told Chrom to give up on fixing their friendship. Why are you so invested now?"
"That was before I had to watch this shit! This has been going on, for years!" Sully screamed from her lungs, nearly crushing her can hard enough to crack it apart. "Fuck it! Fuck y'all! Fuck everyone and their milfs, I'm going for more beer when we get home! Flavia! Basilio!"
And Sully was so pissed off that day that her own will manifested, a sterling silver fierce enough that could probably have killed Gangrel. The girl didn't even care as she stepped down the staircase leaving the palace, chugging her half-crushed beer can out of pure rage.
"Oh, it's fuckin' lit!" Basilio said, throwing a hand outwards. "Beats whatever we're doin' here!" He followed Sully, stepping down the staircase out of the palace.
"Sign Gregor up! He wants cold one with the squad!" Gregor followed him down the steps with a smile.
"Oh right, more beer!" Flavia started walking down the steps to follow. "Hey, Lon'qu, you're paying, you fuck!"
"Damn it!" Lon'qu said, following her.
"Hah! You lost, nerd!" Vaike said, following too.
"Wait, what's everyone doing?" Chrom finally walked away from the balcony, staring at the crowd of Shepherds all walking out of the palace.
"Fuck you!" Sully shouted from the palace courtyard. "See you in like five seconds, because I'm going for a run! This damn travesty has a body count of two!"
"Oh no, who's dead!" Cordie said.
"The both of you! Get over here!"
Chrom made a small grunt. "Uh, get over here—?"
Only a second after did he say that did a running pair of boots stampede behind them.
Then Sully jumped behind them from below the balcony. The steely, red-eyed cavalier glared at the two, charging straight at the red and blue duo.
"You two fucks! Wastin' my time learning what smurfs feel like!"
"Gyah!" Cordelia shouted.
"Eep!" Chrom squeaked. The two of them blitzed down the steps, trying to avoid the Crimson Bull who was ready to grind them into fine powder.
"Oh man, she's pissed," Gaius walked over to the edge of the stairs, chuckling halfway. "...She's not actually going to kill them, right?"
"I… I don't think so, right?" Marth said, walking up to him.
"No?" Reflet asked, looking up, then down. "No."
"Whew, whatever it is, someone go get them a healer again. I for one, though…"
Gaius pulled his hands behind his back and turned around, lifting head as he let out a long, drawn out yawn.
"Could really use a na… hey, hold on."
Gaius pulled his arms back down, eyes catching sight of the painting up above. And the sword wedged within it. "Hang on a minute, what's Chrom's sword doing up there?"
"Chrom's sword? How did it get up there? How did he kill Gangrel without it?" Marth turned around and looked up, eyes set on the sword stuck above.
"What did he use to kill Gangrel without it?" Ares asked, staring up beside her.
"Questions for later," Gaius told him, walking up to the painting of the forgotten prince.
"A sword?" Seti shot his head up from the floor of the upstairs walkway. "Want me to get it?"
"Nah, I got it." Taking his knives out, Gaius took off the rope-like scarf on his arm. With each pick in between the slits and gaps of the stonework, he steadily climbed to scale the throne wall.
"Woah, impressive." Reflet watched him with awestruck eyes. "You're really good at that, you know?"
"Study your thief's lessons, Cream!" He snapped his finger back at her and fired them off, climbing higher until he could throw the scarf over the ledge of ceiling above the golden portrait frame.
"Alright, let's see here…"
Gaius shot off the wall, swinging himself higher to the ceiling until he reached the top, making his way to a part of the pillars jutting just behind the frame. Fit, spacious and sturdy enough, Gaius dropped down carefully, testing where he could stand, and where he could touch the gold frame.
"...Catch!" Gaius said with a cheeky smile, kicking the corner of the frame to take the sword and entire portrait off the wall.
"Wah!" the three below all screamed as the destroyed portrait tumbled down their way, scattering to try and catch it.
"Woah!" Seti sprung the instant it fell, spinning as a tornado before showing up right beside them. He caught the oversized photo frame, using a wide wind gale to keep it spinning above their heads.
"Got it!" he said, green wind pouring from his hands. "Hehe… hi there strangers."
"Thank you!" Reflet said, covering her head.
Seti blew the portrait forth to set it slant against the wall before them. With that done, Ares walked up to it, yanking the wedged sword out of it.
"Hey, next time give us a better warning than that!" he said, walking back to his friends.
