Chapter Text
"Welcome to Askr!" A hooded figure with outstretched arms welcomed the Princess of Goldoa. "I'm Summoner. I work with the Prince and Princess of Askr."
"I am the Queen Mother of Daein, Almedha. I was the first to leave Goldoa in many long years, I suppose I'm even further from home now." She looked around the arena, the stands full of expectant faces and colorful folks. There are even some that seem like Leguz but not any tribe she knows of.
"Yes, probably so." Summoner scratched the back of their head through their hood. "You're from Tellius, correct?"
They looked around the stands while she muttered a soft 'yes'.
"In that case, Ike!" They waved rambunctiously to a man she happened to recognize. The man who her son had sworn his life to. The man who had the chance to see her baby grow instead of her. "Could you please show Almedha around?"
"Sure." He shrugged as he stood to join them.
The stands cleared quickly once Summoner put away the strange device they had been holding.
"I…when I'm from, we were about to storm the Goddess' tower. Do you remember what was happening around you when you were brought to this world?" Ike grimaced but by the already deep frown lines in his face, it appeared that was just his usual expression.
"It was after the war. I was in Daein with Pelleas and he had just left the crown to Micaiah." She kneaded at her fingers. All these strange people in this strange place and the boy who comes from a different period in time.
"It's a lot to take in." He nodded, practically reading her mind. "When I first arrived, I was the first from our world. The-"
"Are there others? Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you, I just…if there are others from our world but different times." Her brother Rajaion may be here. He may be himself again.
"Yes there are. Your father and Kurth are here along with several others. I'm not sure who you're hoping to see? Your son Pelleas is also here along with Micaiah." His face softened and he gently laid a hand on her shoulder. "New heroes are summoned everyday it seems. Whoever it is you're hoping to find, there's always a chance."
His smile seemed genuine when she looked him in the eyes. No wonder her son followed him with such loyalty.
For the next hour she was treated to the tour of the "Castle of Heroes". Along the tour they ran into many heroes both great and small but the only one she cared to remember was the boy she had only gotten to share a few words with in a different time on a bloody battlefield surrounded by tired soldiers.
Her tour guide had stopped their near endless walking to chat up the boy, introducing them properly.
"This is my strategist Soren, he's from the same time as me actually." Ike laid a hand over the boy's shoulder, protectively from the feel of it.
"Your majesty." Soren gave a curt bow of his head before looking her dead in the eyes. It seemed to be a challenge, like he expected her to do or say something unpleasant. Knowing how the Beorc in Daein had treated the Laguz she could only assume how poorly he had been treated by both as a branded.
She bowed her head to him and took deep steady breaths to calm her heart.
"I actually had the pleasure of meeting you once from…when I came from. It's my understanding that your strategies are what led to Crimea and later humanities' victory." Again she kneaded at her hands, anxious to build some kind of bond with the son she never had the chance to raise.
"Thank you, I-" The slightest blush rested on his cheeks while he fought himself to keep eye contact. He cleared his throat behind his hand. "It wasn't just myself. There were many minds behind our success."
Almedha desperately wanted to reach out, to touch his face, to brush his hair, to bring him into her arms. Maybe here in this time and place she could establish a relationship.
"I have a few questions. If you don't mind humoring me?" She raised her chin, tried to appear unfazed and unafraid. Both of the men nodded once. "Have any heroes returned to their homes? How long do people stay?"
"Well I don't think anyone has returned home yet but from what Anna and the royals tell us, we are still technically home." Ike shrugged before looking to Soren.
"It seems that we are copies of who we were in the moment we were taken from. When we return, it's a mystery if we will remember our time here or not. Or if we can even return at all." Soren held his chin, humming in concentration. "We may simply cease to exist once our service is no longer needed here."
With that information Almedha finally stopped her fidgeting and resolved herself to what she had to do.
---
Within days she reconnected with her father and brother, her sister-in-law, and her boy Pelleas. Only half of them came from the moment she did and they immediately asked her questions she barely knew the answers to. But her father is here and he's alive and well, relaxed even since he appeared during a festival of some kind.
Kurthnaga pulled his sister to the side once the others started to return to their days.
"I'm not sure if you've seen him but Ike's strategist-" Kurth whispered, casually watching people walk by in his peripherals.
