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If someone were to ask Cynthia what the hardest thing she had ever done in her life was, she'd say trying not to get blown off the back of the Fell Dragon on that fated battle. Sometimes, Cynthia wondered how that was possible when she was also flying around on her pegasus, but then she had to force herself to stop thinking or else she'd think herself into a headache, and that was the last thing she wanted while fighting for the fate of the world. If someone were to prod further though, then she'd admit it was trying not to have Mother Sumia find out she had sneaked in an extra biscuit before it was supper time.
Now, though? What she was doing now blew everything out of the water, no competition. There wasn't even any question about it.
What Cynthia was doing... the amount of effort and planning she was going to need to put into this... just to even make sure the entire thing wouldn't blow up in her face... it was certainly worth the song of a bard! No, it was worth even a minstrel reciting this tale. Inspirational! Aspiring! Heroic! All those other words Cynthia would have definitely said she was being. Doing. Whatever was the definition!
Cynthia crept around the side of the stables, as quiet as she could. Everyone around her always said she was louder than ten pegasi combined, but she knew how to hide from Risen when the time came!
When she heard the voices, she froze where she was. Waiting for a few more seconds just to make sure she hadn't been found out, she crept forward again. Once she hit the corner, she sucked in a breath, and looked over the corner.
There was her sister... and Noire.
That looked normal enough. Noire was here visiting their mothers—wait, no, she had coincidentally met with Severa while Severa was out shopping at the castle town and Severa had invited her over and Noire never said no to Severa most of the time.
This was completely normal. Her sister and Noire were friends. Best friends even! Maybe. Cynthia didn't know who Severa counted as a best friend although Cynthia knew Lucina was part of that list no matter how much she wanted to deny it. But, wait, no, it wasn't that Noire was a best friend, it was more that she was higher than a best friend even! What was higher than a best friend?
She'd have to ask Laurent for that. But how did Cynthia know this?
Well, the big dumb smile on Severa's face was certainly giving her away. She never made that face for anyone, except maybe that one time the Cordelia of this world had patted Severa on the head and told her she had done a good job of taking care of the bandits from a skirmish and even though Severa was scowling and muttering under her breath, she had the biggest and dopiest smile on her face afterward. Something like that!
But Noire wasn't looking at Severa though, and Cynthia noticed whenever Noire glanced at her, Severa's face would go back to normal, which was her angry resting face that she would have said she inherited from Mother Cordelia, which sounded like a load of pegasus dung to Cynthia because their mother never looked like that and—
"Whoa!" Cynthia whipped her head back when she saw Noire take a look in her direction.
"Noire? What is it?" There was the sound of a blade being taken out of its sheath. Cynthia slapped a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming. "Something scare you?"
"I... I thought I... n-no, it's nothing, never mind. Um..."
"Geez, Noire, let me know quicker next time if it was a false alarm." Cynthia heard Severa sheathe her sword, and felt herself breathe a little easier. "Might just drop my own sword on my foot one of these days instead."
"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to—"
"Noire, I was kidding! You don't have to take me so seriously—"
Noire and Severa sounded thoroughly distracted with each other. Or at least, Severa was. Cynthia slowly stuck her head back out, watching them again.
Noire was holding her hands up and shaking them while Severa was huffing, but Cynthia knew, from the way she could see her sister's lips twitching from trying to fight back a smile, Severa wasn't really upset, she was only acting like that. Severa always felt like she had to put on a different face from everyone else and it was only Cynthia who could see right through her and have to explain to everyone else Severa was really was worried for everyone underneath all her sharp words. When it came to Noire though, it always felt like her sister could never decide who to be, because being mean to Noire when she wasn't spouting all those battle lines was like kicking a puppy while it was down. Not that she was saying Severa did that! But that was what it felt like.
Now that begged the question though: why did Severa treat Noire differently from the rest of their friends?
There was only one answer Cynthia could come to.
"Lost in the tumultuous eyes of her love, there was only one option for her to do, and that was to take one of life's deepest plunges, to trust that the one she was willing to give her heart to would—"
"Cynthia."
