Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Lucina could hardly believe what she was seeing. The skeleton of the very monster that took her parents from her, destroyed her world, and even followed her and her comrades to this one. Grima was dead, not merely sealed away like she once hoped, dead. Under normal circumstances Lucina wouldn’t know what she would be feeling now. Joy? Relief? Peace? However she felt none of these, that soulless monster had managed to take one last thing with it, something that hurt more than everything else. Robin.

Even thinking his name was too much for her to bear right now. Lucina watched as her husband dealt the final blow to Grima, using the same power the Fell Dragon wielded to extinguish it at the cost of his own life. In his last moments he gave her one last look while wishing that they would be reunited in another world, then he vanished into nothingness. She hadn’t deserved him. She was dedicated to her mission first and foremost, and when she believed he had to die for the sake of that mission she came so close to killing him. Yet in spite of it all he loved her with all his heart, he said that she wouldn’t be the woman he fell in love with were she any different. He was more than she ever hoped for in her life, and she wouldn’t have traded him for the world.

But evidently that was not Lucina’s choice to make, Robin gave his life to complete her mission believing that it's what she would have wanted, but damn her mission now. All Lucina wanted was her Robin back, to cherish every moment they’d share from this day onward. But Grima couldn’t just make its exit without hurting her one last time. Lucina wondered if the beast would ever truly be finished with her. Would it continue to haunt her even in death?

“Mother!” a voice called out to her from behind, rousing her from her thoughts.

Lucina knew her daughter Morgan was running excitedly towards her. Morgan had been the one to lead the charge with the main force on Origin Peak so the strike team selected by Robin and Chrom could make it to Grima and seal it away, so she wasn’t there to see what really happened. Lucina couldn’t turn to look her daughter in the eye, she knew that once Morgan saw her expression she’d learn her father wasn’t with them anymore. Lucina kept staring out at the remains of Grima, hoping against hope that Robin would make some triumphant return to spare their daughter the pain of losing him.

“Wow, Grima doesn’t look so scary now. Just a big ol’ pile of bones. Man Grandpa really did a number on it.”

Lucina knew she had to do it. She took one last look, and turned to break the news to her daughter.

“Father wasn’t the one who did this.” Morgan’s expression changed upon hearing this.

“How else was Grima defeated then? I thought only the Exalted Falchion was capable of that. Oh oh oh, did your Falchion awaken and you did it?! Mom that's so cool-”

“I didn’t do it either.” Lucina sobbed, “It was your Father, he gave his own life to ensure Grima would never return again.”

“Father…” was all Morgan could get out.

After that the usually energetic girl was quiet, Morgan just stared at Grima’s remains just like her mother had moments ago. In a few moments Morgan had begun to weep, and in a moment of maternal instinct Lucina embraced her daughter and gave her what little hope they had.

“It’s going to be fine Morgan. Naga told us that if our bonds with your father are strong enough he may one day return to us. I’m sure with all the memories the three of us shared together he’ll find his way back to our family.”

Morgan’s weeping reduced to mere sobs shortly after, her mother’s assurance that things would be okay helping to ease the pain. After a few minutes together like this, Lucina

“Now let’s go meet up with the others. We don’t want them worrying any more than they already are over us.”

“Sure thing mom, maybe Grandpa’s already organizing a search party to find Father. He found him the first time right? Then I’m sure he can find him again.”

Morgan  ran back to the others pulling her Mother by her wrist. Lucina hoped what her daughter said was true, because she couldn’t imagine living her life without Robin by her side.

Chapter Text

It was a quiet trip back to Ylisstol. The Shepherds never lost one of their own before. While casualties were a part of any battle, Robin’s plans never exposed them to unnecessary risk. They had close calls, injuries and the occasional scare, but none of them had ever died. How ironic that the man most accredited their perfect survival to was the first and only death in their final battle together. Robin, the High Deliverer was gone, and his absence left a void in its wake. Everyone had a different reaction to his sacrifice, some were sure he’d return, those who weren’t had differing reactions. Some vowed to celebrate his life and the peace he had won, while others mourned the loss of their comrade. One thing they all had in common however, were their sympathies for his family.

Lucina and Morgan had regrouped with the others in a short time, and were met with nothing but condolences from their friends and allies. The circumstances of Robin and Lucina’s relationship was a strange one, even amongst the Shepherds, but they were accepted by all (even Chrom after some convincing from his wife). It warmed her heart to see such kindness from so many people, even Tharja seemed uncharacteristically kindhearted towards Lucina. Seeing so many people that her husband’s life had touched brought tears to her eyes once again. Lucina felt that all of this along with her family’s support would see her through this trying time.

As soon as they got back Lucina began coordinating with her father to search for Robin. Sumia and Cordelia would lead the parties traveling furthest due to their pegasus’ superior mobility, Chrom and Lissa would take charge of the areas closest to the capital, and Frederick would sweep the areas in between with the fastest horses house Ylisse had at its disposal. Lucina went with her father for the first few weeks, but was convinced to remain in the capital as the search parties grew less frequent in occurrence. Lucina wasn’t bothered too much though, she had a feeling Robin would reappear in a couple months time, on the anniversary when Chrom found him lying in a field almost three years prior.

In the meantime, Lucina wanted to try her hand at something less destructive than sparring or training. She had been fighting for so long, she never stopped to think what she would do when the war was over. Thanks to Robin, Lucina had won her future, and she was looking forward to enjoying the peace that entailed. Today Lucina was going to try and take up baking with her mother’s help. Sumia’s baking skills were legendary among the Shepherds, so much that there were rumors that they were how she was able to win Chrom’s heart. Lucina knew how ridiculous they were, but it was a testament to how good of a baker her mother was.

Morgan was already waiting with Sumia by the time Lucina arrived. It was still strange how three generations of her family were together yet there wasn’t more than seven years difference between them. Morgan had boundless energy as usual, almost jumping in place out of excitement. Sumia was happy to spend time with her daughter and granddaughter, and unlike Chrom she enjoyed being a grandparent at such a young age.

“Mom’s finally here Grandma, so can we finally start now?”

“Yes Morgan. It's a good thing you’re always early Lucina, your daughter’s been practically begging to start for almost ten minutes now.”

“Morgan, while I’m looking forward to this family time as much as you are, it's no excuse to be so impatient.” Lucina scolded her daughter.

Morgan pouted and folded her arms as a mock show of annoyance. Then quickly dropped the act when she realized something.

“Um… is Aunt Cynthia going to be joining us?” Morgan asked. “I don’t see her anywhere.”

“Cynthia had plans today to begin training Severa to become a pegasus knight, so she couldn’t make it. It’ll just be the three of us.” Sumia replied. 

“What did you have in mind for us to make for our first lesson Mother?” asked Lucina.

She was nervous about trying, but this was something she wanted to do. She imagined what Robin would think upon seeing how much she would be able to make by the time he returned. Baking was also one of the few things she remembered doing with the Sumia from her own world before Grima returned; she felt that finally learning to bake was a way to honor her original mother. Sumia’s response shook her from her thoughts.

“I was thinking we’d start simple with some muffins, whichever kind you two want to make.”

Before Lucina could say anything, Morgan immediately voiced her opinion,

“Oh oh oh! Can we make blueberry muffins? Please pretty please Mom?”

Lucina couldn’t help but lovingly shake her head “Sure Morgan, we can make as many as you want.”

She couldn’t get annoyed with her daughter, it warmed her heart to see Morgan so joyously happy with such simple things. Even if Lucina would rather have started with chocolate chip muffins instead.

So far everything was going well. Aside from having to share some ingredients between the three of them there were no problems. Lucina was just waiting for Morgan to finish with the flour so she could add it to her mixture, it was the last ingredient she needed before they moved on to the next step. Morgan finished and handed the flour to her mother while receiving the baking powder from her grandmother. Lucina quickly started measuring the flour while thinking about how her muffins would come out once they were done.

“Be careful that you don’t use too much Mother.” Morgan said, snapping Lucina back to reality.

“Don’t worry Morgan, I measured everything carefully.” Lucina replied.

She wanted this to come out perfectly, this had been a wonderful time with her mother and daughter and Lucina wanted it to stay that way.

The trio had put their muffins in the oven almost twenty minutes ago and the time had come to take them out. Sumia, Lucina, and Morgan each opened their respective ovens to take out their baked goods.

“Damnit!” Lucina yelled upon seeing her pastries.

“Are you ok sweetie?!” her mother said in alarm.

“I’m fine,” Lucina grumbled “but my muffins aren’t.”

Rather than fluffing upwards like they were supposed to, they had begun to sink downwards in the middle. Lucina didn’t know how this happened, she followed the recipe exactly how her mother told them to.

“How much baking powder did you use Lucina?” asked her mother.

“I used two teaspoons, right before I handed it to you.”

“Uh Mom…” Morgan interjected “You handed Grandma the flour, not the baking powder, I think you mixed up your ingredients.”

That couldn’t have been right, she had the baking powder first, Lucina was sure of it. But then what could’ve caused her muffins to come out this way? Looking over at the rest of them, her mother and daughter’s pastries looked normal. Could she really have made such a simple mistake? 

“It's fine Lucina, these things happen when you’re starting out.” her mother tried to assure her.

But Lucina couldn’t wrap her head around it.

“Are you ok Mom?” asked Morgan “Why are you walking towards the door?”

Lucina hadn’t noticed that she was about to leave the room, she was still so confused about the mix up. She didn’t know what she was doing, but she felt that some fresh air would do her good.

“I’m going to take a quick walk while the muffins cool down. Even if mine didn’t come out right I’d be happy to try yours.” She replied.

Lucina wasn’t sure how long she’d be gone, but she needed to clear her head. Something was off and she didn’t want to be a burden to her family. Lucina couldn’t stop thinking about what went wrong. It was so simple, yet it happened. She kept going through it in her head that she didn’t even realize where she was going. 

By the time she came to, Lucina realized she was in the barracks. Upon realizing this, she wanted to leave. The princess was trying to enjoy herself with her loved ones, not train for a war that had already been won. But the more she thought about it, the more she wanted to run through a few motions, maybe it would help clear her head. She grabbed a sword and began to practice, and as she did Lucina began reminiscing on the last time she did this.

It was shortly before they left for the Dragon’s Table, everything moved so quickly after that. Robin was with her, the two trained together often to improve Robin’s swordsmanship. He never was satisfied with his ability, despite the fact he often gave Lucina a challenge in their practice matches. She missed him, but being back here felt natural. Even without Robin, the familiarity helped her calm down. She couldn’t wait to see him again, and she’d be able to bake a decent batch of muffins by then for sure. All she could think about was when she’d see him again. Her thoughts dwelled on that day for so long she didn't realize how much time had passed.

“Mom, is everything fine?” a concerned voice rang out from the sideline.

It took Lucina a second to realize that her daughter had arrived and was trying to get her attention.

“Yes Morgan,” Lucina answered, “just wanted to focus myself by practicing some basic movements for a few minutes.”

Morgan gave her mother a nervous look and replied “It's been almost forty-five minutes. We were getting worried about you.”

