#but i think taking a plegian wife would let her want to learn more about it and especially since later on chrom starts to bridge the gap | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

wardencommanderrodimiss · 3 years

Text

Dearest

Lucina and Robin have a conversation about the future; Lucina knows more than she wants to tell her mother.

----

The sea rocks their ships like a mother would a cradle. Lucina thinks of the palace in Ylisstol where there’s a baby who must have been laid down by this time of night, who should have been rocked to sleep by her mother. Instead Robin is here, on this swaying ship, with her daughter the interloper from another time, instead of the baby that is truly hers.

Their Plegian ship floats at the head of their Ylissean-Feroxi fleet, a fleet made of half as many ships as it was this morning. The water, full of ash and wood and bone, scrapes past the hull; hundreds of dead lie beneath the waves, damned there by one woman. Robin’s tactics are genius and unhinged and devastating for anyone who stands against her. Lucina learned the sword from her father, knew his skill and his potential from watching him, but she never could conceive of her mother’s tactical talent until now.

How many of the battles that she has led her friends through could have been won with more ease if she had her mother’s steady hand and level head guiding her? How many people could she have saved with her mother at her side? With both her parents?

Can she find out? In this time, she can find out, if she can save them.

(But if she must save only one—)

She is not their daughter, not really, and she should have stayed a distant ally but she clings to every moment she spends with them. Every word to her, every smile, even every stern glance, she commits to memory to refresh and supplement the oldest hazy recollections that she has been terrified to lose. She could not pry herself away now.

“Sweetheart? Can I have a word?”

Her mother’s hand on her shoulder; Lucina would carve that gentle touch into her heart. She would never again forget how her mother has never used a nickname or pet name for anyone but Lucina; she calls everyone else she knows and loves by their given name but Lucina alone is only Lucina in the heat of battle. Did she stop with Lucy and dear and the like before Lucina was old enough to remember? Or is this something new, her mother slightly different in a slightly different time.

“Of course, Mother,” Lucina says, and her mother takes a seat next to her on the deck, looking out across the dark water and the starry sky. The ocean is vast and unfamiliar; Lucina is not sure if she likes this new experience of sailing. She looks at her mother instead, searches for some familiar feature shared between them, a curve of the cheek or slope of the jaw. Lucina knows she most resembles her father, and her father’s face was not so lost to time and faded in memory as her mother’s, because Lucina could see him in herself. She wants to see them both in her bearing, carry them both close to her heart and in her every action.

(Even if—)

“What you said earlier, before the battle, when your father asked you about his death - you don’t know anything more than that about what happened?”

Robin speaks of it with an even tone, one Lucina does not know how she manages - but when she looks closer she can see the tightness at the corners of her mouth and the slight crease on her forehead. Robin wears a mask, not as obviously as her little Lady Marth did, but there is a sort of one over her face nonetheless.

“No,” Lucina says, and she presses her own lips together and tries not to think too hard about the memories behind what she is saying. When the Shepherds, what could even remain of the Shepherds without Chrom and Robin, came home with the Fire Emblem and Falchion and not the man who wielded them. The one memory that could never fade with time, that still burns fiercer than anything else she has ever known, is what it was like for Lucina’s own heart to break.

“Nobody - no one wanted me or Morgan to hear more than we had to.” And for good reason, if the pieces that Lucina knows fit together the way she fears they might and prays they don’t. “There were just whispers I wasn’t supposed to hear and then - then everyone who knew all that happened was - then they were gone too.”

The remaining Shepherds never spoke of that day, and they fell by ones and twos and left no one who could even talk about it. They left only orphans, just like Lucina.

She discarded her mask long ago but for a moment she wishes for it. She turns her head away and lets her hair fall between them, a curtain to hide behind. “Oh, darling, I’m sorry,” Robin says, and she reaches out and sweeps Lucina’s hair back out of her face. “I don’t want to make you think more about it, but I had to ask. I’m sorry.”

“What did you want to know?” Lucina asks. She won’t have the answer that Robin wants but she wants to understand even a part of how her mother’s mind works. She wants a glimpse into the thought process of a woman who can set the seas aflame.

(If she can better understand her mother then maybe she can finally grasp why she—)

“If you knew who the name of who it was that betrayed him.” Robin hooks Lucina’s hair back behind her ear, and her hand lingers on her cheek. “There would be no point to telling your father, of course. He’d never believe a one of us capable of such a thing, even if our own Lady Marth told him.” The smile on her face is fond and wistful and sad. Lucina deeply admires her father’s faith in people; she has never been able to muster the same. “But I thought… if you knew, I couldn’t let you shoulder it alone. Anything I can do to help, I will. For your sake. For your father’s sake.”

It takes all of Lucina’s strength to not break into tears. How much Robin loves Chrom - how could Lucina ever suspect her of doing the unthinkable? And how could she not, when there is no one that Chrom loves more in return? Betrayed and murdered by his closest friend - who could that be but the woman sitting beside Lucina, swearing to do her utmost to save Chrom from betrayal and death?

“What would you do, if you knew?” Lucina asks. “I don’t know what I would do, if I knew, and I’ve come all this way but I still don’t - I’m not a great tactician. I can’t - I can’t do what you can.”

“What I would do is nothing,” Robin says curtly, before Lucina can admonish herself any more, “because sometimes it’s better to assess, not act. If I first knew who, then I could try to understand why. And once you know why, you can glean from that the best course of action.”

Why, why, Lucina has laid awake so many nights across time wondering why. Why would a bond such as theirs break? How could this be their destiny after so long at each other’s sides? How long had they known each other when they fought together against Emmeryn’s assassins in Ylisstol, when Lucina saw not just her parents but two seamless halves of one great warrior? How long had it taken them to reach the point that Chrom could duck and Robin cast lightning over his head, through the space where moments ago he had stood, to strike the opponent in front of them; how long for Chrom to learn to not even glance back, trusting that Robin would not hit him? How long for Robin to learn to not bother looking over her shoulder when she sprinted ahead, trusting that Chrom would be right behind her?

Before she was his wife and mother to his children, she was his tactician, and they loved each other as much then as they do now. Lucina saw that clearer than anything else.

Tears are more and more difficult to hold back. “There was so much I wanted to learn from you,” Lucina says. She presses the back of her hand against her mouth. “Your magic - you promised me that once I had mastered all the basics with Falchion that you would teach me magic - and Father would show Morgan the basics of swordplay - he was supposed to learn the sword from Father, not from me—”

So much was supposed to happen. Morgan was supposed to be taught properly, not lean on his magic in battle because his knowledge of the sword is pieced together from imitating Lucina. Lucina was supposed to learn magic instead of sticking to her one sole strength. Lucina was supposed to be strong, and stay strong, for the sake of everyone she has to save; Lucina isn’t supposed to be crying on her mother’s shoulder in the middle of the ocean, aboard a vessel given to them by the kingdom responsible for all of Lucina’s nightmares and the end of the world.

“I’m so sorry we couldn’t keep our promises,” Robin said, her voice somewhere above Lucina’s head. “Oh, Lucy, I’m so sorry. Tell me whatever you want to learn from me and I’ll make the time for you. Your brother already harangues me at odd hours for tactical guidance, you know. Ask him to bring you next time.”

Lucina chokes on her laugh and it transforms into another sob. Of course he does. She wants to remember - gods, does she want to remember - every moment she had with her parents long ago, stolen in between their duties and their battles. Morgan has forgotten, and so he does not crumple under the grief of remembering promises broken by two people who wanted nothing more than to keep them. But someone has to remember the future if it is to be changed. To lose all of that pain would mean losing her foreknowledge, and if she forgets how her father died then how can she save him?

In her mother’s arms it would still be so easy to forget what she knows of her father’s murder. Lucina sits back and wipes her eyes.

“How old were you when we died?” Robin asks, like Lucina has ever mentioned her death. There is so much about her in Chrom’s dying days that Lucina does not understand, but Robin speaks of Chrom’s death as though it is a given that Robin died there too. As if they could never have a separate fate.

And if Lucina could forget what she heard whispered when she was not supposed to listen, then she would believe without hesitation the same: that Robin would die before she left Chrom’s side, for whatever good or ill that would do. She would believe that her clever, clever mother could lose her level head and any sense of living to fight another day if she saw Chrom fall before her.

(So how could she also believe that—)

“How long do we have to prepare? It must have been - well, obviously Morgan was born by then, for one thing. How much older than him are you?”

“I - I don’t remember.” How long ago her parents died, or how old her brother is, or how old she is, or how many years between them. “It was like time stopped, and - and sped up so much more. It feels like it’s been an eternity since then but it was also maybe yesterday.”

