This is the first of the many flashback chapters. I figured the best way to go through these chapters would be to have the characters narrate them. It'll be pretty helpful with tying together the events of Jon'so's and Aln's, but it might be lighter in some of the others.


I'm...I'm tired.

I should probably sleep. I want to, but…

Fie, this was a mind-screw.

I should start from the beginning. The real beginning. Not whatever beginning I thought I had, but a real one.

In my story, that would be when I first moved to Ylisstol.


Jon'so could not get a straight answer from his parents about why they were going to Ylisstol. He asked his mother about it, and she just teared up, telling him that he was going to be living in Ylisstol. His father told him they would be visiting his family before they went to the castle.

Nei'oh, however, was much more direct in answer the question.

"You are to be married." His older brother said, not even looking up from his book.

"Married?" Jon'so asked. "But girls are gross!"

Nei'oh glanced at his brother, who was seated next to him in the carriage. They had just left their father's hometown, having met their grandparents. Jon'so was told to promise them that he would visit often, since he would be in the area. Kellem had decided to ditch the royal carriage and take a simple one that was found in his hometown, opting to leave the fancy one as a present to his family. The king and queen of the Chon'sin were happily driving the cartridge as the two princes sat in the cabin.

"You shall grow into it." The older boy said. "Trust me, brother, the girl you're betrothed to is going to be quite the looker." He smiled, as if he knew a secret that his brother didn't know.

"What if I want to stay with you, mother and father, brother?" Jon'so asked, tears welling in his eyes.

His brother looked at him, sighed, and put down his book.

"Look, Jon'so, we both have our duties now." Nei'oh said. "As the oldest brother, I'm the heir to the throne. Now, we were all perfectly content with having you stay with us, but, for political reasons, the council thought it best to barter off your marriage rights. Just be glad Ylisse was in the market for a suitor of royal blood for their future Exalt. While you may not have as much power as your wife, since she shall be the Exalt, you will be forging a stronger relationship between our two countries, a relation that began when Chrom aided our mother in the war where she met Father. "

Jon'so blinked at his brother.

"...You have no idea what any of that means, do you, brother?" Nei'oh asked.

Jon'so nodded, tears still in his eyes.

"Fie…" Nei'oh sighed. "Let me put it this way: we're going to be king brothers. Each of us is going to rule a kingdom. Is that not amazing?"

"...Can we make our armies fight each other?" Jon'so asked.

Nei'oh laughed. "Let us pray it never comes to that. Perhaps we can organize a sporting event, so I can beat you in something once a year."

Jon'so's tears instantly dried, as he pumped his fists at his brother. "Nuh-uh! My kingdom could best your kingdom in a fight!"

"Brother, right now, we still hail from the same kingdom." Nei'oh commented.

"You know what I mean!" Jon'so exclaimed. Nei'oh laughed.


Nei'oh...No matter how much my memories were changed, I never forgot my older brother. A bit on the condescending side, but a curious man all the same. He always looked out for me, even when I was set to rule another country.

I still can't tell how much he changed when he became king, but I suppose I'm getting ahead of myself.

I tearfully said goodbye to my family a few days after that.

I honestly wish it were a more vivid memory, but it isn't.

I met the Exalted royal family, including Lucina…

...Lucina…

I think I might hold up on thinking too much about her. It still hurts, in more ways than one.

I can remember some things about her, less intimate things. I remember how she, Cynthia and Morgan would alway boss me around, saying I had to do things for them due to "husband rules." We weren't even married! I guess it was just the logic of kids.

I still enjoyed myself. It was still a part of my childhood.

It ended pretty quickly. I suspect all of our childhoods ended pretty quickly, given the times. I remember it vividly…


"Come on, Jon'so!" Morgan, the smallest of the four, exclaimed. They were in Robin's office, stacking tomes.

Specifically, they were taking the tomes off of the shelves, stacking them, and having Morgan climb them.

It was Morgan's idea, obviously.

"I don't think this is a good idea." Jon'so repeated, uneasily looking up at the tall stacks of tomes they had amassed.

"You already said that!" Lucina said happily, carefully placing a book on the top of one of the stacks.

"Not that we're going to listen to you or anything…" Cynthia commented. She was just observing them stack the tomes, as opposed to actually helping herself.

"Husband rules!" Morgan exclaimed form the top of a bookshelf.

"We aren't married yet!" Jon'so exclaimed, before sighing to himself. "We should leave before Sir Robin-"

The door opened.

"And that would be Robin." Jon'so sighed. "I hope you are happy." He whispered to Lucina.

"Robin loves me!" Lucina whispered back, smiling. "Well, a version of me." They turned to look at the tactician, expecting to have their heads bitten off.

The look on his face caused the young royals to drop their smiles.