Forty-five minutes? That couldn’t have been right, but after calming down Lucina noticed how she had been sweating quite a bit. That wasn’t the result of a few minutes worth of training. Morgan looked worried about her mother, but Lucina wasn’t going to let her daughter get herself worked up over nothing.

“I’m sorry, I must have lost track of time. Let me have a quick wash and I’ll be right there to try some of what you made.” Lucina tried to assure Morgan.

Morgan didn’t seem completely convinced, but she was willing to give her mother the benefit of the doubt.

“Okay, I’ll tell grandma you’ll be there soon. See you in a few.”

Once her daughter had left, Lucina began to make her way towards her room. Once she had cleaned herself up a bit, she’d be back on schedule and on her way to enjoying the abundant time she had with her family.

At least she thought. For the past month, Lucina kept experiencing similar mishaps as the ingredient mix up earlier. Not just with baking either, she’d prick herself sewing or overwater the flowers in the garden. Screw ups like these made her hesitant to try other new hobbies in her free time, and because of this the paradoxical princess found it hard to make conversation with her family when they spent time together. Lucina enjoyed the time spent with them for sure, but she felt like she didn’t have anything to contribute. These feelings often led her towards the training grounds to vent her frustrations. 

In the past Lucina had dreamt about when she wouldn’t have to use her sword anymore, now it seemed like the only thing that could ease her mind. The blue haired woman could spend hours at a time at the training grounds just running through the motions. At this point, it felt like the only thing familiar to her. She would tell herself she would ease up soon and make more of an effort to spend time trying new things, but she kept coming back to train each time. Lucina felt guilty, she wanted to make so many memories with the others, Morgan especially. She wanted to be a better mother for her, but she didn’t know how. All of this was so strange to her, and the man she planned on sharing the journey of parenthood with was gone. 

‘Just another month and a half.’ Lucina would think to herself every time these thoughts would creep into her mind.

Peace had been won, her father lived, and Grima was dead, yet in spite of these facts home just didn’t feel like home to her.

Chapter Text

Lucina found herself increasingly nervous as the day of her husband’s expected return approached, and as usual she found herself in the training grounds more and more. At first most people paid it no mind, but as the weeks went on her family began to grow concerned.

Morgan had finally had an opportunity to sit down and have lunch with her mother. It had taken some convincing, but Lucina was able to pry herself from her routine to spend an hour or so with her daughter. Morgan was really excited to get the older blunette’s opinion of her cooking, which she had started with her grandma. The aspiring tactician thought that she really was getting the hang of the basics and wanted to show off, in addition to spending time with her mom of course.

“Dig in Mom! You’re gonna love it.”

Lucina looked down at the food her daughter had prepared, it was a humble meal of baked chicken and broccoli. Nice and healthy for keeping in shape. Lucina noticed that Morgan was waiting in anticipation and took a bite, her expression lighting up as she tasted her food.

“This is great Morgan, what did you do to make it taste like this?”

“The chicken was Grandma’s recipe, and Mr. Gregor showed me that just a little bit of seasoning for the broccoli can go a long way during mess hall duty. I’m glad you like it.” Morgan said with a smile.

The expression warmed Lucina’s heart, that her daughter could be so happy over such a simple thing made all the fighting worth it. This mood continued for most of lunch until Morgan suddenly asked

“So what do you want to do after? Is there anything neat you’ve been doing that you’d like to show me?”

Lucina coughed on her drink as she heard Morgan question, she hadn’t thought that far yet. They could spar, but surely her daughter wanted to do something more relaxing than that. She had to think of something else.

“We could… practice some swordplay if you’d like?” The princess sheepishly asked “I know you use lances as a dark flier, but you started out with swords. Maybe you’d like to brush up on your skills?”

“Oh. Yeah we could do that, Maybe we could finally see if I can use Parallel Falchion.”

Lucina was glad to see that she hadn’t ruined the mood, even managing to look past Morgan’s silly name for her family heirloom.

The two time travelers made their way down to the training hall after finishing their lunch. During the walk Morgan had been uncharacteristically silent, but otherwise she seemed fine. As they entered the room, Lucina grabbed a pair of wooden swords and handed one to Morgan.

“Mooooom, do we have to use these?” Morgan sighed “I know my way around a sword already, I wanna see if I can use your Falchion.”

“You need to brush up on your basics first Morgan.” her mother countered. “Remember, Falchion is not a toy, or even just another weapon. This is that all remains of our heritage from my world. From the Hero-King Marth all the way up until my father” she continued. “It commands respect, no matter the circumstance it is used. You do want it to choose you as one of its wielders, right?”

Morgan had no wise retort to this, she knew that her mother never mentioned her original father lightly. Lucina watched her daughter take her practice sword and assume her stance in front of a training dummy.

‘Its sloppy’ Lucina thought as Morgan began to swing her blade. The arc of her swing was wide and she wasn’t performing any finishing moves. She continued for about thirty seconds before her mother stepped in.

“You’re giving your opponent too much time to react, and even if you fix that you won’t be able to disarm or defeat them with those attacks.” the older blunette lectured.

“I’m sorry,” her daughter replied. “It's been so long since I fought without a mount or using a sword, but my style is different from most. I usually chain attacks from my tomes the way father would.”

“Your father always drilled the basics before working on his own style, if you don’t know the fundamentals any technique you use won’t last long in actual combat.” Lucina replied in a harsher tone than she meant.

Morgan flinched at the remark, she looked down with a sad look and Lucina knew she had made a mistake. Of course she would ruin an otherwise pleasant afternoon with her miracle of a daughter. She had to try and salvage this. Lucina put her hand on Morgan’s shoulder and waited for her daughter to look up at her.

“I’m sorry I raised my voice Morgan, I just worry about you. If anything happened to you before your father returns I don’t know how I would be able to face him.”

Morgan raised her head and gave a weak smile.

“I know, let's just forget this stuff and carry on with our day. I can show you some of the books Grandma’s been showing me.” she suggested. At this point Lucina would have done anything to make Morgan smile again.

“Sounds good to me. I’ll put these swords away and we’ll head to the library.” Lucina replied. As she laid the swords back where she found them she couldn’t help but feel that she had botched a perfectly fine day with her daughter.

“How have you been, Lucina? I haven’t seen you too much outside when we eat together.”

Lucina had just left her room and was on her way to meet up with Cynthia and Severa when she ran into her mother.

“I wanted to see how Severa’s training has been so far, do you need me elsewhere Mother?” the princess replied.

“I wanted to see if you’d like to give baking another try, I had a section of the kitchen cleared for just the two of us so we could have some one on one time together.”

Lucina couldn’t help but flinch at the suggestion. She still remembered what happened the last time she tried baking, the last thing the blunette wanted to do was waste even more of her mother’s time and the castle’s resources. Yet at the same time, her mother took the time out of not only her day, but the castle staff’s as well. Lucina couldn’t let that be for nothing, so she tried to meet the queen halfway.

“I’m not sure if I should try baking again so soon, but I’d love to see you give a demonstration. I’ll just need to let Cynthia know we’ll have to reschedule first.” said Lucina, as she began to take her leave.

“I already sent a message to your sister, so we can go right away.” her mother was quick to respond.

‘She must really want to bake today.’ Lucina thought to herself. “Glad to hear, let's go mother.”

When the two of them arrived Lucina found that the room was completely devoid of everyone else but her and her mother. It was strange seeing the usually bustling atmosphere of the castle’s kitchen replaced with dead air. It wasn’t even like this when they were with Morgan. Lucina began to speak as Sumia began putting her apron on.

“Where is everyone mother? I’ve never seen the kitchen this empty. Is there a holiday I forgot about?”

“Don’t worry sweetie, it's nothing like that. I just wanted to have a talk, just you and me.” her mother calmly replied.

Lucina wasn’t sure why her mother wanted to talk, but went along with it. Maybe this could be a nice chance to have some time alone with her.

“How have things been, Mother? Morgan tells me she’s been learning to cook as well as bake from you. The lunch she made the other day was amazing.” the princess began.

As Sumia finished tying her hair back she replied “Yes, your daughter has been quite the fast learner. She has her father’s wit and her mother’s determination.” Lucina couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness at the mention of her husband. “That girl will be able to do anything she puts her mind to. We were both hoping you’d be willing to join us again sometime. Does that sound like something you would be interested in, sweetie?”

“I’m not sure if I have the culinary skills necessary to cook or bake, and besides. I’m happy sticking with what I know. Even if there’s peace we’ll always need to be ready for lesser threats like bandits.” the slightly younger woman said. Sumia paused as she began rolling a wad of dough.

“Lucina, you need to have some interest outside of swordplay. Just look at your father, even though he’s the Exalt he manages to find time for his… fantasy arena league.” Sumia sighed, shaking her head as she finished talking.

As much as Lucina wanted to inquire about whatever that thing her mother mentioned was, she knew that would be missing the point. The young princess was a bit oblivious in picking things up, but even she could see that her mother was concerned with her. It made everything she did today make much more sense. Lucina was happy to see her mother care so much about her, but everything was fine.

“I know, and I’ll get there soon. I’m just still adjusting to this new life, I’m sure in a month or two I’ll have things figured out by then.” Lucina replied.

“In a month or two when Robin is back?” her mother bluntly countered, completely abandoning her dough as she gave her daughter her full attention. “Lucina, we all miss him, but it's not healthy to be so dependent on your partner. We don’t even know if he’ll have returned by then. In the meantime you need too-”

“But he will come back! Robin’s bonds with us all are strong enough to keep him in this world!” Lucina yelled, interrupting her mother.

The two just stood in silence for a moment after that. Lucina had never raised her voice at either of her parents before. This was uncharted territory for the princess. Lucina couldn’t bear to look her mother in the eye. The queen on the other hand had dealt with this world’s Lucina in her terrible twos already, she knew a thing or two about an angry daughter. Sumia slowly approached her daughter and began to speak.

“Lucina, this is a very hard thing for anyone to have to deal with. It’s hard enough losing a partner, it must be even worse not knowing if they’re really gone or not. I’m not saying that you have to give up hope of ever seeing Robin again, but you need to accept that he might not be coming back and live the best life you can regardless.”

Lucina was beginning to tear up. She couldn’t imagine her life without Robin, even now. She just felt like she was waiting for him to come back like he promised all those months ago in the bathrealm. This didn’t change things with her mother though, she yelled at her when all she was doing was trying to help her. Lucina felt awful and didn’t know what to do next.

Lucina started to get up, but her mother pulled her in for a tight hug. Lucina just hugged back even though she didn’t think she deserved it. By the time she was able to make eye contact with her mother she was crying.

“I’m not mad at you sweetie, I just want you to be happy. I can’t think of anyone who deserves that more than my two girls or my granddaughter.” Sumia reassured her daughter. “Just promise me you’ll be happy.”

Lucina wasn’t sure how she could do that without Robin, but she figured if it came to that she would try.

“I’ll try mother.” Lucina sniffled.

“Ok, do you want to stay and watch me finish this recipe or do you want some time alone?”

“I think I’ll head back to my room for now, thank you for being yourself Mother.”