She feels like a fool saying such but her mother nods solemnly. “It’s always felt like that for me, too, in times of crisis. The war against Plegia lasted either a week or a thousand years - I know for sure it was one or the other, but I still can’t say which.”

All that Lucina could answer is that it was a shorter war than expected, and its end was bittersweet; she skirted through the streets of Ylisstol and found them full of crowds celebrating Plegia’s defeat and mourning their Exalt in the same breath. Lucina saved Emmeryn only for her to die weeks later, but it was her death that caused the bulk of Plegia’s soldiers to lay down their arms. Lucina saved her father from the dire injuries that plagued him through all of her memory, so that he could personally lead the armies of Ylisse and Ferox to victory over Gangrel, claiming the Mad King’s life and with it, justice for his sister.

“That war with Plegia lasted many years longer in my time,” Lucina says.

A deadlock, with two rulers too hellbent on taking the other’s head. Gangrel would never offer peace and Chrom would never accept it unless it came with Gangrel’s heart on a platter; Chrom would never offer peace unless he already had that platter while Gangrel would never accept because his conception of peace was the death of all Ylisseans. And the arrival of Valmese ships on the shores of Ferox and Plegia merely created new fronts for each nation to fight on; they never ceased hostilities to unite against the threat from across the sea.

“Father always wanted to lead from the front lines, but sometimes his injuries prevented him.”

Some of her earliest memories are of watching him train while she tried to mirror his movements with a wooden sword, but so often he was forced to stop sooner than he wanted because of the strain on something that did not properly heal. Lucina learned quickly the importance of staying in top condition, of never taking a bad blow; if one injury slowed her down, that left her open to take others. Her father’s scars were not just from the assassins that fateful night in Ylisstol. His wounds compounded each other time and again.

“And you were always reluctant to leave him.”

She hadn’t realized how inseparable her parents were until she arrived in this time and found they weren’t. Was that because of Chrom’s injuries, too? They had been together, Chrom and Robin, on the palace grounds when both Lucina and the assassins found them. In the time that only the assassins found them, when Robin must have seen Chrom nearly killed right in front of her eyes, was she always fearful that she would lose him if she weren’t ever-vigilant?

“All of my childhood, the two of you traveled back and forth. From the palace with me, to the battlefield, and back again.”

She has piled so much upon her mother that she doesn’t know what to expect her to respond to first. “Years,” Robin breathes. “The war with Plegia lasted years - gods, I can’t imagine.”

“You were gone the longest when you went to Valm,” Lucina says. “And when you finally came home—”

But some of them didn’t, brave Basilio’s life lost facing down the cruel conqueror. Lucina set foot in the arena in Regna Ferox praying that the events she set in motion would end with Basilio still living, but Emmeryn is dead and they are sailing to Valm and she is terrified still.

She takes a steadying breath. “When you finally came home, I got it in my head somehow that you wouldn’t leave again. For a while you didn’t, because it was quiet on the Plegian front. But that was just a farce, masking their true intentions, but we were all so tired of war that you hoped…”

“We didn’t have you to warn us,” Robin says.

They didn’t have Lucina, a prophet bringing them foreknowledge while trying to be a hero like Marth; they had Lucina, a child whose favorite pastime was getting to go down to the training yard with her brother and her parents, who didn’t realize how her world, balanced at the edge of a precipice, could so easily fall and shatter.

“You shouldn’t have had to warn us,” Robin adds, before Lucina can muster any words. “It shouldn’t be a daughter’s job to protect her parents. It should be the other way around.”

Robin’s tactics have kept Lucina by her side every battle that they have fought together when Lucina has been Lucina and not Marth. “She has already seen that I am more than capable, hasn’t she?” Lucina said to Chrom, after the second skirmish with Risen, surer then of her place with her father than with her mother. “You know that I can fight.”

“You are our daughter,” Chrom told her firmly, a hand on her shoulder, “and we will always want to protect you. Give her time - give us time. We committed to this war hoping to create a world where our daughter would not have to fight, and here she is now, already on the battlefield. Right now I can only turn my back on you because I know that your mother won’t.”

“You did your best,” Lucina says. “You always have.”

“I’m sorry it wasn’t enough.”

Lucina closes her eyes. She remembers Ylisstol, burning.

“When you finally got wind of what they were planning, you and Father took the Shepherds and an army to put a stop to it. So that they couldn’t resurrect Grima and keep the war going.”

Her voice breaks.

“And we couldn’t,” Robin finishes, “and they did.”

“Yes. You were too late to stop the Fell Dragon’s return.” Lucina inhales deeply. Too many winding paths of possible futures lay before them, each battle a new branch. How many of them are scorched and dead at the end? “And even now that we know what is coming, if the Grimleal find out that we know what they’re doing, then they may hasten their own plans. Grima might awaken at any time. We cannot trust that we will have a year, or five years, or a decade.”

“I could not live a decade in Ylisstol with your future hanging over us and do nothing,” Robin says. “When the war in Valm is over we must take the fight to them.”

“You did. You went there and - and you never came back.”

Lucina wore the Hero-King’s name like a mask, praying for his strength; now she seeks the strength of her parents. All of her armor still encases a little girl waiting all this time for her father to come home. He wasn’t done teaching her to wield a sword.

Something must show on her face, because Robin reaches out and lays her hand over Lucina’s, squeezing it. “We have you with us now, my dear. We’ll all make it back home to Ylisse, together.”

Can Lucina believe that? Why must she distrust reassurance from her own mother? Why must she in every battle both fear for her mother and fear her mother on her father’s behalf?

“It was Frederick who came to us with the news,” she says. “Aunt Lissa was still too much in shock to speak. She started sobbing every time she saw us. But Frederick brought Falchion and I realized, just - just a moment before Morgan asked where Dad was, why didn’t he have Falchion with him?”

Morgan’s memory is haze, everything but the past few weeks of the here-and-now made of faint impressions and distant visions. Lucina is the one who remember. She has to remember. She remembers the nights when Morgan crawled into bed next to her, wrapped in their mother’s old dark coat, both of them too tired to cry and too tired to sleep, and Falchion propped against the wall, its silver blade reflecting the moonlight.

“Frederick told us that Father was as brave as ever and fought for us until the end. The things you tell children. But I - one night I remember hiding in the hall listening to Frederick and Phila talk, that they thought they’d failed to protect them both now.”

“Phila?” Robin repeats, and Lucina is about to ask how she cannot recall the captain of her own pegasus knights, but she realizes at the same time that Robin does. “Of course - she died in Plegia, when we went to rescue Emm. But if, without your warning, Emm died in Ylisstol, then Phila might still have…”

Emm pierces Lucina’s heart like a spear. That is how Chrom always referred to his long-passed sister; she has no recollection of Robin doing the same, but when did Robin ever speak of her? How long had they known each other, Robin and Exalt Emmeryn? Does Robin even notice what she’s said, or is this an unconscious habit adopted from Chrom, another mark of their closeness?

“Phila asked him how this was possible, what could have happened,” Lucina continues. “How Chrom could have left with his most loyal Shepherds who would have all died for him and - and they all returned alive when he didn’t. And Frederick said that there was a betrayal. That Chrom was betrayed and murdered by his dearest friend.”

The math is easy, when she looks at it with a clear eye and level head. Chrom died, betrayed by someone dear to him. The Shepherds were his closest companions. Robin was the only other Shepherd who did not come home.

Robin is her mother, so Lucina finds it very hard to maintain a clear eye and a level head.

“If your father didn’t make friends as easily as he breathes, that would be a bigger hint than it is,” Robin says.

And a part of Lucina would scream until her throat is raw, go hoarse spitting blood, demanding her mother to stop pretending to be obtuse, stop pretending that she does not realize. It is you, it has always been you! That will not change in a year, or five, or ten! It could only ever be you! You must know that it is you! You killed my father and damned the world!

And a part of her would cry until her eyes are sore like she is the child she was when she last sat beside her mother too long ago. Of course her mother cannot realize. Robin would not think herself Chrom’s closest friend if that person is responsible for killing him. Lucina could not think her that person either, had she not been orphaned and heard for herself those hushed words. And even now - even after everything - a part of her thinks that she still must somehow be wrong. How could Robin do such a thing to her dearest friend, her husband and father of her children, her commander and her prince?

She wouldn’t - she couldn’t. Lucina sees that clearly. But Lucina has also stood in the midst of Ylisstol burning and seen the Fell Dragon’s gleaming eyes. These are two incompatible truths to the world. Robin would never betray Chrom, and Robin betrayed Chrom anyway.

