Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It all still felt like a dream. After everything Lucina and the other children from the future had all been through, surviving a world controlled by Risen and Grima, it still felt like a dream she would wake up from at any moment. That they finally had peace. That they lived in a world freed from Grima.

Yet for the past half-year since Grima's death, she's woken up and went about her day the same. No Risen, no evil dragon threatening humanity, just a normal girl. At least, as normal as someone with royal blood can get.

The Shepherds no longer had wars to fight. The future children no longer had to wonder if they would survive to see morning. To the Kingdom of Ylisse and the world at large, peace has finally been achieved.

Sadly, they didn't live in a world where such a thing came without a price. That price being Robin's sacrifice to put Grima down once and for all.

It was something they should have saw coming. While it would have nice to believe Robin would have stayed true to his promise, she also knew he was a man that looked at the greater picture. He was willing to be killed by Lucina when she had confronted him after she figured out he was the one to kill her father in her future.

How stupid she was looking back. Had her father not stopped the two from going through with it, they would have lost the chance to kill Grima. Sure, they had no way to know it at the time, but it didn't help her feel any less foolish from almost costing them this peace.

Regardless, everyone had moved on from Robin's death. It was hard, especially with how much he did for everyone, but they were moving on. Everyone, except for Morgan.

Morgan, the bubbly optimistic girl that rarely stopped smiling, had become a shadow of her former self. Her optimism replaced with silence. The girl who was always eager to go about and do things had been replaced with someone who stayed in her room and rarely went out to talk unless necessary.

While everyone else was enjoying the newfound peace, she had spent it slowly losing herself.

Then, two months ago, Morgan began to get worse. While everyone aside from herself doesn't know what is causing Morgan's depression to get worse, she did. Morgan had trusted her and her alone with that information.

She had started to regain her memories and, if her recent state is any sign, they haven't been the greatest.

Now, she found herself walking down the halls of the castle to Morgan's room. She had made it apart of her schedule sure to check out the poor girl in the morning, considering the girl had begun to have Robin's poor sleep habits, probably due to her memories coming back. She also wanted to invite Morgan to go with her and the others for a nice day on the town. They hadn't done much together, and Servera suggested it would be an excellent way to get Morgan out of her room, at least for a little bit.

Even if Morgan hadn't been with them when they all came to the past, she might as well be one of them, at this point. The others had all grown equally worried about the changes within the once bubbly tactician. Hopefully, some time with friends can help Morgan get over what has happened.

As she opened the door, she could already tell the bed was empty. She sighed as she turned towards the desk in the room only to see the girl she was looking for passed out. A book beneath her head painted a clear picture of what Morgan was doing before she passed out.

As she walked over to wake Morgan, she noticed a note under her arm. She wanted to take a glance at it and see what exactly Morgan had when she began to stir. She sighed and spoke.

"Morgan, wake up."

Despite how little sleep she may have got, it didn't take long for the young girl to stir awake. Of all the traits Morgan had inherited from Robin, she just had to inherit his ability to not sleep much. How the two managed to work as well as they did with such little sleep was something that baffled all the Shepards during the war.

"Mmmm...morning Lucina."

"I see you fell asleep at your desk. Again."

Morgan didn't so much as laugh or tried to make up some silly excuse. She just sighed as she told her as it was.

"Couldn't sleep, so I decided to read until I exhausted my head."

"Bad dreams again?"

Morgan just nodded as she got up, went over, and sat down on her bed. She found herself joining Morgan as she sat next to her. Even though Morgan trusted her with the fact she was regaining her memories, she hadn't told her anything about said memories. She wasn't expecting Morgan to mention anything, but then Morgan finally spoke again.

"You remember how I told you and Cynthia about the fact I had two of the same book, right? The book that I must have gotten from my dad?"

It didn't take long for her to remember what book Morgan was referring to. Not because it was another thing that had made Morgan even more abnormal from the rest, but because it was an embarrassing moment for her. She had gone to talk with her sister about something only to find the two talking and got caught eavesdropping, not that Morgan had minded that she had heard the conversation.

Still, she didn't say anything. She only nodded and let Morgan keep on talking.

"Well...I think I know why now. At least, to some extent. I...didn't come here from my original timeline."

"Huh?"

"I don't remember how it happened or much else, but I remember being in another world that wasn't my own and wasn't this one. The best theory I've been able to think of is that I must have ended up in another world and got the second book from that world's Robin."

She couldn't help but stare at Morgan once her theory sank into her head. She had been in another world before coming here? Was that even possible?

They never were sure where Morgan had come from. She didn't come with the other children when they all came back. Not even Tiki or Naga, the one who sent them here, seemed to know how the girl had managed to end up in this world. Now there was also the fact that Morgan had ended up in another world prior added a whole new level of complications.

"Do you remember anything else? Like how or why you ended up here?"

Morgan closed her eyes as if she was trying to draw up more memories only to give a frustrated sigh and shakes her head.

"No. It's so frustrating. I'm slowly starting to remember, but I have no control over what I remember. It just happens."

She put a hand on the young tactician's back. Memory has always been a frustrating topic for both her and Robin. They didn't show it much during the war, but it was clear their lack of memories bugged them.

She had felt a bit dishearten when they had learned that the Grima from her world not only came back to try to ruin this world but that he was the one that caused Robin to lose his memories. Unlike Morgan, it was clear Grima's attempt at merging with Robin had wiped his memories clean. She feared the same for Morgan until she began to remember things.

"It'll be alright. You'll remember all of it in time."

Morgan didn't react much as she just stared down but, after a few minutes, she finally looked up at Lucina to surprise her. For the first time in months, the girl was smiling. A genuine one not one of the fake ones she would put on to try and convince people she was alright.

"You're right. Anyways enough about me, you come here to check on me as usual, or was there something you wanna tell me?"

"Oh, right. Severa had the idea that we should head into town and enjoy time as a group that doesn't involve fighting Risen. I wanted to ask if you wanted to come along with us, maybe get your mind off of..."

Morgan thought about for a few moments. Even if she now knew for sure she wasn't from the same world the rest of them had come from and, likely, didn't go through the same trials, it didn't make her not one of them. Morgan had fought for a better future just like they had.

Luckily, she didn't have to try and convince Morgan as she turned to her and, for the first time in months, smiled.

"Yeah, maybe getting out of here for a bit would be good for me. Maybe help get my mind of what memories I've been getting back."

"Are they that bad?"

Morgan didn't say anything, but she took that as a yes. They had to be if they were causing Morgan to become like this. The loss of Robin was hard on her, but Morgan still had moments where she was her usual self. Ever since she had begun regaining her memories, those moments became fewer and fewer. Regardless, it was nice to see Morgan smiling and not trying to act like she was alright.

Morgan got up and looked at her.

"We should probably get going before anyone starts getting ideas."

She tilted her head at the remark.

"What exactly do you mean?"

"It's...nothing. Don't worry about it. I'm going to get changed real quick, you can wait outside."

Lucina just looked at Morgan, still confused about whatever Morgan was talking about with people getting ideas. Regardless, she left the room, allowing Morgan to get changed.

Morgan sighed once Lucina was out of the room. She hated what she was doing. Lucina had been so kind to her, and now she was keeping secrets from her. Maybe she was being paranoid about it but, deep down, she knew she couldn't tell Lucina or anyone else about what happened in the last timeline she was in.

She shook her head. It's been rough ever since she first had woken up in the world. She didn't have her memories, save for her father, was in the middle of nowhere, and almost died to a bunch of undead. If it hadn't been for father and the others, she probably would have died.

Now, her father is dead, she is remembering things she wished she could forget, and she lied to someone she considered her best friend. Someone who has been trying to help her, despite not knowing her as much as others.

She had considered running away. With her father gone, she felt like she didn't belong here in Ylisse. Yet, no matter how much she put thought into it, she never could bring herself to going through. Probably because she didn't have anywhere she could go, save maybe going to the Outrealms.

As she gets changed into something nice, she looks to the back of her hand to see the thing she dreads the most is still there. Even after all this time, she still held onto hope that she'd wake up and it would be gone. No matter what, though, it was always there.

The Mark of the Fell Dragon.

She thought that the moment her father killed Grima, the mark would disappear. She'd be free from what the mark wrought and can go live a normal life. Now she realizes that notion was a foolish one. The Grima of this world and Lucina's world might be dead, but the one from the world she came from isn't.

So many things to hide...and she was about to head into town with all the people who, if ever found out, would likely kill her on the spot. It was idiotic, to say the least, but she couldn't take being in the room anymore. Maybe some fresh air will help her figure something out.

"Maybe...maybe it won't be so bad."

Before any more doubt could crush what optimism she managed to muster, a knock on the door reminded her Lucina was outside waiting for her. She headed to the door and opened it to see Lucina waiting there, smiling.

"Sorry I took so long, I'm still feeling a bit sluggish."

"It's fine. I am still wondering what you mean by 'people getting ideas.' What ideas would people get from us talking in your room?"

She wanted to bring up all the rumors about their fathers being secretly together, at least she had heard there had been rumors, before she and Lucina joined the Shepards but decided against pointing it out. If there was one thing Lucina had clearly inherited from her dad, it was his denseness to romance. A point her father had teased whenever the two were practicing tactics together.

The thought of her father began to dishearten her, but she shook it off. Today was a good day. No thoughts about her missing father and her unknown mother. No worrying about her past and the ramifications of it being found out. Just her, Lucina, and the rest of the future children going out and enjoying a normal day they never got to have in their worlds.

"It's nothing. Let's hurry and go grab breakfast before we're late. You know how much Servera will complain if we are."

Lucina just chuckled as she walked with her down the halls. One day to forget the pain and fear she was dealing with. One day to be with friends and not worry about being stabbed in the back. Was it too much to ask for?

Chapter Text

"I must say, Lucina, I'm surprised you got her to come."

"I'll say. She's been locked up in her room for the past six months. We all thought she became a recluse."

Lucina looked at Servera and Laurent, the rest of the future children behind them, as they were walking through the streets of Ylisse. A few people gave them looks, but most simply went about their daily lives as normal. A peaceful day in Ylisse, after having to deal with years of war, was something so many were grateful for.

It was strange, having everyone together with the only intention to relax. They were all, so use to fighting that being out in normal clothes was odd. Especially with Kjelle, considering she practically wore her armor almost all the time. 

She glanced back at the Morgan, the girl Laurent and Servera was referring to, who was in the middle of hearing Owain and Cynthia tales of their adventures. It was nice having everyone together after so long. 

While most of them stayed in Ylisse, Gerome and Inigo had left with their parents when Virion and Cherche returned to Valm after the war, with Virion retaking his place as the Duke with Oliva at his side. Cherche, Gregor, and Gerome had a home near the Wyvern Valley, to keep an eye out for the Wyverns there. Given the history between the three and Minvera, Cherche, and Gerome's wyvern, it made sense. There was Donnel, Panne, and Yarne, who had returned to Donnel's village on the Farfort and kept the village safe from the occasional bandit attack. 

