What do I put here? I came up with the title at 2 AM, the night I uploaded Pulling They're Strings? This one isn't going to reference either of my previous fics? Thanks go out to friend #2 again, because we all know that she's going to end up guilt-tripping me to finish this again. I'm gonna try a new writing style here, I had this idea in my mind since before I started Her Voice, but since I only work on one fanfic at a time, that way things get done(ha), I'm only now getting to the one of four straight pairings I have for Morgan. I still have no clue what to call this pairing, Nahgan or MorNah. I try to make differences between Male and Female Morgan clear, as well as their parents. (Very quick explanation rounds off as Chaotic Neutral vs Neutral Good for Male/Female vs Female/Male)
The smell of rotten wood permeated the halls of the old, decrepit, and labyrinthian mansion as Nah attempted to find an escape from the house she had previously seen as refuge. When she first entered the mansion, a raging storm had been at her back, and she had little choice than to go deeper into the house in order to be safe. Now the sounds of the storm had long ended, but the house's walls kept her trapped within. Every wall seemed to change with no rhyme or rhythm, collapsing and rebuilding at will, each time somehow bringing her further from the entrance.
In frustration, Nah gripped at the two things that were keeping her safe and sane, her Dragonstone and the decorative 'holy' knife that she kept with her at all times. In all actuality, the knife held no actual religious value to the manakete, she and her family were never truly religious, she was thankful to the divine dragon Naga for sending her backwards in time, and offered her prayers as thanks, but she didn't worship the dragon at all.
"She really doesn't like that, treated as some divine being rather than a person. But I think the only people who really know are Father and I. Well, I guess you know too, now. Keep it a secret that I told you, though."
Ripping the thoughts, the voices, from her head, Nah pressed onward, continually subconsciously tightening her grip on the knife. The creak of old wood groaned in her head as she continued walking, keeping careful attention to a change in light or the air's flow. As she rounded yet another corner, she was becoming more and more frightened of the lack of noise in the mansion, as if the storm were a trap meant to lure her in and rob her of her sanity. Nah quickly drew a slash on the wall with her knife, only to watch as it regenerated itself almost immediately, the wood, drywall, paint, everything was returned to normal, with no way of telling Nah had even cut the wall. Frustrated, Nah marched off again, growling angrily to herself, feeling the need to break something continuing to build, to simply transform and burn the mansion to its foundation, despite how she would certainly be trapped in its rubble. Her thoughts of anger quickly faded when she continued to force that idea into her head, driving back the destructive urges through willpower alone. Before long, however, the fear of being alone crept into her mind again, causing her to once again bring her hands to her hip, finding relief in her knife being there. The randomness of the mansion was maddening, and she could tell her looping actions weren't helping her case, but it was impossible to break the cycle.
Suddenly, the wall in front of her collapsed, and Nah was face to face with a gargantuan creature's mouth, looming over her body to swallow it whole. "KYAAAA" Nah ran from the mouth in terror before turning upon realising no footsteps were chasing her. "It's just a statue, a creepy statue, nothing to fear Nah. Come on, you're a dragon! This is nothing! Just a creepy mansion that keeps changing and you're completely lost, but there's nothing to fear!" As Nah tried to give herself a inspirational speech, she became increasingly more aware of heavy footsteps stomping throughout the hallways near her, clearing coming closer.
As Nah quickly made herself keep quiet, halting her own breathing the footsteps grew closer still. The axe for woodcutting dragged through the dirt and grass, tearing up the few surviving roots and turning up the dry earth. "This is all your fault, if you're dead then they'll stop coming her, you damn monster."
As the Risen drew closer Nah quickly drew the knife at her side in a vain attempt at protecting herself. "This knife won't help much against a Risen, but every little bit helps, right? Don't worry though, Luce and I won't let anything happen to you, you're our friend and we're in this together. Who knows, maybe the knife will bring you good luck, Mother always said that the Shepherds needed a lot of it."
Nah was already panicking without the voices running through her head, and she didn't have the clarity to shake them out herself, but one voice was louder than the rest. Run, Nah. I'll cover you.
Without recognizing that she was all alone and without backup, Nah heeded the voices command, just like she did before. Nah broke into a dead sprint in the opposite direction from the Risen, letting her feet carry her as her tears flowed freely. Nah didn't even recognize any changing walls or turns, she just ran as fast as she could, but the Risen continued to chase after her with no exhaustion, moving much faster with its prey in view. Nah had made the mistake of looking back, as she tripped and fell down.
Nah looked up at her foster father as he raised the axe above his head, with tears in her eyes. I guess this is how it ends. Nah put up her arms futilely in an attempt to protect herself, as the axe reached its peak above the man's head.
"GHYAAA!" Her foster father was suddenly on the ground, with his hand separated from his arms, the axe having fallen helplessly a few feet away. Above them, a Grimleal mage was standing on the hill, with a blue-ish green tome in his hand.
