20 Years ago, Unknown Territory

A cloaked waited for the ship he was on to drop anchor, when he heard the sound of the large metal plunged into the water he leapt of the boat with little regard to his safety. He landed and darted across the docks that were located in the center of a large castle. He scrambled up stairs pushing past others who happened to be wearing the same type of dark clothing as him. He came to a large double door and banged on it with his forearm twice. "Your Grace!"

"Eh?" Was the immediate reply, the cloaked man waited as he heard footsteps from the other side of the door. When he realized that the door wasn't opening the cloaked man took to the door again with his forearm. "I'm coming, calm yourself." Just as the voice had said the door opened and the cloaked man was standing face to face with a man suited in full armor that used the same dark colors as the cloaked man's attire. "Come in," the man bowed his head and ducked into the room. He was quick to turn and go to one knee as the door was shut. "What is your report?"

The cloaked man nodded, "Sir Dored, I have another report from Bahara. It seems that Jullia has just struck down her brother and Celice has taken the castle. The battle is over and we are not the victors. The details are in the official report."

Dored took the scroll and, without wasting a moment, began running through it with his eyes. All the cloaked man could do was stay on his knee and wait for the obvious reaction that was to come. "Argh!" Was the first thing that Dored exclaimed. "I told that idiot Manfloy to keep that damned child in check until the time was right. That bastard got too greedy with the potential of power and let the kid slip out of his control. All that needed to be done was keep the boy in check and we wouldn't have..." Dored took a deep breath then looked to the cloaked man. With a wave the cloaked man nodded and departed from Dored's presence. "Well the others will want to hear the report," Dored took the door to his left and started up a spiral staircase. "I can't believe these stupid children and that Manfloy can't even control himself enough so he doesn't burst all over the place messing up the plans." Dored thought to himself as he reached the door at the top of the spiral staircase. He opened the door and before him was a granite round table with people all in dark colors sitting around it. Immediately upon entering he pointed across the table, "How many times have I told you not to stay out of my seat Marcellus?" He exclaimed.

"You know you like it when I keep your seat warm," was the seductive response from the woman occupying his seat.

"I know you just recently lost Murdock, your husband, in the closing part of Elibe's battles but there's no reason to act like this." Dored said as he made his way towards his seat.

"You and I both know that the marriage between us was nothing but a means to connect myself to the land of Elibe. Other than that our marriage meant nothing. And members can't get involved with each other because it would risk the chance of shattering the isolation mindset that each of the four lands have." She got up from Dored's seat as she explained.

"Exactly so erase the thought of being with me from your mind."

She slowly wrapped her arms around Dored and began speaking somewhat softly, "Well we've already lost Archanea and Tellius and those are only the reports we have back. We know that Elibe and Jugdral are going poorly for us currently and who's to say that those battles aren't over and the reports are on their way. So basically this entire group has fallen to-"

"If you know what's good for you...You will silence yourself and take your seat!" The sudden outburst startled Lady Marcellus and she made her way to her seat. "Now, I just received the report from Jugdral. It seems that Manfloy did in fact completely let go of the reigns on Julius and the boy and somehow between the two of them managed give up a weakness and die."

"This is troubling indeed," the words came from the woman sitting directly across from Dored. She put a piece of paper on top of the table for those next to her. "The item I just put on the table is the report for Elibe. I received a little while ago and was holding it with the hope that one of the reports would come back successful. The report describes in detail how Roy killed Zephiel and went on to defeat the Dark Dragon with the sword of seals. So it seems that this was a complete defeat."

"Indeed it is Yurika, and I believe that the only reason that were are still here is in fact the sole reason why this has been a complete defeat. We decided to ultimately leave the fates of the continents amongst themselves while giving minor support and manipulation. We played our hands to light, too afraid of becoming a possible connection between a continent and this fortress. Before we make another move I have a question to ask." Dored stood up and drew his large sword and put it in the center of the table. "Is there anyone here that wishes to leave the Cult now? Because there is only one way to leave." He looked around and saw that no one had taken the offer "Then I propose that we start again from scratch. We should go all in, and rather than spend most of our time hold up in this fortress while making minor excursions to the clusters we should do the exact opposite. Find ways to become powerful figures in the other continents with the same abilities that allowed you to become members of this very table. Only then can actually make a stride towards our goal.

