They're seeing through her now (they've seen it all before)

"Da! Da! DA DA!"

Cynthia paused. There had to be something after "DA DA!", but she was having trouble figuring out what.

She needed something, of course. A wandering hero needed theme music, and no matter what Owain said, the rustling of the wind and the echo of steel on steel just wouldn't cut the mustard.

She'd already discarded a dozen drafts for being insufficiently heroic, and it looked like she'd have a few more before she had anything worth sticking to.

She almost went with the one Brady composed, but then he had to go and start dating Severa. A hero couldn't have a theme written by her archnemesis's boyfriend! There were rules. Well, there were probably rules, and if they weren't written yet, she'd have to do it herself. No real hero would forgive her if she didn't.

She was midway through composing a bridge consisting entirely of humming (possibly also DA DA!s, but she didn't want to commit too early) when she saw a poster.

"WINGS OF JUSTICE!"

She took a step closer. It seemed like SOMEONE in town had a proper flair for the dramatic! Cynthia was worried earlier. When she stepped into an inn asking if anyone had HERO WORK they all just stared at her and backed away. And when she walked into a restaurant, they didn't even offer her a special hero discount! (She would have turned it down anyway, of course. A true hero wasn't in it for the delicious breakfast food or the endless fame and glory. But they could have at least offered. )

Cynthia took a step closer and squinted. Beneath the huge proclamation of JUSTICE (as good a start as you could get!) there was more text in a smaller font. Well, if someone put all the effort into writing a love letter to dashing deeds, it was only polite to read it. And heroes were always polite if Cynthia had anything to say about it!

"Do you believe in heroes?"

Cynthia nodded. They were obviously off to a fine start already. Who didn't believe in heroes, other than meanies, jerks, villains, Severa, well, a lot of people now that she thought about it. But the point was the poster was weeding them out already! Perfect.

"Do you love… love?"

Love was a thing heroes defended! Cynthia smiled. Yes, this was by far the best poster she'd seen. Much better than the wanted posters for Chrom.

"Do you dare experience the most gut-busting comedy that Ylisse has ever seen?"

Gosh yes she dared!

It was a shame that heroics had to rule people out like that, though. It would be nice to do… whatever this was with Lucy if she saw her again, but she was not exactly the ideal audience for a comedy. Admittedly, no-one Cynthia had met matched her refined and brilliant comedic sensibilities, but her sister was a bit of a stick-in-the-mud when anyone tried to make jokes. It was sad, but there really was nothing you could do.

"Then come to the Feen Theater! Starting on the eighteenth, the award winning comedy 'Wings of Justice' is coming to this very town, starring the original cast! See the play critics are calling 'a remedy to the post-war blues', 'breathtaking' and 'the greatest thing to hit Ylisse since Naga'! And for opening night only, the five guests in the best hero costumes get free admission in premium seats!"

Cynthia made a squealing noise. After a second spent looking around to make sure she didn't ruin her priceless heroic reputation, she rushed off for the theater. This was too perfect to be believed! She already had a costume, after all. What could be more heroic looking than the armor an actual hero wore when she singlehandedly vanquished… err... helped vanquish… the terrifying dragon god that nearly destroyed mankind? Nothing, that's what! Cynthia smiled. She'd get to see a celebration of heroes up close! For free!

She checked her pack. After all, if they were setting up signs, that explained where all the really heroic sorts were, and why she hadn't seen any junior justice cabals or similar cheering her on arrival. The line must be around the block already. She'd need to bring a dinner with her if she didn't want to go hungry!

Cynthia was disappointed when she arrived. The "line" was just a few people standing by a stage. It didn't even go outside the theater! Several of them had costumes, at least. She walked up to a woman dressed more or less like Lucy.

"Is this the line for 'Wings of Justice'?"

The woman turned and shook her head.

"This is the stage."

"Oh. It looks… suitably heroic?"

The woman smiled.

"Well, I'm glad someone thinks so. Small towns like this, it's hard to find an audience starting out. Too busy worrying or rebuilding to realize what they really want is a distraction from their troubles."

"Hero work!"

Not Lucina laughed. It was weird to see someone looking like Lucina just… laugh like that. Lucy COULD laugh, of course, Cynthia had seen it, but it was pretty rare. This woman just

"I guess it is, in a way. Good to see you're excited about it. Gods, you got that costume ready fast. Guess you really wanted those tickets. How'd you hear about us?"

"Oh, I just saw the posters."

