Three chapters in four days? Whaaaaaa?
Chapter 21 Anger
"Father! Father!" The little girl happily called after her father who prepared to walk out of the front door with various books in his hand. "Look Father! I drew some new tactics like you taught me!" Naomi held out the piece of paper to her father who slowly turned around. The child felt a little uneasy at seeing the look on her father's face. His eyes looked like he hadn't slept in weeks, and his expression looked more annoyed than his usual gleeful one. She knew her father would stay up many nights to strategize, but this was truly too much. "F-Father, I think you should rest a little before yo-"
"Don't get in my business, Naomi." Her father said in such a harsh voice that made her back away in fear.
"S-Sorry, Father." The nine-year-old apologized and dropped her head to the ground while gripping the paper tightly to her chest.
"What do you want, child?" Matthew said in a more demanding tone that scared his daughter.
"I-It wasn't important-"
"Tell me." The way her father was speaking to her was truly terrifying. Reluctantly, she held the paper she had in her hands out to her father. The child jumped when her father snatched it from her hands and quickly scanned through it.
"I-I did everything I could. It's not better than Morgan, but I tried my be-"
"After all the time I wasted teaching you, you still haven't grasped the concept. What a waste." Those words hit the young like a ton of bricks. Her father, her idol, was giving up on her? After he said he would never judge her work?
"B-But, I-I really tried, Father." The girl tried desperately to defend herself. "I-I'm really trying, Father. I-I-If you help me j-just a little more-" The next thing that happened completely chattered the young girl's heart. The paper she had been working so hard on was completely ripped in half by her very own father. Piece to piece, bit by bit, he didn't stop until the paper was just specks on the ground. Naomi looked down in horror as tears began to well in her eyes. "F-Father, why-"
"I can't believe I wasted so much time with you. You are a poor excuse for a daughter." Naomi eyes widened as the words left her father's mouth. Her father looked down on her with eyes that did not look like they belonged to him. They were glowing purple and a deadly aura illuminated around him. The nine-year-old couldn't move an inch; she couldn't even cry. Why was her father saying all this to her? What has she ever done wrong? "Keep watch over the house. I will be gone for a while." With that, her father walked out of the house and into the bright outside; slamming the door behind him.
The nine-year-old finally lost the strength in her legs and collapsed to the ground. She intensely stared at the pieces of ripped paper on the ground; the life in her eyes and skin were now completely none existent. She couldn't even hear the sound of footsteps quickly approaching behind her. "Naomi? Are you okay?" Morgan voice pulled her out of her trance.
That's right.
Morgan was always taking away her father's attention. It was her fault that her father said the things he did. There was no way he would say such a thing if she had the same talent as Morgan did. It was Morgan's fault that she was being casted aside by her own father.
It was Morgan's fault.
It was MORGAN's fault!
IT WAS MORGAN'S FAULT!
Naomi gripped her head in pain from the ringing that went through it. The pain was almost unbearable and she had to grip the railing of the ship to keep herself from falling overboard. "What was that just now?" Naomi asked herself as the ringing began to slowly fade. That was definitely her past. Why was she remembering such a time? And what was that ringing in her head?
"I'm not a kid!" Naomi was brought out of her thoughts from the voice of the redhead mage next to her. "I'm married AND I have a future kid!"
"HAHA!" The mercenary laughed at the boy's childlike behavior. "Ricken! Gregor is man with the vigor and pride. Gregor shows he's true man by the way he proudly admits his manliness. The secret to being a man is to shout proudly your gender role, like this!" Gregor looked out to the marmalade, setting sun that slowly descended behind the salty sea and took in a deep breathe, placed both fist on both hips, and puffed his chest out with pride. Then he yelled at the top of his lunges, "I'M A REAL MAN!"
Both Ricken and the typing dark mage looked to the mercenary showing different expressions. Naomi stared with a blank look, while Ricken stared with uncertainty on his face.