"I did say catch!" Gaius couldn't help himself from snickering. But from the overhead view he had, the removal of the painting gave way to an odd crevice behind it.
"Hey! I'm gonna check this out!"
"Check what out!" Ares asked, but before he got an answer, Gaius was already swinging down the wall, kicking such that he could reach the crevice small enough that it might have gone unnoticed, but big enough that it could catch the eyes of the ginger thief.
Because a hidden glint shone when Gaius poked his head in front of it. "Helloooo, sugarcakes."
Gaius reached his hand in, and with a small amount of fiddling, he grabbed a box able to be carried with ease under his arm. A treasure box, no less. Of modest design, but of fine material. Dark red wood, with fine thunder-colored gilding.
"Mahogany and Runite, cute little box too." Gaius slipped his scarf off the ceiling and fell, sliding his feet against the wall before kicking off and landing to the ground.
"Annnnd look what I've found! Aren't you glad you got a thief on a team?" He lifted the treasure box up, showing it off to Marth.
"I approve of your abilities as a unit of our squad, but I do not approve of stealing from people," Marth readily answered.
"Oh come on! Who am I stealing from, the Grimleal?" Gaius rolled his eyes, getting down on his knees and opening it. Surprisingly, the key to do so was already hanging off the box, allowing him to crack the case without even having to try.
Reflet quietly hummed a longer version of same kind of jingle Chrom did whenever he made items float over his head, Gaius gently pulling the shining treasure chest open.
"...Doo-doo-do-doo," she said, smiling smally at Marth. Who looked at her confused.
"Heh-he-heh," Ares laughed. As did Gaius, who reached in, grabbing what was left behind.
"Huh… this is what was there?" Gaius pulled out a card almost as thin as paper. "...It's a photo."
"A photo?" the blue swordswoman said.
"I think you'll be the one who wants it the most, Mar-Mar." One look at the man standing in it was all it took for Gaius to bring the picture to her.
"Ah—! don't call me Mar-Mar!" she snapped.
"Aww, I can't call you Mar-Mar?" Reflet looked again at her, this time pouting sadly.
"No—! I mean, yes? Ahhh—!" Marth turned her head away and pulled her hair. "I-I don't know! Why are you masking me—I mean asking me! Just, give me the photo already!"
Marth snatched the picture from Gaius's hand, taking it into her own. But her eyes opened when she saw who was on the picture, looking back at her.
"Uh— Oh… this…" Marth blinked, turning around with the photo in her hand. "This is Marth right here."
Standing right where she stood, there was a young, blue-haired prince in a snapshot of time. His crown engraved with the symbols of dragons, he jumped into the air, gem-encrusted shield shining gold at his side. And holy fang raised over his head, shining white.
...Lucina touched her own tiara resting on her head, reaching down and touching the guard of the holy fang's twin.
"That's… him," Owain said as he looked over her shoulder. "The real him."
"Ya don't say?" Gaius said as he stared himself.
"Lemme see," Forseti said as he hovered over them.
"I wanna see," Reflet said, coming up next to Lucina. "Hey, who are the rest of these people?" She looked up at Lucina, staring into her eyes.
Marth wasn't the only person in the picture. There were dozens more than that. Right beside him was Caeda, smiling and laughing earnestly beside him. Behind him stood two people, a boy-in-blue and girl-in-red sharing blue hair and quiet smiles. The two carried a shadowed greatsword and shortsword far greater than them. And peeking out in front the two was a girl in clothes as purple as her hair, trying not to stand out, but smiling regardless.
Next to the girl-in-red was a green-haired boy, though. Clad in blue armor and carrying a bow on his back, he pumped his fist and smiled at the prince in the center, pointing the sword in his left hand to the ground. Said sword was almost like Chrom's, but far weathered. Far older.
And beside the blue boy next to Marth was another girl in a fine white dress with a regal blade to match. She was smiling as she looked off to her left, speaking to an… Anna, of all things. One starkly similar to the Anna they knew, but where their Anna wore whites and blacks, this one wore a red adventurer's cloak and fair grays and blacks while she eagerly discussed some business with the ginger-red haired girl next to her.
"He-heh, how neat," Forseti half chuckled. "Did I miss another wave of—Oh Holy TIKI!"
Lucina turned with sheer confusion. "What's so shocking that you need to speak her name?"
"No-No! Look at the baby!"
