I'm still here! May have taken a really long time to get another update, but I totally did it!

A very big thank you to everyone who's still here and for those who followed, favorited and reviewed! And a special thank you to robotortoise and others who left their very detailed thoughts and have spotted spelling mistakes that I've missed. Ideally, I would be able to catch all of them, but I've only got one set of eyes and things inevitably fall through the cracks. Oh well. Best to catch them late than to not catch them at all, right?

And I see people are speculating on who Morgan's mother is. I wonder who it could be...?


Robin was a simple man of simple pleasures. He went through life enjoying the little things and didn't get caught up on material possessions. Everything that he afforded himself ever since he was promoted and added a few more figures to his paycheck were comfort items. Although he really enjoyed his new office and his new desk, he tried not to get too attached to them lest he repeat his despair that one time the Plegians attacked the capital and totally trashed his office, including that desk that he was so looking forward to. That day taught him never to get caught up on material things. Because things could break and that led to despair. And despair was bad.

So, Robin lived his life trying not to get attached to his stuff and instead care about the important things like his friends. And the delicious pies some of his friends made, his principles, and, most important of all, his coat. That accurately summed up the things Robin held near and dear to his heart.

Robin loved his friends because they gave his life purpose and meaning. The day Chrom found him lying down in some field was pretty much the day Robin started living (thank you, amnesia). The Shepherds quickly became the family Robin never remembered having, every one of them delightful and lovable in their own way, even if they did infuriate him on multiple occasions. He cared deeply for all of them and did his best to draft strategies to keep them alive during times of conflict.

And of his friends, there was Sumia. Sumia was one of his best friends. They fought together, read together, and laughed together. But more importantly, Sumia was a damn fine cook. She'd come a long way since that day he saw her fall flat on her face when greeting Chrom, as both a warrior and as a chef. As a warrior, Sumia fought with the best of them. As a chef, Sumia diversified and could now cook anything from baked goods to stews and meat dishes. But pie making was still where Sumia excelled and, much to Robin's relief, she still continued trying new recipes and brought her finished products for him to taste. Of course, she still spoiled him from time to time and cooked his favorite flavors. Robin was appreciative every time Sumia brought him one of her pies. Funnily enough, pies were what kickstarted their entire relationship.

Well, it was actually her insecurities that actually started their relationship, but the pies were all part of that. Back then, she was a simple rookie feeling useless and sought something to do, and Robin was newly installed and just getting to know everybody. Seeing her so down, Robin seized on whatever he could to get her to have some confidence in herself. That just so happened to be cooking and she just so happened to be really, really good at it. Robin also learned that he was a pie sort of man from her. Go figure.

So Sumia baked and Robin ate. And in between the baking and eating, Sumia gathered enough courage to step onto the battlefield, Robin realized she would be an invaluable addition to the army, they both started reading books and did a whole lot of other things that only pulled them closer. All because Sumia made great pies. Such good pies…

Aside from his friends and their pies, Robin had his principles. His principles that he held onto so firmly despite life's endless attempts to dismantle them every so often. But Robin was a man of strong will and even stronger principles, for what is a man without principles? A walking, unprincipled husk, that's what! And Robin was most certainly not an unprincipled husk of a man, despite life's constant attempts to prove otherwise. It just took a little adjusting on his part to align his principles to whatever predicament he found himself in. A little adaptability worked wonders.

And last but not least, there was his coat. Oh how Robin loved his coat. It was practical, stylish, and oh so functional. It had pockets enough for him to put all his stuff into, kept him warm during cold days, protected him from enemy spells, and just made him look (and feel) really cool in general. Not to mention that it was the only thing he had of his previous life, when he wasn't suffering from amnesia. So it was actually a part of his identity. Well, his old coat was. This new grandmaster's coat that everyone gave him for his birthday was like his old coat, but way better. In fact, it actually was his old coat, only with tailor-made modifications that made it better than his old coat. It was fancier, better, and made Robin look like an important dignitary (which he was). Truly a coat fit for the Grandmaster of the Realm.

Those were the four things that Robin loved above all else and formed the center of his inner world. His friends, pies, his principles, and his coat. Nothing could top those things in importance. Nothing!

…Or so Robin thought. That's certainly what he thought before Morgan appeared!

Ah, Morgan. Who knew one person's appearance could have such profound consequences on Robin's core beliefs? Because that's certainly what she did!

After the shock and the denial came acceptance. And as soon as Robin accepted that Morgan was his daughter, everything changed.

For one, he suddenly experienced an explosion of what can only be described as fatherly love and affection for her. Robin also felt an overwhelming urge to hold her close and never let go, a powerful urge to protect her from any and all harm at all costs (as well as inflict endless amounts of pain on those who dared hurt her), a strong desire to spoil her silly, and an uncontrollable need to keep her happy and cheer her up if she was down (which, fortunately, wasn't often. Robin sometimes wondered if Morgan could even feel anything resembling sadness).

It was as if Morgan walked into his life and firmly placed herself at the core of things Robin really, really cared about…which would be an accurate description of what she did in terms of Robin's priorities in life. And lacking any parental experience, Robin looked after Morgan like he looked after everything else he held near and dear to his heart: by taking interest in every second of her life and giving her attention that bordered on the obsessive.

If she sneezed, Robin was there with healing staves and at least three medical books. If she tripped, Robin was there with healing staves and elixirs. If she yawned, Robin was there with a blanket…and more healing staves. In his defense, Robin had no idea how to look after his daughter and just automatically assumed the worst. Besides, they had a whole bunch of healing staves lying around. Better to be safe than sorry was, after all, the motto that Robin worked under. Well, one motto of many.

Robin looking out for his daughter was not unlike Frederick's…methodical looking after Chrom and the royal family. However, the difference was that, while Frederick's constant fretting caused Chrom endless amounts of embarrassment and bemusement to Lissa, Morgan reveled in all the attention Robin poured on her. She didn't find Robin's constant worrying over every little thing embarrassing or overbearing in the slightest. In fact, she was more than content to be the center of his attention and happy with every moment spent with her father. And when she was happy, Robin was happy. And in his efforts to keep her happy, Robin swore that he would keep his daughter safe and sound from any and all threats out there.

So that's what he was currently doing.

In his efforts to protect his daughter, Robin called in all the relevant magically adept and savvy Shepherds to look her over and appraise her defenses (barring Maribelle and Ricken. He knew the former would demand he waste more of his time with nobility lessons, so he threw the latter to distract her with tea or something). From there, he hoped they would advise him on what kind of protective spells and such he could cast over her to improve her chances of not dying in this dangerous world.

To this end, Robin watched on as the various Shepherds formed a circle and did their magic thing while Morgan sat in a chair and curiously looked on.

"Um…Dad?"

"Don't worry, Morgan. Just a bit longer. We'll just have a quick look at your natural defenses and then cast some protective spells in areas you may be lacking. This is for your own survival and my peace of mind. Just bear with us for a little while longer, okay?"

Robin offered a reassuring smile.

"Okay, but is this really necessary?" asked Morgan. "I mean, you did train me in the future to look after myself and stuff. And I was totally in control when those things attacked me in the ruins!"

"Really? Because I heard that your spellbook ran dry and you were about to face overwhelming numerical superiority or continue fleeing."

"T-that's a completely different issue!" Morgan said quickly.

"Different or not, the me of today doesn't know what the me of tomorrow did in regards to your strengths and weaknesses. And until I train with you and see what you're capable of, I'm stuck in the dark. So until we have some training sessions, this is the next best thing," Robin explained before adding, "I just want you to be safe, Morgan."

"Aw, would you look at that?" cooed Lissa. "In such a short amount of time, Robin went from being 'Grumpasaurus Rex' to 'Surprisingly Kind and Caring Dad.' Who knew our resident tactician had it in him?"

Robin glared.

"I certainly did!" chirped Morgan. "I may not remember much, but I do remember that I got the best dad ever!"

Morgan's unconditional love and affection never failed to bring a smile to Robin's face and make his heart swell.

Lissa giggled. "Somebody's chipper."

"Can't help it. I got my Dad and no memories. That's enough to make me a happy camper!" Morgan smiled brightly. "Having my dad, that is. Less so the memories. Would sure be nice if I had those too, but I take what I can get."

"That's a healthy attitude to have. I like you already!" declared Henry.

"Hey, thanks!"

"To think that our child would be so…positive," Tharja mumbled under her breath.

"For the last time, Tharja. You're not the mother!" Robin said in exasperation. "Haven't we been over this already? No one knows who her mother is!"

"But how can she not be ours?" Tharja asked as she slinked her way to Robin's side. "No one loves you as much as I do…"

"Tharja…" Robin sighed. "Let's say I actually entertain that crazy thought for a second. Do you have any evidence to back up your claim?"

"Believe me, I've tried to get it. Oh, how I've tried…" the sorceress muttered gloomily. "But all the magic I use seems to dissipate around her."

Robin frowned.

"Putting aside the fact that you've tried to hex or otherwise cast unsanctioned spells on my daughter, what do you mean the magic just 'dissipates'?"

"I mean exactly what I say. It seems there's some sort of protective magical barrier that surrounds your daughter and renders her immune to every hex I've tried so far."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah!" Henry nodded. "Your kid probably has enough protective and defensive spells to survive the apocalypse!"

"I concur with these initial observations."

Robin looked up to see Miriel making some notes.

"Miriel? Care to explain?"

"Yeah," piped up Morgan. "Does that mean I have some kind of natural anti-magic barrier around me? Does that make me special? Am I totally immune to magic?!"

"Calm down, Morgan," Robin chuckled. "As awesome as it would be, I'm sure Miriel will completely ruin our expectations with logic. Right, Miriel?"

"Robin, I will not be 'ruining' anything by providing you with a clear and logical—"

"See? Expectations in the process of being ruined."

Miriel frowned in annoyance.

"Hey, listen up!" Lissa said irritably and bonked Robin on the head with her staff. "This is important!"

"Ow! You know, those healing staves are pretty heavy. You can really hurt someone with them!"

"Do you want me to curse her for you, my love?" Tharja purred. "I have some curses I've been saving up…"

"Eek!" Lissa ran and hid behind Morgan.

"Tharja, what did I—" Robin began tiredly before he was interrupted.

"Neat! Are we cursing people now? Please tell me we're cursing people now!" Henry was practically bouncing on his feet. "I got some really good ones I've been dying to try out!"

"Henry, that—"

"Back off," hissed Tharja. "This was my suggestion and I'll be the one to carry it out!"

"Aww, but I haven't cursed anyone in soooo loooong!"

"No one is cursing anyone!" snapped Robin. "Especially not another Shepherd and extra especially not a member of the royal family! That's against the terms of your contracts and Chrom wouldn't appreciate his sister being turned into a toad or whatever!"

"But it doesn't have to be a toad!" said Henry. "It can be a fly, or a cat or even a—"

"NO CURSING TEAMMATES!"

"Okey-dokey. I guess I'll save up the good stuff for the bad guys, as usual."

"Tharja?"

"…Fine."

"Good. Crisis averted…" Robin sighed. "Now, where were we?"

"I think we were at the part where Miriel was gonna explain how I'm not super magically resistant and offer a boring explanation," said Morgan.

"Oh yeah. Thanks, kiddo!"

Morgan beamed.

"Now then. Miriel. What do you have for us?"

"Such a commotion…" Miriel shook her head in exasperation. "What I was saying is that your daughter does seem to have a surprisingly high resistance to magic. However, my observations suggest that it is not innate nor is this resistance tied specifically to her."

"Okay, what does that mean? Why does she have such high magic resistance?" Robin asked.

"I believe that it is due to her choice of clothing."

"My clothing?" Morgan looked down. "What? My shirt? My coat? …My pants?"

"That is correct."

"Really?" Morgan asked in confusion. "My pants give me super anti-magic protection?"

"Not your pants. Your coat."

"Oh. What of it?"

"Your coat has a large quantity of protective magical properties that range from shield wards to protective hexes that greatly increase its, and by extension, your, resistance to magic. The spells on your coat are not unlike the ones Robin cast on his."

The grandmaster nodded in approval.

"That's my girl! So young and already looking out after her uniform! It's better you do this now instead of letting life teach you to look after your one-of-a-kind coat the old-fashioned way. It took me a lot of close calls and big messes to realize that I had to protect my coat at all costs. Well, actually it took it being ruined by a misfire from an experimental spellbook to do that, but still! Thank the gods for good friends. I still don't know how you guys managed to sneak it out and make it better without me noticing."

"It wasn't really that hard, Robin," said Lissa. "You were so down after your little 'accident' that it wasn't that hard to take what remained of it out of that box you put it in, get it to the best tailors in town and have it remade better than ever!"

"A dark time in my life," Robin said grimly. "I almost lost the one thing that defined me as me. You guys came through when it mattered most. And that little incident also taught me that I couldn't possibly let something like that happen again."

"Yes, then you went around and asked anyone who was versed in magic to help you in your endeavor by having them cast any and all the protective spells they knew on your coat."

"I still stand by my actions," Robin said unapologetically. "It was all in the pursuit of the greater good, even if some of you did say you had better things to do. All it took was me asking you over and over again until you relented."

"Oh, I'm not complaining. We've spent so much time together during our spellweaving sessions. Just you and me in one room for prolonged periods of time…" Tharja drifted off dreamily. "It was more than I could've asked for."

"I'm grateful for your help, Tharja. And I guess all that time did make me less uneasy around you."

Tharja grinned.

"…Somewhat."

Miriel cleared her throat. "If I may?"

"There's more?"

"Quite. You recall that I was one of the mages you came to seeking help with your coat issue, do you not?"

"Yep. You were one of the first people I approached. I figured you would know a bunch of protective spells and such. And you totally came through!"

"Indeed. What is interesting to note is that the spells on Morgan's coat are strikingly familiar to the ones that I remember casting. In fact, they are identical."

"So? Aren't those spells common?"

"They would be, but I've taken the liberty of adjusting some of their properties to better suit them for the task at hand and maximize their efficiency in safeguarding your coat. I've noted that Morgan's coat has the exact same modifications, down to the smallest detail."

"This is true," agreed Tharja. "I remember crafting very specific protective hexes for our sessions. I can see my own handiwork on Morgan's coat. My exact handiwork."

"What are you guys saying?"

"We are saying that it is almost certain that the coat your daughter is wearing, with all its protective properties, is your own," Miriel explained.

"Wait, that's it? All that buildup for that?" Morgan laughed. "I could've told you guys that!"

All eyes turned to Robin's daughter.

"What? I thought it would be obvious. Dad gave it to me for my birthday. After all, what better present to an aspiring tactician on her road to be as good as her dad than the symbolic coat of the best tactician ever? Dad had it cleaned up and everything! It looked as good as new. I figured that maybe the luck and wisdom of countless battles would rub off on me if I wore it long enough."

"Well, isn't that touching? But…" Robin looked down. "I only have one coat and this is it. And my one coat got burned, died, and then got resurrected like a mighty phoenix to the coat I'm wearing today. A coat fit for a grandmaster. A unique coat that's unique only to me, Robin."

"Really?" Morgan looked between herself and her father. "I very clearly remember you giving me this as a birthday present. You had it wrapped up in a blue and gold box and everything! I even remember you smiling and telling me that this was the first official step in my journey to become as good as you."

"But…how? I mean, I'm all for doing something like that, but it just doesn't add up. I couldn't have given you my coat because my coat is my current coat. My only current coat. Yours looks like mine before it got all burned and remade."

"Maybe you had more than one coat in the future?" Lissa offered.

"Maybe, but that doesn't explain this whole thing. And if I had more than one coat, I'd like to think that I'd go for better and better coats, not step down in quality. Why would I have my grandmaster's coat and then go for a tactician's coat? That seems like a clear step down the ladder."

"Hey, maybe you went out and bought your kid a new tactician's coat, had all of us cast the exact same spells on it, and then presented it to her as your old coat!"

"Henry, why would I go through all that and lie to my daughter?"

"I dunno. To keep up the illusion?"

Morgan shook her head.

"No, it was definitely Dad's old coat. Although he probably had it remade to look new and stuff, it wasn't like one of those completely new clothes you find in stores. It wasn't crisp and had signs of wear and stitches where there were cuts from battle and stuff. Besides, Dad would never lie or deceive me like that."

"Never," Robin agreed resolutely.

"If that's the case, then how can we explain this whole weird situation with your yet also not your coat?" asked Lissa.

"It's definitely Dad's coat."

"Uh, let's just…put that to one side, yeah? Thinking about future stuff and how things don't necessarily add up to present stuff makes my brain hurt…" Robin rubbed his temples. "Anyway, Morgan got a coat that also happens to be mine from the future for her birthday. Being maybe my coat, it also has all my protective spells and such, which explains why Morgan's so resistant to magic. Does that accurately sum up what we've discussed?"

Miriel nodded. "That is correct, yes. However…"

"What, there's more?"

"Indeed. I thought you would be interested to know that while I was examining the spells on your daughter's coat, I've noticed something…peculiar."

Robin raised an eyebrow. "Such as?"

"Although I have recognized the familiar spells that myself and others have cast, there were many others that were completely alien to me."

"So? Isn't it natural that there'd be more spells cast in the future as I or others came across them?" asked Robin. "I'm sure the us of the future made and knew many more spells than the us of the present."

"An acute observation. However, the spells that I'm detecting are unlike anything I've seen before."

"I can attest to that," said Tharja.

"You can?"

Tharja nodded. "Aside from all the familiar spells and hexes on her coat, I've noticed other spells. Defense hexes and shield sigils unlike anything I've ever seen. What's more, they have traces of something…ancient, dark, and very powerful."

"Oh yeah, it's the best!" laughed Henry. "I dunno what kind of books you dug through to protect you kid, but the stuff you cast on her is really top notch! Puts the best sorcerers in Plegia to shame!"

"My coat has traces of something dark and ancient on it?" Morgan asked before looking worriedly at Robin. "…Dad?"

"Don't listen to them, Morgan! Tharja and Henry are just saying stuff how dark mages tend to do. If you look past the cryptic and the creepy, I'm pretty sure they're just saying that you got some really strong protective spells on you," Robin assured. "Right, guys?"

"That's not really—"

"Right, guys?"

Henry and Tharja looked at each other before shrugging.

"Yes. That's exactly what we're saying."

"Cryptic and creepy is the dark mage specialty, nya ha ha!"

"There," Robin turned to his daughter and smiled reassuringly. "See? Nothing to worry about. This was all probably about the me of the future worrying about you like the me of the present is now and just finding new spells to help protect you."

"Yeah, okay…" Morgan visibly relaxed. "Thanks, Dad. You had me worried there. I thought that my coat had some evil dark magic and would come alive and consume me or something!"

"Morgan, I can assure you that nothing like that will happen," Robin chuckled. "Although Tharja, Henry and I did all collaborate to make a regeneration hex specifically for my coat, I highly doubt it'll give sentience to your coat."

"Regeneration hex?" Lissa asked curiously.

