This was sort of inspired by a prompt. But it was Zelgius/Sephiran. How could I resist?

Warnings: second person, some violence, angst

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem or any characters therein. I make no money from any fanfiction.

He is the first person to treat you kindly despite knowing of your Brand. His voice is gentle and his words are compassionate, unlike anyone else who has ever found out about this curse. When your parents found out and saw the Brand, they had thrown you out without a second glance. Your friends had spat at you, cruelly laughing when other villagers pelted you with stones. Your relatives had chased you away, cursing your name and your existence – your parents had split up, unable to live with the shame of your birth. You had been forced to leave, alone and unloved because of something you had no control over.

The handful of other people – a few passing friends, a priest, a few women – who have found out have been as disgusted. Even worse was when you met laguz and had to watch as they glanced at you and then looked away, ignoring your very presence, until one spat 'Parentless' at you and turned away. You had become bitter after that, turning to Daein, where no laguz lived and anyone could join their army. You were strong, unnaturally so, and... Well, there was nowhere else to go. You could not go to any of the laguz countries, or to Begnion, and for all Crimea's vaunted understanding between beorc and laguz, the people still hated you. No, Daein was the only choice.

Daein had not been bad to you. You had met General Gawain, your mentor and your teacher. He had been good to you, though he was ever distracted by his young wife. You hoped nothing bad would ever happen to them and hid your secret from him in the hope that he would never realise and never know. You needed his friendship. And then he was gone, stolen away in the night, leaving nothing behind. The young King had been furious, you remember, insanely so and had searched for weeks, but had found no trace of them. Gawain's leaving had hurt you, more than you thought it would.

And now you have met him, your lord sage, Sephiran. He tells you a tragic story and asks for your help, revealing his true name; Lehran. You agree to help him and although you long to speak his true name – it is beautiful, just like he is – you obey his wishes and call him by that other name, the one he uses to hide himself. You let him lead you to Begnion and join their army as he says. He becomes Prime Minister to the tiny Empress and you rise through the ranks like wildfire – he helps you, of course – until you are his General. For a few scant years, you feel at peace with this.

But war is never far away, not while Sephiran is around. His plan makes sense, you think. After all, the people of this world have never understood. They have never cared. Neither beorc nor laguz deserves to live on like this. Not while they oppress and hurt people who have done no wrong. Not when they have destroyed your lord sage's people. It is right that they should be swept from this world. It is right that your lord sage should be able to craft a new and better race. After all, Sephiran has never hurt anyone, in all his years of living. He has never harmed a single person and he has tried so hard to help, but all his efforts have been turned away. That his race should have been wiped from the face of Tellius is but the final straw.

At last, the time comes to act. The king of Daein, Ashnard, is rallying troops. Your lord sage's spies tell him that it looks like war will begin any day now. So he comes to you, in the dead of night, safe from watching eyes to ask you to go.

"Will you go, Zelgius? Will you do this for me?" he asks and you bow your head to him.

"I will lie for you, my lord sage. I will beg and I will steal for you. I will do anything you ask of me," you reply, kneeling as if to take an oath. He smiles and his hands cup your face.

"Thank you," he says, "thank you my Black Knight."

You don the armour and wield the sword he obtains for you. His eyes linger on the sword as he places it in your hands. You do not question him. You simply do, taking the warp powder and placing the helm upon your head. He raises a hand in farewell as you disappear in a flash of light. When you reappear in Daein, you fight as you have not fought in years and Mad King Ashnard smiles and makes you one of his Four Riders. You take the place of your old mentor and you keep yourself to yourself; Ashnard knows little about you and he does not care. As long as you do as he says, he is happy. You hate him. He caused the deaths of your lord sage's race and you wish that you could end him.

But you resist. You resist even though you recognise his mount for what it is and pretty Ena for what she is. You obey Ashnard's orders and commit atrocities in his name, all because Sephiran stands behind you and you would do anything for him. You would move Tellius for him. So you will murder and maim and destroy if Ashnard says so, because in the end it is all for him. You are sent to retrieve the medallion, Lehran's Medallion, which you have seen but once before you fight Gawain for it. You cut him down so easily, it almost hurts; this is the man who taught you and who cared for you. This is one of the few who you care for and now... Now he lays at death's door, his young son sobbing over him.

You return to Sephiran after that. He makes it better, forgiving you for not obtaining his medallion, forgiving you for killing your mentor, forgiving you for threatening a child. He always forgives you, no matter what you do and you aren't worthy of his forgiveness. But he gives it anyway, showing how truly kind he is and just making you ever more devoted to him. When you are ready to resume your role as the Black Knight, he simply wishes you well and lets you leave.

You see him again, not long after, at the port town. You know his actions to be both disguise and secret orders; he is well known by the Cat laguz, being the Prime Minister of Begnion. But he is also telling you not to kill unless you have to, not to lose yourself in the Black Knight. You order the other guards to stand down and you withdraw, even though you want to kneel beside your lord sage and ask him for orders. Ask him for his kind words. Ask him for his touch, for his beauty, for anything that he would give you. Instead, you obey his silent orders and leave, still the Black Knight and feeling like you will never be Zelgius again.