And with that Lucina left the kitchen. As she made her way down the castle halls she was thinking about what her mother said. How was she supposed to be happy without her husband? While on the topic of Robin she remembered that it was almost a week until the anniversary of the day he joined the Shepherds.

‘He’ll be back soon, and then I won’t have to worry about being happy without him.’ She thought to herself ‘Everything will be fine.’

It was late, but all Lucina could do was lie in bed. Tomorrow was the day Robin was expected to return, everything pointed towards it. He first appeared to the Shepherds there three years ago tomorrow, it made sense he would reappear in the same fashion he started his journey with Chrom and the others. She had no clue how long she had been laying there trying to sleep, an hour, more?

The alternate princess’ thoughts raced with her husband and everything leading up to their battle against Grima. The way she recklessly jumped to conclusions about what needed to be done, and how that must have affected him after learning about his role in Validar’s twisted destiny. Robin was never the same after that day. He acted like his normal self around the others, but Lucina saw through his facade. When they were alone she did all she could to reassure him that he was his own man, his supposed fate be damned. Robin was always too hard on himself however, and she knew once he heard Naga say laying down his life was the only way to end Grima’s he’d gladly pay that price.

Was it her mission that gave him the final push to make that decision? Telling him that she would put it before her feelings was the worst mistake she could ever have made. In the end it wasn’t even true, she couldn’t go through her plan to kill him. The way he offered his life for her duty was too much for her heart to bear. Robin was perfect, and she threw him away. Lucina hadn’t thought of it that way yet, but maybe she did kill him that day. No, she couldn’t afford to think of it like that. Robin WAS coming back, and tomorrow would be the day he did.

The blunette kept running through a mixture of these thoughts over and over again, until a voice from outside told her to get up and join them for the search.

Everyone was getting ready. That morning had been a blur to Lucina, she had barely registered anyone else as she got herself together. A mixture of voices blended together in the background as she made her way to her father. Chrom had found him lying in that field the first time, so she was staying right by his side until he led her there. She was so focused in fact, that she failed to notice a voice calling out to her.

“You excited Mom? We’re gonna see Dad again!”

Lucina kept walking, unaware of her daughter calling out to her. Last night’s thoughts still weighed heavy on her conscience, what if he didn’t come back today? What would she do? The princess never really thought about that before, and now that the day was finally here she was starting to panic. She was so wrapped up in her worries she almost bumped right into her father.

“Lucina! You nearly knocked me over. Is everything alright?” asked Chrom.

“I’m fine, just tired Father. I had a hard time sleeping last night.” his daughter replied.

Chrom just looked at her for a moment before getting distracted by the other blue haired descendant of his, the one that still makes him feel much older than he is.

“Mom, Grandpa, you guys ready?” Morgan asked, practically bouncing up and down where she stood.

“Morgan, please try not to call me that. It's getting hard for me to believe that I’m still only twenty-three.” Chrom said to her.

“But Grandma Sumia loves it when I call her grandma, why can’t I call you grandpa, Grandpa?” his wisecracking granddaughter replied.

“Morgan, Father will get enough of a hard time from your father when returns, try not to wear him out before then.” Lucina said, trying to defuse the situation.

“We might not find him this time you two, just want to make sure you’re prepared for that outcome.” Chrom said, seriously.

Lucina and Morgan nodded quietly, Lucina in particular tensed at that thought. They would find him today. They WOULD find him today.

It had been a few hours out on the road, Lucina stayed close to her father’s horse while Morgan flew above them on her pegasus. None of them had said a word for the duration of the journey so far. The other Shepherds with them were Lissa, Frederick, and Owain, the others had gone off in other groups. Frederick already had his hands full when it was just Lissa he had to keep in check, but adding Owain to the mix was giving the poor knight a run for his money. Ordinarily Lucina would try to keep her cousin from causing too much trouble, but she was busy trying her best to stay awake.

‘We’re almost there, can’t fall asleep now.’ She thought to herself.

The princess could barely keep her thoughts together, so many different emotions for each scenario. She tried to keep the negative thoughts out but they always crept back in. She just had to settle for telling herself over and over that Robin would be there, but each time she felt less sure that he would. What was she even basing this on anymore? An arbitrary date and a sliver of hope, nothing more.

“Lucina…”

A voice roused her from her thoughts. Her father was giving her a pained look, glancing around she saw Frederick and Lissa wearing a similar expression.

“What is it? What’s wrong!?” Lucina yelled.

“I’m sorry Lucina, Robin’s not here.” was all Chrom could say.

“Are you sure this is the right spot? How is it any different from the rest of these fields?” Morgan interjected.

“The engraving on that stone we just passed, we placed it there at his majesty’s request on our first expedition looking for Robin. It was meant to serve as both a marker and a memorial for Robin.” Frederick explained.

Lucina fell to her knees, this was happening. Robin wasn’t here. Lissa and Owain rushed to her while Morgan began to tear up. As Owain grabbed her hand and Lissa pulled a healing staff into view, Lucina came to her senses.

“Dearest cousin, now is not the time to fall into-”

“Let me go Owain! And I don’t need a healer!” Lucina yelled.

The future princess staggered to her feet as her aunt and cousin recoiled from her shout. Ordinarily she would be embarrassed over making a scene like that, but she couldn’t be bothered to think and act rationally now. Robin wasn’t here, and he probably wasn’t ever coming back. Somewhere in the midst of her raw emotion, Lucina knew she needed to be there for her daughter. The poor girl was probably just as devastated as she was. As she turned to face her daughter, Lucina noticed smoke coming from the horizon.

“Aunt Lissa! Stay with Morgan, she’s in no condition to fight!” Lucina ordered.

“Fight? Lucina what are you…” Chrom trailed off as he noticed what his daughter was talking about. “Frederick, Owain, get ready to move! Southtown needs our help!”

As the others got ready to move, Lucina was already on her way. She didn’t know what she was going to do about Robin, but she would always know her way around a battlefield.

Chapter Text

Lucina made it to Southtown first. She dismounted and turned a corner just in time to see a brigand approach a man trying to defend his family. The poor local was shaking and wore a terrified expression, with a poor stance to boot. It was obviously his first time wielding any kind of weapon, and the bulkier assailant knew that. Lucina was disgusted at the sight.

“Leave him alone!” She interrupted.

The bandit turned to face the princess.

“What’s a pretty lass like you doin’ out here?” He said with a perverse grin. “This town’s a sack a’ crap, no place for a girl like you.”

Lucina was disgusted, she clenched Parallel Falchion and readied herself. The brigand was smarter than he looked and did the same with his axe. Once she was ready, Lucina lunged forward aiming straight for his chest. Her opponent blocked, but was either weaker than he looked, or wasn't expecting such force to come from her blow. Judging by the look of anger on his face, it seemed like the former. As soon as he recovered he ran at her, raising his axe high. Lucina effortlessly blocked and maneuvered her sword to wrest the axe from her opponent’s grip. His eyes went wide with fear as he fell to his knees defenseless.

“Please don’t kill me! I swear I’ll nev-”

Lucina brought the hilt of her sword down on his head hard enough to knock him out. Once she was confident he wasn’t getting up again soon, she made her way deeper into the town. 

Several more encounters like this came and went, each bandit providing little challenge. Compared to the likes of the Grimleal, Valmese, hell even Risen, these poor excuses for hostile combatants were a breeze. Barely more exerting than training. Eventually she made her way towards Owain, who was as flashy as ever. He spun and jumped, then brought his sword down on a brigand’s axe, breaking it in two.

“No, sword hand! We mustn’t take this man’s life he must-”

“Owain!” Lucina cut him off before he could ramble on any further.

“Oh, Lucina! You’re not hurt are you?” He said, having gathered his composure.

“Not a scratch, where’s my father and Sir Frederick?”

“Dealing with the leader. Shouldn't be long until they’ve finished.”

The two readied themselves as they saw another bandit approach, but saw that he was unarmed. Behind the man was Chrom, who held him at swordpoint. The attackers who saw this fled, leaving only a few stragglers who were being rounded up by Frederick. It wasn’t long until all remaining bandits were gathered and crammed into Southtown’s prison. With the amount of ruffians they apprehended, the jailer would be earning his pay tonight.

“Milord! I’ve finished my search, Southtown has been cleared of any and all invaders.” Frederick said as he stood to attention.

“Good job Frederick the Wary. We were lucky to be close by. These dastards couldn’t have picked a worse time to attack.” Chrom replied.

“Indeed. Though I fear there will always be those who seek to take advantage of peace and prosperity.” Frederick commented.

His loud and clear voice was easy to overhear, and Lucina couldn’t help but think about that last part.

‘People taking advantage of peace.’ She thought to herself.

The very idea offended her. She learned in the first two years she spent in this timeline that many people took their lives and world for granted, but Lucina always thought that seeing the threat of Grima in the flesh would give them some perspective. Today’s events seemed to prove otherwise though. People like these raiders couldn’t be allowed to roam freely like this.

“Father, Sir Frederick. How common are occurrences like these?” 

“Not too common, thankfully. But every now and then an attack like this occurs, and most of the time help doesn’t arrive this quickly.” explained her father.

“Surely there must be something we could do. Don’t we have people to keep watch on these sorts of groups?” Lucina asked.

“We do, Milady. But there are far too many groups of bandits for them to handle, and the ones we know about have too many numbers for them to deal with. When we send in a large force, they see us coming and scatter, only to regroup elsewhere.” Frederick answered.

“What if there was a small but skilled force that was too small to be detected easily? They could infiltrate and strike before the brigands had a chance to flee.” Lucina suggested.

“Oh oh oh oh! We could give it a cool code name! The Silent Protectors!” Owain chimed in.

Chrom sighed “We already have a force like that Owain; The Shepherds.”

“But most of them have left to continue their lives from before the last few wars. And those that are still in Ylisse have taken up other duties. Father, let me organize and lead a new group.” Lucina petitioned.

“Let me think about it Lucina. It's been a long day, not to mention Lissa and Morgan will be arriving soon now that the fighting’s stopped. Your daughter’s going to need you after today’s search.” Chrom responded.

Lucina flinched. The battle had helped her escape the pain of Robin still being gone, and Morgan had no such distraction. It may have even made her day harder. 

‘Yet another failure as a mother.’ Lucina thought bitterly.

Her father was right, this discussion had to wait. She had to at least give her daughter a token effort as a parent today. Chrom seemed to pick up on his daughter’s mood and motioned for Frederick and Owain to give her some space. Morgan and Lissa would be here soon, and Lucina needed to be composed for Morgan’s sake.

As if the universe knew what was going through the once Exalt’s head, her daughter came into view from across the plaza. Gods, Lucina could see the worry on her face from there. The princess took a deep breath and made her way towards her daughter, hoping that the words she needed would come to her when she started talking. Lucina saw Morgan’s head turn and the girl began to run towards her. Before she knew it, Morgan had already crossed most of the square to meet her mother.

