A/N

Well, I finally have a new chapter up. I will probably have a new one every 1-2 weeks, unless something huge comes up or I get struck by a severe case of chronic laziness. Which knowing me, it could happen at any time.

Just a quick heads up, there will be a short POV shift. Marth-Lucina ends up telling a quick story, and will probably be best told that way. I'm not going to spoil it here, you'll have to find out on your own.

*Update* I have also edited this chapter now. Very little. I really want to move along in this story. Something I probably won't be able to do when Fates finally comes out. I'm so fricken excited for it! Sadly when I finally get it, the story might take longer to upload. I just this strange feeling that I'm going to get completely addicted to it.

Anyways, lets get on to the new chapter. Feel free to leave a review with some constructive criticism. Enjoy!


I was silently staring at the campfire we sat around that evening, the hunk of bear going uneaten in my hands. Thoughts about the day's events ran rampant through my head, and I was trying to get them under control.

Let's think about this calmly. I probably have to live without my technology for many years, which is a problem for me. I just killed two people, but they surely wouldn't have hesitated to kill me. I'm not a murder; I was merely acting in self-defense. Not that it really matters I guess. I am in a video game that revolves around war. I just killed two people. I just fucking killed two people. Nothing can justify that. Not even self-defense. But if I want to save this world, I have to do this. But that doesn't make it okay. I can't even live with myself right now. How am I supposed to do this if I can't even got past the fact that I killed two people?

"Eric?" Chrom asked from across the fire. "I noticed you're not eating. It's not as bad as the delicate Lissa makes it out to be."

I pulled myself out of my own thoughts when I heard my name and quickly saw that everyone way looking at me with slight concern. I took a big bite out of the hunk of meat.

"Huh. It's not half bad. I actually kind of like it. But then again, I'll eat just about anything as long as there is some meat in it." It didn't necessarily taste the best, but who am I to complain about food. Food is food after all. Robin shrugged and resumed wolfing down his share of the meat.

"Besides, it's been much too long since I last had bear meat. This is delicious!" Chrom said with a content smile.

"Couldn't you spear us an animal that people normally eat for once?" Lissa complained. "I mean, come on! Who eats bear of all things?! Right, Robin?" She turned to Robin.

"*Munch, munch, slurp, munch*" Not sure if he's ignoring her, or if he didn't hear her.

"Err, Robin? It wouldn't hurt you to slow down and actually taste the food you know." Robin just looked at her, astounded she could make a suggestion like that, before stuffing his face with bear again.

"I suppose anyone would enjoy just about anything after not eating for days…" she sighed.

"I haven't eaten in hours," I interjected, "when it comes to food that's the equivalent to days for me. I'm starving minutes after eating in most cases."

"Just eat it, Lissa." Chrom chuckled. "Meat is meat."

"Since when does meat smell like old boots?!" she cried out. "Wait I take that back, boots smell better!"

"Every experience makes us stronger milady, even those we don't enjoy." Frederick calmly replied.

"Then how come you're not eating, Frederick?" she retorted with a sly grin.

"Me? Oh, well… I'm not hungry. I…" Frederick stammered "I had a large lunch. Yes, quite large indeed."

"Yeah right, Frederick!" she exclaimed with a grin from ear to ear.

I chose that moment to burst into laughter, followed shortly after by everyone else. There's nothing like a good laugh by the campfire while trying to eat bear. With what are ultimately strangers. After killing two people.

Way to ruin the good memory, dipshit.


I had the hood of my hoodie covering my eyes to make it look as if I was sleeping, but in reality I was just trying to sort out the thoughts that were swirling around my head. I was reclined up against the trunk of a tree, the hood I was wearing casting my face in shadows. When Chrom and Lissa wake up, they wouldn't be able to tell I was awake.

Maybe Naga sent me here to ensure that Grima doesn't destroy this world. I mean it makes sense. The voice was familiar to me, and she sent me here after all. If that's the case, am I still in this future? Do I ever marry? Probably not, at least not any of the Shepherds anyway. I really need to talk to Naga about this. Only problem is that's two wars away and at least two years away. The game never specifies travel time or how long the battles are. Even the battles themselves have to be toned down, you only direct the Shepherds when you are literally fighting armies. How am I supposed to survive all this time without my 3DS?! I need my technology! Oh well, I'll just have to make the most of it I guess. On the bright side, Lucina will show up here shortly. Maybe she can answer a few questions that I have.