A shiver of fear ran down Cynthia's spine and she slowly looked up, horror dawning on her face upon realizing there was now a shadow cast over her. Her sister loomed over her menacingly with her hands crossed and the darkest look on her face. It was like one of those covers with those heroic tales, the one where the heroes were looking up at the greatest villain they had ever face... except Cynthia felt anything but a hero right now and more of a girl about to have great sisterly judgment rained down upon her.
Temporary judgment would rain down upon Cynthia in this moment, but all it had done was cement her resolve, and now she was convinced more than ever.
There was something between her sister and Noire, and if not that, then Severa clearly felt something for Noire that wasn't friendship.
And how could Cynthia be so sure of this?
Hero's—er, sister's intuition!
As many things that happened in life, Cynthia found that a task like this was easier said than done.
How exactly could she get Severa to admit to her feelings? Cynthia pondered and wondered over this predicament. Severa could be as honest as Noire could be brave. If Cynthia tried to confront her about it, she'd either strangle Cynthia, or yell and deny everything and then strangle Cynthia. Neither of those options sounded good.
What could she do now? Ask someone for help? That seemed a likely solution, but then who?
"Cynthia? You're still here?" The front door opened to reveal Sumia, a basket of apples and carrots in her arms. At least, mostly a basket of apples and half eaten carrots now that Cynthia could see what was inside. She must have gone to the marketplace then come back but stopped by the stables to give treats to the pegasi. That sounded exactly like what her mother would do.
"Of course I'm still here! But wait, what do you mean by that?" Cynthia turned to Sumia, who began to shake her head.
"No, I meant that I saw Severa flying away and thought you were with her, but it was Noire instead. I should ask Noire if she wants to stay for dinner again. She's been over a lot, hasn't she?"
"Wait, Noire?" Cynthia sprang out of her seat, eyes sparkling. "What were they doing?"
"Flying away on a pegasus?" Sumia repeated.
"No! I mean..." Cynthia closed her mouth and crossed her arms, pushing her mind to its heroic limits as she thought up reasons why Severa and Noire were together right now and where they could be going. Even though Severa knew how to ride a pegasus (and only after the war ended when they finally had all the time in the world without worrying about their deaths and now both Cordelia and Sumia were being very patient with her), it wasn't like Severa didn't particularly like riding a pegasus either. Knowing that she had taken one, with Noire in tow as well meant...
"I need to find them on the double!" Cynthia suddenly said and ran for the door.
"Ah! Cynthia! Cynthi—"
Cynthia was already outside the house, nearly about to whistle for her pegasus when she felt the hand on her shoulder. She turned her head to find Sumia looking at her sternly. At least, she tried to, but the Sumia here hadn't quite perfected her stern motherly look yet and what she looked instead was more like an overly concerned dog.
"Cynthia, don't you think you should, um, give them their privacy?"
"Yeah! But if they don't notice me, then I haven't ruined anything yet!" Cynthia raised her fingers to her lips.
"Cynthia..." She heard Sumia sigh, and that finally made Cynthia lower her hand, if a bit reluctantly. Okay, she knew maybe it wasn't going to be a good idea to spy on her sister, and if she got caught, Severa would give her a good thrashing. But... but!
"Oh, you listened! So!" Sumia's tone turned scolding and Cynthia felt that instinctual urge to scamper away, "I don't think you should interrupt your sister when she's with her, um, very important friend. What are you trying to do anyway?"
"I wasn't going to interrupt! I was going to, er, perform some secret reconnaissance! Using Severa as practice!" Cynthia quickly nodded. "They say you learn quickly when the stakes are higher!"
Sumia blinked at her, made a bunch of faces that were mostly confused before she settled on smiling patiently. She would have looked every part the mother, if not for the way her brows were still drawn together. "Cynthia, why are you spying on your sister?"
"Because!" Cynthia held up a finger, about to list off her very many good reasons of spying on Severa before a thought crossed her mind and barreled over all those other thoughts. It must not have been terribly important if her mind didn't keep them! "Wait, Mother, can I ask you something real quick?"