Then there was Henry, Tharja, and Noire. They had initially stayed in Ylisse, but it was clear the two dark mages missed their home in Plegia. Given that the country had been in shambles, given everything that had transpired over the past 2 years, her father asked the two if they could keep an eye on things. The last thing they needed another tyrant or a mad man taking over Plegia. So they've been living in Plegia keeping an eye on the state of things.

Aside from those exceptions, the rest of the future children had moved into daily lives in Ylisse. Kjelle helped her parents trained the new recruits with Servera and Fredrick, the former still refusing to try the idea of becoming a pegasus knight but was not as hostile to it as she once was. Nah spent her days with her parents at the orphanage Libra opened, balancing out her mother's playfulness with her level-headedness. Maribelle was still trying to get Brady to act more like a noble, though she doubted that would ever happen. She had managed to turn Gaius into one, which surprised everyone. 

Owain and Cynthia, when not staying at the castle, would travel all over the continent on some adventure and return to tell their younger selves all about it. It was cute to see them and her younger self's face light up whenever the two told their tales. Laurent had joined his parents in their mission to expand the limits of human knowledge. That came to no surprise to any of them. 

As for her, she had joined Owain and Cynthia at first, wanting to keep her younger sister and cousin out of trouble, but has since stayed in Ylisse to keep Morgan company. Morgan needed someone to lean on while she is going through all this. Considering she had almost killed Robin, she felt a bit responsible for helping Morgan.

"She's been through a lot. I'm just glad she is smiling and not forcing herself to."

Kejelle and Geroome caught up, walking next to Servera and Laurent, before looking at her.

"I take it you still intend to keep what she has been saying to you to yourself?"

She sighed. Even after everything, Gerome still had suspicions about Morgan. 

"She hasn't told me anything that would raise questions, if that is what you mean, Gerome."

Kjelle was glaring at Gerome when she also asked.

"Unneeded bias aside, is it really wise to keep whatever is going on with her between yourself and her? Your parents and everyone else have been worried about her."

She knew where Kjelle was coming from, but she shook her head.

"Morgan wants to keep this to herself to prevent people from worrying too much. I'm just glad she trusts me enough to at least tell me about it."

She didn't even need to look behind at Inigo to know he was smirking.

"Careful, Lucina. You two keeping secrets like this will start giving people the wrong idea."

That was the second time someone had mentioned that. First Morgan, now Inigo. It had bugged her that Morgan wasn't telling her what she was referring to, but she had just assumed it had to do with whatever she was remembering. Inigo bringing it up meant it was something else.

She stopped and turned to Inigo.

"What are you talking about? First, Morgan brings it up, and now you."

She could feel everyone's eyes on her as Inigo was just staring at her in disbelief.

"You're...joking right, Lucina?"

"No. What idea do you think people will get from me helping Morgan?"

None of the people around her responded, all just staring at her as if she said something ridiculous. It was then that she noticed they had gotten ahead of Morgan and the others. Probably got distracted by the story Owain and Cynthia were telling.

"Look, I'm going to go get the others, you all just wait here."

With that, she walked past Inigo heading back to get the others. Meanwhile, Inigo just turned to face the four people who had been walking alongside Lucina as he was still in disbelief.

"She is joking....right?"

Kjelle and Servera simply shook their heads.

"Inigo, when has Lucina ever been for jokes."

"At this point, I think everyone aside from Lucina knows what's going on."

Laurent adjusted his glasses.

"Given who her father is, it shouldn't be that much of a surprise that she inherited his denseness."

"Right....should we maybe tell her then?"

"No."

They all looked to Gerome, who had spoken up.

"That is her business. She is capable of figuring it out, despite her inherit denseness."

"And if she can't?"

"As I said, it is her business, not ours."

Morgan had forgotten how fun being around everyone. Owain and Cynthia with their stories, as exaggerated as they may be, Brady feeling like he needs to challenge their story while her Noire, Nah, and Yarne just watch. She couldn't help but feel a moment of freedom from the fear and sadness that had gripped her for the past six months. 

Lucina and the rest of the group had ended up ahead of them, with Lucina glancing back to check on her every once in a while. Honestly, this had been the best choice she has made in recent weeks. Time with friends sure does help keep her mind off things.

"There ain't no way you two took down an entire bandit camp on your own."

She glanced up to see Brady arguing with Cynthia and Owain about the story they were telling. 

"Did too. Come on, Brady, we survived worse than bandits. How is this somehow unbelievable?"

"Indeed, they were no match for the Justice Cabals."

"They probably weren't as tough as you two are making them out to be."

She couldn't help but laugh a bit. Sadly, seeing Owain and Brady together along with Yarne and Inigo, being here began to drag up memories of that battle...that canyon...

Luckily, she was quickly shaken out of it by Nah and Noire, both looking at her with concerned faces.

"Hey, you okay, Morgan?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just haven't been getting much sleep as of late."

"Y-you know, Morgan, I'm sure if I ask my mother, she could create something to help with that."

She looked at Noire and smiled.

"Thanks, Noire, but I doubt any hex could fix it."

Yarne sighed as he stared at them.

"Well, something needs to be done. The fact you haven't tried anything to mean to me like you usually do is creeping me out."

"What I can't grow out of it?"

"Morgan, I've known you long enough to know you don't grow out of habits, especially those habits."

She would retort, but the moment she went to look at Yarne, that memory of the battle came to the front of her mind. She turned and noticed that Lucina and the others were way ahead of them but have stopped. She couldn't make out what had happened, but it seemed like something was said by Lucina. Everyone was looking at her as if she had said something unbelievable. Before long, Lucina walked towards them.

"Hey, you guys coming?"

Owain, Cynthia, and Brady stopped as they turned to Lucina and noticed that the others had gotten ahead. Everyone went past to catch up, but Lucina didn't follow as the two of them were left staring at each other. 

"How are you holding up?"

"I'm doing alright. To be honest, it's nice to have the group together again. I kinda forgot how lively things could be."

Lucina just smiled.

"Looks like it. I don't think I've seen you this happy in a while."

She couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"I suppose I have been a bit down in the dumps."

"A little?"

She laughed more as Lucina ended up joining her. She wasn't sure what it was that made her like this around Lucina. She should be afraid of her the most amongst the group, if not second to Gerome, if they ever found out what happened. Yet, she always felt better around Lucina. 

"Hey, Lucina?"

"Yes, Morgan?"

"I wanna thank you for letting me come. I know I didn't come along with all of you to this world but-"

"Morgan, we've been over this. Just because you weren't with us doesn't mean you are not one of us. Besides, you may have been at our side before coming here. Regardless, you're one of us, no matter what happens."

If only she knew, would she be saying that if she knew the truth? She shook the question out of her head. She had promised herself not to think about it, at least for today.

She was going to say something, but they both heard Cynthia calling.

"Hey, hurry up, you two. We're almost there to the spot me, and Owain scouted out that Servera wanted to have our picnic at."

Lucina turned and nodded at her sister before looking back at her.

"We should catch up. I still have questions for them."

"I noticed. Did Inigo say something rude?"

"I don't think it's rude, but I don't know what Inigo is trying to say. Inigo said what you said earlier about people getting ideas about us."

"Oh..."

Lucina sighed as she stared at her.

"I didn't think much about it because it was coming from you, no offense, so I thought it was just you being stressed. With Inigo saying it, I have to know. What ideas do you two think people will get?"

She bit her tongue a little trying to think of the best way to explain it. She had meant it differently than what Lucina believes, but she couldn't tell Lucina that. Without many options, she decides to, for the second time today, lie and hope Lucina believes her.

"Well...given what my father was and who your father is, people may think, given how much time we are spending as of late, that I've corrupted you, and we're conspiring to do something. Can't say if that is what Inigo thinks but that was what I was talking about earlier."

Lucina just stared at her for a moment before starting to laugh. She couldn't help but feel her face heat up at embarrassment. Yet, she couldn't help but join Lucina in laughing. Even to her, the lie was so absurd she couldn't take seriously.

"Morgan, I'm pretty sure most people wouldn't believe you are capable of doing anything evil, even with the knowledge of who your father is. The most people would guess we are conspiring to do is a night raid on the kitchen, and they'd probably guess we got roped in by my younger self and the other children."

Lucina calmed down after a few moments and looked at her.

"The point I'm trying to make is that, aside from a few exceptions, nobody would ever think of you as a threat. Besides, you're my friend, Morgan. If you are hurt or down, I won't let what others think of us get in the way of helping you."

"You sound a lot like Chrom whenever he would speak to Robin. What was it they call themselves? 'Two halves of the same whole'?"

"Father did believe, even now."

"Well, as much as we can go on, we should probably catch up to the others."

"Right."

The two started walking back to the others. As they all dived into conversations as they neared the spot Servera thought would be nice for them to hang out and relax for the day, she couldn't help but think about what Lucina had said. She had called her a friend and, while the fear she had regarding her past was one thing she felt towards hearing that, she also felt another thing. A feeling she wasn't sure why she felt. Lucina wasn't wrong to say they were friends and yet...

No. The chance for that life was gone. She could never be with Lucina. She is just some outside while Lucina a well-respected leader. It would never work. Lucina probably wasn't even interested in her that way. 

"Just another secret I have to hide, I suppose."

Chapter Text

Morgan had mostly kept silent throughout the group outing. She had made small talk here and there, but, for the most part, they had left her alone, likely not wanting to say something to upset her. Outside of Lucina, who would ask if she was okay, everyone else let her be. 

At first, it wasn't an issue. Then, her mind had to bring up memories she was trying not to remember and reminded her that she was amongst people she had once tried to kill. She did her best not to show it, but her instincts were screaming at her to run. 

She tried her best to think of anything else, just to try and get her mind off of her memories. This lead to her thinking about Grima and a question that, to this day, she still wondered about. Something she found herself questioning more as of late, given what she now knows.

Why?

Why did Grima do any of this?

Sure, it would be easy to just write Grima off as an evil dragon that wanted to wipe out humanity and be done with it. Still, it couldn't be that simple, could it? Even if it was, why did Grima suddenly appear a thousand years ago without any warning? Why didn't he fight along with the other dragons during Marth's era? Why couldn't Naga kill Grima yet could kill all the other dragons that threaten humans in the past?

There were just so many unanswered questions. Maybe this was just her because of her connection to Grima, but the others had to at least wonder at some point these same questions. 

"Morgan?"

She was shaken out of her train of thought by Lucina, who was looking at her. The others were talking amongst themselves as the two stares at each other.

"You alright? You've been staring off for a while now."

Must have been bad if Lucina was able to notice.

"I'm alright, just lost in some thoughts I don't have answers to?"

"What kind of thoughts?"

"I don't think they are worth talking about."

"Morgan, you can tell me. I won't judge."

"She'll only drive Falchion through your heart if she found out what we are."

She ignored the voice in the back of her head. Lucina wouldn't do that. Still, she couldn't help but wanted to discuss this alone.