"I've met him, I was even able to have a short conversation with him this time." Almedha smiled softly, hoping beyond hope that it wouldn't be their last interaction like in her time.
"That's wonderful, sister! But there's more." He pulled her hands into his and held her gaze. "There is another Soren, he's from before the war. Only a few years after he was taken from you. He's…he's very young and very skittish."
Almedha's breath caught in her throat while her heart pounded. Somewhere within these walls was a version of her baby who had already been hurt and had yet to find his way.
"Where is he?" Her voice was shaky and tense. Her hands shook in Kurthnaga's grasp.
"He usually lurks around the youngest Ike." He jutted his head to the side before pulling her with him.
---
Kurthnaga hadn't been wrong. It only took a minute to find Soren after they found Ike and his baby sister playing in the field.
"Hello there." Almedha crouched near him and used her softest voice. "Your name is Soren, correct?"
The boy looked like a deer in headlights, all big eyes and tight lipped mouth.
"I am Almedha. I am…your fool of a mother." She sighed before sitting fully in the grass next to him. "I'm not sure what you've been through but none of it should have happened. You were born a prince to two of the most powerful nations and because of your father you were ripped out of my arms and thrown to the wolves."
She could feel tears threaten to fall at the edge of her eyes. Then she felt the tiniest nudge to her shoulder. The boy's face scrunched up while he grabbed a fist full of her sleeve in his hand.
"My son," she gasped, opened her arms and waited for him to come to her. But he didn't. He nearly vibrated next to her, his nerves set on fire.
He leaned toward her for just a second before he let go of her and ran away as fast as his little legs could carry him.
"I'm sorry, sister." Kurth sighed as he sat next to her in the grass. "From what I've heard, he can barely speak and even when he does it's only a word or two. He clearly suffered before being brought here."
"But he approached me." She smiled through her watery eyes. "From a small branded child, that means the world."
---
"Hey Renren says you talked to him?" Ike took a seat next to Almedha in the mess hall.
"Ren…ren?" She looked up at the man, her eyebrows arched and pinched.
"Yes Ren- little Soren. You know, the cute kid that doesn't talk?" The man looked irritated, his eye twitched as he tapped his finger against the table.
“Oh yes, I spoke to him. He’s my- he’s…” Almehda mumbled to herself and tried to think of an explanation to give this man without complicating her grown son’s life. Ike watched her like a hawk to work out the possibilities of what this woman would want from Soren- young or old.
“You know what he is. Don’t you?” It wasn’t an accusation, just an acknowledgement. She nodded once. The two were quiet for a long moment. They contemplated each other. Tried to figure out what the other was after. “Is he…related to you?”
He had asked so quietly Almedha had barely heard him.
“He’s my son.” Rage practically radiated off the man. Even without her ability to transform, she could still decipher strong emotions from others. Certainly not as well as the herons or even another dragon but the instinct was still there.
“I- no but- what?” Ike sputtered. He looked at the Queen with wide eyes. “Pelleas and Soren are brothers?”
“No, let me explain.” She sighed and kneaded her thumb. It took an hour for her to explain the story, from when she left Goldoa to Pelleas telling her about Soren, and Ike felt almost just as confused as when they started. Soren- his Soren- is the son of the Mad King.
“How did Soren take this information when you told him?” Ike held her gaze but she knew he must have been uncomfortable.
“I didn’t. I only got his name, saw the way he looked at you, and decided he was better off without my interference.” She stopped kneading and simply squeezed her knuckles.
“So why now then?”
“I didn’t plan on approaching the older Soren. Not yet anyways. He’s strong and has built a life for himself.” She hummed to herself. “But the younger one. Renren? He’s so small. So young. I just- I thought maybe the Goddess had given me a second chance to be the mother I should have been.”
Ike made some noncommittal noise in the back of his throat before he nodded and stood suddenly.
"Then let's go. He's very shy but I'm sure with a little support, the two of you will be fine." He held a hand out for her to take.
---
They easily found the young mage, sitting cross-legged in front of a young woman with blue hair.
“My favorite color is pink.” She spoke softly and moved her hands with her words. She placed her palm against her chest, tapped her middle finger to her chin, wiggled three fingers against her chin, then flicked her hand to the side with her index finger pointing up and her middle finger pointing down.