"O-oh?! Uh, yes, go ahead!"
"What did you do when you realized you were in love with Mama Cordelia?"
"What—" Sumia dissolved into sputtering, her entire face turning red that even the tips of her ears were red. She looked away from Cynthia and pressed a hand over her chest, and took several deep breaths. It took a long moment for her to calm down and Cynthia channeled the patience of her own mothers to keep from tapping her foot impatiently as she waited. "Why are you... asking?"
"It's very important. And related to Severa! Trust me!"
Sumia still fidgeted nervously, looking all around before she settled her eyes back onto Cynthia. With a sigh and small nod, she began to speak. "I, um... went to do a flower fortune!" She turned away at Cynthia's disbelieving look. "Because Cordelia was still in love with Chro—er, I mean, the Exalt at the time, so, I, um... wanted to see if maybe I had a chance or if I should have given it up."
"So the flower fortune you did that day told you not to give up?" Cynthia found herself excited, unable to believe it. Fate had ordained her parents to be together, to create one of the greatest heroes of the ages: her! She just needed to work up there first, of course.
"Um... no... the flower fortune told me to give up, so I sort of did," Sumia mumbled as she looked away, unknowingly dashing all of Cynthia's ideas of fate-touched legacies in one fell swoop.
Cynthia's face fell slightly with the anticlimactic reveal, but that was when another heroic realization came to her. "Oh! Oh! But you're here now with Mama Cordelia! So that means you didn't give up in the end!"
Sumia made a strange face but as she looked back at Cynthia, she was full of smiles. The painful twinge of nostalgia shot through Cynthia at the sight of it. Her real mother smiled like this toward her family and this was Cynthia's most vivid memory she had of her, of the very few she had. Because of all the tensions between the kingdoms, Mama Cordelia, as captain of the pegasus knights, had always been called away more and more until they counted months when she would be back again. Mama Sumia had always smiled for them no matter what, even when Cynthia remembered one time Severa had gotten upset and yelled at Mama Sumia to stop acting like everything was fine and even though the smile had faltered for the first time, she still—Sumia started speaking again, and Cynthia quickly pushed those thoughts away.
"No, I guess you're right. I didn't give up on her... or I guess I couldn't give up on her, even when I confessed and she thought I was kidding the entire time and meant that as friends for the next year... but no matter where my thoughts went, they always came back to Cordelia. I knew her since we were young and I think I might have... even by then... might have been in love with her before we enrolled as pegasus knights." Sumia covered her face, squeaking slightly. "Oh, this is so embarrassing to say!"
"Not at all!" Cynthia tried to reassure even though, well, it was a little embarrassing to hear. But Cynthia didn't know anything about her real mothers at all other than all the stories she had heard, and as much as she admired those tales, she knew there were... some embellishments. And she also knew that even in this world and her original one, there were already several differences, but still... she wanted to imagine that this was the same story her real parents had undergone too. "I don't know how mine met at all, so hearing this is like listening to my own origin story! They say behind every hero are her parents who raised her on the righteous path to justice!"
"Is... that so?" Sumia looked sad now but that wasn't what Cynthia meant to do.
"Yeah!" Cynthia went through her repertoire of heroic poses to do in her mind until she settled on what she thought was the perfect one for this situation. She pumped her fists—oh, Sumia wasn't even looking at her anymore. "But I mean, you two are here now, right?" Cynthia crossed her arms, thinking to herself. "See, with me and Severa, and now this world, it means you hit it off twice with Cordelia! Even though your flower fortunes said otherwise, your love was clearly fated, ordained by... the stars even!" Ooh, that was a good line, she'd needed to remember that so she could use it again.
"You... make that sound a lot more fantastic than it really was," Sumia said with a small smile. She looked better now though so Cynthia considered that a success.