"Can we take this somewhere less crowded?"

Lucina looked to the others to see what they were doing before turning back to her and nodding. She got up and walked away from the group, Lucina, following behind her. The others seem to busy to notice, at least from what she could tell.

Eventually, they got far enough away, ending up next to a stream. She still felt worried. Lucina stopped behind her.

"Alright, what's on your mind?"

She swallowed hard as she did her best to explain why 

"I...I know Grima is gone, but there are still so many things that bother me about him that we just don't know."

"Like?"

"Well...where exactly was Grima before his attack a thousand years ago? I mean, we've seen how big and know how powerful he is. How did he just suddenly appeared out of nowhere and attacked? Naga or someone must have heard about him before that happened?"

"I...will admit it concerns me that he just appeared out of nowhere."

"Then there is the fact he couldn't be killed by Falchion. Falchion, Lucina. The blade literally made by Naga to kill dragons, and all it can do to Grima is put him to sleep for a thousand years."

"Where are you going with this? Why is it so concerning now?"

"I..."

Lucina waited for an answer only for one to not come. She couldn't bring herself to continue out of fear of this leading into what she has done. Sadly, Lucina finally noticed the fear.

"Morgan, what exactly have you remembered that has gotten you so afraid?"

Lucina was so tired of seeing Morgan like this. Just as she believed some fresh air and being around friends was helping, Morgan began retreating back into the self-made shell she has created over the past few months. She wasn't sure why she was doing so.

When Morgan asked to talk alone, she thought that maybe Morgan was willing to talk about what has been bothering her. She was surprised to hear her bring up Grima and questions yet, when she speaks, whenever they or Morgan interacts with the others, she has this fear in her eyes. 

It hadn't been like that two months prior, though. Sure, Morgan had been down and sad, but there hadn't been fear when the two talk. It was only when Morgan had started remembering things had that fear began to appear whenever she talked to Lucina or anyone else. Morgan had done a better job of concealing it, but she could still see it. 

What would Morgan have to fear from them? It's been something she had been trying to figure out since Morgan began to remember. What could have happened in the past that would cause such fear?

The moment she asked Morgan back away, but Lucina tried to reassure her.

"Morgan, it's me. There isn't anything to fear."

"There is, and it's because it's you that I'm so afraid!"

There was silence between the two as she processed what Morgan said. She's afraid of her? Is it because what happened when she tried to kill Robin? She didn't think so since Morgan understood why it happened. 

Morgan sat down against the tree they had stopped at. She joined her and didn't say anything else. Trying to pressure Morgan into talking would only make things work. Eventually, Morgan finally spoke up.

"What I am about to say stays between us, okay, Lucina?"

"Morgan?"

"I at least trust you enough to come out with this, but if anyone else finds out, Naga knows what they'll do. Some might not do anything, while others will see me as a threat."

She took a moment to decide. She was smart enough to know keeping secrets would not end well, but, at the same time, Morgan was clearly scared of whatever she is keeping getting out. Plus, Morgan is smart enough to know if something needs to be kept secret or not. She wouldn't be asking to keep it a secret if it didn't need to be.

"Alright, I won't tell anyone. I promise."

She couldn't help but smile a little as Morgan smiled at her. A brief moment where the Morgan of old was shining through. Sadly, it faded as Morgan began talking.

"I guess...I should start with the more present thing. You remember how my father had the mark of Grima on his hand, right?"

"Yeah, everyone, more or less, knew. Why do you ask?"

"Well..."

She had only notice Morgan was wearing gloves as she began to take the one on her right handoff. It didn't take long for her to see it, but it still shocked her, nevertheless. 

The same mark of Grima on the back of Robin's hand was on Morgan as well.

"How? Grima was killed, right?"

"I was confused as to why I still had it after Grima's defeat. I thought maybe it would go away after a few months, but, as time went by, I slowly came to realize the other possibility that could have happened."

It didn't take her long to realize what Morgan was referring it. Robin killing Grima was only an option thanks to the Grima from her timeline following them back. What would have happened if her father dealt the final blow to Grima? 

It was simple, yet something none of them had realized at the time. Robin and his descendants would still be cursed with Grima's blood. It made her wonder if Robin had figured that out and came to realize there was no choice. Nevertheless, if Morgan had the mark, then...

"In whatever world you came from, Grima was put back to sleep. That's why you still have the mark."

"That's what I've guessed. Chrom must have convinced my father to not go through with killing Grima. Unfortunately, that meant he was still under the blood pact. It's not the worst thing, but I am sure some people would start getting ideas if they found out I still had the mark."

"Wait, that isn't the worst thing? What could be worse than still being connected to Grima?"

Morgan took a deep breath and sighed.

"Having your memories manipulated, basically being brainwashed and working for Grima."

Morgan said it with such ease, but she just stared at Morgan, expecting it to be some joke. Yet, Morgan's expression didn't change. She was left with several questions.

"Morgan...how-"

"It's how I got the second book. I don't know how but the Grima from the world I came from pulled me from my original timeline. She manipulated my memories to make me think she was my parent, and I ended up serving her as her general."

"Wait, 'her'?"

"The Grima, or rather Robin, was female. No idea how that works, but she was, and she had another Morgan as well, except he was a guy instead of a girl. I...I'm not sure if he was like me and got pulled from another timeline or was the Morgan of that world, but, regardless, we both served her. Eventually, we caught wind if that world's version of you and the others plan. Unlike what happened in your timeline, Sable was never lost, meaning the Awakening could still be performed. So when you all found out the locations for the gemstones and the Fire Emblem, you all split up. Kjelle, Noire, Cynthia, and Nah went to some fort to get Gules and Azure, Owain, Inigo, Yarne, and Brady went to get Sable and Argent in Plegia, and Severa, Gerome, and Laurent went to get Vert and the Fire Emblem."

"Meanwhile, you stayed in Ylisstol. You all likely realized that you were the best shot at the Awakening working. If you died, all would be lost. Unfortunately, we caught wind. My male counterpart was sent to the fort to make sure the ones going after Gules and Azure didn't leave alive. I was sent after the ones going into Plegia and ended up cutting them off as they were about to cross the border on the way back. Grima, meanwhile, headed to Yllistol to deal with you and kill the others when they got back, should the worst-case scenario happened."

"That's why you looked like you could barely look at Yarne or Inigo, today, and why you've been avoiding Owain and Brady."

"I didn't think you noticed. I've been trying to avoid all of you as much, but those four, just seeing them makes me see myself on top of the wyvern I had as I watched Risen attack them..."

Morgan went quiet, likely remembering being manipulated to serve Grima and having to fight people she now calls friends. She was starting to understand why Morgan has been so upset the past two months. Serving under Grima, there is no telling how many people Morgan inadvertently got killed.

"I don't know what happened afterward. I just know a group of Shepards from a different timeline was warped in by Naga, and I encountered that Robin. Rather than fighting me, though, he gave me the second book, and I...loss the will to fight. They managed to escape, and I was about to try and beat them to Yllistol to help Grima when the other Morgan stopped me and use some dark magic to bind me. He said this was no longer my fight, and through Grima's powers or Naga's or something else, he sent me to this timeline. From there you know the rest, I woke up in the middle of the field with none of my memories, wandered into some ruins and met you all. He likely sealed them, so I didn't remember what I did. I am still unsure why he did that...I don't think Grima ordered him to so..."

Morgan shook her head as she looked at her.

"If you think I should die, then I'll accept a quick death, so long as it's by your hands. I once help to kill or possibly kill you, it's only fair you do the same."

"Very well, I forfeit my life."

The moment Morgan put her life in her hands, the moment from half a year ago where she almost killed Robin flashed back into her head. Just like before, Morgan was willing to die, if it was for the best. Yet, hearing Morgan willing give up...she couldn't help but feel angry at the idea. She wasn't sure what came over her next as she pushed Morgan to the ground and looked at her as Morgan looked at her, confused.

"Do you think Robin would want this!? To see you falling for the same trappings he did, regardless if it was the right or wrong choice?"

"Luci-"

"No, Morgan, listen to me. What happened wasn't your fault. That was Grima manipulating you. Even if you had control, she tricked you into doing it, likely making you think that letting Grima win meant getting Robin back. You regret what happened and clearly still hold guilt over it. You aren't Grima, nor are you evil. You're yourself, and no one can change that."

She stared at Morgan and let her take what she said in. Maybe she's being harsh to her, but she can't stand seeing Morgan like this anymore. She shouldn't have to worry about what happened in the past. The mark of Grima is worrisome, but that could wait. 

"Why?"

She looked at Lucina, who had tears forming around her eyes.

"Why are you trying to defend me? Why are you helping someone who you barely know compare all the others?"

Chapter Text

Morgan just could not figure what Lucina was after. It had bugged her for the past half a year about how far Lucina went out of her way for her. Even now, even after hearing all of that she's been through and done, she is still kind to her. 

Sure, if she was one of the other people in their group, she would understand why. If she had grown up and fought alongside them, she'd get why Lucina was being like this to her. Sadly, that's not the timeline they lived in. She was an outsider to them who they only knew for maybe a year, at most. 

Despite that, Lucina had always treated her like she has always been with them. It was a bit weird with some of the others, but, soon enough, everyone more or less acted like she had been with them the entire time. The issue was that she never could get comfortable with that idea. Even now, she still felt like the odd one out compared to the rest. 

Now, here she was, having spilled her guts out about once being manipulated into being their enemy, and still, Lucina defends her. She just couldn't get her head wrapped around it. Lucina barely knew her, she just found out all her secrets and knew she could be a threat to the peace they won, yet Lucina still believes in her. 

She stared at Lucina as she stared back. They were like this for a few moments before Lucina finally spoked again.

"Morgan, you seriously can't still be stuck on this, can you? We've been over this."

"How can I not be? I just told you all of that, and you're still treating me as though you've known me as long as the others when you haven't."

Lucina just stared at her more before Lucina starting smiling and laughing, prompting even more confusion on her part.

"W-why are you laughing? I am serious."

"I know, and that's why it's honestly funny. You and Robin can work your brains around a battlefield yet can't understand people simply trusting others off the back."

"Huh?"

"Look, I know you feel insecure about not being from our timeline. I can only guess that insecurity has only worsened by learning what you were forced to do in the past. Regardless, you shouldn't feel insecure. Do you remember how our fathers met and how quickly my father was to entrusting your father with being their tactician? You don't need to have grown up with us for me to trust and care about you."

She couldn't help but laugh at how much Lucina sounded like Chrom at the moment.

"That sounds like something Chrom would say."

"Probably because he would."

Lucina did her best to maintain her composure but eventually failed as she joined her in laughter. She wasn't sure why or how Lucina manages to get her to smile and laugh, despite all the negative thoughts that have had chained her down the past few months, yet she somehow does so. Eventually, they stop as she decides to sit back up next to Lucina with Lucina looking at her.

"Feeling better now?"