Chrom was the one Lucina knew she could always rely on, her safe harbor in a storm. Nothing of him was a mystery - her father is a good man, kind and noble, who passed down to her the Brand in her eye and her ability to wield Falchion. Everyone who knew him loved him, and spoke of him with that love made evident. Robin was the unknown, the one who Lucina has been terrified to love again. But she does. She always has. She wanted to learn magic from her.

A few days ago, Robin handed her a Levin sword, and she smiled warmly and showed Lucina the best way to arc the lightning from a distance when she admitted to never having wielded one before.

“Are you all right, dearest?”

“Yes,” Lucina says. “I - yes, I’m fine.”

Robin raises her eyebrows, obviously doubtful, but she acquiesces and says, “It’s been a long day and we’ve had a great deal to talk about, besides. It might be best if we head in for some rest before anyone comes looking for us. Just, please remember,” she adds, squeezing Lucina’s hand, “anything you need from me, ask and I will.”

Anything. She doesn’t know what she offers by saying anything. Your life? Would you give me your life, for Father’s, if I asked?

“Yes,” Lucina says. “Of course.”

She prays she won’t have to ask. She prays it will never come to that. She doesn’t understand how it could. But it did once already, and carving a new riverbed for the path of time to flow down is harder than she anticipated.

A voice echoes across the deck. “Robin? Are you out—”

Chrom emerges from the gloom, his brow furrowed but relaxing when he catches sight of Lucina and Robin. “Isn’t it a bit late for you lovely ladies to still be up?” he asks with an easy smile, one that has always been able to calm Lucina’s heart, the one she missed most. “Robin, I do recall a conversation we had just the other day about getting enough rest and not overworking yourself.”

“I’m not sure how you think time spent with our daughter would constitute work,” Robin replies, and the expression on her face as she glances from Lucina to Chrom and back is full of such obvious fondness that it makes Lucina’s heart ache. How could this end the way it did?

Chrom is waiting, looking expectantly to Lucina, and as she stands she realizes that he is asking her to confirm or reject Robin’s explanation of events. “We only spoke of tactics for a little bit,” Lucina says.

Of his death - of his murderer - but she does not wish to mention that. They can pretend it was for any other battle ahead or passed. “Of course you were,” Chrom says with a slight shake of his head, but his smile is the same, full of affection. “Lucina, would you like to know just how soon after your birth your mother tried to get up and go back to work?”

“Chrom!” Robin scolds. “You don’t need to keep dredging that up!”

Lucina could already have guessed that the answer is too soon, and despite herself, despite the weight on her shoulders, she giggles. Chrom laughs too, and Robin, stifling a grin, smacks his arm with the back of her hand. In battle, they almost seem to function as one unit, so keenly aware of and comfortable with how the other fights. But in these moments, in the quiet, the way they speak to each other, act around each other, is filled with that same comfort and ease. It is a warmth Lucina is happy to linger at the edge of, as she follows them belowdecks and bids them good night.

She missed them both so much. How is her heart to survive it, if she is to lose them again?

But she cannot keep stopping to grieve when she has not yet lost them again. Better to find every way to save them from that fate. Hitching her shoulders up, she tells herself to set these thoughts aside for the night. The conqueror’s war is the most immediate threat to her parents’ welfare. That day in Plegia is still yet to come; she cannot know when, but it will not be tomorrow. They may make landfall in Valm tomorrow.

Morgan found a tiny room probably meant for a few supplies and claimed it as sleeping quarters for himself and his sister. Lucina eases the door open, hoping she can slip inside without disturbing her brother, but immediately she is blinded by the firelight that immediately engulfs the room. The light fades out as her eyes adjust; Morgan, sitting straight upright, wide-eyed, slowly dims the flame he conjured in his hand.

He always slept with a tome beneath his pillow the way Lucina and some of the others kept a blade. The chance of accidentally harming himself with it was much lower, but the threshold for consequences if he did was much higher. Lucina doesn’t know enough about magic to know how much can be done just with a tome nearby, without conscious will. She never learned to wield magic. She never asked.

“Oh,” he says, sinking back down but still holding the light up for Lucina. “Just you. Where were you?”

“I was talking with Mother,” she replies, checking to see that Falchion still rests propped in the corner. “She had some questions about - about the future.”

“Oh,” Morgan says again. He is quiet, dark eyes flickering about everywhere but Lucina, and then he adds, “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For not remembering. Everything Mother told me about your future was awful, and that was just secondhand. You lived it all. Except I was there too, we lived it all, but you can’t even talk to me about it.”

Morgan’s coat - the coat that was once Robin’s, haunting eyes embroidered down the sleeves, scorching at the cuffs from magic cast by mother and son both - lays over his legs. Lucina has Falchion; Morgan has an old coat. He adores their mother. Even in that nightmare time, long before Morgan forgot everything, she never told him what she heard about their father’s death. Orphans, both of them, and he the little brother who she promised to protect - how could she take their mother from him again?

“It’s okay,” Lucina says. “It’s probably better for you not to, anyway.”

Morgan is quiet. Lucina isn’t sure she sounded at all convincing. But he does not have those specific griefs as she does, and since she does remember them, it is fine for Morgan not to. She just prays that she won’t have to take their mother from him in this time. She’s not sure he would ever forgive her.

The more she thinks about it - she told herself not to, not now, but laying in the dark with her brother breathing softly nearby she cannot help but think about the first time they lost their parents and what she learned of it—

The more she thinks about it, she wonders if Chrom would ever forgive her, either, if to keep him alive she had to take Robin’s life.

Anything you need from me, ask and I will.

If she truly meant that, then maybe the person most likely to forgive Lucina, should she be forced to kill Robin, is Robin.

The rocking of the ship, the huge hollow cradle taking them closer to war and unkind destinies, does not help lull Lucina to sleep. And when she does she dreams of flames on the sea, and on Ylisstol, and on the training grounds cast from her mother’s hands, the magic she promised to but never could teach Lucina.

#roddy fanfics #yes i am still letting chrom and robin destroy my life why do you ask! i still think about their family A Lot!

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freezing-kaiju · 7 years

Text

Stardate 2689

A Fire Emblem Heroes fic! Written with @pupmon1

Part 3: Two Unexpected Returns

Captain’s Log, Date 3/27/2689. Lucina. Traveling to a Hoshidian outpost to refuel, we have encountered an anomaly. An old Plegian craft, far too short-range to have been hopping from planet to planet in this big of a dead zone. There was a faint distress signal...encoded in Ylissean cipher, curiously enough. I decided to investigate, with a few of my crew.

Lucina, Selkie, Kjelle, and Severa beamed into the ship’s cargo hold. It was a Plegian craft all right, and the hold was full of...war-era weapons and a shipment of spices.

“They’ve got enough illegal stuff in here to make more than half the crew makes in a year,” Severa commented. “Wonder who they stole it from?”

Kjelle picked up one of the weapons boxes and looked at the panel on the side. “It says ‘government property’. They stole this crap from the king himself.”

“Who could pull of a heist like this?” Lucina mused. “I’d say Gaius came back from the dead but candy was more his style...”

Selkie hopped from box to box, sniffing each one. “These smell really really good! They’re...probably dangerous to my kind…” She looked around carefully, her ears twitching. “We should probably see if anyone is on board.”

“Good idea, Selkie,” Lucina said. “Do you smell anyone besides us?”

“...sort of? I smell a...Plegian I think...and...I can’t identify the second scent.” Selkie crouched down to all fours and sniffed the floor. “It...smells like you, AC.”

That was strange, Lucina thought. Did they clone her again? She was fairly certain her aunt Lissa was safe back in Ylisse, along with her cousin, and her father had been...obliterated... the Annas had tried to clone him but there wasn’t enough genetic material. They had just ended up creating a clone of Lucina herself, who was currently back in Ylisse and had been taking over her duties ever since she left for the Academy.

Selkie led them to a room on the side of the cockpit. “Cryostasis...the power is failing though...” Selkie sniffed the container. “This. This is what smells like you. Except...more muted. Kinda like...if you left the room but your scent lingered.”

Lucina frowned. “Open the pod.”

Selkie and Severa nodded, moving to obey, but then the cockpit sprang open and a woman walked out holding two pistols. “Don’t you dare touch th- LUCINA?!?”

Lucina whirled around and gritted her teeth. “Aversa. Guess my father didn’t kill you well enough.”

Everyone pulled their weapons and pointed it at the pilot, except for Selkie who was very confused. “W-wait. She doesn’t smell dangerous. What’s going on? Do you know her, AC?”