"It has to be, since you've got the most heroic kid in the entire world! Er, well, you're going to have the most heroic kid in the entire world." Cynthia stuck her chest out and patted it as she grinned. Then she gasped, because a new realization had come to her. "Wait, but we took out the Fell Dragon! That means baby me's got giant shoes to fill out! Oh no, I've set up my future self for failure!"
Sumia was giggling behind her hand, no longer looking as sad as she was earlier. "There's a bunch of other ways to be a hero, you know?"
"Yeah, but you've gotta get that tale that really gets the bards singing!"
"Well, you'll always be a hero to me!"
"No way! I haven't done anything yet to match up to you!" She had yet to make a name for herself in this world! What even was Sumia talking about?
"Oh, Cynthia." Sumia reached out to place a gentle hand on Cynthia's arm. "You've already been through so much more than me and Cordelia have. No matter what you decide to do, you're already a real hero to the both of us!"
Cynthia gaped at her, eyes turning misty. "I, uh." She quickly turned away, trying not to swipe at her eyes or else it'd make everything worse. Cynthia was a hero, and heroes didn't cry, and they certainly diidn't in front of their mothers! But still, hearing her mother praise her, even if she was some alternate self in a completely different world and really wasn't her mother... it felt nice. It made her feel funny, but in a nice way still.
"Well! W-well! I mean, uh, you know, my future self here still has to get some glory too!"
"Of course. I'll make sure to read her a ton of heroic stories to get her started," Sumia said. Cynthia almost wanted to laugh because the heroic stories that she had grown up hearing about were of her own mothers, and there was no doubt that Sumia was going to talk about her as well. It felt weird, like... what was the word Laurent liked to use, a paradox? That sounded confusingly right.
Cynthia finally got the tears under control and turned back to Sumia with a grin. Sumia smiled back at her and after a moment's hesitation, reached up to give her a nice pat on the head as well, tiptoeing slightly. Sumia was a small woman, with both Cynthia and Severa having already grown taller (thanks Mama Cordelia!) but she had an abundance of love to give.
"... wait, so what does this have to do with Severa?" Sumia asked.
"Ah!" Cynthia... had completely forgotten all about that! She meant to get an idea on how to proceed with her plan regarding her sister and Noire, but got caught up in listening to Sumia instead. What was she even trying to do again?
Sumia waited but while Cynthia was having her inner debate on what to say, she put a hand on her chin, beginning to think to herself. "You asked me about being in love, and then wanted to spy on Severa while she was with—oh!" She clapped her hands together, the realization dawning on her, and Cynthia nearly squeaked when Sumia turned to her—er? Why did she look so sad? And why was she patting Cynthia's shoulder like she needed to be consoled?
"O-oh, just because Noire might like your sister doesn't mean you should give up on Noire!" There was a determined look in Sumia's eyes now. "You're my daughter—er, well, some other version of a daughter that I haven't had yet! But I know you've got Cordelia's persistence! You can win Noire over if you try!"
"... bwah?" Cynthia blinked. Blinked again. Blinked multiple more times. "Mother, what are you even talking about?" There were times where others had a hard time keeping up with what Cynthia was saying but it all seemed to pale to whatever Sumia was saying right now.
"You're, ah, interested in Noire, aren't you? That's why you wanted to go spy on Severa, and you asked me about being in love." Sumia nodded furiously. "I understand well what it's like when the person you like likes someone else! O-oh, to think my daughter would experience the same thing—"
"H-h-hold up!" Cynthia almost slapped a hand over Sumia's mouth but stopped herself at the last second. That'd be rude to her own mother, but at least now it made her stop speaking. "First off, it's not me that likes Noire! Second off, you're completely wrong!"
Sumia stared at her for a moment before she slowly began to nod. "Oh... oooh, okay, I've got it. So Severa's the one who likes Noire."
... why was it suddenly feeling like Cynthia wasn't supposed to reveal that?
