A/n- So this story has some headcanons of mine about the Mani Katti and how it works and stuff with the whole 'being worthy to wield it' thing. And yes, I know it sounds very similar to One for All, but I've had these headcanons way before I knew what MHA was, so I didn't rip it off on purpose.
The Commission Files- File #27 Legacy of the Mani Katti
Characters: Rutger, Lilina, -Spolier-
Based on: A commission by deliciousbra on Twitter
Rutger had the same dream again, the dream he had gotten for the last three nights. At first it always started out with him having a bird's eye view of the plains of Sacae. It was nice and peaceful ever since the war was over, but eventually his view would dive down and show that it was a vision of Sacae's past. How did he know this? Well because of what he saw when he dove down into those plains, his mother Lyn practicing her swordplay with the legendary Mani Katti. It was something he saw many times growing up, so he was used to it. And even if she was dead, the sting of that loss had been numbed a bit over the years so that wasn't what disturbed him about the dream. Every time without fail the dream version of his mother would somehow look him dead in the eyes and say the same thing.
"Rutger. Come back to Sacae. Find where we used to live. Come take what's rightly yours. Let us be together one last time."
Those last words always were the ones to wake him up in a cold sweat, and this time was no different. His eyes bolted open and he sat up and looked around. It was still night, but the moonlight was still filtering through the glass doorway to the balcony of the bedroom. He took a look around and everything was still in place. Lilina was asleep next to him, his sword was right next to the bed just in case, and the door to their room was closed and locked. He knew from the last few nights that he wasn't going to get to sleep any time soon so he slowly and carefully got out of the bed and started to walk towards the balcony. It was a warm summer night in Ostia so he didn't have to put on anything other than the boxer style shorts he was already wearing. He walked out onto the balcony and just stared up at the stars and moon in the direction Sacae would be in if he were to travel there.
"Mother, is it really you calling out to me?" He pondered to himself. "Or is my past really starting to catch up with me and I'm just starting to go crazy with grief? I really hope that's not the case, I'm really starting to find my footing here in Ostia, and I don't want to put everyone's hard work to waste. I do really wish I could see you again one more time, but I need to move on with that part of my life. I loved you and Father so much, as much as you loved me I'm sure, but I can't keep living in the past, it's not good for me or the ones I care about." He was so wrapped up in what he was saying to himself that he didn't even notice someone coming up from behind and wrapping their arms around his waist and hugging him from behind. Luckily it was just Lilina and not someone trying to attack him. "Lilina? Did I wake you up? I'm sorry."
"Don't be." Lilina assured him. "I've had a feeling something has been up with you, and now I've confirmed it. Why don't we sit down and talk about it?"
"What do you mean you had a feeling something was up?" Rutger asked confused.
Lilina gave him a 'do you really think I'm that dumb' look before answering. "You really think you haven't woken me up the last two nights as well? The first night I let it go since you still have bad dreams from time to time, but I started getting worried after it happened two nights in a row. So this time I made sure to follow you and see what's up."
"Sometimes you really remind me of my father with how smart you are in sneaky situations like this." Rutger commented. "But alright, let me tell you what's going on." So Rutger told Lilina about the dreams he had been having the last few nights as they drank some leftover wine together to calm their nerves. "And that's about it, kind of weird, but not the weirdest thing I've been through honestly."
"Well, the answer to the problem seems clear." Lilina stated confidently. "We go to Sacae, to where you were living before the war started, and we search the area for any clues you might be subconsciously hiding from yourself or any leftover magical items your parents left for you."
"You make it sound so simple." Rutger noted as he took another sip. "You do know we have things to do here in Ostia right?"
"Rutger, I think we can take a couple days away from our duties, especially if it's going to help you sleep at night. No one here wants to deal with Cranky Rutger, we all know how that tends to end up." Lilina countered. "Besides, nothing big is coming up, Wendy and Oujay can handle things while we're gone. Unless you have another reason for not going."
"Straight to the point as always huh?" Rutger chuckled. "Okay, I guess my issue is that, like I said in my little monologue, I don't want to keep living in the past. I don't want to go their and then have my heart crushed again and set all my progress back to where it used to be. You don't deserve that, neither do Wendy or Oujay, or anyone in Ostia. And I don't want to go back to that version of myself, he was stupid and rude, and not a really nice guy honestly."