"Surprisingly, yes. Like I have gotten a lot of weight off my chest. I....I'm still concerned about others finding out, but knowing you won't kill me by knowing makes me feel much more at ease."

"I'm glad. We don't have to tell anyone else what happened if you don't want to. Though in the future, at least tell me, alright? I'm here for you, Morgan."

Despite hearing those assuring words from her, she still felt conflicted. The tactician in her knows she already has made a significant risky move by telling her all that she has. Telling her more would only make that risk worse. Yet, there was a part of her that wanted to trust her. A portion of her that knew she could.

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind."

She was about to stand up when Lucina quickly grabbed her wrist before looking sternly at her.

"Promise?"

"I promise."

She couldn't help but smile, seeing Lucina satisfy as she got up as well.

"We should go rejoin the others before they start to worry."

"Right, before that, mind if I finish what I was going to say before we got sidetracked?"

Lucina looked her a bit confused.

"There was something else?"

"Well, yeah. Don't get me wrong, I didn't mind getting that stuff off my chest, but that wasn't why I wanted to talk to you alone."

"Then what is it you want to talk about?"

"Well, as I was saying before, for something as threatening as Grima, we know very little about him. Sure, he's gone, but that doesn't explain why he did anything. I thought if we found out, it could give us all some closure."

"While I do agree knowing Grima's motivations, if he had any, would be nice, we don't even know where to begin...unless..."

She felt a bit nervous as Lucina began to realize what she was going to bring up. Regardless, she wanted to bring it up. Not just for Lucina and the others, but herself. They needed to know why.

"I...may not know precisely where we can find answers, Plegia and Ylisse likely aren't the best for it but, I think I know a place that can lead us to it. You remember the ruins where we first met?"

Lucina really hadn't really thought much about Grima's reasoning for destroying her world and trying to destroy this one. Maybe she never thought much of it considering the environment she grew up in and having to survive against Grima and the Risen. It wasn't until hearing Morgan bringing it up did she really how clueless they all were. 

They knew the story from a thousand years ago of the First Exalt and Grima. She had seen what Grima would do to a world first hand. Yet despite that, she never stopped and asked why. None of them did, likely because it didn't matter. 

Morgan bringing it up, however, got her mind thinking. So many were dead because of Grima, their world is forever in ruins, and their families are never going to come back. They came back to the past to try and fix that yet only managed to save this world. Maybe finding out Grima's reasoning, as terrible as it may be, would at least help whatever feelings they still have leftover. At the very least, it could end up leading her to something that could help Morgan be free from Grima's hold.

"I remember. Why do you ask?"

"Truthfully, I kinda found it odd none of you ever questioned why I went down there, though I can understand with the whole circumstances of me not being from your world."

She couldn't help but blush at how oblivious they had been. All the other children, when the Shepards had found them, had reasons for being there. Morgan, however, was found by luck. The Shepards had gone there looking for the Naga Tear, and Morgan had just been there by accident. Though, from what Morgan was talking about, a part of her was starting to think it wasn't an accident.

"Well, regardless, I didn't go into the ruins without reason. I went because I felt something telling me to go there. At first, I thought maybe my subconscious remembered where I was going, and I thought I would perhaps run into my father there, but we saw how that turned out. Then I thought maybe I felt the Naga Tear, but that doesn't seem to be the case, given mine and Father's reactions to places like the Divine Dragon Grounds and Mount Prism compare to everyone else's reactions."

It took Lucina a moment to remember how, while everyone else seemed so relax when they were in the Divine Dragon Grounds, Robin and Morgan openly said they couldn't feel anything. She didn't think much about it then but, given what they knew now, it made sense why they didn't feel anything. Of course, that meant that whatever Morgan felt at the Ruins...

"You know whatever is in ruins is somehow connected to Grima?"

"That's the only explanation I can think of. Considering where it is and how old it must be, it could either give me answers or, at least, point me into the direction where I can some."

"You saying this as though you're going alone."

"Well, I figured I would. You all deserve to spend the rest of your days in peace. I am not going to ask you to come with me."

"Good. I was going to follow you regardless."

"Huh?"

"Look, I can safely say I've never thought much of Grima's reasoning for what he did. I am sure the others didn't think much of it either. We never had the luxury to do so. Now, we do. We may not be able to undo what he did to our world and get our childhoods back, but, at the very least, we can learn why Grima did what he did. Give meaning to all the death he caused. Maybe we can even find a way to break his connection with you. The point is, I'm coming whether you want me to or not. I'm sure the others would come too, but that is something for you to decide. I don't want to make you any more uncomfortable than you are."

Morgan stared at her speechless. Perhaps she was too bold in what she said, but she meant it. Even if the others didn't want to come, she was. After a few moments, Morgan finally managed to say something.

"I...didn't think it would be that easy. I mean, I wanted to ask you all to come, but I didn't know if you all would be up for it, especially if it was me asking."

"I can't say the others will be on board with a hunt to discover info about Grima, but, at the very least, I'm coming."

"One last adventure together as a group, maybe?"

"Is that a yes to being ok with me bringing it up with the others?"

"I'm not saying no. I am just going to keep my hopes low. Having you coming is more than what I was hoping for."

"Have a bit of faith, Morgan. I'm sure Cynthia and Owain are going to want to come, at least. Regardless, we should get back and tell them."

"Right, lead the way."

Chapter Text

"There you two are; we were starting to get worried would be at it all day."

Lucina and Morgan had come back to the group only for everyone to be staring at the two. She had thought they would be busy talking amongst themselves to notice them coming back. Guess they were all waiting for them to get back. Of course, the way Servera had phrased it made Morgan give a weird look.

"What exactly do you mean by 'be at it all day'? We just went to talk."

She could see Servera giving them a look, and Inigo, next to her, was smirking. She and Morgan looked at each other, as if expecting the other to know what they were going on about. Kjelle, luckily, stopped Inigo and Servera from questioning them about whatever they think she and Morgan got up to.

"So, is whatever you two talked about private or something we can know about?"

Morgan decided to answer, even though she would have.

"Well, some of it is, but there is something me and Lucina want to bring up with you guys."

If everybody's full attention wasn't on them before, it was now. Morgan had put her on the spot, but this was something she had been expecting. Morgan had asked her to bring up the idea.

"Well, Morgan brought up something that might be worth looking into. Though I guess I should start off by asking a question: What do we know about Grima before his attack a thousand years ago?"

She was expecting maybe Servera, or Kjelle, or even Gerome to ask why does it matter. Instead, everyone was silent as they mulled over the lack of a proper answer. Eventually, they all turned back to her, likely to see where she and Morgan were going with this.

"Well, Morgan believes she may know a place where we may find the answers or, at least, a lead to where Grima came from."

Morgan stepped in to explain.

"Remember those ruins you all found me in? See, I didn't just go down there for no reason. I had this feeling that something was calling to me. At first, I thought it was my subconscious trying to tell me that was where my father went. Of course, then I met you all and learned how I came from a different timeline, so I scratched that reason for it out. Then, I guessed it must have been the Naga Tear that led me to the place. Given how my father and I reacted, or lack thereof, to areas, also connected to Naga, like the Divine Dragon Grounds and Mount Prism, that couldn't be the case either."

Laurent quickly caught onto what Morgan was alluding to.

"Ahh, I see. After learning about your father and, likely, your connection to Grima, you figured that it was likely related to that. It would be the most possible choice given your previous encounters with areas associated with Naga."

Morgan nodded, confirming Laurent's theory. Morgan being connected to Grima would likely be a bit concerning, but most of them should have realized Morgan probably has a connection to Grima, thanks to Robin. Of course, they will believe Morgan is no longer connected since Grima is gone, failing to realize the bit Morgan has figured out.

She figured now would be a good time to explain what she and Morgan were going to do.

"Morgan wants to head back to the ruins and see what exactly she was feeling. I'm going with her to keep her safe. However, we both figured since we never found out why Grima did what he did, you all would be interested in coming. Now, this is voluntary so-"

She didn't even get finished before Cynthia and Owain interrupted her.

"We're going with you then!"

She had already guessed they would come. Any excuse for an adventure was enough for them. What she didn't imagine was the rest of them agree as well. 

"Well, Gerome and I came to visit everyone. Wouldn't be much of a visit if you and Morgan go galavanting off into some ruins."

"What Inigo said. If you two are heading off, count Minerva and I are coming along to keep you out of trouble."

"Aww, what the heck. I can use a break from all the noble lessons. What about you two? I'm sure some time away from training all the recruits." 

He was looking at Servera and Kjelle, who turned to each other before giving their answers.

"Honestly, dad, Sully, and Stahl can handle it."

"Agreed. Knowing Morgan and Lucina, they'll need all the help they can get."

Everyone ended up agreeing to come. Yarne and Noire were the most nervous, but Noire seemed oddly intent on keeping an eye on Morgan, which was likely something Tharja asked her too. Yarne agrees simply due to not getting scolded by Panne about Tanguel pride and him abandoning them. Not that she minded, but Yarne insisted he was coming.

Laurent and Nah agree, both being interested in the place and what he holds. Laurent mentioned that once they got back to the castle, he'd try and find some older maps to figure out what had been initially where the ruins had once stood.

With everyone in agreeance on coming, she figured it would be best to give them a few days to get prepared, seeing as this just came up.

"Right then, we'll leave in a few days. That should give everyone enough time to prepare."

"Well, that went way better then I expected. I thought maybe Gerome would decide not to come or Noire or Yarne being too nervous."

Morgan was walking back to her room with Lucina. The rest of the day had been more or less gone as it had been before she and Lucina had gone to talk. Around sunset, they all headed back to the castle before parting ways. Lucina was walking back with her.

"I told you to have faith."

"I know, but it hard given..."

She didn't finish, but Lucina could figure what she was alluding to. It's hard to remember they were her friends when she remembers once fighting against them. It didn't take long for Lucina to stop her and smile.

"Remember what I said; that wasn't you. That was Grima."

"I wish I could just blame it on Grima and go about things Lucina but I can't. Look, I'll figure it out. Maybe a few days thinking like that before we head off to the ruins will help."

They, at least, reached her room. She went inside before turn around to look at Lucina.

"Thanks again for inviting me today. I had fun."

"I could tell. I don't think I've seen you smiled this much since..."

"It's okay, Lucina. I needed to stop mopping sooner or later. I guess I've been hung up about what happened, remembering what happened in the other timeline, and fearing what would happen to me when you found out about everything that I haven't had time to be myself. Of course, I don't even know who I really am..."

"Morgan, that's ridiculous. You are yourself."

"Yeah, without my real memories. Lucina, did you or anyone else ever wonder what my father would have been like with his memories?"

She watched Lucina opened her mouth only to close it. Her father may have been bothered by his lack of memories but never was burdened by what happened in the past. Look what learning a bit from her past did.

Yet despite that point, Lucina looked at her.

"The real Morgan is the one standing in front of me. Regaining or never regaining your past does not bother me."

"Well, it bothers me, especially remembering certain things."

