Port Ferox. It had been quite a while since Robin had been here. In fact...
It had been just after the war with Walhart had ended. He and the Shepherds traveled through the area to get back to Ylisse, where they would start the search for the Fire Emblem's remaining gemstones.
He'd always been particularly fond of the city, perhaps because it had been the first real port city he'd seen since he lost his memories. It was fascinating, though. Thousands of merchants converging from all over the world in one city to buy and sell goods... One could hear at least a dozen different languages just walking to the end of a street!
For someone as analytic as Robin, it was incredible to observe all these people and learn of stories and traditions from even the farthest countries.
Today, he and Morgan were trying to find passage to Valm on a merchant ship.
"Look, all I'm saying is, we've got the fastest ship in this port! You wanna get to Valm, stick with us. I swear, five thousand gold is the cheapest price you'll get in this port for a ship this nice!"
Morgan rolled her eyes at the man sitting across from them. This same speech again... Ugh. Every damn merchant we talk to has the "fastest ship in the port!"
Robin was clearly thinking the same thing, but was trying his best to be polite.
"Thank you for the offer sir, but we'll have to pass." said Robin.
"Fine." replied the merchant coldly. "But don't come crying to me when you can't find a better ship."
The man walked away, leaving Robin and Morgan once again alone, and once again, without a ship.
"You know, dad." Morgan piped in. "We might as well just hire one of these merchants and be done with it. It's all pretty much the same offer."
"No, I know. But... I dunno, I'm not sure I trust any of these guys... We need someone we can trust... I'm pretty sure at least half of the people we talked to would rob us blind the second we stepped foot on their ship."
Suddenly Morgan's face lit up. "You know... We DO know a merchant we could ask for help..."
"...Anna?"
Morgan nodded.
"Huh... I don't know where we'd find-"
Suddenly, a new voice interrupted.
"Sounds like you two are in a bit of a jam!"
Robin bolted around to see a certain smiling redhead.
"...How long have you been there?"
"I heard a rumor that someone rich and famous was in town and had to see it for myself." she said, taking a seat in front of the duo. "You know there's a guy down the street posing as you and selling autographs, right?"
"...As long as it takes the attention away from us..."
"...If you two are trying to avoid being noticed... Miiiiight wanna try some new fashion choices."
"Excuse me!?" protested Morgan. "What is wrong with our clothing?"
Robin sighed to himself. They'd elected not to wear their famous tactician robes into town, primarily to avoid being recognized as Shepherds. The mistake Robin made was allowing Morgan to pick out new clothes for the duo to wear.
Morgan, ever her mother's daughter, had chosen a light blue summer dress for herself. Which would have actually been very nice, had the dress not been covered in rainbow colored octopi from head to toe. She completed this look with a dark purple feather boa around her neck.
Robin's immediate thought on seeing this dress was that, at the very least, she couldn't possibly pick something worse for him to wear.
Morgan, however, was evidently determined to prove him wrong.
She'd managed to convince her father to wear a neon pink vest with an orange undershirt. Robin couldn't decide which part he hated more; the cravat covered in pictures of Chrom's visage, or the feathered shoulder pieces, which, in Morgan's words, "totally complete your look, father! Get it? Feathers! 'Cause your name's Robin! Oooh! And if you get the purple ones, we'll match!"
He didn't have the heart to tell her just how awful her fashion sense was, and on the bright side, nobody looked at the duo and thought that they were war heroes. Besides, Morgan was happy with the choices, and Robin adored spoiling her.
Anna was taken aback by the fact that Morgan seemed legitimately offended. "Oh, w-well... Your clothes are lovely, of course! But um... Don't you... Don't you think people might have to stop and stare... At your... Beauty?"
"Huh... I suppose I never thought about it like that... What do you think, father? I could pick out something else-"
"NO!" Robin shouted in shock. "I mean... No, I really... Really love this outfit. Even if it is distracting, I couldn't bear to part with it!"
"...My sister never mentioned your... Interesting fashion tastes..." Anna added.
"...So you're not the same Anna we know?" Robin questioned.
"No, that's my sister, Anna! But she told me all about you! That's how I managed to pick out the real you. I've seen pictures. Snapshot tome, as it were. Anyway, I'm Anna! Nice to finally meet you!"
"Well, I'm Robin, as you know, and this is my daughter Morgan. Nice to meet you as well!" he said, shaking Anna's hand. "How's Anna, anyway? The Anna that I fought alongside, I mean."