"Well, we put up enough of 'em. Got the idea from a cousin of mine, in the army. Of course, the posters she mentioned had the Exalt stark naked, which I'm pretty sure we couldn't get away with, but good visual balance can almost make up for that, right?"

"You mean you saw Chrom…?"

"No! Apparently, someone tore all of the posters they could down and burned 'em. Heard there's a merchant who could sell you a copy, if you were desperate, but I've never seen one. So, you didn't even get a letter about this? Because that costume looks better than some of ours."

Cynthia just smiled.

"A real hero…"

"Seriously, it's like you read the script. I'm worried you might ruin things for everyone else by saying the entire thing from memory while waiting in line."

Cynthia looked hurt for a second.

"I wouldn't want to…"

"It was a joke. Look, you're a lock for a free seat already. Go out, enjoy yourself, come back later tonight. You'll have a place for you, no line, no fuss."

"It would be unfair for a hero…"

"Going all out in character? Look, you're obviously fired up for this, you're going to win anyway, and just seeing someone enjoying themselves is half the reason we're in this line of work. Naga's breath, it's not like five g's going to make or break the company. If we couldn't sell your seat's worth, then we'd be in a lot more trouble than you could fix. 'Hero' or not. So go on, have a nice day, and we'll put on the best show we can for you. That sound like a deal?"

Cynthia leaned from one leg to the other.

"I guess…"

"Great. We'll see you in a few hours, and hopefully you'll like what we have to show."

Cynthia waved as she ran out of the room and smiled the second she saw sunlight. Sure, she wasn't being praised for being a hero, but she was being complimented for acting like one, and that was almost as good! And, if she guessed right from the set and costumes, the play was about Ylisse! Maybe there'd even be something about her. Cynthia prepared something appropriately humble sounding when someone recognized her afterwards. Just because a hero shouldn't brag didn't mean they couldn't appreciate when people bragged for them, after all.

As the day burbled on, Cynthia was more and more excited for the play. She'd have her pegasus swoop down afterwards and everyone would gasp! 'Is that Cynthia?' 'She's the coolest!' 'I want to be like her when I grow up, but not as cool because no-one can even dream of being as awesome as Cynthia!'

But she'd be too far away to answer except by winking down at the ground. Severa would hear about it weeks later and curse. 'I only insult Cynthia to make up for the fact she's so cool and I'm such a doodyhead', she would say. Those words exactly. Cynthia was sure of it.

When the time came for the play, she was nearly bouncing off the walls. She filed in, and watched as a small boy in a crude approximation of Gerome's mask, a girl in a cardboard version of her armor, and a few other people in costume trundled after her. Friends of justice, one and all. Cynthia bounced in her seat. This was going to be the best night of her life! Well, maybe not quite, since the past few years had some pretty good ones, but it was at least going to be in contention. Finally, the world would appreciate her! Kjelle would know that she'd been right to put her faith in Cynthia! Gerome would… well, he and Lucy seemed happy together. She'd hate to break them up. But he'd sigh wistfully at what could have been.

She looked down at the program in her hands. Could it be?

Cynthia was the first name on the list of characters! She knew she was heroic, but so heroic that the entire town was attending a celebration of her? That the probably-most-beloved play in the entire world was about her? Cynthia hardly dared to dream such a thing had happened already. Dreaming it was going to happen eventually, of course, was just dreaming of the obvious. But she didn't expect it this soon!

She was too excited to pay much attention to the introduction. Or anything else, before a woman walked on stage wearing her armor! Cynthia bounced in her seat. The actress was older than she was, of course. You had to cast someone more experienced, to ensure they understood the world enough to be the hero everyone needed. Cynthia figured it out younger than most people, but you couldn't expect that from anyone else. She smiled. Yep, no-one else had that seasoned veteran wisdom so young.

The Cynthia on stage was smiling.

"This looks like a day for hero work!"

The Cynthia in the stands nodded. It always was. Good eye.

Then she tapped her foot. Once. Twice. Three times. And burst into song.

Cynthia started dashing down notes. Obviously, Naga was giving her a gift. She must have seen how hard Cynthia was working on a theme song, and decided she deserved one as a gift for all her hard work.