"I was unaware that you have concocted such a hex," said Miriel, visibly interested. "Please elaborate."

"What, that little thing? It was no biggie!" laughed Henry. "Just took an existing hex, got a bunch of ingredients and bam! Newest hex on the market!"

"Although it did take modifying one of mine to do it. One that Robin and I have spent much time making…" Tharja muttered darkly.

"It was all for a greater cause," said Robin. "Besides, that thing took us three some brainstorming to figure out, right? Time spent together and all that?"

"True, although I wish we did it together without a third party interrupting…" Tharja cast a scornful look at Henry.

"Aw, don't be like that! Isn't hexing so much more fun with friends?"

"We are certainly not friends."

"Really? Even after all we've been through? Because I certainly think we are!"

Tharja's retort was cut off by Lissa.

"Uh, guys? You still haven't explained what this regeneration thing does."

"Nothing major," said Robin. "I just noticed that it would be a huge pain in the ass if I needed to go to one of you or the tailor every time my coat got a little cut or scrape. I thought it would be a lot neater if it could sew itself shut. And then I thought that hey, why can't it sew itself shut? With magic, anything is possible! Considering this was probably outside conventional magic, I went to our resident dark mages to see if they could help me out."

"And you all collectively created this new hex?" Miriel asked.

"We sure did!" Henry answered cheerily. "It's always fun to make new hexes, doubly so if it's with friends! We all got together and brainstormed a bunch of ideas before we got a rough plan together. Then it was a matter of gathering the ingredients and ironing out the details."

"We sure did need a bunch of lizard tails and frog's blood. It was so gross…" Robin recalled with a shiver. "But all worth it in the end. After a bunch of failed attempts and many ruined practice coats, we finally found a formula that worked. And now, I'm the proud owner of a coat that heals its own wounds. Behold!"

Robin took out a dagger and made a small cut in his sleeve.

After a few moments, the cut fabric slowly grew and reattached itself. It continued doing so until it completely sewed the cut shut, leaving no traces of it anywhere.

"Ta-da!"

Robin grinned triumphantly.

"Most impressive…" Miriel mumbled to herself.

"It's pretty awesome. Takes my mind off worrying about anything bad happening to my prized coat."

"Wow, that's super cool!" Morgan exclaimed. "Do you think my coat does that too?"

"I don't know. We cast this hex when I received my grandmaster's coat. I'd probably play it on the safe side and say—"

"Let's find out!"

"Morgan, no!"

Robin looked in horror as his daughter reached for a knife from the table and made a long cut along her sleeve.

He waited with baited breath for 15 seconds.

Then 30.

Then 45!

Just when Robin was about to despair that Morgan ruined her one and only coat, he noticed that the fabric of her coat moving. Much to his relief, the long cut slowly started to fix itself.

"Hey, that's pretty neat!" Morgan said happily. "Guess my coat also fixes itself. Cool!"

"Morgan!"

"…Dad?"

"Morgan, what do, or, did, I always tell you?" Robin asked sternly.

"Hope for the best but have at least three plans for the worst," Morgan answered immediately.

Robin blinked. "No. Well, yes, but no. Although it's a wise motto to live by, that's not the one I'm looking for."

"Oh. Uh…adaptability is the key to battlefield success?"

"Another good piece of advice, but no."

"…Pies are worth more than human life?"

"I didn't actually say that, did I?"

"I…think so?"

"Morgan!"

"What? You say a lot of stuff!"

Despite himself, Robin chuckled.

"Okay, kiddo. Let me narrow it down for you. I'm looking for sayings concerning coats."

"Oh. Then why didn't you say so? You had many of them also!" Morgan thought for a moment before perking up. "I got it! Pockets are the key to victory!"

"Heh, that's a good one, but no."

"The state of a tactician's coat reflects back on the tactician?"

"You're getting warmer…"

"Uh…oh! A good tactician always maintains her coat as if her life depended on it! Because sometimes it actually does."

"There we go!"

Morgan beamed.

"Now keeping that saying in mind, what did you do wrong?"

"Wrong?"

Robin pointed.

"What? My sleeve? That didn't count."

"Oh yeah? How so? There was no guarantee that your coat had a regeneration hex like mine did. You were practically walking into the unknown and could've ruined your one and only coat forever," Robin pointed out.

"Ah, but I didn't," Morgan countered. "Because I knew there was a high chance of my coat having the hex."

"How so?" Robin asked dubiously. "We've already established that can't be my coat. How could you possibly assume such a thing and risk completely ruining your coat?"

"On the balance of probabilities," Morgan explained simply. "You're my dad. This is your coat. Or, was. Will be? Anyway, you of all people know the importance of coat maintenance, so I figured you'd take all the precautions when taking care of it. Also, you're giving this coat to me. Morgan! Your daughter, Daddy's little girl and all that good stuff. Along with mom, I'm the most important person in your life so of course you'd go above and beyond to try and make my coat extra, super effective!"

As Morgan finished her explanation and smiled proudly, Robin could feel a tear running down his face.

Without warning, he marched over to her and gave her a big hug.

"Dad?"

"Such sound and logical reasoning! Plegia will freeze over before I let you go out into the world anything less than totally prepared!" Robin sniffed. "Gods, just when I think I couldn't be more proud of you, you prove me wrong. I don't think I could be a happier parent."

Morgan smiled brightly and returned Robin's hug.

Lissa cleared her throat.

"As much as I hate to ruin such a cute little scene between father and daughter, how could you, Robin?!"

"What did I do now, Lissa?" the grandmaster asked tiredly.

"Here you had this totally useful spell to make clothes fix themselves and you kept it from me!"

"Uh…" Robin blinked. "I'm sorry, but last checked, I'm under no obligation to report spells that I create to you or anyone."

"But it's common courtesy! Especially spells that can save us so much trouble!" huffed Lissa.

"…Who is 'us' and what are you even talking about?"

"You know. Me, Cherche, people who sew. Those people. Us!"

"…What?"

"Never mind. The point is that you had this handy spell and didn't tell anyone about it! Do you know how much some of us have suffered trying to fix clothes?"

Robin looked at the princess quizzically.

"…That explain why your hands are covered in bandages?"

"Yeah. Do you know how hard it is to do needlework without stabbing your fingers?" Lissa asked in exasperation. "Very! You try and try again and the only thing you end up with is puffy, bleeding fingers!"

"Clearly," Robin said, amused. "Why do you even bother if it's that hard? Just have someone more talented do it for you or something."

"That is TOTALLY not how I operate, mister! I refuse to become one of those lazy nobles who can't even butter their own crumpets! I want to do more than be known as the little delicate princess and actually be useful!"

"Lissa, you've spent years training to ride a pegasus and are now learning the ropes of sagely magic," Robin pointed out. "I think that makes you plenty useful."

"I appreciate that, Robin, but I want to do more off the battlefield. You know, the mundane and everyday stuff," Lissa sighed. "As least I would, if these stupid needles would just stop poking my fingers!"

"An admirable goal," Robin nodded in approval. "But…now you want my regeneration hex instead of learning to do it yourself?"

"I tried to. Many times. Look at all these bandages on my hands! Besides, I figure this hex will save us all a lot of time fixing small tears in our clothes so we can focus on other stuff."

"You want to cast this hex on all our clothes?" Robin asked incredulously.

"Why not? Seems like a good idea."

"Lissa, do you even know how to create hexes?"

"No, but it can't be that hard, can it? Besides, you can teach me, right?"

"I guess, although not everyone has what it takes…"

"I'm sure I can do it!" Lissa declared confidently. "Shouldn't take too long, right?"

"I...don't think so…"

"Great! So you'll just teach me this hex of yours once and then we can both hex everyone's clothes in camp! Then no one will ever need to worry about tears in their clothes again!"

"That…sounds like a plan."

"Yeah!"

"Although you're going to have to gather the materials on your own. I don't need to go lizard hunting in stupidly specific swamps more than once in my life…"

"Sure thing! I'll—" Lissa paused. "Swamps?"

"Yep. Swamps. Apparently, the specific species of lizard whose tails we need live in only certain swamps. And you have to go there yourself to hunt enough of them for the hex. Urgh…" Robin shivered. "Not the most pleasant of memories…"

"I dunno what you're talking about. It was a blast!" Henry laughed.

Tharja rolled her eyes.

"Oh. That's, uh…" Lissa suddenly looked very unsure. "I don't suppose you have any left over?"

Robin shook his head. "Afraid I don't. You're going to have to go there yourself and have fun wading through swap muck in search of these things. Besides, didn't you say you wanted to be able to do more stuff?"

"Yeah, but I said everyday stuff. That doesn't mean I want to go through gross swamps!" Lissa sighed. "There goes my dream of having regenerating clothes. Guess I'll have to go back to learning how to sew…"

"Hey, don't sweat it. I'm sure you'll get the hang of it! Just…you know. Don't be afraid to ask for help now and then. I'm sure Cherche will be more than happy to show you how it's done."

"Yeah, although it doesn't count as me doing something by myself…" Lissa mumbled.

"As long as you learned something new and learned how to do it, the methods don't matter. It's all about the result."

"I guess…"

"If I may?" Miriel spoke up. "This conversation raises some interesting points."

"It does?"

"Indeed. I speak mostly of the art of hex crafting. This is an area that I have been quite eager to study for some time. Would you mind giving me a detailed account of how you conjured your hex? Please be as specific as possible."

"Uh..." Robin was caught off-guard by Miriel's request. "I…don't think I have exact detailed notes of how we came about that hex…"

"I do!" Henry said cheerily.

"You do?"

"Yep! I keep notes of all the neat spells and curses and stuff I come across. Most of the stuff there is ways to make people explode or turn inside out, but I got some handy hexes and curses in there too!"

"Fascinating. Will you permit me to study the contents of your notebook?"

"You bet! Although I gotta warn you, there's some pretty nasty stuff in there! It's not for the faint of heart."

"You needn't concern yourself. I've seen many unnerving things while I conducted my research. I'm certain I can handle whatever you have written down."

"Nya ha ha, neat! I love it when I have buddies to swap and share hexes with! Always makes things much more fun and helps the ol' noggin get to work and get creative! Right, Tharja?"

"Why do you keep on addressing me?" the sorceress asked irritably. "Go find someone else to bother."

"Aw, but we're growing so close! I can practically feel the bond growing between us."

"My glaring does not count as a bond."

"Really? I thought that—"

"Okay! Changing the subject!" Robin turned to his daughter. "Morgan."

"Dad?"

"You ran out of spells when Chrom and the others found you."

"Yeah…"

"Knowing me, I probably hammered it into your head that a good tactician is prepared for all circumstances. A basic level of preparation means having loads and loads of backup spells so that you constantly have a source of offensive magic. From what I know, you only had Elfire spells on you. What gives?"

"I really don't know…" Morgan admitted. "It's one of the basic principles of preparedness you taught me again and again ever since I can remember! For me to only have one spell in my book, and not even that many of it seems really weird. I honestly don't know how that happened. I certainly wouldn't knowingly go out with an underprepared spellbook, that's for sure!"

"I sure hope not. I expect future me to have taught you better than that!" Robin sighed. "But we can put that aside for now. What's important is that you're here, you're safe, and we can make sure this never happens again. Miriel? I trust you've taken care of this?"

"That is correct," said the sage as she handed Robin Morgan's spellbook. "I've taken the liberty of examining your daughter's spellbook whilst transferring spells."

"And?"

"I can safely conclude that it's much more than a simple spellbook. Certainly more than the ones we have."

"Really?" Robin asked as he examined his daughter's spellbook. "Seems pretty standard to me, except maybe for the blue cover and this insignia on the cover. Wait, isn't this the same thing that's on Chrom's shoulder and in Lucina's eye?"

"Wait, really?" Lissa approached curiously. "Lemme see."

Robin showed her the book with the telltale tear-shaped symbol on its cover.

"That is the Brand of the Exalt, yes," confirmed Miriel. "Which I found curious, as it is associated strictly with the royal family of Ylisse. To have something like this found on an object carried by someone not belonging to the family is quite unusual."

"It is?" asked Morgan. "I feel like I've had it with me since forever. Or, maybe recently? Definitely as long as I had my coat. Maybe. I…think I might've got them as birthday presents at once?"

"That's a probably it," Robin said confidently.

"You seem awfully sure," commented Lissa.

"Why wouldn't I be? I'm Ylisse's Grandmaster of the Realm. That pretty much makes me the second most important person in the country after the royal family."

"Robin, the royal family isn't one pers—"

"FURTHERMORE, I'm best friends with Chrom. I'd like to think that my best friend would give my daughter something totally unique and awesome instead of giving her a simple run-of-the-mill spellbook. Right, Miriel?" Robin asked hopefully. "There's something really special about this spellbook, isn't there? I mean, it has the royal seal and everything!"

"I have indeed noticed some peculiarities about Morgan's spellbook," Miriel confirmed.

"Ha ha, I knew it! Chrom wouldn't just skimp out on a gift for his best friend's daughter! So what kind of awesome did he pack in the spellbook? It's good, right? It has to be. How good is it?"

"Your daughter's spellbook does seem to have some alterations to it that changes its properties and the types of spells it can hold," explained Miriel. "I have detected traces of some very arcane modifications that allow this spellbook to hold more powerful spells than is possible."

"Wow, that's some pretty heavy duty stuff!" Robin nodded in approval. "Chrom continues to show that he's a great gift giver."

"Indeed. Moreover…"

"There's more?"

Miriel nodded. "These modifications share the same energies as the runes and hexes on your daughter's coat. Furthermore, although the spellbook seems to be optimized to hold more high-level spells than the average spellbook, it seems especially receptive to dark magic."

"Really?" Robin asked, surprised. "Dark magic?"

"Hey, that sounds like my area of expertise!"

"Calm down, Henry," Robin said sternly. "You're not getting anywhere near Morgan's spellbook."

"Aw, why not?"

"Because I don't even know what she's capable of. I'm not going to just let her jump into dark magic all of a sudden!"

"Does my book being able to hold a bunch of dark magic spells mean I'm really good at it…?" Morgan wondered aloud.

"I don't know, but we're not going to find out anytime soon."

"Speaking of dark magic…" Tharja grinned and made her way to Robin's side. "When are we going to resume our lessons? There are still so many curses I need to teach you…"

"That's true. And there's still so much dark magic stuff I could do…"

Tharja chuckled darkly.

"Yeah…" Robin quickly looked around. "Hey, Henry! Why don't you join our little hexing session?"

"Really? That's great! Dark magic slinging is always so much more fun with friends!" Henry's default smile widened.

Tharja's, meanwhile, darkened considerably.

"Why must you include him in our activities, my love? These sessions where the only times I had you all to myself…"

"Aww, don't be like that. We can have fun coming up with gruesome and bloody curses, all three of us! Heck, I'm getting giddy already!"

"That's not the point, fool!" Tharja hissed. "The point is…"

"Uh, Robin? Are you sure this is a good idea?" Lissa asked, while they watched the two dark magic users bickering. "I mean, having Henry and Tharja in the same room practicing dark magic with you? They don't seem to get along very well…"

"They'll be fine," Robin said dismissively. "Dark birds of a feather and all that. It could be yet another team building exercise for both of them. Well, Tharja, anyway. Henry seems willing to get along with just about anybody."

"You sure she won't hex you for this? She really seems to like your alone time and bringing Henry into it looks like it upset her pretty bad."

"She won't hex me or anyone. It's against her terms of employment."

"You really think that'll stop her?"

"It did when I told her not to. She may not listen to anyone, but she does do pretty much everything I say. Thank the gods for that one, eh?"

"That's for sure. I don't think she even listens to Chrom as much as she does you!"

"At least her obsession with me has one upside…" Robin chuckled before turning to his daughter. "Sorry for the distraction, kiddo. These tend to happen a lot with us. Here's your spellbook back. Now with more spells!"

"Thanks!" Morgan took her spellbook and flipped through the pages. "Hey, how come there are so many medium level spells and only a few of the really good ones in here? Didn't you guys say my spellbook can handle the good stuff?"

"We did, but you're my daughter and I've yet to determine your magic capabilities. I'm going to suddenly hand you our most powerful spells right off the bat," explained Robin. "I need to train with you first and see what level you're at before anything else. What I do know is that you fired off Elfire spells out there, so you're definitely on that level."

"Aw, does that mean I can't call down tornadoes from the sky? Or douse my enemies with streams of fire?"

"I'm afraid not. We can discuss it once we get some training in."

"And here I thought I'd get the good spells early…" Morgan sighed before perking up. "But at least I get to spend some time with you and see you work!"

"Heh, always looking at the bright side."

"You know it."

Robin chuckled before turning to Miriel.

"Hey, all this spellbook talk reminded me of something. Did you manage to issue all magic capable Shepherds with your spellbooks?"

"I have," Miriel confirmed. "It was a long and painstaking process, but I've managed to make enough spellbooks to equip everyone who is in need of one."

"And they all know how to do the transfer thing between tomes and spellbooks?"

"For the most part. Some are more capable than others. I suggested they not try to do so without my supervision lest we have some unfortunate incidents."

"Yeah, that'll be me," said Lissa. "I think I'll need a bit more help before I can manage to get spells in my book all by myself."

"I'm sure you'll get the hang of it eventually, Lissa. Practice makes perfect and all that. Although, I'll have to sit in those lessons myself and…" Robin drifted off and thought for a moment before looking up. "So all the Shepherds have their spells contained in one spellbook. That's convenient. Do you have enough of them for the mages and such in the army?"

"No."

"What do you mean 'no'? I thought these were your inventions. You made enough of them for the Shepherds."

"Robin, there is a very significant difference between fabricating and distributing my spellbooks to a handful of individuals and an entire army," Miriel stated flatly. "As it stands now, I have neither the time nor the resources to craft enough spellbooks to equip every mage in the army, let alone by the time hostilities commence."

"Man!" Robin ran his hand through is hair in frustration. Somehow he got it into his head that he could get these spellbooks to the Shepherds and then to every magic user in the army. "So are you telling me that the army will have to rely on tomes for the upcoming war?"

"That is correct."

"And they'll still have to carry different elementals on them and switch between them in the middle of battle?"

"Indeed."

"Why are you so upset by this?" Lissa asked. "We managed to do this during the last war. And we even won!"

"Yeah, but now we have a distinct advantage over our enemies! But only we can make any use of it…" Robin sighed heavily. "I wish there was a way to mass produce this stuff in time for the war…"

"Did someone say 'mass produce'?!"

"GAH!" Robin jumped back in surprise as he heard a familiar voice suddenly pipe up from behind him. "For Naga's sake, Anna! How many times do I have to tell you to stop sneaking up on me like that?!"

"Sorry, hon," the merchant chucked. "But I can't help myself. Your reactions are always worth it."

Lissa giggled. "Very true."

"You people…" Robin grumbled. "Anna, why are you here? Got new stocks that you want to sell to me or something?"