"Actually..." and now, Sumia was mumbling to herself, "this makes so much sense! Tharja was never close with me or Cordelia so I was sort of wondering about it... but you've all been through so much in your world so I thought all of you had the strongest bonds. But Severa really likes being around Noire... she keeps inviting her over for dinner... oh... ooh!" Sumia suddenly laughed. "Wow, she's a lot more like Cordelia than she realizes, just can't help herself taking care of someone else!"
And now what did that mean? Cynthia wasn't sure if she wanted to know but Sumia turned back to her, suddenly cheerful. There was a mischievous twinkle in her eyes now, and Cynthia still didn't know if this was a good thing or not. Maybe all those books she knew Sumia liked to read was finally getting to her head.
"Um, don't tell Severa," was all Cynthia could finally say.
"Hey."
Cynthia squeaked and began to scamper away. She would have been successful, if Severa hadn't swiped the back of her shirt at the last second and pulled her back with so much force that she ended up stumbling behind Severa instead.
"Oh, hey, Severa!" Cynthia shouted, her eyes darting around for Plan B of escape. So much for trying to take advantage of the nice weather to practice some killer poses. "What's up—"
"Don't pretend you don't know why I'm here." Severa glared at her which at this point didn't do much to Cynthia, having grown up used to being glared at for her entire life. However, this was one of her special glares, the ones that made Cynthia want to leap onto the saddle of her pegasus and leave her sister alone for a few days to let her cool down before even attempting to talk to her again without getting her head bitten off.
Unfortunately, her pegasus wasn't here next to her, and when Cynthia tried to subtly turn her eyes all around to look for her trusty sidekick grazing off in the distance next to a tree... behind Severa. Her sister must have planned for this on purpose! What a sneaky tactic!
"—you even listening to what I'm saying?!" Severa looked ready to reach out and grab her shoulders. "Tell me why did Owain dress himself up and try to scare Noire?! And why does Mother Sumia keep giggling whenever she sees me and tell me about places to visit with a special someone?"
"She does? And he did?" Cynthia asked, hoping she sounded innocent enough. Severa's glare worsened and her hands twitched—"O-oh, wait, hold on!"
For once, Severa listened to her, but now she was crossing her arms and tapping her boot against the ground. She stared at Cynthia impatiently as Cynthia wracked her mind for what to say.
Trying to get Severa to finally be honest with herself was like trying to get Yarne to stop running away from the neigh of a pegasus. It could be done—Cynthia just had to fly the pegasus in front of him instead—but not without putting in the mountain of effort required. Defeating Grima for a second time would have been easier.
But what sort of hero would Cynthia be if she backed away from a challenge? Cynthia had known Severa her entire life. If Severa took the most after Cordelia, then Cynthia certainly took after Sumia. Their mothers were both stubborn people in their own right, but Sumia had a strangely persistent perseverance to her that gave even Cordelia pause.
With these powerful bloodlines running through her veins, Cynthia couldn't falter now!
She spun on her heels and took off, shouting over her shoulder. "I just remembered I had somewhere to be, important heroic business!"
"Wha—oh no, you don't!" Severa immediately took off after her. Cynthia had a good head start but in her panic, there was one grave mistake she had made... and that was forgetting that Severa was a better runner than she was. It wasn't long before Cynthia found herself tackled to the ground. She tried to squirm away but Severa pinned her real good, hands pushing down on her elbows.
"Talk," Severa snapped out, "or I'll tell Cordelia exactly how she got that mysterious dent in her armor—"
"Okay, okay, okay!" Cynthia yelped. There was no need for Severa to continue, not when Cynthia now knew what was at stake here. Still, Severa stayed on her for several more seconds before finally getting off of her. Cynthia flipped around and got to her feet, wincing as she rubbed at her poor arms. Severa didn't hold back anything in that tackle.
And now, she was faced with Severa's glower again, the expression on her face growning increasingly darker the longer Cynthia remained silent. What could Cynthia say to appease her sister though? She had come up with excuses just in case but with Severa's bad mood...
Severa began to tap her foot and Cynthia yelped out, "You like Noire!"