"Like remembering your mother?"

"That's one of them, yes."

"One of them? Morgan, what else is bothering you? I thought you promise you would tell me."

She remained silent, even cursing herself for making the promise. She never even showed her father about it. Showing Lucina, though...

"Morgan?"

She had no choice. Lucina is stubborn, but she means well. Plus, so far, telling her these things has gone well so far. 

"Close the door."

"Huh?"

"Come in and close the door. This is for you to see and you only. I never even showed my father this secret."

Lucina looked a bit shocked but came in and closed the door. She sighed as she took her cloak off and then started with her shirt. This, admittedly, confused Lucina.

"Morgan why are you-?"

"Just trust me. You'll quickly notice it."

"Notice what-"

She assumed Lucina must have begun to see it. She had her back turned to her. She's never gotten a clear look at it, but she knew it was there. Lucina all but confirmed it.

"Morgan, when did you get this scar!?"

"I don't know."

"It isn't from..."

"No, I never got seriously hurt during the previous timeline. I can only guess it's from my original timeline, likely around the same time I got this other one."

"Other one?"

Lucina walked over as she turned around, revealing a scar on her chest, right over her heart. This freaked Lucina even more out.

"Why didn't you tell any of us about this!?"

"Because they're only scars. I've kept an eye in case something happened but, even during all the fighting, they didn't reopen or anything."

"Still..who could have done this? If you are from a world where we won, then how could this have happened? Or, an even better question, how are you still alive?"

"Huh?"

"Maybe I am wrong about this but, I don't think those scars are from two separate instances. From what I can tell, it might be that a sword ran you entirely through. If that's the case...I don't know how you could have survived that."

Hearing it from Lucina was enough to confirm her own theories about it. Sure, Lucina was no cleric, but she had been through a lot. She likely had seen her fair share of scars, maybe even had some herself. She had theorized what could have caused both scars and, after some research, she came to a similar conclusion that Lucina did. She just wasn't too sure about them being connected, since that would mean the sword went through her heart and should have killed her.

Of course, this was before finding out about her connection to Grima. Thinking about it, didn't Validar say no damage he could do to her father was beyond Grima's power to repair. Maybe that had to do with her father being Grima's vessel, but would it also just count as his power?

"Morgan? You have that look like you might know something."

"I think I do? At least I have an idea."

Lucina didn't respond as she sat down. Morgan took the time to get her shirt back on, beginning to get embarrassed by Lucina staring at her scars so intently, before sitting next to her. 

"You remember during the fight with Validar about how no damage he could do to my father couldn't be repaired by Grima?"

"You think your connection to Grima was what saved you?"

"Maybe. I can't be too sure. Regardless, this is all the more reason we need to go to the ruins. My connection to Grima aside, there is so much we don't know. I mean...what if Naga was wrong? What if my father landing the final blow on Grima didn't kill him?"

"Naga wouldn't have told us of that option if she wasn't sure it would work."

"Maybe, but doesn't it bother you at all that she possibly knew the Grima from your world followed you all here? Or that she told us this only after Grima had become one with this world's version of him? I trust Naga, but I can't help but feel like she knows more than she lets on and isn't telling us. I mean, if anyone should know where Grima came from, it should be her right? Why would she not tell anyone about Grima's past?"

Maybe she was thinking too hard about all of this. Perhaps Grima hadn't been known till his attack a thousand years ago. Maybe Naga didn't realize Grima came back before it was too late. 

But that was her problem: She didn't know, and it was bugging her. She needed answers, and the only place she knew she could possibly get them or get a lead to where she could get them were in those ruins. Was she being a bit selfish for dragging Lucina and the others on a journey to satisfy her own curiosity? Maybe...but they deserved answers as much as she did, perhaps even more. 

She shook her head. There was nothing more to do other than wait until they were ready to go.

"Look; hopefully, the ruins have or lead us to answers. I'm just worried that there is more to Grima than we know. You should get going and get some rest."

Lucina didn't move, which confused her on why she wasn't leaving.

"Do you think you'll be able to get enough sleep alone?"

"Huh?"

"Even if you got stuff off your chest, Morgan, I can't help but think you're going to be plagued by nightmares."

"If they happen, then I'll deal with them. You don't-"

"I don't have to worry about you, but I do it regardless. Besides, you're going to need your full rest for when we head to those ruins. If we do end up finding trouble, we're going to need you at your best. So, I've decided you're either coming with me to sleep, or I'm staying here to sleep with you."

"I'm not a little kid, Lucina."

"I never said you were. You are, however, a good friend of mine that has been plagued by nightmares and loneliness for too long."

"And if anyone ends up finding out?"

"Then we just tell them I am helping you deal with your nightmares. Look, I know you believe you are doing a good job at hiding it, but I can tell the lack of sleep is affecting you. You're overcomplicating and overthinking things, and I know you never had this problem before. So, my room or yours?"

She couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed by what Lucina was proposing. Sure, she wasn't wrong. She had been overthinking things and making simple things more complicated than they had been. This is likely caused by her not getting enough sleep. Still, having Lucina do this felt weird to her. Not bad weird or just weird weird. It felt good, which was weird. 

Still, Lucina didn't seem like she would back down. She was going to be stuck with sleeping with her one way or another. Best to go with the one that didn't involve Lucina possibly sneaking in during the middle of the night. 

"Probably best if we stay here."

"Good, I'll go change and be right back."

Lucina got up and head to the door before looking back and smiling as she opened the door and left, leaving Morgan to deal with the weird feeling she was experiencing until she got back. 

'Seriously, I should be a bit uncomfortable with the idea of sleeping with her. I should not have had the nerve to even show her my scars. I know I brought up the whole 'people may get the wrong idea' early this morning, but I only said it because I heard Inigo say it once, and I was worried for people would think Lucina is closer to me than she is. Still, what were Servera and Inigo going on about? Now that I think about it, it seems almost all of them know something, Lucina, and I don't know.'

What did they know she didn't? Why was being around Lucina feel so nice nowadays than it did back then? Shouldn't it be the opposite given that Lucina knew about what she did and her connection to Grima and could possibly be leading her on only to kill her once they were outside of Ylisse? Just what was going on with her and Lucina?

Chapter Text

When it came to the difference to whether she was dreaming or remembering something, Morgan had figured out how to determine which was which by this point. At first, she hadn't been sure whether what she was remembering was just dreams or not. After about a week, she'd figured a common pattern amongst her memories, leading her to realize they weren't dreams.

With all of her memories thus far, she had gotten a vague sense of deja vu. Not to say she'd ever work with Grima by choice, but everything she saw had been in the past as if it's already happened. Truthfully, all the nights she had awoken after having one of her memories was her trying to piece them all together into something cohesive. They didn't come to her in order of when they happened, but, over two months, she had seen enough to piece together the whole story.

Still, when Lucina had made the offer to stay with her, she had hoped that it would work. That having someone near would allow her to sleep properly. Lucina hadn't been wrong that she needed it, especially with how these memories had been affecting how she reacted to the others. The others may have not caught onto it but, if Lucina could figure it out, then it was only a matter of time before the rest realized. 

Maybe once this trip was over, she would ready to tell the rest of them the truth. For now, Lucina would be the only one to know. So long as she got some good sleep, she should be less affected by these memories returning to her.

How she wished she hadn't jinxed herself. 

The first thing she noticed when she had opened her eyes was that she was in some woods. Odd, she didn't remember ever traveling on foot much when she had been under Grima's control. Maybe she had done so at first, but once she had gotten her wyvern, she had mostly just flown with it.

'Huh...now that I think about it, the male Morgan didn't send him along with me. Wonder what he did with Kris after that.'

She knew the irony of naming her wyvern after the, not so known, hero who fought alongside the Hero King when she was working under a being seeking to destroy the world, but it was the first thing that came to her mind. The alternative name would have been Mark, the famed tactician from the Elibe's stories, so it wouldn't have looked good either way. Not that she'd ever see the two again but, if she did ever see the male Morgan and found out he did something to her wyvern, she would beat him up, that's for certain. 

Her thoughts got taken away as she heard some rustling noises come from behind her. She still wasn't sure if this was a dream or another memory. She was going to guess the former, but it was hard to say at the moment. That was until out from the dark came Lucina. Now she knew for certain that this wasn't a memory. She never met Lucina in the previous timeline, only hearing about them from Grima.

'Maybe....maybe for once I can-'

For she can even finish the thought, her entire rang out in pain and tasted blood. She slowly looked down only to see the familiar Fang of Naga ran through her chest. She fell to her knees and cough up blood as she slowly looked towards the one wielding the sword. The same person she had put so much trust into. All she could muster was one single word.

"W-why...?"

Lucina simply stared at her with a cold look in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, but so long as you and that abomination you call a father exist, the world will never know peace. He may have no desire to destroy the world now, but what's to stop him later down the line. This is for the greater good."

Lucina pulled Falchion as she coughs up more blood. She couldn't move. She was barely keeping her eyes open. All she could do is watch as Lucina raised Falchion above her head, gripping it with both hands, and bring it down.

Lucina had initially felt confident in her plan to rid Morgan of her inability to get a good night of sleep. Sure, it may be a bit childish, but given everything Morgan had gone through, she could use the company. If this didn't work, at least Morgan could talk to her about it rather than letting it make her stressed out. 

That had what she had hoped would happen. She had felt Morgan jolt up and, when she opened her eyes, she saw Morgan clutching her chest. 

"Morgan?"

The moment she touched Morgan's shoulder, Morgan's eyes darted to her before she backed up. She could see a terrified look in Morgan's eye as she had her hand raised, defensively, like she was about to launch a spell at anymore.

"Morgan, calm down. It's me. It's just me."

It took a few moments, but eventually, Morgan began to calm down and lowed her hand as the room went quiet. 

"S-sorry Lucina....I..."

Morgan still sounded terrified and was trying to avoid looking at her. She could tell Morgan had a nightmare, but what it was about she couldn't say. She slowly moved over and sat next to Morgan.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Morgan just shook her head as she kept avoiding eye contact with her.

"Was it a memory or a nightmare?"

Morgan didn't say anything for a moment before she quietly murmured an answer.

"I don't know..."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I...I could be horribly terribly wrong, but..."

"But?"

"It was a memory but not from when I was in the other timeline."

Not from the other timeline? Was Morgan saying she just saw a bit from her original timeline? Is that what happened? Before she could think about it more, Morgan started to shake as she pulled her legs up to her chest.

"I really hope it's just a nightmare. I don't want that to be real."

"Why? Morgan, what happened?"

"I...you..."

Morgan tried to say something but couldn't bring herself to say it. All she could do is just press her head against her leg and just shake. Whatever had happened had terrified Morgan to her core. 

"Morgan, it's okay. Whatever happened won't happen here."

"You can't be sure it won't..."

"Morgan"

She wrapped her arms around Morgan. 

"I promise, so long as I'm still alive, nothing is going to happen to you. Grima won't turn you against us and force you to fight us, and whatever happened in your original timeline will not come to pass."