"The gods have a plan for every life, especially those of humans. To dare try to cut one of these lives short is one of the greatest sins a man can commit, I'll give you now to repent for that sin." The Grimleal mage walked closer to the bleeding man, pulling out a curved ritualistic knife.
"Curse you, I was ending this monster" Nah's foster father spat, clutching both his stumps to his chest. The Grimleal mage squatted down next to the bleeding man, getting close to his face and looking him in the eyes.
"May the gods judge your soul." With a quick swipe of the knife, the man fell down dead, and the Grimleal mage turned around to Nah, dropping his hood down as he did so, showing his childish face.
"Are you okay? Can you get up?" The ghost of Nah's past had seemingly came back to life, holding his hand down to the petite girl.
"Uh, yeah." As Nah took the mage's hand, he pulled her up quickly, surprised by how light she was and brought her to his chest in a improvised way of cushioning her movement. Nah looked around and saw that the Risen was dissolving away into black smoke, starting at the wrists.
"WIll you tell me your name, I really don't want to seem rude to someone who almost died. Let's just say it's really lucky that I showed up when I did." The mage rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, a complete mimic of what the boy Nah knew did whenever he was the point of attention.
"Nah" Nah was running on autopilot, still trying to piece together what happened, why he was here, and why he seemed…. Different.
"Oh sorry, right gotta introduce myself first, guess I am being rude, whoops."
"I'm Morgan, the son of Robin, tactician of the Shepherds." WIthout notice, Nah continued to flash back and forth between the two boys standing before her, each identical, but different in every way Nah couldn't pin down.
"Why does this always happen? My name is Nah, N-A-H." Nah's mouth continued to run without thinking, but at this point she was simply lost in thought.
"Wow, that must be hard, don't worry I'll try to remember. You can count on me!"
"This must be hard for you, but don't worry, you can count on me!"
"Yeah, thanks."Nah tried to pull herself back to the present, to this Morgan, not the one who she trusted with her life time and time again.
"We should probably meet up with the rest of the Shepherds, they're gonna want to know there are Risen around. Then you can rest in the convoy while we clear them out, okay?"
"We should meet up with Lucina and the rest, let them know that I found someone. She's gonna be mad that I killed someone, but it was to save a life so it's okay, right? Either way, you'll need to rest up, we'll protect you."
"No way. I'm not just gonna sit back and relax while people are fighting. I can fight! I'm a dragon, I'll have you know." Nah hissed reflexively, before biting back anymore words to not anger her savior.
"Like Aunt Nowi? Well, now I know the others are gonna want to meet you, but this place won't hold a dragon, and you still need rest, tactician's orders."
"Like Aunt Tiki? Well, that settles it, you're gonna want to meet everyone, but I still want you to rest up for the time being, adjustment time."
Without further room for argument, Nah conceded and began to follow Morgan through the changing mansion, as he led her directly to the exit, taking note of how the mansion shifted and changed every turn. When the two of them reached the outside, Nah lifted an arm to block the bright rays of the sun.
Morgan immediately brought Nah into a small tent set up to act as the infirmary without a single question on where it was located. "I'll be back really quickly, I just need to talk to Mother about the Risen and the way the mansion changes so we can work out a strategy for dealing with them."
"Take your time, Morgan, you've already done more than enough." Nah jumped at the sudden appearance of the man behind her, the priest could easily been mistaken for a woman if Nah hadn't already had intimate knowledge of him, as the man who basically raised everyone after they were brought into the group of survivors.
"Don't worry, Nah, this is my father, he won't hurt you, I promise. Like I said, I'll be back." With that final promise, Morgan left the tent again, rushing towards another tent that Nah couldn't see.
"So you're Nah, I am Libra. Naga has truly blessed both of us today, otherwise we likely wouldn't be meeting like this." The priest began to cast a small amount of magic through his staff to check Nah for any injuries. "Looks like you are truly blessed, you aren't injured anywhere,just fatigue. Rest there for a while, I'll make sure you aren't bothered." As Libra went about his own business, Nah could feel her exhaustion quickly catch up to her, and she passed out before long.
When Nah came to, Libra was no longer in the infirmary, rather another familiar face was watching over her. "Brady?" Nah's groggy mind couldn't tell if she was hallucinating or not, and she let the name slip before catching herself.
"Tha one and only, glad to see ya're up." Brady's words soothed Nah's worries, and despite his frightful looks, Nah trusted the gruff priest with watching over her. "Might as well catch ya up on what's goin' on. None of us have spilled it that ya're one of us, but tha rest of us have come out and told our folks."
"Morgan?" Nah was still waking up and was barely able to form complete thoughts, but she was still desperate for information.