“Mother! Thank Naga you’re ok!” Morgan cried as she embraced Lucina. “I was so worried. I knew you could handle yourself but after father…”

That was all she could get out as she began sobbing again. Lucina returned the embrace, but couldn’t help but feel like a failure. But she had to help the town. She had to do something, and there’s still so much for her to do.

“How are you feeling sweetie? Is there anything I can do for you?” Lucina offered.

“Just stay next to me on the ride home. I wanna spend as much time with you as possible.” Morgan answered.

Lucina nodded, but wasn’t sure she’d be able to keep her promise.

Lucina found herself in a familiar field staring at her husband. Robin looked back at her in solemn understanding.

‘I have to do this.’ she thought to herself.

What right did she have to put her happiness before her mission?

Lucina woke up in a cold sweat. It had been an unremarkable trek back home. All Lucina could think about was how to address the bandit problem she had seen yesterday. The people of Ylisse needed to be protected. Today she’d begin her work to guard them as best she could. Robin had won them their future, and she’d make sure his sacrifice wasn’t in vain.

‘Robin…’ she thought.

The princess missed her husband dearly, and his return was looking less and less likely now. But there was no use wallowing in misery, she had work to do, and bandits to stop. Lucina changed into her battle attire and started to make her way to the training grounds. She was sure she’d see at least a couple of her friends from her original world there, and they were just the people she needed for her new task. 

As she walked out of her room Lucina immediately passed Morgan’s. She wanted to make sure her daughter was ok, but she also didn’t want to wake her up. Yesterday had taken its toll on Morgan as well, Lucina wanted her to have plenty of rest after such an ordeal. 

‘She needs this. She needs this.’ Lucina thought to herself.

Within a few minutes she arrived at her destination. To her relief she wasn’t the only one here. Owain was busy with his usual brand of practicing, Cynthia was going over lance techniques with Severa, and Laurent was sparring with Kjelle as practice against magic users. As Lucina closed the door behind her, Cynthia waved her down. She tried to return it, but was tacked into a hug from her younger sister.

“Oh Lucy! I’m so sorry about yesterday. If there’s anything I can do for you, let me know big sis.” Cynthia said.

“Actually, there’s something I wanted to ask all of you.” Lucina responded.

Cynthia’s display of sisterly love had gathered the attention of their fellow time travelers. So once they heard Lucina’s response they all made their way towards her. Lucina was surprised that they all came to her instantly, she had never seen Kjelle break off a training session so quickly.

“Lucina” Laurent began “our condolences for your search for Robin yesterday. How may we help?” 

“Yesterday, there was an attack on a town nearby in our search for Robin.” Lucina’s voice quivered a little at mentioning her husband’s name. “We repelled it, but learned that attacks like these aren’t uncommon outside the capital. I want to organize a new group of Shepherds to combat the new issue Ylisse faces.”

“And you want us to help you. Right?” Severa replied, bluntly.

“That’s right Severa. Our parents have earned their rest, now we must do our part for Ylisse.” Lucina declared.

“Haven’t we already though? We fought the last two wars alongside them. When do we get our peace?” Severa asked. 

“Then why are you here, practicing before anyone else in the castle does? Because you’re ready to hang up your weapons?” Lucina questioned back.

The others went silent at that point. Despite living during a time of peace, they were still training as soldiers.

“Will you be asking any of the others?” Kjelle finally asked.

“Of course. If any of you know where to find them, it would be much appreciated.” said Lucina.

“Yarne is with his parents making sure no act of Naga befalls them before this world’s him is born. And Brady was starting a career as a violinist, so no luck with those two.” Laurent explained.

“And since you mentioned him, last I heard from Noire she and Brady were closer than ever. Doubt she’ll leave his side to dive head first into battle again.” Severa added on.

“Oh oh oh! The specter of boredom had ensnared poor Inigo when last we spoke. I’m sure he’d join us in our noble pursuit!” Owain pitched in.

‘At last, a stroke of luck.’ Lucina thought.

“Cynthia, I believe you mentioned that Nah would be returning from her pilgrimage to Mount Prism soon. Do you think she would be interested in joining us?” Kjelle asked.

“I hope so, having her around would be a huge blow to enemy morale! Hopefully Gerome is with her too, they’d be a boon for us. Combine that with Morgan and we’ll be unstoppable!” Cynthia declared.

“Morgan won’t be joining us. She told me herself.” Lucina quickly lied.

“Really? She loves heroic deeds, maybe I should talk to her.” Cynthia said.

“I said she didn’t want to.” Lucina replied sharply.

Cynthia visibly flinched at the response, and the others were a little shocked to see such a display from Lucina.

“I’m sorry Cynthia. Morgan’s… not taking it well. She needs time to herself right now.” Lucina tried to explain, not sure if the others had bought it.

“O-okay then. Well if she needs cheering up, Auntie Cynthia’s always around to help!” Cynthia said, quickly returning to her upbeat self.

“Glad to hear Cynthia.” She turned to face the others “As for everyone else, contact those you can about their help as soon as you can. We’ll need all we can get for this as the new Shepherds of Ylisse.” Lucina stated.

Severa gave her a look, but she quickly nodded and went back to her training along with everyone else.

Seeing that she made her pitch to the others, Lucina turned to leave the training hall. As she exited, she heard Morgan’s voice from down the hall. The princess ran in the opposite direction. She couldn’t bear to tell her daughter what she was doing.

“I’m sorry, Robin. I’m s-so sorry!” Lucina sobbed.

“Don’t worry Lucina, this is what you wanted.” his voice replied.

“What do you mean? I could ne-” her voice was caught in her throat when she saw his face, that wicked smile could never belong to him.

“You killed me Lucina, just like you always wanted to.”

Chapter Text

Lucina ran through another Grimleal with Parallel Falchion. She couldn’t fathom how so many could fight for something so horrid, it made it easier on her conscience to strike them down though. She turned around to see Robin standing over his possessed doppelganger, with the latter vanishing into thin air. They had won. Lucina ran to celebrate with her husband, but saw him begin to vanish as well.

“ROBIN!” she yelled in fear.

“Don’t worry Lucina, you can finally be happy now.” the tactician responded. “I can’t hurt you again.”

“No. Nononono” Lucina helplessly babbled. 

She needed him, but no matter what she said or did he always laid down his life to stop Grima.

“After all, why fight for something as horrid as me?” Were Robin’s last words as he vanished.

Lucina woke up at her desk. The nightmares hadn’t stopped, several times this past week the princess’ sleep was either plagued by that monster who wore her husband’s face, or the sorrowful expression of her beloved Robin. No matter which one appeared, she felt nothing but pain. Grima knew all the right things to say in order to torment her, whereas she only saw Robin when he landed the blow that killed Grima and himself. It seems even in death, Grima still haunted her, she couldn’t even dream about her husband without its miserable presence. Would it ever be satisfied? It took her father, her mother, her people, even the world she was born in. Did it need to take the father of her child as well?

That brings her to Morgan, what was she going to tell her? That her mother was running headfirst into battle once again? Lucina so desperately wished Robin was here with them, his role as Morgan’s father seemed to come naturally. Lucina could scarcely imagine a life outside of conflict, and Morgan deserved much better than that. She wanted her bundle of joy to live the sort of life that she herself had dreamt about when she was a little girl. Before her father died, before Grima’s shadow loomed over them all. But it was too late for all of that, this is the life that little girl ended up with, all she could do was grit her teeth, bear it, and keep marching on as she always has. Lucina shook herself from these thoughts. She could focus on life later, duty comes first.

Lucina began to gather her thoughts as she walked to her father’s office. Normally seeking the Exalt’s approval would require a session in their court, but for something like this the less people that know of it the better. Besides, Ylisse shouldn’t have to wait for the answer to her bandit problems. Once Lucina got her father’s approval, all that would be left is officially signing up her friends and waiting for intel on where to strike. The Princess was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she nearly walked straight into her father’s door. After that near mishap, she awkwardly greeted the guards who let her in.

As Lucina entered her father’s office, she was surprised at how disorganized it was. She could recall Chrom giving Robin a hard time about how cluttered the tactician’s workspace was, so she almost chuckled at seeing her father not being able to practice what he preached. Upon the door closing, Chrom looked up from his desk and saw his daughter.

“Good morning Lucina. Did you sleep well?” Chrom greeted her with a smile.

“I slept fine, Father. But more importantly, I’ve come to present my plan for dealing with Ylisse’s bandit problems.” she replied

Chrom’s expression fell slightly, but he motioned for her to take a seat.

“Prior to the events of the war with Plegia, it was you and the other Shepherds who protected Ylisse from pests like them. But now all of you have gone your separate ways, either having taken other positions in the Halidom or rightfully enjoying the peace you’ve fought for. Now it's both my and my friends’ turn to protect the people of Ylisse, and I’m ready and willing to take your place as captain of the Shepherds to do so.”

Chrom sat silent for a few moments as he processed his daughter’s proposal. He looked back at her and asked “And, that’s the only reason you’re volunteering for this?”

“I merely want to do my duty as your daughter. Why would I need more reason to do so?” his daughter replied.

“Because I think you’re trying to run from the pain of not having Robin here.” he answered, bluntly.

That caught Lucina off guard, and she didn't know how to answer. The blunette couldn’t even make eye contact with her father for a few moments as she gathered her thoughts. 

She finally swallowed the lump in her throat and said, 

“Ylisse needs this Father, you saw what happened last time we went looking for him. What if we weren’t there to help Southtown?”

“Ylisse needs something, I agree. But it doesn’t need to be you or your friends. You deserve a peaceful life as well.”

“Then what would you do? A new militia won’t just appear overnight. Ylisse needs someone to act on this now.” Lucina nearly shouted.

“That’s why I’m approving your solution, on one condition.” Chrom said, sternly “This will be a TEMPORARY measure while a new plan is organized for domestic protection. Alongside this will be a program to help you and your friends transition from military to civilian life.”

“What?! Father this is what Ylisse-”

“No Lucina. This is what YOU want, to try and run from the pain of losing Robin. I did the same thing when Emmeryn sacrificed herself!” Chrom finally shouted.

Lucina went silent at the mention of her other aunt. She knew her father still struggled with the idea of living up to her legacy, even after all this time.

“I wanted nothing more than to take my anger out on the people I felt deserved it, but all I did was endanger myself and made those I still had with me worry. And I see that in you now. I wasn’t as close with Emm as you were with Robin, so I can’t claim to understand what you’re going through. But I know you’re hurting Lucina, just as I know he will return to us. And when he does, I want you and Morgan to have adjusted to your new lives free of danger. Not to mention he’d kill me if I let anything happen to either of you.” Chrom tried to finish on a light note.

Lucina sat in silence as Chrom stood up and walked to her side. He placed a hand on her shoulder and said “We’re all here for you Lucina, and we all miss him. Please remember that.”

Lucina nodded and noticed she had started to tear up.

“Okay Father, if that’s what I need to do for your approval then I’ll do it. I’ll make sure the others know as well.”

“And that you’ll talk to me or your mother if you need to?” Chrom reiterated.

“Of course Father.” Lucina quickly answered.

“Very well. Lucina, you have my approval. And please let me know if you need us.” the Exalt said.