“She’s a Plegian war criminal. My father seemingly killed her, but she reappeared...and then disappeared again.”

“BECAUSE I WAS-” Aversa groaned. “You’d never believe me, just don’t open the pod yet. Don’t hurt her.”

Lucina’s eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about? Some other Plegian you’re protecting?”

Aversa chuckled, then sighed. “Not quite...just...get her to a med bay...the pod is the only thing keeping her alive. And believe me, you’ll never forgive yourself if you just open it without thinking. She’s very important...to both of us.”

Lucina frowned and shot Aversa a look of contempt. “Fine...” She pulled out a comm. “Noire, get this ship docked. Have a security team ready to take the pilot to Holding Cell A, and a med team ready to deal with an injured party.”

Noire’s stuttering voice came from the com. “R-right away, captian! Um...are one of you injured…?”

“No, we’re alright, just get the teams ready.”

Aversa chuckled as she dropped her pistols. “That’s a very soft voice...has the feared general gone soft? Or….are you just soft on her?”

“Where did you even learn my reputation?” Lucina snapped. “You went missing when I was eight! And that’s none of your business!

“Then how I know is none of yours.”

Lucina gritted her teeth. “Kjelle, cuff her.”

Kjelle stepped forward, grabbing Aversa roughly and pulling out a pair of energy cuffs. She clicked them around Aversa’s wrists. “We’ll see if you can explain yourself later.”

“I won’t need to...your med team will explain well enough…”

----

Lucina stood in front of the holding cell, Camilla standing beside her. “She won’t tell us anything…” Camilla said simply.

“Give me time, it hasn’t even been an hour,” Aversa said snidely. “You...you put her in the medbay, right?”

“Your cryopod was taken to the medbay, I’m waiting for reports on the inhabitant’s condition.”

“I swear, if you kill her...” Aversa chuckled grimly. “Well, you could feel worse about that than me...”

Camilla growled and glared down at the prisoner. “Do not make threats on my ship, or else…”

“I’m not threatening you. I’m saying, don’t kill your family.”

Camilla glanced over at Lucina. “Is she making any sense to you?”

“...no...she’s not.” Lucina pulled Camilla over away from the holding cell. “I wish she’d just talk straight…”

“No one talks straight on this ship.” Camilla huffed at her own joke, then crossed her arms, her expression shifting to one of seriousness. “Listen...I could make her talk.”

“Torture is illegal.”

“Not through torture. Through...other means. But she’s your prisoner...so do you want her to talk.”

“I’ve been tortured enough,” Aversa said. “And Lucina, i’m sure your aunt would disagree with whatever methods this woman has. Especially against her wife...”

“You’re speaking nonesense!” Lucina snapped. “My aunt is far away from here. And the other you murdered!”

“THAT’S A LIE!” Aversa suddenly shouted. “Firstly, Gangrel fired the shot...and secondly...well, check the medbay.”

“Well...do you want me to do it?” Camilla asked plainly. “Believe me...she can’t stay silent, no matter how much...torture she’s been through.”

“I-” Lucina was interrupted by her coms going off.

“Acting Captain Lucina, get to the medical bay right away! You’re needed!”

Aversa smiled. “Please, before you do anything you regret, check the medbay before you pass your judgement on me. She should at least get a say in it...”

“I’ll keep an eye on her, go.” Camilla instructed.

Lucina dashed off to the medbay. What was Aversa even talking about? Sure, it was debatable who killed Emmeryn...but she was dead! Though...they never did find her body...

---

Lucina rushed into the medical bay.

“Acting Captain!” Elise exclaimed. “Good, she’s conscious now.”

“Dunno what she’s saying, though,” Medical Officer Dwyer mumbled. “Nonsense..”

Behind a medbay curtain, Lucina could hear a voice...speaking Ylissean. “...wh-where am I? What’s going on? A-Aversa? Aversa?!?” This was followed by a whimper of pain.

Lucina drew back the curtain. She found...a very familar woman, gripping her head in pain and trembling. The woman saw Lucina and recoiled away, fear and confusion shining in her eyes.

“E-...Emmeryn?” Lucina muttered in shock.

Emmeryn relaxed slightly at her name. “You...you know my name…?”

“....I...I’m your...I’m your niece. Lucina. Don’t you remember me?”

“I-...I recognize you...I think…” Emmeryn nervously shifted positions. “Wh-where is Aversa?”

“In a holding cell. Did...did she hurt you, Aunt?”

“N-no!” Emmeryn said quickly. “She would never. I…” Emmeryn flinched and put a hand on her head. “...ah my head...I….need to see her…”

Lucina was both shocked and puzzled, but for now decided to comply. She pulled out her comm. “Camilla, let Aversa out and escort her to the medbay.”

There was a pause before the reply. “You’re the AC.”

A few minutes later, Aversa was shoved unceremoniously into the medbay, her hands cuffed behind her back, Camilla roughly pushing her forward.

“Aversa!” Emmeryn jumped up and ran over to the prisoner, but found Camilla’s gun in her face before she could come close enough to touch her. “What...what...are you doing? ...did we...do something?”

Camilla didn’t answer, she simply looked over at Lucina. “What’s going on?”

Lucina glared at her. “Get your gun out of my dead aunt’s face!”

Camilla put her hands up and stepped back. “Yes Captain. Sorry, I’m...not sure what’s going on.”

Emmeryn looked around, confused for a few moments, then she stepped forward and hugged Aversa. “‘Ersa, did they hurt you?”

“No...no Emm, I’m okay. How do you feel?”

Emmeryn was hesitant to answer. “...my...my head still hurts...it’s all fuzzy...but I don’t want to go to sleep again…”

“Hopefully you won’t have to...though these people don’t seem to want us on their ship,” Aversa said, with a glare at Camilla and Lucina. “Can’t entirely blame them, according to them we’re both supposed to be dead.”

“D-dead? ‘Ersa...I...don’t understand…”

Aversa looked around Emmeryn’s shoulder and glared at Lucina. “Why don’t you try to explain?”

“I....” Lucina attempted to collect herself. “You...went missing when I was a child. They...declared you dead after a while. Aversa...was thought to have been killed in battle...then showed up in the end-of-war trial to be cleared of her crimes...and then went missing and was presumed dead again.”

“O-oh…” Emmeryn hesitated for a moment before nuzzling into Aversa.

Camilla sighed and crossed her arms. “Shall I return the prisoner to her cell?”

“NO!” Emmeryn shouted, protectively clutching Aversa as hard as she could with her weakened arms.

Aversa simply smiled gently. “Em...it’s okay...don’t overwork yourself…I’ll be fine.” She glanced back at Camilla. “I’ll go back, if the captain orders it.”

Emmeryn looked between the two others. “Please don’t...she hasn’t...done anything wrong, she’s been... nothing but kind to me...”

Lucina hesitated before nodding to Camilla. “I’m sorry, Aunt...but with the state you’re in, I can’t find it in me to trust your word. We don’t know if she’s manipulated you in some way.”

Camilla grabbed Aversa, pulling her away from Emmeryn...but she had a kind smile on her face. “It’s alright...we’ll treat her well. But we have to return her to her cell...for everyone’s safety.”

Emmeryn sighed and gave Camilla and Lucina a pleading expression. “Please...don’t hurt her...she’s done...nothing wrong...I love her...”

Lucina sighed. “We...we won’t hurt her. Look at it this way, there are many Ylisseans who lost people in the war she was part of...the cell will keep her safe from them, as much as this ship from her.”

Emmeryn sat back down on her bed, almost completely tuned out. “Don’t hurt her...don’t hurt her...don’t hurt her...” she mumbled repeatedly, her voice growing weaker with each word.

Camilla gently lead Aversa away as Elise came up to gently push Emmeryn to lie down. She kept a hand on her shoulder to keep her attention. “Relax, she’ll be okay,” she said in a soft voice. “But you need your rest. You’ll hurt yourself if you don’t relax.”

“I...o-okay....i...I don’t want...to sleep...” Emmeryn said as she laid down, but she seemed to be already drifting off.

“It’s okay,” Elise cooed softly. “Everything will be okay now. Just rest, we’ll take care of you.”

“...take care of...her, too...” Emmeryn mumbled. “Shrapnel...left shoulder...didn’t...heal right...”

“We’ll take care of you both,” Elise said plainly. With a wave of her hand, the lights dimmed, allowing Emmeryn to drift off to sleep. Once her patient was out cold, she turned to her helper. “Go to the cells and check on Aversa. Help heal any of her wounds,” she ordered.

