Fanfic / Lady in Waiting (psychored1911)

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Lady in Waiting is a multi-chapter Fire Emblem Fates and Fire Emblem: Awakening Intra-Franchise Crossover by psychored1911. Lucina, mourning her husband who vanished with the Fell Dragon, finds her way to a world of Dusk and Dawn.

Note: Multiple characters have multiple names, as such for the sake of simplicity and clarity they will be referred to by their canon name at the time of Fates.

Lady in Waiting contains examples of the following tropes:

• Accidental Kidnapping: Of a sort. Because of the changes in context, it's heavily implied that Garon initially didn't know that Corrin was Sumeragi's child, and just believed the infant to be the child of one of the soldiers he'd slain. His intentions in taking Corrin in were merely about giving the child he'd orphaned a home and family, not knowing Corrin still had one.
• The Ace: Despite everything that's happened to her, Lucina's still an extremely competent fighter. She was able to fight off Selena, Odin, and Laslow while drunk, and then later defeat Xander in a duel while hungover. When she sobers up, she's nigh-unstoppable. Corrin is the only person who has defeated her so far, and that was only by a technicality.
• Achievements in Ignorance: Somehow, Lucina crossed worlds from Ylisse into the world of Fates while blacked out drunk.
• Adaptational Context Change: In canon, Garon's words to the infant Corrin about taking them as his child are the cold mockery of a monstrous kidnapper who slew that infant's father. While Garon still killed Sumeragi in the fic – albeit because he believed the Hoshidan king guilty of horrendous crimes – he says the same words as a gentle reassurance to a child he accidentally orphaned, and a promise to himself and that child that it will be loved and cared for.
• Adaptational Job Change:
  • In canon, Lilith was the stable girl of the Northern Fortress. Here, she's the Fortress' head maid and Corrin's right-hand woman.
  • Cassita was merely Elise's nanny in canon. Here, she was the former head maid of the Northern Fortress preceding Lilith.
  • Felicia and Flora's father was the chief of the Ice Tribe in canon. While he still retains his title as chief, Garon also installs him as the duke of their home region, elevating the twins to nobility, with Flora set to inherit the Duchy.
• Adaptational Name Change: Because the sequence of events played out differently, the name of the tragedy that led to the death of most of Garon's children and all of his concubines is changed from the Queens Wars to the Queens' Massacre.
• Adaptational Personality Change: Azura is significantly more sociable and cunning than her in-game counterpart. Notably, aside from music, Azura is also well adept in politics and tactics, and is able to organize a cover story for herself in Nestra, complete with her own title and properties.
• Adaptational Relationship Overhaul:
  • Cassita was only Elise's nanny in canon. Here, she's familiar enough with all of the Nohrian royals that they treat her as family. She was close enough with them that Elise personally invited her to Corrin's birthday party.
  • Canonically, Silas is Corrin's forgotten childhood friend, and Corrin initially doesn't remember him. Here, since Silas' banishment from the Northern Fortress was more recent, Corrin still remembers him, and they quickly pick up where they left off once they reunite.
  • Implied by Cynthia's disgust and urge to slap Laslow in her Sneeze Cut after he expresses his desire to marry her. Their Support in Awakening reveals he was actually her first love, and she carried a torch for him into their teens. Considering how overwhelmingly negative her reaction was, it implies she does not have her canonical self's crush, or at minimum no longer has it at present.
• Adorably Precocious Child: Morgan is just a cute little bundle of joy and energy, with occasional signs of snarkiness, tactical brilliance or creepiness mixed in. The Hoshidan retainers stationed in Azura's estate, particularly Azama and Setsuna, positively adore her. Takumi... slightly less so.
• The Alcoholic: Poor Lucina has been drowning herself in the bottle for years now, ever since she almost killed Morgan out of fear her daughter could lead to Grima returning.
• Amateur Therapist: Elise takes it upon herself to help Lucina recover from her ailing mental health, and has Lucina talk to her about her past whenever they have a moment alone.
• Anti-Villain: Garon is a ruthless conqueror and a stern king, but he's also characterized as a good father who is trying to keep his kingdom afloat and his children alive.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Downplayed. Lilith genuinely loves Corrin and is entirely loyal to him. However, while she is cordial with the other Nohrian royals, her loyalty ultimately extends only to Corrin. Moreover, she treats Azura and the Hoshidans with utter contempt, especially due to their connection to her mother Mikoto.