Lucina nodded and left her father’s study. She had to go and meet Inigo and the others who would be returning to Ylissetol today. As the princess rounded a corner, she bumped into someone. While Lucina regained her footing, the other party wasted no time in making their presence known.

“Morning Mother! Sleep well last night?”

Lucina heard Morgan say as she regained her posture.

“Ah! I slept alright Morgan, what are you doing here?” the older of the two responded.

“I heard you were meeting with Grand- I mean Chrom. So I came looking for you. Is Chrom with you?”

‘Damnit, I can’t tell her now’ Lucina thought.

“I believe Father mentioned he had a conference to attend soon, best not to disturb him.” she lied.

“Ok. I was gonna ask if you two wanted to do something together, but we can finally have a mother-daughter day instead! Whatcha wanna do?” the more energetic of the two time travelers asked?

“I’m actually busy myself dear, we’ll have to do this another day. I’m sure your grandmother would be happy to spend some time with her favorite granddaughter.” Lucina tried to deflect.

It seemed to have worked, as Morgan nodded her head and said

“Ok, do you know where she is?” the younger girl asked, devoid of her usual energy.

“I believe she’s by the stables, maybe the two of you could ride pegusi together?” Lucina suggested, hoping it would get Morgan’s spirits back up.

Morgan raised her hand to her chin in thought 

“Maybe we will. Hope you have a good day Mother.”

“You as well, dear and give your grandmother my best.”

And with that, the tactician rounded the corner and went on her way. As Lucina left for the barracks, she had a miserable look on her face.

As Lucina arrived at her destination, she heard the voices of her friends chatting away. It was still morning so no one had started any strenuous training yet. Everyone else from the last meeting was there already, and Lucina was pleasantly surprised to see Inigo and Nah had arrived. Nah was talking about how inspiring lady Tiki was and Inigo was bragging about the scores of women he’d wooed while he had taken a long term, but ultimately uneventful mercenary job. No one believed Inigo of course, but that’s never stopped him before. Towards the wall, she could even spot Gerome speaking with Kjelle. By the looks of Kjelle’s motions it looked like they were talking about lance techniques. 

The princess put on a smile and waved to the new arrivals.

“Good morning everyone. Nah, Inigo, Gerome, I’m glad to see you all made it back to Ylisstol safely.”

Nah and Inigo gave smiles of their own, while Gerome remained as stoic as ever.

“I hope you all enjoyed your travels. Now, thank you for meeting me here this morning. I’m sure the others have filled you in on what’s going on.” Lucina’s tone shifted.

“Yes, I’m well aware.” Inigo spoke up “It would be shameful of me to let such lovely women head into battle with only a man-child to aid them.”

“Hey!” yelled Owain.

Lucina rolled her eyes at Inigo’s borderline sexism, but she knows he has a good heart… and that most if not all of the girls here could humiliate him if they really wanted to. She could see that Nah shared a similar sentiment, as she had an annoyed look on her face before she began speaking.

“Despite Inigo’s personality, I’m ready and willing to join you all. I never imagined seeing a world free from Grima’s reign, so I’ll do whatever I can to help protect it!”

“Happy to hear Nah, that just leaves you Gerome.” Lucina said as she turned towards the wyvern rider.

“I have no interest in being a part of this. Minerva has seen enough war as it is, I’ve no intention of making her live through more.” Gerome bluntly replied.

Lucina was taken aback by his response, and even more so when she saw the others seemingly accept this answer.

“How could you say that? The peace we fought for is being threatened-”
“The peace we fought for is won. We all played our part and deserve to enjoy this new future.” Gerome stated.

Lucina could hardly believe what she was hearing. How could he be so selfish?
“So everyone else can suffer while we just pretend everything’s perfect? What’s wrong with you?”

The others were starting to get uncomfortable, but Gerome stood his ground.

“Nothing’s wrong with me,” Gerome turned and looked at the others,  “if the rest of you want to run back into a life of fighting I’ll do nothing to stop you. But I have no intention of doing the same.” He turned again to face Lucina “And make sure if you go through with this, it's because you choose to.”
He was challenging her, in front of the others. Lucina had all sorts of things she’d like to say to the masked man, but she knew she couldn’t give up the moral high ground and drive away the others. Lucina silently took a breath and spoke

“Very well Gerome, I won’t force you to do this. Just as no one else has been forced to do this.” she said with a polite smile. “I wish you the very best with what you do next. What is it you plan to do next?”

“Minerva and I are going to live in the Wyvern Valley. We found a suitable place to live while traveling with Nah.” Gerome answered.

Lucina could almost swear she saw a smile on the man’s face.

“I’m happy to hear Gerome.” was all Lucina could say.

“And don’t forget to visit your old friends from time to time! We’re all gonna miss ya.” Cynthia added. 

With the tension gone, the others began saying their goodbyes to Gerome. Lucina took  this as an opportunity to excuse herself. She had to plan for having one less Shepherd in their ranks.

Chapter Text

Today was finally the day. Lucina and the rest of the Shepherds’ children had signed up and all the formalities were done with, they could finally get to work. There had been reports of brigands harassing towns not too far from the Border Pass in recent weeks, and now Lucina could finally move to stop them from causing any more harm. While she had wished more of them had ended up joining, the princess was confident that the new Shepherds’ numbers were more than enough to apprehend the criminals. They needed to get going. It would be about a few days' trek to their destination, and each day they took was another that the brigands would have to do as they pleased.

The blue haired warrior was so caught up in her thoughts about what work there was to be done, she barely noticed as she went through her morning routine. Before Lucina even realized it, she was making her way down the halls of Castle Ylisstol with Parallel Falchion in its sheath. The others had spent the past week getting used to waking up at dawn like they did back during the wars against Valm and the Grimleal, so it shouldn’t be too long until all the preparations were complete for their departure. Lucina wanted to leave as soon as possible, the earlier they left the less likely she was to run into-

“Mother!” came a voice from behind her.

“Damnit Morgan.” she cursed under her breath “Of all the days to wake up early.”

Lucina readied herself as she turned around to see her daughter running down the hall to catch up to her. Morgan was fully dressed and ready for whatever the day had in store for her, which was very unlike her at this early in the morning. Something told Lucina that it probably wasn't a coincidence that this happened today of all days.

“Good morning Mother. Going to train already?” Morgan innocently asked.

Lucina wanted to say yes, but Morgan was going to learn the truth sooner or later. There was no putting it off any longer.

“Not today Morgan. I’m gathering my friends for a mission a few days’ march away from the castle. We likely won’t be back for some time.”

“I know. And I want to come with you.”

Lucina wanted to be surprised, but Morgan had always been a smart girl. It was only a matter of time that she pieced together what her mother was up to. She couldn’t let her daughter come with them though. Morgan needed to stay here where it was safe.

“Morgan, I can’t let you come with us. You still need to train and we don’t have enough provisions for an extra person.”

“Already packed some dried meat and bread rations, and I may not be ready to fight with a sword yet but I can still use tomes.” Morgan instantly replied.

“No, you’re not coming Morgan. My decision is final.” Lucina wasn’t budging.

“Why not then? Give me one reason why I shouldn’t be able to come!”

“Because I don’t want you to Morgan!” Lucina yelled “I want you to stay here, where you’ll be safe! Bake with your grandma, study magic, go visit Noire or some other friend, just stay away from this!”

“No Mom! I want to help keep Ylisse safe, with YOU!” Morgan cried.

Lucina was on the verge of tears, and she could see Morgan was too. A part of Lucina wanted to say yes and end this fight, but she couldn’t get her daughter killed too. She could live with her daughter hating her, if it meant Morgan would live.

“Morgan, my decision is final. You are staying here and nothing you can say or do is changing my mind.” Lucina said with an authoritative voice.

Morgan opened her mouth but no words came out, instead she turned and ran. As her daughter sobbed tears fell down Lucina’s face as well. Lucina hated herself, but this was for Morgan’s own good. She couldn’t let her and Robin’s daughter get hurt, no one else was going to die because of her. The princess reminded herself that this was her duty, no matter how much it ate away at her. Lucina wiped the tears from her eyes and prepared to wait for the others.

Lucina didn’t say much for the rest of the day. Aside from the occasional question from another or checking in with their fliers, the princess couldn’t get this morning’s events out of her head. It had been for Morgan’s own good, no matter how painful it had been for both of them. It almost reminded her of the day she faced Robin, after Validar stole the Emblem. She broke him that day, did she just break Morgan too? Lucina wasn’t sure of much outside of her role as a warrior anymore. She managed to screw everything else up, maybe this is where she belongs? Similar thoughts went through Lucina’s head for so long, that she hadn’t noticed the sun had already started setting.

‘We need to find someplace to camp.’ she thought to herself

“Cynthia! Have you and Severa seen any clearings to set up for the night?”

“Way ahead of you sis!” Cynthia yelled back as her pegasus descended closer to Lucina. “We spotted one a few minutes ago and Severa went to check it out. As soon as she gives us the all clear, me and her will lead the rest of you there.”

“Everyone else hear that?”

Several affirmations came from the rest. Severa didn’t take long to report back and give the go ahead for the rest of them to follow the two pegasus knights to their campsite. Thankfully since their unit was much smaller than it had been the last time the Shepherds were together, so setting up for the night went much quicker than it always took years ago. While the others settled down and were listening to one of Owain’s inane ramblings, Lucina was double checking the supplies and gear to make sure they wouldn’t have to make any detours to replace worn out equipment or spoiled rations. It also served as a way to distract her from her thoughts about that morning, however it wasn’t enough that she couldn’t hear footsteps getting closer. She was about to draw her sword when a voice called out

“Gawds! It's just me, Lucina! You nearly gave me a heart attack!”

Severa stepped into the light with her hands raised in alarm. She also had a bag slung around her shoulder with something in it. Lucina breathed a sigh of relief and felt the tension leave her body.

“Sorry Severa, I thought you were back with the others. Is there something you need?”

Severa responded by pulling two pieces of bread and some jerky from her bag.

“You got a minute?”

After arranging two makeshift seats from what was around, Lucina and Severa had a seat and began eating without a word. Lucina would pause to look at the redhead every now and again, and noticed Severa doing the same to her. As awkward as it was, it was a good distraction from herself. As Lucina went to finish the last piece of her bread, Severa finally broke the silence.

“What’s been up with you lately?”

Severa went straight to the point, but what Lucina didn’t expect was that despite her usual icy tone Severa’s eyes had a look of concern in them.

“I’m fine Severa, it's been a long day and it's just the exhaustion is catching up with me.”

“Yeah, I don’t believe that. There’s no way you’ve gone soft so quickly when you spend almost every waking hour pushing yourself even further. You need to stop acting all tough before the others start to notice and worry too.”

Lucina almost couldn’t believe what she was hearing, until she remembered who she was talking to.

“I don’t know what’s gotten into you Severa, but I’M the commander here, and you’ll speak to me in a way that reflects my standing.”

“Cut the crap, you’re in a funk and we both know it. I can tell Cynthia and Owain have already noticed. How long until the rest pick up on it too?”

