Cynthia quickly scrambled through the castle courtyard. Her head darted from side to side like a deer on alert for predators.

"Now where could it be?" She muttered to herself as she continued to look around.

She was there just the other day. How could she forget so easily? She stopped to ponder for a moment. Currently, she was in the center of the outer courtyard. So, all she needed to do was take a left? Or was it a right? She knew it was just left of the entrance to the courtyard, but where was the entrance again? Didn't she pass it just a moment ago? If so, was she heading left or right?

"Gah! I don't have time to stand around thinking of this!" Cynthia pulled at her hair in frustration. "Okay! It's time to rely on my heroic intuition!" She took a moment to look in both directions. "It's that way!" She shouted before sprinting off in a random direction.

A thick pain suddenly smashed into her skull. Cynthia's eyes scrunched shut, as she tumbled backward. Her butt hit the ground and the dark world spun around her.

"Owwwww…" She whined as she rubbed the fresh new bump on her head. "What just happened?"

"Geez, what kind of moron would…" a familiar voice spoke up. "Oh, it's you…"

Cynthia shook her head and slowly opened her eyes. Her heart seemed to freeze as she saw Severa towering over her with an icy glare. It was not uncommon for Severa to glare at her. In fact, it could even be considered her default expression, but there was something different about the current look in her eyes. It wasn't just cold. It was freezing, almost numbing like a venomous snake bite. Something about it felt unnatural like a dark oppressive aura pinned her body to the ground.

"Well?" Severa scoffed, "you gonna say something? or just lie there staring at me like some kind of weirdo" She then mumbled something that Cynthia didn't quite catch.

Cynthia shook her head once more, "Right, sorry," she said as she sprung to her feet.

"Gods, you're such a klutz, you know that?" Severa breathed out an exhausted sigh. "Do you even bother to look where you're going most of the time?"

"What? Of course, I do!" Cynthia frowned. "Maybe you should speak for yourself!"

"Are you some kind of idiot?!" Severa snapped at her, "What makes you think I'd be dumb enough to not notice when I'm about ram into someone?! Geez not only are you a klutz but you're a moron too."

"Like you're one to talk! At least I can fly a pegasus straight! You failed the pegasus knight evaluation exam seven times because you kept crashing into stuff!"

"You little!" Severa shoved Cynthia into the ground.

Cynthia's eyes snapped shut as she felt her body slam into the ground once again. She opened her eyes to see Severa's razor-sharp glare rip through her body. It looked almost demonic like that of a risen's. No, it was darker than that. It almost felt like the fell dragon, itself, was glaring down at her. Cynthia's whole body went numb, not even her heart dared to beat. That icy cold glare, it felt as if Severa was really gonna…

"Severa…" She said as a single tear went down her face.

Severa then shook her head and reached her hand down. "S-Sorry..."

For a moment, Cynthia remained silent as she looked up at Severa. Severa apologizing? Now that was definitely strange.

Cynthia pushed herself to her feet and brushed herself off, "I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have brought that up." Cynthia smiled and reached out her hand, "so Friends?"

Severa turned her head away, "Y-Yeah whatever. J-Just shut up, okay!"

Cynthia frowned and crossed her arms, "Now that was rude."

"Whatever! J-Just leave me alone!" Severa shouted before running off.

"What's with her?" Cynthia scratched her head.

Oh well, not like it really mattered. She took a step forward only to find herself once again face planting into the floor.

"Owwww…" She whined as she peeled herself from the ground, "That one's definitely gonna bruise."

Severa was right. She really was a klutz. As she shook the world back into place, Cynthia noticed a stuffed pegasus doll on the ground beside her.

"Wait that's…" She moved to pick it up.

"Wh-what's that?"

"Th-this is A-Aura a-and…" Severa's cheeks turned beet red. Gods what was she doing?!

Cynthia looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

Severa shook her head and took a deep breath, "and he promises that everything will be okay"

That's right, this was what Severa gave her to help her feel better. Cynthia's sat silently as her pigtails swayed in the brisk early spring breeze. She shook her head. There was no time to think about that right now. She had to go feed Snowy and fast. She looked up, and her face lit up as she spotted the stables in the distance.

"Now that's strange…." Cynthia scratched her head as Snowy ate out of her designated food trough, "Seems like someone has already fed you"

But who could it have been? She closed her eyes and pondered for a moment. It obviously wasn't her. Owain was currently at Regna Ferox. Maybe Lucy? She shook her head. Nah, it couldn't have been her. Could it have been Gerome? Brady maybe?

A puff of hot air brushed against her cheek as Snowy began to nuzzle her master's cheek.

"Hey! Stop that!" Cynthia giggled, "It tickles."

She wrapped her arms around Snowy's neck and began to stroke the pegasus's snout getting it to stop. "Well, whoever it was I need to thank them as a real hero should." She smiled at her pegasus. "Right Snowy?"

Her pegasus simply snorted and licked her face.

Cynthia giggled once again, "If only you could tell me. Could it have been Severa?" She shook her head, "Nah! She's too much of a jerk. I don't think she eve-"

Snowy let out an angered neigh before Cynthia could finish. Her heart nearly leaped from her chest.

"Woah! What's gotten into you Snowy?!"

Snowy merely grunted and turned its head.

"Why are you so mad all of a sudden? Was it something I said?" Cynthia tilted her head as she watched her pegasus continue eating.