My train of thoughts was interrupted when Chrom and Lissa went off into the forest to my left. Once they were out of sight, I got up myself and stretched my arms above my head.

Letting out a satisfied groan, I muttered to myself, "I suppose I should wake up Robin and Frederick. Those blasted Risen will be showing up soon." I started to walk over to Robin, taking off the hoodie I was wearing and stuffing it into the pouch I had. He let out a soft snore before turning onto his side. And then the ground started to shake. "Robin, Frederick! Wake up!" I shouted. Both instantly bolted upright, and both looked around concerned. "Chrom and Lissa are out in the forest over there! Both of you get on that horse and go! I'll be right behind you!" Robin mounted Frederick's horse behind him and the three of us ran off into the woods. Well, I ran off into the woods, they rode on a horse.


It didn't take very long to find them. Chrom was in a blade lock with one of the Risen. He gave the monstrosity a headbutt to knock it back before decapitating it. Seeing his sister in trouble, he ran towards her trying to get there in time. Lucina in her Marth disguise caught the axe on her blade as Chrom rushed the monster. Marth saw that the Risen was distracted and helped Chrom with the finishing blow. Frederick had rushed over to help them with the fight with the two Risen, but the battle was over before he could get there.

"Milord! Milady! Are you hurt?" Frederick asked, worried for his lord.

"We're fine, Frederick." Chrom replied, as calm as ever. "Besides, I think we have more concerning matters at hand right now."

"I'll say. Are such horrific creatures commonplace in these lands? I sure hope not." Robin asked, already thinking for a strategy.

"They're not from Ylisse, I can promise you that." Chrom answered. "So, what do you think we should do, Robin?"

"Here's the plan. Eric, I want you to protect Lissa; you're not exactly cut out for battles yet. Keep her close enough to the battle to heal us if one of us gets hurt, but still out of the danger zone. Chrom, Frederick, the mysterious masked man, and I will form a line and charge them. Stick together, don't get separated and surrounded. The enemy may seem to be mindless, but they seem to have overwhelming power and the last thing we want is to be overwhelmed."

"Let's get this done with already. I want to go back to sleep." I grumbled. More like I want to get back to my thoughts. I won't be able to sleep until I can get these thoughts under control. Especially the killing two people one. There's nothing like killing more things when killing some already haunts you! Sigh, at least these aren't alive. I don't think I could handle killing more people right now. Or ever.

All but Lissa and I charged off to face against the threat. We just kind of stood off to the side of the battle. Close enough to heal someone if they got hurt, yet far enough to avoid injury ourselves. There was a resounding clash of metal as the two forces meet. Robin used his tome more than the iron sword he found earlier. Chrom, Lucina, and Frederick were just going beast mode and striking down Risen left and right. There was some commotion off to my right and I look over to see Sully and Virion make their entrance onto the battlefield. About ten Risen pulled off of the main battle and went to confront the new threat. They both may be good fighters, but there was no way they could win against those odds at this point.

"Fuck! Lissa, I need you to go back to the fort. Those two over their need help, and it wouldn't be safe to leave you out here alone with these… err, things, whatever they are." I said, taking command of the situation, like I always did back in my world.

"But what if someone gets gravely injured?" Lissa argued. "I'll need to be able to heal them."

"In that case, rush out and heal them quickly before retreating back. We don't want you getting hurt." I argued back. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go and save those peeps over there. I can't handle any more human deaths right now."

I dashed over to where Sully and Virion were. Acting on an instinct I didn't know I had, I pulled my sword back and jumped into the middle of three Risen before releasing the attack in a midair spin attack at neck height. To get into the spirit, I even let out a lusty "Hyah!" Two of the Risen exploded into purple ash with their heads cleanly cut off. Only then did I realize I had a problem at hand. One of the Risen I tried to decapitate was much taller than the others and my sword was lodged in his torso. I quickly tried to pull out my sword, but to no avail.

"Oh, shit!" The giant undead corpse had pulled back its axe and was ready to let it fly. I jumped back hoping to get out of his range, but it was too little too late. The flat of his axe slammed into the side of my head, and sent me flying a good few meters. He slowly shuffled after me, his glowing red eyes staring at me as if to penetrate into my soul. He slowly lifted his axe, as if he wanted to savor the kill. I closed my eyes. I'm not sure if it was out of anticipation of the coming blow, or the pain that was blossoming in my head.

