Anje's mouth felt dry as she woke with a jolt. Her eyelids were heavy as she slowly forced them open, giving her the feeling she'd hibernated for an entire winter. She clenched her fist, flexing her fingers a bit, and then frowned. It felt like a swarm of bees had taken up residence in her skull with how the light around her flickered and the murmuring of garbled voices.
The faint echoes of a dream lingered on the edge of her subconscious; not of Virion or the disaster that had happened at the party, but of home. The cage she'd once been freed from by coming to the strange land of Archanea. Adaption and perseverance had served her well, but not well enough. She'd failed Virion, but more importantly, she'd failed herself.
And now I'm stuck in some damn cage, Anje thought, wiping at the gunk that had built up in the corners of her eyes. I have to find a way out.
She felt comfortable all things considered; a padded sleeping bag, a somewhat fluffy pillow, a room lit by torchlight, and the faint smell of rust. Anje stifled a yawn and looked around the barred room, her gaze settling on the three other individuals talking beyond the iron bars that separated her and them.
Anje's hoarse voice and parched throat nearly sent her into a coughing fit, but the strangers seemed preoccupied. She immediately recognized two of them; the masked knight from the ball that had delivered her the invitation and the haughty silver-haired mage that wore deep violet robes with the insignia of eyes on the trim that made her skin crawl. The last, and shortest, of the group was a green-haired girl with braids, a red cape nearly as tall as her, and pointed ears that suggested a draconic lineage.
That bitch mage has a dragon pet, not to mention the knight looks tough. Getting out will be tricky. Anje shifted up in her seat and waited for them to notice. It didn't take too long as the Knight gestured toward her with an extended pointer finger.
The mage whirled around with pursed lips and cold icy eyes. The manakete beside her jumped a little and put on a serious face, though Anje wasn't impressed. She crossed her arms and leaned back against the cold brick wall of her cell, waiting for the three to approach her.
"So, you're finally awake," the mage announced. She crossed her arms underneath her generous bust and let out a sigh. "That's good. You've been napping for quite some time. I was afraid I'd have to get Henry to rouse you."
"Fuck. You." Anje spat out.
The knight turned to the mage. "Good start."
The silver-haired mage forced out a smile and tilted her head, taking in a steady breath. "Let's start this correctly, right?" She placed a hand on her chest. "I'm Sonya, and to my left is Gerome, and over here is Nah who-"
"Eat shit and die," Anje growled. "I don't care who you are, just torture me already and get it over with. I wouldn't want to keep you from murdering everyone in the countryside."
The knight let out a heavy sigh and shook his head. "Knew this would be a waste of time," he grunted.
"Oh, hush you, big baby," Sonya chided, slapping him lightly on the wrist. She ran her fingers through her silvery hair and fluffed it a bit before looking back to Anje. "Look, you hardly have an idea of what you are commenting on-"
"I actually think it's pretty obvious," Anje retorted, gesturing outward. "Skewering people on sticks? Pretty obvious what the message is."
"Fine, we'll do it that way," Sonya muttered softly. She leaned toward the bars and narrowed her eyes. "Nah, Gerome, and I are from the future and I'm your child. We've been sent back in time to stop utter calamity."
Anje coughed out a hoarse laugh; her throat still a bit raw from the lack of hydration. As she looked to the three beyond the bars not smiling or laughing either, her amusement twisted into confusion. Sonya crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow as if waiting for Anje's fit of delirium to end.
"Wait...you're serious?"
"Yes! Must I use smaller words, or are you still a bit dazed?" Sonya shouted back. She paused and reigned in her tone to a more controlled level. "Indeed. We've gone through quite a bit, so please try to be a bit rational."
It was Anje's turn to shout. "Rational? Come inside this cell and I'll show you rational!" Bewildered, Anje stepped back and let out a heavy breath. "You claim to have come back in time and decided that killing most everyone in Valm was the answer? It's a shit answer. Prove it."