Pointing right at space above Marth was a young girl on his head, raising two fingers up with each of her hands. She had her trademark sea-green hair, bright green eyes, and the happiest, dragontoothed smile on her face.
"Tiki!" Forseti said with that same toothy and goofy grin. "Oh, and Ban-Ban!" He tapped at the giant next to her, the man carrying the dragon girl. His skin showing the age of the earth, he pulled his red cloak off his head, bald head and ears showing as he laughed with a timeless glee.
"Man, he's so old," Forseti commented.
"Oh! So they are! And so he is." Lucina nodded in accordance. Lowering the photo as she fiddled with it, her finger caught on an edge hiding itself as part of the back of the card.
"Huh? Look, there's more." Owain pulled out the edge tucked away, attempting to unfold it. But soon, one edge concealed two edges, and two concealed more. Undoing each and every fold led to a picture that was far, far grander than anyone in the room could have imagined.
A blue-haired man in a green bandana held his sword out in front of him, angling it halfway to his waist. The sword itself shined solid gold and black as he showed it and his stance off to a swordmaster with jet-black hair in a blue longcoat. The weathered bladesman was half tempted to ask for a swing at him, only to be stopped by a pale, red-eyed boy with a brand on his forehead who had no patience for this. Down in front of the staircase was a girl with silver-white hair and a dragon's claw for a hand running straight at a boy in blue with a flaming sword, challenging her head on with red flames to match aqua whirls. While a pair of twins of matching sky-blue hair sat down with tea in their cups beside a dark-blue haired mage dand aqua-colored singer, all four minding their own business like nothing was wrong.
It wasn't just Marth and a handful of friends. No, it was an entire army, made of smaller armies that had banded together. Every person did their own thing, held their own story, as they all gathered together as one, filling up the entire palace.
And they all stood together within that palace, that palace with that same broken roof. Giving way to a sky covered by a violent storm of violet clouds, swirling together into a hurricane. And in that hurricane crackled black and red lightning, the sky above shining with a fell light of ruin, where the eyes of chaos hung in wait.
And they all stood under the same ruined portrait that Lucina stood at. The portrait of one now replaced by the photo of countless many that took its place.
"This is… huge."
...Lucina left the Palace of Altea, the picture of Marth and the many that stood with him.
"When do you think this picture was taken?" Ares asked, following behind her with his hands laid behind him as he stepped across grass and sand.
"I know. I know when exactly this picture was taken," Lucina answered.
"When was it?" Reflet asked, trailing behind with an ever-present smile.
There was only one thing that told her when exactly it was taken, but it was the one thing that told her everything.
She recognized those eyes as clearly as the day they showed themselves.
"This must have happened during the last war against him." Marth turned back, showing them as she walked backwards. "This is a picture of the Schism! Do you realize what that means? They defeated Grima! And this is from when they did it!"
She brought the old photo out to them, before turning it around, staring at the picture brand new to her.
And soon, time had passed by. The Shepherds packed up and readied to go, the Feroxi heading the other way around. Their business handled, messengers sent and deals dealt with, all that was left was the final stretch before the long way home.
"God, yeeeeesh!" Vaike lugged the titanic axe that formerly belonged to Gangrel, tossing it into the convoy with the help of Lon'qu. "Sweet Baby Tiki, how does that guy carry this piece of junk!"
"At least we're finally done with this," Lon'qu said, tossing the Mjolnir tome right next to it. "Don't burn through my wallet, please."
"Shouldn't have lost, mate!" Vaike laughed, dusting their hands off as they hopped into the cart.
Lucina passed by the convoy, watching Olivia chat with Basilio and Gregor in the carriage in front of it, the eldest man waving at the dragon boy tailing the two.
"Hey, Gi-Gi!" The dragon boy sped off, hopling into the cart to greet the old man and the group with him.
The four kept walking, passing by the medical cart where a sad and anxious manakete girl sat at the edge, blowing her yellow-green hair out of her face when she looked back at the sickly farm boy. Which was when the thief behind Lucina left their pack, racing to see her as he pulled out some sour treats just to cheer her up.