"Straight to business, huh? I like that!" Anna cleared her throat. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation about needing to supply your army with some kind of new spellbooks. I also couldn't help but notice that you guys don't really have the capability to supply your entire army with those new books."

"And?" Robin asked suspiciously.

"And guess which merchant has access to the most sophisticated research centers and the most comprehensive distribution network in all of everywhere?"

Robin tried to contain his excitement by putting on a poker face.

"I see someone's interested…"

"…Why do I even bother?"

"I'm not sure. You're easier to read than an open book."

"Gee, thanks," Robin said dryly. "But can you really do this? Make enough spellbooks and have them all delivered to our army before the war begins in earnest?"

"Merchant's promise! And as you know, a merchant's nothing without her honor. Being the best merchant around, you know that I'll pull through anything once I put my word to it."

"While that's true, I've also done enough business with you to know that you only offer things to me if there's profit to be made. Naturally, we'll pay for your services in supplying us with spellbooks, but that doesn't seem like enough money for you to approach me out of the blue. So what are you really after, Anna? What about this will make it worth your while?"

"What, me?" Anna asked innocently. "Can't a merchant go help her friends from the goodness of her—"

Robin, Morgan and Lissa looked at the merchant dryly. Even Miriel had an expression that showed she wasn't convinced.

"Worth a shot," Anna said sheepishly.

Robin shook his head. "Enough games, Anna. Tell me why you're here before I decide to reject your offer outright."

"Wow, sounds like somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed."

Robin glared.

"Not in the mood? Okay. Let's get down to it, then. The main reason why I'm offering my services to you is because I see the potential in your all-in-one spellbook. What's more, I see huge profits to be made in selling it. I mean huge profits."

"So that's your game. Wait…" Robin paused as a thought occurred. "You mean to tell me that you're going to take our invention and sell it to other nations?"

"That's the plan. I just know it'll sell faster than anything else I've got. Everyone will want to cut down the number of tomes they have to carry with them into battle!"

"And when you say everyone, you mean countries and armies that are not named Ylisse?"

"Everyone. Every country, every army," Anna clarified. "That's how I can get maximum profits! Everyone will want one. Everyone."

Robin remained silent before taking a deep breath.

"Anna? I just have one question."

"Shoot."

"Are you completely OUT OF YOUR MIND?!"

Robin's sudden outburst caught everyone in the tent off-guard.

"WE ARE GOING TO FACE AN ENEMY THE LIKES OF WHICH WE'VE NEVER FACED BEFORE AND THAT WILL MAKE THE PLEGIANS LOOK LIKE CHILDREN! JUST WHEN WE HAVE THIS ONE LITTLE POSSIBLE ADVANTAGE OVER THEM, YOU THINK OF GIVING IT AWAY TO OUR ENEMIES FOR MONEY?! W—"

"Dad? DAD!" Morgan rushed to her father. "Calm down! Take deep breaths. Deep breaths!"

Robin cut himself off and did as he was told.

"Okay. I think I'm better…" he said after he took his final deep breath. "Thanks for the help, Morgan."

"No problem! I kinda have a lot of experience in this area. It's a good thing you stopped and listened when you did! Otherwise, I'd have had to move on to the next step."

"…What's the next step?"

"A slap across the face. A really hard one."

"How do you know all of this?"

"Easy! You taught me."

"I…did?"

"You sure did! It was part of a series of lessons on life and dealing with people in unusual situations."

"Well, I clearly knew what I was talking about. You calmed me down quickly and effectively!"

"Just like you taught me to!" Morgan said proudly.

"That's my girl!" Robin said approvingly. He then took a deep breath and turned to Anna. "As much as we appreciate your offer, the terms of your contract are unacceptable. You can't really expect us to agree to let you distribute our utility spellbook to the Valmese right when we're going to war against them, can you?"

"Of course not!" scoffed the merchant. "Just because I seek higher profits doesn't mean I'm blind to the concerns of clients. I can add an exclusivity clause with you guys to delay distribution to others until the war is over."

"You…you're willing to do this for us?" Robin asked suspiciously.

"Of course. After all, you're my biggest and most important clients!" Anna smiled. "So how long do you guys need to finish this little war? Six months? A year?"

"Anna, this thing is going to last a lot longer than just a year," Robin remarked flatly. "I was thinking we'd need to keep these spellbooks to ourselves for 20 years. At least."

"20 years?! I thought you were a miracle worker tactician, Robin. How do you see this war lasting 20 years?"

"The war isn't going to last 20 years!" the grandmaster said irritably. "Especially not with me at the helm. I say 20 years to take into account the duration of the Valmese conflict and any future conflicts we may have with our neighbors."

"The Plegians?"

"Exactly. I don't want to have to come back from Valm only to find the Plegians ready to pounce on our forces using our own spellbooks against us."

"You seem surprisingly certain that the Plegians will pull something," Anna commented.

"Grandmaster's instinct with a hint of paranoia and common sense," Robin said casually. "We had a war with them not too long ago and their state religion focuses on a giant destroyer dragon…thing. That sounds like a recipe for another war if I ever saw one."

"Be that as it may, you have to give me some leeway here. I've helped you guys out a lot in the past. Doesn't that count for something?"

"You have and it does. That's why you're Ylisse's preferred supplier of war goods. We also buy in bulk and pay your premium prices."

"Come on, Robin! Meet me in the middle here," Anna pushed. "20 years is a lot of time! A lot of time mages will be deprived of the usefulness of having all of their spells in one book! How can you deny the world's mages that? Why not make the waiting period 15 years?"

"Anna, meeting you in the middle would mean 10 years," Robin pointed out. "And I know full well the usefulness of our spellbook. I refuse to let our potential enemies have it so they could use it against us."

"But think of your soldiers!" Anna tried a different approach. "While the Shepherds have this new weapon on the battlefield, regular army mages will still have to lug their tomes with them and change during battle! Why would you want to disadvantage your own army like that?"

"I don't. I'm just trying to look after them by negotiating a way for you to mass produce those spellbooks solely for us. A task that would be made easier if you thought about something other than profits and money!"

"What if we give you something more valuable than money?" Morgan suddenly asked.

Anna chuckled. "Kid, you're cute and all, but you're also at that young stage in your life when you don't realize that there's nothing more valuable than money."

"Really? Not even…information?"

"…What kind of information?"

"Is someone interested?" Robin smiled slyly.

"Depends what's on offer."

"Information," repeated Morgan. "About the future."

"You're gonna have to be more specific, hon."

"Information about the future. About future business. Yours."

"Go on…" Anna looked visibly interested.

"It's about Annazon."

"Wait a minute. I thought you suffered from a severe case of amnesia. How can you remember anything about the future?" Anna questioned.

"That's partly true," replied Morgan. "I don't remember anything at all…except for my memories with Dad. Those are all crystal clear. And I have lots…including him teaching me how to order stuff off Annazon and telling me how it was the most widely used and most profitable company around."

"Why would I tell you that?" Robin asked. "Doesn't seem like something a child should know or be interested in."

"But I'm interested in everything you do! And I think it was because you ordered an audit of Annazon to make sure it was paying its taxes or something…" When Morgan saw Robin and Anna looking at her intently, she raised her hands up. "In my defense, I was really young and you used a lot of big words!"

"No one is judging you, Morgan," Robin said gently before turning to Anna. "In fact, we're all very grateful for this info. I know that some of us were very eager to know how they ran their business in the future and would gladly sign an exclusivity contract with us in exchange for this information. Isn't that right, Anna?"

The merchant bit her lip. Robin could see the conflict in her eyes. All he needed was a little push…

"Not that it needs to be said, but Annazon was the most profitable and most widely used service in the future. Making profits all over the world, right, Morgan?"

"Yep! I think you told me that Annazon had more money than most countries."

Anna had a faraway look in her eyes, no doubt imagining having all that money.

"So!" Robin said cheerfully. "Are you willing to be…flexible to our demands?"

"…So what kind of info's on offer here?" Anna asked slowly.

"Things about your business I can remember," replied Morgan. "Business model, logo, how it worked, stuff like that."

"All the things needed to start this little enterprise in this timeline," added Robin. "We know you've been dying to do so ever since Morgan mentioned it."

"…And this info is really going to be the real thing?"

"More or less. From what I can remember, anyway," Morgan shrugged. "I have no reason to lie to you. In fact, I'd like to see Annazon get started over here as soon as possible. It made life a lot more convenient…at least, I think it did."

"And besides," said Robin. "It probably took you and your sisters ages to get Annazon going in Morgan's time. Many trial and errors to get the formula just right and a lot of money down the drain trying new things. With Morgan's help, you'll avoid all of that and go right to the part where you make the biggest, most profitable company ever. And all you have to do is give us some books! How can you say no to that?"

Anna remained silent, no doubt doing some calculations in her head. After a moment, she sighed.

"You two sure know how to make a good sales pitch, you know that? If you were unattached, I would've hired you on the spot."

"Who knows? Maybe after this whole war business is over, I might just take you up on that offer…if the price is right," quipped Robin.

"Is that an offer?" Anna asked playfully. "Because you should know by now that I'm ready to shell out for a good investment. And you two are looking better by the minute."

"What are you talking about? I always look good! Morgan just takes after her dashing dad," Robin laughed. "But I take it that you're willing to agree to our terms?"

"I'm agreeing to listen. The terms will need to be decided during official negotiations and put into writing, as usual."

"Of course they do…" Robin sighed heavily.

"What can I say? A girl's gotta—"

"Yeah, I know. 'Protect her assets' or whatever. That doesn't make the whole process of negotiations any less tedious."

"You know, you could always just sign whatever I give you. You'll be saving us all time and money!"

"Or, you could trust us to draft a contract and just sign it yourself, thereby saving us all time and money!" said Morgan.

Anna looked at Morgan wryly.

"Heh, I like her. She's quite the little comedian."

"And she's my little comedian," Robin said proudly.

"Right. Well, I'll find both you chuckleheads when I have the paperwork ready. Make sure to clear your daybooks, you two. These are gonna be some looong negotiations."

"Oh, joy," Robin deadpanned. "I can't wait."

"Me neither," Morgan said, seeming much more enthusiastic than her father. "This is gonna be great!"

Anna smiled. "That's the spirit! Such a happy kid. Robin, you could really learn a thing from your daughter."

"Why you—!"

"Bye!"

Before Robin could make an angry retort, the merchant waved goodbye and zipped out of the tent.

"That woman…" the grandmaster shook his head.

"Hey, Dad? Isn't this great? This is gonna be our first official negotiations together! Now I get to sit in and contribute to your business stuff instead of just watching!"

Robin couldn't help but smile at his daughter's enthusiasm.

"Heh, someone's excited."

"Totally! I get to help out in official negotiations. How cool is that?!"

"It'll seem a lot less cool once negotiations actually start, but your enthusiasm is commendable," Robin said and ruffled Morgan's hair. "Speaking of helping out, I have a job for you, if you're willing to accept it."

"Am I ever!"

"Glad to hear it! Now listen carefully, Morgan. I need you to go and find Cordelia and tell her to see me as soon as possible, okay?"

"I won't let you down, Dad!" Morgan saluted and ran off. However, she stopped right before exiting the tent. "Uh, Dad?"

"Yes?"

"What does Cordelia look like?"

"Oh, right. She's the one with the flowing red hair. Very striking. You can't miss her."

"Right!"

With that, Morgan zipped out of the tent.

"And thus the long journey begins…"

"You know," said Tharja. "If the merchant is giving trouble, I can always cast a curse that will make her more…open to your demands."

"For the last time, Tharja," sighed Robin. "We don't cast unsolicited curses, hexes, and/or negative magic on our friends, teammates, or suppliers. Especially our suppliers. We're probably her most valued customers and I'm not about to jeopardize that."

"But it'll be so much easier if you cast a little hex on her!" Henry insisted. "And I got just the thing! It's—"

"No hexes or dark magic!" snapped Robin. "I put that clause in your contracts for a reason!"

"Aww…"

Robin shook his head. "Anyway, I think that concludes this little gathering. Thank you all for coming in and helping me figure out what protections my daughter has on her. The info I got today puts me a bit at ease. We got a lot of stuff done today. And if you haven't done so already, please pick up your new spellbook from Miriel so you can be ready for training and our next engagement."

"Oh, right. I better pick mine up before it's too late!" cried Lissa.

"Lissa, Miriel made enough spellbooks for all of us," Robin said. "You're guaranteed to get one."

"That's a relief!"

"I'll see you later on for our magic lessons, my love…" Tharja purred as she walked passed Robin.

"Me too," Henry added cheerily, earning an icy glare from the sorceress.

"Yeah, fun times ahead…" Robin waved goodbye. "Hey, Miriel? Can I have a word?"

"What can I do for you?"

"Hey, uh, so you got a good look at the spells Morgan has around her, right?"

"I wouldn't call it comprehensive, but I've made some observations."

"Great. So, can you recreate some of those spells and cast them on me?"

"I may be able to do something of that nature, although I don't believe myself capable of recreating those with traces of very ancient magic. They may require further observation."

"That's good enough for me. Just let me know what you find, okay? I'll take any additional protection for my coat I can get. And if that includes future anti-magic spells, then all the better!"

"I will make further observations and come to you with my results."

"Thanks, Miriel!"

Robin watched the sage leave before mentally going down his list of things to do. It got all messed up ever since Morgan showed up since she pretty much displaced all his priorities and replaced them with ones related to herself.

What was he even supposed to be doing now…?

"Robin?"

Well, there we go. Instead of going to his duties, Robin supposed he could let his duties come to him. And so they have. Not a few steps out of his tent than someone was already seeking him out.

"Lucina," Robin greeted with a smile. "What brings you here?"

"I've just come to see how you and Morgan were," replied the princess. "Morgan has understandably taken up a lot of your time and attention lately. Is she well?"

"That's very kind of you, Lucina. And yes, everything seems to be well. Better than well, actually."

"Oh? How so?"

"Apparently my tendency to be super very prepared extended to the me of the future. According to Miriel and others, Morgan has layers upon layers of protective magics around her. Not only just simple magic spells, but some complicated and arcane ones. I'm guessing that's the magic equivalent of her wearing heavy plate armor. Pretty cool, huh?"

"Indeed."

"You don't sound surprised."

"Are you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Although there are some very significant differences between you and what I remember of you in the future, one thing you two have in common is that you both care very deeply about those closest to you," explained Lucina. "So much so that I remember seeing light coming from your room in the dead of night. When I peeked, I saw you busy going over things on your desk, no doubt going over battle plans to ensure everyone survives."

"That sounds like something I'd do. In fact, that's actually exactly what I do!" At Lucina's disapproving look, Robin added, "I take breaks! And don't stay up that late anymore! It's not as bad as it was during the last campaign, I swear!"

"You promised not to wear yourself out, Robin."

"And I'm not. I go to bed at a reasonably late hour and get enough sleep not feel like I'm dying in the morning. Come past my tent and night and see for yourself if you don't believe me. You'll see no light from there!" Robin somehow felt like a child who was caught with his hands in the cookie jar and was now trying to justify himself in front of his mother.

"I…I must apologize," Lucina said after a short silence. "I don't mean to chastise you, Robin. I'm just concerned for your wellbeing. Forgive me if it appeared otherwise."

"Oh, don't worry about it! It's actually nice to have someone care for me enough to scold me and not drag me over to the training grounds and literally beat the importance of proper sleep and rest into me."

Lucina stared in confusion.

"…Your father is a firm believer in tough love," Robin said casually. "At least he does with me. With you and Olivia he's all gentle and lovey dovey best dad ever. Well, most of the time. Other times he palms you off to me despite my objections. You know what? I think he may be using you as a weapon against me in his twisted and diabolical game!"

Lucina tried to think of something to say.

"Oh, right. Sorry. I meant the other you, you know? The baby that's back at the castle and is an unwitting pawn in your father's politicking against me!"

A smile gradually spread across Lucina's face and the princess erupted into laughter.

Robin was about to go off on how this was a serious issue and not the paranoid ramblings of a madman, but he paused as he listened to a most curious sound.

"I'm sorry…I'm sorry!" Lucina managed to say between burst of laughter. "I'm not laughing at you, it's just…"

Robin just looked at her curiously.

The princess eventually managed to compose herself. She then cleared her throat and blushed in embarrassment.

"I have to apologize for my outburst, Robin. I was not laughing at you and did not mean to disrespect you in any way." She looked up when she heard no answer. "Robin?"

"That was interesting."

"I beg your pardon?"

"That little outburst," Robin said with a smile. "And here I thought you weren't capable of laughter."

"Wha—?" Not expecting this comment, Lucina's blush deepened. "Of course I am! Why would you think otherwise?"

"Because every time I see you, you're frowning or scowling or looking like you're having a really bad day," Robin said casually. "I mean, your face seems to wear a permanent frown. The only time you're not frowning is when you're with your parents, and even then, the frown goes up on your face not long after you leave them. I would've thought you incapable of smiling if I hadn't seen you doing so myself."

"Well, forgive me for my…seriousness, but I can't afford to relax for even a moment. The future and all the things that can go wrong are always not far from my mind. After the things I've seen, been through, I…I sometimes have to remind myself that this is a different time; a time when everyone is alive and Risen don't infest the land and bring death everywhere they go…"

"Hey, there you go again with the frowning. Do you always think such dark thoughts?"

"I'm afraid so," Lucina admitted. "I fear I have a tendency to dwell on the negative and imagine the worst. No doubt one of the many consequences of living in a blighted future."

"Come on, now. I know things may've been a little rough and…apocalyptic-y, but that was back then. This is now!"

"Robin, I can't simply change my personality and the way I think on a whim."

"I'm not asking you to do either of those! Just…you know, look on the bright side! Or don't think of the worst possible scenarios all the time and assume they'll happen."

"Right…"

"No, I'm serious!" insisted Robin. "Things are better! For one, the world isn't on the brink of extinction and the land isn't infested with Risen! And everyone who died in the future is alive and well, your parents included! Doesn't that count for something?"

"Robin…"

"Look, I'm not saying that you have to paint a smile on your face and grin like an idiot all the time. That would be creepy and counterproductive. I just…you know…" Robin scratched the back of his head, trying to find the right words. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm worried about you."

"Forgive me for saying so, but you certainly have an…unorthodox way of showing it."

"What can I say? I'm an unorthodox kind of guy," Robin said cheekily, earning a small smile from the princess. "But that doesn't make my words any less true. I'm sure your parents have said something along these lines too, right?"

"It…may have come up…" Lucina admitted reluctantly.

"See? I'm not the only one who noticed. We all care for you, Lucina, and seeing you walking around looking like you're thinking of everything that can possibly go wrong is…it doesn't inspire good feelings, you know? You already have so much on your plate, what with the saving the future and all. Knowing that you have such negative thoughts all the time makes me determined to do something about it."

"It was a survival mechanism, Robin. To assume the worst of the future wasn't being negative—it was being realistic."

