Chapter 28
Like Nathan had suspected, the resistance fighters were unwilling to engage with Say'ri and their company once they left the fort, giving them ample time to flee. Despite having taken out one of the three main Valamese division leaders, the shepherds couldn't help but feel as though they had lost the fight, having lost their only chance at reinforcements with the resistance being forced to side with the Valamese. As they set up camp in a forest area backing against a cliff, Nathan went off for a walk by himself. The tactician swore and cursed loudly, angry about the day's events. A gain in numbers would have been a massive lift, and now…
Nathan paused for a moment. What was he so mad about? Yes, they had lost, and lost a huge advantage, but no casualties were suffered. Normally, that would only be cause for heading back to the drawing board, and feeling guilty about what happened. But anger?
"A strange feeling, isn't it…" A voice smugly muttered to him. The tactician looked up to see himself, surrounded by an odd purple aura, leaning up against a tree nearby, sneering at him. "Oh, don't worry yourself, you're not seeing things…I may not be here in person, but I'm here nonetheless."
It took a moment for Nathan to clue in. This was the identical version of himself that they had met back at Carrion Isle, when negotiating with Validar. "If you're not actually here, maybe your annoying voice could stop being here too." He snapped in reply.
The 'twin' laughed. "Oh, we do have such a sharp sense of wit, don't we…"
Nathan spat at the man, his anger rising. "Who are you?"
He got a wink back from his doppelganger, which replied, "Not a question you need answered yet."
"Well then, why the hell are you here?" Nathan growled, drawing Mystletainn from his back. "Are you with the Valamese?"
The other Nathan chuckled to himself. "Ha! My boy, the power I serve is much higher than these Valamese scum could ever dream of…"
"Don't waste my time. Answer the damn question. Why are you here?"
"To deliver a message."
Nathan cautiously lowered his sword somewhat, still holding it up just in case. "I'm listening."
'Other' Nathan simply smiled smugly at his counterpart. "It's quite simple. You can't stop fate. Your destiny…is already written. All that's left is to fulfill it."
The 'real' Nathan shook his head, glaring back at the man. "We're not pawns of some scripted fate."
The twin rolled his eyes. "Believe what you want. You'll get proof of how unchangeable your future is soon enough…"
At this point, Nathan had heard more than enough. He lunged at the other version of himself, swinging his blade straight through him. However, as he did, the man slowly vanished into a dark purple cloud of smoke. As it blew away with the wind, the tactician could hear an ominous laughter from afar.
He swore loudly, yet again. He had no idea what was going on, and, even worse, had no time to deal with another threat. The Valamese had to be his first priority, so he would have to put his own mysteries aside for the time being.
He turned about as he heard a voice calling his name within the lush forest. Looking around, he spotted Lucina walking towards him, with a concerned look on her face.
"Everyone has been looking for you. Are you ok?" The future princess asked. Nathan thought for a moment, before quickly dismissing any ideas of telling anyone about what had happened.
"I'm fine. I'm sorry for making everyone worry. I just needed some time to…er…cool off, after that last battle."
Lucina breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good to hear. Shall we head back to camp?"
Nathan nodded. "Sure."
The two walked in an awkward silence for a few minutes as Nathan scrambled to figure out what to discuss with Lucina, anything to try and stop the girl from asking about what he had been doing out in the forest.
"So…I guess, from my own understanding, since I'm married to Lissa, and you're Chrom's daughter, doesn't that make me your uncle?" He mused. "You always call Lissa 'Aunt', and not that it matters to me, but why do I not get the same treatment? No 'Uncle Nate' or anything like that?"
Lucina chuckled. "Well, I did know Lissa for a time, before she died, in my future. I called her Aunt Lissa there, so I guess it just stuck. When it comes to you, however…I never actually knew you before this, so I thought it might be strange if I used something less formal."
The tactician nodded. "That makes sense to me. Better not to assume we'd be on good terms."
"Exactly."
Nathan smiled at the girl. "But now that we've talked about it, 'Uncle Nathan' is a fair title for me."
Lucina playfully winked at the man. "From what I've heard, 'Prince and Grandmaster Nathan' is your proper title…"
Nathan groaned as the two got a good laugh. "Well, when you're not calling me that, I'd prefer something slightly less formal. Just Nathan works too, though."
"I'll remember that."
Nathan looked to the sky as they continued to walk back to the camp. "You know, I'm sure you hear it a lot, but you remind me so much of your father."
The future princess smiled. "I've heard it before, but it fills me with joy whenever I hear it again. One day, I hope to become as strong as him."
The tactician laughed in reply. "So then you can wreck all of our training dummies too? I don't think so. Those things cost a whole lot of gold, you know…"
Lucina grinned sheepishly. "You do have a point there, I'd rather be as strong but with less brute force…"
The two continued their lively conversation until they reached the camp. When they did, Nathan turned to Lucina.
