ℳother. The word rang through Lucina's ears.
As far as she knew, Lucina was not married, and gods forbid; was never a mother. Perhaps the girl was mistaken? Lucina wasn't sure— the woman was... quite confident and unsure with her words.
"E-excuse me?" Lucina managed to reply, tightening her grip on Falchion.
"Mother... it's... you..."
The girl then burst into a sob, running up to the princess and embracing her. Lucina could hear the group behind her gasp.
"That is enough of this nonsense! First you try to kill her, and now you call her mother?" Gerome emphasized the last word. Komura weakly put a hand on his shoulder.
"Pardon me, but how can this be possible?" Komura took over. "Before y-you were acting like..." she was still wounded from the curse, and couldn't complete her words.
The girl looked up at Lucina with her bright eyes. "I-I am very sorry, it's just... I miss you so much... and..."
"Urr... I'm afraid..." Lucina stammered, "I don't even... I don't think I'm your mother, stranger."
"Stranger?" More tears began to stream down her face. "Lucina— mother— I'm your daughter!"
"How strange." Laurent grumbled. "Lucina, may I intrude? Dear, state your name."
"My name... it's..." the girl had to stop and think, "Morgan."
Morgan... Lucina thought, I never remembered anyone named Morgan.
"Morgan, am I correct? Very well. What brings you here?" Laurent continued, lifting up his glasses.
Morgan was silent for a moment. She put a finger on her chin, thinking. "I..." she groaned in frustration. "Augh! I cannot seem to remember! All I know is... my name... Lucina is my mother and... I came... from the—
She cleared her throat. "From... Ferox. Ferox." She sounded suspicious. Lucina was sure she didn't mean to say that.
"Ferox? That place is filled with risen!" Gerome cut in, "Lucina, we can't trust her."
"I'm struggling to think of what to do... Morgan... you can't prove to me that we're family... although you seem to know me well." Lucina replied.
Morgan stopped crying and gave a small nod. "I'm sorry mo— Milady. Perhaps I gotten carried away there. But yes, my name is Morgan and I'm a... a traveler." She sighed.
Now that was suspicious. Lucina went back to the last events in her mind. First she cast a spell and Komura, then Severa, and then Cynthia; but she took the hit. What else? Lucina was sure something happened to her after Laurent blocked another attack. Then she... went crazy? Was in pain? It was hard to know what Morgan had done.
There was a hood covering her face, however. That was not what Feroxi would do. It was more Plegian. And the spell... it was Plegian too...
    No... Lucina thought, Validar might've sent her here to kill us. We have to stop her. It was a trick, was it not? More questions lingered through her mind, but she kept them silent in her head and shook back to reality.
"Morgan, I'm sorry, but I can't... trust you. I'm certain you speak nothing but lies." Lucina made Morgan let go of her. "In order to keep us alive... I ask of you to leave us alone."
"What? But, don't you trust me?" Morgan cried. "Mother... how?"
"Lucina."
Gerome was speaking.
"Kill her if she won't leave us alone. It's the only way. She could be a Plegian spy of some sort, searching to kill us." He said, nodding.
"I'm afraid so." Lucina tried to keep her words neutral, as she were hesitating.
"Mother? Please, don't do this! I l-love you and... mother? No, stop—"
Lucina closed her eyes while slicing her blade through the young girls body. The last sense of life she heard was the blood curdling scream of the girl.
And then she collapsed to her knees, guilty of what she had done. She wanted to keep her alive...
  "Gods forgive me..." She muttered, setting Falchion on the floor. "An innocent life taken..."
"Hey, it's not your fault," Komura chimed, resting a hand in Lucina's shoulder. "You might've saved almost if not all of our lives, Lucina. Remember, if she were alive, we would be doomed." She smiled.
    It took minutes until the princess stood up and nodded.
    It was silent after that. The group walked into the fortress without a word, although their thoughts were all lingering through their heads.
Morgan, Lucina thought, if I had a child, it would be Morgan.

