Bit of a shorter chapter today, but I think it's turned out well. Hope you all enjoy!


Chapter 46: Confessions of a Fool

With the next few days being taken up entirely by preparation for the trip back to Ylisstol, I don't end up having a chance to talk to the others about the more personal stuff until after we were on the road. Chrom and Lissa are damn near impossible to get alone, and Robin is somehow even more difficult. In the end it takes some extra assistance from Sumia to clear time in Chrom's schedule enough that I can finally tell them about what really happened to their sister.

The talk with Chrom and Lissa… doesn't go well. When I tell the two of them that Emmeryn is alive it cheers them up momentarily, but the details of how I rescued her don't exactly earn me any points. And when it dawns on Lissa that I knew her big sister was alive all this time and failed to tell her… Well, she becomes even angrier than she was before.

And then I tell them that I don't know where Emmeryn is anymore.

…And then I tell them about Gangrel's accusations when he kidnapped me, and that Aversa could still be suspicious despite my best efforts. That there's no way of knowing whether the Grimleal bought my cover-up. That the Grimleal could very well be looking for signs that Emmeryn is alive already, and that I very genuinely don't know of a way to find her again without tipping them off.

Chrom splits a table in two when he hears about that last part. Literally slams it so hard with his fists that it cracks apart. And while he tries to assure me that it's not out of anger towards me, I find myself feeling less than convinced. He can claim he's just upset about how helpless feels about the situation his sister is in, but we both know who put her there. And Lissa is leaving nothing unclear in regards to exactly who she's blaming for all of this.

So yeah, Chrom doesn't exactly convince me he's not thinking about doing me serious bodily harm. And Sumia, seeming to realize this, decides in the end that I've done my part. Which I have, really. Nothing else to tell them, and they sure as hell don't want any comfort from me after what I did. So I leave them to their grief and their rage and their worry.

Mission accomplished, I guess.


"Lissa told me about what you did."

I'm both surprised and unsurprised when Maribelle comes to talk to me during the next day of marching. Unsurprised because I fully expected Lissa to tell her best friend. Surprised because she doesn't look ready to tear my head off right now.

"I feel like if she really did tell you about that you'd be hitting me with your parasol right about now." I remark, raising an eyebrow.

"Hmm… tempting, I must admit." Maribelle replies with a small smile. "And I rather think that Lissa would like me to let you have it right now. She's rather furious with you at the moment."

"As she should be."

"So you say." Maribelle replies noncommittally. "If I may be frank though, I'm not entirely sure that I agree."

The response startles me enough that I nearly trip and fall off the road. "You what?"

"Before I continue, let me be clear: I am not trying to suggest that I approve of the details of what you did. The way you went about things was, frankly, abominable. But." She cuts me off firmly as I move to speak. "I am not finished, Ben, please do not interrupt. But I personally believe that one's intent matters a great deal in situations such as this. You did not act in a way I would at all condone, but everything you did was done to save Emmeryn, and keep her safe from a threat that you feared would continue to seek her out."

I wait a moment to see if she's finished before protesting, "That shouldn't overshadow what I did to Emmeryn though. Or the fact that I lied to everyone in the Shepherds."

"Overshadow? Not at all. But for me it paints your actions in a very different light. You acted poorly I agree, but never out of malice. And so if I were to judge you based on these actions… I would not label you a villain."

"You wouldn't, huh?" I frown skeptically.

"I wouldn't. More of a fool." Maribelle replies, looking very pleased with herself. "Yes, I think that to be rather accurate. You are a fool Ben, not a villain."

"I don't know… I certainly feel like I was acting pretty villainous at times. But if you want to call me a fool, I really can't argue with that." I sigh.

"Which means that you are a fool who has learned from their mistakes." Maribelle nods sagely. "Be proud. Most fools never rise above their lowly position. Now you must simply strive to do better. And if you do not…" I feel a trickle of sweat run down my neck as her gaze becomes steel, "A good smack from my parasol will be the absolute least of your worries."

It says a lot about how I've been feeling lately that her threats only serve to improve my mood.


"Well, it took a fair bit longer than I had hoped, but we finally get to have our little chat." Robin says with a sigh, sitting at the work table he likes to use while on the road and opening a notebook.

"I'm sorry it took so long." I sigh, sitting back on a rickety stool and wincing uneasily at the creaking sound it makes as I sit on it.