Morgan raised her head and finally looked at her, tears forming in her eyes. It tore at her heart to see Morgan like this. She wanted the bubbly tactician-in-training she had seen during the war. She will not let Morgan's past continue to haunt her and make her miserable and terrified of everyone. 

Morgan wiped the tears from her eyes and managed to muster a smile.

"Thanks, Lucina. Sorry for reacting so badly to you."

"I'm sure you had your reasons, even if you can't bring yourself to tell me."

Morgan looked like she was about to say something but then looked dejected as she looked away.

"I'm sorry...I just...I just can't. Not right now."

"There's nothing to apologize for, Morgan. You can tell me when you feel ready to talk about it."

Morgan nodded. 

"I guess our plan didn't exactly work, huh."

She sighed.

"No, but at least you had someone here to talk to rather than you thinking and worrying about it alone."

Morgan nodded in agreement. While she was certainly not against staying like this, it was still the middle of the night. She let go of Morgan and looked at her.

"I know you might not be comfortable with going back to sleep, especially with what happened, but could you try to?"

Morgan hesitated for a moment. Lucina wouldn't blame her if she said no. 

"So long as you promise to stay, I'm willing to give sleep another try."

She couldn't help but smile as the two went back and laid down. It didn't take long for Morgan to fall back to sleep. She, on the other hand, couldn't help but watch Morgan sleep. She looked so peaceful. 

She truly meant what she had told Morgan. Despite what happened in the past, she wouldn't let Morgan be harmed. She clearly regrets everything she did in the previous timeline. That was enough for her to trust Morgan.

She just hopes she can get the others to feel the same.

"I really hope this is the right place."

To say Morgan was exhausted was a bit of an understatement. It had taken him a while to figure out where exactly he had sent the other Morgan to. The Outrealms were a lot bigger than he had initially realized.

He had a hunch that, with Naga bring forces from another world, that Grima was going to end up losing. After he was forced to retreat and failed to kill the Shepherds that came for the gemstones, he figured the other Morgan would end up either dead or in a similar situation as he was. Unlike his female self, he was never brainwashed or manipulated. He didn't like the idea of working under Grima but, with Grima was possessing the Robin of that world, he couldn't bring himself to rebelling against the dragon. It felt like he would be rebelling against his mom, even if she wasn't the same one from his true timeline.

After the fort and seeing Naga's interfering, he realized Grima's end was likely near and that he and Morgan should leave. Of course, on the chance she was too stubborn to leave, he had means to send her to another world. It wasn't as perfect of a spell compared to the spell Grima had used to pull him and Morgan into that world, but it would do. He had two options: send the other Morgan back to her original timeline or send the other Morgan to a different one. He honestly had thought about the former but, after some time thinking, he decided to go with the latter and send her to a different world. He had no idea the state her world was in or how she had gotten such a nasty wound when Grima pulled her into this timeline. It had taken a lot of magic for Grima to heal the wound, due to it being inflicted by something related to Naga. 

No. It was clear Morgan would not be safe being sent back there. She was better off being sent somewhere else and hoping for the best. 

Of course, he forgot to account for the very loyal wyvern when he sent Morgan away. Kris had lunged on him moments after and it took a lot of convincing to get the wyvern to not eat him. He seriously had no idea how the other Morgan dealt with him.

He heard Kris growling quietly behind him.

"Look, I'm pretty sure this is the world she ended up in. We just need to find her."

Kris just stared at him, not happy at all, and he knew why.

"Look, people would freak out if they saw you. I know you hate it but, until we find Morgan, you're stuck with that illusion spell."

All Kris did was try to bite at his cloak. Luckily, he had spent enough time with the wyvern to move away fast enough. 

"Don't give me that. If you want anyone to blame, blame Morgan. She's the reason you are even like that."

Kris simply snorted. He was thankful there was no one around them that would likely think he was crazy for talking to a wyvern, just the two of them and an empty field.

"Look, Southtown shouldn't be too far away. I should be able to figure out what point in time we're in if I talk to the locals. You, meanwhile, either stay here or go fly around for a bit but stay out of trouble and out of anyone's sight. The last thing I need is some bandits or slavers looking to make a quick buck by capturing you and selling you."

Kris simply looked at him before snorting and flying off. That wyvern was such a pain to deal with. At least it was out of his hair, for now. 

With that, he turned, having used a spell to hide the Grimleal symbols on his cloak, before heading towards the town. Hopefully, one of the townsfolk could tell him what year it is. From there, he could try and make a plan on trying to find Morgan.

He just hopes she's somewhere safe.

Chapter Text

Morgan knew she was still a bit shaken about what happened last night. Even after she and Lucina talked, she still couldn't get rid of the feeling. What had transpired in that dream or memory honestly scared her.

She was honestly surprised that she managed to go back to sleep after that. She had planned to simply fake being asleep till Lucina fell back asleep before slipping out of bed. Yet, she managed to fall asleep before she could do anything like that.

Odd how being with Lucina had helped her, despite the nightmare she had.

They had basically spent the rest of the night uninterrupted. She couldn't remember the last time she got a full night of mostly continuous sleep. Lucina's idea may not have helped with nightmares, but she was feeling well-rested.

They were in the middle of getting dressed when Lucina asked her.

"So, what do you plan on doing today?"

She turned to look at Lucina.

"I'm probably going to go help Laurent and Nah with research."

"I'm sure those two can handle it if..."

"I know, but this is my idea. I should at least help learn more about what those ruins use to be for."

Lucina didn't say anything for a moment. She wasn't sure what was on her mind or what she said to cause her to go silent. She could at least ask her what her plans are.

"What about you? What are you planning?"

"Probably just practice. Though, I imagine Cynthia and I will have to talk to our parents at some point and let them know where we are going."

She couldn't help but smile.

"I'm sure he's not going to have a problem with it. If anything, he's going to insist on getting some of the Shepards to come with us."

Lucina started laughing when she said this. Even she started giggling a little. Guess, despite everything, she could still have a laugh every once in a while.

After they calmed down, she did get back to being serious.

"Still, this is our concern, not theirs. The Shepards fought Grima and won. My father sacrificed himself to ensure they never had to go through what you all did. This is about you all getting some sort of closure. I'd rather not drag any more people than just us."

She hoped she wasn't coming off as offensive or rude. She understands they would want to help. Still, this was their issue to resolve. These were mysteries she needs to get answers to.

"I understand. If my father brings it up, I'll tell him not to worry about it."

She nodded but was surprised when Lucina moved in front of her and looked her in the eyes.

"Still, don't forget this is as much about you getting closure and understanding as much as it is about is. I'm sure many of them have already made peace with what has happened. You're the one that needs this the most out of all of us."

Lucina wasn't wrong about that. She needed answers. Answers to who she is, her connection to Grima, and if there is a way to break it. She wasn't sure if she would even like the answers, she may end up getting if her theory turns out to be true.

She was taken out of her thoughts when Lucina took her hand into her own.

"Morgan, are you absolutely sure you are fine?"

"Huh? I mean, yeah, pretty sure. Why?"

"Morgan...I've known you ever since you joined the Shepards. In all that time, through all those battles, even when witnessing your father's sacrifice, I've never once seen you with the look of complete and utter terror."

Oh, Lucina was still worried about last night. She wanted to assure her that she was fine and not to worry about it. Yet before she could, Lucina continued on.

"And what's worst, it was almost like you were afraid of me. That you were scared for your life because of me. Morgan, I know I usually don't pry, but...if it was me in that memory or nightmare, I want to know what I did to you."

"It wasn't you, though."

"Morgan-"

"No, Lucina, listen. You don't need to feel like you have to take responsibility for what another version of you may have or have not done to me. Whatever happened, whether it was as that nightmare had shown or something else, you are you, Lucina. You're the girl that has spent the past six months coming every day to check on me and make sure that I was alright. You're the girl who I've been able to talk to about all of this without feeling like I'll be killed for it; And you're the one who's willing to go on what could amount to be a pointless quest with me in order to find answers about me."

She took a moment to compose herself before looking at Lucina.

"I don't know what happened in my timeline. I don't know if that was real or just a nightmare. I would rather not learn, period, but it's only a matter of time before I do. Regardless, no matter what happened, she wasn't you, Lucina. The Lucina standing in front of me would not have done that unless it was for a really good reason. Even then, you've promised time and time again that you won't let anything happen to me and that you'd keep me safe."

She clasped her hands with Lucina's.

"I trust you, Lucina. What happened last night was an aftershock from what I saw. Not because of you."

She was honestly expecting something from Lucina, except when she finally finished, Lucina was just staring at her. Not weirdly or anything, just staring at her. She couldn't help but stare back at her for some reason.

Was it getting hotter in the room or something?

She wasn't sure how long they stood like that until a knock on the door got both of their attentions. It didn't take them long to hear Sumia's voice on the other side.

"Lucina? Morgan? You in there?"

Lucina looked over.

"Yes, we're almost done getting ready."

"Is everything alright with Morgan?"

She figured she should answer.

"I'm alright. Lucina and I were just talking."

"Alright. Don't keep the rest of us waiting now."

They could hear Sumia walking off. That when she and Lucina broke apart from each other, Lucina looking a bit embarrassed for some reason. She shook her head before looking back at Lucina.

"We should probably get going."

"Agree."

Chapter Text

“You’re distracted.”

Lucina had planned on doing some training to get in some practice before they traveled the Ruins of Time. While there were no more wars or Risen to worry about, that didn't stop the occasional bandits or thieves. The ruins may have become a good bandit hideout. If the Risen are truly gone, then she doubted there would be anything else to stop people from taking the ruins for themselves.

There is also the possibility that there may be something else there. It was unclear what they may end up having to face once they got there. Risen may no longer be a problem, but who knows what else rests beneath the ruins?

Luckily, she knows Kjelle well enough to know she'd be up for some practice. So, the two found themselves in the courtyard of the barracks of the Shepherds sparring. Severa was watching, they had run into her on their way there and she decided to come along and watch.

Usually, she and Kjelle are usually even when it comes to sparring. At this point, they both knew each other's moves so more sparring matches ended with draws. However, today was a bit different. To say she was completely focused on the match would be a lie. She was still worried about Morgan, despite Morgan reassuring her.

The result of her not being as attentive as she should have been was Kjelle knocking her to the ground. At which point Kjelle made it clear that she was distracted by something. She sighed as she stood back up.

“I suppose I am.”

“Yeah, you are. I take it that it has to deal with Morgan?”

She just nodded as she heard Severa speak.

“Geez, she’s gotten that much in your head and yet you still can’t realize why?”

She was going to ask what Severa was talking about but Kjelle stopped her by giving Severa a look before turning back and continuing.

“Anything in particular?”

She couldn’t exactly remain quiet now that Kjelle was pushing her this hard, not that she didn’t know why Morgan had reacted the way she did the previous night. Sure, she had a few ideas, but she rather any of them end up true. She decided to start off by asking the two a question.