• Broken Ace: Poor Lucina. She may be a highly skilled swordswoman but her upbringing in a Bad Future caused her to be paranoid of even the ones she loved most.
• Broken Bird: Once again, poor Lucina. Her life after she nearly killed Robin has been a downward spiral ever since. By the time she first appears in the narrative, she has been drowning herself in the bottle and was nearing her breaking point.
• Chick Magnet: Robin, apparently, while he was alive. At least according to Laslow.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Corrin tends to accidentally bring this out in the women who are attracted to him. So far, the only exception is Nah.
• Clothing Switch: Combined with Dragged into Drag. After Elise and Leo arrive at the Northern Fortress, Corrin orders them to change into servants' clothing as part of their punishment. Somehow, the two ended up switching outfits, with Leo wearing a maid's dress and Elise wearing a butler's uniform. Hilarity Ensues.
• Clueless Chick-Magnet: Corrin is known by everyone – except himself – to be able to charm women without trying, while it's most notable with women who know him well – Flora and especially Felicia – he charms Azura after meeting her exactly once, and Nah falls in love with him at first sight, despite not initially exchanging a word with him. Cassita even outright states that Garon wants to marry him off first, before he even marries off Xander or Camilla, precisely because he's fully aware that this trope is in effect with Corrin, and knows all too well the consequences this trope entails.
• Combat Pragmatist: Lucina will do whatever it takes to win a fight, and encourages this mindset in people she trains. It comes from a mix of her upbringing in a post-apocalyptic future, and tactics she learned from Robin.
• Conflicting Loyalty: Downplayed. After Azura discovers that the Nohrian royal family never forgot her, and still seek her safe return, she feels conflicted about acting against Nohr for the sake of Hoshido.
• Deathbringer the Adorable: Morgan terrifies Subaki by threatening to sacrifice him to the Bloodhound God. The "Bloodhound God" is a stray puppy that the little girl adopted, and is utterly harmless.
• Dies Differently in the Adaptation: Implied. While we're not shown how they died, Garon believes that the deaths of many of his children and all of his concubines (Queen Katerina died beforehand, and it seems like Queen Arete died later) were carried out by Hoshidan warriors. While Sumeragi's denial suggests he is incorrect about this, that it's even a possibility suggests that they didn't all murder each other for his favor, like in canon.
• The Dreaded: Lucina rapidly gains a reputation as a fearsome and terrifying knight. She's so scary that Effie had a hard time trusting her at first.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • Garon is a ruthless and stern king who will punish his enemies severely, but he does have decency and honor.
    • He doesn't seize the Raijinto when given a chance, so as not to dishonor the Hoshidan dragon god.
    • He ruthlessly ambushed King Sumeragi and his men because he believed them responsible for the death of his wife, concubines, and children. Still, when he discovers Corrin alone and scared among the dead, he is horrified by the fact that he orphaned an innocent child, which is why he raises the infant as his own.
  • In Chapter 13, Robin and Selena once drafted a plan that would've essentially caused Valm to implode from within, but they ended up scrapping it; they thought it would cause too many civilian casualties and needless destruction, and Chrom wouldn't have signed off on such a plan anyway.
  • Despite Aversa's gadfly tendencies, she is nothing but gentle with baby Morgan and solemnly assures Lucina her daughter has nothing to fear from her Fell blood with Grima dead.
  • Played for laughs with Azura. While she's clearly mutually attracted to Corrin, that didn't mean she was going to invite him to her bedchambers. Not yet, anyway.
• Exact Words: There's a rumor in Nohr that King Garon spared Prince Kamui, and had him adopted by a family of Nohrian nobles. It's technically true, as he adopted the infant Corrin as his own.
• Flirtatious Smack on the Ass: Nah smacks Corrin's while in disguise.
• Foreshadowing: In the first chapter, Lucina has a nightmare where she stabs Grima in the chest, killing Robin in the process. In Chapter 13, it's revealed that she ended up stabbing Robin in the exact same way.
• Freudian Threat: Poor Laslow has to deal with this twice in one night:
  • In Chapter 1, when he rudely cuts off Selena when she's in the middle of explaining her story, Selena stabs her knife right between Laslow's legs, cowing him into compliance.
  • In the following chapter, Laslow and Niles end up bickering, which nearly ends with the two pulling their pants off to prove who's bigger. Beruka puts a stop to it by stabbing her knife into the doorway right between their crotches. Laslow and Niles wisely call a truce and pull their pants back up immediately afterwards.