I'm going to have to figure out how to make a folding chair sometime in the next couple of years, because current seating arrangements on long marches leave much to be desired. Even the shoddy piece of garbage I'm sitting on now is considered something of a luxury when it comes to travel accommodations. An actual chair is just impractical for travel.

Which really puts into perspective just how ridiculous Emmeryn's tent had been, with its tall ceiling and armchairs and fancy china set. No expenses spared for the Exalt's travel accommodations. The girl may not have a mean bone in her body, but there's no denying the silver spoon in her mouth.

"It's no trouble," Robin says, drawing my attention again. "I can't blame you for the situation; Nowi is the one who set fire to those tents. You're just the one who was stuck cleaning up after it all."

"I believe it was Ricken who confessed to setting the fire, actually." I reply.

"Ricken who remains unable to leave the wagon without crutches." Robin replies with a roll of his eyes. "Yes, I heard all about it from Chrom. And was able to surmise, as you no doubt have, that Ricken simply took the blame because he knows Chrom won't…" Robin trails off and sighs sadly.

"Chrom won't hold anything against Ricken after what happened to him." I finish for him sadly. "Yeah. Yeah, that's about what I figured, too." Poor kid. They never did manage to save his leg. Not even sixteen years old and he's already an amputee.

"Yes, well… at any rate, if I were feeling inclined to put blame on anyone, it would be Nowi." Robin continues, much more subdued. "Though really, I've been far too busy these past few days to meet with you anyways."

"Too busy is right." I shake my head incredulously. "You've had less time free lately than Chrom has. The frigging exalt has been easier to talk to than you have."

"So I've heard." Robin replies coolly.

"Oh." I blink in surprise. "You know about- he told you about that?"

"If by 'that', you mean the exact nature of the news you had for him, then yes." Robin replies with a frown. "Frederick as well. You might have noticed he hasn't been glaring at you so much lately."

"I… haven't really seen much of him lately at all." I reply. "And I don't believe for a second that he doesn't still hate me."

"He… might still hate you?" Robin says after a moment's thought. "No, I'm certain he still does. But because Frederick is a man for whom hatred is a thing exercised in different degrees, I can at least say that his hatred for you isn't murderous anymore."

"So… you're saying the reason I haven't seen him lately is because he no longer feels the need to imagine himself wringing my neck."

"Exactly." Robin replies. "And so now his hatred has lowered simply to the point where he can't stand to look at you."

"…You know what? I'll take what I can get." I say with a sigh. "I'm sure it's only a matter of time before the rest of the Shepherds know, so I'll gladly accept any reduction in enmity towards me, no matter how slight."

"Then it should please you to know that Chrom is far less angry with you now than he was before." Robin notes, "Though he tells me he still somewhat wants to hurt you. I would recommend you continue to keep your distance for the time being."

"Fair enough. Thanks for the warning." I reply. "I know Lissa's still mad. As far as she's concerned I'm still guilty of the same things I was before. Which… I can't really argue with. Whether Emmeryn is dead or alive I still lied and kept important information about her secret."

"Lissa told you all this?" Robin raises an eyebrow.

"Lissa told Maribelle, who told me this morning." I muse. "Strangely enough Maribelle seems to have changed her tune about the whole thing. She seems to think better of me now that she knows I tried to change something."

"Hm. I'll admit I wouldn't have expected such a reaction from her. Though I'm sure Maribelle has her own reasons." Robin asks, looking curiously at me. "Though this does make me wonder, do you feel any better about the matter after hearing from Maribelle?"

"Emotionally, yes. In terms of actual guilt, fuck no." I reply bitterly. "Robin, everything about my plan to save her was just me trying to have the best of both worlds. I was still too fucking cowardly to let things change, but wanted to try to feel better about myself anyways. So I betrayed my friends, lied to literally everyone I know except Henry of all people,and attempted to kidnap somebody who thought of me as an ally after faking her death. And you know what the worst part is? I still don't think a lot of the decisions I made were necessarily wrong. I still look back on much of that and… and understand exactly why I did it. Even though I recognize the things I did as monstrous, I find it so… so easy to rationalize."

"Well no wonder." Robin frowns at me, "Everything you did was very rational. Tactically speaking I understand why you did everything you did. If I'm being honest with myself, a part of me is even impressed by it. Would I ever do such a thing myself? Gods no. But I understand why you did it. Just as I understand why an enemy tactician might plot to sacrifice some of their soldiers to win a war."