Now Yurika stood up, "I am in agreement with you Dored, but how do we go about things now? The forces of evil have virtually been vanquished from this world. In Jugdral Julius was the last possible heir of the Loputousu blood that could use the dark spell book., in Elibe the Dark Dragon is now under close surveillance by the desert dragon tribe where she is starting to gain compassion, in Archanea the Shadow Dragon has been completely obliterated, and in Tellius where the creator of this world resides both Yuna and Ashura acted on a totally different level than what we had hypothesized resulting in a loss for use no matter how the end battle turned out. In short what will we do now that all the powers of darkness that we have been secretly pushing behind have all been obliterated."

"You will see firsthand the effects of the "heroism" of this age. There is a saying that we will commit ourselves to utterly, "A land long united must divide, a land long divided must unite. All we need to do is just wait until the divide then put ourselves in places that can manipulate the method in which the lands are united and then the world."

Bahara Castle – Present

There were a large number of people gathered around a long dining table in an equally large room. Everyone present was dressed extravagantly and the rich food in front of the bespoke of the wealth in the room. Amongst it all the person at the head of the table sitting in the throne like wooden chair stood up. "My friends we are gathered here at the table for the claim I made one and a half decades ago. I said 15 years ago that every five years we should meet here at the location of the final battle and feast and make a joyous occasion of this day, the day in which Julius was defeated and the land was saved from tyranny. While you all know must know that my ulterior motive for having this feast was so that I could see the faces of my closest friends every once in a while. Some of you live in the same building," The man who was known as the Prince of Light, Celice, looked to his left to see Julia and her husband Lester. "Some live so far away I can only afford to see them on this very occasion," now Celice turned and looked at his mentor, Shaanan, who couldn't help but smirk. "I'm just overjoyed when I look around this long table and see all the smiling faces, for so long we were able to keep this great peace that we had to fight so hard to attain. I can only hope that we can continue this long standing of peace, but for now I beg all of you, please raise your cups." As Celice commanded the members of the feast who were also members of Celice's army of light 20 years ago. "Now a moment to remember our parents and other supporters the fact that, despite some discrepancies, they all died trying to bring about the very same peace that we have now." He paused he started to think of the father that he never knew but heard so much about. "Now let us begin the feast!" With that Celice took the cup and drank the contents. He sat down and immediately felt a hand on his shoulder.

Celice put his hand on the slender hand and turned to face Tinny, "It was a good speech dear." Celice smiled and nodded at her vote of approval.

"I was about as nervous as the other three times I made the speech." Celice looked around as everyone was enjoying each other's company as well as the food. "It always warms my heart though, to think that immediately after the battle off Bahara we all scattered to the four winds, seeing as how we were all nobility and had lands to govern, yet we still can come together and be friends as if we hadn't left each other's side." Tinny smiled at Celice's positive assessment of the situation.

Suddenly someone nudged Celice in the shoulder, "Don't tell me your awareness is dulling after all these years of peace." Celice couldn't help but chuckle when he looked at the face of his good friend Arthur. Arthur dabbed his face with a handkerchief, "Was it really this warm when we were fighting here?"

"We did have to fight Hilda and her fire mages so I think it was just as hot if not hotter." Arthur couldn't help but laugh at the cheesy joke. "But you and your Holsety were a great help in defeating Hilda. Ah but it's not right to reminisce on such violent times, how is Fee?"

"She's fine, she actually couldn't wait for the chance to let her new Pegasus out for a long journey. She usually can only use her Pegasus to lead the other Pegasus Knights or small strolls. So getting out of Silesia is a really good thing for her, not to mention that she gets to meet everyone again."

"That's good then, I just want everyone to be happy," Celice said.

Finally Tinny rose from her seat and shoved Arthur a little, "You can't even say hello to your one and only sister?" Celice started laughing as Arthur started fumbling over himself trying to come up with words to say.