What was going on today? Everyone just seemed so on edge. Though, she really wasn't one to talk. Memories of her outburst in the council room flashed through her mind. To be fair, he totally deserved it. The way he and the rest of them were talking about Lucy and her father like that. It made her blood boil just thinking about it. Worst of all, Lucy didn't even try to stop him! She did the same with that lady back at the village. How could she be okay with anything they said! How could she…

"Because she was right"

Those words as well as her sister's empty expression flashed through her head. What happened to her? Why was Lucy always so… so… sad all the time? Her sister used to be so strong and heroic just like their father. Not like Cynthia really remembered anything about him. The most she had were stories and vague recollections of what he looked like. Lucy was the one that knew him the most. She could still remember the day that they learned of his passing. How could she forget? That was the day that changed her life forever…

She must've been five or six at the time. She remembered playing inside that day cause it was raining outside. Lucy was waiting by the door as usual. Their parents were expected to come home, after all.

"And finished!" Cynthia said as she inspected the freshly sharpened spearhead. "Mama is gonna be so proud of me!" She smiled. "Though maybe I should show Lucy first." She nodded to herself, "Yeah I'll go show her first! She'll be proud of me for sure!"

A white flash of lightning followed by a boom of thunder exploded through the room. Cynthia's heart stopped as her body flinched at the sudden loud noise. She took a deep breath.

Stay calm, Cynthia. I-It's just lightning. It can't hurt you so long as you're inside. Remember what mama and papa said!

She shook her head. That's right, she had to stay strong just like a hero ought to. Another boom of thunder echoed. Cynthia covered her ears and screamed as her body curled into a ball. Her body shook like one of the many trees in the storm outside. Tears dripped from her face as her arms clung desperately to the spearhead.

Why can't Mama and Papa just come home already?!

Cynthia wiped the tears from her eyes and looked out of the nearby window. Dark clouds swirled across the sky as the violent wind howled through the castle walls. All of that combined with loud and scary thunder made Cynthia's stomach churn. She quickly jumped to the floor and ran into the hallway.

"Lucy! I'm scared!" She cried out as she made her way to the castle's entrance.

But when she got there, her sister was nowhere to be found. Maybe, she was outside? Another boom of thunder prompted her to scrunch up again. The candles in the room flickered violently. Several of them were even completely extinguished.

Slowly, Cynthia made her towards the massive twin doors in front of her. However, just as she approached the doors, they opened on their own. Her sister stood in the doorway with her whole body drenched in rain. Her bangs hung low and covered her face in shadow. She looked to the floor as Falchion hung limply from her right hand.

"Lucy!" Cynthia smiled and hugged her sister.

Though, something seemed off. Her body was cold, almost death-like. It wasn't like any other time she hugged her sister. Every other time it was warm and comforting. It wasn't at all like that this time.

"Lucy, look!" She held the spearhead in front of her, "I finished the spearhead mama and I were working on!"

Her sister didn't respond. All she did was remain silent.

"Lucy?"

Cynthia looked down to see Falchion nestled into her sister's right hand.

"Th-That's Falchion but isn't that papa's sword?" She looked at Lucina again, "Why do you have Papa's sword? Where is papa? Weren't he and mama supposed to come home today?"

Her sister remained silent.

"Lucy?"

The howling wind swept between the loud silence of the two sisters. Cynthia shivered at the sudden drop in temperature. She tried to look behind Lucina in order to spot any sign of their parents. There was nothing except a lone pegasus standing on the platform in the pouring rain.

Her face lit up with a smile, "Snowy!" She shouted before sprinting towards her mother's mount.

Just as Cynthia reached her, her feet slipped and she smashed into the ground below. Cynthia groaned in pain before peeling herself from the concrete.

"That one's gonna leave a mark." She hopped to her feet and ran over to hug Snowy. But again, this hug was cold. Cynthia took a quick look around. "So where's mama?"

Snowy remained silent and simply nuzzled her cheeks with its snout.

"H-Hey stop that!" Cynthia giggled, "It tickles!"

She managed to push Snowy away and look up at her once more. Her face was so bloody. In fact, her whole body seemed to be covered in wounds. Her back nearly looked like that of a porcupine's due to all the arrows sticking out of it. And to top it all off, her expression looked almost as sad as her sister's. She looked into Snowflake's eyes for several minutes as the gears in her head began to move. Her heart sank as tears began to pool in her eyes. A boom of thunder followed by the howling wind whistled through the air.

"Mama isn't coming back, is she?" Cynthia looked back at her sister still standing in the doorway.

"Yeah…" Lucina answered in a cold unfeeling tone. "They're gone, Cynthia…"

And just like that, her heart shattered. All that was left behind was a cold empty feeling in her chest. Her body went numb as the world crumbled around her. Tears exploded from her eyes and mixed with the cold numbing rain. Her loud aching sobs echoed through the howling wind.

Cynthia stood silent as the memory of that day flooded through her head. Her parents broke their promise that day. Lucy became the new exalt and nothing was the same after that. Her sister spent less time with her because she was so busy trying to manage everything. She just felt so helpless. Her entire world fell apart in the blink of an eye. With her parents gone, what was the point in anything? After that day, Cynthia stopped brushing her hair or wearing cute dresses. She didn't care about all that anymore. She just wanted to be stronger, so she could help Lucy. She just wanted to be strong enough to help. But even after all this time, she's still…

"I failed to save that girl because I was weak! All I could do was watch as she was mutilated right in front of me! So no, I'm not as strong as Father so please repent from telling me otherwise!"

A single tear ran down her cheek as she recalled those words. She just wanted to help. She just wanted to make her feel better. She just wanted to see her sister smile again like she used to. Why won't she just let her help? She may not be able to wield Falchion but that doesn't mean she can't help carry that burden.

The feeling of Snowy's wet tongue across her cheeks pulled Cynthia from her thoughts.

"H-Hey!" She giggled.

Cynthia pushed her pegasus away and wiped her face. For a moment, she looked into Snowflake's eyes and smiled.

"Thanks, Snowy, I feel a bit better now"