The tapping stopped. Severa crossed her arms, uncrossed them, and looked confused as to why she'd even done that. Cynthia hoped her totally real and magic ability to telepathically communicate with her pegasus would appear right now. She inched backward—Severa's hand shot forward and gripped her shoulder tight like a snake lunging and grabbing its prey.
"Noire is my friend," Severa said after what felt like an eternity of silence, her voice low and threatening.
"That's not what I mean and you know it! But you also know how much she cried when you left with Owain and Inigo on your adventure? Which, by the way, thanks for the invite," Cynthia added as she grumbled.
"... did she really?" Severa had been glaring at her but now she looked as if Cynthia had told her the worst news in the world. Considering how protective her sister was over Noire though, maybe it did feel like that to Severa.
Cynthia clasped her hands together, trying to do her best imitation of Noire. "'Oh, I wonder how Severa is doing in that other world, I hope she isn't hurt! What if she finds a new friend and doesn't want me anymore? Did I do something to her to make her want to leave? Blood and thunder! I'll go to that other world and drag her back out myself if she doesn't come back safe—"
Severa made a choked sound that Cynthia took as her cue to stop. Now it was her turn to give her sister a knowing look, taking satisfaction in how Severa couldn't look at her.
"She didn't tell me any of that," Severa finally grumbled, crossing her arms and looking thoroughly scolded. Her feet were tapping so furiously against the ground that Cynthia was almost afraid she was going to dig through the dirt instead.
"Not surprised," Cynthia muttered. Severa sent her another sharp look and Cynthia wisely held her tongue for once. Her sister was muttering to herself now. Her foot had stopped tapping against the ground but her arms were crossed and her fingers drumming or squeezing her arms as she grew agitated.
Was it okay for Cynthia leave now? Severa didn't look like she was paying attention to her, and Cynthia knew that in these moments, it was best to let her sister cool down before approaching her again. So she backed away—Severa swung her eyes over to her that told her to stay right where she was.
"... so what's this got to do with Owain scaring the life out of Noire?" Severa finally spoke. She looked ready to spring, either away or at Cynthia. It was so hard to tell with Severa sometimes.
"Uh, you know, that thing they do all the time in Mama Sumia's romance books, when you scare the damsel and she goes running into the hero's arms and they proclaim true love and then they get down and dirty—"
Severa screamed. "Gods, stop before you embarrass me!" She began to shake her head frantically. "I knew Mama Sumia read that stuff but I didn't need to hear about it!"
"Yeah! And you know she also reads it sometimes with Mama Cordelia—"
"Stop! Why do you even know this—never mind, don't even answer that—oh gods, it was the stables, wasn't it?" Severa clutched her head like she had learned some great awful truth. Cynthia opened her mouth but remembered that her sister said not to answer, and as much as she wanted to impart even more terrible knowledge to her, even Cynthia began to feel an ounce of pity. Sometimes, it sucked being a horse girl just like her parents!
"So, uh, now that you know, that means you're gonna go confess your undying love to Noire later then, right?"
"No, you're just being a creepy idiot right now." Severa shook her head. "Why in the hells are you even interested in what I'm doing? Isn't spying on our parents creepy enough for you?"
"Wha—I wasn't spying on them!" It wasn't like Cynthia wanted to hear them when all she was trying to do was brush her pegasus! Of course, maybe the best time to brush her pegasus wasn't the terrible hours of the morning but sometimes Cynthia had trouble sleeping and hanging out with her horse seemed like the best idea, and apparently her parents thought the same thing too! Ugh, just because Severa didn't care about horses like the rest of them, she didn't have to be subject to all the horrors Cynthia had heard! "But sorry that I care about you being happy!"
"... I'm not seeing the connection." Severa pinched the bridge of her nose. "Seriously, you're just being nosy. What I do with Noire is none of your business."
"Yeah? Even when she spent that one time crying for a few days over you because you just up and left with Owain and Inigo in your other world adventure? I was the one she kept crying to because you left!"