Robin was usually a pretty joyous fellow. "Joyous" may have been the wrong word. "Emotional" might be better. Even though he had recently become more and more sick over the last few years, he still managed to stay the man he was. If he were going to be mad at them for stacking tomes, he would have. The Robin in front of them, however, had a straight, sad expression.

Robin looked at Jon'so.

"Jon'so." He said solemnly. "Chrom wishes to speak to you." He looked at Lucina. "Please clean up in here."

Jon'so nodded. He looked back at the others and went with the tactician.


They were dead. My parents.

Assassinated, they had said. Assassinated by an old Walhart extremist. It was lucky that I had met Victoria after I found out that was false. I'm not sure what I would have done.

Nei'oh was to be crowned immediately. I was asked to return home for it.

It was...surreal. I don't know how I processed it. It was a complete blur. I can't remember the last time I saw them clearly.

The irony was lost to me at the time. It's some pretty cruel irony. A man's own son could barely remember him. I suppose my father was the man that would happen to.

And Mother...The fact that they managed to assassinate her should have told me everything I needed to know about the people who did that to them.

It was also their greatest mistake.

They killed Mother.

If they had only killed father, I would have probably went straight back home, lived there for a bit, and they could have had me killed quickly and easily.

But, like I said, they killed Mother.

That did not please my uncle.


Jon'so had not come out of his room for a week.

It was understandable. It was reasonable. It was what people do when they get that kind of news.

At least, that's what he told himself.

He still ate. He still slept. He just didn't come out of his room. He would sit there, silently. He didn't cry. He sat in his room by himself.

He knew that he would have to leave soon for home. He should probably talk to his friends before he left. He hadn't spoken to them since he heard the news. Not even Lucina, who still knocked on his door every day, trying to coax him into joining the rest of them.

He didn't have to leave for her. They weren't married yet.

At the end of the week, the door opened. Jon'so glanced at the open door.

Robin stood there, holding the door open. Jon'so instantly recognized the man standing next to him as his uncle, Yen'fey.

"Jon'so." Robin said. "Yen-Fey's here to take you home. He wanted to talk to you for a bit, so don't be long." There was something in Robin's tone that implied that there was something else going on, but Jon'so honestly didn't care at that point. He noticed that the tactician had dark bags under his eyes, evidence of several sleepless nights.

Jon'so nodded at Robin, who closed the door behind him. He looked away from his uncle. He had only met him a handful of times. It had always been very subtle, rushed meeting. His uncle always seemed to have something to do, like he wasn't living for himself.

Yen'fey stood there, trying to think of something to say to his nephew. He decided to be as honest as possible.

"I'm sorry." He said. "I promised myself I would keep her safe, but I failed."

Jon'so tuned him out. He had heard the empty apologies before. He was sick of them.

"Our plan is to leave for Chon'sin tomorrow." His uncle elaborated. "We will miss your parent's funeral, but make it in time for your brother's crowning. If everything goes according to plan, we will be home in a few weeks."

Yen'fey paused.

"That will not happen. You will not be home for years."

That got Jon'so's attention. He remained silent, but absorbed every word his uncle said.

"When we leave, you will write a letter to Chon'sin and Ylisstol, informing them that you have decided not to return home. You wish to explore the world and become your own man, as opposed to a prince trapped in a castle. You will be on a mission to find yourself. That is an ideal that people will understand. You will return home by your 18th birthday."

"...What will I actually be doing?" Jon'so asked, speaking for the first time in days.

"That depends." Yen'fey responded. "Are you going to come with me?"

"Yes." Jon'so responded, too quickly. "What will we be doing?"

"For the most part, we shall be making our way around the world, saving people." Yen'fey replied. "We will be on a mission from Naga."


And so, on a whim, I decided to pack up and leave my life behind.

In hindsight, I suppose that was the first time I suspected something ominous was happening. Fie, I never expected it to be anything like Grima, but I knew it was something.

It's all coming to me in blurs. It was a pretty sudden departure. I think I may have seen Lucina once before I left, but that memory is a bit blurry.

I do remember how hard the girls punched me when I returned. To be fair, I hadn't seen them in years. But that's getting too far ahead of myself.

I suppose I'll rest for now. My time with Yen'fey and Mar'on was very important, especially since that was when I met most of the others


I'm planning on giving Jon'so and Lucina their own chapter along the line, so I'm glossing over some of their shipping stuff to have some material.

The next chapter will be more on Jon'so and his time with Yen'fey. I bet this chapter raises a lot of questions. I'll answer them...eventully.

Also, there's a story that was recently posted called "The Realm of the New God," by Firemblem. It's basically fanfiction based off of this fanfiction, and I think that's pretty nifty. If you're reading this story, you might like it.

Have a good one!