Not too much longer to go! I hope you all enjoy!
Severa was on the top deck, barfing over the edge of the ship, when Morgan walked up to her.
"Hey, Severa. Want something to ea-?" Morgan was about to ask until Severa puked overboard again. "… I'll take that as a 'no'."
After Severa was finished, she sat down and gasped heavily from not being able to properly breathe for the last few minutes.
"Are you seasick?" Morgan asked.
"Gh… No."
"Are you sick?"
"No."
"Did you eat Kjelle's cooking again?"
"Hey!" Kjelle's voice could be faintly heard on the deck.
"Worse." Severa replied to her sister. "I saw… Dad and Say'ri… Here it comes again!"
Severa started vomiting over the edge of the ship again and Rei'qu walked up to them.
"Severa, are you seasick?" Rei'qu asked.
"Actually, yeah, in a way." Severa replied before puking again.
"We should take you to a healer then." Rei'qu said. "I'd be happy to escort you to Lissa or Maribelle."
Severa then looked over her shoulder to see that Rei'qu still had her stoic expression.
"… You don't look that happy." Severa raised her eyebrow and puked over the ship once more.
After Robin got dressed, he went over to the captain's quarters where Chrom and Frederick were looking over some maps.
"Have you talked with your daughter yet?" Chrom asked.
"I don't think Severa would want to see me or Say'ri for a while." Robin answered.
"Well, there'll be plenty of time for her to cool down before we reach shore." Frederick said.
"I don't know." Robin said. "That image of walking in on Chrom and Sumia is still burned into my memory. If she's anything like me, I don't think she'd forget it this soon."
"Then I guess we're even." Chrom said.
"You both should really learn to knock first." Frederick bluntly stated.
In the ship's very small infirmary, Lissa was examining Severa with Morgan and Rei'qu in the room with them.
"There's nothing to worry about." Lissa said.
"But why was she throwing up earlier?" Rei'qu asked.
"Because she saw her Dad and Say'ri doing it." Lissa chuckled.
Severa blushed from embarrassment. "Don't just say it like that! And how do you know that?!"
"My big brother told me." Lissa answered.
"Excuse me, 'doing' what exactly?" Morgan asked.
"Huh?" Lissa asked.
"What were Father and Mother doing?"
Lissa and Severa looked at Morgan with quizzical expressions.
"… You're kidding, right?" Lissa questioned. "How old are you? Shouldn't you have been given the 'birds and the bees' talk?"
"Birds and bees?" Morgan raised her eyebrow.
"I don't see what the problem is." Rei'qu expressed with an expressionless face. "All parents have sex eventually. It's just the natural order of things."
"How can you be so calm about this?!" Severa shouted. "Doesn't it creep you out imagining your parents naked and doing gods know what to each other?!"
"Father and Mother were having sex?!" Morgan exclaimed.
"Okay, now she gets it." Lissa said.
Say'ri was painting in the lower floors of the ship of a beautiful cherry blossom tree when there was a knock on her door.
"Come in." Say'ri said.
Rei'qu and Morgan came in and the latter gave her mother a big hug. Say'ri had to hold up her paintbrush so the paint wouldn't stain her clothes.
"What are you painting, Mother?" Morgan asked.
Rei'qu walked over and examined the partially finished portrait. "It's a cherry blossom tree. I haven't seen one since I was a child. Unfortunately, by the time I was a teenager, they were all destroyed with our country."
Say'ri's face became sorrowful upon hearing those words. "Chon… Chon'sin is destroyed in the future?"
"The Risen attacks eventually reached Chon'sin." Rei'qu's eyes started to become glazed. "When they reached the palace… It wasn't long before they… cut you down…"
"Rei'qu, are you crying?" Morgan asked.
"Just because I don't show any emotions, doesn't mean I don't feel them." Rei'qu responded, sounding a little angry. "Seeing Mother killed right before my eyes was traumatizing. I'm surprised I'm still able to move or speak. And Father and Morgan were nowhere to be seen. I was all alone and without anyone to rely on… Excuse me, but I need to take in some fresh air."
Rei'qu walked out of the room, leaving Say'ri and Morgan alone.
"Rei'qu…" Say'ri muttered. "I had no idea you held such pain inside you…"
"I don't blame her." Morgan said. "No wonder she rarely shows any emotion. I'll… I'll go check on her. You have another daughter to talk to."
"Pardon?"
"Severa's pretty shaken up from seeing you and Father earlier. I know she doesn't want to see either of you for a while, but she needs to talk with you, Mother, and Father as well."
"Aye, I shall do that, Morgan. And you speak with Rei'qu."
"Will do!" Morgan saluted.
Rei'qu was leaning against the edge of the ship with her eyes closed, taking in the scent of the salty sea air.
"Yarne, why are you always so cowardly?!"
Rei'qu looked over to her side to see near the deck Kjelle yelling at Yarne.
"I'm the last taguel alive and I have to keep it that way!" Yarne argued. "Imagine if you were the last human alive."
"Just train yourself to become strong enough to survive." Kjelle said. "And if I catch you hiding during another skirmish…"
Kjelle's glare was enough to get the message across with Yarne.
"I-it won't happen again!" Yarne stuttered. "I promise!"
"You better keep that promise." Kjelle stormed off.
After she left, Yarne sighed with relief and Rei'qu walked over to him.
"So, you're the last of your race, too, huh?" Rei'qu asked.
"Um, I'm pretty sure there are still humans in the future." Yarne responded.