“All right,” Dwyer said, yawning and stretching his back. “Be right there...”

------

Emmeryn woke up with a soft groan. The room wasn’t as bright this time, and her head felt a little better. She raised her head and looked around. “...Aversa…?” she called out on habit.

“Sorry! She’s still in her cell...” Elise responded with a sympathetic smile. “I hope big sister will let her go soon.”

Emmeryn hesitated for a few moments before very carefully trying to sit up. “I-...I need...to see her…” she muttered. “...my head still feels dizzy.”

“My readings say you’ve received minor brain damage from prolonged cryostasis. On top of the wounds you already received, I’m not surprised you don’t feel well.” Elise smiled gently and grabbed her data pad. “But it’s nothing we can’t fix. Well...almost nothing. Your hippocampus...is damaged...”

“...that’s where...memories are stored.”

Elise nodded. “Yes. That means your ability to form long-term memories is...faulty. Things you are constantly exposed to...they will stay, but...other than that, it will fade. For example, if you left this ship...you would forget what happened on it after a time.”

Emmeryn stared down at her hands. “...how much...have I...forgotten already...”

“There’s no way to know...and no way to restore functionality. I’m...very sorry…” Elise looked away, not wanting to admit there was something she couldn’t heal...someone she couldn’t help.

Emmeryn was silent for a time. Then she looked up. “Examine...Aversa. Please...she could be...damaged too...” Emmeryn looked down. “We...we went in...together...only one...pod...had to...embrace..”

Elise noticed the strain in Emmeryn’s voice and she put a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t strain yourself. My assistant has examined Aversa. What we could find is no damage to her mind from the stasis...but there is some to her body. Her nerves are damaged, most likely from not being woken up properly. She will be fine, just….numb for a time. But, you should know...the damage to your hippocampus wasn’t due to prolonged stasis...but to oxygen deprivation...most likely, something that happened before you went in.”

“I...I am...aware...” She grimaced. “Bastard...didn’t even...do it himself...”

Elise shifted positions awkwardly and looked down. “...based on orders from the captian I have to ask where you got that information…she insists Aversa’s word cannot be trusted…”

“I...saw it...myself...it’s fuzzy but...I...I can remember...” She put a hand on her head, trying to think. “There...was a...a man, he...he choked me...can’t remember his face...The...the king...Vali...Val...whatever his name...he was on a...a balcony...laughing...then...” She smiled faintly. “Then.. Aversa’s foot came down on...on the man’s face...I...I didn’t know...how to react...she...she held out her hand...I took it...” Emmeryn tried to remember more. “That’s...that’s what...what I remember...”

Elise smiled and leaned back. “That’s very good. Your memory might not be as damaged as first thought. If you would like...I may be able to let you see her, without those handcuffs.”

Emmeryn’s eyes lit up. “Yes...I would...I would like that...”

Elise smiled and reached out, taking Emmeryn’s hand. “Then stay close to me.”

Emmeryn nodded and smiled. “I will...thank you...”

Elise nodded and led Emmeryn through the corridors, keeping the staff from stopping to stare at the guest. Past security were the holding cells. The place was empty...except for two. Aversa, pressed against the back of her cell...and Beruka standing in the hallway, just...staring at her.

“Beruka, what are you doing here?” Elise demanded.

“This unit was told to be on stand-by. In case my...talents were needed.” The reply was short and simple.

“That’s-...that’s a fucking borg!” Aversa yelped. “What the fuck?!?”

“....what?” Emmeryn said, confused. “Did...did she...hurt you?”

“She won’t-” Elise stopped...that would be a lie...Beruka would hurt someone. “Camilla ordered her to be on standby...so she won’t hurt anyone.”

“...okay...can you...let me in the cell?”

Beruka hesitated for a moment before looking at Elise. She stepped back, no longer blocking the way to the cell.

Emmeryn stumbled inside and all but collapsed in Aversa’s arms. “...i...missed you...

Aversa caught Emmeryn in her arms easily. “I missed you too, Em.

“Did they...did they tell you about...the...the brain damage?” Emmeryn asked.

“Brain damage? You mean your memory?”

“Yes...”

“Her hippocampus is damaged,” Elise said.

Aversa nodded and held Emmeryn close, running her fingers through her hair. “I thought so...it took her a while to remember me day in and day out. But eventually she did…”

Elise nodded. “I see. If you two are going to stay, she may get accustomed to the ship, but it will take effort. And I think we need to get you out of your cell...I’ll speak with my sister about it. Beruka, return to your room, your skills will not be needed.”

Beruka bowed and darted into a maintenance duct. Then Elise turned to leave. “I have to lock the cell again...but I’ll leave you two alone as I consult with Camilla.”

Emmeryn and Aversa nodded. Elise locked the cell and walked away, leaving the two alone, being true to her word.

“...I’m sorry I...couldn’t protect you...” Emmeryn said.

“...it’s not your fault Emm,” Aversa muttered softly, gently running her hands through Emmeryn’s hair. “I’m just glad you’re safe. With Lucina here...they won’t do anything to upset you. You just being here protects me.”

“I’m...I’m glad I can, then...” Emmeryn got quiet for a bit. ”...i can barely remember her...but...the one thing I can recall, she was...a child...” She sighed. “...we...missed a lot...”

Aversa sighed softly and nuzzled Emmeryn. “Yeah...it’s okay...we’ve been gone for a long time. Listen, why don’t you go spend time with your neice. Your family is important.”

“No...I...I want to stay...with you...for a little..while...longer...”

Aversa chuckled and pulled Emmeryn close. “...you can stay as long as you want, my love. You’ll have plenty of time to catch up with her later. You can just relax with me, if you want...don’t overexert yourself.”

Emmeryn nuzzled close to Aversa, planting a kiss on her neck. “..I won’t...don’t worry...”

“I’ll worry until you’re all better,” Aversa said simply as she ran her fingers through Emmeryn’s hair.

------------

“What’s she doing here?”

Aversa opened an eye to find Lucina standing on the other side of the cell doors. She did not look happy to find her aunt practically sleeping on top of her.

“Go ask Elise, she let her in,” Aversa said with a smile.

Lucina groaned and rolled her eyes. “Dammit Elise…whatever. Is she asleep?”

“I believe so, do you want me to wake her up?” Aversa responded.

“No. It’s good she’s asleep. This way I don’t have to feel bad about being an ass in front of her as I treat you like the criminal you are.” Lucina drew her pistol and opened the cell, stepping inside the her gun trained on Aversa. “So...you wanna tell me why Emmeryn is with you, and what you’ve done to her to make her smitten with you?”

Aversa shifted her position, smile vanishing as she shifted to shield Emmeryn as best she could. “...I believe she explained it to Elise as well...did she not talk with you? Validar kidnapped her, attempted to execute her, I turned traitor and saved her, we barely escaped.”

Lucina’s eyes narrowed when she noticed how Aversa moved. “You turned traitor...from someone who has groomed you from birth to be his puppet? Bullshit.” She growled. “You ‘saving’ her doesn’t absolve you of your crimes, you know that right?”

“Well...there may have been a bit of an underground resistance sneaking me incriminating documents regarding Validar and the wholesale slaughter of my entire family, and I somewhat soured on him after that. Plus, I attended that trial. I don’t think you were old enough, but Lissa was there. I was cleared of my crimes, technically I’m only wanted in Plegia now. I know that doesn’t wash the blood off my hands but it makes what you’re doing here a lot less legal.”

“You saved Emmeryn, but kept her to yourself, on your ship, away from her people. I could charge you with the kidnapping and manipulation of the monarch of Ylisse.”

“Kept her to myself?? Did you see the ship we were on? It isn’t even a planet-hopper! I was heading for Ylisse but we only got a quarter of the way before the fuel ran out!”

“Bullshit!” Lucina snapped as she slammed her fist against the wall. “You could’ve made it to any Union station! There were more than enough for you to drop her off. They could’ve helped her! You just wanted more time to manipulate her!”

“...wha’s goin...” Emmeryn groggily attempted to stand. “...stop shout- Lucina, wh-why are you...pointing a gun at...us?”

“Emmeryn...return to the medbay,” Lucina ordered, lowering the pistol for a moment. “I’m…” she grasped for the words to explain herself. “...just go back to the medbay, Emmeryn.”

“No.” Emmeryn was glaring at her. “I...don’t know what...happened to you, ...growing up...but...don’t hurt her.”

“Emm, please,” Aversa said. “I can handle her, don’t overexert yourself.”

“Emmeryn, return to the medbay, that’s an order. I am the captian of this ship.”

