"You" Tharja barged into her daughters tent and pointed at Morgan, a blunt exclamation to get her attention

"Eep! M-Mother!" Noire reeled back, shock at the fact their mother was visiting them for once

"Mother!" Morgan jumped up, excited to see her mom, which she longed to remember so much.

"Morgan, grab your things, you and I are going out." Tharja waves towards the various tomes and notes that Morgan had sprawled along her floor

"W-What are you two going to do?" Noire pulled Morgan close, worried for her younger sisters safety. She often protected Morgan from her mothers hexes and took them herself instead

"Don't worry Noire, we're just going out to practice some magic, we won't be long." Tharja dismissed her eldest daughters worried glances at Morgan

"J-Just the two of you?" Noire stopped worrying and instead fell into a gloomy state, she had been adept at dark magic but it seemed neither her mother or father wanted her to practice it

"Your father is coming over to spend time with you too, Noire." Tharja was able to pick up on Noires changed mood, Robin kept telling her to be more sympathetic and she knew she couldn't deny him anything

"O-Oh." Noire cheered up a bit, she did enjoy spending time with her father but she wanted to spend time with her entire family

"For now it's just you and me, come on." she took her daughter by the hand and left the tent

They found themselves near the woods, Tharja didn't want anyone bothering her unless it was Robin

"So... what exactly have you been doing recently Morgan?" Tharja wasn't sure where to begin when it came to bonding with Morgan

"Well, Father and I have been studying tactics a bunch, I think I'm really close to catching up to how good he is!" the young tactician jumped immediately to talking about Robin, she did seem to idolize him after all

"That's...nice Morgan but I was wondering if you have been practicing and magic, after all you are a dark mage just like me." Tharja did love talking about Robin, but she needed another way to connect with Morgan besides their mutual obsession with him

"Magic? Yeah, I know tons, I'm really good with this Nosferatu spell, I guess in the future you must have taught me a ton." Morgan became visible excited at the thought of getting some memories of her mother if she practiced with her

"A Nosferatu huh? That's nothing to write home about Morgan, even your father knows how to use one." She didn't want to demoralize her but that was the only way Tharja could think to motivate her to continue practicing

Tharja loved Morgan, but she was never able to see herself in her, it was always her similarities to Robin that she noticed. Had they not been the same class you'd think they didn't even know each other.

"Here," Tharja pulled out a tome she had in her cloak "try this, it's called Mire. You can strike enemies from afar, mages and tacticians should be kept in the back, we couldn't have you getting hurt now could we?" Tharja tried to make a comforting and warm smile at those words

"Woaaah" Morgan took the tome and scanned it intensely, she had a fondness for learning new things "Are you sure it's ok I use this?" Morgan was still cautious on doing things freely around her mother

"Of course, I know you can do it, you're talented, just like me and your father." She ruffled Morgans hair as a sign of reaffirmation

"R-Right!" Morgan was surprised her mother would cheer her on that much, it filled her with more confidence than she could imagine

Morgan steadied herself, it always took finesse to handle dark magic properly.

Tharja watched on as her daughter was taking her time to get ready. She knew it was practice but she still thought Morgan should be faster, a slow person on the battlefield will die quickly.

Her worries were cast away when Morgan finally started, she never noticed the similarities until now, but Morgan was a mirror image of Tharja when attacking. Tome in left hand she spun around and unleashed the dark magic into the air. The spell crackled and lit up the night, and when all was done Morgan idled herself the same exact way Tharja did.

She was shocked to be honest, Tharja always say Robin in her but looking closely now she could see that Morgan was more like her than anything, a capable and powerful dark mage.

"Yay! How was that Mother?" Morgan broke Tharjas thoughts as she jumped up and down hoping to get her approval

"I-It was impressive, you really seem to be a natural." Tharja was able to proudly state that fact with a smile

"Really? Oh thank you Mother!" Morgan jumped at Tharjas waist and hugged her tightly. Usually Tharja wouldn't be too happy about this but this was a special occasion. She drew Morgan in close and hugged her back.

"Well, we're not done yet Morgan; how about we have a little competition?" Tharja suggested

"A competition? Well, I'm a little nervous to face you but okay!" Morgan grabbed her tome and readied herself again.

The two spent their time casting magic and laughing to themselves, seeing who could one up the other. Tharja was already a good dark mage but Morgan was prodigious, the joyful fruit of a dark mage and a master tactician

With the daylight finally waning the two were finishing the last of their tomes. Tharja felt she had done a better showing and Morgan knew it, but Morgan couldn't lose, not here, she had to make her mother proud. She pulled out a tome she had hidden the entire time, she had never used it before but felt confident she could make it work now. She flipped the pages open and began gathering its energy

Tharja saw the book and instantly recognized it, and her heart sunk. Morgan had a Goetia, an extremely powerful tome that she wasn't ready for. Even she could probably not use it, and here was Morgan trying to use its full power without knowing the consequences.

"Morgan wait!" Tharja tried calling out to stop her but it was too late

"AARGH!" Morgan screamed in pain as the dark magic backfired on her, she felt freezing chills down her body and a thousand needles poking her at once, she fell to the ground, unmoving

"Morgan!" Before Tharja knew it she was there on the ground too, holding Morgan up trying to keep her alive, she never thought she would be so emotional over this, but here she was struggling to make sure her youngest daughter was safe.

"Morgan please stay with me." Tharja panicked as sweat was dripping down her face, suddenly it was raining, pouring.

"M-Mother?" Morgan finally came to and looked up to find herself in her mothers tent.

"Morgan! Oh thank the gods your alive!" Tharja rushed over to her side and pulled her into another hug

"W-What happened?" She was still dizzy and exhausted from the ordeal

"I can't believe you would do something so reckless! What would your father think?" Tharja scolded Morgan, yet still relieve she was safe

"I-I don't know, I j-just wanted to impress you." Morgan whispered with tears welling in her eyes.

"Impress me?" Tharja was confused, why would she want attention like that?

"Yeah, Father is always telling me how proud me and Noire make him, and big sis told me that you're proud of her, but I haven't heard it from you!" Morgan cried out

Tharja finally realized it, this was her child, and she wasn't showing her enough attention. She loved her with all her heart but she never admitted it. She had to change that.

Tharja had tears streaming down her face as she pulled Morgan into another hug.

"Mom?" Morgan was confused at the sudden sign of affection she was showing

"I-It's ok Morgan, it's going to be alright. I'm always proud of you." Tharja whispered into her hear as she held her close