"By the gods...fine. You're from the Ukraine, a place not present on any map known in the world," Sonya said. "You also met Virion on a ship if I recall the story correctly."
"Yeah, but that doesn't-"
"Your mother's name is Annika."
Anje froze. Her blue eyes locked in on Sonya's; both dull and icy. The sinking feeling in her stomach told her that there was no other way. Perhaps magic could have invaded her brain? She'd told nobody that fact, not even Virion. There was little point in opening old wounds and that had left her behind. Though, there was little denying that upon closer inspection that they could pass for sisters besides the difference in hair color and slight figure differences. The resemblances were a bit too uncanny for Anje's preferences.
"Alright," Anje whispered out. "You're a damn time traveler. I can believe in magic bullshit. Seen enough already."
Nah looked at Sonya with a slight smile on her face. "So she believes. Or so she says."
"My mother is many things, but not a liar." Sonya ran a finger down one of the metal bars of the cell. "But, before I can agree to let you out, we must come to an agreement. An understanding of sorts."
"This is the part where you justify killing a bunch of people?" Anje scoffed. "I may believe we're related, but you've dug yourself one hell of a hole."
"The war was inevitable," Sonya insisted. She began to pace back and forth in front of the cell; Gerome and Nah standing a few steps behind looking faintly bored. "It was well known that the Valmese wars happened in the future. Walhart the apparent conqueror would unify Valm for a short time before falling to Exalt Chrom's blade while Plegia recovered from their skirmishes with Ylisse and Regna Ferox. A fact from my timeline, one that inevitably led to the destruction of humanity."
Anje looked to the other two for confirmation, and they nodded. Gerome cleared his throat and spoke in a soft tone. "It's true. Valm would return to a peaceful state until the rise of Grima in about two decades. We'd fought pointlessly for years only to watch everyone slowly die."
"Exactly," Sonya added on. "The very world we knew failed, despite people's best intentions. So, upon arrival, I along with my companions agreed upon a new plan. We'd need something big as the past itself to help fend off the storm to come, and Walhart and Valm would be an ally in that cause."
"We've tried speeding things up," the small manakete piped up. "We know it's bad. But...if we don't act quickly, we'll be doomed. More will die in the future if we don't. It's for everyone so that one day families can be happy again, and children will laugh under a sky that still has sunlight."
A world without sunlight or hope...sounds vaguely familiar.
"So, I ask you in earnest. Will you join us?" Sonya extended her hand through the bars. "I can't convince father. Or Morgan." Her eyes looked upward and crinkled at the edges. "Naga knows I've tried…but you could. They'd believe you."
Anje looked at the pale hand sticking through the bars. I could agree. Would Virion be disappointed? Is this right?" Anje blinked slowly and looked at the hand again. Or I could snap her arm and pin her against the bars.
She closed her eyes again and imagined the first fort she'd seen when arriving in Valm. Breaching the tall thicket of wheat to see scorched corpses on sticks, a city ravaged and devoid of people. A torn child's doll in the street, looking up with filthy and cracked button eyes. She'd kept it as a reminder, though it was no longer on her person.
Anje opened her eyes, meeting the pleading gaze of Sonya. Gerome's lips were slightly curled upward; the rest of his face unreadable thanks to the odd mask. Nah looked onward as if holding her breath.
"I've made my decision." Anje took a step forward, her hand reaching out toward Sonya's. She placed her hand on top of her daughter's and pushed them away, back out of the cell. Anje smiled at the confused look on her face. "I get it. I do. But I won't help. I won't go back to being a monster. I can't."
Sonya's face paled as she looked between her hands and Anje. "Wait, no-"
Anje turned around and waved goodbye. "It's always easy to justify the things we do. It's comfortable to think you're in the right." She walked back to the bedding on the floor and plopped herself down, leaning her back against the wall and looking back at the stunned teens. "But that comfort is dangerous. Trust me, I know. Honestly, I don't know what's right for the world. I just know what I want, and that doesn't include burning down a country."
