Chapter 7

Morgan gasped, jolting upwards from where he was.

His arm shifted, yet didn't move. When he peered towards whatever was preventing him from free movement, his gaze softened upon noticing the young Manakete whose arms was wrapped haphazardly around his.

It was a dream. He groaned into the palm of his free arm, relaxing and letting himself fall back.

"Thank god," he spoke. "It was..." Morgan took in a deep breath, holding his breath before releasing the gulp of oxygen.

He swallowed, feeling his sweaty body become cold due to the general lack of warmth from the weather.

Just a dream...

Nah mumbled something from beside him, clutching his arm closer to herself.

Morgan closed his eyes, and despite the remnants of the nightmare leaping at him, fell asleep.


He sat up from where he lay on the field with a sigh, stretching out so his arm popped. "Ugh," spoke Morgan, looking at the limb. Despite Brady and Lissa's best efforts, ever since the lance fragments had penetrated it, there was always a small constant feeling of weakness his other arm didn't have.

He shook it with a groan and settled down again.

"Maybe I should go do something," spoke Morgan, getting up and dusting himself of stray bits of grass.

While cleaning off his cloak, Morgan saw a hunched over figure further down the field, within a nearby tree's shadow. He dashed towards the figure, worry flooding his mind. Whoever that was, they could be in real trouble, or-

He let out a breath of relief, allowing himself to slow and relax once he got a closer look at the clothing of the young girl. A smile grew on his face as he came closer. "It's Nah..." he mused aloud, trying to calm his still rapid heartbeat and pulse.

The half-dragon remained silent, barely even moving.

"And hard at prayer again today," grinned Morgan, taking a seat beside her. He let his own eyes close and took a deep breath.

Nah wasn't... she's still alive. That dream's just a dream.

Despite the reassurance of his own words and the fact that he could see Nah breathing beside him, his mind still kept creeping back to the bloody form of hers as he used his Thunder tome to slowly take the life out of her eyes and then some.

Then it came to discarding his own clothing and ripping the shreds of whatever still remained on Nah's body, and-

Morgan felt sick.

"That should do it," sighed Nah, moving from her hunched over position and opening bright, beautiful green eyes. Though he hadn't quite noted it down before, he saw now that her lively eyes were of an even lighter shade then her hair colour. Nah shook her head, groggy and stiff movements following from there as she blinked several times, likely adjusting the bright field before her.

As he watched, Morgan couldn't help but smile and chuckle. The sound caused her to whip her head around, though she relaxed and smiled upon seeing it was him. Nah shifted closer and lay down so that her head lay in his lap. "Hello, Morgan."

He swallowed past the bile in his throat, managing to keep smiling back at her. "Hey, Nah." He almost flinched as his mind shifted to her in the exact same position, but bloody, naked and forced to take a large erection into her mouth.

What's happening to me?! Morgan shook his head for a second before smiling at her again. "How's it going, Nah?" he asked. Say something... anything to get that awful image out of my head, please, Naga... "Talking to... Naga again?"

"Yes, and she responded this time," spoke the Manakete a soft chuckle gracing her facial features. "Though... the revelation I received wasn't quite what I was hoping for," she admitted. "She wished for me to bring her more offerings."

"What, is Naga a jealous god or something?" Ack, shouldn't say that about the god I'm praying to! "Um... uh... what kind of offerings does Naga want anyway?" Morgan's mind scrambled to the first edible he could think of. "Bear meat?"

"Wha... Naga is not a jealous god!" Nah rose from where she had been resting to glare at him.

Despite that fierce stare and the risk of being eaten later, Morgan breathed a sigh of relief. Having her away from him helped push that disturbing image out of his head.

And I can't just avoid her, he thought. That's not right to her, and it won't solve anything.

Nah sighed. "Anyway... Naga wanted me to bring her a flower."

"That doesn't seem too difficult," noted the tactician. "Any particular kind?"

"Well..." The Manakete seemed reluctant, though the difficulty of the task appeared to persuade her to tell him. "Naga's Bell. A flower that only blooms every 200 years, and only beneath a full moon. Well... that's what the legends say, regardless." Nah looked sheepish. "I have personally never seen it..."