"Like that! Now, little Ricken should give shot." Ricken was uncertain about wether or not to do it, but his resolve to prove the mercenary wrong made him step up to the challenge. He placed his hands on the wooden deck and took a deep breathe while looking to the sea.
"I-I'm a man!" Ricken yelled which only caused the mercenary to tilt his head back and guffaw loudly.
"Haha! You squeal like baby boar! Ricken must be louder than wild wyvern!"
The redhead boy looked away sheepishly and retorted, "T-This is stupid!"
"What? Little Ricken giving up already?" Gregor teased, then turned to a more serious attitude. "Does Ricken want to be little boy for rest of life, or be real man like Gregor?!"
"I-I am a real man!" Ricken shouted back at the mercenary with an iron resolve.
"Then show Gregor with words! Now try again!"
"Fine!" Ricken mimicked his earlier movement and once again shouted to the sea. "I am a man!"
"No no no! Do like Gregor!" Gregor also mirrored his earlier movement and looked to the sea with pride excluding from his chest. "I AM A MAN!"
Ricken nodded and mirrored the mercenary's stance. His chest now puffed out, he looked to the sea with determination and fire in his eyes. "I am a MAN!"
"Good, good! Now make with the enthusiasm! I AM A MAN!"
"I AM A MAN!"
The two now mirrored each other perfectly like father and son. The pasting Shepherds raised their eyebrows at the two screeching fools. Some laughed, while others just awkwardly walked away. Meanwhile, the young dark mage next to the two screechers just stood idly by and watched as their routine continued.
"I AM A MAN!"
"I AM A MAN!"
"GREGOR IS MAN!"
"RICKEN IS MAN!"
"WE ARE PROUD MEN!"
"PROUD INDEED!"
"MAN!"
"MAN!"
"MAN!"
"MAAAAN!"
"MAAAAAN!"
"MAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!"
...They've lost their minds...
...
Why was everyone in the Shepherds so...weird? The closest thing to normal in this entire army was Stahl (Gerome would have been normal if it wasn't for the time the young dark mage heard him talking to his wyvern and constantly calling her "Minerva-kins"). But more importantly, what was that back there? Why did that sudden memory pop up in her head? It was as if something out there was speaking to her directly. As if something was trying to dig back up her old memories of the past. All that balled up anger she had so many years ago for her sist-
No.
The young dark mage shook her head furiously. She promised herself that she would rid herself of all the hate she had for her sister. She was no longer mad at sister and things would stay that way. She was the only family in her household she had left and she wanted it to stay that way.
This was no good. She was becoming restless with all of this stuff. She needed a way to get her mind off of things. "Training with Father might do the trick!" Naomi said with a newly found excitement in her body and rushed down the hall and to her father's quarters.
The young dark mage knocked on the door before her father told her to enter. As always, he was hard at work at his table with multiple books open and paper everywhere. "Hi, Father." Naomi greeted to her father who turned and smiled back at her.
"Hey, Naomi. Did you want something?" He asked.
"I was just walking by and wondered if you would like to do some sword training with me? You know, just to keep your mind off of just work."
Instead of the answer she was eager to hear, he shook his head and replied, "I've told you this before, Naomi. You should try to train with someone who is more proficient in that field. You don't wear armor like I do and you are better with magic, so it would benefit you more to practice on your magic than the sword."
…This again? This wasn't the first time her father had done this. He did the same thing days after he found she was his daughter, and many times after that. Usually, he would give in and do it anyways (even when she honestly wasn't getting any better). "I-I want to learn the sword just to get closer to you." Naomi tried to use as an excuse.
"I know, and that's more of a reason for me not to agree. I know you only mean well when you ask me, but I would like to see you excel more in a field where you are better in at a time where you will need it the most, than see you struggle in something you know you were not good at."