The tune was good, and most of the lyrics were on point. Of course, a cynical doodyhead like Severa (she didn't even justify adult insults!) would have looked at some of the things happening in the background as a bit of an insult. That the song was being ironic. But Cynthia knew that would be ridiculous. Good people like these would never make fun of heroes! She hummed along and hissed as a bandit snuck behind the Cynthia on stage. Then the Cynthia on the stage noticed! The bandit jumped in the air and Cynthia ran off after him. This was going to be…

Cynthia on stage tripped. Everyone laughed. Everyone except the Cynthia in the audience. For a moment, she thought that the production was falling apart! Everyone knew how dangerous tripping was for heroes. It could happen to actors too! That was no reason to laugh. Then the curtain dropped to close the scene, and Cynthia realized that was meant to happen.

Things only grew worse from there. More and more gags were made at her expense. Her hero speeches were mocked, her zeal was used to set up jokes, even Severa came out looking better. And the audience loved it. Every time she was insulted, every time her plans went awry, someone laughed and clapped.

It wasn't fair. It hadn't really been like that. Or… at least it hadn't always been like that. Usually. Sometimes.

A hero had to be allowed some leeway if she was trying, after all. It wasn't like she meant to be…

But the play didn't stop. The laughter didn't stop. And Cynthia felt less like a hero with every passing second. It wasn't right. It wasn't fair. But it was, so she had to sit through it and smile. It would be easier if she could say Severa was behind it, or some other fiendish nemesis. But no. It was just the people she met earlier. The nice, decent people who just wanted to make their audience laugh and feel better. They didn't want to hurt her. They just didn't care.

Cynthia slumped out while everyone was applauding. It wouldn't have been so bad if the audience agreed with her, if people realized how much it hurt. But no. They loved it. She came in expecting to find proof she was a hero. She left knowing the hope was as stupid as she always felt after arguments. Severa was right, and she was wrong. Yay for Cynthia, world's biggest idiot and embarrassment to her entire family.

Her pegasus swooped down in a heroic dive. Cynthia looked up and shook her head. Her faithful steed tumbled to the ground and whinnied in disappointment.

"There's no point. No-one would want to watch anyway."

Cynthia grabbed for the bridal and lead the only thing still dumb enough to think she could be a hero to a nearby restaurant. The waitress blinked at her pegasus, but a few gold made sure she didn't ask anything beyond "So, what will your pegasus be having, ma'am?"

Both of them were midway through their dinners when the crowd pressed in, all chattering about the play. If they were talking about anything else, Cynthia would join in. Instead, she stared into her soup and wondered if she could drown in it.

"So funny!"

"Can't believe there's really someone so dumb!"

"Kjelle is SO. COOL."

"I know! When Cynthia went and almost ruined…"

Cynthia sighed and tried to hum her theme tune to drown out the talk. It didn't work. It worked even less when she remembered the theme song came from that stupid play. That it was another insult. Yay for Cynthia. She looked over to a crowd of happy children. The future of Ylisse, all convinced that she was an idiot.

Well, most of them were happy. A boy in a mask just looked depressed. For a second, Cynthia just thought he was that committed to his Gerome costume when another child jabbed him in the ribs.

"Why aren't you laughing? It was hilarious!"

"I know. But..."

"Aww. Look at the baby. Has a baby crush on the only person dumber than he is."

"She saved my mom!"

"Then your mom must be pretty dumb too, because…"

The boy in the mask punched the other boy in the face, and a fight broke out.

Well, for a given value of fight. Cynthia might have been a target of ridicule, occasionally clumsy, and not the smartest person in the world, but she was a professional. She'd trained with Kjelle and Lucy for more hours than she cared to remember, and knew what fights were supposed to look like. There was a certain level of confusion, of course. Some shouting. Maybe blood if it wasn't practice sparring. But there was also discipline, drive, and something that could be taken for meaning after.

This didn't qualify as a fight by any metric Kjelle would use. Cynthia was more lenient, but she'd still barely say it qualified. It was just a couple of boys swinging their arms in incomprehensible directions until they rammed something by brute force odds. Still. Someone could get hurt if they kept up like this.

Cynthia walked over and picked both of them up by the scruff of their necks.

"What's the hubbub?"

The larger boy, the one without the mask, turned to face her.

"He started it!"

The boy in the mask shook.

"He said Cynthia was…"

Then he looked up. Dawning realization slid across the masked boy's face.

"He said you were dumb!"

Cynthia smiled her winning hero smile.

"That doesn't make it right to hit him. What kind of hero can't take a few insults?"

He nodded silently.

"Now, I know you just wanted to help, but a hero should be careful not to start fights. We protect people, and hurting them just doesn't help."

He nodded again.

"Thank you."

Cynthia let go and both boys crashed into the ground.