"Anna's doing great! She got married after the war. Had a daughter. Know what she named her?"
"...Let me guess... Anna?"
"Miranda!"
An exasperated look crossed Robin's face. He wasn't sure whether this Anna was telling the truth or simply trying to mess with him. Either way, Anna family traditions were something he'd never quite gotten the hang of. It probably wasn't worth pursuing.
In fact, remarkably few people not named "Anna" seemed to understand that family at all.
"...Right..."
"Anyway... Let's cut down to the brass tax of it! I can take you to Valm for... Four thousand gold?"
"That's perfect!"
"Per head. So eight thousand total."
Robin raised an eyebrow at her. "We could save three thousand if we took that last deal."
Anna smirked back at him. "But we both know you won't! Meet me by the harbor first thing tomorrow morning!"
"...Ugh... Fine." said Robin, admitting defeat. Business negotiations were never his strong suit.
"Good morning, Anna!" said Morgan joyfully. Just as the morning sun was beginning to rise in the sky, she and Robin went to the harbor, meeting Anna there as promised.
"Morning, Morgan! Robin! You all packed for the journey?"
Robin simply gestured to several large carts filled with supplies.
"Excellent! Now, before we head off, I have some things to deliver to the stores here. Follow me, and bring your stuff."
Anna led the duo to her ship. A medium sized merchant vessel, built far more for speed than anything else.
"I call her the Lucky Golden! Isn't she grand!?"
"It's not bad! How long will it take us to get to Valm?"
"Assuming good conditions, about two weeks! Go ahead and start bringing your stuff on board, I'll just be a minute..."
She walked inside and came out pushing a large cart full of boxes. As she passed by the two tacticians, one of the boxes fell. Robin couldn't help but notice that it seemed a bit... Deliberate.
"Oh no!" the merchant cried. "Morgan, could you lend a hand and pick that box up for me?"
Morgan nodded eagerly and grabbed the box, peeking inside as she was doing so.
"OOOOOHH! Father, look at this! A whole box full of books! Ones I've never seen before!"
"Ah, yes." replied Anna. "I had a delivery to an antique bookshop! These boxes..." she said, gesturing to a large stack comprising about half of her total sales, "are filled with ancient, rare books!"
Robin narrowed his eyes at the redhead.
"And what, pray tell, are in those boxes?" he said, gesturing towards the other half.
"Oh, you know. A little of this, a little of that. I think this one was going to a clothing store..."
Anna opened one of the boxes. "Yep!" she said, pulling out a dress somehow more tacky than the one Morgan had worn yesterday. "This one is nice. Tasteful, stylish, and elegant!"
"Wooooooow!" said Morgan, eyes wide with excitement, staring at the dress's impossibly terrible clash of purple, gold, and lime green.
...Where in Naga's name is the market for clothes like these? thought Robin.
"You know..." said Anna, a devilish smirk crossing her face. "I could sell you some of this stuff. I don't normally do this, but consider it my 'you guys saved the world' special!"
Morgan had already walked over to another stack of boxes. "Where are these going?" she questioned.
"General Edmund's Emporium for Tacticians." responded Anna, not missing a beat. Robin groaned in frustration, knowing just what Morgan was about to ask - and that, try as he might, Robin couldn't resist buying a good amount of Anna's wares as well.
By the time the trio set off, Robin and Morgan were the proud owners of about a third of Anna's shipment.
A/N: Morgan basically has the fashion sense of mid seventies Elton John. But worse. Poor Robin. :P I didn't really know where I was going with this chapter until I realized that Robin and Morgan would need some sort of disguises and then it turned into this.
I love this chapter.
So it seems like the "Paralogue" idea went over quite well! I'll have a few more of those on occasion.
Review Responses: To pokemon rhoades - Yeah, it does sound pretty badass, doesn't it? Heh, I was quite proud of that line.
To TheLegendaryBladeFalchion - That is actually a very interesting idea and it's something I was thinking about... Perhaps I'll make a second fic of that someday? I wonder how the Plegian populace would react to having the guy who killed their god as king... Probably not very well...
To Sparrow McGraw - If I was making this into a book or movie and needed a blurb for the back cover, I would so use that quote! Thank you so much!
To everyone else - Thank you, thank you, thank you! I am so glad so many people seem to be enjoying this! You guys are great, see ya next week!