"And I totally get that." Lilina assured him. "You have made really good progress. You'll probably never be the happy-go-lucky Rutger I once knew, but I really like the you that I have currently. But you were going to have to do this eventually, going back to see what happened. Don't think about it as trying to live in the past, think about it as going to get closure. We'll go and see if there is anything important that we need to check out, make sure nothing funky is up, and then rest well knowing that the memories of your parents is safe in our hearts. And I'll be there with you, so it won't be as bad. Think about it as the last step of your rehabilitation."
There was a bit of silence after Lilina said that. Rutger had to think about what she said. She wasn't wrong of course, but he didn't know if he was going to be strong enough to go through with it, even with her. But he wasn't going to have a good night's sleep until this got solved, so either way he was going to be affected negatively. He thought about what his parents would tell him to do, and the answer was obvious. "Okay, let's do it. But we need to bring horses and a large cart with us, my parents had a lot of stuff. Most of it has probably been taken by bandits at this point, but still."
"Of course, we'll make sure to take everything we can and keep it preserved, we can even make a room for it here in the castle if we ever want to reminisce." Lilina noted. "I think this will be a good think for you Rutger, just trust me." She then got up from the table they were sitting at and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Now let's get back to sleep, we have some busy days ahead of us."
"I've trusted you this far, what's a little more?" Rutger asked as a bit of a rhetorical joke before joining Lilina back in their bed. "Gods, I hope this goes well."
Four Days Later
The ride from Ostia to Sacae was pretty normal. Rutger and Lilina and a few of the Ostian knights didn't really run into any resistance along the way. They passed through a few Sacaen camps here and there and conversed for a bit, but for the most part it was a quick journey. Rutger knew very well where the last place his family had set up their ger, it was one of the memories well burned into his mind on that fateful day since it was a place he wanted to avoid at all costs, firstly because that's where the Bern Army had been camping around waiting for Lyn and Mark to possibly ambush them, and secondly because he didn't have the strength of heart to ever come back. Even when he was with Roy's army and they got close to the area, he didn't wander of to where it was. But now here he was again, now with the love of his life by his side. They had told the knights to stay at their camp and keep guard so they could have this emotional moment by themselves and not have it interrupted.
"There it is, I can see it's kind of rundown, even from here." Rutger pointed out from the top of the hill they were standing on.
"Wow, it's just as big as I remember from years ago." Lilina commented. "I still don't know how you three kept moving it around all by yourself."
"We moved less and less frequently over the years." Rutger noted. "I think it had been there for at least two years before the war started. We were considering moving it before the winter set in, but of course that didn't come to pass."
"But still, that must have taken a lot of work." Lilina persisted.
"Yeah, but it was fun most of the time." Rutger added a bit wistfully. "Come on, let's take a closer look." So they started to ride down the hill with the horses and the cart to carry things back, but before they got really close Rutger stopped the horses and got off.
"Something the matter?" Lilina wondered.
"Kind of." Rutger replied. "Mother and Father always set traps around the place when we went into Bulgar, so I need to make sure we don't run into any of them. Give me a few minutes to scope everything out okay?"
"Okay." Lilina said with a nod.
Rutger wasn't surprised to see that most of the traps weren't there any more, but what he was surprised to not see were more dead bodies from the traps activating. He did however find a lot of lances and wyvern scales, traces that the Bern Army had left behind. Eventually though he traced the whole area and disarmed any of the still active traps and waved Lilina over to tell her it was safe to move closer. When she got to the ger Rutger threw all the good lances into the cart to bring back later, making Lilina give him a strange look.
"What? My father always taught me to never waste a good weapon and these are in pretty good condition." He explained before helping Lilina off her horse and onto the grass.
"Your parents, they always came off as a bit strange to me, but they really had a nice way of living out here, didn't they?" She commented as she looked at the tattered ger.
"They did." Rutger confirmed a bit solemly. "They did what they could to still reach out to their friends, be it writing letters, sending them gold, inviting them to dinner. It was always lively here, so to see it dead like this is very eerie and off-putting. I don't like it, it makes me feel uncomfortable for numerous reasons."
