Chapter 18: Blood Ties

It's a question that's been on my mind for a while now.

There's been plenty of evidence to support it, most of it coming down to Severa herself. The glances, the way she acts around me, the way she sometimes runs her hand through her hair in a gesture so familiar it's like looking in a mirror. That was all enough to get me wondering. And when I think back to the last time I saw her… The way she saw me bleeding out and just… broke.

I'm not just a teacher to her. I'm something entirely more precious.

And that's terrifying to me.

I care about the people I've met since I came to this world, but there's still a part of me that doesn't want to let go of what I had. A large part. My sister, my mother, my aunts and uncles and cousins, my friends, my coworkers… Even my dad, complicated though my feelings for him can be. I can't stand the thought of losing them. I can't stand the thought of leaving my old life behind. I worked years to make my life. For all the faults with the life I led, I was proud of what I'd accomplished. Or at the very least, attached to it.

If I have a kid here, that means my future self left all that behind. There's no other conceivable option. The thought that I could be as frivolous as to have a kid and connect with them, even knowing what's in store for this world, without intention to commit to them? That's beyond negligent, that's evil.

I refuse to believe that my alternate self would stoop to that.

Which means that right now, this very instant, I need to come to terms with the possibility that I may never find my way back to my world. I have to acknowledge it as a possibility if I want to move forward. I have to accept that I may never make it home, that I may have to truly commit to the life I've been building here.

Because there is a teenage girl on the verge of tears sitting across from me. One who is every bit as scared as I am, if not more so. One who looks up to me and cares for me enough to kill for me, and is terrified that I won't feel the same.

"I've had a great many teachers over the years, you know." I say. Severa's head snaps up to me, her expression something akin to a deer caught in the headlights. She says nothing in response to me though, so I continue. "Some were good. Some were bad. Some changed my life in ways I can barely believe even today, for better or worse. None of them felt as close to me as I am to you. And that's why I can't help but think the way you feel about me isn't just the feelings of a student towards a teacher."

"So your brain jumps to dad." Severa mutters, breaking eye contact to study the fire.

"It does, though a part of me finds it ridiculous." I chuckle. "I've had all of one conversation with your mother, after all." The image of Cordelia's blank, almost defeated face staring at me across the entrance to the bathhouse jumps to my mind. "Hard to imagine a guy like me could marry a woman like her."

"Well you didn't." Severa snaps. "Nobody did."

… Okay, well that's a pretty flat denial. One that's packed with far too much bitter emotions to be a lie. I honestly wasn't expecting Severa to…

Wait.

What?

"Hold on, are you saying that Cordelia-"

"She never married." Severa cuts me off bitterly.

"I'm… I'm confused." Also a little disappointed, but that's probably a pretty fucked up thing to be feeling right now, and also not really pertinent to current topic. So we're going to put that aside and never think about it again. "So, wait, then that means-"

"Gawds, what's so hard to understand about this?" Severa raises her voice defensively. "Cordelia never married. She had me as an accident because she got fucking drunk one night and slept with some guy in a tavern."

She…

I…

This is not the direction I expected this conversation to go. That got off the rails sooner than I expected.

I feel like the floor just opened up beneath me. What the fuck did I just stumble into?

"So… your dad…" I manage to stammer out.

"I had to make do without one." Severa spits. "Just me and my perfect mother, living on our own."

"You… never even met him?" I ask weakly. It's an insensitive question, I realize this as soon as I say it, but this honestly doesn't feel real to me.

Severa flinches at this. Curls into herself. Her gaze is fixated on the furs spread out on the floor, as though she's trying to count every hair of them.

I manage to not open my big fucking mouth any more, though the temptation to prod her for answers is immense. I wait a good five minutes before she speaks.

"My earliest memory of my childhood was when I was two years old. It was storming that night, and I was woken up by the thunder. I always used to crawl into mom's bed when that would happen, even if she wasn't home, so I could go back to sleep. I got out of bed to do that, but when I got near the door I heard raised voices.

"My mom was arguing with somebody, a man, in the entrance of our house. I was scared, but I also wanted to know what was happening, so I went to see. But when I opened the bedroom door to look, it creaked, and they heard me.

"Mom freaked when she saw me. Started yelling at the man. Can't remember what she said, just that she was pissed. He just stood still and looked at me for a while. Then he turned around and walked out into the storm. When I asked mom about it later she just said he was a bad man, and she didn't want him to have any part in my life. She never actually told me it was my dad, but I just… knew. I could tell."

I try to think of something to say, but… how the fuck do I respond to this? I look at Severa with her blank stare and all I can see is a kid on the verge of falling apart in front of me. It's terrifying, in no small part because I'm now so much less sure of where I even fit in this kid's life.

I really did think I had it all figured out. That Severa was my future kid and Cordelia was my future wife and that we lived a happy life before the harbinger of the apocalypse was resurrected and it all went to shit. I guess despite what I said earlier there was a huge part of me hoping for it. Cordelia's a brilliant woman, after all. And Severa, while a bit of a brat sometimes, is a pretty brilliant kid. If I was a part of that family it'd be everything I could hope for and more.

But I guess I'm not.

At least, not in the way that I was hoping. Which means there's something else going on here, and I still need to figure out what that is.

"Okay." I finally say. "So I'm not your dad." Severa flinches at this, but says nothing. "So… what was I then?"

"Nobody." Severa chokes out. "Just some stupid jerk who looked after me when mom died."

"So… a foster dad then?"

She shoots me an accusatory glare. "Dads and foster dads aren't the same thing."

"Never said they were." I sigh. "I'm not claiming to be a replacement Severa, I'm just… trying to figure out where I stand. This is almost as confusing for me as it is for you, believe me."

"Doubt it."

"Severa, we're talking about time travel here. Nobody gets to know what's really going on." I joke. Severa… doesn't laugh, but I do see the corner of her mouth twitch, so I consider it a win and push on. "Anyways. You were saying I looked after you after your mom died. How'd I manage that?"

"Wasn't hard." Severa sniffs. "Not for you anyways. There was a bunch of talk about who would look after me, but you basically just stepped forward and said you'd do it. And when people argued you just kept saying it louder until it worked out."

"So that's basically just a diplomatic way to say I shouted them into submission." I reply, smirking as Severa rolls her eyes at me and nods. "Well that doesn't strike me as the most intelligent way to adopt a kid, but I guess it worked out. How old were you when I took you in?"

"Five."

"Huh." I muse. "So… I raised you for… what, eleven years? You're sixteen, right?"

"Seventeen in a couple of months!" She responds indignantly.

"That's a yes, then." I reply with a smirk.

"Shut up!"

"You are just too precious, you know that?" I reach across and tousle her hair. It goes about as well as you'd expect.

"Knock it off! Gawd, I thought we were having a serious discussion and then you go and do… that! I feel stupid for even worrying about you!" She swats my hands away and glares furiously at me, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Well… don't. Because I'd have died if not for you." I lean back and shrug. "Hell, even with all you did I'm still baffled as to how I survived that. There's no explainable way, magical or otherwise, that I could have lasted through the journey back here."

"It's a miracle, I get it." Severa tries to copy my dismissive attitude when she talks, but the girl is not nearly as experienced with wearing that mask as I am. It's a matter of mere seconds before she starts to choke up. "I thought you were going to die. You're the closest thing I have to an actual parent and you went and nearly got yourself…"

She buries her face in her hands, curls up into a ball, and starts crying again.

Ah fuck, now I've done it.

I get up from my couch and stagger the short distance across to hers, practically collapsing next to her. I barely manage to get my arms up before she starts weeping into my chest, muttering the word 'idiot' over and over again as she does.

A few years of her life that she was too young remember, and a few more spent raised by a single mother who went out and fought for her country on a regular basis. How often did she even see Cordelia? How much does Severa remember of her?

It's a miserable thought, but she probably has more memories of me than her real parents. God that's fucked up.

But it also makes things easier in a way. Because now that I know this, I'm back to where I started with this conversation. It was one hell of an emotional roller coaster to get to this point though.

So if I start to tear up when I return the hug, I think I can be forgiven, just this once.

"I'm sorry." I choke out, stroking her head slowly. "Sorry that… your dad's such a moron." I test the title with a great deal of nervousness, but she doesn't object. We hold each other a little tighter.

It feels right.

I guess it's official then.

I don't give a rat's ass who Cordelia fucked, this is my kid.

Man oh man, when the whole 'future children' thing gets revealed to the others down the road things are going to get really fucking complicated.

I'm damn well going to deal with it though.


"You know, I always wanted a daughter." I remark casually.

"Well good for you." Severa responds, smirking over at me. Once the kid was all cried out she took my original spot, probably wanting to spare my weary legs the pain of getting up again. "You have the best daughter now."

