Wild Justice

Summary: AU Valter was out searching for Ephraim and instead found a lone wyvern rider. A dark, scarred past lingers around her and something plagues her. What is she trying to fulfill? [ValterxOCxEphraim]

Epilogue: Oh, How Things Change

Text:

"Speech"

Thoughts

Flashbacks/Lyrics

Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't own a single bloody entity of TSS. There you go—I told you so.

The Demon King never had time to finish his sentence. His power vanishing, time was no longer frozen and the Renais prince was free to move. He ignored the outraged, feeble hollers of the fiend as he rushed up to the Demon King's corpse and slammed Seigmund deep into his stomach, twisting the mythical lance upward as it penetrate through the tough, thick skin and the internal organs. Ephraim heard the faint yell of ire and anguish resonating from the Demon King as his soulless body crumbled and shriveled away into dust. Breathing out a sigh of relief, Ephraim sank down to his knees, a half-smile of grim satisfaction flickering across his perspiring, bloody visage.

At last, the final batter was over.

"That which does not destroy us makes us stronger."-Nietzsche

"I believe that justice is instinct and innate; the moral sense is as much a part of constitution as the threat of feeling, seeing, and hearing."-Thomas Jefferson

So many years have come and gone by so quickly that Zecilys sometimes wondered where the time went.

Right after the war and the Demon King's defeat, Ephraim not only threw himself in rebuilding Renais, but he extended his support to Grado's recovery as well. General Duessel was crowned the new Emperor by Ephraim–now a king–and the Imperial Six was altered a bit. Three of the original kept their status: Selena, Valter, (and much to everyone's surprise, Caellach). But Duessel had accepted her, Amelia, and Knoll as the new three general of the Imperial Six. Her title was "the Bloodstone" (she wondered if he purposely gave her that since it was quite close to Valter's nickname), Amelia became "the Ammolite", and her future fiancé, Knoll, was commonly known more as "Knoll Hematite". Cormag would have reached a general rank but he moved to Frelia to begin his courtship with the Princess Tana. The pair had fallen in love during their campaign against the Demon King and the young, palomino wyvern lord refused to lose the chance of being with her for all eternity. Now, he had a new challenge to face: earning acceptance from her older brother Innes.

However, Zecilys heard of Cormag and Tana's betrothal a week after she had her first child, Irthos. Irthos's resemblance of his late grandfather, Lord Hayden, was quite uncanny. Golden eyes, short but wavy turquoise locks, refined but proud, firm features, Irthos began to show his parents at a tender young age that he too had been gifted with a talent for the lance. He and Bliss, L'Arachel and Ephraim's daughter, were tight friends. Much to relief of those who knew the secret of Bliss's real father, the baby girl was born with L'Arachel's eyes and Irthos's hair. Luckily, Ephraim's mother had navy blue hair (that was how Eirika supposedly got her lighter azure tresses from) so any rumors of Bliss not being Ephraim's own daughter were eventually silenced.

When Irthos was only two-years-old, his baby sister, Belinda, arrived. She too had her brother's hair but wasn't as pale as he was and had Valter's bottomless, blazing onyx eyes. And like her father, she had a beastly temper.

And then arrived Iah, three years later while Irthos was five and Belinda was three. Even as a babe, he was a spitting image of Valter, sable and navy blue hair, dusky eyes, and pale skin. Their youngest and final child, Sven, shared the exact same traits only his skin had a more peach tint and Zecilys declared that "he had her nose".

So much had transpired after she and Valter had wedded and welcomed four beautiful children into the world. Selena and Caellach married a few months after them and had two children and would be expecting another one in the fall. Forde, who left Renais to be closer to Olivia, managed to muster up enough courage to first tell Valter of his plan to propose to Olivia before he later popped the question to the roseate-haired rogue. Her enthusiasm was practically breathtaking; she couldn't stop smiling for days after accepting his proposal.

Now, she and Forde continue to live in the Outterridge manor, the co-leaders of the estates. Many suspected the rule would fall on Valter's shoulders but he quickly made sure his fiery cousin and her soon-to-be husband would receive the reigns of leadership instead. After all, Valter had no interest in politics or the noble life; he was quite content with his general rank.