“And I’m the Exalt of Ylisse, and I say no!” Emmeryn snapped.

“...technically you aren’t. Former Exalt.”

“Still! At least...let her out of the...the cell...and...and let her in the medbay!” Emmeryn responded.

“No! I will not have the woman who helped slaughter thousands of my people to be allowed to wander around my ship!” Lucina shouted. “I will not allow her outside of this cell! She is a war criminal, and I don’t care if Lissa pardoned her, she should’ve paid for kill them!”

“WILL YOU ALL STOP SHOUTING?” Rhajat said, peering around a corner. “Half the ship can hear you three!”

“Stay outta this, Hoshidan!” Lucina snapped. Then she turned to Aversa and Emmeryn. “I don’t care what she’s been pardoned of, or what she’s told you, but she is a war criminal who killed thousands of Ylisseans and helped orchestrated the death of my father. She should’ve paid, and I will tread her as such.”

“...the urge to play the father card is so tempting but he’s legally my brother so I won’t. Also what orchestrated death? He piloted a ship into the maw of a giant space dragon. Noble, conclusive, and I had fuck all to do with it.”

“YOU BROUGHT THAT PLANET EATING MONSTER TO OUR SYSTEM YOU FUCKING BITCH!” Lucina yelled, slamming a fist against the wall. “It’s your fault…” she muttered as her body relaxed. “...yours and Valmar’s...you’re both responsible...you both did it and you both should’ve paid for it...puppet or not…”

“...I...can’t argue against that.” She raised up her hands. “I’ll admit, I’ve done horrible things and I should pay for them.”

Emmeryn looked at Lucina with a mix of anger and sympathy. She understood Lucina’s anger...but she couldn’t share it. She couldn’t be angry at Aversa...she had seen the good in her. She fully pulled herself away from Aversa and stood.

“Lucy…” she muttered softly, holding out her arms. “Come here…” Lucina looked up at Emmeryn, tears welling in her eyes. She stepped forward and allowed Emmeryn to hug her. “I know you’re angry...it’s okay. It’s okay to be angry…”

“...someone needs to pay…”

“You’re right...someone does...but that person doesn’t have to be Aversa. She is sorry for the part she played. You don’t have to forgive her...but don’t let the anger consume you…”

“I wish to atone for my crimes,” Aversa said simply.

Emmeryn held out a hand to silence Aversa. “Aversa...don’t talk for a bit,” she muttered before focusing down on Lucina. “Lucina, just relax. She’s not a threat, she’s so sorry...she won’t hurt anyone.”

“...you...you really believe that…?” Lucina asked softly.

“Yes. She’ll...she’ll be fine…”

Lucina looked up, struggling to keep Emmeryn upright as her energy failed. “E-Emmeryn?”

Aversa suddenly sprung up and caught them both as they collapsed. “Whoa! I got’cha...I got’cha…” She gently shifted Emmeryn’s weight from Lucina, allowing the captian to stumble back and get her footing back. “...can...can you call a medic?”

“Of course.” Lucina retreated, leaving the door open as she scrambled back to the security room and called medics to the holding cells.

Soon, Dwyer and Maria rushed into the room, Dwyer carrying a medcase. “Bollocks...she needs a new IV,” Dwyer mumbled.

“You swear weirdly,” Maria said as she took out a portable IV from her case. “Let’s take her to the medbay..”

Aversa nodded and stood, carrying Emmeryn out of the cell. Security came to stop her, but Lucina spoke up from the corner. “Let her go...she’ll be in the medbay…if not...” Lucina hesitated for a moment before sighing. “...Beruka will bring her back…” There was a shutter of confirmation from above.

“...rest assured, I won’t leave her side unless the doctors make me,” Aversa said.

Lucina simply nodded.

#emmeryn #aversa #severa #kjelle #lucina #elise #dwyer #maria #beruka #stardate: 2689 #fire emblem heroes #feh #fire emblem awakening #my fics #star trek #emmeryn/aversa #coping mechanisms ot4

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sentofighta · 4 years

Text

F.ire E.mblem Awakening verse

BASIC INFORMATION.

NAME: Sohrab Errol

AGE: 19

GENDER: Male

EYES: Green

HAIR: Dark Brown

HEIGHT: 173 cm

COUNTRY: Ylisse / Plegia [1]

HOMETOWN: Village in West of Ylisstol

CURRENT RESIDENT: Roaming Ylisse

RELATIVES: Parents & a little brother

CLASS: Dark Mage > Alchemist (see here)

WEAPON: summoned sword via dark magic/alchemy (see previous)

OCCUPATION: Alchemist | Merchant | Mercenary | Traveler

BIRTHDAY: 11th of January, XX

[1]] Plegian Father - Ylissean Mother

SHORT DESCRIPTION.

Sohrab is one of Avatar’s apprentices. The dark mage studied under Avatar for two years before they disappear without any notice. It was shocking for the young man and to the other children that were studying under them. He waited for any news about his mentor but no one saw Avatar after that day. Sohrab, as a self-discovery journey, left his hometown south of west of Ylisstol, and set out to explore the world. Sohrab has many questions to why Avatar had left without any notice. He has no intention of following Avatar all over the world, if he managed to meet them within Ylisse then that’s good on its own, other than that he will not venture past the Halidom. It was a promise he made to his mother that he will not under any circumstances go to Plegia (His father’s home country.) Valm and Ferox are on his list but for now, he decided to explore his country first then expand his horizon.

>His main objective is and will remain: to know more about what is Alchemy.

NOTE!!!!! Sohrab’s timeline is the timeline where Avatar is MU Build3 which means they are above 20s. He will be treated as an outsider if your muse (a Robin/avatar) is not of that age. If you want your avatar to be Sohrab’s mentor then please come and talk to me about it.

Aside from that, the young man is the son of Plegian man and a Ylissean woman. His father used to be a researcher who met his mother in unusual circumstances.

History index:

*ORIGIN (Parents meeting)

*THE BEGINNING

*AVATAR’S ADVENT

*CURRENT ALCHEMIST

YOU CAN SKIP THIS PART OF THE PARENTS MEETING TO > THE BEGINNING

The mother was a citizen of a border village between the two nations who fled after seeing her family gruesomely killed by the Plegian army. The woman most terrified upon seeing the researcher tried to run away from him to see that she was trapped between going back to her death or a lost opportunity to escape by running away from the Plegian man.

The researcher reassures her that he has no merit in hurting her but she did not believe him. The sound of the army’s heavy steps is approaching where the two are and fear rose in the poor maiden’s heart that she is willing to take whatever around her to end her life and not be killed or worse, raped by these murderers. She quickly reached for a tree branch and was ready to stab her neck when the man leaped at her and snatched the stick away and yelled at her for thinking of something foolish like that, and without any hesitation, he pushed her behind a rock and stood in front of it after telling her to shut up.

The group of soldiers stopped by when they saw him and asked him why a man of science is in here and he told them that he is trying to understand human soul and what is a better place to be to study that than the battlefield aka a Grimleal task to which the believed and did not poke the matter further. They asked him if he saw a runaway maiden and he quickly denies seeing her. They walk away, leaving the two alone. The man takes off his cape and drapes it on the girl to prevent anyone from recognizing her heritage then guides her back to his tent. She did not resist that much because she lost all hope in escaping because resisting at this point will just prolong her inevitable fate. The scientist lets her in and explains that no harm will befall her if she accepted his help which he will try his best to secure a route for her to escape back into Ylisse. The woman did not believe him so he had to give a guarantee of his honest words, so he take out his precious item, a family heirloom–his family crest, and push it to her and tell her that she can keep this as a sign of his sincerity. She is surprised and puzzled of why would he go this far for her. He explains that his motives are purely scientific. He’d like to see her soul under these circumstances, what is going to evolve into? She stares at him for a whole minute before she starts to laugh. He finds her behavior odd and worth investigating but she then starts to cry which makes it even stranger. She tells him that he should not give away his treasure to someone he just met, not to mention is going to die soon but he stops her saying that he will see her; he will go to Ylisse to search for her once he is able. She blushes and holds the crest closer to her heart. She knows he probably did not mean it in any romantic way…strange she still thinks of love despite this kind of situation she is in.

