Chains
"The damage has been done, and this machine has begun on a path of destruction."-The Antidote
"Lucina! Lucina!"
Someone was calling her name.
It was freezing. Lucina found herself drifting in a dark void, unable to move. Her limbs were heavy and unresponsive, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't open her eyes. Had she died?
At that thought, Lucina felt warmth grace her face, curling at the edge of her cheek. It lingered for a moment, before rising up to cover her left eye.
"You are lucky." It was a different voice this time. It wasn't loud and frightened, but calm and soothing.
"If it weren't for your own will, you would be dead, regardless of what your exalted blood wished."
More warmth emerged, stroking Lucina's head.
"Not wanting to die...it is such a simple thing. Nobody wants to die. It's surely the thought that crosses everyone's mind when they look Death in the eyes. But you? You were trained to die, yet somehow you still found yourself yearning for life. You hoped for that life and were honest with yourself."
"I find that admirable."
Her left eye was blinded by a green light, and Lucina hissed, straining to adjust to it.
"You are still needed in this world."
Lucina caught sight of a glowing manakete before she was plunged back into the darkness, the other's words echoing in her ears.
"Go forth. Your exalted blood has saved you."
She woke up to sunlight and an ache in her leg. Lucina's eyes flew open, and she was greeted with the dark-green canopy of a tent. She sat up, squinting at the harsh sunlight that peeked through the tent's entrance.
Lucina's mind was muddled and foggy. She tried to remember where she was. Was she on fighting on the front? No. One of her attendants would've woken her up early if she was. A mission then?
Her last one was-
It came back then, her memories of the failed assassination and her own suicide attempt, and Lucina's chest swelled with anxiety. The princess placed a hand on her chest, futilely trying to calm her heartbeat. She took deep breaths and ran through the situation over and over again in her head.
The poison didn't work. That or someone had intervened and stopped it from doing its job. If that was the case, then who? Lucina had been told that the poison was special, that it couldn't be stopped by any regular healer. That was why Mother had told Lucina not to use the dagger unless she was sure it was the only way out. No one would be able to save her from the poison once it was in her system, not even Mother's most skilled healers. So how?
The image of a manakete surrounded by green light flashed through Lucina's mind, but the princess pushed the ridiculous thought away.
Lucina shoved away the blanket that rested on top of her, hands hesitantly fingering her bandaged thigh. Most of her leg was covered in gauze, and so Lucina couldn't get a good look at the skin underneath. There was a stain of dark purple, though, that crept up passed the bandages and peeked out at her hipbone; it served as proof that Lucina really had tried to kill herself.
She made to stand and when she stumbled, falling back down, Lucina realized her shoulder was swathed in bandages as well. The gauze was tight but not too tight, and Lucina could feel the slight stickiness of ointment underneath. Whoever it was that cleaned her up, they obviously knew what they were doing.
Lucina didn't know if she should be relieved or not. Her goal had been to die after all.
No, a voice inside her head chided. That's not it at all.
Lucina frowned and took in her surroundings. She needed to get a better grasp of the situation.
From the looks of it, she wasn't in a medical tent. The lack of patients and medical supplies made that clear. It seemed like Lucina was in somebody's private tent, what with the odd knickknacks and books scattered here and there. The most reasonable conclusion was that the rebels had taken her in.
Lucina itched to get her hands on a weapon. She needed something to protect herself with. There was no telling when her captors would show up, and the princess had no idea what they wanted with her. Treating a prisoner and not even chaining them up? Talk about stupid.
She clenched her hands into fists and scowled. The opportunity to escape was there, but Lucina was too injured to take advantage of it. The situation was frustrating.
There was a sudden noise outside, the raising of voices. Lucina edged away from the tent entrance as the ones talking came closer.
"-idea what you're-"
"-business! Trying to do something-!"
"-yourself killed!"
Lucina heard a loud crash after that and a high-pitched yelp.
"Serves you right!" someone laughed.
A growl. "Shut it! Now I gotta go back and get more!"
"Whatever. I'll go check on her while you do."
"Don't hurt her, Severa!"
"Oh, please! As if I'd pick on somebody that's hurt."
Silence.
"Ya would."
"What?" Severa squawked.
"Anyways, if ya really plan on visiting her, then look at her leg, 'kay? We don't know if the poison's still in there."
There was a huff and then the shuffling of feet, and then the flap to Lucina's tent was pushed aside. The redhead from earlier poked her head inside, face twisted into a grimace. Her eyes widened when she caught sight of Lucina.
"Awake already, huh," she commented. Her voice was filled with scorn, but Lucina could tell she was impressed at the princess's recovery time.