"That!" Severa gaped at her and shut her mouth. Cynthia knew she got Severa good when her sister couldn't snap back something in response. Noire had always been nervous and skittish but even moreso when Severa wasn't around with her so when her sister had suddenly left, with only a note explaining where she'd come, Noire had immediately come to find Cynthia to demand what Severa meant by "exploring new horizons" and if Cynthia couldn't do a good job, Noire was seconds away from skewering her with an arrow or four.
Cynthia hadn't thought much of it at the time; Noire and Severa had always been close although Cynthia wouldn't quite remember when that happened, only that one day, she'd noticed that her sister and Noire hung out... quite a lot! Well, that seemed normal too; they were all close but it was inevitable that some would be closer than others, like how Cynthia liked hanging out with Kjelle and Gerome the most out of everyone. But she hadn't really noticed until Severa disappeared to some other realm and Noire came crying that it really hit Cynthia how important Severa was to Noire.
Did friends act like some part of them were ripped away when they couldn't see each other? Cynthia didn't have a frame of reference. Maybe the times whenever they were back in their world and got injured and Lucina always took it personally like it was her fault every time and always came to visit them? But that was just Lucina being Lucina, and she was nice like that.
"And you sure took your sweet time coming back from that other world too!" Cynthia decided to add. "Owain came back first and told us Inigo was staying there, and he told us he didn't know what you were going to do, and you didn't come back until like three weeks later!"
"I was... I was trying to wrap up some loose ends," Severa muttered. "Just took me longer than I expected."
"And you know what else Owain said? That you all fought some great evil in that world or something, which means you've gone and faced down another world-ending threat! Augh, you seriously didn't invite me to it, trying to hog all the glory to yourself!"
Severa shot her a look. Cynthia was never going to let her live that down. Her sister had always talked about how once everything was peaceful, she'd be able to go traveling and shopping all she liked with Noire—
"Hah!" Cynthia jabbed her finger at Severa. "Now I remember! You kept talking about how much you kept wanting to go traveling with Noire after we beat the Fell Dragon!"
"Why are you suddenly remembering all of this!?" Severa gaped at her, face as red as Cynthia's hair.
"Because," Cynthia only answered. Severa had a tendency to babble on when she was nervous, and kept talking about all the things that she wanted to do after defeating the Fell Dragon. Of course, talking about defeating the Fell Dragon and actually doing it were two completely different stories, and as much as Cynthia tried to keep hope as Lucina always told them, even she felt anxious and a little scared the night before they were to face the Fell Dragon. Listening to Severa go on and on about her plans for what she wanted to do afterward made Cynthia feel better about everything. The Fell Dragon had chased them down to the very gates that brought them back to this other world and neither of them could still shake the terrifying roars it had made as it commanded the Risen and Grimleal to kill them.
"We've been through so much already, you know?" Cynthia began to mumble. "We spent so much of our time running away and who knows if we might get into a third world ending situation? Well, fourth for you."
"Are you seriously still on that—"
"But that just means we've got to take happiness where we can! We're finally in a world where we don't have to run away or worry about being attacked in our sleep. Our mothers are alive and there's peace across the Halidom and we don't have to fight anymore. You were always watching out for me even though I knew how much you wanted to play with the other children too. Is it bad for me that I want you to be happy like our mothers too?" Cynthia's voice trailed off as she tried not to sulk. Seriously, she was doing all this stuff for her sister! If she wasn't, she'd be running off trying to have her own adventures!
"Cynthia, you..." Severa stared at her for a moment before she sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose again. "Ugh, still, you didn't have to go through all of this. I mean..." and here, Severa crossed her arms and glanced off to the side, clearly agitated, "it might have... happened... eventually..."
"Severa, trying to get you to be honest is like trying to get Mama Sumia to stop tripping all the time."
"Okay, I'm not that bad!" Severa looked offended that Cynthia would even say that but she made a face afterward. "... okay, seriously, I really wouldn't have been that bad."
Cynthia sent her a very pointed look. Severa scowled but she still refused to meet Cynthia's eyes.