"Ah, but now you're not in the future anymore. You're in the past and have so many variables going for you! I realize that you'll always worry about events that can lead to the future repeating itself. I think that's something that'll always be on everyone's minds, but you have all of us to support you and ensure that Chrom stays alive and things won't go down the drain."

"A comforting thought. I admit that it's one I turn to in order to keep more unsavory thoughts away…"

"See? We're all here for you. Feel free to talk to any one of us if you have any doubts, fears or worries. Let that be the comforting thought to keep the big negative thoughts at bay. And, you know, appreciate the small things to keep your mind from going to dark places when it shouldn't."

"The small things?"

"Yeah! Like, uh…" Robin looked around. "Like the trees! And the, uh, how nice the cool Feroxi wind feels against your face. And the sun! Look how bright it is and how it warms the land. Isn't that nice?"

"Mmm…" Lucina closed her eyes and sighed wistfully. "In the future, the skies were perpetually grey and the land devoid of vegetation. I almost forgot how nice the sun's rays feel or how beautiful the land could be…"

"See? Doesn't thinking about nice things like that make you feel much better?"

"It does."

"Now imagine if you did more of that. You know, stopped to appreciate the flowers, or this time's food, things like that. I'll bet it'll do you a world of good. Granted, it obviously won't stop you worrying about the big issues, but it'll at least help take doom and gloom out of your every thought, right?"

"That certainly seems like something worth pursuing," Lucina nodded. "I appreciate your concern, Robin. Truly."

"No problem! After all, it's my job. And we can't have you frowning all the time, now can we? I hear that'll get you wrinkles early."

"A terrible fate indeed," Lucina grinned. "Very well. In the interests of not having wrinkles at an early age, I shall appreciate the little things in this time and try not to dwell on negative thoughts."

"Wrinkles and, you know, your metal wellbeing and all that. But yes. I think you being in a good mood and not being frowny face all the time will have some very beneficial results for all us."

"Robin, you've already convinced me to try to think more positively. You don't need to keep it up anymore."

"I'm not keeping anything up. I'm serious!"

Even for Robin, this was bordering on the absurd. However, Lucina decided to humor him.

"And what benefits do you think my attitude can have on all of you?"

"Very many benefits. For one, take your smile."

"My…smile?" Lucina asked, confused.

"Yeah. I feel like whenever you smile, everyone within your immediate general area gets a boost of morale and mood."

"Robin, that's ridiculous. You're assigning much more importance to something so trivial as my smile."

"And I think you underestimate how much of an effect it has on people. Coming from the future and enduring countless hardships, you pretty much symbolize what we're fighting for and remind us what's at stake. Grim-faced and stoic, you walk around doing your assigned tasks—pardon my saying so—devoid of any visible emotions. So when something happens to make you smile, it's like…well, it's like the land was covered in darkness and your smile is a ray of sunshine piercing said darkness and giving light to a desolate wasteland. Giving the land light and its people hope. I guess what I'm saying is that, when you, grim and serious as you are, smile, it gives us hope. Hope that we can win the war, overcome fate, and change the future. And hope that we can create a world where a young woman such as yourself can go around doing young woman things instead of having to think about the future, Risen, and death."

Expecting something absurd, Lucina was surprised when Robin gave her his surprisingly non-ridiculous reasoning.

"I…I had no idea. Does everyone feel this way?"

"Wouldn't be surprised. I certainly find myself reminded of what I'm fighting for when I look at you. Seeing you smile, I feel the need to fight even harder for the future, my friends, and for a peaceful world where you aren't so grim all the time. I'm sure others feel the same way. In fact, think of it this way: imagine a desert wasteland at the dead of night. There is no movement or life. Everything is pitch black. The only sound is the howling of the wind. No signs of life as far as the eye can see. This is your default expression."

Lucina looked at Robin, bemused.

"Now, with the simple gesture of curling your lips upwards, even ever so slightly, bam! Suddenly, the clouds part and you can see rays of light hit the land. And look! Life springs everywhere the sun's rays hit. There's grass growing and covering the land and little animals coming out of their underground burrows. The dead trees suddenly grow leaves and the birds chirp in the distance. And if you laugh? Well, then the sky turns blue, the sun comes out in all its glory and everything is all sunshine and rainbows."

"…You paint quite the picture."

"I do, don't I? Must've been a painter before this whole 'tactician' business," Robin said cheekily.

Lucina shook her head in amusement.

"To think that something so small could have such an impact on the others…"

"You're more important to us than you may realize, Lucina, and not only because you're Chrom's kid from the future. You probably fight the hardest out of all of us and give it your all in everything you do. You're an inspiration, and when you smile, we all feel that we can do this. For a peace, a brighter future, and for you. Again, I'm not saying you have to put on a fake smile on your face all that time! Just…you know. Think happy thoughts?" Robin offered lamely before sighing in irritation. "I feel that I was getting my point across better up until that last part. Should've stopped a few minutes ago…"

"You've no need, Robin," Lucina chuckled. "You've made your point quite clear. Thank you for bringing this to my attention…and for caring."

"Caring is what I do," Robin quipped. "And look! A small smile from the grim princess. I don't know about you, but I certainly feel better!"

"As do I, although I'm sure it was mostly due to your positive outlook."

"That's me! Although I'm no match for Morgan. That girl is pretty much made of optimism and good feelings. Oh, hey!" Robin was suddenly struck by inspiration. "You know what you should do?"

"Please, do tell," Lucina said, amused.

"You should totally spend time with Morgan! I mean, that girl is practically overflowing with positive energy and has way more of it than she knows what to do with. Really! Even during the apocalypse, I'd bet she would be excited because she could say she was there to see the end of the world."

Lucina's face quickly darkened.

Realizing what he said, Robin winced.

"Sorry, poor choice of words. The point is that if I stick you, Miss Doom and Gloom, with Morgan, the happiness and positive vibes she radiates should spill on over to you! Hopefully then you'll not default to your negative outlook and instead look on the bright side of things. It's the perfect plan!"

"Are you not worried that I just may have so much negativity that I'll end up dragging Morgan's mood down?" Lucina asked playfully.

"That's mathematically impossible," Robin answered, full of confidence. "First of all, Morgan's net positivity vastly exceeds your net negativity. I know that you're capable of looking on the bright side of things and also know that Morgan probably doesn't have a negative bone in her body. Secondly, everyone knows that optimism is thicker than pessimism. It's like blood and water. Imagine if you had one jar of blood and one jar of water. If you pour the blood into the water, the blood will eventually spread through the jar of water until all you see is a jar full of blood. Now imagine the jar of blood was positivity and the jar of water was negativity. The results would be the same, except that Morgan has maybe an endless jar of optimism. See? Basic science!"

Robin grinned triumphantly.

"Well. Clearly I can't argue with that logic." By now, Lucina knew better than try to point out some minor details when Robin was in one of his moods. Still didn't stop her from smiling in amusement.

"Hey, another smile! That's the second one in as many minutes!"

"It seems that's something else you and your future self have in common."

"And what might that be?"

"The uncanny ability to bring a smile to my face regardless of my mood."

"Really?" Robin leaned in with interest.

"Yes. I remember that I would come to you when my parents were unavailable or when I was angry with them for whatever reason."

"I can't imagine any of those two situations happening."

"Oh, but they did. Father had to spend many hours in the medical tent for his injuries from when Aunt Emmeryn was assassinated. Mother was usually right there beside him. That, combined with royal duties and official meetings, sometimes made them unavailable for quite some time. And every child gets angry with their parents for the silliest of reasons. I was no exception."

"And you came to me when that happened?" Robin clarified. "Old, stick-in-the-mud me who wasn't as interesting as current me?"

"You may have been less…energetic, but you found ways of lifting my mood. If I was bored or upset about something, I would come to you and you would always have something that made me smile and feel better."

"Really?"

"Yes. Little things. Usually magic tricks, jokes, or stories. Even little history lessons or basic tactics using little hand puppets. Regardless of what it was, I always felt much happier than when I came in. Those were some of my fondest memories…" Lucina sighed nostalgically.

"Well isn't that something? Stick-in-the-mud me was a surprisingly good babysitter. Also apparently specialized in cheering you up. And it looks like following in his footsteps, although my job is a lot more difficult given the circumstances."

"Perhaps, but you're still very good at it."

"What can I say? This is important for all of us…" Robin smiled mischievously. "And you look very pretty when you smile."

"R-Robin!" Lucina blushed, not expecting this turn in the conversation.

"It's true. And look how cute you look when you're flustered!"

"Robin, please!" Lucina's blush intensified.

"So cute that I bet you could find yourself a nice boy if you just showed him this side of yourself."

Instead of saying anything, Lucina covered her increasingly red face with her hands.

"Relax, Lucina. I'm kidding!" laughed Robin. "You know as well as everyone else that it'll be a cold day in Plegia before I willingly permit you or anyone else to pursue romantic interests."

"I-I came to the past in order to save the future, Robin," Lucina managed to stammer. "Not to get romantically involved!"

"A good attitude to have! If only your father could set a good example as you…"

"Father?" Lucina seized any opportunity to change the subject. "What about him?"

"Nothing," Robin muttered gloomily. "Just that it's hard to enforce rules and discipline when the commander of your army undermines your authority by breaking these exact rules that you painstakingly set down. Him and his sister!"

"Are you talking about when Father met Mother?"

"Yeah. I swear your father almost gave me a heart attack then. 'I want to include this dancer in our upcoming battle, Robin.' 'I want to personally protect her, Robin.' 'I'm marrying this woman, Robin.' I tell you, Lucina, it's a good thing that I have my doctrine of being super overprepared times two. Were it not for that, the battle would've been all lost and it would've all been Chrom's fault!"

"…Why does this upset you so much?"

"Are you kidding me? I—" Robin stopped when he saw Lucina looking curiously at him. "Wait, you don't know?"

"Know what?"

"How your parents met and got together."

"Actually, no. They were surprisingly evasive when I tried to ask them about it as a child. I assume you were there to witness their courtship and engagement?"

"Oh, I was there all right," Robin grumbled. "There to see it almost ruin my perfectly planned plans!"

"If it's not too much trouble, do…do you mind telling me about it?" Lucina asked hesitantly.

"Oh, I'll tell you about it. I'll tell you all—!" Robin paused as an idea struck. "You know what? I don't think it's my place to spoil the sweet love story between Chrom and Olivia."

"Oh…" Lucina seemed disappointed.

"But! I'm sure Chrom would be more than happy to tell you all about it now! I mean, he's young and very much in love with Olivia. You're old enough to understand stuff about courtship and whatever. He should be more than willing to tell you how he and Olivia met and fell in love!"

"Do you really think so?"

"Of course! Who knows him better than his best friend? In fact, I think it'll be best if we go seek him out and ask him to tell you all about it together. The two of us. Just go and find him and ask him about all the details."

"If you think that's a good idea…"

"It's a terrific idea! I can't think of any good reason why Chrom would not tell you about his and Olivia's courtship. Not a one."

"Very well, then!" Lucina nodded enthusiastically. "If you're so certain, then I'll go ask Father immediately."

"I have a few errands to run, but let's do it together, yeah? I'll lay the groundwork so that it'll be less awkward."

"You have my gratitude, Robin," Lucina said and turned to leave.

"Remember to bring your Father to me so we can do this thing together!" Robin called after the leaving princess. Once she was gone, he grinned. "This should be good…"

It was a well-known fact that Chrom's whirlwind romance with Olivia was…not initially very well received by Robin. Chrom's insistence that she accompany them to the final battle with Gangrel and that he personally protect her was not the greatest way to start their relationship in Robin's eyes. Chrom proposing to her right after didn't make it any better. And although Chrom was his best friend and he got to know Olivia better and was really happy for them, Robin never really got over that whole incident. He also never failed to give Chrom grief over it (funnily enough, neither did Lissa). Chrom's impromptu marriage was always the card Robin could pull whenever they'd argue about things. It was also super effective because Chrom couldn't really defend himself against it.

So yes. Robin used the "Olivia marriage card" to win arguments…and generally screw around with Chrom, because that's what best friends (and little sisters) did.

Robin was now looking forward to seeing how Chrom would explain to his daughter that he fell in love and married her mother within a span of maybe three days. Robin was so looking forward to it that it put him in a good mood.

Robin was still in a good mood when he got to the training grounds and watched as Vaike fumbled with a bow, much to Virion's frustration.

"Argh!" Vaike growled as his bow snapped when he tried to pull the string back. "That makes the ninth one today!"

"Vaike, Vaike…" Virion shook his head. "You're using too much strength in all the wrong places. You must treat a bow like you would treat a woman."

"I am treatin' bows like I'd treat a woman."

"What kind of woman do you have that you treat so clumsily with your admittedly considerable strength?"

"You forgettin' that Teach tied the knot with Sully, Virion?"

"…Right. Perhaps you should treat a bow as you would something a bit more…delicate."

"Still trying to teach an old dog new tricks, eh Virion?"

Both men looked to see Robin approaching, an amused grin on his face.

"Ah, if it isn't my most tactical of friends! Or should I say, the grandest of masters?"

"Oh yes. I like the second one a lot better. It certainly strokes my ego."

Virion chuckled.

"Heya, Robin!" Vaike greeted. "Here to see ol' Teach master the art of the bow?"

"I would be if it weren't impossible."

"Nothing is impossible!" declared Virion dramatically. "Everything is only improbable until someone achieves it. Then it becomes possible."

"Virion, teaching Vaike to master the bow is so impossible that I have a better shot of becoming the king of Plegia."

"Well, then I guess I must bow to your highness, because I shall achieve this feat on my honor as the Archest of Archers!"

"Ya got that right, Virion!" Vaike laughed heartily. "Everyone always underestimates the Vaike. But in the end of the day, the Vaike always gets the last laugh!"

"Then it's going to be a very long day…" Robin said.

"Har! I'm going to agree with Robin on this."

The three men looked to see Sully approaching them.

"Well, if it ain't Mrs. The Vaike!" Vaike walked over and wrapped his arm around Sully's waist. "Here to see your man master the bow"?

"I'm certainly here to see him try. And maybe get a laugh in or two."

"Laugh all you want, darlin'. Once you see how dashing I look wieldin' axes and bows…"

"I'll make sure to let the flying pigs know."

"Doesn't look good for you, Virion," Robin said to his friend. "Even his wife doesn't think he can do it."

"All the skepticism will make the ultimate victory that much sweeter," Virion replied confidently. "It shall be like those many times when I snatched victory right from under you during our many board game sessions."

"Are you telling me you're going to sacrifice thousands of soldiers in the hopes that Vaike will learn how to shoot properly?"

"Urk!"

"Sully?!"

Robin and Virion's conversation was interrupted when they saw Sully suddenly collapse and hold her chest.

"Mnnngh... Ch-chest...burning! F-fever...rising! C-can't...breathe!"

"Sully?!"

Everyone quickly converged around Sully and tried desperately to figure out what was wrong.

"Looks like someone's got themselves cursed!"

The men turned around to see Henry approaching.

"Hngh... H-Henry?" Sully just about managed to say.

"That's me!" laughed the dark mage. "And look! I finally managed to get one over you!"

"What does that mean?" demanded Robin.

"Yeah! Do you have something to do with this?" added Vaike. "Because I swear, if you do…"

"Yep!" Henry answered, not even trying looking like he was lying or sorry. "One tailor-made curse, just as requested. I finally got one to take. And it was no easy task, thanks to the big overachiever over there!"

"What does that have to—never mind. Call it off! Call it off now!" Robin cried.

"Aw, already?"

"Call it off now before I punch you all the way to next week!" shouted Vaike.

"D-do it...please!" begged Sully.

"You got it!" Henry mumbled some incantations under his breath and snapped his fingers. "All done!"

"Argh!" Sully exhaled and coughed. "Urgh, felt like I was dying…"

"That's 'cause you WERE! ...You totally still had five or six solid minutes left, though."

Sully looked at Henry incredulously. "The curse was fatal?!"

"That's it! No one curses my wife and gets away with it! Class is in session and today's lesson is what happens to those who mess with my family!"

"Whoa, someone looks like he's on the warpath! Does that mean you want to get cursed too?"

"Now gentlemen, please!" Virion tried to diffuse the situation. "There must be a perfectly reaonsble—"

Vaike looked like he was going to punch Henry straight in the face before Sully got up and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Reign it in, you muscle head."

"Whaddya mean, 'reign it in'? He almost cursed you to death!"

"I know."

"You knew?!"

"I asked him to."

"You…you asked him to curse you to death?"

Robin and Vaike looked at Sully as if she suddenly grew another head.

"That's…certainly an explanation," Virion said lamely.

"It's not like that!" Sully said irritably. "I mean, I did ask him to curse me, but not to death!"

Robin stared. "…Explanation please?"

"I was trying to get my defenses up in case one of our enemies tried to curse me," Sully clarified. "Been working on a technique to try and resist magic attacks, too. I think it's been working, although I asked for a simple little curse, not a death curse!"

"Well, it wasn't going to be at first, but it turns out you've got buckets of willpower!" said Henry. "Like I said, none of the little ones took. I think your training also helped raise your defenses. So I had to bump the stakes up a teensy bit. Hope ya don't mind!"

"So you just bumped it up from somethin' simple all the way to a death curse? That's crazy!" Vaike exclaimed.

"I mean, I get trying to train your body to resist curses and stuff, but I'm going to have to go with Vaike on this one. It does sound crazy," agreed Robin.

"Don't fret about it, you guys. Sully here was a really tough nut to crack. All my little curses just fizzled out when I cast them. Even my medium ones! Had to go bigger to overcome Sully's defenses and make one stick, and boy does she have lots of defenses and willpower that needed to be overcome!"

"Henry, what does willpower have to do with—" Sully began before she was interrupted.

"Dad! There you are!"

Everyone looked to see Morgan running toward them with someone in tow.

"Mission accomplished!" Morgan declared proudly. "Sorry it took so long. Cordelia here was out doing some scouting, but here we are!"

"So I see. Good job, kiddo!" Robin smiled and pat his daughter on the head before turning to Cordelia. "I must apologize on behalf of my daughter if she seemed a little bit, uh, eager in bringing you here. I had no idea you were out."

"Don't worry, Robin. It was no trouble at all. I think Morgan's eagerness in everything she does is charming."

"Hey, me too!" Morgan beamed.

Cordelia chuckled. "It's actually a good thing Morgan came when she did."

"Oh?"

"I have the latest intel from the bandit camp for you."

"…The what?"

"Initial reports on the size and capabilities of the bandits that we're going to engage," Cordelia clarified. At Robin's blank stare, she continued, "The bandit camp? The same camp we've been discussing for the past few strategy meetings? The reason why we're going deeper into Ferox instead of back to the city?"

"We're what?" Robin asked flatly. "Why? Since when? Who the hell authorized it?"

"Well…" Cordelia hesitated.

"Because bandits are causing trouble and we need to put them down, about a week ago, and Chrom," Sully answered.

Robin's eye twitched.

"CHROO—!"