"W-well the thing is I had a surprise for you. There's someone I wanted you to meet." Arthur turned to a couple servants and gave them a signal. The servants scattered leaving Tinny and Celice with a confused look. In moments an older man entered the room and looked directly at Tinny with a smile. When Tinny saw who was standing there her expression lit up. Immediately she ran into his arms leaving Arthur to watch and smile, inwardly patting himself on the back.

"Just incredible Arthur, you managed to find him despite all our attempts in the past two decades. How'd you do it?"

"Well unlike my father there I was able to look deeper into Holsety and discovered that it had some powers liken to that of the Valkyrie staff. So I scoured Grandbell and found him wandering, then I took him to Corpul and Rana who were staying in Jungby with Faval. When Corpul laid the Valkyrie staff to father's forehead it restored even more of his mind."

When Tinny heard the words she looked up at Levin who seemed to be looking at her with a new pair of eyes, in comparison with the ones he saw her with during Celice's campaign. "Is it true? Are you healed father?"

"For the most part, I can recall a lot of things, for better and for worse." Levin said as he stroked his daughter's hair, smiling.

"Sorry to interrupt Celice," Celice turned to look at his good friend Leaf. "My son Abel wanted nothing more than to come, but I told him not to. So he gave me a letter that he wanted to be delivered to your son. Do you have any idea where he is so I can send a runner to him with the letter?"

"Oh, I can take that Leaf, Aden is actually outside of Bahara entertaining the King of Augustria."

"You know you don't have to be so formal, Cain is your relative you know?"

"Yes, his great-grandfather and my grandfather are one in the same." Leaf nodded, "Still, while I have the utmost respect for Aless and Altenna he acts pompous sitting on the throne his father created. I don't get the feeling he doesn't respect the trials the others that sit in the same position as him had to go through."

"Well that may be true, but he is still a boy with much promise to become a great man that can be compared to his grandfather on his father's side."

"Eltosian was in fact a very great and noble man. He had all the power to take a Kingdom that was in fact being run poorly, yet he remained loyal to his master. There aren't too many like him in the universe. Not corrupted by the great power that the gods have given him." Celice sighed and took the letter, "I'll make sure that my son gets this letter."

Outside Bahara

A servant sat on a small hill watching as three young men were perched in the fields not too far away. The servant observed as the young man in the middle drew his bowstring and released letting loose a deadly arrow that pierced a deer right in the middle of its body. Immediately the servant began clapping, "A very good shot Master Aden, but my lord, don't you think that you should head back and assist your father in entertaining guests at the castle?"

A slight smirk crept up on Aden's face as he turned to the servant, "Ah, but I am in fact entertaining a guest, and Dalton is helping me. Remember that Cain is in fact the King of Augustria, so don't simply dismiss him." He looked as the servant raised his hands up and let out a soft sight, Aden marked the conversation as a win for him. "You did the worst again in this round Cain, you have to go get the game."

Cain set his bow, "Tch, the King of Augustria doesn't cower behind a bow. Give me a sword and I'll show you who would be the worst of the round. Even a spear and I would win using the skills my mother imparted upon me." He said with a slightly agitated tone.

"Come now Cain, you seemed so confident when we set the rules, besides griping here won't bring the game over here any faster." Aden watched as Cain sulked over to the two downed deer and crouched low to gather them up. "And you forget that I am a direct descendant of Baldo, so naturally my swordsmanship skills are top notch as well." Cain passed Aden and tossed the deer onto the pile of game that the trio had accumulated during the extent of their contest.

"Maybe one day your father will let us spar and see which one of us is truly the better." He came over and picked up his bow and immediately began inspecting the bow in a manner that suggested that he believed the item to be beneath him. "Ah, but Dalton you are the master of the cowards weapon. Ichival's blood runs in your veins."

Dalton finally turned to Cain finally paying attention to his complaints, "Just because I am better at standing back and taking in the picture as a whole rather than run headfirst into the first thing in sight does not make me a coward. Besides that fact why are all these complaints suddenly coming now that you are losing by so wide a margin." What was odd was the fact that Dalton's voice or face refused to show any anger or annoyance, but rather his features remained collected.

"Whoa, Dalton I merely jest, no need to become so severe."

