A/N: Here's to prove that I survived 12/21/12! (Just kidding) Okay, to clear some things up first: this is an alternate timeline for Genealogy and Shadow Dragon and corresponds to the DLC episode in Awakening. Those who have played those games will realize what's different. I'd say what they are, but I don't want to spoil anything. I think that's about it...so, um, yeah. Enjoy!

The day began as it normally would. The sun would slowly rise above the horizon, changing the sky into an explosion of radiant colors. The shadows of the dark would be chased away by the light until the sun was fully high up in the sky. To most, this was the normal beginning of the day, but for some certain individuals, this day would hardly be normal.

A wyvern and its rider raced swiftly through the mountain passes of the land, trying to conceal themselves in the shadows. Once they were sure that no one could be able to see them from this distance, they took to the skies once more. The rider steered the wyvern onto an air current to gain more speed in the hopes of getting back to the camp as quickly as possible. The rider's name was Altena, the young princess of Leonster. As of late, there were rumors about an upcoming invasion of the entire continent of Jugdral, and unfortunately, those rumors had come true. Mysterious people have begun to come up, conducting uprisings on some of the major cities in the kingdoms. Also, many reports have come in, saying that the invaders just appeared from no where, making their way towards Grannvale. Their numbers weren't large enough for an army, but they looked fierce, which caused much restlessness in everyone. Their reasons for invading were unknown, but since no one knew anything about their origins, they deemed these individuals to be most likely dangerous. In response, the kingdoms of Jugdral came together to form their own army and traveled to Grannvale in the hopes of meeting these unexplainable people. Altena opted to be sent out as a scout, despite her parents' advising against it, to learn more about them. Sure enough, she managed to find them already in battle formation, and was now quickly retreating back to her own side to share her information. There was something…very off about these recent events. Why now, would an unknown continent choose theirs to invade, and with so little numbers? World domination? Also, how was her uncle Sigurd able to compile his friends, families, and even foes into one diverse army? She felt that there was more to this invasion that met the eye.

Relief coursed over Altena when the main camp came into sight. Her mission was successfully completed and she slowly began to descend from the skies. As soon as she landed, Sigurd, her aunt Deirdre, her parents Quan and Ethlyn, her cousin Seliph, and her brother Leif surrounded her.

"Altena, thank goodness you've come back alive." Quan said. "We were starting to fear the worst."

"Oh Alty, you're not hurt, are you?" Ethlyn asked as she ran her hands up and down her daughter's frame in search of possible wounds.

"I'm fine, Mother." Altena responded rather stiffly. When she was able to get a little more space, she turned to face Sigurd. "Uncle Sigurd, I've found the intruders. I've also gathered much information about their group."

"I see." He replied, stroking his chin. "Anything worth noting?"

"Well, they number less than ten with a blue-haired man leading them. But there's a certain aura to them that makes it seem like they're stronger than they look. I can't quite place my finger on it…"

"Okay. Is there anything urgent?"

"I'm not sure…when I found them, they looked like they were about to conduct a raid."

Looks of concern crossed everyone's features.

"Now? At this time?" Leif nearly shouted. "But…why?"

"Leif, calm yourself." Quan chided his son. "All of us are just in the dark about this. But if they're going to fight, then we'll need to be prepared."

"Your father is right, Leif." Deirdre agreed. "We'll find out more as time goes on, but for now it's best to focus on what is happening right now."

"Father," Seliph spoke up. "I think we should call a war council. There's no telling what these people have in mind."

"Hm…" Sigurd thought it over. "Yes…if they're planning to attack, then we'll need to plan a course of action. We'll start with Altena's information and go from there. Once we know what the plans are, we will get moving."

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement and began to disperse to go gather everyone up for the meeting. Sigurd and Deirdre, however, stayed behind.

"Are you all right, Sigurd?" Deirdre asked her husband with concern.