"Well, that's a good thing, right?" spoke Morgan. "If you haven't seen it, then maybe that 200 year period hadn't yet passed! But now... maybe it has!" He tried to smile, ignoring that damn image still in his head.

"I suppose," she replied, with a smile of her own. "Ah, it also only grows in remote, craggy terrain human civilization has not touched."

"Sounds like a tall order," he spoke. "And... really specific."

"It's supposed to be near impossible to find," sighed Nah, smile fading. "Naga's given me quite a doozy this time... but you can't just ignore a direct order from a deity, right?"

Or you could. "Well... do you want some help in looking for it?" asked Morgan, almost cursing as the words just came out. The way she beamed at him was enough for him to feel relieved, however.

"Yes, that would be great, Morgan." Nah rose with a stretch. "Yet... at the moment I don't have any ideas. Give me a little time to think of something, alright?"

He also stood, groaning as he cracked his neck. "Yeah, no problem!" he spoke. "And I'll go looking at some dusty old tomes, too... just in case."

"That'd be a great help, Morgan, thank you." Nah nodded towards him. "Hm... alright, thank you once again. I'll come see you later when I have an idea."

"Yeah, that sounds great!" Morgan waved to her as she started to leave, and she waved back. When she had gone, he let out a long breath.

I'm going to go crazy at this rate.


"Mother... are you busy?"

Robin turned to face her son and smiled. "Of course not, Morgan." She moved a book to one side of her desk, in a vain attempt to hide the map she was looking at.

"If you're strategizing right now for the next battle, then it can wait until later," spoke Morgan, starting to back out of the tent.

"It's fine," she spoke, rising from her seat. "I need to take a break anyway, so let's go outside and converse, hm?"

"Alright." Morgan walked out, following the Grandmaster as she stretched.

Night had fallen, leaving the sky above a dark navy blue. The night's camp had a warm temperature despite winter coming soon, resulting in a joyous atmosphere. Gregor was drinking whilst Nowi was beside him, a considerably smaller mug in her hands.

"So... Mor-" Robin yawned, drawing out his name. "Ugh... sorry. What did you want to talk about?"

"Are you alright, Mother?" spoke Morgan, peering at Robin. "You have some really deep circles under your eyes."

"It's nothing." She smiled. "Though thank you for worrying. Regardless of myself... what were you going to ask?"

"Have you heard about Naga's Bell?" he asked.

"Naga's Bell, hm...?" Robin mused the words over. "Nowi told me about it once. Flower that blooms once every 200 years, if memory serves me correctly."

"Yeah," spoke Morgan. "Nah wants some help to find it, so I..." He trailed off.

"How sweet of you," his mother spoke. "Well... no tomes or books I've read so far have mentioned it to me. Sorry, Morgan, looks like I can't really help you this time." She sighed.

"Ah, no problem, mother!" he responded, a grin coming to his face. "Anyway... if you're up to it... do you mind playing a game of chess with me?"

"Chess, hm?" The older tactician smiled. "Well... the strategy can wait until tomorrow. Come on, let's go."

"Great! 'Cause Laurent played a few games with me, but he's really good! Once I got close to his king, but then his knight came in and it was over!"

Robin laughed. "Laurent's really good at chess. Virion as well, but I do have a few tricks that might help you out, son..." Her eyes twinkled. "Especially with Nah."

"Mother... are you teasing me?" spoke Morgan, smiling.

She ruffled his hair with her own smile widening. "I am indeed. You care a lot for her. In fact... unless I'm mistaken, she's the person you spend the most time with... wonder if there's something there." Robin peered closer at him.

"Mother... you almost sound like you're playing matchmaker," commented the younger tactician.

"Well..." She laughed once again. "Heh... c'mon, Morgan. I have a chess board in my tent." She walked off, hands in her pockets.

"Alright, thanks, mother!" Morgan chased after her. "I'll beat you tonight!"

"If you're as sharp with chess as you are with your tactics, I've no doubt that you will."