Interlude 1 - The Best Friend
A lone figure stood in the midst of a training ground, pieces of wood, hay, and straw piled all around her unmoving form. Sword in hand and form imperceptibly flawed, she examined her work for the last hour.
Brushing back a twintail with a dissatisfied frown, Severa swung her crimson blade at the last practice dummy in front of her. A testament to her skill and accuracy for killing blows, it fell apart into multiple pieces instantaneously—paper thin cuts littering her intended target areas the only proof of her ever attacking.
The young girl wiped the sweat off her brow, biting back a sigh. "This is so boring," she muttered, sheathing her blade and stretching her arms as she gazed off into the horizon. "If only there was anything else productive to do."
Yet, as dull and boring as it was, she couldn't deny the importance of training. Especially with how her mother had drilled the dangers of bandits, brigands, and war into her head. She didn't want anyone to die because of her incompetence and hesitation.
No one would die on her watch, especially her friends.
Despite that sentiment however, she was cutting at these dummies for the past couple of hours and she couldn't think of anything else to do besides training. Training this, training that; she loved her mother, but she wanted to have a life that wasn't all training.
Honestly, she would've been the same as her mother if she hadn't met Leonard years ago.
He was always the one to bring up something fun and exciting between the two of them, like the time when he showed her that spell using lightning as armor in a spar before he left for his training trip.
At that thought, conflict brewed within the young girl's mind.
She wanted to say how unfair it was. Yell it out to the world that Leonard would be gone for about a month without even telling her until he left. She wanted to scream at him and tell him how terrible of a friend he was for not telling her. How he betrayed her trust and that he wasn't her friend anymore.
But she couldn't blame him for that. Not when she had done the same exactly a year ago, but much worse. She had gone on a trip that was year-long and didn't bother telling him about it until his birthday. He wasn't even mad about it, but understanding!
The fact that she even thought about doing those things, let alone was tempted by them...
Shaking her head of those morose thoughts, she was alerted by the sound of twigs snapping behind her. Blade in hand and suspicion rising, she turned around.
A silver-haired boy, wearing leather armor and a sword attached to his hip, strutted up to her with a smirk.
Ugh, she didn't like this boy already. The way he walked, the smirk on his punchable face, the false confidence radiating off him...
It was repulsive, and for that reason she wanted to pound his insufferable face into the dirt.
Coming to a stop, he met her eyes with self-assurance. "Lovely rose, my name is Inigo! May I inquire what your name is?" he said with a wink.
"This 'lovely rose', as you called her, has many thorns, Indigo," retorted Severa, "Besides that, my name's on a need to know basis." Rolling her eyes, she gripped her Killing Edge with a smile.
Then, she swung.
The boy stumbled back last-second, the tip of the blade severing off part of his hair.
Impressive reaction time. Notably close to Leonard's, yet she could tell he hadn't nary an inch of fighting experience.
His eyes widened in a panic. "Erm, p-perhaps you may reconsider this t-travesty?" He pleaded with a stutter, reaching for his sheathed sword.
Surprising. Perhaps this boy had some backbone after all? Very few ever willingly fought against her, so she opted to train on her lonesome. It was always a breath of fresh air whenever there was someone who held the courage to fight back. That aside...
"Travesty?" She questioned, testing the merit of the word on the tip of her tongue. "We'll see who's committed a travesty after the spars we have."
She didn't think someone's face could become so pale in a matter of moments, but there was no time to think about that. She had a couple of spars to win and another boy to assert her dominance over.
The perfection she sought to equal herself to wouldn't come so easily, after all.
Sunlight descended over the training ground, harsh heat hitting the two inhabitants. In spite of the weather, however, one particular girl basked in the sunlight; unaffected unlike the fatigue paining the other boy.
"Do you yield once more? Or do you wish to taste more bitter defeat?" Severa stated, eyeing her opponent on the ground.
With his voice muffled, the boy yelled, "I yield! I yield! Gods, please just get off of my backside!"
A smile of approval bloomed on her face and she slowly lifted her metal boot off of his back.
He was a decent fighter, his skill with the blade even more surprising, but he was nowhere near her skill level. Even stranger, all he tried to do was make odd faces and blow kisses at her whenever she left obvious openings.
A weird and odd boy, this Indigo was.
The boy shakily stood up, spitting out the grass in his mouth. With renewed vigor and a resolute stare, he pointed at her. Impressive.
She didn't think anyone could do that with dirt caking their face, especially with such confidence.