"Knew ya'd ask 'bout 'im. Ta be 'onest, no one really knows what 'is deal is. Guy buys us time ta get outta Plegia, doesn't show up again, and then ends up in the past with amnesia." Brady threw his arms up in defeat as he can't answer Nah's question, before regaining his composure, "Lemme guess, he didn't remember you either," At Nah's silence, Brady nodded his head. "Thought so, but I gotta say, he's still the same idiot as before, had ta chase 'im out so ya'd be able ta sleep. "
"Where is he?" Nah began to push herself up before Brady put his hands out to tell her to lay back down.
"Morgan's lead'n tha charge, since he made 'is way all ta ya. Somethin' 'bout changin' layout, wasn't pay'n much attention, but ya probably know what I mean." Nah laid back down as she realised that he would be the best one to lead in the mansion.
"He's leading?" Nah couldn't believe that he would be the one leading the army with his mother around.
"More like advisin' Chrom but as close as it gets ta the real thing." Brady shrugged. "Robin said it was all about experience and he had the information, rather than suddenly adapting on tha fly."
"What about everyone else? Did they make it back okay?" Nah began to worry about the rest of her friends.
"Laurent grew about half a foot, spouted a ton of time mumbo jumbo I didn't understand. 'Parently he was around for a few years before everyone else. 'Sides that nothing that hasn't already been figured out. Cynthia darn near fell off her Pegasus when she figured out she was fightin' the Shepherds instead of bandits. Gerome's, well, Gerome. Not even time travel's gonna take the stick outta 'is rear. Ya're tha last one of us that we found, almost kinda nostalgic, Morgan bringing you ta camp and babin' the hell outta ya. Speakin' of which, don't even ask me how he was found, he came in before I did."
Nah was starting to finally wake up and looked around, but failed to see the effeminate priest that was caring for her anywhere. "Where did Libra go?"
"Went in tha mansion with everyone else. I told 'im it would be better for him ta go since I can't fight, plus he could keep an eye on Morgan." Brady waved off Nah's question, before turning away from the smaller girl. "Ya should probably get some more rest, I'll wake ya when everyone else gets back, deal?"
"Deal." As Nah tried to go back to sleep, Brady began to prepare the infirmary for the incoming battle-worn people. The sound of Vulnaries and staffs being organized slowly lulled Nah into the realm of dreams.
"Up and at 'em, Nah. Everyone's back, we'll need this bed for tha patients." Brady lightly shook Nah awake before letting her get her bearings once her eyes opened.
"Thanks, Brady." Nah was certainly feeling more awake this time, her mind was far clearer than before.
"Don't mention it, just go see ya stinkin boyfriend already." Brady laughed at the red shade Nah's face took on at his teasing, until something hit his head. Looking at his feet he could see it was a Vulnary bottle, luckily unbroken. "Hey don't throw things! That's expensive! We need those!"
Nah angrily stormed out of the infirmary as Brady began to pick up the thrown potion, still laughing to himself. As Nah walked out of the infirmary, she quickly began to recognize the camp's layout as the same as the style used by the survivors in the future. Nah quickly traveled through lanes of semi-familiar tents before heading into the only place she could think Morgan being in, the war strategy tent. True to Nah's expectations, Morgan was right there going over post battle review with his mother and a number of other leaders, Lucina and her father included.
"What are the equipment damages? I'll take care of them right away!" Lady Cordelia spoke up, pen and parchment in hand.
"We'll need to do a more thorough inspection of everyone's weapons later, but for now the most pressing ones are that Father's staff crystal ran out of power and Owain's sword broke while he was fighting, but luckily he switched to another blade before he could get hurt. Laurent's tome also ran out of power near the end. All in all, we probably shouldn't re-equip them until we go through everything we have, since Owain in particular takes great care of his weapons. It wouldn't just break unless it was at the extreme end of it's durability." Morgan ran through his thoughts out loud, with everyone in the room nodding in agreement with his logic and understanding of those he's fighting with.
"Are casualty reports in yet? We should make sure everyone gets treated properly, we don't want to carelessly lose someone because they weren't healed." Lucina placed her hands on the table as she spoke.
"Just waiting for the infirmary to be prepared for those who need back up examinations." Robin this time spoke for her son, looking over the reports and wincing at what she saw, "A wall fell on top of Vaike? I thought the Mire tomes were bad enough."
"Vaike was unlucky enough to be standing next to the wall when it collapsed, he had to be pulled out for a concussion. Lissa is with him now. Frankly we're lucky that it was only a concussion, but either way he'll be out of combat for a while until he recovers both mentally and physically." Chrom spoke up, worry for his close friend and ally clear in his voice.
"Then Henry nearly blew himself up when a wall rose up in his face. it might be serious, but we can't tell with all the blood covering him at all times. Maribelle made the executive decision to pull him from combat too, but that's the worst of it from my squad." Robin spoke up again, putting down the reports and handing them to Morgan, who began to jot down information on a sheet of paper.