Sigurd sighed. "I'm fine, it's just…I just can't comprehend all of this. Why now would someone choose to attack an entire continent? I know not one thing about these people, what their intentions are, or how well they are able to fight…it's unsettling me."

The white-haired woman frowned and placed a hand on his shoulder. "We just have to do what we can for now…until we can get answers. Just be careful."

"True…" Sigurd clasped her hand with his. "There's no sense in siting here, wondering what can happen. Right, let's get going. The sooner we can get through this…the sooner we can be done with it…"

Meanwhile on the opposite side of the land, a young king named Marth stood in front of his group, anxiously clenching his fists together. He found himself unable to squelch the feeling of dread in his stomach. He didn't know how he and his group had gotten here; all he knew was that tensions were running high in his continent concerning a man named Seliph, "the Earl of Light" as they called him. The rumors said that his continent Jugdral was planning to conduct a wide-scale attack on Archanea to gain more power. Already, there were some people from there who had tried executing many attacks on the Archanean capitals. Why they would do this, Marth could not wrap his mind around, but having experienced invasions before, he couldn't risk this threat. He didn't know Seliph personally, but for some reason he felt this man would indeed be his enemy. Marth sighed and lowered his head to stare at his feet. To him, invading another continent to protect his didn't seem right. If anything, it seemed way below his character. But those intense rumors and an urge to fight and kill Seliph before disaster could happen to his kingdom, invading seemed the right thing to do. Marth looked up to examine his team. Looking at them, he wondered why some of them were motivated to accompany him. He knew Caeda's reason: she'd always stay by his side, Ogma was there to protect her obviously, Merric was his best friend, Linde wanted to accompany Merric, and Navarre, per Caeda's request, had come as well. For Tiki, he didn't know why someone as innocent as her would choose to get herself entangled in these affairs; the same thing with Nyna. But Gharnef? He was pretty sure he defeated the dark sorcerer, but now he was back and wanting to fight on his side? It made no sense whatsoever. A wyvern's war echoed across the land, catching Marth's attention quickly. Minerva, the princess of Macedon, was coming back from a scouting mission. She descended slowly until she was on the ground, but still remained in the saddle.

"Lord Marth," Minerva began. "The enemy has begun its march. Here is a map of the formation they're in."

"Thank you, Minerva." Marth replied as he accepted the map from her. Everyone left their positions to get a closer look at what they were up against.

"The red ones are the enemy?" Tiki asked.

"Yes. And it looks like they've got some well-placed soldiers as well."

"There's so many…" Caeda went pale.

"More fun for me then." Gharnef snickered, to which everyone gave him an awkward stare.

Merric shook his head. "So how are we going to put up a fight with these numbers? If it's just us ten, then we might as well forget about it before we get our heads cut off."

"Merric…" Linde started, but Nyna placed a hand on her shoulder, silencing her.

"He makes a valid point." She said. "If we just charge them head-on, it would be suicide."

"Then how are we supposed to…"

"Mar-Mar?" Tiki suddenly interjected. "Up there, in the sky."

Marth followed her finger with his eyes and indeed saw something moving. As it got closer, it was a Pegasus, and on further observation, it wasn't an enemy. It was…Catria.

"King Marth! Commander!" Catria beckoned down to them.

"Catria!" Marth and Minerva shouted back.

Catria landed and dismounted quickly and ran to meet her allies.

"Catria, you're here too?" Minerva asked with disbelief.

"Yes. We…don't exactly know how we got here, but we did follow you."

"We?" Caeda inquired.

"Yes. I and some others are here too to help out."

"Who's in your team?" Marth asked.

"There's me, along with Katarina, Norne, Etzel, Horace, Malice, Athena, Legion, and Hardin."

Marth eye's widened. "Legion and Hardin are here too? What in…"

Catria closed her eyes and shook her head. "We don't understand it either, sire. But we are stationed in many areas across the land for your assistance. Just tell us what to do."

"We better hurry." Ogma spoke. "The enemy is approaching as we speak."