• Gilded Cage: While Corrin has spent his life making the best of it and striving to avert this for the people assigned to work there, he hates being isolated in the Northern Fortress when there's a bigger world to see.
• Good Parents: Despite what Lucina thought, Cynthia and Nah claim she was a great mother to Morgan, and made sure her daughter wanted for nothing. Even her leaving Morgan was done to protect her child from herself.
• Hates Their Parent: Lilith positively loathes Mikoto for abandoning her and, in her mind, casting Corrin aside.
• Hired Help as Family: While they become more professional when the need arises, the retainers are generally very casual and friendly with their respective lords.
  • In particular, the Nohrian royals treat Cassita, the former head maid of the Northern Fortress, as a maternal figure, and hold her in very high regard.
• How Do I Shoot Web: Discussed. While Lilith figured out some of her abilities as a manakete on her own, Nah points out that she wasn't formally trained, while Nah had older manaketes such as her mother and Tiki to teach her the ropes. She offers to teach Lilith how to better control her abilities as a peace offering, to which Lilith reluctantly accepts.
• I Reject Your Reality: See Hates Their Parent above. Lilith refuses to believe that Corrin being taken in by the Nohrian royal family was anything but an intentional act of abandonment on the part of their mother. She's more or less the opposite of Azura in that regard, who is immediately willing to reassess her biases once she finds conclusive evidence that the Nohrian royal family never forgot about her, and learns from Corrin that they have sent parties to look for her.
• Instantly Proven Wrong: After Cassita points out Corrin's Clueless Chick-Magnet tendencies, he immediately tries to deny it. Azura immediately points out that they're on a date despite literally meeting the night before, much to his embarrassment.
• Knight Templar Big Brother: Sister, rather. Lilith cares about Corrin's happiness, and only Corrin's happiness. She doesn't care if the Hoshidan spies kill Garon or Xander, as long as they are good friends to Corrin and don't disrupt the happiness he's found after leaving the Northern Fortress by trying to drag him back to Hoshido. She threatens to kill them all if they attempt it, and they know she's serious.
• Ironic Echo Cut: Cynthia claims that Lucina took her unexpected pregnancy well, which cuts to Lucina cursing Robin for impregnating her and dealing with morning sickness.
  Cynthia: "For what it's worth, she took her newfound motherhood all in stride!"
  [Cut]
  Past Lucina: "Gods damn you, Robin! You did this to me, you rotten dastard! Come back to life so I can kill you for putting this little devil in my bod- BLEEEEEEEUUUUUUUUURGH!"
• Like Father, Like Son:
  • Discussed. Garon is aware of Corrin's Clueless Chick-Magnet tendencies, and is trying to make sure his son doesn't end up with multiple women in love with him like the King of Nohr did, and dealing with the repercussions of taking too many concubines. Unfortunately, Garon's attempts to avert this are probably already doomed. Felicia has been in love with Corrin for years, Flora has some level of feelings for him, Azura is attempting to court him, and Nah has decided that when Corrin marries Azura, she is going to be the prince's mistress (although she'd be happy to take him for herself if Azura didn't want to marry him).
  • Morgan clearly takes multiple traits from both of her parents. Much like Lucina, she can be utterly terrifying when she wants to, but is otherwise an utter sweetheart. And much like Robin, Morgan is significantly smarter than she lets on, and inherited his tactical brilliance, though she expresses it through some (rather impressive) pranks.
• Love at First Sight: Nah becomes infatuated with Corrin the moment she lays eyes on him. The fact that they're both dragonkin instinctively increases her level of desire for him to an extreme degree, but her attraction and interest are genuine. And when Corrin actually does meet her later, he's similarly instinctively infatuated with her.
  • Slightly downplayed between Azura and Corrin. While the two are definitely attracted to one another after their first meeting, it's due to genuine chemistry between them, rather than the primal instinct Corrin shares with Nah.
• Lover Tug of War: When Corrin was younger, he was caught between a bickering Felicia and Flora, with the additional issue of their ice magic running rampant.
• Marry Them All:
  • Played for laughs in a flashback where a much younger Corrin "marries" both Felicia and Flora so that the chefs would make fancy cake, and they'd have an excuse to have a party.
  • Nah's current plan in a nutshell: Corrin will marry Azura, and Nah will be his mistress.
• Marshmallow Hell: Camilla accidentally smothers Lucina with her breasts after embracing her.