The word 'enemy' hits me like a hammer blow, and I can't help but curl inward a little at the judgement in his gaze.

"You should have told me." Robin continues, staring from across the table. "If you had told me what you knew, how that battle was to play out, what all of this meant to the war and that dark future you're so frightened of, we could have stopped it together. We could have found a way to rescue Emmeryn that wouldn't strip her of her dignity and her choice. A way that wouldn't mean tearing her away from her family for years, and lying to your friends. Instead you tried to handle things on your own, risked making a mess of the very order of events you were trying to preserve, and now Emmeryn is wandering who knows where with nothing to protect her but a single monk."

"I know. I fucked up badly." I reply miserably.

"I'm glad you realize that." Robin gives an authoritative nod at that, "Because we are going to have our hands full handling all of the issues you brought forward at that meeting of yours. And if we're going to manage it all then I need to know everything you can tell me. No more secrets."

"I understand." I nod. "That's why I said I wanted to meet with you. I have information that could help make that happen. I hope."

"Information that you implied was very personal to me." Robin nods, looking back to his journal and readying his quill. "I've been quite curious to hear about this, yes. Would I be correct in assuming you know something about my past?"

"You would." I nod, turning to my bag and rummaging through it. "Which is why I brought this." I produce a bottle of Feroxi firewine and set it on the table.

"…Is this some kind of joke?" Robin asks, staring in disbelief as I produce a couple of glasses and start pouring him a drink.

"Only if you're the type of person to laugh hysterically when shit gets too awful for you." I note. "Which… I am, so I guess this might qualify in a fucked up sort of way."

Robin stares at me sternly for a few moments. I roll my eyes and groan, "No Robin, this is not a joke. I just happen to know that everything about your past is a fucking disaster, so I thought you'd want a good drink once I get going. This isn't going to be like my talk with Chrom, Lissa, and Sumia. There's no happy family reunions to be had here. No good news with horrible implications. If there's one thing I know for sure about your past… it's that you're lucky to have forgotten it."

Robin eyes the glass of firewine speculatively, then looks back up at me. "I'm listening."

"Right… let's start with something you've probably figured out for yourself already. You come from the Grimleal."

Robin stares blankly at me.

"You… did know that already, right?" I ask, trying to gauge his reaction and getting nothing. "You must have. Gaius noticed your coat was made by Grimleal months ago. Even Vaike suspects! Vaike!"

Robin continues to stare blankly.

"God dammit we should have listened to Lon'qu." I groan, clapping a hand to my head. "He said we needed to tell you about this, and we all completely forgot."

"You forgot to tell me about this!?" Robin explodes.

"Yes, as in, actually forgot, not something I decided to omit because my fucking dumb ass decided the world couldn't handle it!" I explain defensively, "Look, it was right before the sled incident, okay? I forgot about it in all the insanity."

"The sled incident. Damnit." Robin glares at me, then turns his attention to the glass in front of him and drains it in one go. When he turns back to me much of the fury has disappeared from his gaze. "If it was anything else, anything at all, I'd be having very stern words with all four of you right now."

"In my defense, I really did think you knew about this much." I say sheepishly, pouring Robin another drink. When he starts to raise the glass I put a hand over his and shake my head, "Don't get carried away yet, alright? That was only the start of things. Believe it or not it only gets worse from here."

"How could it possibly be worse than finding out that I used to be a member of a cult dedicated to the worship of a world destroying dragon?" Robin growls indignantly.

"Uhh, do you want me to put it bluntly? Or…"

Seeing my hesitation, Robin's frown becomes more worried. "Is… is there an easy way to say all this?"

I think on it for only a moment. "No. No, there really isn't. Blunt it is. Okay, remember that arch-priest I told you about? The one who Panne killed during the attack on the castle."

"Validar yes. If memory serves, you believe him to still be alive somehow, right?"

"Yes. Kept alive somehow through Grima's power. We'll be seeing him again in time." I nod. "Well, the next bit of information I have involves… a connection between the two of you."

"What sort of connection?" Robin demands.

"The… paternal kind." I reply, cringing as Robin's face falls slack with shock. "Yeah. Let me know when you're ready for the news to get worse."