Though, he holds her hand and tells her that he will find her to see her soul, if it was healed or not and whether he can help in any way after he finishes his research. He promises her that then goes to find a way to slip her off the border back to Ylisse. The plan works and he sees her disappearing into the horizon. After few months, he slips away from Plegia before the war grows madder and the Ylissean Exalt assault the kingdom. It takes him another two months before he locates her. He had to do everything in his power to not be recognized as Plegian. He spoke only ylissean tongue and changed clothes whenever he can to fit in till he found her. At first, she did not recognize him because his hair grow longer and he no longer looks like a plegian scholar but a simple traveler. He reassures her that it is him and time just did number on him. The woman cries again after hugging him and telling him that she waited for him to come every day. He meant so much to her despite not knowing anything about him except his name. He asks her whether she is willing to marry a madman who is in love with science and discovery to find her answer with a simple kiss to his lips which sealed their fate for years to come–together.

BEGINNING:

Timeline:

17 years ago: Parents met when the war between Plegia and Ylisse started at the skirmishes

16 years ago: The father escaped Plegia to Ylisse to find the mother

15 years ago: Sohrab was about a couple months old

Sohrab at 14: Avatar coming to the village

Sohrab at 16: Avatar leaving the village then he left the village with Duncan’s group

Sohrab at 19: Exploring almost all Ylisse (and meeting the shepherds)

------------------ xx ------------------ xx ------------------ xx

After their marriage, Sohrab’s mother was pregnant after a month of their commitment then for the next 8 months, his father was dying to secure everything possible for his wife in order to deliver the baby safely. The father started working as a teacher in the local school whilst the mother was a tailor. Having been tutored by his own father, it was a reason for why Sohrab admired Avatar. They were good at teaching which reminded the brunet of his own family. The parents did everything for the boy to learn what is wrong and right despite how bad the situation was.

The First Ylisse-Plegia war was a complete disaster for both nations. It ended with so much hatred and sorrow. Being a Plegian amongst Ylisseans, Sohrab’s father had to be twice careful of revealing his true identity. Fortunately, the village they were living in, had accepted him as a member of their society after a while. He’s only able to say that he is Plegian only inside that small population. Any other place, he is to be secretive.

This had an impact on the boy. He grows up to be sharp at a young age due to what was happening around him. He understood that if someone where to find out that he is a half, he is probably to be murdered on the spot. This fear subsided when Avatar came. Being a Plegian themselves, Avatar tried to explain for Sohrab that being one is not bad, it is one’s action, not their nationality. Sohrab was the only one to know of the Avatar’s true heritage. Sohrab’s father had his suspicion around Avatar but did not poke his nose around because he respected the other’s privacy.

The parents feared that one day, the boy will be found and persuaded to join the Grimleal and their efforts to hide him away from this will go to waste which why they found some solace when Avatar came to teach the kids what they know, another perspective on life.

AVATAR’S ADVENT.

Years later, Sohrab was 14 when Avatar came to their village. They stayed for two years, teaching the kids in the village all sorts of knowledge they possess. What were the motives of Avatar coming to their village were kept secret from the villagers but they offered their services if they can stay in the village for a while.

As they came they went. They vanished without leaving any trace of where they have gone to, when they will be back or even a goodbye letter. Sohrab looks up to them as a source of inspiration so their disappearance made him sad, rather disappointed that they did not have the time to simply say goodbye at least. Sohrab was 16 by then.

During the time Avatar spent, Sohrab, possessed quite the knowledge thanks to them. true that he was not gifted with a critical thinking mind, but he was an eager student. He studied everything that Avatar throw his way, whether he fully understood it at that time or not, was not a problem. Avatar told him that a good first step to read and read, the application is important but in due time. Thus, Sohrab was not worried if he did not understand half of what the Avatar used to say because he knows by time and with enough experience, he will get it. The Alchemist learned nifty skills from Avatar like observation. Since Sohrab was a quiet kid, he could have detected things that most of the kids could not. Still, may not be as good as the Avatar, but he trained his eyes to spot things–any oddity, especially with human’s body language. It piqued his interest to be able to draw raw assumptions of someone’s character by simply observing their body language. So, he worked on that by reading more and observing.

Sohrab and the other kids who were studying under Avatar were saddened. Avatar could have said a proper goodbye but they did not. Some of them felt betrayed as Avatar promised to teach them all the cool things they knew and some with time forgotten about them. Sohrab cared for Avatar because for him, Avatar was someone close of a big sibling to him. Since he is an only child, it was certainly helping to have Avatar around him. For Sohrab, Avatar was a sibling, or a father figure (if Avatar was male) like since the two (Avatar and his father) are in a way teachers, source of inspiration and ambition, a source for a positive outlet, and their kindness and thoughtful nature especially when he was struggling with his identity, Avatar stood up with him. Plus, the amount of knowledge they have was something really to admire. He wished he could be like them but knowing how limited his abilities are, he simply kept dreaming of being a good dependable person like them. So, their disappearance was quite the shock for him.

However, his thirst for discovery from his father’s side urged him to out and explore the world. Of course, all to his mother’s chagrin but he promised her to stay safe as possible.

CURRENT ALCHEMIST.

Sohrab left his village at a young age after many days of his mother’s refusal saying that he is still young. Thankfully, a merchant in his village, Duncan promised to take good care of Sohrab if his mother agree. After the father spoke kind words to her about letting him go sooner than having to face it when he decides to sneak out because of her ‘overprotectiveness’ the mother then agree but making him promise to not leave Ylisse for Plegia at any cost or meet or interact with any Plegian,

The young alchemist leaves with the parents blessing of seeing the truth of his this world by his own eyes and experience and feel what books or words by mouth cannot express. Sohrab joins Duncan’s merchant group and travels with them wherever they go and when their roads differ, Sohrab would leave them and wander with another group of merchants or mercenary (did not matter to him) to explore the world. And whenever he would meet up with Duncan’s group, he would send letters and gifts back home.It was a rough journey but he enjoyed every bit of it. Even when he nearly died because of a high fever, he took it as a valuable experience and made sure to have proper precautions for the future. After 3 years of roaming around the country, he became pretty much knowledgeable of the terrains. He often becomes a guide for groups of merchants in exchange for traveling with them and information on any tidbits of information on this alchemy. To Sohrab’s shock, in his traveling, his mother got pregnant and gave birth to a little brother of his. As much as he wanted to come back and see his little brother, it was kind of impossible as he was tracing a lead on a book he got a tip about and leaving the traces to get cold was out of the question. He kind of hated his pragmatic thinking at sometimes but if he returned what could he do for his new little brother? He is still a baby to tell him about his adventures. Maybe the next year when he manages to track down that book he wanted. Naga only knows where this might lead him.

With time, he met people who had books about the old continent, more elaborated on certain aspects and he managed to salvage a bit here and a bit there about Alchemy. Even books that are half damaged, its contents are about a guy called Forneus. By the end of his third year, he was able to combine a sword to his body. It was a reckless attempted but it was a test of his abilities. As a starter, Sohrab could synthesize lesser things like a paper, quill, gradually to mix and forge small accessories like rings and pendant but he was not into creating these stuff. He was more of practical person so anything that is actually useful to use he would attempt to learn and create.

His first success was creating a healing salve that could not fully heal wounds but it was a grand thing for someone as Sohrab who learned everything by himself. His success rate gradually increased with every new item he synthesized perfectly. His next attempt was weapons because it was rather expensive to keep buying low standard swords which keeps breaking every now and then. The first successful weapon was a dagger. Weak and could not last after two uses but for a first try to manifest it, it was a great attempt. Then he gradually kept adding more materials trial and error until he found the best formula to synthesize a durable dagger, and even poisonous one. His next experiment was a sword. After another a couple of tries, he managed to materialize the sword in a stable state without losing its form. His next task was to link that sword he made with his body for easy summon to it rather than actually synthesize it in battle, he can simply summon it. Once he was able to link the sword to his left arm, his body at first did not react but then his body started to reject the sword and any material in his system. Sohrab had a severe fever that could have killed him if it weren’t for Duncan and the rest of the gang, taking him to a healer to cure him. After he recovered, he continued his experiments until his body accustomed to the sword presence in his left arm.

As for the materials, It was a hard process to gather material let alone knowing what sort of things would create the desired item. It was a trial and error kind of phase. He has his journal with every successful and failed experiment. It was his own legacy if someone, like him, attempted to learn Alchemy. The journal is a black leather, with snow-white papers. The cover is his family insignia and his name initials S.E. Of course, this journal was one of the successfully crafted items he attempted and to honor it, he wrote everything in it.