“Have either one of you ever seen Morgan truly scared for her life? I don’t mean her pretending or anything, I mean genuine fear.”

The two looked a bit confused before they each responded with Kjelle first.

“I can’t say I have. Granted I haven’t really interacted with her much during the war.”

Severa nodded.

“Yeah, only two who did were Nah and Noire and I don’t recall anything about the two scaring Morgan. I mean, with how she acts, I figured the lack of memories and her nearly unending optimism made her more or less fearless.”

She couldn’t say they were wrong. She didn’t exactly interact with the girl much during the war and it was only because of what was going on that she had begun to get to know Morgan more personally. It made what had happened the previous night all the more disheartening.

“Well, last night, I was staying with Morgan hoping that having me around would have helped her sleep.”

“Wait what do you mean by you stayed with Morgan?”

“I stayed and slept in her room.”

Severa's eyes widened as if what she said was something that shouldn’t be said so casually. She clearly was going to say something but Kjelle just held up her hand towards Severa and that somehow managed to stop Severa as she continued.

“Anyways, Morgan ended up waking up and when I went to check on her, she backed away from me and the way she looked at me was the first time I’ve ever seen her so afraid and, even worse, she looked like she was afraid of me.”

Kjelle looked skeptical at her.

“Afraid of you? I would think you would be the last person she would be afraid of. She trusts you enough to tell you she doesn’t want anyone else to know.”

Severa just looked at the two.

“Could just be her having a nightmare. You two could just be making a big deal over nothing.”

“I don’t know. I feel like it was more of a nightmare given she nearly used magic in self-defense but she told me not to worry about it this morning, though it just makes me worry about it even more.”

“Don’t.”

She looked at Kjelle a bit confused as Kjelle picked up the practice sword she had been using and tossed it back at her as she grabbed it before Kjelle continued.

“If she hasn’t told you what exactly caused her to freak out, she probably has a reason for keeping it to herself for now. Knowing you two, she’ll probably tell you once she has some idea regarding it. She trusts you so maybe you should have a bit of trust in her.”

“....Thank you Kjelle.”

“Now, are you going to keep thinking about Morgan all day or are you going to even the score?”

She smirked and nodded as the two prepared to start sparring again but just as the two were about to begin, Severa stopped them both.

“Hold up, we’re just going to ignore what Lucina said?”

The two looked at her.

“What part are you exactly referring to?”

“The part where you slept with Morgan.”

“....What’s the issue there? We’re both girls.”

“How can you be this dense when even Cynthia knows there is something between you two.”

She couldn’t help but to give Severa a confused look. What did she mean about something going on between her and Morgan? They were aware Morgan was telling her things that she had asked her to keep to herself so it couldn’t be that. She was about to ask but Kjelle cut her off.

“Severa, unless you are going to spar with us, stop imitating Inigo.”

Severa looked at her about to start arguing with Kjelle but stopped and sighed.

“You know what, sure. I need something to distract me from how dense Lucina is being.”

As they watched Severa walk over to grab a training sword, she took the chance to ask Kjelle something.

“What exactly is she going on about?”

“It’s probably better for you to figure it out yourself, though I will say you do need to hurry it up because it’s getting ridiculous how both you and Morgan are being so blind to the obvious.”

She just sighed as Severa came back and the three spent the rest of the day sparing. Honestly, she didn’t get what everyone was trying to say in regards to her and Morgan. Maybe this evening when she goes to tell her father about the group's plans she could ask him if he has any idea what everyone keeps trying to imply between her and Morgan.

Chapter Text

“You know, for a castle that has apparently stood for over a thousand years, it’s really hard to find anything regarding those ruins.”

Morgan hadn’t expected they would find much in terms of information, if anything. Most of the day she, Nah, and Laurent had gone through all of Ylisse’s library trying to find anything in regard to the place she had been found. While they had come across some info, none of it helped her figure out what was the connection between the place and Grima.

Laurent looked at Nah.

“Given some of the info we’ve found, it shouldn’t be too surprising. Thabes seems to be older than Anri and the Hero King.”

“Yeah but that’s exactly why you’d think someone would have gone and explored the place, you know. The ruins of an ancient city that predates any recorded kingdoms? Surely someone must have at least been curious enough to explore and document the place after the wars during the Hero King’s era.”

She couldn’t help but sigh as she closed another book that had given her nothing.

“I just don’t get it. Everything we’ve found so far points to the place being, at least, important to Naga yet I know it can’t be because of Naga that I had that feeling of being called to the place.”

Laurent looked at her.

“Perhaps it’s whatever remnants of dark magic Gharnef had used back when he had used the place as his base of operations.”

She shook her head.

“I’m no expert on dark magic but I think we can say that isn’t the case. We are talking about a guy that lived over two thousand years ago and was eventually defeated by the Hero King.”

The three pretty much remained in silence as they tried to figure this out. Nothing they had found gave a clear link to Grima and the ancient city. If anything, the ancient city was more linked to Naga, what with the Hero King going to the place twice, his great-great uncle visiting the place on his journey to retrieve falchion, and the city itself apparently being where Naga went to die. Granted that the last one was a bit confusing given Naga was clearly alive and well and helped them defeat Grima.

The only thing that could be related to Grima was Gharnef but the Hero King defeated him at Thabes and his soul ended up within the Darksphere or, as it’s called now, Sable. Plus if Gharnef had been aware of Grima or Grima had been helping Gharnef, why go through the effort of resurrecting Medus? It just didn’t add up.

Nah broke the silence when she seemed to have an idea.

“Honestly, the only thing I can think of is that maybe the city is the place Grima was born. I mean, Plegia was only founded after Grima’s defeat by the First Exalt, meaning he had to come from somewhere else.”

Both she and Laurent looked at her, with Laurent being the more surprised by Nah’s guess.

“You can’t be serious, can you?”

“Why not? From everything I’ve learned about Manaketes while talking to Lady Tiki, we grow more powerful with age. You both saw how much more powerful Lady Tiki is compared to me or even my mom and that’s with Lady Tiki being two thousand years older than my mom. What if the reason Grima was so powerful was partly because of just how old he is? And if he’s really old, then where else would he have been born if not Thabes.”

“While that may be true, it would mean he should have been active around the time of Gharnef and Medeus. Even if he wasn’t as powerful back then, he should have been at least powerful enough to make a mark on history prior to his fight with the First Exalt a thousand years ago.”

“I didn’t say the theory was perfect. Plus, isn’t that part of why we’re going? To figure this out ourselves? If I already knew, I wouldn’t be here making guesses.”

She looked at Laurent.

“Nah has a point. We can only make guesses until we go there ourselves.”

Laurent just sighed.

“Still, I wish we had a bit more info going in. I mean, we don’t even know exactly how old Thabes is in comparison to Ylisse, Regna Ferox, and Plegia.”

Nah nodded.

“The only person I can think of who we could ask aside from Naga would be Tiki but that would mean going to the Mila Tree in Valm and even then there’s no guarantee she would know anything more than what we’ve found.”

She and Laurent just sat in silence. Neither option was really something they could do in the time they had. Going to Mount Prism would take about a week for a full trip and going to Valm would be even longer. Not to mention this was them assuming either one would know anything more than what they’ve found.

She sighed as she stood up.

“We should probably take a break for lunch. We’re not getting anywhere and I doubt thinking on an empty stomach will do us any good.”

Laurent and Nah both nodded, neither one can say they haven’t hit a wall when it comes to researching Thabes and a break would be nice.

While Nah went ahead and left, Laurent, despite her saying she’d put the books away, stayed and helped. At first, the two simply went about putting the books away in silence but eventually, Laurent asked a question.

“So if I may ask, is there any other particular reason for your sudden fixation with Thabes and Grima?”

She turned to look at him.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well, up until two months ago, you just seemed sad about your father’s death. But then you seemingly stopped getting sleep and became paranoid to nearly all of us save for Lucina.”

She couldn’t help but sigh.

“Please don’t tell me Gerome has convinced you that I am secretly evil and have turned Lucina into my pawn or something.”

She hadn’t been completely consumed by grief to not hear how Gerome had grown a bit of distrust towards her and her father because of who they were connected to. While his distrust has lessened since her father sacrificed himself to kill Grima, he clearly still didn’t trust her. Not that she could blame him.

If he knew what she had done, he would have every reason to distrust her and want her gone if not dead.

Laurent chuckled a little.

“Nothing absurd. He merely brought up a point that I couldn’t help but be curious about. Something clearly changed in you in these past 2 months. You’ll forgive me if I am the least curious as to what that was or if it has to pertain to-”

She cut Laurent off.

“It’s not Grima, you don’t have to worry. He’s gone and it’s not like he ever tried to mess with me back when he was alive, was either too focused or could only mess with my father. As for why the sudden fixation, let’s just say I've been thinking about some things that I want to try and get answers to.”

“I see. And if we end up not finding anything at Thabes?”

“Don’t worry, I don’t intend on leading everyone on a wild chase. If there’s nothing at Thabes, I’ll let it go and move on. I think I’ve spent too much time moping around. With that said, call it a gut feeling but I think we’re going to find something there.”

Laurent seemed satisfied with her answer as they finished up and headed to grab lunch. Perhaps she is being too optimistic over nearly no info but she couldn’t shake what she had felt when she first woke up near the place. There had to be something there.

And if there wasn’t anything there, like Laurent pointed it, she wasn’t sure what she was going to do about the mark of Grima that is still on the back of her hand.

Chapter Text

“So, what’s this talk about you, Morgan, and the other children going on a trip?”

Lucina looked up from her plate as she looked at her mother. After spending the day sparring with Kjelle and Severa and briefly talking to Morgan about what she, Laurent, and Nah all managed to learn about the place, she was having dinner with her family. She, Cynthia, and Owain had planned on telling their parents about their plans during dinner, given it would be a time they were all together, though it seems like her mother already knew about their plans and she knew who was likely to blame.

She just gave Cynthia a look only for her younger sister.

“I umm…may have been a bit excited and accidentally told mom about our plans.”

Of course, Cynthia wasn’t the only one who had told their plans early, as Aunt Lissa was quick to point out.

“Oh, is this the same thing you were talking about, Owain?”

She saw her cousin also have a look of embarrassment as Aunt Lissa essentially outed Owain. This left her father a bit confused as he stared at her.

“Umm, what exactly is going on, Lucina?”

She just sighed as she looked at him.

“Well, the three of us were supposed to wait till dinner to tell you all about our plan.”

She then went into an explanation of the general situation: Morgan wanting to return to the ruins they had found her in to see if there is anything that might give them some insight on Grima. She, along with the other children, agreed to go with her as a means to get a bit of closure for all of them. Once she finished, her father spoke up.

“So, Morgan thinks the ruins we found along with the Tear of Naga have something to do with Grima? Why?”

“Remember how when we visited the Divine Dragons Ground where Lady Tiki was regaining her power as Naga’s Voice and all but Robin and Morgan were relaxed just by being there.”