"And you would choose to stay in a cell as the world burns because of Grima?" Sonya hollered, her voice echoing off the stone walls. "Is that what you want?"
"As far as I can see, I'm not the one setting those fires," Anje pointed and lowered her voice, "you are."
Sonya narrowed her eyes and shook her head in disbelief. "You'd rather sit by and do nothing to help me? Even if I'm your own daughter?"
"Especially my own fucking daughter," Anje hissed out. "I've lived through enough pain and suffering that maybe you'd have learned from me. For all your fancy clothes and big words, goddamn you are dumb as shit."
Nah looked to Sonya with an open jaw, and Gerome turned away from the seething mage. Sonya brushed her hair back carefully behind her ear and swallowed hard.
"I'd hoped things would be different this time. So be it," Sonya mumbled. She restrained her posture and held her chin high, though Anje noticed how rigid and stiff it was. "Walhart will want to interrogate you. He'll be here in a few days. Gerome or Henry will bring you rations." She paused by the door as Nah and Gerome filed in behind her. "You've disappointed me, mother."
"Stole the words from my mouth," Anje spat out.
Without another word, Sonya and the others left. The door to the hallway slammed shut, followed by the turning of a deadbolt. Anje let out a breath and looked at the flickering light of the torch sconce on the wall.
What a fucking mess.
In a place with no natural light, time quickly becomes an illusion. With no true gauge to know how long she was unconscious after the ball and no meals for what felt like hours, Anje tried to sleep to stave off the time. Her limbs still ached, and without food, she felt weak. Exercise would have to wait.
She nearly fell asleep after much fidgeting as she felt something rumble through the stones. The hairs on the back of her neck and arms stood up and goose pimples covered her thighs. The reverberation stopped almost as soon as it came, yet her hair still stood up. She rubbed at her arms and shivered.
"Damn dungeon is too damn cold," Anje muttered, pulling the thin sheet over her.
Her thoughts wandered toward how Virion was faring. If Gaius had survived the fall. She couldn't blame him for running, even if it was the coward's way out. It was a trap, and both of them being captured was even worse than just her. He was a survivor, much like her, and Anje understood that despite how it left a sour taste in her mouth.
The lack of communication and inability to sleep drove Anje into a dreary mood, scowling at the stones as if they'd wronged her. For as fantastical magic had seemed at first, her initial aversion and skepticism seemed to be continuously reinforced. Dragons, spells, and contraptions all seemed to be the root of the world's misery, yet people kept turning to them as if it were the answer.
She rolled over and groaned. To be left alone with one's thoughts for too long paved the way for more insidious thoughts.
I need to find a way out. Need to get back to Virion and the others, Anje idly thought. But that'll take time. Maybe when that Gerome guy comes in for food I can learn something. He's apparently from the damn future too.
Anje tossed and turned on the sleeping mat until her frustration boiled over her fatigue, and she began to pace around in the cell. She stretched a bit, going slow as her muscles felt tender, but the movement proved to be better than stewing in her anger. It gave her something to direct her energy at, even if it was just walking and counting the steps.
The deadbolt to the large iron door creaked, and Anje stopped her count. Her eyes flicked to the door as Gerome opened it, holding a tray. The clink of metal boots sounded off the stone as he made his way toward the cell door; a small meat pie and glass of water on the tray.
"I brought food."
"I can see that." Anje walked over to the bars and inhaled the steam coming off the meat pie. It was salty and had a slight tang. "Smells good. Not poisoning me are you?"
Gerome sighed. "No. Just drink."
The knight held out the glass of water up to the bars, which Anje greedily snatched, slurping down the contents. Anje coughed a bit as she finished chugging the water, the liquid pooling in her shrunken stomach. She wiped her mouth and looked back to Gerome who had already slipped the meat pie on a small plate from the tray and placed it at her feet on her side of the bars.