"Rest assured, lovely rose," began the boy, "I will not rest until every woman in the realm swoons upon hearing my name!" With that declaration, he sheathed his training sword and lamely limped out of sight.
"Okay, Indigo?" Severa affirmed confusedly.
In the distance, she thought she heard someone yell "It's Inigo, not Indigo!" It must have been the nearby breeze or her imagination playing tricks.
That boy's name was definitely Indigo and not whatever Inigo was.
Either way, she was unsure whether or not the boy was truly serious about that declaration. "Surely he isn't serious? Every woman?" The red-head whispered to herself, frowning at the mere thought.
At least Leonard or Cynthia weren't that strange. Her best friend was learning magic and swordsmanship. Meanwhile, the hero-obsessed girl was practicing spear play and learning how to maneuver a pegasus like her mother did. Perfectly normal and understandable goals. Nothing like that boy's absurd and impossible farce of a dream.
...She needed to talk with the other girls more often. Constantly training with Leonard was fun and all, but how would she get her much-needed girl time without other girls to hang out with? At least she was able to finish learning that one important technique that she saw her mother do before finishing her training trip.
Gathering all of her equipment with a thoughtful frown, Severa sheathed her sword. Maybe she could buy a gift for when Leonard returned? Her mother was away for the next couple of days due to recent attacks by "Risen", and she was entrusted with a hefty amount of gold to use sparingly and responsibly in the meantime.
This also would give her ample time to look through all the stores and merchant wagons; maybe she could even visit the Anna that operated for the Shepards!
She was definitely going shopping to buy Leonard a gift. Totally not because she wanted to get some wares for herself. Absolutely for Leonard, her best friend.
...Maybe she'd buy something for herself too. It was only fair, considering how hard she'd worked to learn Galeforce just from watching her mother perform it a couple of times at Pegasus camp. Honestly, she didn't even know why her mother also wanted her to learn advanced aerial movement above all else, but it was better to learn something than nothing, she supposed.
Endless boredom now replaced with uncontained excitement, she checked her pouch to make sure she had all the gold she had before. After stopping counting at around fifteen-thousand gold pieces, she decided that was enough for this trip.
It might've been too much for some people, but she wanted to make this trip count. Her mother had told her a story of how her father had forgotten to buy the correct amount of items before a battle and paid the price for it.
It was time to spend some gold and get some things, especially a gift for when Leonard came back.
A tumultuous war of wits, skill, and mettle waged on between four leaders. The cheerful chattering of the pub's denizens only served to intensify the weight of the tension pressed upon those participating in the deadly game.
Sunday game night was always a night of high stakes, after all.
"Hey, Severa. Do you, uh," the brunette with pigtails paused, glancing down at her hand of cards with a contemplative frown. "Do you have any threes?"
The red-head yawned, shaking her head. "Nope. Erm, Go Fish."
Cynthia blinked. "Darn," she muttered, drawing another card from the vast pile and adding to her worryingly large hand.
The boy sitting next to her turned to face the brunette with a flat expression. "That was the third time ya asked Severa if she had any threes, Cynthia," he said, the scar running across his eye crinkling in itself. "I dunno what ya were expectin' ta see there."
With a sheepish laugh, Cynthia looked off to the side as she murmured, "Well, I thought that she maybe could've gotten a three?"
"She hasn't even drawn a single damn card since we've started, so how the heck did that even cross your mind," Brady sighed under his breath, running a hand through his hair. "Anyway, 's your turn Laurent."
A boy wearing glasses with a comically large and brimmed mage's hat atop his head glanced up from his book, his lightning-speed writing coming to a halt. "Is it my turn already?" he set down his quill and picked up his hand of cards, humming in discontent. "How unfortunate; I was still in the process of ruminating on what the origins of this game's name, "Go Fish", were."
"Why is it called Go Fish anyway?" Cynthia asked eagerly, leaning back into her seat. "We're just playing a game of cards. There's nothing about fishing or going to fish in it."
The other boy rolled his eyes at the two and gruffly said, "Yeah, yeah, the both of ya can deep-dive into that after we're done with this game."
"You make a fair point, Bradford," Laurent acquiesced, nodding. A moment of silence passed, his gaze flickering between his hand and the other players. Then, his eyes eventually landed on someone.
"Severa, if I may ask," he pointed at her with resolve in his eyes, "do you have a three?"
Severa absently shook her head. "Go Fish."
Heh. All she needed was another four and then she'd win. Victory was hers.