"Uh-huh." I drawl, smirking back.

"Hey, what's with the tone?"

"I'm glad that I raised my daughter to be humble."

"Shut up!"

I chuckle as she scowls indignantly at me, before sighing to myself. "Man, I can already tell I'm going to miss this once the others get back."

Severa frowns at me. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, as much as it sucks to say, it's way too soon for us to reveal the whole 'time travel' thing. The others will think we're insane." I muse. "Hell, we won't even be able to act any closer with each other."

"Why not?" Severa looks at me angrily. "What, you're embarrassed to be around me or something?"

"I'm from another world, Severa. I can't exactly pretend you're some other sort of relative of mine. And I don't want people to think we're dating or something."

Severa goes green at the thought. "Oh god, no. That's disgusting."

Okay, I know that's a reaction to the implication of incest but there's a part of me that can't help but feel a little hurt by that response.

That part of me is going to shut up now and stop taking things so personally.

"Anyways, after this discussion is over, I'm probably going to go back to acting like I was around you; at least until we can come up with a good way to reveal that you're from an alternate future." I frown. "Though how the fuck we're going to manage that is beyond me."

"We could try asking my friends. Maybe they thought of something." Severa remarks.

From what I remember of the games Lucina's method was just to say 'I'm from the future!' and rely on Chrom's stupidly trusting nature to resolve things from there. And everyone else somehow managed to save their mother's wedding rings and used that as proof. Since kids are showing up well before their parents marry here that won't exactly mean a damn thing. So yeah, my ideas are all pretty much worthless then.

"I guess we could try asking Noire what she's planned." I say.

Severa snaps an arm up. "Not her."

"Wait, why not?" I look over at Severa in confusion.

"Noire's plan is… well, it's not really my place to say." Severa winces. "She's got something weird and stupid planned and while I think it's a terrible idea I am NOT going to betray her trust by telling you about it."

"Well that's troubling… but fair, I suppose." I lean back and sigh. "Guess we'll just have to play it safe until somebody else shows up then."

"What a pain."

"Yup." I sigh. "We'll just have to stick to the 'uncle' story until then."

"Uuuuuugh. Fine. Just… don't get yourself killed in the meantime." Severa scoffs with a little too much force to be authentic, then looks up. "Actually, that reminds me. We got you something to celebrate you getting out of the infirmary."

"Oh shit, really?" I straighten up as Severa runs to the door and grabs the bundle she had when she got in. Some sort of black fabric wrapped in twine…. Wait. "Is that my jacket?"

"Yup." Severa replies, tossing it over to me and taking her seat. "Donnel found it when he was searching that disaster zone you left behind." Something must show in my expression at that, because she winces and pushes on quickly. "He found almost all of it, actually. Your jacket, your sweater, even your shoes. Those needed a ton of repair work though, probably because you were stuck in the stupid river for so long. The rest of it we could just dry out, but they needed extra attention. The, uhh, the cobbler was still trying to figure out what the hell to do with them last I checked."

"Did the jeans get mended all right?" I ask, picking at the twine wrapping my jacket. It feels a lot heavier than before. And seems to be… jingling? I start clawing harder at the knot.

"They're fine." Severa says with a shrug. "Noire patched them herself. It's all in your room, other than the shoes. We just decided to give the jacket some extra attention."

I finally get through the damn knot and unfold the jacket. I'm left briefly stunned. "Oh holy shit."

It's hardly recognizable anymore, but in the coolest damn way imaginable. The shoulders and upper torso have been covered with black leather, with a short length of chainmail covering the upper arms. "This is badass." I say aloud, pulling it on over the hospital clothes. "Gonna need to readjust to the weight, but that's a small price to pay. Still feels warm too."

"It took me a week to find a tailor who could do the job without screwing up the original jacket." Severa says, sitting straighter. "You wouldn't believe how much haggling I had to do. It's why I never came to visit in the infirmary, I was too busy arguing with the old miser."

I frown at that. "Never took you for a haggler." If memory serves she loved spending money on dumb shit in the game.

"I like to cut loose once in a while, but you made sure I was taught all about budgeting when I was growing up." She puffs out her chest proudly. "Owning nice stuff is fine and all, but I like to own nice stuff and keep my gold."

Well how about that. Fate really can be changed. I grin to myself, shrugging out of the heavy coat. "Yeah, sounds like I taught you well."