"Eat. I'd rather not see you starve."
"But you're fine with keeping me caged up," Anje said, grabbing the plate and beginning to pick through the pieces of gristle and meat. "Tell me, did you know who I was when you delivered that letter?"
Gerome nodded. "I did. It wasn't my place to say anything about it."
Anje bit of a chunk of venison, chewy loudly without shame. "Why not?"
"Besides the claim sounding insane?" Gerome scoffed. "It would have been pointless."
"You could have done something, you know." Anje took another bite. "So, you're from the future? You someone else's kid?"
Gerome shook his head and picked up the tray. "I shouldn't stay. I'll be going-"
"Sit your ass down," Anje commanded, pointing at the ground. The bulky knight didn't move for several moments, and then finally sat down without a word.
"Fine. Talk then." Gerome rested his hands on his knees. "Not much point though."
"I'll be the one to decide that," Anje retorted, glaring at the masked knight. "Alright, you need to take off that mask."
"What?" Gerome said, caught off guard. His left hand began to drift up toward his face, but he clenched his fist and returned it to his knee. "Why?"
Anje sat on the ground across from Gerome, only the bars of the cell separating them. "I want to see your eyes."
"I don't see-"
"Take off the damned mask," Anje threatened. "Or I'll reach through these bars and rip it off."
Gerome removed the mask and gently placed it to his side. He looked younger than Anje would have guessed with high cheekbones, clear skin, and soft rose-colored eyes. Anje squinted at the knight who visibly fidgeted underneath her gaze.
"...you're Cherche's kid, aren't you?" Anje whispered.
Gerome nodded. "Yes."
"Hold on, come closer, I see something," Anje inched closer toward the bars. Gerome scooted forward as Anje motioned for him to get closer.
Gerome squinted his eyes. "What do you see?"
"It's right...just a bit closer," Anje muttered, tilting her head as if to analyze something off about the knight's face.
"I don't see-"
Anje's arms sprung forth and coiled around Gerome's neck, pinning him against the bars. He grunted, trying to push himself away, but being seated and leaning forward he had poor leverage and Anje's nails dug into his neck and skull to keep him in place. Her eyes flared with fury as she brought her eyes mere inches away from his.
"You sided with Walhart knowing what your mother was doing?" Anje squeezed tighter; a small trickle of blood ran down her fingers. "I can get someone related to me doing bad shit, but you should know better. She'd kill you if she knew."
"It's for...the future," Gerome groaned, still trying to maneuver himself to pry himself free. He froze as he felt Anje's thumbs rest above his eyelids.
"One wrong move and I will make sure you don't see the future," Anje hissed. "Now, start fucking talking.
The stoic knight facade had come crashing down as panicked eyes looked past Anje. "You're essentially my aunt," Gerome sputtered out. "By Naga...guess a part of me still trusts you. It really has been a while."
"Oh, cry me a river." Anje pressed Gerome's forehead against the cold iron bars. "I'm guessing there are more of you?"
"Yes," Gerome whispered. "Several of us made it back, though we are a bit scattered. Some are here in Valm. Others are doing...other plans."
"What plans?"
Gerome remained silent. Anje bit the inside of her cheek and began to dig her thumbnail into the corner of Gerome's eye. He twitched and sharply inhaled.
"Robin's plan!" Gerome blurted out. "It was his plan to defeat Grima once and for all. But some of us had different ideas on how to carry it out. Led to disagreements."
"I take it Sonya was one of those disagreements?"
"Yes."
Gerome let out a breath as Anje released him, the knight recoiling away from the cage immediately. He ran his fingers over his face and neck, checking the small puncture wounds.
Anje sat back in a relaxed manner and sighed. "So, future Robin had some fancy plan. Not surprised. He always has some wacky idea, like splitting the group when we set foot on the mainland."
"Robin's here?" Gerome asked with faint surprise.
"Yeah? I won't tell you where though." Anje crossed her arms and chuckled.