Aden started to laugh at the situation that had just unfolded, "Just give up Cain, you will never rile Dalton and whenever you try his counter is always as cold as ice."

"Yes yes, he just reminded me of his skill with the tongue."

Aden settled after his bout of laughter, "Well let's take the game back to the castle, maybe the head chef make some quality venison with this." Aden turned to to the servant, "Can you grab the cart we brought with us, load the game, and take it to the head chef?"

"Ah, but of course my lord. It shall be done," the servant dipped his head low. Aden smiled and tossed a couple of gold coins to the servant who smiled and nodded. "As always Master Aden is very generous."

Castle Ostia – Present

A full grown Roy sat at comfortably in a chair in front of a roaring fireplace. He looked out the window and saw the snow gently falling from the sky to coat the ground. He was wearing a rather regal looking burgundy robe with golden trim. Roy heard the footsteps behind him and made an assumption as to who it was.

"Your majesty, your esteemed guest has arrived."

"Yes of course," Roy rose to his feet and turned to face his guest. He looked at him and smiled, "Ah, you look much better out of that tattered armor of yours. I'll have the smiths polish it while you stay in the castle." Roy made the statement while he observed the teal robe that his guest was outfitted in.

"Oh, but Lord Roy, I couldn't possibly expect you to take advantage off such a kind soul. I am only here because you insisted that at the very least I stay the night."

"Indeed, you can leave us now." Roy motioned his servant away and beckoned his guest to sit. Reluctantly his guest made his way to the seat that was opposite Roy. From the initial glance Roy's guest could tell that Roy was completely interested in him. "Now what did you say your name was?"

"Ike," he said firmly.

"Ike," Roy said quickly to himself, as if he had never head a name like it in his life. "Now Ike, you said you aren't from any land on Elibe. When I heard a man like that, let alone a warrior such as yourself, was wandering around Lycia I just had to meet you. I would have gone and searched for you personally, but the duties of a King keep me away from the public unless it is to give a big speech. Please you must tell me of how you got here and what this land of yours is like." Roy was on the edge of his seat when he heard a knock on the door. Turning he observed the door, "Who is it?"

"Ah, it's me Roy; you didn't tell me that your son was so strong. I tried to give him a lesson like back in the days, but it quickly turned into a sparring match on equal grounds without using my crystal." The speaker barged in with a smile on his face.

"How many times have I told you Al, my son is a monster. He has the strength of Lilina's father, Hector, and the finesse of my father Eliwood combined into one person. I don't even know if I could match my son in my prime let alone now that my age is starting to get to me." Al smirked and continued into the room.

"Oh you're not that old Roy, you keep selling yourself short. The reason why you probably couldn't beat your son, is that you can't bring it upon yourself to fight him seriously."

"Still I'm almost 40, it's not an age where I can jump into sparring on a whim. Keep in mind my body is a normal human unlike yourself. How are Gant and Tina by the way?"

"They couldn't be any happier now that Castle Tania has been rebuilt. It's just never ending smiles with them. I mean-"

"Um father?"

Roy focused in on the source of the voice which was immediately behind Al. "Oh, why didn't you tell me Van was standing right behind you Al!?"

Al smirked and started scratching his head, "Uh, I kinda forgot." Ike couldn't help but chuckle because of Al's demeanor. "But we can all come in right?"

Roy let out a sigh and nodded, Al and Van both entered and pulled up chairs. "All right, so Ike, to my right is my son Van, the Prince of the Lycia Kingdom." He placed his hand on the deep purplish blue hair of his son and rustled it. "To my right is Al, who is actually a very complicated person. His father is a legendary warrior who fought the dragons of this land, and his mother was a in fact one of the very dragons that his father had tried so hard to destroy. Things happened and Al was frozen as a child and thawed out around this time period. In this time period he was raised by a blacksmith who knew his history as a half dragon."

Ike nodded his head, "I see, you are a very complicated man indeed."

"So what brings you to Lycia, and Elibe in general?"