"I can't believe we're playing bandit cleanup in a foreign country…" Robin grumbled as he put on his greaves.

"I can't believe you're still moaning about it," Chrom said, fastening and checking his armor.

"How can I not moan about it?! Here I was expecting we were going back to town and rest in a nice and warm room. Instead, I find out that we're playing bandit hunters in a foreign country! Why are we even going after these people? Doesn't Ferox have its own internal peacekeeping force or something? And why wasn't I informed of this little sortie?"

"Robin, we've decided to clear this bandit camp a while ago. We've even had multiple strategy meetings for it. You yourself were there," Chrom pointed out.

"…No I wasn't."

"Yes you were."

"I'm pretty sure I wasn't. If I was, I'd have argued against this unnecessary misadventure."

"I can confirm you were at the meetings," said Lucina. "Although you seemed somewhat…distracted."

"Heh, I'll say. You had a dazed look and everything," Chrom remarked. "I asked you multiple times if you were okay."

"And what did I say?"

"You just waved me off and mumbled some things to yourself. I think it was about Morgan."

"Of course it was about Morgan…" Robin sighed.

"You even rushed out a few times in search for healing staves because she sneezed or tripped.

"…"

"And to answer your second question," Chrom continued, "We're doing this because it's the right thing to do. Bandits are a scourge that plague every country and terrorize its citizens. We just so happen to be close enough to be able to do something about it."

"Well said, Father. We must help all those in need as far as we are able," Lucina added.

"You people and your sense of justice…" Robin shook his head and checked his gear. "I swear, one of these days you'll rush right into a trap trying to help some poor sap."

"Then it's a good thing you'll be around to get us out of it!" Chrom laughed and pat Robin on his shoulder, much to the latter's displeasure.

"Please don't be upset, Robin," Olivia said timidly. "We're only trying to help…"

Chrom turned to his wife. "Olivia? You're going with us on foot again?"

"Y-yes. I want to improve my sword skills and fight alongside you all. I feel this is the only way before we fight the Valmese."

"That it is," confirmed Robin. "Reports suggest that these are just your average, run-of-the-mill bandits. No surprises or fancy magic or anything. If anything, it should be easier than our surprise Risen encounter back at the ruins. And at least this gives you the chance to fight more nimble targets."

Olivia gulped yet nodded in determination. "I'll make you proud!"

"And we'll be with you all the way," assured Chrom.

"Always," added Lucina.

"You'll be fine, Olivia. You managed to hold your own against the Risen. Some petty bandits shouldn't be a problem," Robin said.

Olivia smiled. "Thank you all for you vote of confidence."

"All right!" Morgan barged into the tent. "I'm all checked out and ready to kick some butt!"

"Yeah, yeah…" Robin mumbled absentmindedly as he checked his gloves. His head suddenly snapped up when the words registered in his mind. "Morgan!"

"Dad?"

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Uh…getting ready to head out with you guys?"

"Like hell you're not!" Robin marched over to her and put both his hands on her shoulders. "Young lady, you are way too young to be going out and doing any fighting."

"Wha—? Am not!" Morgan protested.

"Are too. Look at you! You're young and short and innocent! The battlefield is definitely not the place for someone your age!"

"But how am I supposed to become a great tactician like you if I can't see the greatest tactician in action or participate in battle myself?"

"By doing simulations, readings, and playing strategic board games. Not by going out and doing actual real fighting where you can very realistically die!"

"But I already did that."

"…What?"

"Remember? When you guys met me? I was knee deep in Risen and still fought them off. Doesn't that qualify me to accompany and observe you on the battlefield?"

"That was a terrible fluke. And although I'm very proud that you managed to hold your own…"

Morgan smiled proudly.

"…I'm also mortified because you could've died if we hadn't showed up!"

"But that was because I was all alone," argued Morgan. "Now I'll have you and everyone else so the chances of something happening to me are greatly reduced!"

"But they're still there. I'm not risking anything happening to my newfound and only daughter!"

"But Daaaaad!"

"No buts! I'm not budging on this," Robin said firmly.

Morgan decided to change tactics and turned to the others.

"You guys have seen how I fought the Risen. You think I'm good, right? That I can take a few bandits?"

"Morgan," Olivia began gently. "Robin is just worried about you, that's all. Maybe you should listen to him and stay put, at least for this fight?"

"But why do I have to stay behind? You guys let Donnel and Ricken and Lissa fight, and I'm pretty sure they're not much older than I am."

"Morgan, you have to understand that they joined us out of necessity," explained Chrom. "And they've had a lot of time to get combat experience."

"But they had to start somewhere, right? Just like me!"

"Well…"

"Disregarding everything and basing this purely on what you saw back in the ruins, I look like I can take care of myself, right?"

Everyone exchanged uncertain glances.

"…Right?" Morgan looked up at them, her eyes full of hope and expectation.

"Based purely on combat, I'd say you're quite capable…" Chrom admitted reluctantly.

Robin gasped in horror. "Are you suggesting I take my precious daughter out to fight for real?!"

"W-what? No! That's not what I'm suggesting at all! All I'm saying is—"

"I'm not risking anything happening to my daughter!" Robin cried as he reached out and hugged Morgan protectively. "She's too young to fight!"

"Robin, no one is saying she has to go anywhere," Lucina assured. "As her father, the ultimate decision lies with you."

"That's right it does! Thank you, Lucina."

"Hey, how come Chrom gets to take his daughter out but you don't?" asked Morgan.

"Because she's good and has loads of experience fighting," Robin answered. "And most importantly, she's old enough to be out there."

"But I'm totally old enough!" protested Morgan. "And the only way I can get any real experience is if I watch how you work first-hand."

"Morgan—"

"I can really so this!" Morgan insisted and broke away to look her father straight in the eye. "And I promise to be really, really careful!"

"Morgan, I don't—"

"And you and everyone else will be there to make sure things go smoothly and nothing bad happens."

"Morgan…"

"I promise to stick close to you and follow your orders exactly. Please let me go with you!"

Robin sighed. He was a tactician first and foremost. However, he was now also a father. And as a tactician/father, he was definitely not going to let his daughter out on the battlefield. He didn't even know what she was capable of or if she even had any prior combat experience. Fighting Risen could've been her first fight ever! And Robin was not going to risk her getting hurt. He just found her!

"Please?"

It was too dangerous. Even though intel said the bandits were not a serious threat, they could still pull out some crap that could hurt. And Morgan could get hurt. The thought of Morgan getting hurt filled Robin with horror. He wasn't going to let that happen!

"Pleeeeaaaase?"

And although Robin lacked any parental experience, he was determined to be the best father he could possibly be for Morgan. And that meant sometimes making tough decisions and telling her things she may not have wanted to hear. That also meant resisting her begging and her big, wide eyes full of adoration and pleading no matter how hard it was. Robin was strong. Robin was responsible. Robin was…was…

"Please, please, pretty please?"

"…"


"I'm a terrible father…" Robin muttered from behind the bushes in which he hid.

As it turned out, all of Robin's willpower and determination meant nothing when compared to Morgan's look of desperate pleading. As soon as she made that face, with her eyes so wide and full of hope, Robin's resistance shattered and was replaced by an irrational desire to give and do whatever his daughter wanted, regardless if it went against his instincts and common sense. So Morgan could basically make him due whatever she wanted if she gave him what he dubbed "The Look." Robin really hoped he could eventually find a way to resist it, otherwise…

"How can you be that when you're the best dad ever?"

At least Morgan had unwavering faith in him. That certainly helped.

Chrom and Lissa snickered behind him.

"Okay, does everyone know the plan?" Robin asked, pointedly ignoring the snickering.

Robin's squad nodded.

"Good. I'm going to give the signal. Morgan? Remember to stay behind me."

"Right."

So Robin unsheathed his Levin Sword, took aim, and zapped the nearest bandit he could find. As the other bandits were freaking out, spells from different directions struck them down in quick succession. Before the remaining bandits could arm themselves, Sumia and Cordelia swooped in from the sky and took them down.

"Is…" Morgan peeked out of the bushes. "Is that it?"

"That was only the guards posted outside," said Robin. "Intel suggests that the majority of them are inside. Come on, let's meet the others."

Robin's group emerged from their hiding place and made their way toward the front of the fortress door to regroup.

"Good job, everyone!" Robin called out. "Great teamwork and coordination all around."

"Making the bad guys explode is always so much fun!" laughed Henry.

"It was very gruesome," commented Tharja. "…I'm not against that."

Robin looked worriedly over at Morgan. "Hey, you okay, kiddo?"

"Fine. Why? Should I not be?"

"It's just, you know. We're fighting real people now, not undead Risen. If you feel you're not up for it…"

"I'll be fine!" Morgan said confidently. "A great tactician doesn't let minor things like blood and stuff distract her from what must be done. Besides, you didn't have any problem with it, right?"

"No, I didn't…" Robin frowned. "I wonder what that says about me…"

Before anyone could say anything else, they heard the sounds of hooves and the flapping of wings. Looking over, they saw Sully, Stahl, Frederick and Cherche emerge from opposite sides of the fortress.

"I see you've all made it here unharmed," Robin said once everyone gathered around. "Anyone give you any trouble?"

"Nope. These guys were piss easy to take care of," reported Sully. "This might as well have been a walk in the part as far as I'm concerned."

"No trouble to report on our end," informed Frederick.

"Indeed. The bandits didn't know what hit them. This was a good exercise for Minerva, wasn't it, girl?" Cherche cooed.

Minerva roared.

"See how excited she is? She was getting restless these past few days."

"Right…" Robin took a few steps to put some distance between himself and the wyvern. "Anyway, now that the easy part's done, we move on to the main operation. From what I understand, it's a small band led by someone named Cassius. According to the locals, he's been responsible for some strange goings on in the area. Deciphering the superstition, I've come to conclude that means he's a magic user of some sort, so be on your guard. He's also supposedly got some magic capable henchmen with him, so keep an eye out for them. Beyond that, I've not seen anything that suggests he poses any substantial threat."

"So this should be a piece of cake, right?" asked Morgan.

"Never assume anything, Morgan," Robin cautioned. "Be prepared for the worst from before the battle starts and only relax when it ends. Things can change at the drop of a hat out there. You have to be prepared for that."

"Got it."

"Okay, here's the plan!" Robin shouted to the Shepherds. "Everyone on mounts will stay here and keep an eye out for stragglers and reinforcements. Although I don't have anything to assume there are any extra bandit forces out there, you can never be too sure. If you find any returning to the castle, do everything you can to prevent them from entering. Likewise, cut down any who try to leave so they can't alert others or run to start off their own bandit squads."

The mounted Shepherds nodded.

"Good. As for the rest of us…" Robin turned to the others. "We'll be barging hard and fast to press our advantage and try to find their leader as quickly as possible. Chrom, Vaike, Lucina and I will take point. Gregor, Panne and Lon'qu will cover the rear. Healers and mages are to stick in the middle and try not to let anyone get to close. Olivia and Morgan, stay close. Chrom, Lucina and I will cover you. And Morgan?"

"Dad?"

"Stay behind me and tell me the second you feel uncomfortable, okay?"

Morgan nodded in determination.

"Use your magic for now and keep your enemies at a distance," Robin said, before adding softly, "Everything will be okay. I'll be right by your side every step of the way."

He then stood up, opened his spellbook and charged an arcwind spell.

"Everyone, ready up!"

Once everyone was prepared, Robin unleashed his spell, knocking the doors off their hinges.

"Go, go, go!"


As it turned out, Robin had nothing to worry about on all fronts.

It turned out that reports that this was just a standard group of bandits were entirely correct. And being a standard group of bandits fighting against an elite unit of Ylisse's best, most experienced warriors, the battle was extremely one-sided. The Shepherds advanced through the small fortress quickly, cutting down any and all bandits they encountered with ease. Even Olivia seemed to be holding her own.

Another who was handling herself well was Morgan. In fact, she was handling herself surprisingly well! As ordered, she stuck by Robin's side and picked off the bandits from a distance. This was a relief to Robin for a few reasons. Firstly, she seemed a capable enough spellcaster, managing to cast medium level spells with ease. That was good. It meant Robin had a base from which to improve her magic abilities.

Secondly, Morgan seemed entirely unfazed by the taking of human life. Whenever Robin looked back, he saw his daughter concentrating and throwing fireballs at bandits with precision and abandon. He supposed he should be thankful; there would be a few problems if Morgan proved unable to handle fighting living enemies (fighting Risen was easy enough for they were creepy walking corpses) and insisted on fighting alongside them (which she probably would). Robin briefly wondered if he should be worried that his daughter was able to fight living targets with detached efficiency, but he quickly waved it off. After all, he himself was like that. He just woke up in a field somewhere and got to killing bandits maybe a few minutes after that. And that didn't bother him in the slightest. Like father like daughter?

Anyway, the Shepherds eventually fought their way to a huge set of doors.

"Okay, people. This is it!" Robin called out. "I'm certain we'll find Cassius just behind these doors."

"Why? Ya got intel on that?" asked Vaike.

"No intel, but just look. It's a huge pair of doors at the end of a hallway. If that's not a sign leading to the leader, I don't know what is. But before we go in, how's everyone doing? Anyone hurt? Tired? Olivia?"

"I'm okay. I think I'm getting better at this! Although I never really thought there'd be so much blood up close…" Olivia shuddered.

"It's never pleasant, taking lives…" Lucina said grimly.

"You're doing fine, Olivia," Chrom assured and put his arm around his wife's shoulder.

Robin turned to his daughter. "How about you, Morgan?"

"No problems to report."

"Anyone else? Issues? Injuries?"

The Shepherds reported no injuries.

"Good. Now, let's slowly open this door and see if we can get the drop on this guy…" Robin tried to open the door. "…It's locked."

"Want us to blast that door open?" Henry offered. "I got some good spells for that!"

"No blasting. We don't know what this guy has in store for us on the other side. It's best to carefully and cautiously see what we're up against," explained Robin. "Which one of you here knows how to pick locks."

Silence.

"Guys, seriously? No one here knows how to pick locks?"

"I mean, one of us could try…" said Lissa.

Robin shook his head. "Okay. How about Gaius? I remember him being all Mr. Lockpick. Where is he?"

The Shepherds looked at each other and then around for the thief.

"…You've got to be kidding me…" Robin shook his head. "Gaius? Gaius! I know you're out there! Get yourself over here right now!"

Silence.

"Fine. If that's how you want to play it…" Robin took a deep breath. "GAIUS! IF I DON'T SEE YOU HERE IN THE NEXT FIVE SECONDS, YOU CAN SAY GOODBYE TO ANY FUTURE PIES FROM SUMIA!"

"Whoa there, Bubbles! Let's not do anything we'll regret, yeah?" came the thief's voice from behind the group.

"Gaius, I—" Robin began before pausing and looking quizzically.

"…What? Oh, this?" Gaius asked, pointing to the various jeweled necklaces, gold bracelets, chains and crown he was wearing. "Since we're raiding a bandit hideout, I figured we might as well help ourselves to their loot. It's all game, right?"

Robin shrugged. "Finders keepers. If you like a few trinkets, you're free to keep them. Not like we can realistically return them."

"Sweet. You're the best, Bubbles."

"Widely known fact, but thank you," Robin said, earning a few snickers from some Shepherds. "Anyway, I'll have to talk to you about the whole sneaking off unauthorized while we're in the middle of a mission later on. Now, I need you to use your magic fingers to get this door open."

"You got it. I'll have this door open for you in a minute tops!"

Gaius walked over, got out his tools and started fiddling with the lock. Meanwhile, Robin stood over him.

"Do none of us really know how to pick locks?"

"Don't look at me," said Chrom. "That's not anywhere near my area of expertise."

"Yeah, you'd likely just bang it until it broke," Lissa remarked.

"Lissa!"

"Now dear, you know she's right."

"Olivia!"

"Father, you are many things, but careful and delicate are not one of them."

"Lucina, you too?"

"The jury has spoken," declared Robin. "Chrom, we've come to the definite conclusion that lock picking is definitely not for you."

"Talk about being ganged upon…"

"We're just saying how it is," Robin said innocently. "Anyway, how about the rest of you? No one has any clue on how to pick locks?"

Morgan closed her eyes and tried to remember. "I don't think you've ever taught me that one…"

"I'm a mage," said Ricken. "Doesn't seem like something I'd know how to do."

"Anyone have a lockpick curse?" Henry asked. "Hey, maybe I could make one!"

"Lock picking is a skill for those of questionable character and occupation," huffed Maribelle.

"I think I could maybe give it a try…" came a voice that Robin recognized as Kellam's.

"Hey, Lon'qu!" Lissa elbowed her husband. "Think you could give it a try? I'm sure your super potato peeler fingers could manage something as easy as picking a simple lock."

Lon'qu grunted.

"Right. After this mission, you're all going to have mandatory lock picking classes!" Robin announced. "This is a key skill and relying on one person for it seems very inefficient."

"Heh, good pun, Dad."

"Hm?"

"Lock picking. It's a 'key' skill."

"Oh. Heh, that's pretty good. I totally meant to do that, by the way."

Gaius cleared his throat. "Not to interrupt your little terrible pun session…"

"Hey! My puns are not terrible!"

"Right…anyway," continued the thief. "Who's gonna teach everyone the fine art of lock picking?"

"Who else?" Robin asked and put his hand on Gaius' shoulder. "We have the finest lock picker in the land to pass on his knowledge to all of us!"

"Bubbles, I've had to learn and hone my skills though years of hard living and tough experiences. For you to just ask me to tell you my secrets is—"

"I'll throw in an extra plate of Lissa's cookies on top of your usual rations."

"…Can I have a piece of Stumbles' pies instead?"

"I don't see why not."

"The ones she gives you?"

"Why do you always want my pies? Sumia makes plenty of others on her shifts. Get those!"

"But it's not the same!" Gaius whined.

Robin sighed in exasperation.

"Come on, Bubbles. Throw me a pie here!"

"I'll think about it."

"Only think?"

"Consider yourself lucky I'm thinking about this at all!"

"Okay, okay…" Gaius backed off and resumed working on the lock. "…Can you give me a strawberry piece?"

"Apple."

"Strawberry."

"Apple."

"Raspberry."

"Apple."

"…Blueberry?"

"I'll think about it."

"Aw, come on! Why can't I have strawberry?"

"Because you'd have to do something really extraordinary to warrant strawberry!" Robin said irritably. "You'd have to do it twice!"

"Hey, I'm already giving up my trademark lock picking skills!"

"And I'm giving you cookies with the possibility of blueberry pie. My blueberry pie. Well, technically Sumia's, but you get the idea. That's already more than most people would get. Don't push your luck."

"Fine. I guess I can settle for blueberry…" Gaius conceded before grinning triumphantly. "Done. One lock, picked."

Robin looked at his watch and frowned. "That was almost two minutes, Gaius. You're slipping."

The thief shrugged. "Extenuating circumstances."

"Nice save. Now then, is everyone—" Robin turned to face the others, only to find them watching him with amused expressions. "…What?"