Lucina couldn’t respond to that. She wanted to, but couldn’t find the words she needed. Severa saw the princess was at a loss for words and continued.

“You’re our leader Lucina, you always have been. Even after we joined Chrom and the rest of our parents in the Shepherds, you’ve been the one the rest of us felt the most comfortable reporting to.” Severa paused, thinking about how she should word what she would say next. “I know I haven’t been the most supportive person, but I really do wanna help you out here. If you don’t believe that, then know I at least want what’s best for Cynthia.”

“I know. I never thought you were a cold person Severa, and I’m sorry if I treated you otherwise after the Bathrealms. I know I haven’t been at my best since… since Robin left us, but I promise you I’m doing what I can to move forward. However, I still appreciate this gesture Severa.”

And with that, the two girls shared a brief smile and started to clean up their impromptu dining area. As they finished up and got ready to turn in for the night, Severa turned to Lucina and asked

“You sure you’ll be good?”

“I promise, everything’s under control.”

Lucina laid in her bunk. Severa volunteered to take the first watch of the night for her so she could rest. More like Severa was making her rest, Lucina knew she should be taking the first watch. She’s supposed to be leading by example, not letting the others do the work for her. Lucina tossed and turned as she tried to think of something she could do. It seemed even her body refused to cooperate, her eyelids felt heavy and her movements sluggish.

When Lucina turned over, she saw a figure next to her bedside and spun out of the cot in surprise. The princess looked up to see Grima looking back down at her. While the body and face were her husband’s, she could tell it wasn’t really him. Lucina reached for Parallel Falchion, only for her hand to grasp onto nothing. She was alone and defenseless. Lucina closed her eyes and braced herself… Nothing. Lucina opened her eyes, confused at why she was still in one piece.

“Really now. You think me so barbaric that I’d kill you in your sleep?”

“It hasn’t stopped you before, monster!” Lucina had heard plenty of reports of survivors being ambushed and killed while resting during pilgrimages to safety.

“That’s rich coming from you, worm.” Grima spat.

“How dare you compare myself to you! You wiped out my people! Men, women, children, you killed them all for what?! Because we’re inferior?!”

Grima rolled its eyes and walked toward the princess. Lucina crawled back, feeling for anything on the ground to defend herself. After a few moments she bumped against the back of her tent while Grima closed the remaining distance between the two. It stopped only inches from her as it resumed speaking.

“Inferior, disgusting, same difference. Ultimately I killed because I hated your kind. But YOU girl, you hurt those you love. Even wicked men know better than that.” Lucina’s face shifted from offended to shock at those words. “You drove your husband to throw his life away for you. He may have only been a vessel to me, but even I didn’t put him through anything like that.”

Lucina was speechless. She wanted to deny it, to say that even she was better than what it claimed. The princess didn’t know what to say though, Grima had a point. She hurt Robin, she hurt Morgan, and she was starting to hurt her friends, she was a monster. Seeing its work was done, Grima faded into the air while Lucina came to terms with what she was.

Lucina woke up in a cold sweat. It was still dark out, but it seemed that the sun would rise at any second. At least she had gotten some sleep, even if it wasn’t peaceful. The princess couldn’t help but think back to what she heard in her nightmare. Ever since Robin disappeared she had just gotten worse and worse. Morgan, her parents, now her friends were worrying about her. Lucina knew her actions were hurting the people she loved, but she would only continue hurting them by staying close to them. Damned if she did, damned if she didn’t. Lucina didn’t want things to be this way. She wanted Robin, she wanted her family, but she had made her choice, now she and those she loved had to live with the consequences.

Lucina spent most of the morning planning the most optimal route for her group to take. It was a good distraction from the usual misery that invaded more and more of her life in recent months. Inigo had been the final one on watch, so thankfully none of their flyers would need to spend the early hours of the march resting. Speaking of, Cynthia had gotten up not too long after Lucina had, and Severa about half an hour ago. With everyone awake it wouldn’t be long until they were ready to start moving, which to Lucina couldn’t come sooner. There were still people who were suffering at the hands of those brigands. She could finally put some of her pain to use when she found their camp.

Chapter Text

The past four days of travel had been uneventful. They stopped at a small town last night to stock up on rations, as well as get a good night’s rest for everyone. Lucina may have been driven to do her duty, but that didn’t mean she planned to needlessly push her friends. Rest was important for any military unit, that was the excuse Robin always used to convince her to get some. He always looked out for everyone, but Lucina knew he paid special attention to her and later their daughter. He cared too much for a woman who’d end up hurting him. Lucina shook herself from these thoughts. Not because she didn’t deserve to have them, but because wallowing in self pity wasted energy she may need later.

The princess glanced back at the rest of their little convoy to see how everyone else was. Owain and Inigo were giving each other a hard time, Laurent sat in a wagon studying a new tome he had purchased, Kjelle was doing her best to stay on her horse, while Severa and Nah made idle chat above the rest. Lucina couldn’t help but notice that they were all a little more energized than usual. It seemed that their stop last night had boosted their morale after all.

Just as it seemed today would be another uneventful day on the road, Lucina saw Cynthia’s pegasus flying towards the group in a hurry. Severa and her mount moved towards the other pegasus knight but Cynthia barreled past them to meet up with the others. When she landed in a nearby clearing, everyone rushed there to meet her. All Cynthia could get out was an unintelligible mess of panicked sounds as her friends frantically asked her what was wrong.

“QUIET!” Lucina yelled above everyone’s voices. Once they all settled down, she asked her sister “What’s wrong Cynthia? Are you hurt?”

“Ahead… Village… In danger!” the younger princess frantically managed to get out. “I went to… to check and see…” Cynthia took a deep breath and finally composed herself “if they had any leads about nearby bandits. The villagers insisted they knew nothing, but as my pegasus and I took off, archers nearly turned us into pincushions! I took a quick glance and saw all sorts of brigands come out of hiding and start attacking the village, they need help now!” 

“You heard her Shepherds! We need to move now! Cynthia; lead the way back to that village, Nah; fly alongside her and watch for archers, Severa; bring up the rear to make sure no one gets lost, everyone else; MOVE!” Lucina issued orders without missing a beat.

It took about an hour for the group to arrive outside the village. As they gathered around Lucina laid out their plan of attack. Once everyone had their assignment they got to work. Nah hitched a ride with Cynthia as they broke off from the group, while the remaining members of the party made their way to the outskirts of the village. After a few minutes they heard the sounds of a dragon roaring and saw a good number of bandits scramble in fear. Nah had gotten their attention, now it was their turn. The remaining six sprung to action and attacked the confused bandits. Lucina, Owain, and Inigo cut through the axe wielding occupants making up the majority of the bandits’ numbers with ease, while the handful of lance users were left to Kjelle, with Severa helping her get from place to place quicker, all the while Laurent provided support wherever it was needed. In a matter of minutes, they had secured the village entrance and were ready to move onto the next step of the plan. Lucina began to go over everyone’s roles that she hastily came up with on the way here.

“Inigo; Owain; make your way through the streets and look for any locals that need help. Kjelle; hold this area. We’ll need someplace to bring the villagers until we rid this town of these brigands. Severa; you wait here until Cynthia and Nah regroup with us so they can show you where there are large groups of enemy archers. Once they’ve marked the no fly zones, you and Cynthia keep the rest of us informed of enemy movements and pick off any strays you see. Nah will stay with Kjelle here. Laurent; you stay with Kjelle as well, unless another group runs into heavy armor, then you assist them in clearing it out. I’ll search the village from top to bottom until I find the leader of this group. Everyone knows their role?”

The rest of her allies nodded and acted accordingly. Inigo and Owain moved out while the others waited for Nah and Cynthia to regroup with them at the entrance. Once she was sure everyone knew what they were doing, Lucina began to move into the village proper. The princess was itching for a fight, and it wouldn’t be long until she got what she was looking for. Two common soldiers jumped her as she passed an alley, but their element of surprise didn’t last long. Lucina drew Parallel Falchion and struck one down before he could even raise his lance, the other took a wild stab at her which she hardly even needed to dodge before impaling him with her blade. If the rest of these bandits were like these two, then she’d hardly break a sweat putting them to rout.

Lucina moved quickly and efficiently throughout the village. Every second she wasted meant more people dead. She would disarm if she could, but if no fast opening presented itself, she just went straight for the kill. It wasn’t her first time killing, she had done plenty of that during the several wars she fought in this timeline, but this time there was no empathy for her foes. Even when she fought the Grimleal, Lucina felt some remorse for what she had to do, but not this time. It was kill or let others be killed, and that was good enough for her.

A brigand raised his ax far too high and Lucina kicked him in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. A myrmidon tried to strike while the princess’ back was turned but she sidestepped and brought Parallel Falchion down his spine, ending his life. Then a wyvern rider descended on her as a mage jumped off the beast’s back. Lucina jumped back and engaged the rider while making sure she kept said rider in between her and the mage. Everytime the wyvern flew in the air Lucina took that as an opportunity to close the gap between her and the spellcaster. Eventually the mage accidentally hit her ally’s wyvern and sent it hurling to the ground, dead. With its rider’s legs crushed beneath the corpse of its mount Lucina rushed the mage, cleaving through any magic she hurled at the princess, be it fire, wind, or lightning, then severed her tome wielding hand. These bandits may have been a step above the usual ones after all, but in the end they were still just bandits; untrained and undisciplined.

Lucina heard footsteps from behind a building and spun to face them, however she found herself faced with frightened children instead of more bandits. Sheathing her sword, Lucina motioned for them to come closer to her.

“It’s ok, we’re here to help. How many more of you are there?”

“There’s about a dozen or so more of us hiding in the library.” the oldest of the three spoke up. She was dirty, disoriented, and couldn’t have been older than fourteen. “The adults told us to hide there once the trouble started a few days ago. We were starting to get low on food before you showed up.”

‘Damned brigands!’ Lucina thought to herself. She quickly snapped herself from her thoughts as some of the other kids began to sniffle.

“My friends and I secured the village entrance, you’ll be safe as soon as we get there.”

The girl didn’t budge though.

“Some of the kids won’t be able to keep up with you. Take these two” she said motioning to her other two companions “I’ll wait here with the rest until more of you arrive.”

They tried to protest, but the older girl quickly shut them down. She turned back to Lucina and said

“Please keep them safe, miss.”

Lucina nodded “I will.”

The girl then ran back to a nearby building, presumably the library. Once she was gone Lucina turned to the two kids that remained. They were frozen in fear, and the princess needed to get them moving asap.

“You two, stay close to me. If any bad guys show up, hide while I take care of them. Understood?”

They nodded and began to follow. Lucina made sure to return the same way she came to keep the village children out of harm’s way. The group made it about two blocks before more fighting could be heard. Before Lucina could tell them, the two kids following her already hid themselves behind some scattered crates in an alley. As she was about to turn the corner where the sounds were coming from, one of the combatants shouted loudly enough for Lucina to hear.

“My sword hand hungers! Justice claims you, villain! The Blade will never die!”