"Don't worry about it. Even the best heroes make mistakes sometimes. Just remember them so you can learn!"

Her trusty steed trotted over. Cynthia nodded. This was the opportunity she was looking for. With a single leap, she mounted her pegasus and took to the sky. No tripping. No crashing. Just a smooth, heroic exit, as the crowd looked on in wonder.

So what if she made mistakes? What if people laughed?

She was helping people. That was what being a hero was all about.

...besides. That WAS a pretty good theme song.

Exactly as you left them

"Real bargain, folks, real bargain!"

"You tried the rest, now try the best! Seriously, folks, you won't find better in Ylisse, direct from Chon'sin, and fresh as the day they were picked!"

"It won't last long! Today only!"

Lucina smiled. It was… gods. It was more than a decade since she last heard the bustle of a happy street market. The mind staggered to think that the wars and death she'd seen could exist in the same world as these cheerful, honest…

"No, I'm pretty sure that was another Anna. I would never…"

Well, more or less honest people, filling the world with joy and life. A shame she couldn't stay long, but she had an appointment at the palace. Otherwise, she could perhaps track down a replacement for that lovely polka dotted dress she found last time she was here. It was curious how it was the only thing burned in the recent fire, but Robin had been insistent it was better to be grateful than to ponder the details.

She'd just have to find something even more perfect to replace it. Her husband would just be so excited at the surprise. But that was for another day. For now, she'd just grab some local produce, take in the sights, and go.

"Marth!"

Lucina turned to look for the source of the voice. It was some time since she'd used the name, and it still grabbed her by the neck every time she heard it. The perils of carrying a legacy.

A merchant was waving for her. She shoved through the crowd with the average selection of apologies and nodded to him.

"Yes?"

"You're Marth, right? The sellsword who swept through a couple years back?"

"I… haven't made use of that name in some time."

"Well, you used it when you saved my life. Good enough for me. I've been looking for you since. Figure I owed you."

"I never presumed that basic decency would merit payment. Seeing a fellow human being alive is more than enough."

The merchant shook his head.

"Not for me. I square my debts. Always have, always will. I know nothing I have's worth my life, but you have to give me something here."

"I insist. The joy in this market is all the payment I could request."

"Look. I'll cut to the chase. My wife would kill me if I let you get away without showing some gratitude. If nothing else, think of it as saving my life again. Just take something. Got some good stock in."

"Well, if the matter is that urgent…"

Lucina smiled. It wouldn't do to be ungrateful. If it would make someone else happy, the least she could do would be to take a book from the pile. If it was non-fiction, it would be a way to bond with Morgan and Robin. Otherwise, if all else failed, she could leave it as a gift for her mother.

A number of tomes almost gleamed out of the shelves. There was a new edition of Ribald Tales of the Faith War, her mother always recommended that one. The Song of Anri brought back memories. Her father read it for her when she was small, skipping over some of the… more interesting details. She'd learned to read just to find out what she'd been missing. Chrom had been so angry when he found out… those were good memories. Until recently, she'd held tight to the few left. Now she could drown in them, and more came daily.

Oh! A perfect example. The Siege of Nabarl's Peak. Robin fell for that novel almost as hard...

Lucina blushed. Almost as hard as he fell for her. He'd spent days discussing the tactics in the novel over the breakfast table, gushing over the detailed insight into the minds of the cast, explaining their every folly and stroke of genius and showing just how crucial understanding people was to understanding the art of war. The fact an average reader would take considerably longer to finish the book than it took to fight the actual war that loosely inspired it was, to him, an irrelevant detail.

It would be hard to choose just one. Then she saw the corner of something new. "Shades of a Dying God". She picked it up to examine the novel. The merchant nodded.

"Good eye! Thought I was sold out on that one."

"Oh, if it's rare, I would hate to…"

The man laughed.

"Not rare. Just next to impossible to keep it on the shelves. Regular best seller. Makes 'Make Him Fall for You in a Fortnight' look like 'Nabarl's Peak', if you can believe it. And I insist you take it. The least I can do."

"Thank you."

"Don't think about it. Naga bless and keep."

"To you as well!"

Lucina turned with her book in her hand and followed the path to the palace. The guards at the gate seemed to recognize her, and nodded as she passed. The fact they noticed her at all spoke volumes for Frederick's new training regime, but she'd spent too long in the market to spare the time for a much deserved set of compliments.

When she arrived in the inner hall, a door blocked her way, and a nervous looking young pegasus knight stammered out an apology.