…Why was he not complying? Did he not want to spend time with his own daughter? She knew he meant well by what he said, but for some reason, anger started to boil inside of her. All she wanted was for her father to help her in a field she wasn't good at since he wasn't there for her in the future…The young dark mage gave her father a sour look before looking to the ground. "…If it was Morgan, you would have said yes." She whispered under her breath.
Her father raise an eyebrow. "Morgan? Why did you bring up Morgan? Yes, she has a way to go with the sword and I gladly help her out whenever I can, but what did she have to do with-"
"Forget it, Father... In fact, forget I even asked you." The young dark said with a harsh tone before storming out of the room and slamming the door behind her. She could hear the door swing open and her father call after her, but she ran further down the hallway before he could catch her. Why was it always her?! Naomi complained to herself. Why is she good at everything?! Why does she always get all of Father's attention?! What does Father have against me?! Why is it always her?! Why is it always HER?! WHY IS IT ALWAYS HER?!
…Why, am I so angry? Naomi asked herself as she stopped in her tracks. This wasn't like her to get angry over such a silly reason. Did it have something to do with that vision of the past earlier? Impossible. There was no way she would still be so angry at something that happened years ago-
"Hey, Naomi!" The young dark mage was brought out of her trance once again from the voice she wanted to hear least in the world. "What did you come to the armory for? Are you here to check the tomes as well?!" The armory? The young blonde didn't realize she had covered so much distance in such a short amount of time. "Hey, is something wrong? You look kinda angry. Did something happen?"
"Nothing, Morgan." The young dark mage waved off. "I just wondered here on accident. I'll be taking my leav-"
"Come on, you can tell me!" The girl insisted. "As sisters we should share our problems with each other! Now, tell me what's on your mind!"
Naomi felt irritated. She already didn't want to talk to her sister and her pressing on for answers was really getting on the young dark mage's nerves even more. "I said I'm fine."
Morgan put a hand on her sister's shoulder to stop her from leaving the room. "You say you are fine, but you don't look it. Come on already! Tell me what's wrong with you!"
"...Let go, Morgan." Naomi said in a warning tone.
Morgan, refusing to give up, shook her head and said, "I'm not letting go until you tell me your problems! You don't really talk to me much, and I want to change that!" Suddenly, an idea popped into the energetic girls head. "I know! Why don't you teach me magic!" Naomi's eyes widened the second the words left her twin's mouth. "I'm almost a complete novice when it comes to magic! If you were to teach me, then I'm sure we could have a lot of fun in the proce-" Before the girl could finish the young dark mage swung around and knocked her sister's hand off of her shoulder.
"I'm not teaching you ANYTHING!" Naomi cracked and lashed out at her sister who jumped back in surprise. "What, you want to take that away from me too? You want me to teach you magic so you can go brag to Father about another talent that you just so happen to pick up?"
Morgan shook her head furiously and replied, "T-That's not what I wanted at all! I just wanted us to-"
"Gods! Even without your memories you're a pain! Why can't you just leave me alone like I asked?!"
Now it was Morgan's turn to become furious. All she wanted was to comfort her sister and all she received in return was attitude. "What the hell is wrong with you, Naomi?!" Morgan lashed out at her sister. "I was just worried about you! You don't have to yell at me for no reason!"
"I don't NEED your worry and I never asked for it!" Naomi shot back with equal intensity in her voice. "Just stop talking to me!"
"Why are you being so mean to me?! Is it a crime to be worried about my own sister?!"
"I said I don't want your worry!"
"Man, if this is how you acted when I had my memories, then I wish they never come back so I didn't have to remember you!"
"AND I WISH WE WOULD HAVE NEVER FOUND YOU IN THE FIRST PLACE!"
"URGH, NO WONDER EVERYONE AVOIDS YOU! YOUR ATTITUDE IS TERRIBLE AND YOUR ANTI-SOCIABLE BEHAVIOR CAN'T BE DEALT WITH! YOU DON'T EVEN FIT IN THIS FAMILY! I BET EVEN FATHER WISHED HE DIDN'T HAVE A HEARTLESS AND INSUFFERABLE DAUGHTER LIKE YOU!"