The blow never came.

I cracked open my eyes to see a sword was sticking out of the Risen's gut. The sword was suddenly yanked upwards, nearly bisecting the monster in two. The Risen burst into purple dust and my sword fell to the ground with a dull thud.I could barely make out Lucina, or rather Marth, glance at me in worry. At least I thought it was worry, it was hard to tell with the mask.

"I'm fine for now, princess." I groaned out. She jumped slightly at the mention of 'princess', which caused me to chuckle lightly. "You should be more worried about the battle at hand." She stiffly nodded before rushing back to finish the battle. I let my conscious slip away from me as I closed my eyes.


I was slowly reawakened when my head felt abnormally hot. I sat up and ran a hand through my hair, like I do whenever I wake up, only to quickly pull it back.

"Aww, god damn it!" I shouted, furiously patting down on my hair to try to put the fire out. "I don't fucking need this! I think I have suffered enough for one day already!"

Lucina was talking to the rest of the group, and I decided I better get going if I wanted to ask Lucina any of the questions that were flying around my head. I picked up Robin's old bronze sword, which was now my bronze sword, and used it as a sort of crutch to pull myself to my feet and keep myself upright. I made my way over to the small group with my whole world spinning. I stumbled and did a flawless face plant into the middle of the group. I let out a groan as Lissa started having a giggling fit seeing the small amount of smoke coming off of my burnt chunk of hair. I let out a muffled groan into the ground.

"Don't worry guys I'm fine. Err, scratch that, I'm probably not." I slowly pulled myself to my feet. "So, what's up?"

"I was just thanking Marth for saving my sister's life, and yours." Chrom replied, trying to stifle his laughter.

I sighed. "How bad is my hair?"

"Oh, it's not that bad." Chrom chuckled. "You're only missing a chunk the size of my fist."

"Not that bad?! You can see that from a mile up in the air!" I shouted before mumbling to myself. "But I guess I do need a haircut. Anyways, if you don't mind I would like to speak to Marth. Alone." I led her a good ways away from the group, still using the sword as a walking stick.

"This should be far enough, sir." She said, still using the Marth persona.

"You can drop the Marth persona, Lucina. I know who you are and why you're here. I just have a couple questions that I was wondering if you could answer." I turned to face her. "Although I would like to apologize in advance, for I will probably bring up painful memories."

"Go ahead and ask." She stiffly replied.

"The first question, and probably most important, am I even in your future?" I asked.

She let out a deep sigh before replying. "Yes, you are. You deeply cared for every Shepherd, and were close friends with nearly all of them. When my fa… When my father and mother passed away, you took over without hesitation. Even before that, you were already like an uncle to me. Father had already started to teach me how to use a sword, and you simply took over. You were never married, so you always treated me as if I was your own daughter."

"So, do you know how I died?"


Lucina's POV/Flashback Story

"Lissa, Maribelle! Take the children and run! I'll cover you!" Uncle Eric shouted above the battle.

"What?! No! We can't just leave you here!" Lissa frantically shouted back.

"Lissa, if you don't get away now then we'll all die! I'm the only Shepherd still alive that can fight, the rest are gone! This battle is lost! All we can do now is get you two and all the children to safety! Take the secret passage out into the woods!"

Lissa finally agreed and all of us fled to the secret passage. I ran up to uncle and hugged him before leaving the door to go outside.

"Please don't leave us uncle! We still need you!" I pleaded.

"Sorry, kiddo. I want to make sure that you're all safe, and the only way for me to do that is to stay behind. Keep everybody safe for me, will you?" he asked me.

"I'll do my best, uncle!" He smiled at my reply before gently pushing me through the doorway. He quickly glanced around, and seeing that all of us were out, he shut the door and latched it.

Some time had passed and we were about to reach the forest when there was a huge explosion. The whole center of the castle collapsed inward in a shower of dust and stone. I tried to run back to the castle, but Maribelle caught my arm and held me back.

Morgan tugged on Lissa's dress sleeve. "Aunt Lissa, what was that?"

Lissa let the tears fall freely down her cheeks. "That was Uncle Eric's parting gift, dear."