"I'm sorry, but the Exalt and the Quenn are occupied at the moment. He asked not to be disturbed under any…"

"I understand."

The girl sighed in relief.

"Thank you. I'm sorry. Just read a little about nobles before… Got a lot worried."

"Think nothing of it."

Lucina slid to a seat in the corner of the room and ignored her own advice. It would be a long wait. If Robin and Morgan were here…

Well, it would be a much more difficult wait with Morgan around. As wonderful and pleasant as she could be, Lucina's daughter seemed to take 'can't' as a challenge far too often for anyone's good. It didn't help anything when she succeeded.

At least she had a new novel. It would be something to discuss with her mother after. If it was as popular as the merchant said, it was more likely than not the reigning Queen of Ylisse would have at least seen a copy. Given that Sumia was the most devoted reader of… historical romances that Lucina had ever met, likely became a certainty.

Lucina smiled. She really should read it now. Gods knew that her mother would have a hard time keeping the twists and turns to herself if she found out her daughter was interested. She pulled the book from her rucksack.

The author's name was a conspicuous blank, but Lucina pressed forward, past a dedication page that again refused any details and a woodcut frontispiece that looked somehow familiar.

"I frowned at my reflection in the pool. Damn hair. Damn eyes. Damn face. It felt like the first time I'd seen it, but it had the familiarity of an old enemy."

Lucina sighed. Another puddle scene? It was tiresome at this point. There had to be a better way to pass on information if you wanted to explain what a character looked like.

Then she smiled. An amnesic protagonist did at least give the whole thing some ties to her life. A little to talk over with Robin and Morgan, even if nothing else was worth remembering. Further reading only added to the feeling. The protagonist was a tactician. Well, supposedly.

He seemed to spend less time spilling wargames over every available surface, spiraling into mad plans whenever he had paper at hand, and playing Tome Stackers than the real thing, but Lucina had to admit that she had a limited sample size. It was possible that, somewhere in the world, you could find someone as dull as the narrator of the novel that still passed for a tactician, but Lucina couldn't say she would prefer him to the alternative.

It was clear the writer admired tacticians. It was much less clear if he had any idea how they went about their work.

Still, a tactician was a good sign. It probably meant the book would have a war sooner or later. Knights, battlefields, heroism and despair, possibly all ending in tragedy. In life, of course, peace was infinitely preferable. But in fiction, there was nothing Lucina loved quite like a good war.

She skipped forward a few pages. Still no war. Not even rumors of war. But a lord had hired the tactician to… train his daughter. Well. The war would come along sooner or later, and love on a battlefield felt all the more tragic if you knew what the couple lost. After all, without the setup, Sigurd's despair at the betrayal of his closest friend and the loss of his wife would never cut as close to the heart. There would almost assuredly be value in reading through that portion of the…

Lucina looked down at her hands. She was already skipping ahead. Morgan was not a good influence on her patience.

The word "blood" drew her eye and slowed the pages to a light flicker. Considering the… questionable energy of the prose so far, the war scenes had to be spectacular to explain just how popular the book was.

"She threw me against the bed. I tried to argue. 'This isn't what they said love was like!' She smiled. 'Love? Who said anything about love? This is raw animal...'"

Lucina turned the page. Ah. Well. Not a novel to read around Morgan, then! She skimmed ahead. More rough sex between the protagonist and the woman he was tutoring. More unpleasant relationship dynamics. She was beginning to doubt there'd be a war in the novel at all. All she was seeing was the blue haired daughter of a lord of some sort seducing an amnesic tactician and…

Blue haired princess.

Amnesic tactician.

Gods.

Lucina flipped through the book again with more of a focus on the descriptions. (The tedious, tedious descriptions). Things stacked up. Oh, there were token differences, and the names (thank Naga) were changed beyond all recognition, but she couldn't escape the facts. This was about… her. And it did not say flattering things.

Lucina carefully shut the book. After that little look at some of the decisions in the writing process, it was quite clear why the author didn't want to be identified..

She must have been blushing in shame. The guard nodded to her and smiled.

"You're reading it too?"

"Err… I received it as a gift. I simply was curious…"

"It's great, isn't it? Just…"

The girl made a squealing noise. Lucina hoped that it was an expression of joy. The alternative was that she was somehow slaughtering a pig inside her large intestine, and the logistics of such an affair were not to be considered on a full stomach.

Lucina shook her head.

"It certainly is… interesting."

The girl's eyes fogged a little, caught in a memory. Lucina decided not to press the issue. Ever.

