Mother's words echoed inside my head for what seemed like an eternity. The gravity of what I had just heard brought me an unease I had not felt for years. Everything I was told as a child was a lie. No… not quite a lie, but a series of falsehoods likely meant to keep me safe. Until this day, I lived my life not knowing the whole truth… until this day.

Now you know Lucina… How this tragic future came to be…

I hope someday you can find it inside yourself to grant me forgiveness, although I deserve none…

Her words pierced me deeply, inflicting wounds far more painful and profound than a mere sword. Once again I lost myself inside my emotions, releasing the fragile creature I thought had long since disappeared.

"Mother… How could you ask forgiveness of me when you have done nothing wrong? It's Grima's fault, all of this. It's his fault and the fault of exalts past who failed to put him down for good. They are the ones, who made you suffer… and who made me-"

Weeping openly a sudden hand on my cheek brought me to silence. As my eyes cleared I saw my mother gazing back at me, with a faint smile running across her soft face and a single silver tear on her cheek.

"My baby, you mustn't cry… after all this time I can't bear to see you unhappy even for an instant. You must be happy, for as long as you can…"

I couldn't help but smile back at her, mother's beauty continues to overwhelm me, completely counter to the monster Grima I had come to understand these long desolate years. Her gentle face looked incredibly delicate but her build was slim and athletic, no doubt a testament to her combat prowess. I had always thought mother shared the same royal cobalt hair as my father, but hers shined a radiant earthly-brown and danced with the subtle winds crossing through us.

"All of this… it's too much. How can I fix all of this, mother? How can I lead our broken country alone?"

I've done the best I could, yet… so many bodies have been piled on my conscience… How can I hope to stitch this world back together? Leading others into battle is something I accepted and excelled at since being bound as the current Exalt, but leading others through politics was a completely different matter. I know not how the other nations of this world have fared since the Fell Dragon's crusade began, if they even exist at all. Every aspect of society must be rebuilt from agriculture to military doctrine, although the prospect of another war is unthinkable at this time. Non-combat duties of the Exalt are completely foreign to me, I honestly don't think I'm fit for that kind of position. I care for my own people, but compassion for others of this world was my aunt Emmeryn's strongest trait… and she was assassinated before I was even born.

A sudden coughing fit from Mother snapped me back to reality, I quickly moved to lower her to the ground in an effort to ease her pain and I noticed she was unbelievably cold. Her blood moved beyond drenching her tattered cloak and puddled beneath her like an expanding crimson mirror. Trembling uncontrollably the grim truth of what was sure to come next shook my very soul, and helplessness washed over me.

"Mother, I can't… I'm tired of watching those I love die…"

She replied as delicately as she could, with every ounce of her being trying to bring me back to hope.

"Lucina, you m-mustn't cry, as your mother that's the last thing I want to see. Never forget Lucina, when all else is lost… the future still remains. Anything can be changed… your f-father believed that more than anyone else."

The compassion in her eyes at that moment was something I hadn't seen since I was a little girl, knowing that it was all for me… gave me an indescribable feeling of peace.

"L-lucina… when I lost myself to Grima, our hearts and minds were merged. He used my body as vessel to awaken into this world, meaning his life force and power were channeled through me… even now, it's taking everything I have to keep hold of myself. However, sharing the mind of a god showed me things… ways to change this world in ways a mortal couldn't even imagine."

I sat silently at her side listening to her words, gripped by each syllable as they left her tongue.

"Lucina… my darling girl, I h-hope you will understand what it is I plan to do… Using Grima's remaining life-force, my life-force… I can harness his omnipotent power inside me, and use it to enact a ritual… a ritual to change events already written."

To travel back in time…

"Lucina… this is my gift for you, I know not what hardships you will face… but more than anyone else you deserve a chance to change this future, and live a peaceful life with your loved ones by your side. You know what the future holds Lucina, you can save me… you can save all of us."

I could barely work up the strength to speak, so many thoughts were spiraling out of control in my head, how could this be? What would become of this world now? What would happen to the world if I fail to change the past!? And if I succeeded, would those I love from the past change as well?

"W-wait… If I were to go back, then what happens to you and the rest of this world? The woman I save in the past… she wouldn't be my true mother anymore…"

Responding in the only way she knew how, mother reached out to me with a pale hand and placed it on my cheek. To my surprise, unlike before… she was warm, incredibly warm and soft against my skin.

"While I don't know what will become of me, having the chance to see you now… will sustain me through whatever abyss awaits me."

With those words mother smiled at me for the last time, and disappeared right in front of my eyes. The world around me quickly began to twist and stretch and my body slipped into a dark void. Losing my bearings in the blackness I saw strange sigils of unknown design flashing and extinguishing rapidly around me. Before losing consciousness I faintly heard mother's voice, calling to me for the last time.

I love you with all my heart Lucina… I know the other me will love you just as much… true mother or not…

Author's Note: And so the story of Future Lucina begins! Her chapters follow the "Alter Arcs" as she attempts to fix the past that Alter Robin/Grima explained to her following the events of the first chapter... Getting underway this week so I'll be out to sea for a little while.