~A week later
"See you later Mother! Father! Going through the portal!" I call behind me as I hover quickly through the castle hallways, through the main part, up the stairs and into my room.
"Be careful!" I hear them call up after me.
"I will!" I call back.
I open my window and fly out, slowly floating down to the courtyard below it. The courtyard is one of my most favorite places within the castle walls. There is a giant fountain in the center surrounded by flowers my mother and I carefully grew together. Several of my guardsmen are wondering around here and several of our maids as well, tidying up the gardens in all four corners.
As each one sees me, they bow to me and either say, "Good day, Princess Star," or "Hello, Your Majesty,". I do a curtsey bow back to each of them as I pass by.
The portal is opened in the corner closest to my bedroom window here in the courtyard. It leads to one of the secret spots Ike showed me when we first met. The thought of that day makes a smile appear on my face as the portal comes into view. It is one of those fuzzy ones where you can see the world it leads to. It is about as tall and wide as a door with a black fuzzy border indicating it is powered by dark magic, my mother’s magic.
I jump through it once I approach it and feel the world spinning around me. I remember feeling this feeling the first time I fell through one of these. The more I go through them though, the better I get at controlling how I fall.
Not far from making it through, I flip myself where my feet are falling first and then the darkness that I am seeing is replaced by bright blue sky and the shadows from the forest. I feel the spinning world around me stop as I slow myself. I descend from the sky down to the ground, delicately, landing softly onto my feet. I turn behind me and the portal stands there identical to the one I just jumped through in my castle courtyard.
It's so strange how I fall from the sky when I go through these, but they stand a foot above the ground.
I look around and faintly hear the sounds of blades clashing together.
That must be Lucina and her father in their courtyard.
I shove myself up into the air and follow the sounds to the entrance of this Ylisse Castle. Lucina's guards nod to me as I pass by them, entering the castle courtyard right after the main doors. In the furthest section within the courtyard, I see Lucina and her father practicing. I decide to watch for a bit before I greet them.
Lucina is blocking her father's swings. They are expertly thrown at her and each one she blocks exceptionally. Each swing is quick and accurate, and some moves include them throwing their blades into the air and then jumping up to catch it to attack on the way down.
When they both sheath their blades, they stand and face one another.
"Very good, Lucina. We will continue this tomorrow," Chrom smiles at her and he embraces her for a moment, "I am very proud of you. Every day you get better and better,"
Lucina smiles back at him, "Thank you father,"
Their courtyard was very similar to my own, with a fountain in the center and some type of garden in each corner.
"Trust your instincts before you give trust," I lift my gaze back up to Lucina and her father. "Remember that trust is easily given and not easily kept,"
Lucina nods, "Yes, father, I understand,"
Chrom smiles back at her, "Trust your blade the most. If used improperly, it will consume your strength,"
'Swords are similar to emotions...they must be used properly or you lose control, they consume your strength'... That is what my father told me as well. Maybe that is why Lucina was extremely hesitant to trust me. She must have been afraid... Just like me.
Lucina nods and her father smile as he turns away to enter the castle, leaving Lucina in the courtyard. I begin walking towards her, looking at the flowers on the way over.
"Oh, hello Star," I look up and smile at her, finding her gaze on me.
"Hello Lucina," She turns to face me as I approach her. She has something in her eye that I cannot read as she looks at me.
"How much did you see?" I keep my gaze focus onto her, "Wait, it does not matter,"
"What's wrong, Lucina?" She sighs and looks back up at me.
"Hey, I am sorry from before, when we first met,"
"Oh, don't worry about it, it is okay,"
Why is she worried about that now? She has already apologized to me about that.
She jerks her head back up to find my gaze, approaching me further. Something was bellowing in her eyes now and I have no idea what she is about to tell me.
"No, Star, you do not understand," Her voice is sounding more serious and slowly increasing in volume. She pauses for a moment, "I have something to ask you," I wait for her patiently, keeping my eyes locked onto hers.
What has gotten her so worked up?
"Star, what did father teach you when you were younger, when you told me he did teach you how to fight," Her voice is shaky and sounds a bit flustered. My eyes widen a bit. Her eyes look as though she is pleading with something. My mind goes to that time, the time when he first tried to teach me the ways of the blade.
I told this story to Ike that one time... It is that memory I did not expect to tell to anyone. But, something is bothering Lucina, my friend, so I will tell her.
"Oh, it all started on that first time I tried to use a blade. I watched father practice from my window of my room. I learned how to do some things from watching him. However, I was not good at handling a sword. I always have had to use my magic to power it up to use it properly,"
I pause for only a second. "I had learned how to fight with magic from my mother. She mostly taught me how to control and balance my emotions," I focus on Lucina's gaze.
"One time, I tried using father's sword. Without any of my magic, without nothing. After a couple of swings, my emotions started raining over me, feeling after feeling. These emotions were difficult to compress. I normally did not have any problem compressing them. But that time...was different. Those were aggressive emotions, anger...power. I soon realized I had lost control over those emotions then. My magic deep inside me had escaped and took control over the blade," A shiver falls down my spine as I recall what had happened that day.
"I instantly dropped the blade, it fell to the ground and clattered, creating a loud jolting noise. I was young then, so I started to cry after that," I keep my focus on Lucina's eyes. They continuously look as though they are fighting something back.
I continue, "Father once told me, 'Swords are similar to emotions...they must be used properly or you lose control, they consume your strength'," Something changes then in Lucina's eyes as she keeps looking into mine.
"So, he did teach you to trust," She says, almost whispering. She pauses for a moment, looking down, looking like she is pondering something. Then she jerks her gaze back up to me, "Star, how are you so trusting? Why did you trust me so soon?"
My eyes widen again, "Lucina, I could just tell that I could. You did not show me a reason not to, throughout the time that I spent with you,"
"But father taught you to trust your blade, trust your emotions, your instincts! You had just met me!"
"My emotions told me you had good intentions, Lucina,"
Lucina's mouth opens slightly. Her eyes become soft as she searches my eyes. Then she has a saddened look for a short moment, but she shoves it away, "I... I'm sorry, Star. I am not meaning to yell at you. I was just wondering how father raised you, if it was any different than how he raised me," Her voice is lowering in volume as she says this to me, becoming softer.
So, that's it.
A slight smile appears on my face, "Lucina, I was afraid, you know. I was afraid to even try. Afraid that you would reject my trust. You are a good friend, Lucina," Lucina's eyes soften even further as she looks at me.
"I... I don't make friends easily, Star," She pauses for a moment, "You are good friend too," Lucina lets a smile creep up onto her face. I give her a hug and it feels as though something is lifted from h
er mind.
Was she thinking about that ever since we first met? Did she actually believe me? She just did not know how to show it?
"Thanks, Star, for believing in me," Lucina says, as I release her.
"And thanks for believing in me, Lucina,"