And Lucina kept walking. Passing by those around her. Sully ran her knuckle against Chrom's head with a fierce but cooled smile, Flavia having joined in to squeeze Cordelia's lights out. Sumia sat with Lissa and Maribelle, writing down in her notebook when came Skye over to them on her pegasi, talking softly with Sumia about the book in her hands. And although she gave her the cold shoulder, she slowly began to speak about her book notes. Anna sat down next to Tharja and Sol, ringing her little bell of hers while the green cavalier listened with interest and the gloomy mage pretended not to be in the slightest. Libra sat alone by himself, but watched the other Shepherds, his weapon finally put down. Until Henry showed up with Vasto in tow and waved at him. Above the three did two wyverns fly, barking and growling as one chased the other, Cherche laughing as she took in the sight and joined them. Virion dueled Ricken in a game of strategy at the edge of their cart, the two of them sitting down lost in thought. While Miriel studied the battle, trying to gather any valuable data. While Panne studied as well, hiding her curiosity about the people around her which matched her curiosity for the game being played she'd never once seen.
And Lucina sat down in her own carriage. Sitting between her own cousin, and the first friend she made since coming here.
And Laurent took off, driving their carriage out of Plegia with the other Shepherds with them.
...Or they would've, if something didn't just happen to show up out of nowhere to interrupt them all.
"Hey, did anyone lose a black pegasus!" Sumia called out, right as they passed by the cliffs on the road back to home.
"Black Pegasus? What?" Curious to see what Lucina swung the carriage open and dropped down without a second thought, racing to the direction where she heard Sumia call from.
"Mar-Mar, wait up!" Poking her head out of the carriage, she raced her way after her, and soon, the two of them stood at the base of the cliffs. And right there before them was a black-winged pegasus, just as Sumia described. Though unlike Cordelia's horse from when they first took off to Ferox, it was neither running away nor panickedly prancing about. In fact, there seemed to be a letter tied to its ear with the help of a little purple ribbon.
Without another thought, Reflet grabbed the letter off the horse and opened it up, reading it. "Dear Reflet: Consider this your Tikimas Present to make up for the last ten years."
Reflet stared at the letter blankly.
"...What!" she shrieked.
"A present?" Lucina cocked her eyebrow. "Who's sending you gifts at a time like this? In the middle of nowhere of Plegia?"
Lucina looked up to the cliffs up above, but there was not a single person in question. Nobody.
"Don't ask me! I'm not the one giving away a gift horse, Mar-Mar!" Reflet threw her hand with the letter in it over her head, waving it around before looking it in the mouth.
The horse in question gave a nonplussed huff, as if it could even tell the answer.
"Well you're a horse, so how would you know!" Reflet answered back. "I'm going to be confused about this for a while, aren't I?"
Said horse in questioned huffed again.
"Yeah, that makes sense," Reflet said. She sighed in her confusion, going up to the horse and petting its mane.
"Oh but it's so soft!" Reflet patted the horse all around its tail and mane with excitement. "Hi, horsie! What's your name, horsie!"
It huffed once more softly at the girl patting it down.
"Kris is an excellent name! Especially for a late Tikimas gift!" Reflet looked back at the princess. "Mar-Mar, I think the horse's name is Kris!"
"Oh, oh...kay…" Lucina narrowed her brows further. "Err, wait. Did you just have a conversation with a horse?"
"Uh, yeah?" Reflet continued to pet the horse, looking at her confused. "You mean you can't understand what horses are saying?"
Then she pulled her snowy-white hair back, rubbing a distinctly long and pointed pair of ears previously hidden as she tried to listen to Lucina with.
Kris neighed.
"Well I know that, but you can't be saying those things about people. Don't be a meanie, Kris. Come on, let's go find Chrom." Reflet turned her head back and pushed the pegasi along the sand, taking them to the carriage caravan.
Kris neighed again.
"Only if they're green apples," she chided, leaving Lucina all on her own.
Lucina fluttered her eyes, watching the very strange amnesic girl wandering off and away. "...What just happened?"
…And—for real this time—the Shepherds finally made their way out of Plegia. Now with the added addition of one more horse who was as much of an enigma as its owner.
But as Owain yawned in his seat as he looked out the window, and Reflet kicked her feet and looked out hers, Lucina returned to the one thing that hooked her since she got ahold of it. The photo of Marth and the people before her, smiling even in the face of the eyes of Grima.
Some of the faces she knew she could recognize, matching up with the descriptions of the people her father and mother spoke about in her childhood. But some were faces she couldn't recognize herself, as she noticed while continuing to stare. People from different places, different weapons, with different faces. And each all probably had a new story to tell amongst the old ones.
But if anything, what this picture told Lucina was that this world really was bigger than what she knew.