"You know, I think you're alright. Come by anytime if you want to talk, little niece." He teased.
"Anytime, Uncle Nathan!" Lucina taunted back. The two went to walk their separate ways before both being stopped by Chrom.
"We're having an emergency meeting in the war tent. We'll need you both there right away." He told them. Nathan and Lucina nodded, following the Exalt as he led them to the large tent set up in the middle of the camp.
Once they arrived, they saw the usual suspects-Basilio, Flavia, Frederick, and Say'ri-huddled around the war table, covered in maps of the Valamese terrain, as they whispered to each other quietly.
"Any updates on the factions we sent against Yen'fay and Walhart's divisions?" Nathan asked eagerly. He had a feeling the response would not be one he wanted to hear though.
Flavia spoke up, shaking her head. "It's…not good."
"They've been destroyed." Chrom continued, a hint of anger rising in his voice. "Utterly decimated. Walhart and Yen'fay swatted them as though they were flies."
"But how?" Nathan protested. "They were told not to engage, just to distract from us heading to Fort Steiger!"
"Aye. They did." Say'ri told him. "However, as soon as they were spotted…Yen'fay and Walhart's troops jumped on them within moments. There was no time to move or prepare. From what our scouts have told us…it was a slaughter."
Nathan swore loudly, slamming his fist into the table, causing the others to jump back in surprise.
"So…what do we do now?" Frederick muttered, rubbing his chin. "Walhart and Yen'fay have their soldiers marching this way. There isn't much time we can spend here before we have to move."
Basilio laughed. "I have an idea."
The group turned to him.
"…Is it a logical idea?" Flavia asked. "Normally, your ideas miss that requirement."
Basilio rolled his eye. "Of course it is, woman! Anyways, where was I…ah yes…we should send another diversion. One with a bit of teeth this time."
"No. Absolutely not." Nathan snapped back. "I won't have anymore foolish casualties."
Basilio looked at the tactician, staring him down. "We don't have time for that nonsense boy, this is war! We have two factions trying to sandwich us here. Our best option is to send a few troops to stall Walhart, while you and the rest of the shepherds get rid of Yen'fay. If you can defeat him, and Walhart is the only general left, he'll have no choice but to retreat. He won't want to lose his head at that point, he'll need to regroup."
The tactician turned to Chrom. "What do you think?" He asked the Exalt.
"Do we have a choice? You already know it's the only thing that might work." The man replied.
Nathan reluctantly nodded. "Okay…" he muttered, before turning back to Basilio, "…what exactly did you mean by 'teeth' though?"
The warrior laughed, slamming his hand down on the table. "That's where I come in."
"You can't! That's suicide!" Say'ri gasped.
"She's right, you old fart. We can't afford to lose you." Flavia added.
Basilio groaned. "You don't seem to get it." He muttered. "I won't die. I'll go ahead and kill this 'Walhart' fellow, then head back and find you guys. Steal all the glory for myself, if you will."
"What makes you so confident?" Nathan muttered.
Basilio looked directly at the tactician, staring him down with his one good eye. "Boy, sometimes in life, a confident face is the only way to get out of a mess. And even if I don't, I can't think of a better way to go down than against a powerful warrior like this Walhart fellow!"
Nathan sighed. He knew there was no point in trying to convince the man otherwise. "Fine. But you'd better not get yourself killed."
"Wait!" Lucina suddenly cried. The group turned to her.
"What is it?" Chrom inquired. "If you're trying to volunteer to stall Walhart, I'll have you know there's no way in hell I'd let that happen…"
Lucina shook her head. "I didn't want to reveal much about my future, but this I cannot hide..."
"Spit it out, then," Basilio muttered.
"…In my future…when you stay behind to stall Walhart…this is where you die, Basilio. He kills you."
There was a shocked silence as the group all turned back to Basilio, who bore a blank expression on his dark-skinned face for a moment, before laughing heartily. "So I've got no odds working for me? Just how I like it!"
Flavia smiled at Lucina. "Don't you worry, little one." She told the future princess. "Things will be different, this time. I wasn't with Basilio when he stayed behind in your future, was I?"
Lucina slowly shook her head. Flavia looked at Basilio, who gave her an extremely surprised look.
"Looks like you just got some odds in your favour."
Basilio growled at the Feroxi woman. "HELL NO! You're the reigning Khan, for Naga's sake! This isn't your place!"
Flavia rolled her eyes. "You should know by now, you can't tell me what to do, oaf. And besides, our people will be fine. You've been training Lon'qu, yes? He'd make for a fine Khan. Not that he'll be needed…"
Basilio sighed in frustration. "Fine. You me, and some of our Feroxi warriors will stay behind. We're heading out right now to cut off Walhart, so the rest of you need to gather your things and start moving."
"But-" Lucina began, before Basilio cut her off.
"None of that! GO! NOW!"