"You're still not finished." Robin groans, emptying his glass once again. "Of course you aren't. I'm already finding myself rather glad you brought the firewine."

"I thought you might be." I nod humorlessly. "Alright, so next level of shittiness. How much do you know about the idea of eugenics?"

And that's when I get into the really bad stuff. Because frankly speaking the life Robin used to live and the family he used to have is only fractionally as bad as the purpose he was born for. It's one thing to find out you were raised in a crazy cult. It's another thing entirely to find out you've been specially bred to become the vessel for a monster. That you exist only to become a sacrificial lamb for the ascension of a world ending dragon god. That your specially bred blood makes you a potential puppet for the most twisted people in the world, to be stripped of free will the moment our enemies decide.

The bottle of firewine doesn't last halfway through the conversation.

I finish by telling him of the sacrifice the story I know calls on him to make. To give his life in order to kill Grima for good. That only he can do it, using the power of Grima that he holds to undo Grima. And that while the story tells of his eventual return, the knowledge I have is by no means certain on that regard. Frankly speaking, I just don't feel right telling him to expect a miracle to save him. I have my doubts as to whether the story we've been thrust into will wrap itself up so neatly.

And once I'm done, the two of us sit in silence. No more secrets between us, just an old table and an empty bottle of firewine.

After a while, Robin finally stirs, looking up at me with a lost expression. "What am I supposed to do about all of this? How… how do I move forward after learning such a thing?"

"I… really can't answer that." I reply helplessly. "I don't think I have any right to tell you how to live your life, Robin. The most I can do is ensure you aren't living it blindly. Just… know that nothing I've told you has to change anything."

"Doesn't it?" Robin replies bitterly.

"There's a quote I heard once. From this story I used to absolutely love as a kid. 'The circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant. It is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are.' Validar may have had plans for you, but you don't have any obligation to listen to that fucker. You have your own life here, one which Validar sure as hell didn't want for you. A life which you made for yourself. That matters." I feel a little silly quoting Pokémon right now, but the quote fits this situation so damn well I push past the embarrassment. It's a good line, even if I did hear it first from a giant telepathic cat monster.

Robin reflects on my words for a while before nodding to me. "Thank you for that Ben. That helps, really. You've given me a lot to think about. Now, if you don't mind, I think we should call it an evening here. Unless of course you have something else to tell me."

"Nothing I can think of." I reply after a moment to reflect. "Yeah, I think that's it. If I remember anything else though I'll be sure to let you know."

"Good. Then I think we had best turn in for the night. It will be another long day's march tomorrow."

I bid Robin good night, emerge from the tent, and make my way back to my own. My pace is slow, spent stepping carefully around the posts from other tents and various crates and other junk left lying around the campsite, with only the dim light from my lantern to guide me. This slow pace means I have plenty of time to see that somebody is waiting for me outside of my tent.

"Cordelia." I say softly in greeting, not wanting to disturb those sleeping nearby.

"Did it go well?" Cordelia asks.

"Better than yesterday, at least. Robin knows every secret I had about him." I reply with a small smile. "Didn't even seem like he wanted to hit me."

"An improvement over Chrom then." Cordelia sighs. "Sumia has been telling me about how much trouble he's had with his anger since yesterday."

"He's right to be pissed."

"He is." Cordelia replies, "It was no small secret you kept from him."

"Sumia told you about…" I blink in shock.

"She assumed I knew." Cordelia replies. "I… chose not to correct her."

This sounds familiar… Right, she did something similar after my first trip to Ferox. "Rather fond of that particular trick, aren't you?" I raise an eyebrow challengingly.

"Yes well I don't think Sumia will be letting me attempt it again in the future. She was rather upset when she found out." Cordelia replies sheepishly. "I didn't hide my surprise particularly well when she told me Emmeryn was alive."

"Remember what I said last time? You can just ask me Cordelia!" I snap in frustration.

"Would you have just told me about something like this though?" Cordelia challenges.

"Yes." I reply without hesitation. "If it was anyone else asking I'd tell them to fuck off, but for you? Damn right I'd say something."

Cordelia seems genuinely surprised by that. "Oh. I didn't think…"

"You didn't think I'd be honest about it. Because I've been a dishonest piece of shit the entire time we've known each other up until two weeks ago." I conclude wearily. I should have known better than to think that she'd expect the truth from me. "Don't go feeling bad about it Cordelia, we both know this is entirely on me."