I head for bed not long after that, since I'm still recovering. My room was shared with Robin, Kellam, and Stahl, meaning I have it all to myself until they're back. I'm thrilled to see my earth clothes sitting neatly folded on my bed, just as Severa said they would be. It's more than I expected, having them back. I guess Ezra was planning on selling them. They are pretty high quality compared to the stuff you can normally get in this world.

I look in the mirror and sigh. All in all it's a dramatic improvement over last time I checked, other than the hair. I have a few more scars now though: a thin line on my head that'll be covered up before long, some spots on my left arm from arrows, and a large one spider webbing across my chest. They had to cut me open more to get all the pieces of my ribs back in place before I could be healed, so I look like an absolute mess now. X-rays aren't a thing in this world, so the healers were concerned I might need further surgery down the line if more bone shows up where it's not supposed to.

Still, my eyes and cheeks aren't so sunken, my arms aren't as thin. I'm still pale as a fucking ghost, but without the coating of blood to contrast it doesn't look nearly as ghastly. I have to squint to see my ribs enough to count them, whereas before they were plainly visible.

I think my body's going to recover. And I'm still not sure how to feel about that.

"Mister Benjamin!" I'm jolted from my musing as Donnel bursts through the door. He's panting from exhaustion, but looks elated. "We finally got a message! The others did it! They're on their way back!"


The Shepherds make their triumphant return to Gelida Dominus in the evening a few days later, with three days to spare. Donnel and Severa greet them in the courtyard, while Noire and I remain in the guest quarters; me because I'm still too weak to run up and down all those stairs, Noire because she doesn't know any of them yet.

Not even five minutes pass after they head down before I hear a high pitched whine approach at high speeds. Lissa bursts into the common area in a blur of yellow, stops just short of bowling me over (no doubt taking note of my injuries), then latches on to me anyways. It's a good hour before anyone gets anything coherent out of her, she sobs so hard. Looks like I made the right choice sticking to the crappy white shirt I got from the infirmary.

Frederick has to physically restrain Sully from clapping me on the shoulder. Chrom and Robin stick to handshakes, but get so enthusiastic that he has to restrain them as well. Sumia nearly joins Lissa, but manages to restrain herself (though she thoroughly soaks the shoulder of my shirt before managing to pull herself away).

For a while it looks like a full on celebration is imminent, but everyone's fatigue catches up with them before things can spiral out of control. The Shepherds pushed themselves absurdly hard to meet the deadline, and now that they've succeeded the feeling of relief leaves them even more lethargic than I am. We pry Lissa off of me, say our goodnights, and agree to catch up properly in the morning.

Then that bitch Flavia shows up at the crack of dawn and announces a meeting. And suddenly all the VIPs in the shepherds are stuck making their way back to the same meeting room where Raimi beat the shit out of me.

"She couldn't have waited?" Robin complains through a broad yawn, trudging along at the tail end of the group. "All this time we've spent rushing back here, through the damn snow no less, and I don't even get the comfort of a full nights rest in a warm bed?"

"The unfortunate price of leadership, I'm sorry to say." Chrom replies. "We'll just have to let the others sleep extra for us."

"What I want to know is why Lissa's still in bed while I'm stuck attending this damn thing." I growl, hobbling along as fast as I can. "It's not like I hold a leadership position around here."

"Khan Flavia requested your presence specifically, Ben." Frederick replies. "She said that you were vital to the conversation."

"Pretty sure she's just fucking with me, but whatever." I gesture with my crutches. "Got me two perfectly good beating sticks right here if she pisses me off. Don't even think about it!" I snarl at the Feroxi escort now eying my crutches warily.

"Ben, if you start another diplomatic incident with the Khan we will have words." Chrom sighs.

"Not my fault she likes fucking with me."

"It really kind of is."

"Shut up, Robin."

We're brought into the meeting room find Khan Flavia already waiting for us. Behind her, Raimi stands stoically, though her gaze narrows when she makes eye contact with me. As I hobble to my seat next to Robin she glances down at the table. I follow her gaze and snort. It's still got a stain from when she beat the shit out of me.

"Breaking out the good furniture for me, huh?" I comment sardonically.

"What can I say, sometimes a good bloodstain can make a hell of a statement." Flavia replies with a shit-eating grin.

I chuckle in response. "Happy to be of service."

"Continue to mouth off to the Khan and I will have you lend your services again, scum." Raimi snarls in my direction.

Chrom sends me a warning glance, but I really can't help it. "My, somebody's feeling petty." I cock an eyebrow, feigning confusion.

Robin's face hits his hands with an audible slap. Chrom lets out a long-suffering sigh. Frederick glares daggers at me.

Raimi takes about two steps before Flavia silences her with an absolutely withering glare. "You had your shot at him, Raimi. I don't care what happened between you, it's past over. Keep looking for excuses and you'll have a problem with me instead. Is that clear?" Raimi continues to glare past Flavia at me. "I said: Is. That. Clear."

Flavia shifts and the room suddenly feels colder. Raimi pales visibly and returns to her original place. "Crystal." She replies bitterly, looking like she swallowed a lemon.

"Good." Flavia turns back to the rest of us and shrugs, as if to say 'what can you do?' The tension slips away from the others.

Of course, after what I've recently been through my sense of danger seems to be pretty fucking broken, so I wasn't really concerned to begin with. "Seriously though," I gesture to the table as though nothing happened. "If that's your idea of a joke, it's fucking hilarious."

"Gods damn it Ben, why are you like this?" Chrom groans in exasperation.

"What? I'm serious!" I really am, too. This is an absolute masterwork in passive-aggression.

The others look like they're about ready to tear into me when Flavia raises a hand, calling for quiet. They acquiesce immediately, though Chrom looks tense still. She waits about a minute for the mood to settle before finally speaking. "Nearly two months ago Prince Chrom, you told me you'd show me what the Halidom of Ylisse was made of."

"Uhh, I- ahem- I did say that, yes." Chrom replies nervously. "We promised you the complete eradication of the twin bandits, Victor and Vincent."

"With a two month time limit. You made it back with time to spare. Saved three of my villages in the process, too. And let's not forget what this one got up to in the meantime." She gestures to me with a smirk.

"What you got up to?" Robin looks over at me curiously. Chrom and Frederick do the same from across the table.

"Uhh… Did nobody tell you?" I look over to Flavia, who gives an apathetic shrug. Right, not her problem. Still, "I assumed Severa or Donnel would have sent you a message."

"We received a letter telling us you were found, and were recovering from your injuries." Frederick replies. "However, the message spared a great many details."

"Well this is fucking awkward." I lean back in my seat. "Okay, long story short, I was fished out of the river by a bunch of slavers. They… looked after me for a while."

"Until he broke out and killed about forty of them!" Flavia smirks. "When you said your people were higher quality you really meant it, huh? I had this guy pegged as a smartass weakling, but walking through that mess sure changed my mind! For a country ruled by a pacifist you've got some serious monsters working for you, Prince!"

Her proclamation is met with dead silence. I fix my gaze on the floor, unwilling to meet anybody's eye.

"… Forty?" Chrom says after a moment. His voice sounds strained.

"Thirty six, give or take. I started to lose track by the end." I reply, not looking up. I don't want to know what they think of me. "… Blood loss probably messed with my head a little." I add.

I'm injured, remember? I'm… I'm a victim here. This wasn't my fault.

Don't hate me. Please don't hate me.

"Which is why your golden boy here is stuck hobbling around the castle on crutches." Flavia chuckles, seemingly immune to the oppressive atmosphere. "But I digress. Point is, in the past two months you guys have done everything I asked of you and then some. So all that being considered, I'd say it's only fair I make good on my end of the deal."

This seems to lift the mood in the room, as everyone looks up to Flavia hopefully. I don't react except to sigh, knowing what's coming next.

"You mean it? Regna Ferox will form an alliance with Ylisse?" Chrom asks hopefully.

"Hmm, can't really guarantee that at the moment." Flavia says, a teasing lilt to her voice. "You have my allegiance, certainly, but as for the rest of the country…"

There's a moment of silence, then Chrom explodes. "After everything we've done, are you seriously about to tell us we've been speaking with the wrong damn Khan this whole time?!" Huh. I guess Chrom did his homework before bringing us here. Or more likely, Emmeryn knew about the Feroxi system and filled him in. Looks like they missed a critical step, though.

"Hey, not my fault you Ylisseans are so damn content to hole up in your country you can't even be bothered to learn who's in charge of the nation next door." Flavia replies with a chuckle.

"After everything we've gone through… Has this all been one big game to you?" Chrom snarls indignantly.

"Oh calm down, little Prince. The West Khan wouldn't have given you the time of day with the proposal you brought me. Fact is: I was your only chance at getting this alliance."

"Care to elaborate?"