Later, much later, you recall that unspoken command and your blade fails to kill Ena, though she is gravely injured. Young Ike bursts in, Ragnell clasped tightly in his hand. Alondite warms in your hand, singing for its partner. You turn to fight Ike, your blades clashing loudly in the room. His sister – Mist, sweet like her mother – runs in after him, healing staff at the ready. This is obviously cheating, you think, but... You let Ike strike you down and you let Ena's grandfather bring the castle down around you. When you wake up, bloody and bruised, you struggle to free yourself. You find it hard to breath, with the dust in the air and your ribs protesting. The blessed armour has kept you largely safe, but even it has gained large dents and scratches from the rubble falling on you.

You use the remaining warp powder to go home, stumbling as you reappear in your chambers. Your legs ache furiously – they aren't broken though, simply damaged – and the warp powder saps what little strength you have left. You hear loud footsteps and then your door bangs open. Your lord sage stands in the doorway, his face creased with worry. He hurries to your side, delicate arms wrapping around you and keeping you upright.

"My lord sage," you say, leaning heavily against him. He tuts and helps you to your bed, hands easily unfastening the buckles on your armour. He pulls the front and back plates off and kneels to undo the sabatons. You protest half heartedly, but he doesn't listen to you.

"Shh, Zelgius. Let me," he says and you obey him like you always do. He heals you and stays with you that night, stroking your hair and face, keeping you calm and safe. You fall asleep eventually, in his arms, and when you wake up he's still there. He smiles at you, soft and caring before helping you up – he has healed all your injuries while you slept – and beginning the task of hiding the armour. You try to persuade him not to but he won't listen and eventually you stop, instead dressing in your red armour and becoming Zelgius once more.

"I shall take my leave of you, my lord," you say, kneeling before him. His gentle hands stroke through your hair and he tilts your face up.

"Do not let yourself be hurt like that again, Zelgius," he says, before placing a brief kiss to your forehead.

"Anything you say, my lord," you reply, grasping his hands tightly.

"Come back safe, Zelgius," he says and you bow before leaving.

Eventually, the medallion is given to the handful of living Herons. Sephiran is pleased that he is not quite as alone as he thought, but he still desires the end. You still do not question him. You never will. He is always right. Even if remnants of his family remain in the Herons and sweet Sanaki, most of them are dead. Dead because of the beorc and the laguz who did not care. Dead because of Begnion's hated senators, and because the Dragons stand as neutral as ever. Sephiran is right to want to wipe them away. He is right to want to begin anew.

The plan is postponed. But it will come true, you will make sure of it. Even if you have to wait for years. Your life will be long, although you expect to leave your lord sage long before you want. You will make sure he wants for nothing. You will make sure he can wake his Goddess and can clear Tellius of all the unworthy people, who have hurt Sephiran, or who have let others hurt him. None of them deserve the gift of life. Not when they have harmed Sephiran.

Then events are set in motion. Daein breaks free from Begnion's oppression and you don the armour of the Black Knight once again. Micaiah is like Sephiran, gentle and trusting. You think that perhaps she can see some of the hold your lord sage has over you, but whether she knows what it means is another question. Her young thief doesn't trust you and you don't blame him, although his rhapsodising about Ike grows tiresome after a while. Soon enough you can leave, back to Sephiran's side, only to find that the senate seems to be making the move you have long feared.

Another war begins, playing into Sephiran's hands and you let it. You follow old rules set in place by Sephiran and refuse to kill Queen Elincia – had she been born earlier... Well, it is far too late to think about impossibilities now. Empress Sanaki presses ever onwards, while you return to Begnion and set free your lord sage. The fury you had felt to see him imprisoned so had taken you by surprise and you take pleasure in slaughtering his guards. You follow him into the Tower of Guidance, up the stairs until the very top and wait in the shadows as the Goddess awakes.

When he bows, you kneel accordingly. Ashera does not acknowledge you, but you do not mind. What she is to Sephiran, Sephiran is to you. She casts down her Light of Judgement and the people turn to stone, never knowing what their fate was to be. You do not care. It is enough that they are frozen and cannot harm Sephiran ever again. But again, there is a problem. Ike and his army – the kings and queens of Tellius, their retainers, the Crimean Royal Knights, the Herons, even Sanaki – stand against you, guided by Yune. Ashera chooses the strong to defend her and you know. You know that you will have to go.

"Do not die," Sephiran says to you. You smile at him.

"I will die for you, my lord."

"I said do not. You must not die, Zelgius. Do not let yourself be killed," he says as he steps forwards. You bend slightly, as his hands reach up to caress your face.

"I will try, my lord. Will you wait for me?"

"Yes. I will wait for you, if you will wait for me."

"As you say, Sephiran," you reply, smiling at him. You turn to march away, down the stairs and to your death.

"Lehran," Sephiran says. You pause to look back at him. "Call me Lehran." You smile beautifully at him.

"Lehran," you say and the word feels like love on your lips. And then you turn to walk away... towards your death.

Sephiran feels him die, a flutter of life that he has grown so used to suddenly extinguished. Pain twists sharp in his chest and Sephiran glances to the locked door. He feels, for the first time, regret. He regrets doing this. Now that it has caused Zelgius' death, Sephiran can think of nothing that will make him happy if Ashera wins and creates her perfect world. Without Zelgius, the last person who understood him, there is nothing.

It is good that Zelgius is waiting for him.

"I shall see you soon, my devoted knight," he says, as Yune's Army surge up the stairs.

Thanks for reading.

Rethira