The first page reads the following:

𝒯𝑜 𝓌𝒽𝑜𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓈 𝒾𝓃 𝓅𝑜𝓈𝓈𝑒𝓈𝓈𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒿𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓃𝒶𝓁 𝒷𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓇𝓃𝑒𝒹. 𝒲𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒹𝑜 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒿𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓃𝒶𝓁 𝒾𝓈 𝓊𝓅 𝓉𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒷𝑒 𝒶𝓌𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒶 𝒸𝓊𝓇𝓈𝑒 𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒻𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒾𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓅𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝒾𝓃 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒾𝓃𝓈𝓉 𝒽𝓊𝓂𝒶𝓃𝒾𝓉𝓎. 𝑀𝓎 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌𝓁𝑒𝒹𝑔𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓂𝑒𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝒶𝓇𝓂 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝑒𝓁𝓅, 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝒹𝑒𝓈𝓉𝓇𝑜𝓎 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓇𝑒. 𝐼𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓊𝓈𝑒𝒹 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉’𝓈 𝓌𝓇𝒾𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓃 𝒾𝓃 𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝒶𝓎 𝑀𝒾𝓁𝒶 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒩𝒶𝑔𝒶’𝓈 𝓌𝓇𝒶𝓉𝒽 𝒷𝑒 𝒸𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝑜𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊.

All in all, Sohrab learned a lot on his journey, especially the ways of trade since he mostly traveled with merchants. To him, he values the item quality over money. If it is good, he might tempt to buy it even if it was expensive. Though, that does not mean he will not haggle his way to get what he wants with a good price. Notice: It does not mean he is a superb haggler, it is a trial and error experience for him as well.

Since Sohrab’s timeline is a parallel one to the one the game is in, there are similarities between the fate of the two lines. In the future of Sohrab’s world, Grima did indeed take over and Sohrab’s family were killed because their village is still close to Ylisstol thus was invaded by Risens when they swarmed the continent. The differences would be in the terrain for example new villages that he is not familiar of, man made rivers or any other thing.

A note to be taken, in game timeline, Sohrab is different from the main verse Sohrab because unlike the main Sohrab, his counterpart did not meet Avatar (if assuming that the most agreed on age for avatar is 17/18 ish, thus does not fit Sohrab’s story) therefore, he does not have that drive to go out of his village to explore.

Again, Avatars who are not over 20s will be treated as avatars from the parallel time he stumbled on when he passed the Outrealm gate exploring the land. If you wish to have your Avatar as Sohrab’s mentor, please let me know so I can arrange it as that or Sohrab will never treat anyone the same as the people he met in his own world. He might have met few people on his travel from the Shepherds but will NOT act the same he does with the actual Awakening timeline people. If this is confusing, please contact me so I can hopefully expand this for you.

COMBAT SECTION.

Status:

As for combat, Sohrab was about average (and less at some aspects) in everything. He was not that good at sword or hand in hand combat, to be honest, he was not that interested in fighting at all, unlike the other boys of his age. He always valued a safer option which is to stay away from any fight as possible. Mind you, he knows enough to defend himself and that is just good for him.

Sohrab wished to be different, not settling with a sword, a bow, a lance or even a tome, he wanted to have something different from the rest. Perhaps due to his upbringing, he always felt the need to be unique than the others, or how the society treated him as being a unique creature–a half.

In all honesty, it baffled him how his origin confuses people. What a nationality has to do with loving someone and building a family together? He always felt their gaze on him, Their high expectations of him turning into an exceptional being, Though, this ‘exceptional being’ is a just mere human like them so a way to tick him off was the mention of his identity as half and how strange it is and whether it made him any different from the rest.

To continue on the combat talk, Sohrab looked for something of his to call, his own way of fighting. His efforts did not fruit until Avatar left. Out of frustration, Sohrab left the village and stayed till the evening wandering about until he came back to visit the room that Avatar was living in. The books that they had were left in the bookcase so he spent the evening looking at every book, every paper, every document that the Avatar had left. He did not know why they left so much. In his search, there were excerpts about the ancient continent–Valentia and its culture. A word stuck him unfamiliar–Alchemy. This ‘magic’ as he assumed, was used to craft things, namely the Gold Mark, a rare currency back in the day. It piqued his interest that there is less information about this “Alchemy” when it seems like an important thing.

From that day, and the search of what Alchemy is was Sohrab’s goal. Sohrab was 16 and he spent three years in searching for this Alchemy and mastering some of its basic skills. It was not easy but he had to leave the house, leave the village, leave this closed space to a broader one. In a way, he was following his passion like what his own father did. His research guided him to follow after his potential wife. Sohrab’s passion is to find more about Alchemy.

Moreover, to maintain a stable form of his sword(or any other weapon he links to his body), Sohrab has to provide nutrition especially if it gets broken or dull; by eating some of the material that he used to create it; thus why he carries a small pouch of grinded materials that he sprinkles on his food whenever he can. He dislikes someone seeing him do that so if he was in a vicinity of others he would either refrain or pick another place with fewer people.

Sohrab cannot link more than one weapon at his current abilities but as he levels up and grows he can add more weapons but that means more stress on his body and of course the intake of materials into his body will increase and this will definitely cause health problem like poisoning. He is also researching another way to replace the whole intaking the material in to be able to summon weapons.

Despite wanting to be different, he had to have a weapon at his disposal to fight when it’s needed and the only thing that will not strain his body when summoned is a sword for it does not require much material than a lance or an axe (& intake wise.) Sohrab knows how to fend himself but not much a master of the weapon and when someone tells him points out his flaws (e.g. posture, handle, moves,) he does not give that much thought to it because he still dislikes using it. A paradox.

His trump card in any fight is his quick on spot forged throwing poisoned daggers. He can create them fast and utilize them when needed. His weakness aside not being a strong or skilled fighter, his reservoir of material. If he was pushed into a long battle, this could lead to draining all his material that he carries with him for alchemy. Rendering him into a close combat again with either his sword or fist depend on the situation. However, being trained by Avatar, it will take more than a provoke or a taunt to get him into this situation because he will always value the option of running away.

Perhaps with good persuasion, Sohrab might consider training more but for now, he will remain as far as he can be from any training ground. To be honest, he is a bit scared of enabling himself more power, he will lose sight of his goal which is learning, not fighting, which is why he refuses to get any training. However, he won’t talk about this to anyone whilst becomes another weakness. He’ll simply brush it as not good with physical training.

Because of his lack of proper training, his stamina is not all that good. His moves can be a bit rusty at times but when push comes to the shove, he will force his body to overcome the limits he had set for himself.

A note to address, Sohrab can use any tome if he had enough time reading it because again his first class was Dark Mage, meaning he can use any tome that this class allows but he does not use tomes because he remembers Avatar using them with swords, thus his pride does not allow him to copy his master, especially he is a person values being unique (subconsciously that is) but if he was in a situation where he must use one to save himself or someone, he will surprise you.

APPEARANCE.

Sohrab stands tall 5’7, dark brown messy hair, green eyes that turn to golden when he is synthesizing or summoning his sword. his skin tone leans to a ylissean thus why he can pass as one with no trouble. He wears a black cape, brown undershirt, green pants, brown just below the knee boots. Honestly, he changes his clothes colors when he sees fit especially if he wants to blend around, thanks to Alchemy. Belts around his waist that holds the pouches that contain the materials he gathers. A hidden knife in his left boot in case he was cornered in a fight with no chance to use alchemy or his supply ran out.

PERSONALITY.

Sohrab is the guy who you can miss if he did not speak up. For him, he rather stays in the background because it is less of a hassle. This does not mean he is grumpy or a gloomy person, it’s just a way to observe and wait for the good chance to butt in. Being in the background allows him to perceive better than being in the forefront. It often leaves him perplexed to certain reactions, especially these oddballs (the extreme people or the overall weirdos.)

The Alchemist is honest, more like blunt when needed. Though, as any human, he often falls short to lie at some points. Sohrab is lazy who tends to skip training or any physical activity; not a big fan of moving when it is not necessary. He prefers to be in a quiet place to synthesis in peace.

Dabbling in magic and alchemy, it requires a certain degree of level-headedness to be able to craft and forge things. Sohrab can be calm but when someone pushes the right button he is certainly someone you do not want to anger. Sohrab can hold a grudge against someone but in the end, he will let it go because as he dislikes overtaxing his body, he dislikes overtaxing his mind over useless emotions such as grudge.

SKILLS.

Alchemy (to some extent), observing(body language and manner of speech), sewing (from his mother), tutoring (from his father), haggling and trade skills (from Duncan and the merchants), decent sword fight, decent one on one combat, tracking, high magic resistance, camping and laziness.

Tags: ⌈⌈verse[among the shepherds; original]. (sohrab)

⌈⌈verse[among the shepherds; parallel]. (sohrab)

#⌈⌈verse[among the shepherds; parallel]. (sohrab)#⌈⌈verse[among the shepherds; original]. (sohrab)#⌈⌈ooc. (faty speaks)

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