Gerome clambered to his feet, brushing off his greaves. "I know. You're very spiteful like that. Some things never change, I guess."
"So, new deal." Anje raised a finger; a faint smile began to spread across her chapped lips. "Help me escape, and you can fill me in on the way. I'll even tell you where Robin and your mother are. Maybe even leave out the bit where you joined up with a mass murderer."
Gerome's hand lingered toward the cell door's handle. His eyes fixated on the floor. "I don't-"
"Open the door." Anje gripped the bars and looked at the downtrodden knight. "You really think killing everyone is the answer? What would your mother think?"
"You're...just trying to manipulate me," Gerome slowly said. He looked up and backed away from the door. "I need to stick to the plan to unify Valm. For everyone's sake."
"I'm trying to get you to do the right thing, idiot," Anje scoffed. "Plus, think for a moment, that maybe, just maybe, Sonya is manipulating you and that manakete?"
Gerome trudged toward the exit and opened the door to a dimly lit hallway. He looked down the hallway for a moment as Anje waited, her toes curling upon themselves as she clenched the bars with an iron grip.
"I'll think about it," Gerome finally said. "I'll have another guard deliver your food. Goodbye, Anje."
"Wait-!" Anje shouted, but the door slammed shut and the click of the deadbolt followed soon after.
A strained scream bubbled out of her throat and Anje began to pace once more. She'd been close, but time was slipping through her fingers. Sonya wouldn't let her go without a bald-faced lie, and that wouldn't serve to do much. She could recognize the mage's elephantine ego easily enough. It was like her own: brash, unrefined, and unapologetic.
Except she had learned to temper it through loss, where it seems her daughter had doubled down on wanting to be right. To be the hero that everyone admired, even if that meant burning the world down around her.
But if there's no audience, then what's the point of admiration? Anje pondered, rubbing her chin. It's just hollow. She's addicted to the thrill. Wonder why in the future I didn't do anything. Maybe I did and failed? Another question for Gerome… whenever he shows up again.
A/N: I'm back again, and this time with a short and sweet chapter. Getting some quality character time as I resettle from that long interlude that went back over the world state, and hopefully, this sates your appetite for the main story and trickle-down effects with some new wrinkles thrown into the mix. Oh, and lots of twists and turns last chapter, naturally.
Review Response: First off, thanks for all the wonderful feedback :D it really helps me shape the story, improve, and consider how to tweak things along the way.
Dandaman5: Understood. I'll keep that in mind moving forward, but I do like them occasionally to get a scope on other happenings in the world that the normal PoV simply doesn't have access to. I'll keep that in mind, so thanks for the feedback!
Draen: Hello long-time reader! Glad you're liking my take on a VirionxOC story, as it's been quite exciting to plot out! And yes, shit did indeed happen with Cherche. I do love me a good villain reveal haha. Anyways, thanks for reading, and hope you continue to enjoy it. Cheers!
Half-beastdragonsoul2013: Non-canon ships were one of the goals for the story I had from the onset. felt like I'd seen a lot of pairings done to death, so I wanted to experiment. Lucina and Yarne seemed like a challenge, but a fun opportunity to tackle. I teased a bit in the first interlude but decided to double down here. And yes, a big F for our dragon friend.
Noo Misteaks: Writing suffering is part of my joy, weird right? And yes, the cake was a lie and there can't be a true Awakening now? Hmmmmm. Quite the predicament indeed...
Cavik: Thanks for the feedback. The reason for that last scene boils down to a few; power balance (Tiki canonically is pretty powerful), stakes set by the villain for the narrative, and making good on the foreshadowing for the villain reveal. I knew it wouldn't sit right for everyone, but I've got a plan!
RedxEagl3:It wasn't as bad as you think :p
That's it for this chapter! I'm hoping to get another one out by the end of this month as I'm on the tail end of my grad work, but it is shaping up to be interesting. We'll get a taste of Walhart on-screen at long last!
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Until next time!