• Mistaken Identity: A Dread Fighter has been raiding Nohr, and Selena recognizes the things they are doing from plans she created with Robin to destabilize a country during the war with Valm. After the Dread Fighter says Checkmate! when conducting the raid, she, Odin, and Laslow are only further convinced. However, after the Dread Fighter proves unable to be harmed by the Falchion, and says "Time to even the odds" rather than "Time to tip the scales", it becomes clear to the reader, the Dread Fighter is a Morgan from a different timeline, rather than Robin from theirs.
• Moment of Weakness: Lucina had two of these before the main events of the plot:
  • The first one was when she confronted Robin in Chapter 21 of Awakening. After Robin accepts her judgment, rather than realizing she shouldn't kill him as she does canonically, Lucina gives in to her paranoia and stabs Robin through the chest. She regrets it immediately and Robin nearly dies then and there as a result. He barely survives, but Chrom basically bans Lucina from seeing him, and Lucina's mental health rapidly deteriorates from there due to guilt.
  • The second one was after Morgan was born. One night, while Morgan was sleeping, Lucina had a panic attack and contemplated killing her daughter to end the Fell Bloodline permanently. She never went through with it, possibly because Cynthia walked in and Morgan woke up at the exact moment, but the fact that it even crossed her mind horrified her enough to leave for Morgan's own safety.
• Mythology Gag
  • As part of their covers, Cynthia and Nah start calling themselves Catria and Nagi, respectively. Similarly, Lucina started calling herself Marth again prior to the beginning of the story.
  • The storybook Lucina and Cynthia read to Morgan is a retelling of the Valentian saga, more specifically the part where Alm and Celica slay Grima for the first time.
  • Corrin's birth name prior to being adopted by Garon was Kamui.
  • Azura goes by Aqua while undercover in Nohr.
• Noodle Incident:
  • Whatever the gift Niles encouraged Leo to give Corrin for his birthday the year prior was so bad Corrin is still mad about it a year later, though he expresses it in teasing and harmless pranks.
  • Whatever mistake Silas made that kept Corrin isolated in the Northern Fortress for years longer than initially planned.
  • It's never explained how Lucina arrived in Nohr in the first place, due to her being drunk at the time. Offhand comments suggest that she ran into one of the Annas at one point and that she might have had some misadventure in Hoshido first, but that's it.
  • Felicia and Flora still end up as maids in the Northern Fortress, though in the context of them having etiquette training. The fact that they're still maids in the Northern Fortress, rather than having eventually transitioned back to guests, implies that something happened in the meantime that resulted in them being required to remain as servants.
  • Laslow claims that Robin once seduced Cordelia, Selena's mother, at one point. Though, considering this is Laslow we're talking about, it's possible that this might actually be more of a case of Unreliable Narrator on his part, and the actual nature of Robin and Cordelia's relationship is currently unknown.
• Not What It Looks Like: In Chapter 2, Lucina is extremely alarmed when she finds herself tied up in what looks like a nobleman's bedroom (in reality, she was dropped off in one of the spare bedrooms so she could sleep off her hangover) without her belongings and without any idea of how she got there in the first place. She ends up capturing and interrogating Arthur in the next chapter before Xander comes in to set the record straight.
• Oblivious Adoption: Corrin has no idea he's adopted, like in canon. However, unlike in canon, he's been told all his life that he is the son of King Garon and Queen Katerina, supposedly making him a full-blooded sibling to Xander and second-in-line for the throne.
• Obnoxious In-Laws: Lucina and Aversa do not get along, but atypically the animosity is largely one-sided on Lucina's end. Aversa enjoys poking Lucina's buttons, but doesn't seem to particularly dislike her, either.
• Older Than They Look:
  • Elise is eighteen years old, but looks like she's twelve. She's a bit miffed that Lucina just assumed she was a child the whole time.
  • Similarly, Sakura is seventeen, but looks young enough that Elise initially thought she was a kid, despite only being a year older than her.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: Apparently, Silas did something that led to Corrin's isolation in the Northern Fortress being extended by several years. While it's not clear exactly how old Corrin is now, he was fourteen at the time Silas messed up, and he is older than Elise, who is eighteen. Corrin's retainers have never forgiven him for it, even years later.
• Out-of-Context Eavesdropping: Corrin overhears Felicia emphatically refusing the idea of ever marrying him to Lucina. He misses that this stems from a place of insecurity, because she is deeply in love with the prince. Because he walks away, he misses Lucina successfully encouraging Felicia not to give up on him. Corrin had been planning to court her before hearing this. Oops.