Marth nodded and, with newfound confidence, brandished his sword and held it high.

"Archaneans, back to formation. Prepare for battle!"

Everyone gave a triumphant shout and immediately took to their positions. They began to march towards the opposing army, but even though their chances of surviving had just risen, that feeling of dread never left Marth's stomach.

"Interesting. Yes, very interesting indeed."

"I've always wanted to know what would happen should these two ever meet on the battlefield. Now we can see who will come out stronger."

"Anna? Grandfather?"

The two individuals, a young woman and an old man, jolted from their positions and turned to face a young man. Their expressions relaxed when they recognized his face.

"Ah, Edith." The old man said. "You startled me so."

"What are you two doing?" Edith asked as he walked closer. "Anna, we were looking for you and…oh, not this again…"

Anna looked at the tactician with the eyes of a guilty child. "What? I was just curious. You said your grandfather can alter history, so I wanted to see what he had in store."

"Yes." The old man added. "Edith, did you know Anna has special powers with time as well? She…"

"You're getting off the subject, Grandfather." Edith shook his head. "You promised me you wouldn't do this again. Remember what happened last time you 'played' with your talismans? They fell into the wrong hands, and we had to get rid of them all…thrice."

"Well for someone who has amnesia, you seem to remember some things pretty clearly." The elder muttered.

"Grandfather…"

"Listen to me, lad. You don't seem to quite understand the concept of history, which is understandable considering you haven't inherited these traits yet. There are many, actually infinite numbers of possibilities that branch off from original timelines. Combining one of the useless branches with another one isn't going to alter anything."

"You don't know that."

"Oh, but I do. This practice has been exercised in our family for generations. Once you inherit the skill, you can also do this as well."

"I'll be fine if I never inherit it, thanks." Edith sighed. "I'm just saying, it seems really dangerous. History is a delicate thing. For all we know, one little glitch in the past can forever alter the present. It could destroy life as we know it!"

"Bah, you sound like your grandmother, you know that?" The old man rolled his eyes. "Edith, you say it like I don't know what I'm doing, or I'm just very reckless. Why do you think I became a historian in my younger years? So I'll know what to be careful about. All you do is take the worthless factors, add some variables into the equation, and then sit back and enjoy the end results, WHICH will have no significance to the original timeline whatsoever. It's practically harmless."

Edith bit his tongue to prevent something obscene from coming out of his mouth. Instead he replied, "So…who are the victims this time?"

"Why don't you come see for yourself?" The old man grinned and handed over an orb to his grandson. Edith stared hard into the sphere until he could properly get a glimpse of what was happening in there.

"Seliph, the Earl of Light, and Marth, the Kind King of Archanea." Edith stated. "I don't know where you get these kinds of ideas, Grandfather."

The old man smiled with pride. "Don't underestimate your grandfather, Edith. Oh, by the way…I have a deal I'd like to work out with you."

Edith cringed. "What sort of deal…?"

"Actually, it was my idea." Anna chirped as she scooted closer to them. "Your old man told me that you have always been against him testing out the possibilities of history. Obviously, you can't stop him from experimenting, and likewise he can't stop you from getting in his way. So I came up with this: you join up with one of the talismans and help him or her come out victorious in battle and in return, your grandfather will grant you a talisman to help us in our battles."

"No!" Edith exclaimed. "Absolutely not. I will not be a factor in one of Grandfather's experiments!"

"Aw c'mon, Edi. What can possibly be so wrong about this?"

"Many things! For one, getting rid of the talismans is no easy task. Some of them are way stronger than we are and we could get killed."

"If that happens, I can just alter history to bring you back to life." The old man cut in.

Edith ignored him and continued, "Also, I can tell these talismans have feelings. Grandfather, they may be your 'little playthings', but they are still humans. When we fought them those last three times, I could see the pain, guilt, and confusion tormenting them. You forced lovers to fight against lovers, families to fight against families. It felt so wrong!"