And that she wasn't alone.
Perhaps the reason they still chose to smile in the face of the dark that was to come was such that they knew they could face it. Or perhaps they chose to do it because it was the only way to give themselves the strength to continue fighting.
For now though, she was content to watch, and wonder what lay beyond.
And the Shepherds drove off. Frederick led the carts with Kellam as his backup driver, and the all the others before following right behind.
"...You know, it's funny." Still staring at the picture as big as a treasure map, Lucina lowered to her lap. "...I don't think I expected things to end like this."
"What do you mean?" Owain asked, looking back at her as he shuffled around in his seat.
"The way things have," Lucina repeated. "I wasn't expecting for us to be where we are. I wasn't even expecting to find myself in possession of Chrom's sword again."
She looked down at the sword of her father once again at her side, and then looked to its twin belonging to her. "And yet… A part of me was expecting I'd be the one to finish this myself, but I feel like I hardly fought at all."
"But you still helped finish it. Doesn't that count enough?" Reflet got close as she rose up, her hands laid on Lucina's arm. "We still wouldn't be here if you weren't helping us from the beginning. And you're here, too."
Lucina turned to the memoryless girl sitting on her knees beside her, the smile on her face bringing one to Lucina herself.
"Things haven't ended yet either, for that fact," Laurent said, looking back at them from the window between the carriage and the driver's seat. "The Shepherd's war may have ended in success, but you know we've got another journey ahead of us before our mission is truly over."
"Yes, you're right," Lucina said. "Perhaps this whole war we fought to end really is over, but there is far more work to be done. Far more we'll be working towards, I know it."
...But for now though, for Lucina and those with her, their work, and her work, were done. Sunlight turned to twilight, the caravan rolling across sand, dirt, and grass all the way down the long road. On its own journey, from the old palace where everything began to another where a new story would begin.
And until then, Lucina kept marveling at the picture in their hands, her cousin and friends side by side as they joined in too. And with each figure and each hero that caught their attention, the four all spoke with great interest. Sharing thoughts, sharing questions, sharing hopes, and sharing stories.
And for every single hero there, and every story Lucina knew, she told them happily to the girl beside her listening with a shared delight.
Until twilight turned to starlight, lighting up the boundless sky the Shepherds rode home under. Many of the ones that had fought together that day had turned in for the night, the few still awake changing shifts and seats to continue the journey. But almost all the Shepherds called it a day, waiting for the sun to rise once again.
And the ones beside the girl with dreams of saving the future had also called it a day. Her cousin snoring loudly as he rested his head against the window. Laurent rubbing his eyes, keeping track of the night road. And Lucina slept with her head against Reflet's sticking beside her, the two snoring gently with their backs side by side. The picture of those who from the past within their hands, the sleeping girls enjoying the peace they had now.
Sleeping just the same as the parents she came back to see, finally resting after a long way home.
And above the carriage where Chrom, his friends, and his family had all slept, one person stayed up all by herself. A girl with gold hair like that of her daughters, kicking her feet as she sat on the roof of the wagon. Watching over her son and all those who stood by him with a smile.
The spirit shining white as the million of lights above, the mother looked up to watch the sky.
Watching a shooting star soar on by.
Act 1, Finale 0 - Will (Starlight)
Book 1: The Birth of a Hero
—The End—
Author's Note:
Hello there! Thank you for getting this far and reading Pale Blue Awakening! It has been a long journey so far, and I'm happy with where these things are. Of course, I'd like to refine the story so that it would be better than before, but that's something for later.
For now, I'll leave off with an answer to a question.
"Will Pale Blue Awakening continue past the Plegia Arc? Is the story over?"
Nah, I like this story too much. But it's also a big story, as you can see yourself. Honestly, my metaphorical knees get weak every time I put something to paper. But I love Pale-Blue Awakening, and I love Fire Emblem. I love Awakening, its stories, its characters, its narrative, and I love the games of the past a great deal. All I want to do is reach as high as I can and put out the best work I'm able to.
The next chapter may come soon, but it may not come quick at all. It depends. I've likely got school coming up again soon. And this is a good time to rethink and rework some things for the future plot.
So, some thoughts on the finale. Honestly, I partly don't want to say anything, because I want you all reading to enjoy it with your own thoughts. But I'll leave off with one last comment.
Kriiiiis!
As you can see, I love this horse.
That is all.