Lilina could hear the emotions in his voice so she put a hand on his shoulder to console him, looking into his eyes as she spoke to him. "We can get through this, together."
Rutger nodded and took a deep breath before heading into the ger. The inside wasn't in perfect condition obviously, but it didn't look too destroyed either thankfully. It did look like some people had ransacked it of course, but a lot of things were still all around. "You start here in the living room and kitchen and I'll check the bedrooms, believe me you don't want to know what's in there."
"From the stories my father told me, I think I might already know." Lilina teased him, but she agreed and they started searching the ger for anything useful or valuable. In the kitchen there was still a number of Lyn's hand carved bowls and utensils, but anything metal like knives and pans had been taken, likely for scrap. Most of the food had gone bad as well, but there were a few bags of flour, sugar, and spices that could be salvaged. Lilina then moved onto the living room and what she mostly found there were papers strewn all about. Most of them had sketches of people's faces on them along with short descriptions of who they were. Some of them she didn't recognize, but others were as clear as day.
"Mother and Father really did look young back in the day didn't they?" She commented to herself as she found pages based on them. "These must be Mark's famous notes on them, no wonder he knew a lot about his friends these are so detailed. Like this even has a note about how my mother got a little weird when she drinks too much wine or beer, not many people knew that about her."
Rutger started checking his parents room and then his own. There were a few outfits of his that could be taken, and a few of his parent's that hadn't been stolen or ripped to shreds. He briefly entertained the thought of him and Lilina trying them on, but maybe that was just a bit too much. In his old room he found some of the toys he used to play with, maybe some of the younger kids in the castle would enjoy them. He also found his own notebook he wrote things in. He was no artist like his father, but he did have things to say. He opened it up to a random page and gave a small chuckle, remembering the event told in it.
Today Roy and Lilina came over to visit. I decided to play a little prank on Roy because I thought it would be funny. So I asked him and Lilina if they wanted to check out my mother's hunting traps. They agreed and then I 'accidentally' got Roy trapped in one where he was suspended in the air by his foot. Lilina and I laughed for a long time after it happened and eventually Roy started laughing as well. We let him down and he told us he was just playing along and knew the trap was there all along. Sure you did Roy. But I can't complain, I have some of the best friends in Elibe, I wish it stays like this forever. But even if it doesn't Roy, Lilina, and I can become just like our parents and defend Elibe from anyone who dares disturb the peace, I just know it!
"Well younger me, you were right, but you just didn't know what it took to get to that point." Rutger commented with a sigh. He might have to read some more of this with Lilina later and see if she remembered any of the things he wrote down. After some more searching he even ended up finding his parents stash of sex enhancement items. Lubricant, fake rubber dicks, ropes, a strap-on, things like that. They had slowed down their swinging ways after he had been born, but he did catch them in the act a time or two. And they were up front with him about it, so growing up he had a healthy view of sexual activities, if just a bit more open than most children. But there was no sign of what he was really looking for, the Mani Katti. He even searched the bathroom but it wasn't there. Eventually he met up with Lilina in the living room to discuss what they had found.
"Other than some old memories and such, I haven't found a thing." Lilina noted.
"Me either. But that sword has to be here somewhere, why would my dream lead us here if it wasn't here?" Rutger pondered.
"Well, your parents were known to be very cautious people when they needed to be, just take a look at the traps around this place." Lilina commented. "Maybe they hid it somewhere."
"That's a good point. They wouldn't want anyone that had a bad intention to get it, even if they couldn't draw the thing in the first place." Rutger agreed. "But just where would they put it? Knowing my father, it's probably both a genius spot but also stupidly simple."
"Come on, it's not like it's gonna be under the couch or something." Lilina teased.
"It could be." Rutger pondered as he walked over to the couch and bent down to take a look. It wasn't on the floor underneath the couch, but he noticed something strange about the bottom of it. "Help me flip this thing over." So Lilina came over and helped Rutger flip the couch over, and wouldn't you know it, the Mani Katti was sewed onto the bottom of the couch.
"How is this a good spot to hide it?" Lilina pondered. "I mean yeah, it took us a while to find it, but we did eventually."