...
Morgan knew she had said something that she would could not take back from the way her twin's expression twisted from anger to a heartbreakingly hurt face. Morgan's face turned to concern and she placed a hand over her mouth as if trying to block the words that had already left her mouth. Morgan felt even more heart broken when she saw tears starting to continuously fall down her sister's cheeks; the same shock plastered on her face. "H-Hey now. D-Don't cry, Naomi." Morgan tried to apologize.
Naomi dropped her head and balled her fist; a new anger arising within her. In the middle of her sister's apologies, the young dark mage caught her off guard and used all of her force to push her back. The young myrmidon yelped as she hit the ground hard. Meanwhile, the young dark mage made a slow tread over to where a barrel of wooden swords were placed and took one out. Morgan groaned and opened her eyes back up to see her sister slowly dragging her feet towards her with a wooden sword in hand. The young myrmidon felt her body freeze in fear, but also could feel killing intent coming from her sister.
"...back..." The young dark mage murmured as she slowly dragged her feet toward her sister. "...Take it...back..." The young dark mage mumbled again, then looked up and charged her sister with tears streaming down her eyes and the wooden sword raised above her head. "TAKE IT BACK!" Morgan shook her fear off just in time to roll out of the way of her sister's sword swing. Morgan looked back to her sister who began charging her again like a mad woman. "TAKE IT BACK NOW!"
Morgan didn't want to fight, especially not her sister. She didn't waste any time hightailing out of the room and decided the best course of action was finding help; her sister not far behind. Morgan got to the deck of the ship and was almost blinded by the light illuminating from the sky. She put a hand to her face and looked around to the nearest person she could find. Luckily for her Chrom, Emmeryn, Lissa and Lucina were all leaning on the railings of the ship looking out to the blue sea. This was great. If anyone could stop her sister, mother coul-
The young blonde was blown out of her thoughts when a force slammed against her and sent her flying across the ship's canvas. She was about to slide on her feet before hitting anything and came to a stop. The blonde looked to her sister across the ship who put her foot down and assumed a basic kendo stance.
"Get up." Her sister commanded, which brought a frown to her face. The three other Exalted bloods heard the commotion and turned around to the twins blondes. "II said get up!" Morgan hesitantly did what she was told and stood to her two feet; looking across the ship to her sister's anger, tear-filled, yet, determined face. "You WILL take those words back! I will MAKE you take those words back!"
Chrom decided to finally step in when he saw that this was not a joke. He inbetween the two and held his hands out horizontally. "That's enough you two. I don't know what's going on, but-"
"DON'T INTERFERE!" Naomi commanded, which stopped the Exalt in his tracks. "Morgan! Since you don't have a wooden sword, draw your swords and use your sheaths! We will fight until the other admits defeat!"
Chrom frowned at the tone of voice the girl was using. "Naomi, I do not allow infighting amongst the Shepherds. Now, drop the sword and-"
"It's alright, Uncle." Morgan stopped the Exalt while pulling out her swords and placing them in a nearby barrel. She took the sheaths and assumed her fighting stance with her right arm pointed toward her sister and her sword held horizontally in front of her, while her left arm was held out straight and sword held vertically to the sky. "This is not a fight. It's a duel, and I just accepted it."
Chrom looked hesitantly at the two, but shook his head and backed away. "Alright, I will observe your match. If thinks get too carried away, I will step in and stop it. Do you both understand?" Both parties nodded and prepared to fight. Chrom held his a hand and looked to the two to make sure they were ready. When he confirmed that both sisters were ready, he dropped his arm and yelled, "BEGIN!"