"Edi, Edi, Edi…" Anna wagged her finger in his face. "You focus too much on the negatives that you miss the positives. Yes, it's hard work, but this is a good way for us to get experience! Maybe it does cause the talismans pain, but they won't remember a thing after the battle! Besides, the more people we have in our army, the better…right?"

Edith found himself in a difficult position. Anna's argument was valid, but having to fight more unnecessary battles...he couldn't imagine what it could do to someone's wellbeing.

"Think of it as a stimulation." His grandfather added. "It feels like you're fighting a significant battle, when you're really not."

"Yeah, only I can die in this 'stimulation.'" Edith muttered. "I…I have to do what's best for the army. Um…"

"Maybe this will compensate for those last times." The old man reached into his pouch and pulled out three talismans: Marth, Roy, and Micaiah. Edith took them and stared at them skeptically.

"You're actually entrusting me with these?"

"Of course. It's in your blood after all, whether you like it or not." The elder chuckled rather sinisterly. "Besides, there's many more where that came from."

Edith silently growled under his breath as he angrily shoved the talismans into his pocket. Finally, he gave in to his grandfather's request.

"We have a deal." He forced every word out and shook his grandfather's bony hand.

"Splendid!" The old man clapped his hands together and ruffled Edith's platinum blonde hair, much to the young man's annoyance. "I knew you'd come around eventually. I know this will be an interesting variable in my experiments."

"Whatever." Edith mumbled. "Come on, Anna."

"Wait…what?!" Anna gasped. "Why do I have to go?"

"Because this will be a team effort, which includes you as well. Also, this was YOUR idea. No turning back; tactician's orders."

Anna stood there defeated, but then immediately took up a defiant stance and glared at Edith in his eyes. "And what if I say 'no?'" She challenged.

Edith didn't even blink. "Then I will complain about you to Tiki. As far as I'm aware, she tried to eat you once, did she not?"

Anna grit her teeth and stomped out of the room steaming. Edith allowed a smirk to appear. "I'll take that as a 'yes.'"

"You should run along now." Edith's grandfather chimed in. "The battle is about to begin. Wouldn't want to miss it now, would we?"

Edith's amused expression quickly faded and replaced with an irritated yet anxious one. "If something goes wrong, it'll be by your hands."

"Duly noted." The old man watched amusedly as his grandson walked out, then returned to his orb. "Only time will tell…"

Silence. Just dead silence filled the air. The atmosphere was filled with tension as the two armies stood unwavering to each other. Marth looked at the overwhelming amount of soldiers in front of him and prayed that somehow, this could all be resolved. He turned away from them only to address his own soldiers.

"We don't know how strong they are." He said in a soft voice. "Nor do we know what kinds of people they are. Do not fight until I give the order. I want to see the man I came here looking for."

The group replied with a silent nod, and Marth turned around, took a deep breath, and began to walk forward by himself. He could feel all eyes on him, but he wouldn't allow that to fluster him.

"Marth…don't let your guard down." Merric sighed.

"That must be their leader." Quan murmured to Sigurd. "I wonder what he wants."

"A tiny lad, ain't he?" Arden whispered over to Jamke and Lewyn. "Not very menacing at all. Hard to believe a man like him would dare take on an entire…ouch, Lewyn!"

"You talk too loud, Arden." Lewyn scolded the armor-knight.

Sigurd said nothing and narrowed his eyes as the blue-haired king drew nearer. When he was about in the middle of the space between them, he stopped. He could hear murmurs coming from both in front and behind him, but he paid them no mind.

"He's up to something." Leif seethed. "I can just feel it."

"Leif, try not to get so worked up." Nanna tried to soothe him, but she could tell, by the way his shoulders were tensed up, that he couldn't calm down now.

Seliph kept his eyes fixed on Marth before turning to Sigurd. "Father, let me go talk to him."

"What?!" Sigurd asked, shocked.