"Perhaps, but I AM the last Valmese." Rei'qu clarified. "Or at least, I used to be. If we succeed in preventing our dark future from happening, both of our races will see brighter days."
"What about bandits and accidents at home?"
"Kjelle was right; you are definitely a coward."
"Say whatever you want about me. I don't care."
"But she was also right that becoming stronger will improve your chances of survival. That's what I did after my home was sieged by Risen. I'd be more than happy to train you."
"When you put it like that, I guess I can't refuse. Just… please go easy on me."
"There's no such thing as easy training." Rei'qu leered at Yarne with murderous intent.
"… I don't like that look in your eyes."
Hiding underneath the deck was Morgan, who was eavesdropping on the whole conversation.
Say'ri made her way around the ship to see Severa lying in a hammock, just staring at the ceiling. She walked over to her and sat on her knees next to the hammock.
"Severa, may I speak with you?" Say'ri asked in a calm voice.
Severa turned her body so she couldn't face Say'ri.
"I understand that what you saw earlier was… Uncomfortable." Say'ri said. "I wouldn't know how I would react to seeing my parents in the same position. But is this perhaps about your mother?"
"Look, I…" Severa spoke up. "Yes, it's uncomfortable knowing that Dad is sleeping with a woman other than Mother." She then grumbled to herself. "I didn't think it'd happen again…"
"Excuse me?"
"Nothing!"
"I see… When you were a child, you accidentally walked in on Robin and Cordelia and seeing me with him in that situation caused those memories to resurface. I am deeply sorry."
"No…" Severa sat up and looked at Say'ri. "It's fine. You didn't know. And to be fair, Chrom and Lucina walked in before I did. By the way, watch out for Lissa. Chrom told her about what happened."
"A… aye…" Say'ri looked embarrassed.
*It didn't help that when I saw Dad and Mom doing it, Morgan was born nine months later…* Severa quietly thought to herself.
An hour later, Robin was in his room reading a book when there was a knock on the door.
"Come in." Robin called out.
The door opened and Severa walked in with a somewhat embarrassed expression on her face.
"Hi, Daddy." She greeted him.
"Severa, I'm surprised you're coming to see me so soon."
"Say'ri and I had a little talk. You don't have to worry about it anymore."
"Well… That saves me from having an awkward talk. I'll have to thank Say'ri later."
"I'm sure you will. Just make sure you lock the door before you two… Do it again."
"Er, let's change the topic."
"Please!"
"It sounds like you and Say'ri are getting along fairly well now."
"Yeah, sure…" Severa looked down and blushed. "We're fine."
"You don't need to be so bashful about it." Robin smiled. "Even if she's not your mother, I'm still your father and we both care for you. I don't expect you to think of her as a mother, but rather a mother figure. Someone who's willing to hear you out, which I'm always available for as well."
"Daddy…" Severa started to tear up.
"Don't be afraid to talk to us, Severa. We're always going to be here for you."
Severa started bawling and clung to Robin's cloak, with him petting her head.
"It's going to be all right…" Robin whispered to her.
Later that evening, Lucina was walking around the ship and saw Rei'qu sitting in the middle of the top deck and gazing up at the stars in the clear night sky.
"Rei'qu, what are you doing out here?" Lucina asked as she sat down next to her.
"Just… looking at the stars." Rei'qu answered. "I have never seen stars like this in the future."
"I know what you mean." Lucina said.
"By the way, you're a princess, just like me, right? Or at least, I used to be. I lost that title the moment Chon'sin was overrun by Risen."
"Rei'qu, I… I'm sorry to hear that. It must have been painful knowing your people have all perished."
"I was still young and wasn't strong enough to protect them. You at least helped to keep humanity's hope running high in such perilous times. My country had no one left to protect. I was the only survivor."
"Then that gives us even more of a reason to stop our dreadful future from happening."
"I just want the present me to not have to go through what I did."
"Me, too… Wait, you haven't even been born yet."
"I know, I meant this timeline's version of me… who hasn't even been conceived yet."
"Too much information… Let's go back to looking at the stars."
"Aye."
It took quite some time, but the Shepherds had finally landed in Port Ferox and they all disembarked and unloaded their supplies. Robin, Chrom and Frederick were all leaving the ship to help out with the disembarking efforts.
"Once we get back to Ylisstol, we should start our search for the remaining gemstones." Chrom said.
"I will get to it at once, milord." Frederick said.
"Let's resupply at home first, though." Chrom suggested.
"When you say it like that, Ylisstol should come first." Frederick replied.
"In the meantime, I'll show Say'ri around Ylisstol." Robin said. "She's curious in learning our culture just as I've been curious in learning hers."
"Good for you…" Chrom then sighed. "I have to announce to the public that my sister's getting married to Vaike. Oh joy…" He looked over to Robin. "It'd be like if you got engaged to my daughter."
"Uuuumm…" Robin was a little confused. "Which one?"
"The one not sleeping in a cradle." Chrom answered.
"Oh, yeah, that makes sense."
"Are you going to continue idly chatting or are you going to start helping the rest of the Shepherds unload?" Frederick spoke up.
The three of them went to help the others with various tasks and marched their way to the capital of Ylisstol.
In the castle in Plegia, the current lord, Validar, was approached by an assassin who bowed to him.
"Lord Validar, the Shepherds have finally returned from Valm." The assassin reported. "It appears their campaign against Walhart was successful."
Validar smirked widely and began cackling.
A/N: Sorry that one took a little longer than I had anticipated, but it's done. I hope you all enjoyed it. Stay tuned for next time!