Naomi only blinded for a second and Morgan was already in front of her. The young dark mage barely had time to the swing to her abdomen and even less time to jump back from the second horizontal swing to her leg. Morgan was indeed faster, but Naomi knew she could win if she followed what she knew her sister would do. Right after I retreat, she will rush me down and swing for my leg again.Much to the young dark mage's amusement, her hypothesis was spot on and her sister went for a low sweep to her leg.
Naomi immediately deflected the attack and side stepped the thrust forward from her sister's right hand. Once Naomi was inside her twin's defenses, she swung her wooden blade diagonally to connect with her sister's rib cage; hopefully with enough not to break any bones, but leave a clean bruise. The young dark mage expected to have her swing meet the intended target. What she did not expect was for her sister to quickly retaliate by reversing her right hands sword toward her and using it to block her attack, then using the other hand to swing and connect her sheath to the side of her sister's knee cap.
"AH!" Naomi helped and caused her sister to stop. The young dark mage immediately went down to one knee from the attack and her eyes squinted slightly from the pain. Morgan stepped back a few feet and watched her sister try to push herself back to her feet. "Ow..." The girl mumbled and panic instantly took over the tactician in training as she tried to reach out and make sure her sister was okay.
"A-Are you alright, Naomi? I-I didn't mean to hit you so hard! W-We can seriously en-"
"Are you pitying me?" Naomi growled at her sister. The young dark mage was able to muster up her strength and push herself back to her feet; looking at her sister with an intense glare and gritted teeth. "Don't pity me! No matter how hard you hit me, this duel will not end until I am no longer able to move!"
Catching her sister by surprise, Naomi used the wooden sword to sweep the tactician in training's feet and made her fall hard on the ground. With another quick motion she thrust down to the downed girl and only miss by a hair when she rolled away. The dark Mage didn't give her sister any time to recover her footing as she was now all over her. Morgan blocked furious sword swing after sword swing. Her sister's moves were actually sloppy and all over the place. Any good swordsman could have easily taken advantage of those attacks and invoked a serious injury onto her, and yet, she couldn't follow up. Every time she time she tried to counter her sister's strikes, it was as if she read her next movement and immediately parried it. Was she reading her every move before she could execute them?
Morgan finally saw an opening when she dodged a diagonal sword swing from her sister. She immediately charged in and planned to strike at her sister's rib cage. Unfortunately for her, she cringed when her twin used the hilt of her sword to bash against the side of her head, sending her into a daze before receiving another horizontal blow to her shoulder; sends her to the ground instantly.
Morgan groaned in pain and looked up to her sister who hovered over her with her wooden sword pointing to her neck. She showed a triumphant smirk and and laughed at her sister's grounded state. "What's the matter, Morgan? Did you think I would just lay down and let you beat me?" Her twin said cockily. "You caught me off guard in the beginning, but you didn't actually change anything about your attacks. And here I thought you were catching on to my strategy from the beginning." The young dark mage let out another maniac laugh that made her sister grip her swords in anger.
Then she saw something that she wished she hadn't seen in her sister's eyes. Instead of the light brown eyes she inherited from their father, they were now glowing purple. Not only that, but she now seemed to give off a dangerous purple aura around her. "What's the matter, sister? Are you scared of me?" Naomi said in a voice that did not sound like her own. The voice sounded more deadly and demonic and seemed to echo when she spoke. "That fear in your eyes. You have no idea how good it feels to finally knock that stupid grin off of your face!" Morgan was unprepared for the boot to the gut from her cackling sister and completely had the wind forced out of her.
Again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
"That's enough!" Chrom stepped in and forcefully pushed Naomi away before she could cause any more damage. "Naomi, you've already won the duel. There was no need to do what you did." Chrom's words was like wind to the young dark mage. She ignored him completely and walked back to where her sister laid, but Chrom blocked her way.
"...Move." Naomi demanded. It was only then that Chrom finally saw the purplish eyes and voice change of the young girl before him. He could feel an uncomfortable and threatening aura illuminating around the girl the closer she got to him.