If Owain was yelling his usual nonsense, then he and Inigo must not have run into any serious trouble. Nevertheless, Lucina joined the fray in an instant. She cut down her first two foes before the rest even knew she was there. Once the bandits realized the three Shepherds had them surrounded they quickly surrendered. The trio tied them up and convened in the middle of the impromptu battlefield.

“Owain, Inigo. How goes your search for survivors?”

“We just finished saving a few lovely ladies.” Inigo answered with a grin. “These fiends tried to ambush us on our way back into the town, but were no match for my swordplay.”

“You mean OUR swordplay?” Owain angrily interjected.

“Yes yes, you were invaluable moral support Owain.” Inigo rebutted.

“Moral support!? I remember you saying your mystic art-”
“Both of you, ENOUGH!” Lucina yelled. “I have two kids with me and many more further into the village that need help. Take the ones with me to the fliers and have them retrieve the rest. I’m going back out there.”

The two young men nodded nervously before they were led to the two preteens that had gone with Lucina. As soon as they were all settled, Lucina went back to her search. This leader had to be somewhere.

‘Where the hell are they!?’ Lucina thought to herself as she cut down another brigand.

She had combed through nearly the entire town and found nothing except small groups of survivors which she led to the others. The few enemies she had been able to briefly question gave her nothing of value. Lucina would have taken this as an indication that whoever was in charge was someone they were frightened of, if it weren’t for the fact that every sensible place for said leader to be hiding turned out empty. More than likely they were just dense, bringing a small comfort that whoever led these bandits would be a pushover when Lucina eventually found them. 

As Lucina prepared to move to the next alleyway, she noticed an unusual number of enemies gathered around a man who seemed to be frantically shouting at the rest of them. Given that they weren’t hacking this irate man to bits, Lucina had most likely found her man. Picking up a javelin that had been dropped by a felled enemy, Lucina hurled it at the edge of the group and impaled an unfortunate Berserker straight through the heart. His corpse fell into a few others, and soon they all noticed the princess standing at the end of the alley, her sword raised and pointed at them with a hateful look in her eyes. They charged her as the leader tried and failed to coordinate their attack, Lucina knew this wouldn’t be any harder than killing Risen. Lucina used the enclosed space to her advantage and stabbed some of the quicker ones before the rest could catch up, and in their haste a few stumbled or even tripped over the bodies of their fallen allies. The princess continued in this fashion, and by the time she reached the end of the alley a fraction of her attackers were already dead. With the battle now in the streets, Lucina began to use whatever debris and clutter she found to her advantage, she cut down signs, maneuvered around crates, and even kicked the occasional barrel to slow or incapacitate her pursuers. It didn't take long to reduce the number of enemies from about two dozen down to a mere six, she could take them head on now. Lucina cleaved through the first three with ease, the fourth had a moment to prepare and lasted a solid fifteen seconds in combat with her, once he was bested the remaining two dropped their weapons and fell to their knees in surrender. 

Lucina wasted no time in sprinting back to the alley where they had come and found the man from earlier who seemed to be trying to order the others. Her blood ran cold when she got a good look at him. He was clutching a dark tome close to his chest, but what sickened her was the mark on the man’s robes; it bore the Brand of the Defile. Robin had taught her its name when he first showed it to her, it symbolized one’s ties to Grima. Would she ever be free of that monster? Lucina shook those thoughts from her mind, right now all that mattered was taking this Grimleal zealot in and finding if he had any connection to the rising bandit problem around Ylisse’s borders. Before she could warn him to stand down, he attacked and yelled

“In the name of Lord Grima, die you wretch of Naga!”

The dark mage launched an attack at Lucina. Ruin by the look of it, very dangerous magic if it connected. Lucina pivoted to her right to avoid being hit by the dark magic, and her attacker moved to strike again. Fortunately Lucina had always been light on her feet and continued to weave towards her target, who was starting to get desperate. He panicked and started attacking even faster which caused said attacks to be less accurate, flying in any given direction. Once she was close enough Lucina feinted with Parallel Falchion and subsequently delivered a roundhouse kick to the man’s chest, knocking the tome from his hands and slamming him into a wall. He slid to the ground moaning in pain, but Lucina quickly hauled him to his feet and slammed him back into the wall.

“If you want to live then don’t move! As captain of Ylisse’s Shepherds, I’m placing you under arrest.” she yelled.

“Ylissean brat! I’ll see you-” whatever he was about to say was cut off as Lucina slugged him across the face.

He started to bleed as Lucina yanked off her scarf to use as a makeshift binding for the Grimleal. Once he was restrained, Lucina shoved him in the direction of the village entrance

“Now shut up and move.”

It seemed the battle was all but won by the time Lucina made it back to her friends with the enemy leader in tow. The entirety of the village's captors were either in chains or dead, and some of the townspeople began to emerge from hiding. Lucina was relieved to see that battle won, but as she set her prisoner down and made her way towards her friends she could tell by the grim looks on their faces that something was wrong. Even Cynthia was pretty shaken up by whatever Lucina didn’t know about.

“Cynthia. What’s wrong with everyone?” Lucina gently asked.

“They killed a lot of the villagers.” Cynthia responded with none of her usual pep.

“What?” Lucina was taken aback.

“Severa and I found the bodies.” Nah spoke up “It looks like they gathered all the village leaders as hostages in a mansion on the eastern border. When the fighting broke out one or more of them must have tried to escape, which led to the massacre…” the manakete trailed off.

“We also found a good amount scattered around the building, presumably local militia. They killed a lot of people here Lucina.” Severa finished up reporting.

Lucina clenched her hands so hard she nearly bled. What did such senseless slaughter accomplish, what did they have to gain? Her heart raced and her breathing intensified. These people were finally saved! Yet these monsters decided to kill them anyway. Lucina failed to hear what was said next over the rage boiling inside her as she hurried away from the group, she marched past Owain and Kjelle who were watching the prisoners and grabbed the dark mage she had brought in herself, neither one of them having the courage to question their leader. The princess made a slight detour to grab an extra set of bindings as she led the dark mage back towards where she had fought him earlier, ignoring any questions the man demanded she answer.

Once they finally arrived at their destination, Lucina applied the new chains to his ankles and pushed him to the ground. He lifted his head to find himself staring into the corpse of one of his former lackeys. Lucina then picked him up by his hair and stared directly into his soul, the dark mage tensed for a moment at seeing the pure hate and rage in the princess’ eyes, but recomposed himself immediately.

“Why did you kill these people?” Lucina spat.

“Because it was our Lord’s will. Because you were ALL supposed to die.” Lucina struck him as he finished.

“Shut up. What was the significance of this attack? Who are your real accomplices?”

Lucina was convinced this fool couldn’t have acted alone, but he was nearing the end of her patience. He’d give her answers or she’d kill him right here. The bandit leader continued to ramble on and on about Grimleal nonsense.

“We served Lord Grima himself! But you peons of Naga destroyed him! That wretched vessel of his, how dare he turn on our god!”

That was it. Hearing Robin and his sacrifice for the world get bemoaned by this maniac was the last straw. Lucina just wanted him to stop talking before she killed him.

“Shut. Up.” she said with as much venom as possible.

“You will never silence us you branded bit-” Lucina cut him off with the hilt of her blade. She continued to approach him as he frantically tried to squirm upright.

“I said. Shut the fuck up.”

The zealot laughed for a moment, until he saw Parallel Falchion in Lucina’s hands. Then he went silent in horror. Lucina flipped him face down as he began to beg, but she didn’t bother trying to listen to his incoherent babbling. Once she had him lying face down, she lined her blade up with his neck. Lucina raised her sword high and-

“LUCINA!” Severa’s voice rang out in a mixture of emotions. Lucina turned to see the redhead walking towards her with a look of disbelief on her face. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Lucina sighed and stepped off of the dark mage as she turned to face her uninvited guest. “Why did you follow me Severa? I have this under control!” Lucina deflected.

“Yeah. You look like you’re about to explode and I caught you seconds away from beheading a prisoner. You’re totally in control right now.” Severa sarcastically shot back “Now answer my question: what are you doing?”

“He’s Grimleal, and killed these people just to serve his dead god. He doesn’t deserve to live.” Lucina finally answered. “Now turn around and forget you saw anything Severa. We both know he’s earned this.”

Severa stood her ground, not budging an inch. Lucina moved towards her but she still refused to give ground. When the princess was just a dozen or so steps away, Severa moved for her blade.

“How about this? We take this idiot back to the others, and then I’ll forget I saw anything.”
Neither woman broke eye contact. When Lucina took another step forward, Severa unsheathed her blade and took up a defensive stance.

“I gave you an order, Severa.” Lucina said, barely able to contain her rage.

Severa said nothing, and after a few seconds passed Lucina lunged forward. Severa held her sword close as Lucina made the opening move, aiming for her crossguard and attempting to wretch Severa’s weapon from her grasp. Severa moved and intercepted Lucina’s strike with her own. The two had similar fighting styles, so they knew both parties’ strengths, weaknesses, and how to exploit them, however there was a key difference. While both relied on speed and agility, Lucina made use of thrusts and parries more often while Severa used more standard slashing attacks. Severa soon found herself losing ground as Lucina pushed her offensive. Both women were doing their best to avoid inflicting any wounds, but with tempers high there was no telling what would happen. In between her strikes Lucina was looking for anything she could use to her advantage, Severa wouldn’t fall for the same tricks the bandits did earlier.

“Lucina, get a hold of yourself! Remember what I told you the other night?!”

Severa still tried to reason with the blunette, but Lucina wasn’t even humoring her with a response. Lucina saw an opening and took it, but Severa leapt back and ran in the opposite direction. Lucina gave chase and soon saw the redhead turned into an alleyway, Lucina was right on her tail. Lucina turned the corner and was greeted by Severa swinging her sword upward, at first Lucina was confused as Severa wasn’t close enough to even connect with her own blade, but then she saw a trail of ash that followed and ended up right in her eyes.

“Damnit!”

Lucina pulled her sword close to her chest expecting an attack, but none came. Instead she heard Severa run past her and down the street they had both just come from. Lucina cursed again as she tried to wipe her eyes clean. Eventually her vision cleared and she saw Severa several yards ahead of her, the princess bolted her way as fast as she could. By the time she caught up, Severa had cut the chains on the dark mage’s legs and was helping him to his feet.

“SEVERA!” Lucina screamed as she charged forward.

Severa pushed the man out of the way and met Lucina’s attack with her own. Lucina nearly recoiled at the sudden move from Severa but gave no ground. While Lucina was still panting from catching up, Severa seemed to have less fatigue despite running the same distance. The former merc turned pegasus knight was trying to exhaust her, so Lucina switched to defense for the time being in order to conserve as much energy as she could. Before she knew it, they were back on the streets and Lucina once again cursed this fight. It wasn’t even what mattered now, killing that maniac was. Lucina then realized that she’d been treating this duel as if they were both trying to kill each other when it was really like an intense practice match. Lucina knew what she had to do to win this. 