"Well I came to this Kingdom because I had heard a rumor that my partner, Ranulf, the person I came to the continent was around here. My friend Ranulf would probably be seen as very strange to people like yourselves, all I can say is that he looks like a large cat or a half cat half man." Ike observed the weird looks on the faces of his listeners with amusement. "Well we shipwrecked on Elibe after sailing for quite some time. I don't have an exact grasp of time that we've been sailing, but it was indeed a long time as you could most likely tell from my condition when you found me. I can't remember all the minute details from the sail, the days kind of blended together over time now that I try and recall them. But the land from which I came, Tellius is much different than yours. The most noticeable thing about your land lacks Laguz."

"Laguz?" Al asked.

"Yes, they are a race of people that do not use weapons, but rather transform into creatures and do battle in this fashion. For example, I've learned from the townsfolk around the castle that the dragons in this land are all extinct, but on Tellius the Dragons thrive as a tribe of Laguz."

Roy listened with a face that expressed concern, "Isn't that dangerous? I mean dragons are so powerful that should they wish it they could easily start an attack on your lands and put you all in danger."

Ike laughed a little, "Your majesty, you should know through the trials that I have heard you go through that any one nation is completely capable of attacking another nation. It doesn't matter who that nation is made up of, but in the end any force that acts without thinking their actions through will ultimately come to regret their inclination to war."

Roy nodded, "You couldn't be more correct Master Ike."

"Oh no your majesty, I have no need for such titles."

"But you deserve them, for someone who thinks on such a level so readily, and by the aura you emit I can tell that you yourself accomplished great things in this land of Tellius. So why shouldn't I refer to you as master?" Roy said in response.

Ike sighed, "I know a nation who wished for the same thing, to decorate me with titles and high ranking positions..." Ike took a moment to recall his friends back on Tellius, most of whom where probably still wandering around Crimea. "Still I prefer to just be me, not Ike the Grand General, Council member, or even master."

"You are like my father in that respect, I heard stories that they nearly had to stuff my father's rewards down his throat," Van snickered as he began. Roy let out a sigh as he knew the story that was going to come up. "Not only did he try to say that anyone could have lead the Eturian army and defeated the Bern-Dragon alliance but his followers practically had to nail him down in his throne at the head of Ostia. He even tried to escape taking credit for being a pivotal figure in rebuilding and consolidating Lycia."

"An interesting list of achievements, it is no wonder that you are now a King," Ike said briefly.

Al finally spoke up tired of the current topic, "Can we stop gossiping about how great we are and get back to the story?" Roy nodded and turned back to Ike waiting for the continuing of his story.

"Yes, well..." Ike began.

Castle Nevassa

In the courtyard there were two people, both wielding swords. The older one appeared to be watching the younger go through standard motions, "Come on now, put some heart into it! One, two, thrust!"

"You keep saying this, but how is swinging on air going to improve my skills Edward?"

To this Edward smiled, "Ah a very good judgment, but the only person you could spar would be me, and you wouldn't survive more than three seconds against me without going through these drills."

"You think so? I know that throughout both the Mad King War and the War of the Gods you were the only person to ever fight on equal footing with the legendary Ike and live to this day but that was roughly two decades ago. By know you must have gotten slower, enough so that I could probably-"

Edward held out his hand, stopping his pupil mid-sentence, "No more words on your part." Edward walked to a position that was directly opposite his student. "Gideon you really do know how provoke your teacher. I shall humor you, but you will not like the results."

Gideon smirked, "Ah, but I've improved in the last month." The two stood with their wooden weapons drawn. Gideon made the first move stepping in and raising his sword for a vertical slash.

Edward smiled and stepped forward as well, "One!" As Gideon brought down his sword Edward through his up with his superior strength deflected Gideon's with his own sword, "Two!" Redirecting his sword Edward pointed it at Gideon, who was still preoccupied by being thrown off balance, "Thrust!" Edward did as he said and jabbed Gideon just above his heart. Gideon dropped his sword and fell back to his behind. "And like I said it was less than three seconds."

"If you're just going to taunt my son then leave Edward," Edward turned towards the entrance of the Castle and saw a figure emerging.

Immediately Edward bowed, "Your majesty."