"Just interesting to watch you negotiate," Chrom said, grinning.

"Yeah!" Morgan spoke up while frantically making notes. "I have so much more to learn…"

"I am a negotiating force to be reckoned with, aren't I? And without my chief negotiating partner, to boot! But we can praise me after we're done here. Weapons ready, everyone!" Robin shouted.

The Shepherds prepared themselves.

"All right, and here we—" Robin was reaching for the door handle when he was interrupted by the door swinging open and someone flying through it. Unfortunately, that also meant that the door hit Robin squarely in the face at full force.

"Argh, my nose!" Robin cried in pain. "Damn it! I…I think I'm bleeding. Medic!"

"Allow me," Robin heard Libra's voice. He then saw the priest standing in front of him. "The damage doesn't seem to be too severe. All you need is a little dose from a healing staff. Please hold still."

"Urgh, don't you have anything to stop the bleeding?" Robin asked. "My blood's all dripping on the floor."

"Ah yes," Libra held out a handkerchief. "Please lift your head and hold still."

Robin did as he was told.

Libra held the handkerchief under Robin's nose and applied some magic with his staff.

"There we go. Pain slowly going away…" Robin sighed in relief.

"What just happened was certainly very unexpected."

"Yeah, welcome to every day of every week of my life," Robin grumbled. "Let's just go end this thing already…"

So the Shepherds cautiously made their way past the broken doors and into a giant chamber of some sort. And they made it just in time to see some armored knight charge an archer, and send him flying by bashing him with their shield.

Vaike whistled. "Wow. Going full force and knockin' that guy out cold. I like this one already!"

"What do you make of this, Robin?" asked Chrom.

"Well, it seems like they're fighting the same people we are, so that's a good start…" replied the grandmaster. "Now we'll just have to see if they're friendly or just attack everyone. I advise approaching cautiously. You can never be too sure."

Chrom nodded.

Lucina squinted.

"Is that…?"

"Hm? Something wrong, Lucina?"

"I-it's nothing, Father."

Chrom looked at his daughter curiously but was prevented from saying anything by Robin.

"Okay, let's approach slowly and show that we mean no harm, but get ready to defend yourselves if need be."

The Shepherds slowly approached the lone knight.

Robin nodded to Chrom, who cleared his throat.

"Excuse me—"

The knight turned around in alarm (and also turned out to be a girl).

"Wha—?! Die, fiend!" she cried, and stabbed with her spear.

"Whoa!"

Luckily for Chrom, his reflexes were sharp enough to react without him thinking.

"Y-you parried my spear…" The knight looked at Chrom in shock. "How did you do that"?

"I get a lot of practice," Chrom answered casually. "Now can you please stop trying to skewer me for a second? We're not your enemies. A friend sent us to help you. There are too many for you to fight alone, no matter your skill. We'll take care of the rabble while you fight your duel."

"Wait, what?" Robin interjected. "What duel? What friend? What are you even talking about, Chrom?"

"'Chrom'? Then that must make you—"

"Kjelle? Is that really you?"

"It can't be…" The knight named Kjelle's eyes widened when she saw the source of the voice. "Lucina?"

The princess smiled. "It's been a long time, Kjelle."

"Uh, not to interrupt this heartwarming reunion, but…" Morgan pointed to soldiers coming up stairs and through doorways. "We've got company."

"Well that's annoying…" Robin shook his head. "Okay, form up, people! Let's take these guys out quick and call it a day!"

"Right!" Chrom nodded and then turned to Kjelle. "Finish your duel. Go!"

"Right. Thank you!"

"What the—? Hey, wait!"

But it was too late. Kjelle ran behind their line and off to…wherever.

"…If she dies, it'll be all your fault."

Chrom gave Robin a quizzical look. "How will it be my fault?"

"She's a slow, bulky knight gone off to fight a magic user," Robin said flatly. "I can't imagine any situation when that leads to anything good for the knight."

"Have faith, Robin. Kjelle is one of the strongest people I know. She's fought much stronger enemies than a simple bandit mage. She'll be just fine," Lucina assured.

"I'll take your word for it," Robin said, unconvinced. He then turned to the bandit reinforcements. "Here they come. Mages! Blast them!"

And the mages did blast them. Blasted them so hard that they took out half the bandits before they even got close. The other half were swiftly cut down.

"There. That wasn't so bad!" Robin said. "Is that it?"

"We still have Cassius to deal with," Chrom reminded him.

"Oh yeah. Anyone know where he is?"

Just then, everyone heard an explosion not too far off.

"It sounds like Kjelle found him. Let's go!"

Thus, the Shepherds rushed off to where they heard the noise. When they entered another room, they came just in time to see someone in sorcerer's robes (presumably Cassius) cast a powerful looking spell right in Kjelle's direction. Amazingly, Kjelle didn't try to dodge (not that she could in her bulky armor) and instead rushed straight at the spell.

Just as Robin signed her off for dead, something incredible happened.

Instead of getting disintegrated in the force of the spell, Kjelle thrust her shield forward and somehow managed to endure the effects of the spell. Moreover, she endured it enough to keep marching forward despite Cassius casting a steady stream of dark magic at her.

"Uh…Dad?" Morgan a spoke up, not taking her eyes off the scene in front of her. "Can all knights do that?"

"They're not supposed to…" Robin replied, puzzled at how Kjelle was not dead yet and managed to shrug off enough spell damage to make it to Cassius and drive her spear through his heart.

"Wow."

"See? You had nothing to worry about," Lucina said. "Kjelle is more than able to hold her own."

"Clearly. That was really something!" Robin was genuinely impressed. "Hey, Lucina? Can all your friends do something like that?"

"Excuse me?"

"Pull off amazing feats like that, I mean. Are they all as tough as Kjelle?"

"I—" Lucina began before being interrupted by other voices.

"Wow! That lady just charged though a stream of dark magic and stabbed that guy straight in his chest!" Robin looked to his side and saw Henry grinning. "She must be one tough cookie."

"Or her opponent was incredibly weak." Tharja walked up to them, looking dour as always.

"Either way, that was some show!"

"Hell yeah it was!" Vaike walked up to them. "That girl looks as tough as nails. Probably packs some punch. I'd love to spar with her and see how hard she hits! Say, she was one of Lucina's friends, right? Who do you suppose her parents are?"

Lucina suppressed a grin.

"Figure that stuff out when we get out of here," said Robin. "Come on. Let's collect her and get ourselves outside."


So that was that.

After getting outside and visiting the nearby village to do…something related to…something, the Shepherds made their way back to their camp.

Lucina and Kjelle had a proper reunion and briefly caught up with what the other was doing. Oh, and it turned out that Kjelle was Sully and Vaike's kid. The two people most concerned with training and strength (barring Frederick) gave birth to what looked like an armored beast on the battlefield. Go figure.

As much as Robin wanted to get a crack at Kjelle first, he figured letting her parents have first dibs was the polite thing to do. So he went to his tent instead.

"Hey, Dad!"

"Gah!" Robin jumped back in surprise, not expecting his daughter to jump right in front of him. "Morgan! Are you trying to give me a heart attack? At least knock first!"

"Oops. Sorry!" Morgan giggled.

"Right. So. What can I do for you, Morgan?"

"I want to know what you think."

"…What I think about what?"

"About me, Dad. You know, my abilities and stuff. You saw me fight alongside you out there today, right? I think we made a pretty good team"

"That we did…" Robin laughed wearily.

"So what do you think? Do I have potential? Did I do good? Can I fight alongside you more?"

"As much as I was against the idea of bringing you out today, I have to say that you did better than I could ever imagine today," Robin admitted. "For your first time, you were very professional. And your spellcasting and technique seemed solid."

Morgan swelled with pride.

"We'll have to work together so we can increase your magic potential," continued Robin. "But you seem to have a solid foundation. I'll have you stick to spellcasting for now, at least until I can get a good sense of how you do with melee weapons and what weapons you prefer."

"I'm almost certain I like the sword."

"Then we'll get some sword practice in the coming days."

"Neat."

"And Morgan?"

"Yeah?"

"You mainly went with us because you wanted to watch me in action, right?"

"Yep!"

"And? Did you learn anything?"

"Oh, I learned lots. I saw you in action, giving orders, casting spells, and all that good stuff. I even made notes!"

"You made…" Robin blinked. "Morgan, we were fighting almost the entire time in there. How in Naga's name did you find the time to make notes?"

"A good tactician always finds a way," Morgan recited sagely. "You wanna see what I wrote down?"

"Uh…"

Someone else chose that moment to speak up.

"Robin? May we come in?"

"Lucina? Uh, sure."

That was unexpected. Lucina didn't usually come to his tent. Robin was even more surprised when she brought Kjelle with her.

"Oh, Morgan. I didn't expect to see you here."

"Hi, Lucina! And friend!" Morgan greeted cheerfully.

Kjelle looked at Morgan curiously before tuning to Lucina.

"Who's she supposed to be?"

"That's Morgan, Kjelle. She's Robin's…" Lucina hesitated. "She's his daughter."

"Robin's…daughter?" Kjelle looked confused.

"That's me! Pleased to meet you!" Morgan extended her hand.

A handshake.

"Oh wow. You sure have a strong grip!" observed Morgan. "You must be really tough."

"I am," Kjelle said confidently before releasing Morgan's hand and giving Lucina a questioning glance.

"That's right, Kjelle. Morgan is Robin's daughter. His only daughter as far as we are aware," Lucina made sure to emphasize that point. "She appeared recently and we have no reason to doubt her identity. You can see the resemblance yourself."

Although Kjelle still looked confused, she gave Lucina a nod of understanding.

"Well, now that introductions are over and done with, what brings you ladies to my humble abode?" asked Robin.

"I brought Kjelle to you so you could assess her abilities to determine what role to put her in," Lucina explained.

"Oh. That's very kind of you, Lucina. But you didn't have to do that. I'm sure Kjelle could've come here on her own."

"Well, yes, but I also thought I'd sit in and help fill any gaps…if you don't object, of course."

"Oh. Not used to having a second person here while I'm conducting my assessments, but why not? You probably know more about Kjelle than I do. Sounds like a good idea!" Robin turned to his daughter. "Morgan? Can you please give us a second?"

"Sure thing. I think I'll go to the weapons tent in the meanwhile and see what I like."

Morgan smiled, waved goodbye to Kjelle and Lucina, and walked out of the tent.

"Don't take anything without supervision!" Robin called out. "Anyway, ladies. Why don't you take a seat so we can begin?"

"Remember what I told you about Robin," Lucina whispered to Kjelle as they sat down.

"I can already see the difference," Kjelle whispered back. "His hair is the first thing you notice."

"Be prepared, Kjelle. This Robin's differences go far beyond his hair color."

"Okay, ladies!" Robin said cheerfully as he got out his pen and notebook. "We've got a lot of getting to know each other and assessing to be done. Well, Kjelle and I do, anyway. Lucina and I are pretty good in both of those departments."

Kjelle glanced over to Lucina, who gave her a "just go with it" look.

"Right, so! Kjelle. I've been meaning to ask you about your amazing, logic-defying stunt you pulled back there."

"My…what?"

"You know, how you marched into an enemy spell, shrugged off the damage and didn't die. You were like some…armored…salmon going against the stream that was the magic to get to the source and kill it! Very impressive."

Kjelle stared at Robin in confusion.

"So how'd you do it?"

Lucina elbowed Kjelle.

"Oh. Right. Back there. That was a special technique I learned from Mother."

"Oh?"

"Although Mother was one of the strongest soldiers of her time, she realized that she was still vulnerable to enemy magic. In order to overcome this weakness, she did some research and made a training regimen to increase her magic resistance. It all eventually culminated in her 'Aegis' technique."

"Very impressive. How does it work?"

"It all depends on training your body and your mind. I remember Mother telling me that mental resistance is as important as physical resistance to withstand enemy magic attacks. With enough training, you can get some 'reserve' defenses that you can channel in battle. When you're under attack by enemy magic spells, you can channel this reserve energy to reduce the magic damage taken."

"Wow. That sure sounds handy!"

"It's saved my life more times that I can count…"

"Very, very interesting…" Robin made some notes. "Come to think of it, Sully mentioned that she was working on a technique designed to do exactly this."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I guess it makes sense, with our upcoming war with Valm and all."

"I think that's about the time Mother started really working on it. Or rather, she's figured out what to do by that time and just needed to try it out in battle."

"Well, how exciting is this? You came just in time to help teach your mother this thing that she taught you in your time! Hey, do you think you guys can teach us this technique? Seems rather useful."

"I…" Kjelle looked uncertain. "I can certainly try."

"Only try?"

"Mother designed the Aegis technique specifically with mounted combat in mind."

"But you can pull it off."

"Yes, after some modifications of her doctrine while incorporating the essential principles. And years of adaptations and training. I think the best way would be to approach mother and see if you can learn it alongside her."

"That's a big of a bummer, but I guess Stahl and Frederick would be most suitable and appropriate to start off with. And hey! I guess with you around, you can give your mother pointers and speed the whole process of learning even faster!"

"I suppose…"

"Okay. Make a note about that for later…" Robin wrote some things down in his notebook. "Moving on. I see that you're still wearing your bulky combat armor even though we're not fighting."

"Is that a problem?"

"Not really…except for the fact that my tent is a bit small and that armor takes up a lot of space and makes it seem a bit crowded in here, especially with all the stuff I have. That reminds me that I really need to do some cleaning…"

"…Was he always like this here?" Kjelle leaned in and asked Lucina.

"As far I'm aware, yes," replied the princess. "It was just as much of a shock to me."

"I mean, he's so upbeat and energetic. And…he's smiling. A lot."

"That and many other things…"

"…Right. Cleaning can wait for later. Anyway," Robin cleared his throat. "About your armor."

"What of it?"

"I notice that it's in extremely good condition and has very few signs of wear and tear. How'd you manage that?"

"I make sure to pay special attention when cleaning and maintaining my armor. A well-kept piece of armor is the only thing standing between you and death. Not to mention that armor is a knight's uniform and reflects her status and ability to the world. It's both battlefield tool and work of art... It grants a warrior might and majesty. And a good knight has to look her best, for practicability and presentation!"

"I agree!" Robin nodded in approval. "I actually have the same philosophy, only for coats…and I guess that coats don't really have the same protective capabilities as big suits of armor, but the thought is still the same. One must look good and presentable to the world for the sake of their position, pride, and all that good stuff!"

Lucina watched in amusement at how fired up Robin and Kjelle got talking about the condition of their apparel.

"Anyway, looking presentable aside, you also maintain your armor."

"Yes."

"Just your armor, or…?"

"Every piece or armor I can find. I have a very strict armor maintenance routine and I expect others to have the same standards. If not, they can follow mine. There's nothing worse than walking into your armory and seeing otherwise excellent armor lying around, collecting dust and with the last battle's stains on it. It's a disgraceful sight and reflects poorly on the wearer."

"A very good outlook and ethic! Although, did you also do this in the future? I understand the importance of armor maintenance, but how did you ever find the time? With the Risen running around and supplies dwindling by the day…"

"For those reasons it was even more important to maintain the equipment we had at our disposal."

"It's true," Lucina nodded. "It was simpler in the beginning, when the Risen tide could be maintained and Ylisse still stood. We had stockpiles of equipment and could simply replace anything we lost. When the situation turned desperate, we could no longer afford to replace our losses and every piece of equipment became precious, no matter how old or worn."

"And it became even more important to keep the equipment we had in the best possible condition," finished Kjelle. "Giving up an hour or two is well worth it when you remember that this precious armor is the only thing standing between you and a Risen's blade."

"Whoa. This suddenly got really heavy over here. Uh…" Robin scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Well that good to hear. And hey, we have almost unlimited funds, we can afford the highest quality armor, and we don't have Risen crawling over the land…for the most part. So that should be a load off your mind, huh? Now you only have to worry about getting stabbed from regular, living soldiers instead of walking corpses!"

Kjelle raised an eyebrow. Lucina stared quizzically.

"…Attempt to lighten the mood not taken? No? Okay, moving on!" Robin cleared his throat. "So that's that out of the way, moving on. I can see from your wearing your armor with no sighs of tiredness or exhaustion that you're probably pretty strong."

Kjelle shrugged. "I try to be the best and train to achieve that goal. The future was a dog-eat-dog world where strength was the only currency and what guaranteed your survival. With the increased number of Risen, enemies who knew no compassion or reason, strength was everything. If you were weak or careless, you died."

Robin whistled. "Sounds like the future in all its terribleness bred some pretty tough warriors. Like, Lucina here is probably one of the strongest people in camp!"

"You give me too much credit, Robin."

"And you don't give yourself enough, Lucina," Kjelle said. "Robin, Lucina here was the strongest one of the bunch. None of us could even compare. There was a reason that she was the leader, and not just because she was Chrom's daughter. She led us through some otherwise hopeless situations and easily took out more Risen than any of us."

"Kjelle, please…" Lucina fidgeted in embarrassment.

"I mean, she's not wrong," Robin commented. "As all those broken training dummies attest to. Speaking of, I wonder how this month's pool is…"

If anything, this made Lucina even more embarrassed.

Kjelle grinned. "It's an old habit of hers. She broke things ever since we were little. From practice weapons to equipment, everything was left in pieces after Lucina was through with it."

"A skill she inherited from her old man."

Robin and Kjelle both laughed. For her part, Lucina buried her face in her hands.

"But the point is that Lucina was the strongest one of us," Kjelle said after she calmed down. "She's leagues ahead of everyone else."

"I can imagine. Now, the question is where you are relative to Lucina."

"Far behind, that's for sure."

"Nonsense," Lucina said, getting over her embarrassment. "Kjelle was easily stronger than most of our recruits and even veteran soldiers."

"I can also imagine that. It would be nice to see how strong, though. A way to test your might, you know? Actually, I think I may have some stuff here to do that…" Robin turned around and rummaged through his trunk.

"I can think of an easy way to show you," Kjelle said, taking off her armored glove.

"Really?" Robin asked, still looking through his trunk. "Do tell."

"I'll show you right now."

"Uh, Kjelle? Maybe you should—"

"Ragh!"

Robin froze when he heard an eerily familiar crushing and splintering sound.

"…I should just not turn around and leave. Right now," he mumbled before bracing himself and turning around.

"Argh!"

Kjelle stood rubbing her knuckle with a triumphant grin. Lucina was wincing. But more importantly, his desk was there, on the ground, split in half. This brought back some very unpleasant memories.

"MY DESK!" Robin cried in despair. "MY WONDERFULLY COMPACT DESK THAT WAS WITH ME THROUGH AN ENTIRE CAMPAIGN! WHY WOULD YOU—"

But before he could begin his rant in earnest, Anna waltzed into his tent and placed a brochure in his hand.

"A selection of our compact desks suitable for all tacticians, master or aspiring. Guaranteed delivery within a week or your money back! Terms and conditions apply. Delivery subject to terrain, weather and location. And this is just a taste of our impressive selection!"

