Marth informed his visitors that they were in southeastern Archanea, a kingdom that shared its name with the rest of the continent. They arrived in Pales, the capital city of the nation, early the next morning, and the soldiers guarding the palace gates greeted them kindly and respectfully.

"This is Lord Itsuki and Sir Touma from the land of Fortuna," Marth informed them. "They are my personal guests and I ask they be treated as such. Will you inform the guard?"

"Of course, sire," one of the soldiers nodded. "Welcome to Pales, Lord Itsuki, Sir Touma."

"Thank you," Itsuki replied. He and Touma followed Marth and his companions into the castle, where Rody and Cecille took their leave and Marth dismissed Kris to go rest and recover from the journey.

"Excuse me," Marth beckoned of a passing maid, who spun around and curtsied.

"Welcome home, milord! How may I be of service?"

"Do you know where Queen Caeda is?" He asked.

"She should be in your study, sire," the maid said. "Will there be anything else?"

"No, thank you. Please resume your duties." She curtsied again, and Marth beckoned to the visitors to follow him.

"This palace is incredible," Itsuki said as they made their way through the halls. "Ylisstol was beautiful, but it's hard to compare to this."

"Pales did see damage during the last two wars, but repairs have gone quite well," Marth told them. "I admit it's still taking me a while to adjust to calling this place my home. I grew up in Altea and only moved here a couple of years ago after the War of Heroes. I may now be King of Archanea, but in my heart, Altea will always be my home."

"You've been through a lot, huh?" Touma said. "It's kind of nice to meet the real Marth, though. Those stories we heard about you made me think you were this unshakable, stalwart warrior king, but... well, it's nice to know you're like us."

"Indeed," Marth said with a warm smile. "Thank you, Touma." By that point, he stopped in front of a polished wooden door and motioned for the two accompanying him to stay to the side, and then he opened the door and slipped inside.

As he closed the door, he saw Caeda look up from her place sitting at his desk, and immediately, her eyes brightened and a smile spread across her face.

"Marth!" She stood up quickly and hurried over to his waiting embrace, and he kissed her cheek. "Welcome home, my love."

"I'm glad to be home," he replied, and she adjusted to kiss him briefly. "Is everything well here?"

"Of course," she nodded. "I'm glad you're back, though. It's just not the same without you." Her smile faded as her hand traced down his arm, and she pulled his glove down his forearm to reveal a bruised bump. "What happened?"

"Bandits ambushed us on the mountain path," he told her. "Don't worry, we're all fine." He smiled and pulled her in, leaning his lips toward her ear. "I admit I'm not sure if I should be embarrassed or proud that you know my body that well."

"Marth!" She slapped his chest playfully and glared at him, though her eyes betrayed her amusement despite her flustered face. He kissed her forehead and grinned at her.

"Anyway," he said. "While I was on the road, I met some old friends."

"Oh?" She tilted her head. "Who?"

"They're waiting outside." He turned to the door and raised his voice. "Come in!" A moment later, the door opened, and Caeda's eyes widened as she saw their visitors.

"Can it really be?" She breathed. "Itsuki? Touma?"

"It's good to see you again, Caeda," Itsuki greeted with a smile. "I'm glad you made it home okay."

"Yeah," Touma agreed with a grin. "We've missed you guys!" Caeda approached them and touched Itsuki's face gently and briefly, then looked over to Touma.

"How did you get here?" She asked, but before they could answer, Marth interrupted.

"Let's go find Cain," he said. "That way, they can explain things to both of you." Touma's gaze brightened, and Marth gestured toward the door. The four of them left the study and Marth led them to the training yard near the back of the palace, where a certain knight in red armor was calling orders to the trainees.

"Cain!" Marth called, catching his attention. "May I borrow you for a moment?"

"Of course, sire!" Cain scanned over the other knights in the yard and caught sight of Rody. "Could you take over for me for a moment?" Rody hurried over to take his place, allowing him to join their king. Once he reached them, shock overtook his face.

"THERE you are!" Touma greeted with a grin as he approached his partner and threw a punch at his chest, a punch that he quickly regretted. "Oww. That's some strong armor you've got."

"I'm proud to bear it," Cain replied. "But... Is it really you, Touma? And you, Itsuki..." he smiled. "I'm so glad to see you! But how did you come here? Did something happen?"

"We'll explain," Itsuki promised.

"Is everything okay?" a voice asked, and they turned to find that Kris had rejoined them from the barracks off the training yard.