"Yeah, but who is going to be smart enough to look under it, see nothing there, and then realize something is different with the bottom of the couch?" Rutger countered. "Only people who have lived here before would know something was different, everyone else would just see some weird stitching. Either way, we found it, I guess we can get back to the camp now."
"Hold up, hold up, hold up!" Lilina stopped him. "We came all this way out here to find this sword and you're not even going to take it out of the sheath?"
"Lilina, haven't you heard the stories about this sword?" Rutger asked. "Only those chosen by the blade can unsheathe it. I tried many times when I was younger and I could never do it. And with how I acted after my parent's died, you really think a sword like this would choose me to wield it? I don't think so."
"Come on! Just try it! For me? Just to prove me wrong?" Lilina persisted and Rutger just sighed knowing he'd never hear the end of it if he didn't try at least once.
"Fine, fine, but don't tell me I didn't warn you." He told her as he took the blade's hilt in his one hand and the sheath in the other. He had no confidence that he was going to be able to do it, so he wasn't going to use much force. He closed his eyes and slowly started to move his hands apart from each other and at first it was just like always, nothing. But then suddenly he felt the hilt jiggle and his eyes shot wide open. He pulled with a bit more force and a bit of the blade came out. Then with one powerful tug he pulled the whole sword out of the sheath and held it in front of him.
"Wow! You actually did it Rutger! See, I told you that you should try it!" Lilina said in an excited tone, but Rutger didn't hear her. It was almost if he was in a magical trance of some sort. "Rutger! Rutger! Hey, are you in there?!"
For Rutger, what he saw almost brought him to his knees. For what was standing before him was something he thought he would never see again. It was his mother, or at least a vision of her. She looked much younger than the last time he had seen here, maybe this was how she looked when she first pulled the Mani Katti out of its sheath. He was speechless of course, for multiple reasons, so it was Lyn's spirit who started talking first.
"I know you must have a lot of questions Rutger, but I don't have a lot of time with you." She noted. "I'm glad you finally got my message, sorry I couldn't be more specific, but I only have a limited amount of power here in this sword."
Eventually Rutger shook himself out of his daze and could start talking, but this was still far out for him, like it was a drug trip or something.
"Mother, what is going on? Why are you here? Why were you in my dreams? How could I draw the sword? I was never worthy, and I've done things, things that I'm not proud of, things that you wouldn't be proud of. How can this be?"
"Rutger, it's time I tell you a little more about the Mani Katti while I can. I honestly didn't know much of this until I drew the blade the first time, but then I had a moment like this and it just clicked. The Mani Katti is more than just a old relic with power, it houses a tiny piece of the soul of every past user, gaining strength with each passing. Back when it was first forged it couldn't cut through armor or horses, but now with you, who knows how powerful it will be. And as for you being worthy? While it's true you've done some things your father and I really wouldn't agree with, you changed, you grew. You didn't stay stuck in your ways like you could have. And plus, you have me on your side in here as well, and I convinced some of the other spirits that you could handle this responsibility." Lyn explained.
"So you're saying when I die, a part of my soul will be put into the Mani Katti as well? I'll be able to speak with you again?" Rutger asked. "What about Father, is he in there as well?"
"If you die a respectable death, yes your soul will join us in here. So no killing yourself just to see me again, don't lie and say you didn't just think about it." Lyn told him. "As for your father, no he's not here. He was always strong enough in heart to wield the blade, but he wasn't strong enough physically to do so sadly."
"Yeah, that sounds like him." Rutger said a bit disappointed. "You're not disappointed in me are you Mother?"
"Of course not Rutger. You may have had a bumpy path much like I did in the past, but like I said you got past it and helped defend Elibe just like you always wanted to." Lyn assured him. "I am so very proud of you Rutger, you may not be the man I imagined you to be when you were younger, but you are a man that can be respected and can represent our family and culture well. I have no regrets on how your father and I raised you, I would do everything the same way again if I had the chance."
While this conversation was going on, all Lilina could see was Rutger muttering to himself and starting to cry, so she figured something was up. The only thing that had changed in the last few moments was Rutger pulling the Mani Katti out of its sheath so she figured it was causing this, so she reached out to take it out of his hand, but when her hand took hold of the hilt she was dragged into the conversation as well.