Anna said her bit, winked, and zipped out as fast as she came in, leaving the occupants of the tent stunned.

"…How does she…?" Robin began before flipping through the brochure. It had an impressive selection of really good looking desks specifically for his needs. They even folded up nice and compact!

"I guess it is time for me to upgrade. And I do have the money…" Robin considered before making up his mind and putting the brochure in his pocket. "Good news! Because of Anna's timely save, I won't have to fire you or put you on probation for violating my sacred workspace. Isn't that great?"

"'Fire'? 'Probation'?" Kjelle looked at Robin in confusion. "Just for breaking your desk?"

"The desk forms part of my sacred area of working! It's my safe space and the space where I spend most of my time, reading reports and drafting strategies that'll make sure we don't die! Without a safe, working environment, what do I have? The command tent where everyone gathers and talks and makes noise and where I don't have my tools for strategy crafting?" Robin scoffed. "Besides, the layout is all wrong there. I don't have my pens, all my parchment, my special area to keep and compare reports, or anything. It took me a lot of time to organize my tent so that everything I need is within arm's length and I'm not going to waste my time getting it right in the command tent!"

"We apologize for the inconvenience caused, Robin," Lucina quickly said. "Is there anything we can do to help you?"

"No, you guys don't know the system. It's up to me to make it work until I get a new desk. Although…" Robin took out the brochure and pointed. "What do you think? Feroxi ebony or Valmese birch?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, I really like the ebony desk. It looks smooth and professional, fit for a tactician of my caliber. But! Look at the fine craftsmanship on this birch desk. How nice and smooth and sturdy it looks. What do you guys think will go better in here?"

"Uh—"

"Or mahogany! Looks at how nice this one looks! Or this one. Or this one…"

Kjelle and Lucina exchanged confused glances.

"I don't know. These desks all look good. Maybe I'll have to flip a coin or something…" Robin mused. "And ask Morgan for her opinion. She probably has some interior decorator sense."

"That—"

"Or maybe I should buy all of them! And maybe gift one to Morgan and keep two of them for myself! Although I'll need a bigger tent to keep more than one desk in. I could always just get a bigger tent. Hmm…"

"Uh, Robin?" Lucina tried to get the conversation back on track. "Is there anything else you would like to ask Kjelle?"

"Hm? Oh, right. Uh…" Robin pulled his attention from his brochure and its many finely crafted desks. "As you know, we're about to embark on a war with the Valmese."

Kjelle nodded.

"Any help is necessary and I can see that you'll be a great asset…er, you are willing to help us in the fight, right?"

"Of course. Do you even have to ask?"

"It's a procedural thing," Robin said causally. "Anyway, you're pretty tough and have a crazy training regimen to keep your form, right?"

"That's right."

"Wonderful! Are you willing to teach our recruits a thing or two about how you fight and how to get to your levels of strength?"

"Recruits?"

"Yes. Ylisse's army is gathering at that Feroxi port city to repel the Valmese invasion and counter-invade. And while I'm generally satisfied with our level of training, I feel that our heavy infantry is lacking. They need a proper training regimen to get on the same level as everyone else and as our newest member that specializes in training and heavy armor, I thought you'd be the perfect person to get them into shape! So, interested?"

An evil glint appeared in Kjelle's eye.

"You bet I'm interested! If there's one thing I can't stand, it's weaklings and people who don't pull their own weight around. Don't worry, Robin. I'll take all those wimpy recruits you have and whip them into proper warriors! They'll learn to stand on their own or die trying!"

"Let's…not train them to death, shall we? We need every soldier we can get to fight the Valmese. Just, you know, train them to an inch of death."

"Robin!" Lucina gave him a disapproving look.

"Uh…within a few meters of death?"

"I'll get right on that. By the time I'm done with them, all of your recruits will be able to take on ten men!"

"I certainly like those odds!"

"Kjelle? Please try to remember that these are simply young recruits and not experienced warriors. Try to go easy on them…" Lucina tried to reign in her friend's "enthusiasm."

"No mercy for the weak! If they drop, then they shouldn't be warriors of Ylisse in the first place!"

"Kjelle…"

"…Fine. I'll tone it down a little bit. But not too much! These wimps need to know that this is a real war they'll be fighting and be at their best!"

"That's exactly my motto!" Robin nodded in approval. "Now off you go, new training master of our heavy infantry! Go and create a training regimen that would make us all proud and that would make our recruits strong!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Oh, before I forget…" Robin reached into his coat and handed Kjelle a pile of documents. "Here is your official employment contract."

"…Contract?"

"Yep. It outlines the terms and conditions of your employment with the Shepherds, perks, healthcare benefits, rules and regulations, penalties for breaking said rules, and the dos and don'ts. I highly suggest you read the dos and don'ts and pay extra special attention to the part about termination of employment. I cannot stress that enough."

Kjelle started confusedly at the pile of papers in her hand and then to Lucina.

"I'll explain," said the princess.

"At your own time and after Kjelle reads and understands what's in front of her!" Robin insisted. "All you have to do is sign on the dotted line that you consent to everything laid out."

"Okay…"

"At your own time. For now, go forth and train our recruits! …Or think about training our recruits!"

Kjelle nodded, saluted and left Robin's tent.

"Hey, there's my girl!"

"You sure left us in a hurry."

"Father? Mother?"

"Yeah! Now that you've done the official business with Robin and all, why don't you spend some time with your folks? Oh, I know! Show us what ya got on the training grounds! The Vaike is eager to know what his daughter is capable of and how hard she can hit."

"You and me both. I hear some pretty impressive things you did inside the fort. Now I want to see it for myself!"

"I really want to, but…"

"Go ahead," Robin called out. "We're not going to meet our troops in some time. Bond with your parents and draw up your regimen when you have some free time."

"You're a pal, Robin!" came Vaike's voice. "Hear that? Robin's cool with it. Come on, let's see if how much of my strength you inherited!"

"How much of our strength, you knucklehead."

"I…suppose drawing up training plans can wait…"

"Har! That's the spirit! Now come and show your parents what ya got!"

"And don't go easy on us. We're as young as you are in this time and can take everything you throw at us. No holding back, you hear?"

Robin smiled as the voices eventually trailed off.

"Ah, parents bonding with their children through beating the crap out of each other. Isn't it sweet?"

"Different people have different ways of bonding," Lucina said simply. "Some people read, some people dance, some people bond though sparring."

"Doesn't seem like something I could ever do. I feel like Morgan and I would bond better playing board games, or reading tactical manuals, or practicing magic…that sort of thing."

"I can certainly see that."

"Speaking of, how goes the bonding with your mother? You guys dancing yet?"

"I feel it's too early for us to be dancing, Robin," Lucina chuckled. "I fear I lack Mother's quick footwork. We're just getting the basics down for now."

"Basics are good. It gives you a foundation from which to build whatever it is you want."

"Some very good advice, Robin."

"What can I say? I'm full of it. Anyway, I wish you the best of luck in bonding with your mother. You guys broke the ice already, so it should be smooth sailing from here on out."

"It would appear so."

"And look, we found one of your friends despite how remote the odds of that happening were. See? Things are looking up! I may personally have terrible luck, but we Shepherds collectively are probably luckier than everyone else on the planet! Stick with us and marvel at our amazing luck. I'd go as far as bet that we'll find another one of your friends soon."

"I can only hope. I've worried about them for so long…"

"There you go again."

"Huh?"

"You know, with the negativity. Come on, Lucina. We just found one of your friends on a random expedition. What are the odds of that happening? And if it can happen once, it can certainly happen again and again until we've found them all, yeah? Focus on the bright side and turn that frown…" Robin twisted his hands in front of his face. "…Upside down!"

A small smile spread across Lucina's face.

"Ha!" Robin laughed triumphantly. "Looks like some things never change. That worked on the you back at the castle and it seems to work for the adult you standing in front of me."

"And there you go, trying frantically to make me feel better."

"Nah. If I was trying frantically, you'd be on the floor laughing like there was no tomorrow. This is just me being my friendly, normal self."

"Regardless, you've achieved your goal, Robin. I do feel better."

"That's me. Replacing frowns with smiles, one gloomy princess at a time," Robin said with a smile as he sat down, leaned back on his chair and put his legs up on his desk. Or, legs that he would've put on his desk were it not broken in two. With no desk to put his legs on, Robin ended up leaning too far and fell back and hit his head.

"Urgh, why do I ever bother…?"

"Are you okay?" Lucina asked, helping him up.

"Yeah, nothing hurt. Just my pride…" Robin mumbled as he got up and rubbed the back of his head. "So, that Kjelle, huh? She's some character."

"As stalwart a comrade as all the others."

"Can you tell me anything more about your other friends?"

"Robin, you know the answer to that."

"Come on! Really? Not even their parents?"

"I can't tell you that even more than I can't tell you about my friends."

"…I'll probably regret asking, but do you at least know the identity of Morgan's mother?"

"I do not."

"Lucina, you're killing me here! Give me at least something!"

"I'm telling you the truth, Robin," Lucina said honestly. "I have no idea who Morgan's mother is. This is the first I'm seeing her."

"Well, it was worth a shot…" Robin sighed in frustration. "A big part of me wants to pretend that Morgan just appeared and not ask any more questions, but there's a small part of me that really wants to know who her mother is. I think that's my inner tactician. This whole situation with her mother is one unsolved question. Hell, pretty much everything about Morgan is one unsolved question. I hate those!"

"I'm afraid there's nothing we can do about that. I don't even know where she came from."

"Well she's here now and I'm determined to be the best dad that I can be for her!" Robin declared. "Now if you excuse me, I've just realized that I've sent her off on her own to the weapons tent and left her alone in a tent full of sharp, pointy objects."

"Please, don't let me keep you."

"Thanks, Lucina! Pleasure talking to you, as always. Oh, and remember what we talked about concerning Chrom. We have to be together when you ask about how he and Olivia met. Together!"

Having said his piece, Robin dashed out of his tent.

Lucina waved goodbye.

"You're not the only one who wishes the mysteries surrounding Morgan to be solved, Robin. Her appearance in this world raises so many questions and puts such important things in doubt that I can't help but worry when I think of the implications…"


Robin knew Morgan was a responsible child. After all, she was his daughter. He liked to think that he raised his daughter to be good and responsible. However, he liked to be certain of things. An the best way to be certain about things was to hover around his daughter like some kind of bee that's looking for a landing in a particularly colorful flower. Clearly.

As Robin was running to the weapon's tent, a flash of light suddenly stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Argh! My eyes! Bright light! So blinding!"

Robin staggered around until he hit something hard and metal and fell on the ground.

"Oh gosh, Robin! Are you okay?"

"Urgh…" Robin tried to blink the white spots out of his vision. "…Kellam? Is that you?"

"Yes."

"Why are you—gods! Why does it seem like you're reflecting the light off yourself? It's blinding!"

"Yeah, that…" Kellam helped Robin up and laughed in embarrassment. "Funny story…"

"I'm not laughing. In fact, I see spots in my eyes. Dear Naga, it's like I'm staring right into the sun!" Robin shut his eyes and raised his hands to shield himself from the light.

"It was all Miriel's idea. It's, uh, her project to try and get me more noticeable," explained Kellam. "To that end, she suggested me wearing all of these little mirrors on my armor. The thought was that being a giant, bright ball of light would make me more noticeable to others."

"Well, I guess she technically succeeded…" Robin conceded. "Although it would've been vastly preferable if she found a way of doing this without blinding everyone around!"

"I brought up that point with her, but…"

"But what?"

"You know how Miriel gets when she's got an idea for an experiment."

"No, I don't know. I usually give her an idea and send her off."

"Then you haven't been her guinea pig. Miriel can be very insistent when it comes to her experiments and getting results."

"Then tell her that she's successfully found a way for you to be noticeable. Unfortunately, the side effects include blindness for whoever actually does notice you."

"Right. I think it's been long enough now…"

"Oy! What is this brightness shining in Gregor's eyes like sun?"

"I can't believe no one else has told you about this little issue," Robin said. "You'd think the blinding light would be the first thing people would notice. That's the first thing Gregor and I noticed!"

"Oy! Is Robin source of blinding light? Gregor will have to ask you to dim it down, yes? Otherwise bright lights will ruin Gregor's eyesight!"

"It's not me, Gregor. If it was, do you think I'd be—" Robin paused and squinted. "…Gregor, why are you wearing full body armor off the battlefield?"

"Because new armor that Robin bought is very comforting and flexible! Makes Gregor look good and feel as if Gregor is young man full of youthful energy!" Gregor laughed. "Big shield also helps Gregor shield his eyes from strong light of blindingness."

"Yeah, no kidding. Maybe I should get me one of those…" Robin noticed that he could still see blinding light at the edge of his vision. "Kellam!"

"Robin?"

"Are you still here? Go and take off you blasted mirrors before we all end up permanently seeing spots!"

"Er, right! And I can at least give Miriel her field results…"

Kellam's leaving was signified by the light shining into Robin's eyes getting dimmer and disappearing.

"I can't believe he's kept it up for that long without anyone seeing or saying anything to him. And why does he even let Miriel do that to him?" Robin rubbed his eyes to try and get his vision back to normal. "Great. I'm still seeing spots…"

"Maybe Kellam is having feelings for brainy Miriel?" Gregor suggested. "Would explain why he go through everything she put him through despite how crazy it may be seeming and why Miriel still experimenting on him."

"Yeah, right," Robin scoffed. "I'm pretty sure Miriel is incapable of expressing emotion, least of all anything romantic. The only thing she seems to have feelings for is science and answering questions and…answering questions with science. Besides, I made it very clear what would happen if they did decide to pursue anything of that nature. They wouldn't risk getting fired at such a critical moment."

"Robin is putting too much faith in his contract and not enough faith in power of love."

"'Power of love.' Blergh. What are we, in a children's storybook?" Robin asked with distaste. "As long as I'm in charge, people will control their emotions and keep everything platonic."

"But—"

"PLATONIC!"

"But what of the peoples already married?"

"I just glare at them…as should you. In fact, I encourage you to. Especially to Chrom."

"Ho ho!" Gregor laughed. "Robin is having very strong feelings against all things romantic. Why is that?"

"…Were you not there when I gave everyone my lecture on the importance of keeping things between work colleagues strictly professional and the perils and pitfalls of inter-professional relationships? It lasted three hours!"

"Gregor not remembering. Was a long time, yes?"

Robin frowned. "Do I need to sign you up for a reminder course?"

"Er…Gregor think he'll pass. Gregor has general understanding. Although…" Gregor smiled slyly. "Perhaps Robin is so not liking the romance because Robin is himself having romantic feelings, yes?"

"…I'm not even going to dignify that horrible suggestion with a response."

"Does that mean Gregor is onto something? Because it's only natural, yes? Robin now suddenly finding himself father of very cheerful daughter, yet cheerful daughter is without mother. Perhaps now Robin is thinking that it's time to find—"

"Gregor, I would be staring daggers at you right now if I wasn't seeing flashing lights my eyes still. Urgh, damn!" Robin blinked. "So I'm just going tell you to halt that line of thought right now before I…can get rid of these spots and think of a proper punishment for you."

"Oy, there is no need to be punishing jolly Gregor! Gregor just making with small talkings. Besides, Robin and Gregor are partners and thick as thieves. Fighting together in war makes best friends, yes?" Gregor said jovially and pat Robin roughly on the back.

"Whatever."

"Hm, Robin may want to think about having his eyes looked at."

"It'll be fine. I just need to blink enough to make these damn spots go away and my vision to become normal again. Any minute now…"

"Gregor think that—oy! Is Panne!"

"Buh?"

"Hello, Panne!" Gregor called out.

Robin couldn't hear anything, but from the quick rustling of feet, he guessed Panne walked in the opposite direction. Quickly.

"Oy, Panne! Is only Gregor! Will be seeing you, Robin. Gregor have important matter to be taking care of."

"Uh—"

But Gregor was already off, leaving Robin all by himself with his vision still impaired.

"Okay, no problem," Robin told himself. "Any minute now. I'll be back to normal any minute now. All I need to do is blink hard enough and—"

"I-is someone there?"

"…Sumia?"

"Robin? Is that, urgh, you?"

"Uh, yeah. It's me. Here."

Robin had a bad feeling all of a sudden. That feeling that usually preceded him suffering some sort of bodily harm.

"O-okay, just be careful. I'm carrying a few crates of pegasus feed to the stables."

"All by yourself?"

Robin didn't like where this was going.

"It's no problem! I can manage at least this m—EEK!"

Robin found it so depressing how he apparently had a gut feeling for when something like this was going to happen. Those were his last thoughts before he felt Sumia falling on him, a brief (yet intense) feeling of pain, and everything when dark.


Robin regained consciousness to the familiar smell of the medical tent and the warm, pleasant feeling of a healing staff.

"Urgh…" groaning, he slowly opened his eyes.

The first thing he noticed was that his vision was back to normal with no bright spots. That was a good sign. The second thing he noticed was someone looking down at him.

"…Ricken?" Robin recognized the young Shepherd's face first.

"Hey, Robin. Welcome back."

"What're you doing here?"

"Uh, healing you?"

"You? …Not Lissa or Libra or Maribelle?"

"Nope! It's all me this time," Ricken said proudly. "I've been studying really hard with Maribelle about the basics of healing magic and think that I've got the hang of it."

"…" Robin looked himself over. "I'd say so. I feel no worse than I usually do, so I'd say you did a pretty good job!"

"Hey, thanks!" Ricken smiled.

"R-Robin…!"

Robin looked to the side to see an unusually dejected looking Sumia.

"Hey, Sumia! What's up?"

"Someone seems chipper, considering they're in the medical tent," remarked Ricken.

"I've woken up here so often I feel like it's my second home," joked Robin.

"Um, Ricken? C-can you give us a moment?" Sumia asked.

"Sure thing. Let me know if you need anything else."

Ricken nodded and left the tent.

Once they were alone, Robin turned to Sumia and smiled.

"Something important you need to tell me? Personal? …Private?"

"…How can you tolerate me after all I do to you, Robin?" Sumia asked quietly, looking down.

Well that was unexpected. Totally changed the mood.

"I'm…not entirely sure what you mean, Sumia"

"I know you're playing dumb for my sake, Robin. Please, I want you to be honest."

"Honest about what?"

"I want you to tell me how you really feel about me."

"…What?"

Sumia took a deep breath.

"…You think I'm useless, don't you?" she asked after a moment. "You only say nice things to me to try and spare my feelings, right?"

"What? No! Where is this even coming from?"

"Because it's true!" Sumia cried, finally looking up at him with tears in her eyes (much to Robin's alarm). "Because of everything I do to disappoint you despite your faith in me! You believe in me and all I do is prove that I'm useless!"

Robin briefly wondered why these types of situations happen to him before discarding that thought and wrapping his arms around Sumia.

"Come on, Sumia. I don't hate you and I don't think you're useless and I certainly don't think you're a disappointment," Robin reassured calmly. "Why do you think those things after all you've done before?"