The young magician somberly nodded, drawing another card as he went back to writing in his book.
Brady's palm met his face. Massaging his forehead, he whispered, "Naga help me on this fine autumn evening, I'm playing Go Fish with a buncha buffoons."
"What did you just say, Brady?" Severa lowered her hand of cards and stared at the boy with a heated glare.
The blond boy met her eyes with his own frustrated gaze. "I said that I'm playin' Go Fish with a buncha—"
"So sorry to interrupt this little spat kiddos, but," a voice cut in humorously, "I brought some candy."
The boy's frustration immediately replaced itself with joy as he jumped out of his chair. "Pa!"
"Hey, hey, calm yourself down kid," Gaius chuckled, ruffling Brady's hair with a smile. "It's only been half an hour since I left to get some of the good stuff, y'know."
The thief turned to face the rest of them, bag of sweets in his lone hand. "These are on me." With a wink, he added, "it's on the house tonight."
...Well, victory would also taste sweet tonight, Severa supposed.
Moonlight entered through the window, threatening to make way through the darkness of the bedroom. Anxiety welled within her stomach as the young girl laid in bed, wide awake.
Severa couldn't fall asleep. Despite the assurances the guards and Cynthia's mother gave, she couldn't help but worry.
It had been a week since she went on that shopping spree and her mother still wasn't back from that Risen scouting mission.
She should've been back by now, so why wasn't she?
With a frustrated huff, Severa got up from her bed and straightened her gown. Tossing and turning with a strange bad feeling wouldn't do her any good.
But maybe walking it off would.
Quietly opening and closing the door, she walked down the halls. On her way to the courtyard, the sound of yelling hit her ears. Moving closer, she heard the distinct yet familiar tone of arguing nearby.
Just like her mother and her father had long ago.
A voice of royal authority said, "Gods damn it, Frederick! We can't keep it a secret from her own damn daughter! What would Cordelia think!"
Mom! Wait, why were they talking about her? What did they mean by a secret?
"Milord, you and I both know that if Severa were to know that her mother had perished in battle…" Frederick trailed off, unable to find anything else to say.
What? Mother's dead?
But… that's impossible!
"W-we don't know that she's dead! All the soldiers that came back reported that they only found her ring! For all we know, she could still be out there!" Cynthia's mother yelled desperately.
Severa's breath hitched, hope filling her mind. Hope for her mother still being alive. It was the only thing keeping her from breaking down against the door.
A moment of silence passed by. Then, Frederick spoke with remorse. "Milord, I advise that we not tell Severa. She's still very young. Who knows what might happen if she finds out about her mother's disappearance."
The room was silent for a few moments. At that, Severa went over everything they mentioned so far. Her mother was missing, but that didn't mean she was dead. She could've just been hiding somewhere and recovering from her injuries.
...Right?
Then, the silence was broken. "I'm sorry Frederick, but I agree with Sumia. Severa deserves to know what happened to her mother, no matter how tragic it may be. I'd rather she know something than not know anything at all," Chrom said firmly, his tone brooking no quarter.
There was no way that her mother died. This must have been a bad dream. A nightmare. In the morning, she would wake up everything would be fine.
Mother would be here.
Silently making her way back to her bedroom, she opened the door and threw herself onto the bed. Fear of the unknown shrouded her mind, allowing no hope to enter. Uncertainty drained her heart, emotions pouring loose.
She wouldn't cry. She'd never cry. Crying was for people who gave up. She'd almost broken before, but not this time. Even as the moonlight draped over her shaking body in the silence that accompanied the night.
Severa would never admit to defeat. Not now. Not never.
Note from the QM:
Start with humor and end off with sad feels, a perfect combination that resembles the future past. Thus, one of many has fallen.
I haven't written anything 3rd person in a while. Hopefully, this isn't too hard on the eyes to read.
Also, remember what I said a couple of chapters ago? How everything would start to go into motion once you reach 12 years old? Yeah, events are about to happen and the status quo is going to change drastically. For better or worse is up to Leonard and the decisions you make him do.
The voting period will stay open for another day or so. I will close it tomorrow if my house has power, but it will likely stay open for the next couple of days if my power is shut off (the latter is most likely to happen, as a power shutdown is
supposedly scheduled to occur in a couple of hours as of me posting this in the thread).
Feel free to @ me about anything, especially about errors or anything else you might have questions for.
EDIT: 10/7/22, added more content and fixed the structuring of the text to make it more palatable to read through.