"Woah, what's going on here?" She asked in shock.
"Lilina? Is that you?" Lyn asked just as surprised. "How are you able to see me?"
"Well, if I were to wager a guess, since using anima magic involves speaking with the spirits of nature and Lilina is probably the best anima magic practitioner in all of Elibe, that's probably how." Rutger postured.
"Lilina, is that true? Are you really that good at magic now?"
"Um, yes." Lilina answered still a bit in shock. "Lady Lyndis, what are you doing here? Are you the one sending Rutger those dreams?"
"Yes, it was me, a piece of my spirit lives in the sword and I was able to send short messages to Rutger in his dreams." Lyn explained. "What are you doing here?"
"Mother, if you know about me and my life, how do you not know why Lilina is here?" Rutger asked.
"Well, this is only a small part of my spirit, I don't know everything, just the super important parts about you personally." Lyn noted, but then she smirked. "Let me guess, you two are finally dating?"
"Married actually." Lilina corrected her. "And what do you mean 'finally' Lady Lyndis?"
"Oh, that's something Rutger has to tell you himself someday." Lyn teased her. "But I am so very happy that you two found happiness together." After she said that her form started to fade away. "Hm, it seems my power is fading, I can't stay like this for much longer."
"Am I ever going to get to talk to you like this again, like before I die?" Rutger asked one final question.
"Maybe, once I get some power restored, but I wouldn't count on it being too soon, I used a lot sending those dreams to you. But I'll always be with you, in spirit." Lyn joked.
"Are you sure Father isn't in there with you?" Rutger asked with a mix of a chuckle and a bit of crying. "I love you Mother, and I'll never forget you, ever."
"And I love you Rutger, I always have and I always will. I'll always be by your side and in the winds of the plains." Lyn assured him. "And Lilina, take care of him for me will ya?"
"Will do Lady Lyndis, it was nice seeing you again." Lilina nodded. And just like that Lyn's spirit faded away and things returned to normal. Rutger sheathed the Mani Katti again and tied it to his side, not wanting it to leave his sight for the moment.
"I think we might need some air after that." He noted. "Come on, I know a nice spot where we can lay in the grass and just look at the sky and talk.
"I'd like that." Lilina replied. So Rutger took her hand and led her a good distance from the ger. No one was around so they were safe to just say whatever they wanted without fear of anyone finding them.
"Well, as always, you were right." Rutger noted after a while of just staring at the clouds. "I don't know why I keep doubting you."
"It's not that you doubt me, it's that you doubt yourself." Lilina told him. "You didn't think you were strong enough to do this, but you proved yourself wrong. And now you even have a token from this trip that tells you that you're strong enough to deal with situations like this, so no you have no reason to keep doubting yourself."
"Yeah, you got that right." Rutger agreed. "Thank you again for coming with me to do this, I know you really didn't have to, but I really appreciate it."
"Rutger, if I can't support the man I love in things like this, what kind of wife would I be?" She told him. "Besides, you'd do the same thing in my position."
"I would, but I don't think you've got any magic axes to find that have Hector's soul in them." He joked and the two of them were able to laugh about it. "I wonder how he would react to us being together."
"I think he'd be fine with it after a while. I think he always thought me and Roy would get together, but he always had good things to say about you as well, so it would work out in the end." Lilina assured him. After that there was a bit of a comfortable silence before Rutger started to chuckle a bit. "What's so funny?"
"Oh, just remembering something my father would always say." Rutger noted. "My mother always said she loved the feeling of the winds of Sacae on her face, but then my father would always add that he loved the feel of the grass of Sacae on his back." The two of them laughed again, because that was just a very Mark thing to say.
"Well, how do we know if he's right or not if we don't try it for ourselves?" Lilina asked with a smirk after their laughter had died down a bit.
"Wait, you serious? You want to do it right here and now?" Rutger asked a bit surprised.
"I'm up for it if you are." Lilina teased him.
"I love you, so much right now." Rutger said from the heart.
"You better be ready to show me then." And for the next hour or so the valley was filled with the sounds of love, a lovely day on the plains of Sacae.