"I know we were comrades before, but I hired you so I expect that you do the job I paid you for." It was none other than Sothe who was scolding Edward. "Two decades and you're just as cheeky as ever, and if I recall you only managed to fight evenly with Ike before he was blessed by Yune and granted additional strength. I think it's safe to say that you wouldn't stand a chance if you fought seriously now."

"Eh? How long were you there father?" Gideon said scrambling to his feet.

"Long enough to hear you praise him and goad him into a fight at the same time. Please, treat him like a teacher while he is giving you lessons. I have no qualms with you being friends, but please not when I'm paying him, okay?" Gideon nodded, consenting to his father's wishes. A couple of horsemen galloped out of the castle lugging a horse by the reins. "Gideon my son, I'm going to Marado to speak to Fiona about possibly raising the taxes there. Your mother is inside the castle, when your lesson is finished don't forget to check in with her." Sothe mounted the horse that was brought out and looked down to his son who was looking away at the moment.

As if to miss every part of the conversation that didn't concern him Edward piped up, "You always did praise Ike, like he was the best thing since butter on bread. Just because you helped the guy out once or twice doesn't mean you have to worship the ground that he walks on. I mean really-"

Sothe snapped his head to look at Edward with a piercing gaze that forced the latter to stop talking. "You should watch how you talk about the person who is largely credited with saving this entire land."

"Sire," one of the horseman began, "We're starting to fall off schedule."

"Of course, two things before I go Edward. You should go in and see Micaiah too, most of the people she considers friends from back in the day have scattered to the four winds. As much as you hate going too far into your past you are a member of the Dawn Brigade and there is no doubt in my mind that she would love to see you again."

Edward smiled and scratched his head, "Yeah I'll go in with Gideon."

"Ah but the second thing is actually something of interest to you." Sothe's face slowly turned into a devious smirk, "It seems your "rival" has been seen walking around the city." Edward's eyes opened wide with Sothe's words. "Well that's my cue, take care." Sothe snapped his reigns and his horse burst into action taking off for the city gates followed by Daein soldiers.

"M-m-m," Edward stuttered.

"What's the matter Edward? Who's your rival?"

Edward shook his head then pressed his palm to his forehead, "You know how I'm the only one to stand toe to toe with Ike?" Gideon nodded, "Well this person never had any reason to fight Ike in a completely serious atmosphere, back during the wars I never had to fight her, but she was able to best Zihark, force Nolan to withdraw from combat and keep Leonard from contributing at all in one of our battles. This of course was while I was fighting Ike, which was the reason why I couldn't contribute. Ten years later while Mia was searching for all surviving warriors of the wars and challenging them to one on one combat she came across me. Back then I was still limber and I eagerly agreed. The result of the fight was a draw as we both mortally wounded each other. In short she is the only person in this land I can't fight without being prepared to die, or then I'll forfeit my pride by losing while fighting halfheartedly."

"I see, that is an incredible story Edward. I think we should end the lesson here today and you can come inside the castle and tell me more stories of your ventures in the wars."

"Of course, did I ever tell you of the time Daein's forces managed to squeeze Ike's army in a trap that we laid for them? It was a great day of battle for the liberation army." Edward said whilst laughing.

Gideon smiled, "One thing you've never done Edward, is let your stories go out of style. The four people I could remember in my very first memories are my father, my mother, Nolan, and you. Yet despite that your stories have never become old and dry."

Edward rubbed his nose, "Heh, I guess I just have a way with words."

Sage: Three things to note, first is that this story goes under the assumption that all of the final battles of each of the Fire Emblems, such as Roy defeating the Dark Dragon, or Ike defeating Ashera, are happening at roughly the same time (in the same year if you're looking for specifics). Second is that the character Al is not a original character, along with Gant and Tina. These three come from the Elibe side story Fire Emblem Hasha No Tsurugi (The Champion's Blade) and I will draw on a couple of these characters in the story. Lastly is that, if you hadn't already noticed, I have implemented pairings between characters that I believe would bring about the most interest.

While you may be thinking things are going to move slowly this is just the prologue, to give at least some perspective on where and how some of the characters from the different games are doing. I hope you enjoyed seeing how some of these characters act 20 years after their pivotal success.