Lucina wrapped an arm around one of her knees, curling in on herself. Her aching limbs twinged. "What do you want?" she asked hoarsely.
Severa sighed and rolled her eyes. "Look. I'm not going to torture you or whatever it is you think we do. Our medic is getting you some food right now. He wanted me to come in and check your wounds."
Lucina frowned. Slowly, she unfurled herself on the mat and extended her arm, offering her injured shoulder to Severa for inspection. The other girl came closer, seemingly pleased that Lucina wasn't putting up a fight.
All the better. Just a little closer and Lucina would be able to lunge forward and tear into Severa's throat with her teeth. Lucina could taste it already, the blood flooding her mouth as she snapped the flesh between her molars. The princess didn't like to make a mess when she killed, but if it was the only way...
Severa leaned over, unaware of her impending doom, and took Lucina's arm in her hands with more care than Lucina thought she was capable of. The mercenary's fingers trailed on the edges of her bandaged shoulder, and Severa dug a knife out of her pocket to cut the gauze open.
Lucina's lips twisted in pain as her injury was exposed to the air. She tensed her muscles slightly and prepared to spring into action, relaxing her jaw.
"You'll need more ointment," Severa commented, furrowing her brow. She motioned for Lucina to turn so she was facing towards her. Lucina obeyed and let her arm fall to her side. Severa was close-so close that Lucina could feel the other girl's breath on her skin as Severa leaned in to inspect her leg-and yet Lucina remained still.
A thousand thoughts ran through her mind, none of them pleasant, as Lucina came to the conclusion that no, she couldn't kill Severa right now.
The rebels had sent someone to treat Lucina's wounds. They were either genuinely concerned for her health or creating this ploy to catch Lucina off guard. But if Lucina killed Severa, they definitely wouldn't be very eager to heal her. The safest option was to bide her time and go along with whatever it was the rebels had planned.
Lucina swallowed and told herself to be patient, even as her instincts sang to her, urging Lucina to fight right now with what little she had.
Severa trimmed away at the gauze on Lucina's leg carefully, blissfully unaware to how close she'd been to death a few seconds earlier. The redhead took her time with Lucina's thigh. It was easy to see that it would need more care than the simple burn on her shoulder.
Lucina inhaled as Severa peeled away the dressings, reigning in her reactions to the stinging pain. She wondered how much flesh would be on her thigh, if there'd be any at all now. Grima's seal was known for tearing away at the life that it touched; it made sense for there to be little left of her leg.
Even though Lucina had prepared herself for the worst, she still flinched at the sight of it.
It was disgusting. A lump of dark purple with small rivers of black running over it, something so grotesque that Lucina felt like throwing up. Were those black rivers what remained of her veins?
How depressing.
Severa voiced her repulsion at the sight, wrinkling her nose and backing away from Lucina. "That's so gross! It smells dead! What the heck! If I knew it was going to be this nasty, I wouldn't have undressed it."
Lucina balled her hands into fists. She didn't need to be told how disgusting her injury was. She saw it.
Severa is a horrible medic, Lucina thought. Ripping out her throat will do the world a favor.
"It looks like a Risen leg," Lucina said dully, looking away from Severa's horrified face.
"Ugh," Severa shivered and put her hands up. "I'm not touching that."
It was odd how considerate she had been earlier, approaching Lucina with a feather-light touch, and now that Severa had seen what lay beneath the compresses, she refused to even look at the injury.
Lucina narrowed her eyes. "That's fine," she said, staring at the ground. "I don't care."
"Um, wow. Someone has an attitude problem."
Lucina fixed her with a look. "Are you scared of a little dead flesh?"
Severa flushed, straightening her shoulders. "Well, I'm sorry that I didn't have the same creepy training regime that you did growing up. You know, the kind that made you immune to stuff like this. Any normal person would be freaked."
"You know about that?" Lucina asked, amused at the obvious barb that Severa threw her way.
The mercenary bristled and crossed her arms over her chest. "Who doesn't? Everyone knows that the Grimleal brainwash their kids."
"Really," Severa continued, unable to meet Lucina's eyes as she twirled a strand of her hair with her finger, "I don't understand why we're treating you so nice. You're just a regular old sicko. We get kids like you all the time. For some reason, though, Cynthia and Owain convinced everybody else that you're special."
Despite how disgusted Severa seemed with her, Lucina realized that the other girl was talking to her an awful lot. It was very contradictory. Granted, most of what she said were insults, but if Lucina truly repulsed the mercenary then she would've left by now.
"How strange," Lucina said, smiling. "I've been thinking the same thing."
"What?" Severa stared at her, taken aback. She looked a little...disappointed? Maybe she'd been hoping for Lucina to take the bait and attack her. Maybe she'd wanted to see Lucina cry.