"The infirmary is ready for people, Brady can take care of anyone who needs healing." Nah finally spoke up, causing many of the people in the room to jump at her seemingly sudden appearance.
"Nah! Are you sure you should be up?" Morgan almost immediately began to look after the manakete.
"I'm fine, can't sleep anymore, anyways. Brady told me you got back and I went looking for you, easy as that." Nah tried to calm down the frantic tactician.
"Hang on wait, I knew Morgan brought a girl back from scouting but I haven't gotten the chance to meet her. I'm-"
"Chrom, the leader of the Shepherds and Lucina's dad, I know" Nah cut off the blue haired Exalt before he could introduce himself. "I'm Nah, Nowi and Henry's daughter. I don't mean to be rude, but I know basically everyone in this room, and frankly it makes it easier for everyone if I just say that now." At Nah's words, Chrom found himself speechless and unable to react, but his daughter was quick to take his place in the conversation.
"It's great to see you again Nah. If you want, we can keep your identity secret until you tell your parents yourselves." The princess gave Nah a quick hug before releasing her.
"Wait, you two know each other? Why didn't you mention that?" Morgan looked back and forth from Lucina and Nah, settling his eyes on the small girl. Before one of the two girls could speak, Robin spoke for the both of them.
"Morgan, they try to keep the knowledge of the future secret. Remember how I told you Lucina pretended to be the Hero-King for a while when we first met her?" As Morgan thought about the story he had been told, he began to understand why Nah hadn't mentioned her future friends. "Anyways, I guess we're done for the day, everyone knows what they're supposed to do. Nah, I'll talk to you later, but for now you can talk to Morgan about whatever it is you wanted to talk about." At Robin's words, most everyone left the war strategy tent one by one, until only Lucina, Morgan, and Nah remained.
"So what did you want to talk about?" Morgan awkwardly asked Nah, watching as she took a second to put her words together.
"I wanted to say thanks, for everything, really, but I also wanted to give you this." As Nah spoke, she unhooked the knife and its sheath from her belt, and handed it towards the young tactician. He held the knife confusedly, before turning it over in his hand a few times.
"A knife? Isn't this yours?" Morgan tried handing the knife back to her, but she pushed it back to his chest.
"Take it. It means a lot more for me to take it than to hold onto it myself. Think of it as a good luck charm, after all, every little bit of luck helps, right? You never know how much we need." At this, Morgan stopped resisting and took the knife from Nah's hand, and instead just looked at it in his hand.
"Alright, I'll take it, for your sake, but I'm gonna watch your back, now that you don't have a weapon." Morgan clumsily slipped the knife onto his belt as he spoke, causing Nah to giggle slightly.
"I wouldn't have it any other way, but I should be going, I don't want to keep you mother waiting." Nah left the tent with another quick hug from Lucina, then went on her way to find Robin.
After a moment, as Morgan and Lucina watched Nah walk away, Morgan talked to himself beneath his breath, but the words he said brought a smile to Lucina's face.
"I can't help but feel like I've met her before."
I going to be doing notes again, but thanks for reading, please favorite, comment, whatever, tell me what you think, this writing style is really interesting.
The chapter's changing walls mechanic was really fun to incorporate, but naturally I had a slight issue with Nah's starting placement on the map.
Knife? Where did that come from? Personal nitpick with the transforming classes, specifically the Awakening manaketes, They have no weapons other than they're Dragonstones, which take a good while to actually use and transform(to clarify, I don't mean in combat, just like Supports and stuff). Naturally, I figured that Nah would have a knife, but only Nah, it doesn't fit any of the other manaketes(maybe Tiki, but not as much as Nah) to give them an additional weapon, but with Nah's character, I can give her a knife that she would know how to use and use for multiple reasons, survival, personal reasons, and fighting.
I had fun with Nah's backstory, like a bit too much fun with it, I feel sorry for my second favorite child character now.
Having fun with Morgan's dialogue a bit in the flashback, mostly because of the "Parent affects child" AU/headcanon thing I have going on, but I also wanted to include Morgan's awkward, cinnamon roll self. I also wanted to include a few lines where Nah inherits a little bit of Henry's blood craziness, but it didn't fit very well.
Morgan is described as a Grimleal mage because, well, his coat. If someone doesn't know Morgan, they're gonna think he's a Grimleal.
Man, I dislike Brady's accent/speech habits for the sheer purpose of "Is this right?"
Hard to always pin down what time each kid should show up, mostly due to the fact that I normally get Morgan as soon as Robin S-Supports Tiki, but Northern Ferox and Southern Valm are really far away
I wanted to make sure I showed Morgan as a leader, because it's a kinda big thing for him, but rather than getting over excited he takes his job very seriously.
Dang, this one feels shorter than the others, but I showed everything I wanted to show