"Alright, so what if she doesn't feel the same—"
"Are you kidding me! She waited for you the entire time to come back from that other world! I think if I didn't stop her, she was going to go running into one of the gates and find you herself! And at least she'd take me along with her for the ride," Cynthia added under her breath. But seriously, how could her sister be so dense? After everything Cynthia had just said about Noire, it was more than obvious how important they were to each other. Even if her sister had just upped and left, she came back and spent most of her time with Noire, which had to count for something, right?
—even when I confessed and Cordelia thought I was kidding the entire time and meant that as friends for the next year—
Severa really did take after Cordelia more than she thought.
"Oh," came out of Severa, her voice small. She went back to tapping her foot against the ground again, but she was muttering to herself now instead of paying attention to Cynthia. There was a thoughtful look on her face now though, which meant... which meant Cynthia had done it? Did she finally get through Severa's thick skull?! She pumped her fists in victory—
Severa clapped a hand over Cynthia's shoulder at that very moment and Cynthia yelped in surprise. "Fine, I guess... I guess I could go and have a... talk with Noire." Her fingers dug into Cynthia's skin and she looked like she was struggling to speak. Well, no, she was making a lot of funny faces like she needed to go run off into the bushes or something, but finally she let go of Cynthia, glaring at something behind Cynthia instead. "So tell Owain to lay off or else I'm going to give him something to be afraid of."
"Thank you for joining us for dinner again, Noire," Cordelia said absently, trying to stifle a yawn behind her hand. The pegasus knight trainees had early morning training that entire week, and Cordelia had been there the entire time, from dawn to dusk. She was always half asleep in her saddle and it was sheer muscle memory that she hadn't fallen out of it yet, her pegasus managing to bring her home safe and sound every time. "It's very nice to see you—you know, I get the strangest feeling I've been saying that this entire month."
"Dinner!" Sumia suddenly called out, interrupting Cordelia from following that train of thought. Cynthia leaped to her feet, helping Sumia lay down the pot of stew in the middle of their dining table. The vegetables inside were all chopped oddly but they were all already used to Sumia spoiling the pegasi on the pastures. Cordelia blinked again, slapped her cheeks, and sat up straighter, ready to eat.
Dinner was the usual business, all of them talking about their day although Noire looked like she wanted to hide in her bowl of stew. Cynthia thought it strange but knew if she asked her if anything was wrong and put Noire on the spot at the moment, Severa would get mad at her. So she ate in silence even though she felt the itch of her tongue to say something.
Then, in the middle of it, Severa cleared her throat, getting their attention. She looked at all of them but when her eyes landed on Cynthia, she narrowed them, and Cynthia didn't even know what she had done this time to warrant that! "So, uh, there's something I want to tell you two... about, uh, me and Noire," she started, holding up Noire's hand with her own.
The news had Sumia and Cordelia rising from the table, coming over to congratulate the girls. Cordelia looked embarrassed for some reason while Sumia was more than joyous, reaching down to hold Noire's hands. Noire laughed awkwardly but she looked every bit as happy as Severa, who hung back behind them all and though her arms were crossed, Cynthia knew when her sister was fighting a smile behind her lips.
Cynthia looked over her family at the table, feeling even fuller than all the food she had shoveled into her mouth just moments earlier. This was the perfect end to every hero's story! Well, not her story exactly, but her parents were happy, and her sister was happy too. Even her own pegasus too, inherited from her mother, was beginning to grow in her silver feathers, and Cynthia knew it would be time soon to retire her for the greener pastures at the pastures Mama Sumia was still in the process of making. Just in time for baby Cynthia to crawl all over her!
Even though Cynthia still had more of her own journey to travel, this wouldn't have been the worst place to stop; there was always a happily ever after to every heroic tale, and Cynthia never felt more than happy than right now. No, if she were to describe this... she had merely taken a detour, completing a sidequest in the name of love and heroics. Now, it was time for her to take flight and gallantly gallop off to the rest of the world, although who knew if her hapless sister would need help again—
Then Severa elbowed her in the side, hissing in her ear, "Now stay out of my business."