Title: Nightmares
Description: Two weeks have passed since the events of A Future Disowned when Lucina is awoken by a storm. However, before she can fall back asleep she discovers that someone else was woken up too.
Notes: SPOILER WARNING! This involves major spoilers for the events of A Future Disowned. Not to mention that this was written assuming the reader has already read through that story, so it probably won't make a lot of sense if you haven't. You have been warned.
Boom.
Lucina's eyes snapped open, awoken with a start by the deep rumble of thunder. Gasping she sat upright, her racing mind taking several moments to realise where she was. She was in her room, Robin dozing next to her, the sound that had awoken her nothing more than a storm raging outside.
Another flash of light illuminated her bedroom, a second blast rattling the castle's windows. The rain was falling harder now, no longer the light drizzle that had accompanied much of the previous day.
Next to her Robin began to stir, woken by either the storm or her movement. Perhaps both. "Lucina," he slurred, still half asleep. "Only a storm… go back to sleep…"
Smiling at her husband's concern, Lucina lay back down, nuzzling herself against the tactician's side. He hummed contently, slipping an arm around her as she closed her eyes. It wasn't long before sleep began to take hold of her once more, the store seeming to slip further and further away as-
Without warning the door to their room burst open, their daughter Morgan scrambling inside, her coat flapping around her . "Father, Mother, come quick. It's Marc, I think he was having a nightmare and the storm woke him up." At once she grabbed hold of each of their arms, tugging frantically in an attempt to get them out of bed. "He started shaking and muttering to himself. I tried to talk to him, but he just ignored me. It was like I wasn't even there."
Throwing off her covers, Lucina rolled out of bed onto her feet. Her heart was racing now, all exhaustion vanishing in an instant. Robin scrambled upright, nearly tripped as Morgan continued to pull him with her.
"Come on, come on, we need to hurry, what if-" Morgan started to say, her pleading seeming to become more panicked with each passing instant.
However, before she could finish Robin clasped a hand on her shoulder, holding her in place. "Relax, Morgan, It'll be okay."
"Yeah, duh,I know it will be. You two are the bestest most awesome parents ever, but we need to go and-"
"You aren't going anywhere," Robin interrupted, his grasp keeping Morgan rooted on the spot even as she flailed and stretched her arms towards the door. If not for the circumstances, Lucina would have found the scene would have been comical. "The three of us crowding around him at once won't help any." He turned to look Lucina's way now. "I'll calm down Morgan, you go talk to Marc."
"Right," Lucina nodded. At once she hurried out into the darkened hallway, falling into a dead sprint during the final steps before she reached her children's room.
While there palace had more than enough bedrooms to accommodate for Marc's arrival two weeks ago, she and Robin had decided it would be best if he shared a room with his sister for the time being. The hope had been that Morgan's company would do him some good, not to mention allow her to keep an eye on him. However, the later had seemed to be merely a secondary concern:the past fortnight had passed without incident. Or at least it had until tonight
Coming to a stop, Lucina latched onto the door handle at once, requiring every ounce of self control not to fling it open as hard as she could. If what Morgan said was true, she needed to remain calm and not make things worse by bursting inside.
Slowly and carefully she opened the door, doing her best to avoid making undue noise. Taking a deep breath she stepped inside.
Marc sat uprise on his bed, rocking back and forward as he clutched at the sides of his head. His eyes were wide open, staring off in the distance. Lightning flashed again outside, briefly illuminating the tears streaming down his face. Covers and pillows lay scattered across the floor, seeming to have been violently torn away as he'd awoken.
Boom. More thunder rolled overhead.
"Marc?" Lucina asked. Her son seemed to take notice of her words, making no sign that he was even aware of her presence as she approached his bedside.
She saw now that he was shivering, his shoulders bobbing with an occasional sob. It was only then that she could make out the the murmuring of his voice, so faint its whispers that she strained to make them out.
"... n-no, stop it...stop it… It wasn't my fault. I didn't want to do it, please, I didn't… I didn't… I didn't want to kill anyone. He made me do it, I didn't want to… he said if I didn't, he'd-"
"Marc," Lucina said again, reaching out to grip his forearm gently.
At once Marc jolted at her touch, as if snapped out of some deep trance. For an instant his eyes fell on her, terror filling his gaze as he began to scramble away, his breathing growing frantic.