"It's not though." Cordelia replies. At my skeptical glance her gaze hardens, "It isn't, Ben. It's not fair to suggest otherwise. We're supposed to be working together now. That means that just as you're trying to change, I have to try to trust you. And I'm clearly still not doing a very good job of that."

"That just means I need to work harder to earn it." I reply dismissively.

"It doesn't!" Cordelia snaps. "Don't try to push me out Ben, I won't have it! My choices matter in this too, and that damn well includes choosing to trust you!"

I'm struck mute by the protest, and can only stare for a moment as she glares up at me. Seeing that she has my full attention, she continues her tirade, "I am not going to let you make decisions for me, Ben. Not even if you think it's for my own sake. No, especially not then. And yes, that absolutely includes deciding how much of the blame for what has happened I get to shoulder. You said it yourself: we are in this together. In blame, and in how we fix things moving forward."

"You… you can't just take blame for all the horrible shit I've done!" I sputter in denial.

"And you can't just take blame for all the terrible things that have happened this past year!" Cordelia snaps back. "Because contrary to what you seem to believe, you are not solely responsible for what happened to the Pegasus Knights, or Emmeryn, or Ylisse as a whole. You may have failed to stop things from going wrong, yes, but you did not kill my friends. You did not attempt to publicly execute Emmeryn, and you did not start that war. You are more than just your mistakes! And… And despite everything, my life is better for knowing you too!"

"That doesn't… wait." I pause thinking back on her words. "Too? Your life is… You were listening to me and Gaius. The night I told him what was happening."

"I… overheard a little bit." Cordelia replies ashamedly. "I had gone out to talk to you directly, but then you started telling Gaius about things going wrong. And it was… everything I had wanted to know. All my biggest questions about you being answered. And so I… listened. And then when I finally understood… Well, I suppose I'll just say it was not a night of good decision making for me."

"Fuck's sake Cordelia, first Sumia and now this!" I snap irritably. "Tell me, do you spy and eavesdrop like this with everybody or is it just me?"

"Just… you." Cordelia answers meekly, fidgeting uncomfortably. "In my defense, that time on the balcony really was an accident."

"Goddammit." I hiss, dragging a hand through my hair. "That is… the most personal- I don't- I didn't want you to know about that. I didn't want anyone to know about that! Bad enough I told Gaius. I don't… I don't want people to know how… broken I am." I conclude helplessly. "Do you know how fucking hard I work every goddamn day to stop people from seeing that side of me?"

"Yes. I do." Cordelia replies without hesitation.

I look to her in disbelief. But that disbelief fades when I see the look in her eyes. And I think back to the first time we spoke, all those months ago in the bathhouse entrance. That defeated look she gave me when she realized I'd overheard her being insulted and belittled by her fellow knights. "Yeah. I guess you do." I concede.

Because for all the trouble being 'Little Lady Genius' caused Cordelia with the pegasus knights, she still preferred that by far over letting them see how much she was hurting. Her front has always been far stronger than my own, but I've known from the very beginning that she is all too vulnerable behind the wall she puts up.

"God dammit." I sigh, feeling suddenly very tired. "We really do have too much in common in that regard, don't we? Just a couple of disasters barely staying upright."

"All the more reason for us to work together." Cordelia replies without hesitation.

"I suppose so," I concede.

"So… now that you've told Chrom and Robin everything, what's our next move?" Cordelia asks, looking much more at ease now that she has my full surrender.

"We have to tell the kids next." I reply. "As soon as possible."

"Next week then?" She guesses. "We can finally get Lumír once we've reached Gelida Dominus. Then we can talk to them all together."

"No." I shake my head. "I don't intend to wait that long. Now that I've spoken to Robin, there's no reason to wait and travel with the group here. I'm leaving to get him tomorrow. Already talked to the girls about it. We've got two flying mounts between the four of us right now. Should be more than enough to get us back to Gelida ahead of time."


Our trip to Gelida Dominus barely made it off the ground. Quite literally, as it happens. I'd only just climbed into Bobby's saddle, and Diana and Cordelia had barely crested the treetops.

And now the two are back on the ground. And Cordelia is curled up in Sumia's arms, shaking like a leaf.

"I-I don't understand." Diana chokes out, looking terrified. "She just started crying, I didn't do anything."

