Work Text:
This place is... almost normal.
If it wasn't for the otherworldly summonings and people from all over history and the realms running around like it was no big deal (you swear you saw at least three different incarnations of the same person as you were given the tour), you could almost think this was just a usual castle housing a usual standing army whose members were doing usual things that did the usual amounts of property damage.
As it is, it's been a few hours since you were summoned by that mysterious weapon Kiran wields (something they called a 'gun'?), and welcomed into the army of heroes they were recruiting.
Hero... you can't say that's ever been a title you felt you deserved, and you expressed your doubts about it; Kiran's only response was a mysterious smile and a "Breidablik is never wrong about someone's potential."
You didn't know what to say to that.
After waiting a while, they've finally managed to set you up with a room in the barracks, and decided to show you the way themselves.
"You should get along with your roommate splendidly," they say as you walk down the halls. "We tend to put people from the same worlds together for the sake of ease, but the others aren't far away at all. Now, yours is just around this corner... aaaaaand... here it is!"
The door in front of you is quite unassuming, except for the '4-20' room number engraved on a plaque. Kiran seems to snicker quietly for some reason as you read it out loud to yourself.
"I'll leave you to get settled. Remember that the mess hall is on the ground floor on the left, and the common room is on the right! Please come to any of us if you have more questions."
"Thank you, Kiran; you are most kind."
"No problem, Miss Lucina! See you around," they say, and walk back where you came from; no doubt back to work.
... it's still a touch unsettling how they instantly knew your true identity, even with the mask, but you suppose they would have to know what kind of people they summon on a regular basis. The vague mention of your and many of the other heroes' tales being recorded in books is... bewildering, to say the least.
Shaking your thoughts from their wandering ways, you knock on the door.
"Yes?"
You pause, feeling a strange sense of familiarity at that voice, but you can't seem to place it.
"Who is it?"
Realizing you've been silent, you speak up. "I'm your new roommate? Kiran sent me here."
There's a pause on the other side, and then you hear footsteps approaching the door. A moment later, the door swings open and reveals--
... oh.
You both stare at each other for what feels like ages, before she starts chuckling, and it's the strangest thing you've ever experienced in your life.
"Kiran sent a message that I would be getting a roommate, but they didn't mention anything else; they can be sneaky like that."
You're still stuck on the fact that you're staring at a mirror image of yourself, sans a mask.
"Well? Come in," she says, opening the door wider.
You listen, and enter in a daze.
The room is small, but feels... nice. There's a reading chair next to the window, two beds, a plush carpet, a couple of desks, and a wardrobe. It all looks... cozy. Comfortable, even. You've only known running and surviving for so long, even after going back to the past, that the prospect of actual comfort seems absolutely foreign to you.
"The right bed is yours. I took the liberty of cleaning it up a bit after I received Kiran's message..."
You sit heavily on it, still taking in everything.
She takes a seat on the bed next to you, and looks at you sympathetically. "It can be a lot to take in, I know."
You shake your head slightly. "It's just..."
She takes your hand gently, and it's so weird, to be comforted by yourself. "I know. Trust me."
"... you would, wouldn't you?" you whisper, and you start chuckling as well. "This is bizarre."
"I've seen a lot of people here deal with the same thing after being summoned. I admit, I was... also wondering when another me would show up."
For the first time, you take her in. She looks... as baffling as it sounds, she looks happy.
You feel an absolutely irrational sort of envy.
You quash it down, and decide to speak up. "You... you're older than me, aren't you?"
She nods, touching your mask lightly. "You've just gotten back from... that place, right?"
"I... I fought my-- our? Our parents in Arena Ferox. I was summoned right after I made my exit."
She nods again. "That was... hmm... about eight years ago for me," she says with a touch of wistfulness. "Feels so much longer than that... time really flies when all you have to do is live, and not survive."
"... you mean...? We...?"
"Yes. Grima is gone in my world... for good."
You can only watch and feel your heart break as she bursts into broken sobs.
Oh, what you wouldn't have given back then for something, anything to give you more hope than the threadbare desperation that you brought with you into the past did. To know that everything would actually be alright in the end, that what you all went through in that hellscape wasn't for nothing.
And with years of reflection and introspection behind you, you also know exactly what you needed back then.
You scoop her up gently into your arms, and start stroking her hair; your whispers and murmurs of comfort only serve to intensify her sobs, even as you take her mask off and place it on the nightstand.
"Never lose hope," you say, "and you will prevail."
It took you a long time to believe that for yourself... perhaps this Lucina can believe it sooner.
Time passes as time does, as merciless and gentle as always, and her sobs eventually die down from exhaustion. You gently lay her on her new bed, taking care not to wake her by any means. You cover her with a spare cloak, and sigh; maybe you can find some oranges in the mess hall to cheer her up when she wakes.
... gods, now you want one too.
You open the door quietly and leave the room, closing it just as carefully. You rest your forehead on the door, taking a moment to yourself to reminisce.
"Lucina?"
You look up to see Father poking his head out of the Robins' room, looking concerned. He exits, and Papa and Mama follow him, both with scribbled pieces of paper in their hands.
"We heard... crying?" Papa says, a frown on his face.
Mama nods, her hands moving rapidly to express her own concern. 'It sounded bad.'
You take a moment to gather yourself. "It's... it wasn't me. Or..." you pause to chuckle. "It was, but it wasn't me."
It takes a moment for your emphasis to sink in, and the realization strikes them as one. Their faces turn compassionate and even more worried. Father is the first to speak up. "How is she?"
"Exhausted... she-- she was summoned wearing my old mask."
They understand immediately.
Mama's determined face makes an appearance, and her fingers fly at speed. 'Well, when she's rested, we'll come and introduce ourselves. We may not be the people she knows, but familiar faces will help.'
"I think she'd like that, but... we might overwhelm her."
Father and Papa nod as one. "We'll be careful. In the meantime, let's see if we can find something to help cheer her up, hm?" Father says.
You nod, smiling. "I was about to do the same thing."
All of you depart for the stairs, and, with one last look at your room's door, you idly think about if Lucina also likes her oranges cut into squares.