"What's happened to you, Naomi-"
"I said MOVE!" The young dark mage's patients ran thin and she took a swing at the Exalt. Chrom dodged the blow that would have been to his head at the last second and reached to his Falchion. He didn't know what was going on, but something was definitely off with Naomi. Before he could draw his legendary blade a hand stopped him. He looked to his right to see Morgan on her feet intensely looking at her possessed sister.
"Let me handle this, Uncle." She mumbled and stepped in front of the Exalt.
"Oh, up already? And here I thought I would finish you." This was definitely not her sister. Morgan might not have had the memories she had before, but the new memories she made with her sister was definitely real. She didn't know what, but something was taking over her sister. The best way she could think to rid her of that evil was to beat it out of her. There was no more need to hold back.
Morgan took a deep breath and turned both of her sheaths in the opposite direction. Both of her sheaths were now in reverse and her left leg was placed in front of her, while the right leaned behind. The left sheath was now held out horizontally in front of her, while the right was held behind her back and pointing diagonally toward the blue sky. Chrom hesitantly backed away since he knew exactly what was coming. Whatever the girl was doing, Naomi had no patience in waiting for her opponent to attack, so she charged forward and jabbed her blade towards her sister's head.
With blinding speed, Morgan used her first strike to knock the wooden sword skyward and out of her sister's hands, then she continued her attack by aiming at the now defenseless body.
Left ribs.
Right forearm.
Left shoulder.
Left thigh.
Right ribs.
Right shoulder.
Left knee.
Right knee.
Morgan spun around to deliver the final blow; to the head. Kill her. Morgan's eyes widened and she immediately held back her final swing; stopping at the side of her twin's skull. Life left Naomi's eyes and she could no longer hold herself up. She immediately collapsed to the ground and within seconds, Emmeryn, Lissa and Lucina was at her side. "Finish her." The voices in Morgan's head demanded. The voices became louder and began to sound more like screeching. "Finish her! Kill her!"
"Morgan? Are you alright?" The tactician in training was brought out of her trance by the soothing and concerned sound of her cousin Lucina's voice.
"I-I'm fine." Morgan stuttered and dropped her stance. The full effect of using Astra was starting to set in fast and she could barely keep on her feet. She looked down to her now unconscious sister with a saddening look. "I...I think I should go." Morgan anxiously turned and began walking away. Before she could get even one step, a hand grabbed her ankle. Morgan looked down and saw the familiar glove of her sister.
"Please...take it...back." Morgan heard Naomi beg through half consciousness. "I...belong...in this family...take it..ba..." Morgan couldn't hear the rest of her sister's words since she passed out and released the grip on her leg. Morgan didn't turn around, but she could feel how much pain her sister was in. So much pain in fact that her heart began thumping madly and warm tears slid down her face. Naomi was the one who started it though! She was the one who was getting angry for no reason, and she wished that her own sister would disappear! And yet...why did Morgan feel like the bad guy? She needed to get away, and that's exactly what she did. Without saying another word the young myrmidon stormed to the other side of the ship and down to the lower hanger.
I know; cliffhanger. Uuuuugh. I also know this isn't the day I promised to let out chapters, but I didn't want to wait! I felt like I had to let this chapter out today or I would be restless for the rest of the week! (Plus, the only way I could finish this chapter was because the other part of it I felt didn't fit unless I moved to the next chapter).
I'm glad people actually like the last two paralogues! I was kinda skeptical because I thought no one would like it, but you did, so thank you! The next chapter of this will be out on Thursday, then possibly another chapter on Sunday; I'm on a role! If not for the notes I took months ago then things would have been a LOT slower.
By the way, for those of you who got the Spectre reference at the end of the last chapter, good for you! (Though, I can't say I would recommend Spectre to anyone who was not a hardcore 007 fan, but if you want to watch it anyways, then don't let my word stop you from watching! Go right ahead!)
As always, thank you for the reviews, favs and follows and hope to see you all next time!