"I know you didn't." I say soothingly, hugging her to my side. "This isn't your fault Diana, you have nothing to feel bad about."

"Will you people clear out!" Severa snaps at the gathering crowd. "This isn't a damn show!"

"I'm sorry!" Cordelia gasps out, tears streaming down her face. "I'm sorry!"

Those of the Shepherds who had come to see us off seem reluctant to leave, all wanting to know what caused the sudden emergency landing, and the commotion is only drawing more onlookers. After a moment though, Virion seems to decide that Severa has the right idea and turns to the others. "Come now everyone, we should leave this in Sumia's most gracious hands. Let's not crowd around!"

The crowd starts to slowly back away, but there's still too many people looking for answers. What started as a few concerned Shepherds is quickly growing to include all of the Feroxi and Ylissean soldiers nearby as well. If Chrom and Robin weren't busy with Flavia at the moment I'm sure we'd have half the camp here by now.

Salvation comes in the form of Maribelle, whose lack of patience for rubbernecking is made abundantly clear when she starts lashing out with her parasol from the back of the crowd. "Make a path you utter buffoons, I must get by! If you cannot make yourselves useful then do not mill about like slack-jawed idiots!"

After a great many undignified yelps of pain she emerges from the crowd, full of fire, fury, and frills, eyes snapping towards Cordelia and Sumia. "What happened? Gaius just rushed to inform me that Cordelia was in some sort of trouble. Did you really manage to injure yourselves on this little trip of yours already!?"

"She's not injured." Sumia shakes her head. "Cordelia is… oh dear." She looks around at the crowd with a frown, watching as they continue to drag their feet. She clearly has no desire to let them listen in on things, which puts her in stark opposition to everyone trying to figure out what's going on.

Right, enough of this bullshit. "Henry!" I snap out impatiently.

The dark mage, who has thus far been watching the proceedings with fascination, turns to face me. "Hm?"

I gesture to the crowd. "Make them leave. No injuries. Feel free to get creative."

"Nya-ha-ha! Okay!" He grins with joy.

One swarm of irritable crows later, and the crowd is scattered across the camp, having made quite a mess in their eagerness to leave. No doubt today's march will be delayed a bit by that one. What hasn't been left trampled in the wake of panicked people has been absolutely covered in feathers.

"Quite a bit of property damage…" I note tiredly.

"You never said anything about avoiding property damage!" Henry replies, eyes wide with innocence.

It's complete and utter bullshit, of course, he knew damn well what I meant. The bugger just likes causing havoc wherever he can find an excuse since he doesn't get to kill things as often as he'd like. Still, there's little point in arguing the point with him, since he is technically correct, and therefore will be utterly shameless if I confront him further. "I suppose I didn't." I sigh, "Yeah, that's on me. Thank you for the assistance Henry."

"Nya ha hah! You're welcome!"

Henry skips off, having decided that he got his fill of entertainment from the scenario, leaving only myself, the kids, Maribelle, and Sumia to watch over Cordelia. Though a few other Shepherds like Gaius and Virion are watching from a safer distance. With the crowd gone Cordelia seems to calm a little; no doubt having so many onlookers while she's in such a state was doing no favors to her mental health.

Now that she's no longer feeling compelled to serve as crowd control Severa moves to my other side, looking worried. "So… what the heck happened?"

"Nothing happened!" Diana replies, still buried in my side. "We took off just like normal, and then she started freaking out."

"It's trauma." I reply, watching Cordelia sadly.

Severa's eyes go wide, and she looks to me in alarm. "You mean like what you had?"

"Like what I have, yes," I correct gently, "That's how I know. I've been through this too many times myself to not recognize it."

"But… but why now?" Severa asks. "She's been… not okay, but she's never been like this until now!"

A fair question. Sadly, it proves all too easy for me to find an answer. "It's the flying." I explain, heart sinking in my chest, "This is the first time she's tried to fly since Aurora died."

Sumia goes pale at that. "Oh no Cordelia, I should have realized! You thought this might happen, didn't you? That's why you've only been fighting in the infantry all this time!"

"I- I thought it had been enough time!" Cordelia chokes out. "I just wanted to- to- I'm sorry!" She gasps, leaning into Sumia's arms.

"I see." Maribelle says quietly. "I'm sorry Cordelia, I never knew. I've failed you as a medic."