• Promotion to Parent: Lilith is something of a mother figure to Corrin, though most people, including Corrin, don't know they are siblings.
• Reassigned to Antarctica: Averted. Being assigned to serve in the Northern Fortress used to be seen as this, but under Corrin's leadership, it became a respected place to serve, with people proud of their accomplishments there.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: A mild case. Felicia is the red oni to Flora's blue; Felicia is more sociable and chipper, while Flora is more reserved. Ironically, this gets reversed when the two notice Azura hanging around Corrin, with Felicia getting depressed while Flora gets aggressive.
• Reformed, but Not Tamed: Despite Aversa's Heel–Face Turn she initially fought with Robin over the throne of Plegia – something he didn't even want – and enjoys riling up Lucina.
• Related Differently in the Adaptation: In canon, Lilith was Corrin's younger sister, and was not biologically related to Mikoto due to Anankos being her Truly Single Parent. Here, not only is Lilith the older sibling, but she's also Mikoto's firstborn. Corrin is oblivious to all of this, though.
• Screams Like a Little Girl: Corrin does, at least when a disguised Nah smacks his butt.
• Shout-Out: Lucina's nightmare in the first chapter was inspired by the opening scene of Mission: Impossible – Fallout.
• Silk Hiding Steel: Sakura has shades of this, most notably when she stares Hana down when the latter attempted to take her sword back and duel Lucina again, forcing Hana to back down.
• Single-Target Sexuality: According to Laslow, Robin only ever had eyes for Lucina.
• Sneeze Cut:
  • When Selena speaks and thinks about Cynthia while working with her newly acquired pegasus, it cuts to her sneezing.
  • When Selena names her pegasus after her, Cynthia sneezes a second time while also feeling a strong urge to punch Selena in the face.
  • Cynthia sneezes a third time when Lucina tells Elise she left Morgan in her care, oblivious to the fact that Cynthia brought Morgan with her to help her find Lucina. Cynthia finds herself suddenly feeling guilty after sneezing.
  • Cynthia sneezes twice more when Selena regroups with Laslow and Odin, to the point she starts thinking she caught a cold:
    • Once, when Selena mentions she named her new pegasus after her (while also feeling the urge to punch the latter in the face again).
    • And one more time, when Laslow confesses his desire to marry her, this time also feeling a wave of disgust and the urge to slap him.
• So Proud of You: Garon is very proud of Corrin for beating Lucina in their sparring match.
• Spare to the Throne: Because Validar was king of Plegia, that made Robin heir to the throne; even if he never wanted it. Since he died, and most people don't know Morgan is his daughter, Aversa ended up ruling as queen.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Garon seems to be alive and well at present.
• Surprise Pregnancy: Lucina was not aware she was pregnant with Morgan until long after Robin had died. Lucina is stunned, Cynthia and Lissa are embarrassed, Sumia is ecstatic, Chrom is not.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: Azura's narration insists she's not at all interested in Nah's plan for the two young women and Corrin. Really.
• Training from Hell: Lucina's training methods usually involve her beating her poor trainees (usually Corrin) senseless, usually capped off by said trainee being thrown into the air and slamming into the ground. And supposedly, this is her holding back. The way she trained Selena, Odin, and Laslow prior to current events was supposedly even harsher.
• Universally Beloved Leader: Corrin's kindness and intelligence have made him a beloved leader to the small town surrounding the Northern Fortress and the servants who work inside.
• Unwanted Harem: Poor Corrin is well on his way to having one. So far, he has Felicia, Flora, Azura, and Nah pining for him.
  • Discussed at one point by the narration to be appealing to young people with more hormones than sense, but adults know it just causes trouble.
• We Used to Be Friends: Silas considers Corrin's retainers to be his friends, but the feeling is decidedly not mutual after his screw-up led to Corrin being isolated in the Northern Fortress for years.
• Wild Child: Lilith used to be this. According to Cassita, she was half-mad and had to be tied up and dragged back to the Fortress, and it took a lot to reintegrate her back into society.
• You Remind Me of X:
  • Lucina compares Felicia to Sumia, a hard-working young woman who is in love with a prince, but feels unworthy. But Lucina knows it worked out for her mother, and encourages Felicia to not give up.
  • Played for Laughs when Selena buys a pegasus. She notes it's a brute, obnoxious, and has a large butt. So she names it after Cynthia.