After a few more minutes spent in awkward silence, Sumia stepped through the door.

"Lucina?"

"M...Your majesty. I'm sorry to disturb you. Is… the Exalt still occupied?"

Sumia nodded. Lucina grimaced. She knew that nod. It was not "Your father will be here shortly." It also wasn't "I'm sorry he's so busy, but this is important." It was a much rarer and more specialized form of acknowledgement, one that her mother never seemed to know she was giving. "Your father is five minutes from ripping people apart limb from limb if they keep arguing."

It would be for the best not to draw any more attention to it than she had to.

"It might be a while."

"Of course. Still, that means we have time to ourselves. It's been too long since we talked. Perhaps we could find somewhere more private?"

It made conversation much easier when you could just call your mother 'Mother', and actually discuss your mutual history without being gawped at like a lunatic, after all. On the whole, Lucina wouldn't have traded her current life for anything, but it came with some unique drawbacks.

"That would probably be for the best."

Lucina winced. She knew that tone too. Apparently, the situation was well past "Your father will rip someone limb from limb if things continue" and well into "It's a miracle that no-one has died so far, and it would be better for both of us if we have plausible deniability. Not that it's your father's fault, you understand, but some people just… and you know I don't like seeing blood."

It was amazing how much you could convey with just a little intonation.

Lucina followed her mother through the castle to… well, there was only one way to describe it. It was her room. And there she was, smacking against the bars with the little Falchion Robin had bought her younger self. There was a world of awkward thoughts if she paused for them. Lucina turned to her mother. It would be best not to pause.

"I'm sure you've been quite busy recently."

Smooth.

Sumia's eye darted towards the younger Lucina and back.

"Well, yes. I've hardly had time to read lately. I've heard so many good things about 'Shades of a Dying God' too..."

Lucina gulped.

"I've… read that recently. I wouldn't look at it around little Lucina."

Sumia giggled. Lucina felt… uneasy.

"Well, I'm sure I could make time if it's that interesting. You know, I have a copy somewhere."

"We don't need to…"

Sumia rummaged in an upper shelf. After a few seconds, she produced another pristine copy. Then she tripped, and the book, along with several of its companions, sprawled all over the floor. Lucina took a step towards her mother.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Don't worry. I can take a few bruises. Oww…"

Lucina leaned over to help, and tried to ignore her younger self's giggling. But she paused. Mother was recovering well enough on her own, and what was more harmful, really? A little time on the ground, or reading about a thinly veiled analogue of her daughter in… compromising situations? Lucina snatched the book from the ground and buried it in her backpack.

Sumia turned to her. Lucina's face was a wall of stone.

"Were you able to find it?"

"I thought so. I guess I couldn't even do that right. I'm sorry."

"Think nothing of it, mother."

A voice echoed down the hall before she could say anything else.

"AND IF YOUR GODSDAMNED ARGUMENT GOES ON FOR ONE MORE MINUTE…"

Lucina turned to the door.

"It might be for the best if we intervened."

Sumia went ahead, narrowly avoided a tumble down the stairs, and Lucina moved to follow… then paused. After all, it might not be the usual text in her copy, and stealing something from her mother without good excuse would be very, very wrong. It would only be a second.

She flipped to the title page. Identical so far, except a smudge of ink that… gods. It was a signed copy.

"To the progenitor of my afflatus. It is my foremost aspiration this narrative will enliven your existence."

Odd how much more formal his style was in the note than in the text. The only people she knew with that vocabulary were Miriel and

"Laurent"

...Well.

Her father was in a violent mood already.

Lucina was sure he'd be glad for a target.

And we reach the end of another set. As always, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed what I wrote.

I was planning to make this a set of three, but I couldn't make one of them work after multiple attempts, so it got scrapped. Figured that the pair that more or less worked were still good enough to go up. Hope I'm not alone in that opinion.

As for the stories?

The first one with Cynthia was just a riff on her ending. Girl helps kill a god and still nobody takes her seriously. Figure it would take a lot before she'd notice, but it would hit hard when it happened.

Lucina's little bit was mainly based on Laurent's S ranks with Lucina and Noire. He's been admiring Lucina from afar while assuming he's never got a shot due to being a commoner. (Which, given her family's marital tastes, seems a very odd assumption). Meanwhile, we learn Laurent's... romantic tastes... from the Noire S rank. Put those together, and here we are.

So, that's it for now. Again, hope you enjoyed, and remember. No matter where you go, there you are.