Lissa looked up.

“Oh, yeah. The relaxing effects were especially strong. Just being there made me feel like laying down then and there to take a nap.”

She continued.

“Well, now that we know why that was the case, Morgan started having doubts about the idea that she was drawn to the place because of the crystalized tear of Naga that we found there.”

Her father quickly realized where the thought process was going.

“Because she, like Robin, never felt anything in relation to Naga. So if the teardrop wasn’t what drew her there-”

Lon’qu, who she had almost forgotten was there eating with them due to how quiet he was, finished what her father was saying.

“Then something related to Grima likely did. We did encounter those strange Risen at the ruins.”

Right. She had put that in the back of her mind. Despite still being Risen, the ones they had encountered at the ruins had been different from any Risen she or any of the others had ever encountered. The masks they wore were made of stone, rather than sewed together leather and flesh, and they lacked the glowing red eyes she had grown to be used to when she encountered Risen. In a way, she had found those Risen to be creepier than the Risen she had grown up fighting and dealing with.

Her mother then brought up a point she hadn’t even considered.

“Wait, if we are assuming all of this to be true, how come Morgan was able to be drawn to it when Robin wasn’t? Robin only began to be able to detect Risen and Grima’s intentions after Grima fully awoke. So, how come Morgan was being drawn to stuff related to Grima before then?”

None of them responded as there wasn’t much any of them could say, not even herself had a good answer for that. Sure, there was the running theory that Morgan hails from a world where her father had land the final blow on Grima and Grima returned to sleep like he had been, but that wouldn’t explain why Morgan would still have the ability to be drawn to stuff like that, since Robin clearly didn’t until Grima’s awakening. Maybe a lingering ability due to her having mind controlled by the Grima of the world she previously came from? Even so, she couldn’t say that was why, for Morgan’s sake, and even then the idea didn’t seem to make much sense given the other Morgan that had sent their Morgan here was likely the reason she had her memories sealed. Surely, he would have also included the connection to Grima being something to dampen or prevent Morgan from sensing.

Thankfully Cynthia brought up a good enough response.

“Even if there are some questions about all of this, that’s why Morgan wants to go. To try and get some answers. At least trying to take a look can’t hurt. Grima’s gone and Ylisse is at peace. What’s the harm of us going?”

Her father spoke up.

“I suppose it couldn’t hurt, especially if it may help Morgan. I’ll at least want to send a message ahead of you all so that way Flavia and Basilio know you all are coming.”

Lucina nodded. After that, the conversation turned back to more mundane things until dinner concluded. As she was about to head towards Morgan’s room to stay with her for the night, her father spoke up behind her.

“Going to check in on Morgan?”

She turned to him and nodded as she could note a bit of somberness in his eyes before he continued.

“I’m glad you were able to help Morgan feel better.”

She spoke up, having a guess as to why her father doesn’t sound happy about what he said.

“You aren’t happy you and everyone else weren’t able to help her?”

Her father nodded.

“Robin gave up his life to stop Grima for good and I couldn’t do a thing as his daughter started spiraling downward and isolating herself. And it isn’t like Morgan at least has her mom, whoever she may actually be.”

He looked to her.

“You all are certain Robin wasn’t seeing any of the still single Shepards back in your timeline? Anna, Tiki, maybe even Say’ri or Flavia?”

They both knew that was unlikely given the girl’s features didn’t really resemble any of those women. Say’ri would be the closest one but Morgan’s hair was more black-ish purple than pure black like the ruling leader of Chon’sin. Plus, they both knew Robin never really showed any interest in any of them.

She simply shook her head.

“Robin was pretty much an uncle to all of us when we were growing up. Between that and his duties, I can’t imagine he’d have time to be seeing someone.”

Her father nodded.

“And it’s not like him to have a one-night stand with some stranger and not take responsibility for it.”

Morgan’s origins had always left them all stumped. It was clear as day the girl was Robin’s daughter but Robin himself never showed signs of being in a relationship with anyone. She knew Morgan came from a different timeline than the rest of them, which might mean the Robin of her timeline did fall in love with someone, but that information wouldn’t help so long as Morgan can’t remember what happened in her original timeline.

And seeing how Morgan reacted the night before after seeing what was a memory from her timeline, there was a part of her that was wishing Morgan didn’t remember anymore of her original timeline.

Her father sighed.

“Well, I hope she and the rest of you all find answers in those ruins. Who knows, maybe you all will find a way to bring Robin back, he comes back, and some time after he ends up meeting the woman that becomes Morgan’s mother and we have the whole mystery solved.”

She smiled.

“That would be ideal.”

She and her father hugged before she waved good night to him and the rest of her family, who had arrived just as the two were finishing their conversation as she headed to Morgan’s room, hoping to not have another night of Morgan waking up terrified.

Morgan sighed as he was sitting in a room in the inn. He had spent the past few days gathering info regarding at what point in time he had arrived and he was very much processing the whole situation. Apparently, the war with Plegia had ended over 2 years ago rather than having been a prolonged conflict up till Grima’s awakening and Grima himself had awoken several years earlier than they should have only to be defeated by the Exalt and the Shepherds about half a year ago.

He just shook his head trying to figure out how things changed so much. Was it because of his female counterpart being sent here? Could she have changed things to such a degree? After a moment of thinking, he shook his head. He doubted her alone could have caused all the changes to the timeline. Someone or something else had to have caused it, but he didn’t know what it could be.

Now he wasn’t sure what to do, even if he found Morgan. The Robin of this timeline was seemingly dead, as all the info he had gathered had all brought up the tactician sacrificing himself during the battle against Grima to defeat Grima for good, meaning there was no guarantee Morgan was still even around. For all he knew, she might have simply left to find her original timeline.

He hoped not. Kris would likely eat his head if that was the case after he had said he was sure Morgan would be in this timeline.

The best thing he could think of was to travel to the capital and try to see if he couldn’t find her there. He’d likely need a cover story should he run into any of the Shepherds but figuring out one was going to be hard due to not knowing what his female counterpart has told them, if anything at all. Maybe long lost brother?

It was something he’d have to work on. For now, he’d spend the next day gathering supplies for the trip to the capital and the day after he’d go grab Kris and make his way there.

He really hoped Morgan was there or, at the very least, one of the Shepherds knew where she was at. The sooner he could get Kris to Morgan, the sooner he’d no longer need to fear for his life.

“Seriously, I will never get how she managed to create a loyal mount for herself by trying to heal a dying wyvern with dark magic, much less deal with it. Just please be here, somewhere.”

Chapter Text

A few days past as preperations for the groups' trip were finalized. Morgan still felt a bit anxious on not being able to find anything else out, even with Laurent and Nah's help. The best theory they had was the one Nah had proposed: that Thabes has been the place Grima originated from, possibly being as old as the city was before it got turned into ruins. It wasn't great but it likely meant that their best chance was to try and find any sort of underground tunnels that have survived thousand of years of neglect.

Lucina had meanwhile had been practicing in case they needed to fight. In theory, there shouldn't be anything that would be a threat, aside from maybe some bandits, but it never hurt to be prepared, just in case. Also helped Lucina had been coming by at night and helping her get through a night without nightmares or possible memory resurfacing and there hadn't been anything else since the night she dreamt of Lucina running her through with Falchion. These past few nights had probably been the best nights of sleep she had gotten since her father had dissapeared after striking down Grima.

Finally, the day of their depature had come. Chrom had already sent a letter ahead of them for the Khans to be expecting their arrival so, hopefully, there wouldn't be any issue at the Longfort. She still remembered the stories of when the Shepheard had initially went to Ferox to get aid against Gangrel and Plegia and them being mistooken for bandits.

Part of her believe it was genuine and part of her believed that, even if it had no evidence, they did so because the guard wanted to fight.

She kepted her fingers crossed she was wrong and nothing would happen.

She had her supplied packed and was waiting by a gate to leave, along with Inigo, Gerome, Yarne, and Noire, while the rest of the group were saying their farwells to their families before they left on the trip.

She had kept to herself. She still felt akward around Inigo and Yarne due to what happened in the previous timeline and Gerome as weary of her as always.

To her surprise, Noire was the one who walked over to speak with her.

"You think we will find anything regarding bringing back Robin?"

She looked at Noire, a bit confused at first as to why she'd ask about her father specifically, but quickly remembered who her parents were as it all clicked as she just shrugged.

"I'm not sure. While dad was connected to Grima, the ruins, from everything Laurent, Nah, and myself were able to find, predate Plegia and the Grimleal by thousands of years. Is Tharja still looking in what happened?"

Noire nodded.

"She's eased up a bit since he initially dissapeared but I know she hasn't given up on finding a clue via dark magic, given Grima's proficency in it."

She nodded.

"If the ruins did have a clue, Tharja would probably have went and searched herself by now. Still, who knows what we'll find in the ruins."

Not to long after she and Noire finished up their conversation, Lucina and the others finally started to approach the waiting group as she spoke up.

"Good, everyone is here. We all ready to march?"

Everyone in the group nodded and, soon enough, they began their march to Ferox. Though they had been prepared for dealing with any possible bandits, their first day went by without any issue. It wasn't too surprising. At this point, it seemed like peace had finally come to the world with Grima and the Risen gone and Plegia and Ylisse, more or less, burying the hatchet, meaning the bandits that were still around were just regular bandits and not Plegians paid by Plegia to sneak into Ylisse and pose as bandits.

As they made camp for the night, Lucina came by her tent as she turned to her as Lucina spoke.

"I was surprised when I found you had already left to wait with the others. Father wanted to see you off as well but…"

"I didn't want to feel like the odd one out. Besides, I'm not family."

Lucina just chuckled.

"I'm pretty sure half of the Shepherds see our fathers as brothers given everything they went through."

"Maybe…still I felt like it would be better to give you and Cynthia some time with your parents before we headed off."

Lucina just sighed as she changed the topics."

"You sure you're going to be okay by yourself? I know you've been fine the last few days but…"

She stopped what she was doing for a few seconds before nodding.

"I'll be fine. I've gotten enough sleep thanks to you. Even if I end up having nightmare problems, I should be fine."

"You shouldn't have to just deal with them, especially if you staying with me will make it so they aren't a problem."

She sighed before coming up with a compromise.

"If….if they get bad, I'll let you know and we'll figure something out. For now, I rather the others not find out about us having spent the last few days sleeping together."

Lucina nodded, accepting that compromise before leaving Morgan in her tent alone with her thoughts.

She had been going over and over about as to what awaited them at the ruins of Thabes. Chrom and the rest of the Shepherds had gone there in search for a crystalize tear shed by Naga herself. Now she, Lucina, and the future children were traveling there to find any possible answer as to Grima's orgins. Question was if they would find anything. The ruins she had met the Shepherds in didn't seem to have anything detailing Grima but she knew she had been pulled there for a reason.

She shook her head as she decided to turn in for the night. In about a weeks time, she'll have an answer.