"Perfect timing, my friend," Marth said. "Let's head somewhere we can talk. Itsuki, Touma, you can tell Cain about your situation. Meanwhile, Caeda, you and I can explain things to Kris. I know he's itching for an explanation." He turned to her. "Is that okay with you? I can tell you about Itsuki's journey later."

"Of course," Caeda nodded.

"The barracks should be relatively empty right now," Cain offered.

"He's right," Kris agreed. "I was just in there and it was all but deserted."

"Then that's where we'll go." Marth led the way with Kris at his side as they left the training yard and walked through a short corridor before reaching the soldiers' headquarters. They sat down on the benches to one side of the spacious room, Itsuki and Touma with Cain on one side and Marth and Caeda with Kris on the other.

"Okay," Marth started, then turned to his wife. "Do you mind starting?"

"Very well," Caeda nodded. "As you probably already know, Kris, Itsuki and Touma are from another world. They live in a city called Tokyo in the country of Japan. During the wars, Gharnef was able to use the chaos he caused here to, as far as we could tell, start a back-up plan in case he lost here. He planned on using creative energy in their world called Performa to resurrect Medeus and destroy their world and the world in between, a place we called the Idolasphere. He found a way to banish our essences there, our spirits, souls- what have you- to the Idolasphere in search of people with high amounts of Performa, like Itsuki and Touma. Itsuki had the power to purify us and free us from the darkness cloaking us, and allowed us to fight alongside them as Mirages. We sort of became a part of them and lent them our strengths in battle.

"Itsuki and his friends freed many others from the influence of the Mirages- the evil ones working for Gharnef. But Gharnef was still able to gather enough Performa to resurrect Medeus using..." she trailed off and turned to her husband.

"Gharnef captured my soul," Marth said rather matter-of-factly, and Kris's eyes widened. "He offered it as a sacrifice to Medeus in order to complete his resurrection. Itsuki's friends had gained the blessings of other heroes from our world in order to perform the Opera of Light- an Awakening ritual to call upon Naga's power in order to counteract Medeus." He turned his gaze toward Itsuki, who was busy explaining things to a very interested Cain. "In a way, I had already chosen Itsuki as the one who would bear my soul and power in order to defeat Medeus. He and I gained a strong connection- I could feel it even before I met him." He paused and turned back to Kris. "But as they began to attempt the Opera, Medeus attacked Itsuki and fatally wounded him. But his bonds to his friends and the power of the other heroes they had gained was able to free me, and I used the power of my spirit to restore his life and give him my strength." He glanced back to Itsuki again. "He and his companions, with Tiki's help, were able to defeat Medeus and allow the Mirages to return to their worlds."

"So... those two fought the Shadow Dragon and won?" Kris said, and Marth nodded. "That's amazing. No wonder he reminds me of you." A small, knowing smile crept into Marth's face, but he offered no explanation.

"Okay, I think I'm caught up," Cain said as he stood up. "I'm willing to bet all the trouble Gharnef caused has something to do with this." He blinked and quickly turned to his liege, and he bowed. "Forgive me, sire. I didn't mean to interrupt."

"No harm done," Marth replied as he stood. "Do you understand, Kris?" Kris nodded.

"I think so," he agreed. "As much as I need to, anyway. Lord Itsuki, you have my respect for felling the Shadow Dragon and my thanks for saving Lord Marth." Itsuki blushed slightly and dipped his head.

"All right," Marth smiled. "Now that everyone is caught up; Cain, Kris, can you take Touma to the armory and see if you can't find him a set of armor and a lance?"

"Of course, sire," Cain replied.

"Wait, wait," Touma grinned. "I get to be a knight? I get the armor and weapon and everything? Awesome!"

"A hero must look the part, after all," Cain chuckled. "Come on, Touma. Maybe I can even teach you how to ride a horse." Touma didn't seem quite as ecstatic about that part, but he didn't let it dampen his spirits.

"We'll meet up again in the dining hall when you're finished," Marth said, and his knights nodded.

"Very well. Until then, Lord Marth." Kris bowed, then followed Cain and Touma down another corridor off the barracks. Itsuki smiled as he watched his eager friend go, then turned to Marth and Caeda.

"So, what will we do in the meantime?" He asked, and Marth's smile was bright.

"I'm sure you'd like to see Tiki, wouldn't you?" Itsuki's brow rose and he let out a breath as he grinned. "I thought so. I'll go find her and meet you and Caeda in the inner garden." He looked to his wife. "Is that okay?"