Lucina tossed and turned all night.
She just couldn't sleep; the events earlier in the night haunted her. What if Morgan was her daughter? Lucina couldn't know anymore. Morgan was dead. Another family member gone.
But what if she wasn't family? Lucina shut her eyes, unable to answer even in silence. The princess could've let her flee. She wanted to save mankind, not kill it. Lucina hated death, even the most necessary ones.
    The princess heaved a sigh.
    "Naga... how can you trust me when I have failed?" She whispered, expecting no answer to come. "I... don't know what to do..."

* * *

An immortal.
"You have failed miserably, Morgan."
The words made her shake terribly. The young tactician took a step back, holding her tome over her face.
"I-I'm sorry..." She was trembling, hoping for someone to help her. Nothing came, as expected.
"What shall I do with you? You refuse to be another vessel for Grima, our saviour. Why are you as useless as your father is?" The sorcerer snarled, forcing Morgan to look at him.
"What did you do to him, master Validar? I want to see father... my mother hadn't accepted me..." She whined, thoughts flying to her father. "D-does he... know?"
"Of course not, foolish child." Validar, Morgan's liege, argued. With his hand he snatched the tome out of Morgan's shaking ones, eyeing it with curiosity. He put a finger on his chin, thinking. "This is Grima's truth, is it not?"
Morgan stared into Validar's evil red eyes. "Y-yes. Father gave it to me... before..."
"Stop explaining or you'll suffer. I precisely asked you if it is and you give me a story. Guards, I ask you to seize her for me." He commanded. Two men in armour obeyed his order, grabbing Morgan and dragging her away.
"Oh, for the sake of the world. It's very simple to just kill the next and last exalt. Was it not, Robin?" Validar then turned to a man almost hidden in sight— a stressed grandmaster. The man sighed.
"Certainly not, father. It is quite shocking to believe that I'm her parent after all. A question had always lingered in my mind otherwise— who is her mother?" Robin took down his hood, revealing his fluffy white hair. "Morgan must come from the future, as I presume."
"Intelligent, my son." Validar smirked. "All we must worry about is getting that hell of an exalt out of here. Morgan had done a fine job of impersonating Naga. They should be here in a matter of days. In the meantime, we can prepare for Grima's homecoming as well."
Robin sighed. "Y-yes."
"Now, don't you act so different around me, Robin. You are my son. Is that friend of yours still bothering you? I should've known— killing Prince Chrom was intelligent of me."
"You made me kill him." Was all Robin said. "I don't even know if his daughter is alive or not."
"Robin—" Validar began boiling with rage. "That's enough. Get... if you wish to speak to me like that, leave."
And very unexpectedly, Validar's son left, disappearing farther into the castle.

Robin sank to the ground in guilt, collapsing onto the marble floor. The part of the palace he was in was empty and quiet, leaving him in silence.
He needed it, anyway.
The moonlight passed through the grand window, fading once a cloud covered its light. The tactician watched in peace as the stars rotated across the moonlit sky. It was peaceful, only the winds and sand grains bothering him.
And of course, his thoughts.
Robin couldn't believe what he had done in the past days. From killing his best friend to obeying his devilish father, he was guilty. The world could be gone in a matter of days. He couldn't do anything about it anymore. What was the point? Robin took a glimpse behind him into the corridor.
It was quite pristine. Centring the massive hallway was a velvet carpet, aligned with a gold linen. Paintings hung on the wall of descendants or artwork of the fell dragon itself. Plegia was... more different than Ylisse.
He sighed.
Robin knew he couldn't run away anymore. It was far too dangerous— Validar had made guards watch over him for 'reasons.' They would stay up day and night, standing in random spots. Although he could try killing them, he wouldn't escape.
    What was escape anyway? Maybe he should just listen to his father and have fair game. If only it was... if only he could get out of the hell he was in and join the other side, where few Ylisseans remained.

"Lucina..." Robin looked up at the sky, "if you're out there... please stay alive..."

-*-
I apologize >-<
-enchantedfangirl | Ꮶαмυι~¢нαи
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