"Marc, please, its me. It's alright, nothing is going to hurt you, I'm here. You're safe," Lucina told him, keeping her voice as calm and gentle as she could.
Slowly his expression softened, his breathing relaxing. "Mother I… I…" he hunched over, wrapping his arms around himself, pulling himself free from her grip. "I can't… I can't make the faces go away… why won't they go away?"
"Faces? What are you-"
"The people I killed, I see their faces!" Marc interrupted before she could finish, his voice rising to a shout. "Every time I sleep, every time I close my eyes. Haunting me for what I did and..."
Sobs wracked his entire body, his words fading into a wail filled with such regret and hopelessness it cut to bone of Lucina's very being. "... and I deserve it! I'm a monster. How much blood is on my hands? Gods, I can't even remember, I don't know how many I killed. How can you and father still love me after that… I'm not your son, you don't deserve to have a monster for a son… You must hate me and-"
Lucina grabbed Marc by the shoulders, pulling him into an embrace before he could continue his tirade of self-loathing. Despite his words claiming he did not deserve her affection, he clung to her as if she were the only branch floating in churning see, and that letting go would mean slipping under. He buried his head in her shoulder, tears staining her night clothes.
"It's alright, let it all out," Lucina murmured, rubbing his back while he cried against her. "I don't hate you. I'm just sad… sad that you've suffered so much and are in so much pain, and I fear that I can do little to help it"
"H-how… how come you don't hate me?" Marc pleaded through more sobs.
Lucina was silent for several long moments, pondering her next words carefully. Perhaps Robin would have known what to say, known exactly what would get through to him. I need to know the full story, she realized. Something she could use to make him see that he wasn't a bad person. A monster wouldn't cry like this, so consumed by the guilt and regret.
"Tell me, why did you agree to help Grima? He made you do those terrible things… how?"
"He… the first time he took me to take part in a battle, he ordered me kill a injured soldier. He was begging for his life… I didn't want to… I swear, I didn't want to… but Grima, he… he told me he'd kill Morgan if I didn't do what he said…" He sobbed again, squeezing his eyes shut. "I couldn't lose her too… I couldn't… I'd already lost you and… I killed him. Gods, I killed him…"
"Shhh, its okay, I'm here…" Lucina whispered, whipping the tears from his cheeks. "It wasn't your fault, you were scared and alone… you couldn't lose anyone else."
Marc made no response, though his trembling seemed to subside somewhat, his sobs falling less frequently.
"When I look at you, do you know what I see?" Lucina told him, continuing to rub his back "I see not a monster, but a brave, strong little boy who's been through so much. Who would stop at nothing to protect his sister." As she spoke Morgan lifted his head, gazing up at her with big, tear filled eyes. "Just remember, no matter what happened, your father and I will always be here for you. We love you."
Nodding slowly, Marc lowered his head once more to rest against her shoulder. Tears still streamed from his eyes, but he no longer cried openly. "Mother… I missed you…" he whispered softly, his words slurred as exhaustion took its hold over the boy more.
For how long they sat there in silence, Lucina could not say. Only the slowing of her son's breathing to a peaceful rhythm and the drying of the tears staining her nightclothes marked the passing of time. Marc lay motionless in her arms now but for the slow rise and fall of his chest, his expression now one of peace, having drifted off into sleep during the intervening time. The rumble of thunder was distant now, little more than a murmuring growl from the edge of the horizon.
Slowly Lucina stood, picking her son up with her as gently as she could to avoid waking him. It's best if he stays with Robin and I for the rest of this night. Carefully she carried Marc back to her and Robin's room as silently as she could, afraid even the tiniest noise would disturb her son's slumber.
Robin sat on the edge of their bed, his concerned expression relaxing as he noticed her and Marc. Meanwhile Morgan was already fast asleep, snoring softly from where she lay curled in Robin's chair.
"I'll take her back to her room," Robin mouthed, scooping up Morgan into his arms.
While she waited for her husband to return, Lucina gently lowered Marc down onto the bed Brushing his hair from his face, she leaned down
Sleep well.
Lucina felt a smile tug at her lips as she watched her son rest free of the anguish that had plagued him but minutes before. Perhaps his scars were too deeply set and would never truly heal, but… but even if she couldn't help him overcome his past, she could still do everything in her might to give him a happier life now. The one he had been denied before.