"Now remember to be good and take care of the house while your father and I are gone, alright?" asked a sweet voice from above Gerome's head as the young boy yawned sleepily, clinging to his mother's leg, "And don't forget to clean the stables everyday just like I taught you~"

Looking up from the floor, Gerome nodded and rubbed his eyes before leaning his forehead on his mother's hip. "Will you be back before sundown?" he asked quietly, hoping her answer would be yes..

"No... not this time," she replied with a bit of reluctance as she sifted through a small knapsack she had placed upon the kitchen table, "Have you said goodbye to Father? You do know he's leaving earlier than I and won't be returning for quite some time."

Gerome nodded in response to her question before looking up at her, his eyes filled with wistful longing. Cherche sighed as she couldn't help but stop what she was doing to look back down at Gerome. Smiling she placed her hand atop is head and rubbed it soothingly.

"Everything will be okay, Gerome," she said with confidence, "I'll be back before you know it, okay?"

"Okay...," he said as he finally let go of Cherche and backed away from her, his eyes now firm, "I'll make sure everything is ready for your return Mother."

"That's my boy," rumbled Gerome's father from behind him as he placed a firm hand upon the boys head and ruffled his hair, "Don't worry about a thing, you here? You just worry about making sure we have a proper dinner when we get back! Now why don't you go say goodbye to Minervykins outside? I need to talk to your mother real quick, okay?"

"Mmmm okay father!" said Gerome as his eyes now lit up at the mentioning of the family's wyvern, Minerva. With that he turned and ran for the door, excited to get to spend some time with Minerva. Upon opening the door outside he found Minerva lying on the ground already prepped for travel.

"Minervykins!" smiled Gerome as he ran up and hugged the wyvern's head, which was promptly responded with a snort of hot air to Gerome's face. Laughing he fell on the ground as the wyvern bared its fangs in his face.

"The Risen have spread farther than we have anticipated," said Gerome's father as he turned to Cherche with a grim look, "As we speak there is an army on the march to overtake Rosanne once more and progress eastward to Ylisse."

"But Virion and the citizens," exclaimed Cherche, her eyes widening, "We must hurry. Have the others prepared already?"

"Yes, I was told that the Shepherds along with the Ferox are already on their way to aid Rosanne as well as the rest of Valm."

"Alright, then let's go. We must depart now then," said Cherche as she rushed out the door to stop Gerome, "Gerome dear your father and must depart right away."

"Hmmmm?" smiled Gerome as he slid off of Minerva's neck to look at his mother with a confused face, "But why the sudden rush, Mother?"

"Something's happened dear," she said as she quickly strapped on her equipment and bags to Minerva before kneeling before Gerome, "As you know, your father and I are very important people. We have to go help out people in need, okay?"

Gerome furrowed his brow, a bit worried and confused but he nodded nevertheless and forced a confident smile. Smiling back, Cherche held out her arms

"Now come here my little wyvern rider, why don't you give me a hug before I go."

Looking up at his Mother, Gerome sighed before stepping forward into her embrace, nuzzling his head into her neck and enjoying her warmth.

"Are you sure you can't stay?," murmured Gerome in one last attempt as he held onto Cherche tightly, feeling himself start to cry lightly

"No... I must go," replied Cherche with a pang of pain in her voice before kissing Gerome on the forehead and squeezing him tightly "You'll understand someday though Gerome. What your Father and I are doing is very important..."

"Okay..."

"Ahem... Cherche, it's time to leave," came the deep voice of Gerome's father as he sat on his horse behind them, waiting patiently.

"Alright love," replied Cherche as she reluctantly pulled away from Gerome and stood up straight to mount Minerva, "Alright Gerome... we'll be back... I promise. Keep the house safe for us alright?"

"Of course Mother, Father," said Gerome as he stood up straighter at the responsibility given to him and wiped away the tears, "I won't let you down."

"Hehe that's my Gerome," said Cherche with a smile of pride before turning forward to Minerva and whispering something to the wyvern in which Minerva simply snorted more hot air in response.

"Okay, love, let's go," said Cherche turning to her husband with one last glance at Gerome.

And with those last words, Minerva extended her wings and flapped once to take off, creating a gust of wind that made Gerome stagger a bit and look away due to the dust. Once his eyes readjusted, Minerva along with his mother and father were already along their way down the beaten path that led to town, leaving their young son standing in the dust, left behind to the loneliness before him. Gerome waved in an attempt to give one last goodbye, but no response was given so after a few seconds he gave up and turned to face the house.

"Well... I guess this house won't clean itself," he said with mock confidence

"..."

"Just a dream..."

Gerome opened his eyes to come face to face with Minerva's snout. He stared at it for a moment before she snorted in his face. Sighing Gerome glanced at his surroundings to see that nothing had changed. He was still leaning against the tree he'd found last night to sleep on and Minerva had slept close to him all night. Along with that he was still stuck in the past. Sitting up, Gerome reached for the axe he'd brought with him and used it as a crutch to stand up.

"Agghh..." he sighed as he stretched out his back, "Next time let's choose a better place to sleep Minerva, alright?"

The wyvern simply shook its head and gazed out into the distance. Gerome's eyes followed her gaze to see a small caravan of people passing by. Curious.

"Merchants?" he asked himself as he strolled to Minerva and began to strap on the saddle. All the while he kept his eyes on the caravan, making sure they didn't notice him.

"The last thing we want is to be messing with this past and future business, Minerva," he said finishing up the straps, "I'm only here to set your past self free before-"

A piercing scream hit Gerome's ears at that moment, cutting him off from what he was saying and making him look more closely at the caravan.

"Bandits then," he said grimly as he mounted Minerva, "We should leave them be. Their fate is as sealed as ours..."

Minerva snorted in protest and shook her body at his comment, making Gerome lose his balance for a moment.

"What?! Stop that Mineva," he demanded as he continued to stare, "It's not like we can do anything about this... I only came back under Lucina's request. Her playing with the hands of fate is not to my taste you know. I do not believe our actions today can make a difference at all... for destiny calls us along a path we have no choice but to follow."

Errrr Been awhile since I've written anything. Constructive criticism would be nice as well as if I miss anything in regards to the canon locations or people or small details please let me know so I can fix it. Thanks and more chapters on the way, will be updated periodically.