"No!" Cordelia shakes her head. "It's not your fault, it's mine! I should never have hidden this for so long."

It is a force of will on my part to stamp down the part of me that feels compelled to take blame for this onto myself. Despite the guilt I feel for my part in what happened to Cordelia and Aurora, I know any apology I make wouldn't be appreciated by anyone, especially not Cordelia herself.

"This isn't one of those situations where there's someone to blame, Cordelia." I say instead. "You've done nothing you have to apologize for."

"But… but I made a mess of your plan!" She shakes her head. "What's going to happen with… with Lumír?"

"It's okay Cordelia." I reassure. "We'll still go today."

"I don't think Cordelia's in any shape to go flying today!" Sumia protests, hugging Cordelia a little closer.

"No, I meant… me and the kids." I explain, "We'll go just like planned, right after we're all sorted out here. And then once we have Lumír the four of us will wait in Gelida Dominus for you so we can have that talk when you get here. Nothing to it."

Cordelia still looks a bit miserable, but seems to collect herself a bit more. "Okay… That's… that's good."

"Yup. No harm done, see?" I smile reassuringly. After a moment of thought, I pat Diana on the shoulder. "Diana, sweetie, why don't you go get Cordelia's bags from King's saddle. She's going to be in trouble if we fly off with them."

"Oh! Right!" Diana gasps in alarm, running off to King's side. The griffon has been sitting some distance away, mostly helping by holding Bobby back from nosing into the middle of things and causing an accident.

"Good thinking Ben, I hadn't even thought of the trouble that would have caused." Maribelle nods in approval, before turning back to Cordelia. "Now then Cordelia, I'm sure you know full well that there is little I can do to help you with something like this. I am a healer of the body only; my knowledge of mental affliction is not nearly as complete. However, what I can do is make sure there is a space open for you and Sumia to rest in my wagon today."

"I don't want to impose." Cordelia replies hesitantly.

"It is no imposition." Maribelle says firmly, "You are in no state to march my dear. A day off from marching will do you wonders. And knowing that will do wonders for easing my worries as well. One could say you are doing me a favor."

Cordelia seems too busy shaking like a leaf to pretend that Maribelle's argument is convincing. Whether or not she believes in the argument is rather irrelevant though, because as soon as Diana returns with Cordelia's bags Maribelle whisks them away to her cart. Evidently she's decided that the most effective way to convince Cordelia to rest is to take her things hostage until she agrees. She can be rather devious when she wants to be. Must get it from Lissa.

"Alright, I think it's time we go, kids." I say, gently shooing them away towards King and Bobby. "Don't worry about us Cordelia. Just relax and let Sumia and Maribelle take care of you, alright?"

Before I can lead them very far though Diana ducks my hand and turns back. She drops to her knees next to Cordelia and hugs her as tightly as she can. "It'll be okay." She says softly. "We'll see you again really soon mom."

It is, to my knowledge, the first time Diana has called Cordelia mom. And by the shock on Cordelia's face, that seems to be the first time she's heard it as well. That shock only lasts a moment before she's hugging back, as tightly as she can. I don't think there's anything better Diana could have done for somebody who has been doubting their place in this family as much as Cordelia has. Diana probably knows it too with how damn smart that kid is.

Despite all the complications between us lately Sumia and I can't help but share a smile at the scene. Even Severa, complicated as her feelings towards her mother still are, can't help but brighten at the sight of the two of them.

For all the bad that's happened, all the friendships I've strained or lost, moments like this make me think that we can come out of it stronger after all.


I figure these chapters need more happy endings, even if this one is more bittersweet than truly happy. Cordelia gets a life-affirming moment with one of her daughters, and all it takes is revealing that she can't fly anymore.

I do believe that puts me rather firmly at the top of the Treehouse discord's 'Making bad stuff happen to Cordelia' leaderboards. The flying thing, I mean. Though I suppose depending on your views of motherhood the bit with Diana could also count in the long run...

On another note, I hope nobody was wanting to see the full reactions of Robin and co. to the last remaining secrets Ben has been hiding. I considered going more in depth with these reveals, but I decided in the end that enough time has been spent rehashing all of Ben's terrible decision making skills in the past few chapters. Gotta sacrifice some of that Chrom-rage for the sake of forward momentum.

The Fanfiction Treehouse discord is fun. Join it. I command you. discord .gg/9XG3U7a