Lucina continued to fall back as Severa pushed forward. Lucina hopped back as Severa pulled her sword back for a wide slash, then Lucina lunged into it. Focus turned to panic on Severa’s face as she applied as much strength as she could to stop her attack. She was unable to, but it was enough to slow it, Lucina used that opening to move past the blade and tackle Severa to the ground. The two fell to the ground, punching and grabbing to try and gain the advantage over the other. Lucina was able to land a blow to Severa’s nose and the redhead pulled both her hands back to shield her face.

“Ungh! Damnib!” Severa moaned to herself.

Blood was oozing past Severa’s hands, but Lucina wasted no time making her way back to where she had last seen the leader of these raiders. When she got there all she saw were two sets of broken cuffs. Lucina was furious. She marched back to where she left Severa only to see the redhead being tended to by Cynthia.

“He’s gone.” Lucina spat as Severa stood to her feet “You let him escape.”
“ME!? You’re the one who dragged him out here to decapitate him!”

The two women looked like they were both ready for round two, luckily Cynthia came between the two to break them up.

“Both of you stop it!” she yelled in an unnaturally serious voice “I don’t know what happened, all I know is Severa’s hurt and there could still be more enemies around. We need to regroup with the others.”

The other two said nothing, staring at each other’s bruised; and in Severa’s case, bloodied faces.

“Lead the way Cynthia, doubt your sister cares enough to come with though.” Severa said after a few moments.

As the two pegasus knights began to walk/limp back to the village entrance, all Lucina could think about was where that dark mage could have gone.

Chapter Text

The first thing Lucina did when she made it back to the town gate was question the prisoners about who their leader was and where he might have gone, but none of them could give her anything meaningful. It appeared that the dark mage was the only Grimleal part of this attack and had hired common brigands for expendable muscle. The princess left the makeshift holding area to find that night had set in already. 

Realizing that she had hit a dead end for now the blunette cleaned herself up and found a place to sleep for the night. The villagers were more than happy to give them free lodging for as long as they needed so the Shepherds had the luxury of sleeping indoors for the first time in almost a week. Lucina closed her eyes and was pleasantly surprised to open them to a new day without the usual torment of her nightmares. She wasted no time in dressing herself and heading back outside to continue where she left off the day before. Kjelle saluted Lucina as she approached while the knight stood guard over the captured bandits. The princess’ second round of interrogations went about as well as the first ones, all of the bandits not knowing much about their leader aside from the gold he promised them. As Lucina exited the holding area she was approached by Laurent and Owain who were both carrying a few boxes towards the center of town.

“Good Morning Lucina. Owain and I were just going to distribute some medical supplies to the townsfolk. If you could spare a moment to help us it would be most appreciated.”

Lucina nodded and went to grab a few crates of her own, maybe some time to clear her head and help her people would be what she needed while Kjelle took over questioning the prisoners. 

When the trio made their way to the town square the people greeted them with a hero’s welcome. Laurent organized the supplies while Lucina and Owain had the people form two lines so they could each see what sort of treatment they needed. It was a nice change of pace for the princess who actually felt good about something she was doing for the first time in what felt like ages. This went on for about a half hour when Lucina began to notice that Owain wasn’t talking with his usual dramatic flair. When there was a lull in the crowd Lucina was able to address her cousin’s lack of bravado.

“Are you feeling alright Owain? It’s not like you to be so reserved around others.”

“I’m fine Lucina, I just don’t want to frighten anyone who might still be shaken up from yesterday.” Owain replied while keeping his eyes in front of him.

She’d seen Owain carry on with his dramatics shortly after an attack before, but the blunette didn’t probe any further. Maybe it was because their other parents weren’t with them that made him feel the need to act more seriously, but then why wasn’t that the case yesterday? Lucina shook herself out of it as an old woman walked up to her and began to describe an injury she got while trying to flee from a raider.

It was noon when Cynthia and Nah arrived to relieve them, Laurent would stay and help for the remainder of the day as he was the most proficient healer of the group. Cynthia in particular didn’t give her own sister more than a simple ‘good afternoon’ and that’s when Lucina began to suspect something was wrong. As she walked back to their makeshift base towards the edge of town, the blunette decided to press Owain as to why he really wasn’t his usual self today.

“What’s wrong Owain? I haven’t seen you or Cynthia in such poor spirits since the Dragon’s Table. Is there anything I can do to help?” Lucina asked with concern.

“We’re just a little shaken up from yesterday Lucina. It was unnerving to hear about what happened.” Owain responded.

Hear about? Lucina had fought with her cousin during the battle yesterday. Why was he talking about it like he wasn’t there?

“I don’t understand, we’ve seen plenty of battles much worse than yesterday’s before. What about it has you so shaken up?”

“It wasn’t the battle, Lucina.” Owain stopped and turned to face his older cousin “It was what happened between you and Severa. I went to see her last night after I saw her being helped back to the gate by Cynthia, she told us about the fight you two had and how it started.”

Lucina felt guilt wash over her. Maybe she did take things too far with Severa yesterday, she would have to make things right with her friend as soon as possible.

“You’re right, I reacted too harshly towards Severa. Would you go see her and ask if she’d be willing to speak with me? I want to make things right between the two of us.”

“She left this morning. Said she was going back to Ylisstol.” Owain sighed.

“Gods, were her injuries that bad?”

“Yeah… that’s why.” Owain looked away as he spoke.

No, if Severa was hurt there’s no way they’d let her leave all by herself. Lucina knew there was something else they were hiding from her.

“Owain.” Lucina stood in place and spoke firmly towards Owain “Why did Severa go to Ylisstol without informing me?”

“To report to the Exalt how you’re in no condition to be fighting.” Owain could see there was no use in lying to Lucina now “You need help Lucina, and if you won’t do anything about it then someone else has to.”

Lucina wanted to be angry with Owain for accusing her of such things like she had with Severa, but unlike then there was nothing but worry on the other end. Was she going too far with all this, and if so then what was she supposed to do with herself? No. This was all she could do to make things right for what she put Robin and by proxy Morgan through, and right now the best way to make sure she could do that was get back to Ylisstol and make her case to her father to let her continue to do so.

“Tell the others I’m leaving for the capital and that Cynthia’s in charge until I get back.”

Owain tried to say something to dissuade the blunette, but she was already running to the town gate.

It was a quick and uneventful journey back to Ylisstol, one of the benefits to traveling by yourself was not needing to slow your horse to match a convoy’s speed. By the time night fell Lucina was only about half a day away from her home by horseback, so she found a place to sleep using some of the gold they found on the bandits from the village. The princess woke up right at dawn and was able to make it to the castle before noon, making her way inside and rushing to her father’s office. By the time Lucina made it to her father she was a panting and sweaty mess, Chrom rushed over to his daughter out of worry.

“What’s wrong Lucina, are you hurt?”

“I’m -hah- fine.” Lucina waved her father off and walked towards his desk “Just wanted -hah to speak with you regarding anything -hoo- you may have heard about my mission.”

“Take a moment to catch your breath Lucina, then we’ll talk.” her father replied.

While the princess took a few moments to compose herself, Chrom told a servant to bring them some water. When the exalt sat down his daughter tried to continue speaking but he silenced her, saying that she needed something to drink in her state. An uncomfortable silence passed between the two for a couple minutes before the servant returned with their drinks and excused himself. As much as Lucina wanted to make her case to her father straight away she couldn’t deny that the hydration was much appreciated after doing nothing but move since she woke up that morning. Once she finished her glass Lucina once again spoke up.

“Now about my mission-”

“Severa told me what happened, Lucina.” Chrom interrupted “And what she said only confirmed what I was worried about; you need to stay away from not only the Shepherds, but any military related activities.”

Lucina sat stunned. She expected some sort of reprise for what she did to Severa, but being removed from the Shepherds was too extreme in her eyes.

“What?” there was more anger in her tone than confusion “I know I may have gone too far with Severa, but her insubordination led to the enemy commander escaping!”

“It wasn’t just what you did to Severa, you nearly MURDERED a man Lucina! Thank gods Severa stopped you before you went through with it or I don’t know what I’d have had to do. Now I only need to discipline you for letting the leader of the brigands escape.”

Lucina couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“That filth attacked a helpless town and worships the very monster that took Robin from me, destroyed my world, and nearly destroyed this one. How could you value his life in the slightest after what he’d said and done?” she was appalled at how her own father could defend such a man.

“Because that’s what makes us different from them. If we cut down every low life we believe to be in the wrong, then we’re the same as the very evil we stood against alongside Robin so many times.” Chrom stood his ground.

“How dare you use Robin against me for something like this. That man saw him as nothing but a shell for his sick god after Robin laid his life down for everyone in this world.” Lucina stood up in anger “He took Robin’s sacrifice and spat on it! Do you have any idea what it feels like for someone to do that to the person you loved the most!” 

“No, but I went through something similar when your aunt died before you joined us.” Chrom looked away in shame “While we were retreating, we were stopped by a Plegian general named Mustafa who felt sympathy for us. He swore he’d ensure we were given fair treatment if we surrendered, but we refused and a battle broke out. I was overcome with grief over Em’s death and felt that every single Plegian deserved to die because of it, so I saw to it to kill as many as I could while we fought through them. Before I realized it I was standing face to face with Mustafa himself, there was no malice in his eyes but that didn’t stop me from running him through like he was nothing. Afterwards when we finally made it out of Plegian territory is when I realized what I had done to those poor soldiers, Mustafa’s last words were to spare his men, but I was so blinded by rage I didn’t care. I was ashamed of myself, and if it weren’t for your mother and Robin I don’t know if I’d have ever been able to live with myself.” Chrom turned back to face Lucina “Lucina, I am so sorry for all you’ve had to live through, and while you are right in saying I don’t know how it feels to have lost the person you love most in this world I also know that if you did kill that man in cold blood it would have only made that pain you’re feeling so much worse.”

“But this was different. Mustafa and his men felt remorse and sympathy, the man who attacked the village wanted nothing but to cause harm.”

“That wasn’t the point Lucina. It was that I nearly lost myself when I killed those soldiers, I will not let my daughter suffer through that like I did.” Chrom replied. “I’m not removing you from the Shepherds to punish you Lucina, I’m doing it to help you. You’ve done your duty as a warrior, and deserve to live the rest of your life enjoying the peace you helped bring about, the peace Robin sacrificed himself for.”

Lucina wanted to be angry, she wanted to yell at her father that this wasn’t anything like what he went through, but all she felt was emptiness. The princess had no rebuttal, no additional information to support her stance, she just felt nothing. For most of her life she had dedicated her entire being to stopping Grima and bringing peace, and now that part of her life was over. What did that leave her with?

“Aside from your discharge from the Shepherds you’re not in any trouble Lucina. Go and rest, find Morgan and spend some time with your daughter. Live the life Robin wants for you so that when he returns to us someday you can share the life you’ve made for yourself with him.” Chrom motioned to the door “I love you Lucina, and I’m doing this because I know it’s what you need.”

“Thank you Father.” Lucina hadn’t really registered what she just said.

The blunette just walked out of her father’s office wondering what she would do with herself now. She doubted Morgan wanted to see her after what their last meeting was like before Lucina left for her mission. She couldn’t fight and she pushed the people closest to her away, she had nothing.