"Seliph, no!" Deirdre exclaimed. "That man could be dangerous."

"No." Seliph shook his head. "There's something about him that leads me to believe he's chivalrous. I doubt he'd attack me if I showed no aggression. Please, Father."

Sigurd looked doubtful at his son, but heard a soft chuckle next to him. He could see Ethlin trying to stifle her laughs.

"What's so funny, Ethlin?" He asked, a little vexed at his sister's behavior. "You're usually more serious than this."

"Sorry, Brother." Ethlin smirked. "The way he talks and acts…kind of reminds me of you."

Sigurd stared at her for a bit, but sighed and found himself smiling as well. "Is that so? Well…I was wanting to talk to their leader myself. Seliph?"

"Yes, Father?"

"…be careful."

Seliph traded gazes with his father, but then gave him a confident grin before marching down to meet Marth. All eyes were on Seliph now as he walked by himself towards the enemy.

"What in the world is Seliph doing?!" Larcei exclaimed to Ulster.

"That must be who Marth was talking about." Caeda mumbled.

"Seliph, please be careful." Julia prayed.

"Minervie, what's happening?" Tiki whispered to Minerva.

Like Marth, Seliph ignored the chatter around him and focused solely on Marth. When they stood face-to-face, all the chattering on both sides suddenly stopped, and silence once again filled the air. Finally, Seliph initiated the conversation: "So…this is the one whom Jugdral has been on the edge about."

Marth snorted, but then took control over himself. "Is that so? You don't get visitors often?"

"Nobody from your origins, that's for sure. Who are you?"

"I am Marth, King of Archanea. You?"

"My name is Seliph, son of Sigurd, the King of Chalphy. I apologize if this comes off as offensive, but many people have grown apprehensive since you came. If I may ask, what is your business here?"

"Uh…" Marth clenched his fists. How was he going to tell Seliph that he was going to fight him? "You…you don't seem like a bad man."

Seliph raised an eyebrow. "You've heard something of me in your continent?"

Marth didn't answer.

"…King Marth?"

Marth was tied. He didn't want to fight Seliph, whom didn't seem to have any ill intentions. But then he recalled the tensions that were going on in his home continent and he instinctively brought his hand to the hilt of his sword.

"I should probably be asking you what business you have with my continent." Marth muttered.

"W-What do you mean?" Seliph asked, now confused and concerned.

"My people claimed that a man went power-hungry and would lead a full-on attack on Archanea; that man is you, Lord Seliph. Already people from your continent have been causing mini uprisings in the kingdoms, wreaking havoc and fear in the kingdoms and citizens."

Seliph was taken aback by this statement. Someone had said that about him? "I…I have no such intentions. Rather I think it is you who went power-hungry."

"Me?!"

"Yes." Seliph glared at him. "There's no need to explain is there? Ever since you popped up here, rumors sprouted up saying that you are going to attack and conquer Jugdral. So far people from your continent have already tried to take over some of the capitals. I now have reason to believe those rumors."

Marth glared back. "Heh, I've been accused of being blinded by ambition before. But I only want to protect my people."

"And you think that's best by starting a war?"

"I do not want to fight you, Lord Seliph. As I said, I don't have these insane plans on world domination. I only want to protect my people from invasions…and I intend to stop it at the source."

"You and I share the same insights." Seliph muttered, starting to unsheathe his sword. "But in order for that to happen, one of us has to fall."

Marth felt his heart drop seeing that there was no going back now, then unsheathed his own sword. Suddenly, as if predicting the other's move, the two kings clashed their swords together.

"Archaneans! Attack!" Marth shouted.

"Everybody, charge!" Sigurd bellowed.

The two armies collided in a rush of fury and exhilaration. Arrows and magic spells sailed through the air, wyvern and Pegasus riders tried to knock each other out of the skies, the once calm land was now a chaotic battlefield. The fight had begun and how it would end…

The old man smiled as he watched through the orb. "Only time will tell…"