Either way it was very childish.
As if venomous words from a stranger could hurt Lucina. Mother had taught her from a young age: Wear their insults like armor.
"I guess you and I are a lot alike then, aren't we?" Lucina asked, tone completely innocent.
Severa sputtered, seemingly at a loss for words as her face grew redder and redder, cheeks puffing out. Lucina was almost worried the girl would burst. Almost.
"You...and...m-me? ALIKE?" Severa spun on her heels, throwing her hands into the air, and let out an angry hiss as she marched out of the tent.
There was a brief commotion outside. Lucina could distinctly hear Severa calling her names as a few others tried to placate the mercenary, and then the stomping of her boots. A few seconds after the sound faded away, a head poked its way inside the tent.
"Are ya alright in here?"
It was a young man with short, light hair and a thin scar over his eye. He had a rough look to his face, like that of a thug, but his clothing said that he was a medic. In his hands, he held a plate stacked with food.
Lucina's mouth watered at the sight. It'd been awhile since she last ate. Swallowing, she said, "Yes, I'm fine. Your friend never finished changing my bandages, though."
The medic let out a deep sigh and rolled his eyes. "Figures," he muttered, setting the plate down on tray. He rolled up his sleeves and held out a hand. "The name's Brady."
Tentatively, Lucina took it. "Thank you," she said. "For taking care of me."
"No biggie," Brady said gruffy, retracting his hand. "I'll get ya cleaned up, then ya can eat."
Brady pulled up a chair next to Lucina and sat in it. He worked quickly, cleaning the wounds and then dressing them again. His hands were surprisingly gentle and when he waved his staff over Lucina, his intensity softened.
"A lot of us believe that you're lucky to be alive," Brady informed Lucina. He put the plate of food in front of her and rubbed the end of his nose. "I don't think it's luck. Luck doesn't save people from wounds like those."
There were a few drumsticks, two small to be anything but chicken, some lumpy-looking veggies, slices of apple, and a biscuit. Lucina eagerly grabbed the biscuit with her good hand and shoved it in her mouth, chewing slowly to savor the taste.
Brady shot her a look of shock. "I didn't think ya'd eat it."
Lucina swallowed and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Should I not have?" she asked.
"NO!" Brady exclaimed, waving his hands. "It's just...I thought ya would put up a fight, ya know? Claim it was poisoned?"
Lucina stared at Brady for a moment before carefully choosing her words. "You don't seem like the type," she said, "to treat a patient and then kill them. It would be a waste of your time."
"Now," the princess reluctantly began, "there is a possibility that there was some sort of truth serum in the food-"
"I wouldn't," Brady sputtered, eyebrows knitting together.
"-but I don't think a rag-tag group of insurgents such as yourselves have the funds to buy something like that. Therefore, I deemed the food safe to eat," Lucina continued, reaching for a drumstick.
Brady let out a sort of wheeze then, short and deep, like he was laughing. "Yer something else, ya know that?"
"Yes, I've been told that many times," Lucina said indifferently. She raised the chicken leg to her mouth and tore into it with a viciousness that would've been reserved for Severa's throat if she hadn't changed her mind.
Brady told Lucina once she finished eating that it might take weeks before her leg healed. She would have the opportunity to walk on crutches once her shoulder was fully recovered, though, which should happen tomorrow.
"What are my restrictions?" Lucina asked, deciding to get right to the point.
Brady shifted, uncomfortable as he looked to the entrance to the tent wearily. "Ya have to get clearance first," he explained. "From one of our leaders. Then ya have to be supervised wherever ya go."
Lucina nodded her head. "Alright," she agreed. "That's reasonable enough. Anything else?"
"That's just it. Yer clearance and supervision."
Lucina narrowed her eyes. There was something Brady wasn't telling her, but she decided not to try her luck by pushing too hard too soon.
"Who's this leader I have to meet?" Lucina questioned. "Do I know him?"
Brady's nose twitched.
"Let's just say he knows you," the medic emphasized carefully, giving Lucina a look that was probably supposed to mean something.
Lucina had to suppress a great sigh. The one good thing about Grima's army was that no one talked in hints and riddle there. When someone spoke they got right to the point, their instructions clear and concise.
She honestly didn't understand how these revolutionaries got anything done with how they beat around the bush all the time.
A/N: Well, at least this chapter didn't take like five months. Despite what you may think, no, this story won't have any bashing in it.
Sorry if any characters seem OOC. Just tell me if you see something that really doesn't fit and I'll either explain or fix it. Remember that Lucina's been raised in a different environment than in canon, though I'll try to stay true to the core of her character.
Next Chapter: We get to meet one of the remaining Shepherds! Guess who it is? ;)