End flashback story


With her story finished, tears started to roll down her cheeks. I stepped forward and embraced her lightly. "For what it's worth, Lucina, I'm sorry. I can't say I know what your future was like, but know that I will do everything in my power to stop it. I'm not the same person as the one in your future, nor would I hope to be. I was brought here for a reason, and I must have failed before." I took a step back. "Are you better now, Lucina?"

"Yes, I am. Thank you."

"Anytime you need to talk to someone, just know that I'm always willing to listen. And is it hot over here, or is it just me?" I asked.

"It's probably because your hair is on fire again." She said, barely stifling her laughter.

"That can't be. You're just joking around aren't you?" My eyes widened in worry. "Umm, you are just joking right?" Naturally I went to feel my hair and felt the intense heat radiating from it. "Oh, come on!" Lucina doubled over in laughter as I flailed around, trying to put out the fire again. "This really isn't my day is it?"

She wiped away the tears of merth before saying, "I'm sure it could've been much worse."

I let out another sigh. "Well I suppose it could've been." I think killing people is bad enough, but I digress. "I should be getting back soon. You know where to go next right?"

She nodded and responded, "I must go to Regna Ferox and beat Lon'qu. Naga told me that he is vital to the upcoming wars, but his injuries from the fight with my father prevented him from fighting in the first war against Plegia."

"If you're going to Ferox, then I want you to have this." I pulled out the hoodie that I had stuffed into the pouch before the battle, and handed it to her. "I know it's not much, but it should at least keep you a little bit warmer up there."

"But won't you need this?" she argued. "The Shepherds will probably be traveling to Ferox soon, and you might want this."

"I can just pick up a cloak or something. I live in a wintery state, and I walk around in this kind of clothing all the time, so I'll be fine. It's yours for now. If you want it that is."

"Well, if you say that you don't need it, then I'll take it. I should be heading out to Ferox now."

"Stay safe out there, Lucina."

She nodded before turning and walking away into the woods. I turned around myself and started stumbling my way back. "I'm probably never getting that back, am I?" I sighed to myself.


I emerged from the trees and entered the clearing. Chrom turned to me. "I see that you've finally returned."

"Heh, sorry about that. I got a little lost on my way back." I turned to Lissa. "Can you heal me up? I'm starting to feel nauseous from the spinning of two different worlds."

I let out a sigh of relief as the two worlds finally stopped spinning and merged back into one.

"Um, Eric? Where's Marth?" Chrom asked as he glanced around him.

"He had to get going. Things to do and places to see and what not. Don't worry; I'm sure we'll see him again." I said to ease his worries. I heard Frederick mutter something along the lines of 'as he sticks his sword into milords back' before he turned to Chrom.

"We should hurry back to Ylisstol milord. Make sure the city and the Exalt are safe after what happened here."

"We probably should." Robin agreed.

"With that settled, let's be off. Onwards to Ylisstol!" I shouted before taking off in a random direction with Robin closely behind me.

"Hey, guys? You do realize that you're going the wrong way right?" I promptly turned around and marched passed a smirking Chrom. "Still the wrong way."

"You know what? I give up." I said pinching the bridge of my nose. "Here's an idea, why don't you lead the way? I think I have suffered enough you today." I made a quick mental note that a lack of sleep might make me a little snarky.

"Ha, as you wish." We continued our march from yesterday, but at a much faster pace.


A few hours had passed since we had resumed our march and we had just exited the woods. Ylisstol was but a speck in the horizon and the sun was at its peak. Figuring this was as good of a time as any to ask, I walked up to Chrom.

"Hey, Chrom?" He turned to look at me and motioned for me to continue speaking when I had stopped. "If you're willing to, and have the time, I'd like to learn how to properly fight with a sword. In my world, swords aren't really a weapon of choice anymore. In short, I know next to nothing about swordplay. If I could learn how to properly fight with a sword, then I could actually help on the front lines, and not be a liability.

"Of course, I'd be happy to teach you. I know that you have the potential to be a good swordsman. With some training you could be one of our best fighters. As soon as I get some free time we'll start."

"Sweet. Thanks Chrom. I owe you one." Now I just have to get passed the fact that I have to kill more. I may have bit off more than I can chew on this one. I just have a feeling there is going to be a lot of pain involved. But what happens if I die? Am I stuck here forever? Will I be sent back to my world after Grima is defeated? Who was that mysterious voice from the dimensionception? I guess only time will answer these questions. Too bad that I'm so impatient.