"Of course," Caeda agreed. "I'm sure she'll be incredibly happy to see you, Itsuki. Come with me?"

"Okay." Itsuki nodded to Marth, then followed Caeda out back toward the training yard.

Marth left the barracks and made his way to the uppermost balcony of the palace, a place where he knew Tiki liked to spend her time when others were too busy. He liked playing with her when he had the time, which unfortunately wasn't very often. She liked seeing the expanse of Archanea that was visible from that balcony, feeling the warmth of the sun and the wind on her face. And, indeed, that was what she was up to when he found her there.

"Mar-Mar!" She jumped up and ran over to hug him. "Welcome home. I missed you!"

"I missed you too, Tiki," he said as he hugged her back. "How are you?"

"I'm good," she said as she looked up at him with bright eyes. "I'm glad you're back." He nodded.

"Hey, I have a surprise for you." Her eyes widened with excitement. "Will you come with me to the garden?"

"Of course." She eagerly took his hand and started down the palace. "What is it, Mar-Mar?"

"You'll just have to wait and see!" He replied with an amused look in his azure eyes. She pulled on his hand and hurried through the halls of the palace with him half running, half stumbling to keep up with her. As they neared the garden, however, she slowed down, her ears perked.

"...What is that?" she wondered more to herself than to him. Marth's eyes lost focus as he listened for what had caught her attention.

"...But then, the tears that I cried felt so new, gentlest and warmest since lifetimes ago. I'll always keep them held close to my heart, no matter how distant or far I must go..."

"That's... That's his song," Tiki said softly, then hurried into the garden.

"All the kindness I missed, you gave to me, locked in a shard that I called my own." Tiki about stopped breathing, then started to sing along.

"I can feel the warmth melting my long frozen heart, cold from being alone."

Itsuki turned around and smiled, his eyes glistening as Tiki stared at him.

"I know this world's not an illusion. You were the one who showed me. I see it so clear, thanks to you." Itsuki looked near tears to sing his song with her, and Tiki still hadn't quite gotten over her shock. She slowly approached him, and he knelt down to meet her eyes.

"B-Big Brother?" she squeaked, and his smile grew as he blinked back the water in his eyes.

"Hi, Tiki," he said. "I've missed you."

"Big Brother!" She jumped into his arms and he hugged her tightly. "Big Brother, I can't believe it..." she said, her words muffled in his cape. "I can't believe you're here! It's really you!"

"It's me, Tiki," he said gently. "I'm here." She pulled back and placed her hands on his cheeks.

"You came from your world?" She asked, and he nodded. "How?"

"I'll tell you later," he replied. "It's kind of a long story."

"Okay." She hugged him again. "Is anyone else here?"

"Touma is with Cain right now," Itsuki replied. "They're outfitting him with some armor and a weapon. We'll see him in a little bit." Tiki beamed at the thought of it, and she turned around to Marth as he joined them.

"You're both here," she marveled. "I never thought I'd see both of you together."

"Destiny is a funny thing," Marth chuckled. "I'm glad to see you so happy, Tiki."

"Thank you, Mar-Mar," she said with a giggle of her own. Itsuki got to his feet and brushed himself off, and Tiki continued looking between him and Marth with bright, elated eyes.

"I suppose we should head to the dining hall," the Hero-King said. "I hope Cain and Touma are about finished by now." He turned and offered his arm to Caeda, and she took it while Tiki scampered along at Itsuki's side, asking him all about life for Fortuna's family.

Before they reached the dining hall, a soldier came running up to Marth, panting as he bowed.

"What is it?!" Marth demanded, alarmed. "What's wrong?"

"O-Outside the castle..." the soldier gasped. "We've never seen anything like them... Unholy creatures like monsters... they're approaching quickly, sire." Marth glanced back to Itsuki, who had the same concern on his face.

"Spread the word to prepare for battle," Marth ordered. "Itsuki, what's your plan?"

"I'll fight with you," he said firmly. "Don't worry about me. I learned a lot from Chrom." Marth nodded quickly.

"You're not going to leave me behind," Caeda told her husband. "I can fight just as well as you."

"I know, love," he said. "Thank you."

"Mar-Mar, can I come?" Tiki asked. "I want to help!" Marth gave her a helpless smile.

"We'll need your strength, Tiki. Thank you." He squared himself and unsheathed Falchion. "All right, my friends. Prepare for battle!" He hurried down the corridor with his companions hot on his heels.