"It's simple. The West Khan has held the power in this country for years. The old bastard has money, control of the shipping industry, and some of the best warriors in the world. Simply put, you had nothing to offer him that he couldn't get with far less trouble. No chance to negotiate.

"I, on the other hand, have not been nearly as fortunate. Fact is, my end of the country has a lot less going for it. The forestry industry isn't bad here, but we've got much harsher weather. This tends to lead to more people becoming desperate, which means that banditry is much more of an issue here, and tracking the bastards down is damn near impossible. Makes it hard to get any damned momentum going.

"We keep our issues separate in Regna Ferox, for the most part. Both Khans govern their half of the country on their own. We clean up our own messes. So the bandits on my side of the country are my job to deal with. And thanks to you lot, it's done. Which means now I owe Ylisse a favor. And that means you've gained a hell of a lot more traction with me already than you would have out West."

"So, you're saying this was our only chance to get in good graces with Regna Ferox." Robin says uneasily.

"Eh, we probably could have figured something else out if you were persistent enough." Flavia shrugs. "But that would have taken a lot longer. And now, we're in a prime position."

"Are we now?" Frederick replies, looking curious.

"Damn right. Think about it: one of the Khans of Regna Ferox owes you an alliance, but doesn't have the political power to provide you with one. So what do you do?"

"Get that Khan put in charge, obviously." I reply. "So how long until we can do that?"

"Glad you asked." Flavia smirks at me. "Every three years, on the first day of the year, we hold a competition. The Khans pick a champion, send them to fight, and let the winner decide who runs the nation from there."

"Wait, you decide the ruler of the nation based on who can win a fight?" Robin asks in confusion. "That seems a little… impractical. Surely there are better qualifications to consider?"

"You're not thinking about this properly." Flavia replies with a grin. "It's not about who can win the fight, it's about who can secure the better fighter. Securing an undefeatable champion takes negotiating skills, connections to the right people, and a keen eye for talent."

"So, if a Khan were to present, say, the prince of a nation as their champion…" Chrom says, eyes lighting up.

"It would mean that Khan is more than qualified to take over." Flavia concludes with a nod. "Of course, you still have to win the fight, but after the results you guys just got against those bandits I'm feeling pretty confident in my choice."

"In other words, all we have to do is win this competition, and we have our alliance. Our nations will join forces against Plegia." Chrom gives Flavia a hard look, "No more tests."

"I'm a woman of my word, Prince." Flavia nods. "You've earned my respect and then some. As far as I'm concerned it would be a damn shame to sit back and watch Plegia walk all over your country now."

"Then consider your tournament won." Chrom shakes hands with the warrior woman. "I will win you that position, for the sake of my people."

"I'm sure you will." Flavia grins. "Alright, I'll leave it to you to decide who you bring along. You've got six positions to fill, along with yourself. Reigning champions get two extra, so make sure you bring the best of the best. I'd recommend that redhead, personally."

"As would I." Robin chimes in eagerly. "Oh, but there is the inter-teammate dynamics to consider as well. I'll have to consider what sort of arrangement will give us the best synergy…" He trails off, mumbling to himself, and I can't help but chuckle despite myself. It's been a while since I've seen him like this. Though it's been a while since I've seen him at all, so I suppose that's obvious.

"Is there anything else we'll need to worry about?" Frederick asks, seeing that Robin has withdrawn into his own world. "Any sort of ceremony that needs following?"

"Eh, there's a sort of opening procedure, but it's about as informal as it gets. Usually the old man and I just trade insults across the stadium for a bit." Flavia chuckles. "Gets hard to hear him brag about his winning streak before every fight, but he'll be eating his words this year. I can feel it!"

"Nothing like a bit of trash talk to get the fans excited, I suppose." I muse. "Unless you wanted to put on a real production, of course."

There's a pause as Flavia considers my words. "You got something in mind there?"

I look up in surprise. She seems pretty interested… "I might. How big can we go with this?"

"Please." Flavia scoffs. "It's Ferox. The bigger, the better."

I allow a grin to creep across my face. "Oh, that's promising. I can work with that."

Regna Ferox won't know what hit them.


So, after all the reviews asking me "Is Ben Severa's dad?" you finally get an answer! Long story short: Shit's Complicated.

Needless to say this is a topic that will be revisited again further down the road. For now though, those two are content enough that they've properly talked about it. As to the other characters involved in this mess of a situation... well you'll have to wait and see, obviously.

Next time: Ben shows the people of Regna Ferox some good old fashioned North American spectacle.