“Mmm aah ee oh ler mlu.” His tiny hand followed the same pattern as hers except at the end he flicked his hand to the side with his fingers out and pressed together while his thumb bent over his palm.
“That’s good, Ren!” She beamed at him, her thumb and pinky extended while she flicked her hand at him, raised an open hand to touch her chin before placing it into her other open hand, then crossed her index and middle finger to ‘scribble’ across her open palm.
“Marianne has been helping Ren learn to speak and in the meantime, how to sign.” Ike explained as they walked up. “That way his immediate needs can be met while he builds up his confidence to voice. Soren also said being bilingual would prove useful in the future.”
“Oh,” Almedha nodded along, not sure how she would talk to him if he couldn’t speak and she couldn’t sign. “Would it be okay if I learned with him?”
“I think that’d be a great way to bond.” Ike smiled warmly at Ren, waving once the little boy spotted them. He crouched next to the boy, moving his hands quickly with his speech. “Hey kiddo, this lady here is going to learn to sign with you. She doesn’t know any so take it easy on her, okay?”
“Oh-ay!” Ren smiled so brightly Almedha had to fight back tears.
---
“Alrighty, that’s enough for today.” Marianne sighed, her signing becoming more sloppy and languid.
“Oh-ay.” Ren huffed, flicking an ‘o-k’ at his teacher. “Aan ew!”
“You’re welcome sweetheart.” She smiled softly before she turned to Almedha. “And thank you Lady Almedha for sitting in with us. You’re picking it up very quickly!”
“Thank you for teaching my- me and Ren how to sign.” She kneaded at her fingers again, this time for the slight cramping after using her hands for so long.
Marianne bowed her head at the two of them before she stood and left the library. Ren watched Almedha with wide eyes, his fingers played with the hem of his pants.
“Ew mmm uh mmm?” He pointed at her then tapped his thumb against his chin while his fingers splayed out toward the ceiling.
“Yes, I’m your mother.” She pointed to herself while nodding then tapped her thumb against her chin.
He pulled his knees to his chest and looked away from her. A deep frown set in on his face, creasing his brow and narrowing his eyes.
Instead of speaking, he pointed at her then wagged his finger left and right.
“I’m sorry, I don’t-” She grimaced and wished she could understand him.
“Ew ah-re?” He shouted and jabbed his finger at her then wagged his finger aggressively. He dragged a cupped hand down his chest. “I un-gre!” He twisted his fingers around each other in front of himself. “I urt!” He jabbed his finger at her again, pointed at the ground, then pulled his thumb across the bottom of his chin. “Ew ot ah-re!” He sobbed.
His tiny shoulders shook while he glared at her, fat tears ran down his reddened cheeks.
“I…” Almedha’s throat went dry and closed. “I wanted you. Your father, he was the one that took you away from me!”
Something inside her chest shattered and she cried next to him before she willed herself to take deep breaths and concentrated to get herself under control. She bowed her head and used her arms to keep herself upright.
“I’m so sorry.” She whispered through gritted teeth and dripping tears. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t stop him. I’m sorry you were hurt because of my foolishness. I have regretted every choice I have made since losing you.”
Ren scooted next to her, sniffling, before he lightly rested his head on her shoulder. Almedha raised a hand to pet his hair.
“Oh my baby.” She cooed as she wrapped her arms around him and he settled in her lap. “I’m so sorry, my son. You were so strong when you shouldn’t have needed to be.”
He hiccuped in her lap but quickly settled and fell asleep in her arms.
---
Ike and Soren stood in the grand halls of Askr castle and chatted about the next battle they were set to go on. Renren danced on his toes next to them, excited to get to tag along. When a woman in a dark dress approached them, Ren gasped out a struggled “Mm-ah-mmm!” and ran to the woman.
Almedha caught him in her arms and twirled around.
“My baby!” She beamed at him before she gently tossed him in the air to catch him. They giggled and swayed together while Soren looked on with abject horror.
“‘Mom’? Excuse me?” He sneered at the two.
“Oh.” Almedha stopped on a dime, holding Ren in her arms by his waist. A deep blush settled on her face and turned her a bright red. “I suppose you and I should probably have a conversation.”
Ren giggled in her arms and wiggled to be put down.
“Mmm ie mm-ah-mmm!” He pointed to Almedha, pressed an open palm to his chest, and tapped his thumb to his chin.