"B-because I…" Sumia sniffed. "D-despite all that, I…I…"

"You what?"

"I'm still a stupid, clumsy clod that k-keeps on hurting you!" Sumia wailed and cried into Robin's chest.

"W-what? That's totally untrue! When have you ever hurt me?"

"J-just now, when I tripped a-and fell with those h-heavy boxes of pegasus feed and knocked you out!"

"But that was just the one—"

"A-and the time we met, I-I tripped and fell right on top of you."

"Well, yeah, but—"

"And in Plegia, I…I broke your temperature thing and slammed you into a tree while you were in the medical tent."

"….Okay, I'll admit that there is a little recurring theme here."

"S-see!? You're the most important person in my life and all I do is hurt you!"

"But you don't do it on purpose!" Robin said quickly. "It's just…a series of unfortunate events that just so happen to involve you and me! It could happen to anyone!"

"But it doesn't! It happens to you!" Sumia sobbed. "I-I try not to mess up, b-but even when I do, i-it's for things like gardening, or cooking, o-or cleaning! With everyone else, I just burn food, or get lost, or d-drop things. B-but I hurt only you when I mess up!"

"…Really?"

Sumia nodded morosely.

"Well. That's, uh, a funny little quirk…"

"I-it's not funny! I-I want to make you proud and only e-end up messing up harder around you…"

"Come now, Sumia, you do make me proud," Robin said firmly.

"Y-you don't have to lie to me, Robin…"

"I'm not lying, Sumia. I really am proud of you. Proud that you've grown to be such a capable warrior, proud that I can count on you to have my back when we're fighting together, and proud to call you my friend. Would I keep on partnering up with you and putting my life in your hands every time we fought if I didn't have faith in you?"

"Y-you could've been doing that just to make sure I didn't do something dumb on the battlefield and ruin it for everyone…" Sumia mumbled.

"Maybe in the beginning, but not in the end and definitely not now! I mean, look at you! You're talented enough to make Sky-Commander with Cordelia if you wanted the position. Remember when I offered it to you?"

"I don't think I could ever do that. I don't even think I'm qualified to be Sky-Captain…"

"Hey," Robin looked at Sumia sternly. "Where is this suddenly coming from? I thought we put these thoughts behind us after the war? Why are you suddenly doubting yourself?"

"I…" Sumia avoided Robin's gaze. "I just wish I could do more. I mean, yes, I'm feeling a lot more confident when I fight now, but it still doesn't feel like I'm doing enough. And then I try to compensate by taking on more responsibilities around camp, but I only end up making things worse…"

"I'll admit that you still mess up from time to time, but you definitely do so less that before. And you know why's that?"

Sumia shook her head.

"Confidence," Robin said simply and gently lifted Sumia's chin so that she'd look at him. "They say that you're only as good as you feel, Sumia. Tell me honestly: you felt more confident back then when you went about your business, didn't you?"

Sumia nodded.

"And it's because you felt good about yourself that you were able to focus on your tasks and do them more effectively. If you concentrate on all the ways you can mess up, you subconsciously increase the odds of you actually messing up. By contrast, if you focus on your positive actions and think that everything will be okay, then you increase the chances of you doing things right!"

"But I was only able to do that because you were there by my side."

"I'm still here by your side, am I not?"

"Well…"

"We still fight and read and do stuff together, right? It's not like we're separated or anything."

"Y-yes, but…"

"Hey," Robin gently wiped a tear from Sumia's cheek. "Come on, it's me. You can tell me anything."

"It's just that…with the upcoming war, I feel that you and everyone else has taken on more responsibilities, but..."

"But…?"

"But here I am. Still me, clumsy old Sumia doing her thing since the last war. I've tried to take up some new weapons or chores to help out, but…" Sumia sighed. "I lose my grip on swords and can barely lift axes. I'm good with spears, but not so good on foot. The only thing I'm good at is fighting atop Daisy. And when I try to help out somewhere else, it…doesn't turn out so well."

"And all that has been slowly bringing you down."

Sumia nodded.

"Sumia, why didn't you tell me about all of this?"

"I-I didn't want to trouble you with my petty little problems…"

"Sumia…" Robin pulled her into a hug. "Your problems are neither petty nor little. My tent is open to for you guys if you have anything that bothers you. I'll always find time, especially for you."

Sumia sniffed. "R-really?"

"Of course! Don't tell anyone, but you're pretty much by best friend right after Chrom. I'd hate it if there was something bothering you and you didn't tell me about it. I've been told that I'm really good at cheering people up, so whenever you're feeling troubled by something, come see me and we'll work through it together, yeah?"

"R-right," Sumia wrapped her arms around Robin and returned his hug. "Thank you for being here for me, Robin. And I'm sorry."

"You're welcome and don't worry about it. You're an important part of this army, Sumia. Don't you ever forget that. Ask anybody else and they'll tell you the same thing. We all appreciate you and all the things you do, even if they don't quite get the most desirable results."

"Right…"

"And if you have any more doubts or worries, come see me immediately. We'll talk through it and sort it out all quick like. I can guarantee you'll feel better at the end of our session together. Like right now! You, er, do feel better, right?"

"Yes, Robin," Sumia said with a smile. "I always feel better after I talk to you."

"See? Satisfaction guaranteed. I have a one hundred percent success rate in feeling good about yourself or your money back!" Robin suddenly had an idea. "And hey. I think I can help you out if you really want something extra to do."

"Can you?" Sumia asked and broke the hug to look Robin in the face. "I'd really appreciate it, Robin. Anything. I want to do all that I can to help!"

"And I want to do my best to help you feel better and do all you can to help! But this will depend a bit on you."

"Huh?"

"Remember that time we talked about magic and how I always said I wanted to see if you had any magic potential and how you said it would be cool if you could use magic?"

"I seem to recall we had that conversation a few times."

"Well, we now have some free time. Why not see if you have magic potential now?"

"Can we? I mean, Henry said that I've got as much magic as a old sock…"

"I'll be the judge of that. Now please hold out your hand."

"Robin, do you even know what you're doing?" Sumia asked but nevertheless did as she was told.

"Sure I do! I've read some stuff about magic theory and what people think magic is and should do and what maybe makes some people more receptive to it than others."

"Did you read anything about how to tell if one person is capable of casting magic?"

"…Sure."

"Robin…" Sumia gave him a dubious look.

"Hey, trust me! I know the basics and what I need to do and look out for. Mostly. I've got the theory down, at least." When Sumia didn't look convinced, he continued, "Sumia, trust me! You know that I would never do anything to hurt you, right?"

Sumia's expression softened.

"That's true. And I do trust you, Robin."

"I appreciate it, Sumia. Now…" he held her hand with both of his. "Please hold out your other arm palm up."

"Okay…"

"Good. Now, I'll simply cast a simple fire spell and instead of conjuring it up myself, I'll use your body as a conduit. If you have potential, then my spell should travel from me, through you, and materialize as it would in your hand. If you don't have magic capabilities, then my spell will fizzle out as soon as it leaves my hand and hits your body. But don't worry! I can guarantee you that this is totally safe."

"Okay. I must admit, this is quite exciting!"

"It is, isn't it? This could be the day when you find out you can do magic! Although I'm going to have to ask you to be calm no matter what you may feel. Breathe normally and keep your posture. It's important because I need to direct my magic so it conjures in your hand."

"It can appear somewhere else?"

"I don't know. As far as I'm aware, the arms are the only places where magic can materialize, but let's not take any risks, shall we?"

"Whatever you say," Sumia smiled. "I'm ready when you are."

"Great! Now, let's see…" Robin closed his eyes and conjured up a simple fire spell and channeled his magic to Sumia.

"Oh!"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing wrong. Just feel a little tingly."

"You feeling anything is a good sign."

"Really? I—Oh! Robin, look!"

Robin opened his eyes and saw a fireball in Sumia's palm. He smiled.

"Congratulations, Sumia. I can now officially confirm that you're magic capable."

"Wow…" Sumia looked at the fireball in her hand with wide eyes. "It feels a lot different than I thought it would."

"What did you think it would feel like?"

"I don't know, maybe more…special? Now it feels tingly, but not that different from how I usually feel."

"I wouldn't know. I've lived with magic all my life as far as I can recall."

"That must've been nice. Still, now I have magic too! This is so exciting!"

"That it is. Let's see if you can maintain this on your own without me…" Robin slowly let go of Sumia's hands. Sumia watched in awe as the fireball kept on burning in her hands.

"How is this possible?" she asked. "I would've thought that you cutting off the source of magic would extinguish the flame."

"It just goes to show that you're magic capable, even if you don't know how to properly use it," Robin explained. "Think of it as lighting a candle. I provide the initial flame and you keep it burning without me."

"Wow…"

"I'm so very happy for you, Sumia. You can now make all those magic fantasies you had come true!"

"I can, can't I?" Sumia beamed. "I was always so jealous when I watched mages practice. Throwing around fireballs seemed so cool. Now I can do it myself!"

"That's right! I—SUMIA!"

Robin tried to warn her, but it was too late. Sumia was so excited that she lost focus on her spell.

"EEK!"

Sensing something was wrong, she pushed her hand out. A good thing, too, since her loss of focus resulted in her casting the fire spell at whatever she happened to be pointing at. In this case, it was a medical bed.

"Ack!" Robin quickly scrambled to his feet and frantically tried to look for something to put out the burning bed before the fire spread and burned down the entire tent. "Uh…water! Or ice! Or, uh…anything to put the fire out!"

"H-here!" Robin looked to see Sumia carrying a sloshing bucket of water. "I got this!"

"Sumia, I—!"

Sumia swung her bucket and made to pour the water over the fire. Unfortunately, she lost her balance and missed the fire entirely…instead completely drenching Robin.

"Oh goodness, Robin!"

The grandmaster spat out the water that got into his mouth.

"Never mind that, come on!" he urged as the fire slowly spread.

Together with Sumia, he made his way over to a corner of the medical tent, grabbed a few buckets of water, and ran back to the burning bed.

"Stand back, Sumia!" he cried and emptied his bucket. When the fire didn't completely extinguish, he motioned to Sumia, "Another one!"

"R-right!"

And thus, using determination, quick thinking, and teamwork, Robin and Sumia were able to extinguish the fire before it spread throughout the entire tent and burnt it to the ground.

"Oof!" Robin sat down on another bed. "Quick thinking saves the day again! Nice teamwork, Sumia!"

Robin looked over at her when she didn't respond. Seeing he guilty expression, he decided to move first.

"Don't say it, Sumia. Don't even think it."

"But—"

"It was a simple mistake and could happen to anyone, especially someone who didn't have any prior experience with magic. I should've told you how to safely extinguish your fire spell instead of leaving it burning in your hands and risking something like this happening."

"Robin…"

"But that's the beauty of it! We're already learning lessons. Isn't that great? They always say that you should begin learning as soon as possible, and I'd say this is pretty early!" Robin laughed.

Sumia couldn't help but laugh along.

"You always try to look on the bright side, don't you, Robin?"

"I try. That, and trying to spread my bright outlook to others. Is it working?"

"Yes, Robin," Sumia smiled. "I always feel better when I'm with you."

"As long as you're not down and out! And hey, little magic mishap aside, you can now magic! Isn't that great? We should focus on that and all the cool things you can do!"

Sumia giggled.

Robin was about to say something witty when the sound of the tent flaps opening and a familiar voice interrupted him.

"Weapons polished, inventory checked, now to restock the—"

Cordelia paused and looked at the pile of ash in the middle of the tent, then to the still drenched Robin, then to the sheepish looking Sumia.

"…Do I want to know?"

"Hey, Cordelia? Guess what?"

"You've had a little 'accident' again?"

"No! Well, yes, but that's beside the point."

"And what is the point?"

"The point is that we've determined that Sumia is magic capable! Isn't that great?!"

"Magic capable?"

"Yep. She can conduct magic, cast spells and all that good stuff!"

Cordelia smiled. "Very impressive. Congratulations, Sumia! I'm very happy for you!"

"Thank you, Cordelia…" Sumia blushed in embarrassment.

"So, Robin. How did you come across this?"

"Oh, you know. I always talked about doing this and just so happened to have some free time."

"In the medical tent?"

"What? It happens!"

Cordelia gave him an amused look.

"Anyway," Robin decided to change the subject. "What about you?"

"Come again?"

"I still have some free time and have also talked about testing you for magic. Interested?"

"Well…"

"Cordelia, you must!" Sumia said excitedly.

"H-huh?"

"You know how we've always discussed magic and what we would do if we could ever cast it. Now's your chance to find out! And if you're capable, then we can make our discussions a reality!"

"I think you're more excited about this than I am," Cordelia chuckled.

"How can I not be? This is magic! Think of all the things we could do!"

"Sumia's right, you know. Magic is pretty awesome. Shooting fireballs at bad guys or calling down lightning is oh so satisfying," Robin said sagely. "Come on, Cordelia. You may have what it takes in you to experience the joys of shooting lighting out of your fingertips…"

Cordelia grinned.

"Well, when you put it like that, how can I refuse?"

"Great!" Robin stood up and stretched. "Now, just ignore my absolute wetness here and please give me your hand."

Cordelia did as she was told.

"Now, hold your other hand with your palm up and gaze in wonder as I channel my inner pool of magic to determine whether you have what it takes to join the sacred ranks of the mages!" Robin said dramatically as he took Cordelia's hands in his own.

"I see someone's feeling dramatic today."

"…Cordelia, why do you have to go and ruin the atmosphere like that?"

Sumia giggled.

"I'm sorry. Please forgive me and continue on with your ritual, O mighty grandmaster of all things arcane!" Cordelia played along.

Robin pouted. "Too late. Mood's ruined. Now hold still…"

Cordelia didn't move as Robin closed his eyes and concentrated.

"…Oh!"

"A tingly feeling, isn't it?" asked Sumia.

Cordelia nodded.

"Tingly…and a bit warm. Oh!" Cordelia gasped as her fingers crackled with electricity and a small ball of it appeared in her hand.

"Congratulations, Cordelia!" Robin opened his eyes and smiled. "You have what it takes."

"Wow…"

"I'm so excited for you, Cordelia!" Sumia clapped her hands. "Looks like we're both magic capable!"

"It would seem so," Cordelia looked at the ball of electricity in her hand with wonder. "Amazing…"

"Magic is generally amazing," Robin commented idly. "Now, let's not repeat what just happened here and let me just…"

Robin released Cordelia's hand, hovered his hand over the ball of electricity and slowly brought is hand down, shrinking the ball until it was no more and he put his hand atop Cordelia's.

"There we go. Safely put out that little hazard before something stupid happened."

"This is so exciting!" Sumia hugged Cordelia tightly. "We can both work with magic now! Think of the possibilities!"

"Yes it is, Sumia," Cordelia said and returned her friend's hug.

"I agree wholeheartedly!" Robin joined and wrapped his arms around both of them. "Do you guys know what this means?"

"More group hugs?" joked Cordelia.

"Only if you want," Robin replied cheekily. "But also practical and battlefield advantages! Think of all the stuff you can do on and off the battlefield now that you guys can work with magic! Are you excited? Because I certainly am! That, and giddy at all the possibilities!"

"I think we all are," remarked Sumia.

"Well I'm the most excited!"

"As always."

"You know it," Robin disengaged from the hug. "Now, the first thing I want you guys to do is go find yourselves some Second Seal books and read up on dark flier tactics and maneuvers. It shouldn't be too different from what you guys currently do, just less focused on physical offense and more on magic. Oh, and go talk to those ladies who went through a dark flier phase. You know, Lissa, Marribelle and Olivia. They should teach you the basics. Oh! And Galeforce! Be sure to learn that. That was key! And I guess you can learn the basics of magic from them too."

Sumia giggled. "So energetic…"

"Much more so than usual," Cordelia agreed, amused.

"How can I not be? The more spellcasters we have, the better! And now it's my two best friends not named Chrom. Happy days!" Robin paused. "And what better way to start than for you guys to go find a Second Seal, huh?"

"You don't have to tell us twice, Robin," Cordelia chuckled. "We get the hint."

"Come on, Cordelia. Let's get some Second Seals and our very own spellbooks!" Sumia said excitedly. "Maybe we can even go and train today!"

"Well, maybe not today, but who knows? Maybe you'll get the hang of it like…" Robin snapped his fingers. "That. Best of luck to you, ladies!"

"Bye, Robin!"

"We'll make you proud!"

"I look forward to zapping bad guys with you ladies from the air!" Robin called after them. "What an interesting development. I'll have to adjust my plans according to how their training turns out…"

"Dad!" Morgan burst into the tent. "There you are!"

"Morgan?" Robin looked around. "How in Naga's name did you find me here?"

"I used my Dad Senses to track you down."

Robin looked at his daughter in disbelief.

"…What? They're very effective."

"That's…I…" Robin shook his head. "What can I do for you, Morgan?"

"I—" Morgan began before noticing the condition of her father. "…Why are you all wet?"

"Some stuff happened," Robin waved dismissively. "Not important. Mostly on my coat. And my coat is built to resist much stronger stuff than just water. Anyway, what's up?"

Morgan looked at her dad curiously before shrugging. "I was looking over some weapons when I remembered that I needed to ask you something. I ran back to your tent but you weren't there. Oh, by the way, your desk is totally busted."

"Yeah, I know. I'm in the middle of upgrading."

"Neat. What kinda desk are you getting?"

"Undecided. Hey, you want to help me choose?"

"You bet! Uh, later. Right now, I want to play!" Morgan said as she reached into her bag (that Robin only noticed she was carrying now) and took out a copy of Total Warfare: Elibe.

"Come for another round with your dear old dad, huh?"

"How can I improve if I don't train? And I train against the very best! That means that I'll improve way faster, right?"

"Can't argue with that logic."

"Can we get a round or two now?" asked Morgan. "Unless you have something you need to be doing, in which case, I can wait."

Robin grinned. "I can never say no to a round of Total Warfare and doubly so to one with my daughter who's always so eager to improve her tactical knowledge."

"Sweet! Thanks, Dad!" Morgan smiled brightly. "Where shall we play?"

"Here's a good a place as any."

"In the medical tent?"

"Why not? It's clean, quiet, and we won't be interrupted unless something crazy happens or we suddenly find ourselves under attack. So," Robin looked at his daughter and smirked. "You game?"

"Always," Morgan replied, looking determined.

"Then give me everything you've got, little aspiring tactician!"

"My forces will show you no mercy!"

Having set up their pieces and equipment, father and daughter both sat at their ends and each concentrated on their troop movements, funds, equipment, and best way to wipe out the opposing forces with minimal casualties.

In other words, they bonded. They bonded so much that they stayed in the tent for the next few hours until the sun set and they had to be forcibly dragged out for dinner.


I know Henry said that Sumia was as magic as an old sock in their supports, but she still has cleric/sage and dark flier access, so...I guess old socks are pretty magical?

Anyway, thanks for reading!