Thirteen years had passed and now, Irthos was thirteen, Belinda was eleven, Iah was eight, and young Sven was approaching his sixth year. They were all loved by their hot-tempered, eccentric, but caring and lovable Aunt Olivia and her carefree, frisky but devoted husband, Uncle Forde. The children also adored Queen L'Arachel, who would shower them with gifts (and strange but somehow helpful advice regarding justice, goodness, and so forth) whenever they sojourned or were invited to the Renais Castle. When that happened, Bliss and Irthos immediately took off to go on wild, amazing adventures, normally with Belinda tailing behind them, asking if she could join them on their expeditions.

Zecilys had to admit, at first, she was shocked when she heard that L'Arachel would be marrying Ephraim. She knew how much the yellow chartreuse-haired valkyrie still loved her brother, Irthos, and wondered the reason why Ephraim offered himself to L'Arachel was because she was with Valter now and no longer loved him. It saddened her to ponder such two people like Ephraim and L'Arachel, would never have the chance to wed for love. But she reckoned they would be wonderful parents to her niece and that alone could bring forth love (although maybe not romantic love) into their marriage.

L'Arachel always kept Zecilys up to date with news, such as how the twin girls of King Joshua and Queen Natasha, Tesni and Felicitas, were a bundle of energy–as always–and the most adorable little girls one had ever seen. She then claimed that Eirika and Innes's son, Idwal, was just as egotistical, pretentious, and haughty as his father was and said Idwal deserved to have been punched in the nose by Belinda, who had overheard him insulting Valter. But L'Arachel only vented all those claims when it was just her and Zecilys and no servants were around who might hear her fiery, boisterous exclamations. After all, rumors and idle talk could spread like wildfire.

All these memories flooded through Zecilys as she snuggled back into bed with her husband, the notorious Moonstone whose lust for blood and war affrighted even the most courageous of men. Yet the demon in him had been vanquished by the will and love of a plucky, sharp-tongued young woman who saw through his mask and penetrated his thick armor and clasped her hand around his heart, changing him utterly, but for the better.

"Good-night, love," she whispered, resting her head on the pillow as her exhausted eyes fluttered shut. She felt the tender, fervent brush of Valter's lips grazing across her brow.

"And good-night to you too, my comely wench."

Zecilys chuckled at the endearing tone in his words, a smile on her face as she succumbed to sleep. She got her happy ending after all.

THE END

So that's the end, kiddies (FINALLY!). After four years of working on this puppy, I am, at last, done. So bring out the vodka and rum, everyone! It's time to party!

Before you leave and read some other fanfics, I have a few things to say. First off, I would like to thank everyone who had read this story and stuck with me till the end. And secondly, it's time for me to do a final round of applause to those who reviewed Wild Justice: MeowSap, Emblem, Kagetaka, DraculasLover, Riyu21, Caellach Tiger Eye, Wayra, Knives91, The ASPCA Pwned Me, AeonFrodo, Fireemblemsnumber1fan, Lucky-erin47, Oriel Kurosaki, Aquatic-Idealist, ashelia-chan, Sivynia, chayaa-chan, jordan114725, batSkull22, , ookawa, and Blackmasked Angel.

And last but not least, I had a reason for naming some of the kids. Valter and Zecilys's first child, Irthos, is after the memory of her brother (you all probably figured that out). Belinda's meaning isn't really clear, but it sort of can be the combination of "serpent, dragon" and "soft, tender". Both Belinda's parents are wyvern riders so hence the dragon part of the name. Iah means "moon" (in honor of his father, Valter the Moonstone), and Sven just means "boy". Plus, Sven is just an awesome name.

I got the name Bliss from the Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche and plus, Irthos had a reasoning for wanting his daughter to be called that. Anyway, the Jehanna twins have meaningful names too. Tensi is "warmth from the sun" (they live in a desert country) while Felicitas manes "good luck, fortune" (because we all know how much Joshua needs luck). Even Innes's son, Idwal, has a meaning. Idwal means "lord of the wall"—I felt like Innes would give his son a name that would have some royal-esque, powerful meaning behind it.

All right, enough of my jabbering. I would love it if you reviewed one final time for this story because I'll be off focusing on my Underworld story, Ace in the Hole, while working on many oneshots along the way. But don't worry, I'll be back into the Fire Emblem fandom with an abundance of Valter/Selena fics on the rise. Whoo-hoo!

Adieu everyone!

:SpeedDemon315: