A/N Welp, it's been a while. I finally got my plot how I want it to go, at least for the beginning. Sorry it's taking so long to ramp up-I'm annoyed at myself for not posting the advertised action/rom genre. Still, it's all in the plot. I should be able to get the pieces come together naturally. I don't own Fire Emblem or any of its alternate timeline forms.
Something was missing. Irritated, Lissa opened her eyes to the crackling of a fire. Snap, crackle. Flyaway sparks came from the fireplace as a dark figure poked at it with a lance. The other person wore simple clothing and she could tell that he had a tall stature, despite the action of bending over. Lissa rubbed her eyes from sleep to see that the hunched-over dark figure was no one to fear.
In everyday clothing and with slightly rumpled hair, Frederick turned around. He sent her an apologetic look that said, 'Sorry. I didn't think I would wake you.' She couldn't see his eyes, but his facial expression melted whatever annoyance Lissa was feeling and she shook her head, smiling. "No biggie!" she replied, and tapped the empty spot beside her on the couch. Her husband gently joined her and wrapped an arm around her tiny frame. He smelled of clean soap and pine. He was strangely cold, but she didn't mind. She had enough warmth to go around. Lissa immediately snuggled up to him and rested her head against his shoulder. He rested his head on hers. Everything was right.
Lissa glanced up at Frederick, careful to avoid bumping into his chin. The knight looked everything like his portrait. Strong jaw, firm cheekbones, hair all in place.
Wait, what?
Lissa froze. Panic flooded her veins. Had she forgotten? She blinked once, twice, hard, and looked again. Frederick's chestnut curls were once more tousled out of place, a carefree side of him only she knew, one that the palace painters never would, had they lived beyond the first siege. The Ylissean princess let go all of the tension in her body and tried to go back to relaxing against him. But treacherous thoughts flew around in her mind.
Eyes, nose, lips, voice, his way of walking-those features of his all left her after so many years. Did that make her a terrible wife, not being able to recall sides of her husband only she knew? Desperately she clung to Frederick, but the illusion was already disappearing.
The warmth of the room bled away for a cold dreariness. The fire deteriorated into a sad pile of grey ashes. The couch showed signs of wear and tear. The solidity of Frederick's frame faded away and Lissa became acutely aware of how tightly she was clutching the throw pillow. The fabric had also gotten the slightest bit damp, and Lissa quickly wiped away her tears. It wasn't for a princess to cry.
"..via," she heard Owain say from outside the door. People? Lissa grabbed a pair of gloves that had been strewn across the floor and put them on. With a deep breath, she opened the door.
A person.
It was Flavia. The princess was happy, so happy. A familiar face, after all of these years. It was a shame that she and her old friend couldn't keep in touch as much as she would have liked, with things being what they were, with the war and her… condition, but…
"Go on, sit!" She gestured brightly at the couch she had just vacated. Once the tanned warrior had rested on the seat, Lissa joined her, carefully maneuvering so that the tear-streaked pillow was out of sight. She casually flipped said pillow on its opposite side. Image, image.
All right, Lissa. You can do this. You can make it through one conversation, without any mistakes. Just like Emmeryn would.
The world seemed to slow down as Lissa concentrated. Ask her about her trip. Ask her about the state of Regna Ferox, if anything has changed. Ask her about Vert. One, two, three, easy as one of Sumia's pies. Except Sumia's pies were pretty hard to make. Lissa didn't know how the Pegasus knight had made so many for Chrom that one time…
"Er… Lissa?" Flavia's deep voice rang through her inner ramblings and Lissa jolted slightly. Time ran normally. "Oh dear, I'm sorry, Flavia," she said. "Can I offer you some tea?" The older woman nodded. "Yes, that would be appreciated."
Lissa stood up and picked up the nearest teapot. It still had some drink left in it, and a quick and mild fire spell heated the tea to a suitable temperature. Ignoring the small pinpricks of pain in her fingers, she gently poured the other woman some tea.
The pale liquid splashed and collided against the walls of the teacup violently, before eventually settling down to a steaming standstill.
Lissa passed the warm cup to Flavia and watched worriedly. Did I do it right this time? Last time I added too many leaves-it was revolting. Nothing at all like how she would make it… Flavia gave her a brief, but pleased smile, before nodding at the cup. The princess glowed at the reassurance. Maribelle would have been proud.
Now to business. Lissa glanced at the other woman, noticing how the pale light slanted in such a way that light bags and worry lines were accentuated on Flavia's face. Flavia looked tired, and Lissa understood. "I thought Khan Raimi was going to send troops down to aid us. Why did you come alone?" the princess asked nonchalantly, watching the green water slosh.
Flavia gently set down the tea on the table before she spoke gravely, "Khan Raimi is dead."
Lissa looked up from her musings with wide eyes. Surely, she was lying. Flavia shook her head once, reading her expression.
"Cause of death?"
"Treachery. One of our own."
Something in Lissa's stomach churned unpleasantly. The ghost of a memory resurfaced, niggling at the corner of her mind. I am here, its mere presence said. You cannot shut me out.
No, no, go away, please. She clenched her hands into tiny fists.
Flavia kept talking, wrapped up in her own story to register Lissa's distress. "One day she was healthy as a horse and the next she was bedridden with poison that ate away at her insides," she bit the last part out angrily, before continuing, "That woman deserved better. A warrior's death, not rotting away in some bed because of some coward's trickery. The same happened to other high-ranking officials, until eventually, I found the worm in our midst. Long story short, I killed him. Bastard had been after Argent and thought Raimi had it, her being the Khan."
"After I put him down, my people decided to try to make me Khan of Regna Ferox again, but… you know how it is. Power and strength come hand in hand. My people deserve better."
She barked in short laughter as she gestured to her bad leg. The sharp sound knocked Lissa into the present and followed the direction of Flavia's hand to an injury, done long ago. Lissa remembered how the wound had almost crippled Flavia, both physically and mentally. She was never quite able to move like she used to, and had left the position of Khan open when she accepted her weakness.
"I set out alone for this mission because I didn't trust anyone anymore, not after what had just happened. The travel was about as pleasant as you would expect, with all these blasted Risen romping over the country. I didn't go two days without running into the abominations."
Lissa looked up from her musings. Something in her tone… "Are you implying that Regna Ferox is better?" she asked with disbelief.
Flavia hesitated, before giving the affirmative. "My people have always had it easy when it came to the Risen, at least in comparison to you all down south. You know, the cold conditions. Damn zombies can't last for long before their limbs freeze up and such." Her tone shifted, and a suspicious expression came over her face. "But lately, things on the home front have seemed a bit too easy. I wish I could boast that it's due to our superiority in battle, but that would not be true. Their numbers are thinning, but I suspect that it's because of a withdrawal."
The princess's eyes widened. "Something big coming?"
"I don't know. All I know from our scout reports is that there are less and less Risen each day in the North. What does your intel inform you about conditions here?"
Lissa shook her head, saying, "It's all the same news, every day. We can't get too deep out there because our flying units have been crippled-there just aren't enough Pegasus knights or enough willing to go, really." Her mind spun. "Do you think they've all gone to Chon'sin perhaps?"
"No," replied the blonde-haired khan. "Chon'sin and her allies are no more. Save for a stray band of resistance, the country is completely packed with Risen. Nothing lives there, not anymore."
Fear. Despair. Say'ri-was she all right? Tears crept up on the edges of Lissa's eyes. They burned in their wake-it was too soon after their last appearance. Khan Flavia pointedly looked away, and Lissa gratefully wiped them away. Still, Lissa felt the tremors returning because of Flavia's words. Despair. Fear. Her nails pushed against her palms, trying for some relief, but the thin cloth barrier was just enough to prevent it. For now.
"...issa. Lissa, listen to me," Flavia said.
She took the princess's soft, gloved hands in her own calloused ones and looked into her eyes. Lissa felt hands pry open hers and soon, she held a small object. It was spherical, and hard. Lissa knew exactly what this was, and prepared her last question. "...Argent?"
"Yes, I have brought the Lightsphere, as you have asked." Flavia hesitated, then took a deep breath. "But I must confess… I have not been completely honest with you, Lissa," the once and present khan muttered gravely. "It shames me to admit it, but I didn't come here solely out of mistrust of my people."
"I came because I knew that staying behind, doing the same routine, killing enemies who would only end up being resurrected-all of it is useless. This world is ruined." Flavia hung her head low, but Lissa didn't need to see her shaking back to know that the proud woman was crying. She comfortingly covered Flavia's hands while holding Argent.
"I need to know, Lissa. Will this Shield of yours… will it save my people? I know what those kids were when they came, who they were. Will it work this time? Even if only in a remote timeline, I need to know. I need to know that all of the suffering wasn't for nothing, that somewhere out there, that crusty old man is trying to overthrow me again for control of Regna Ferox."
Lissa didn't know what to say for a bit, before murmuring, "...I don't know, not for certain at least."
Flavia looked at her with such a cracked expression that Lissa was stunned into silence, then emptiness. That expression… she looks like me. How can I help her if I can't even help myself?
"So that's it then. The future is written," whispered Flavia.
Something blue flickered off to the side, and Lissa's eyes were hesitant, but draw to it. For a moment, she caught a glimpse of determined eyes and the glint of a noble sword. Her strength returned, but she knew this came at a cost.
She shook her head, and said, "No. I don't know for sure, but what I do know is that this time, it's different. It all is."
"What?"
"The children this time, they all know more, have more knowledge about the threats to the future. They're different, Flavia, all of them, in every way but name. I know you're scared nothing is going to work with what happened, but I believe in my heart that this time, this time will be it. An old friend of mine once told me that the future was not written. If we give up now, we disgrace her memory, and everyone who sacrificed so much to get as far as we have." Lissa had stood up during her outburst, and was now looking down upon the once-Khan.
The blue figure turned to the princess, and Lissa could have sworn she saw a tear-streaked face and a proud smile.
Wait, don't go. Don't leave me. Then it was gone in a flash.
Flavia noticed Lissa staring intensely at the corner and followed her gaze. Nothing. Just an empty intersection of walls. She cleared her throat and Lissa once more turned her attention to the older woman.
"Thank you, Lissa."
Lissa offered up her signature grin, but it looked forced. "No problem! As princess of Ylisse it's my job to keep people up when they're feeling down. And I bet you're feeling pretty down after all of that traveling, right?"
The warrior looked at the mage with a confused expression, before replaying uncertainly, "Yes?"
But Lissa didn't notice. Her voice was airy and light. There was a lost, faraway expression in her eyes, as if…
"I thought so, Flavia. But I'm curious. I thought Khan Raimi was going to send troops down to aid us. Why did you come alone?"
She wasn't…
"Actually, wait. Let me just let Owain know you're here so you can tell me all about how Regna Ferox is doing recently."
Quite…
"Yes, Lissa. Thank you. I'll tell you all about it."
...completely there.
A/N "tfw" you start great but lose momentum and default to shitty drama lines. Expect actually moving chapters in the coming week.