"Okay, Nowi. I'm leaving now, so I'm going to take my coat back."

"Nuh-uh! You're not taking your coat anywhere! I'm coming with you!" the manakete responds.

"…You are? Why?"

"Because," Robin speaks, directly behind me, "she can turn into a giant dragon that can spit out gigantic balls of raw destructive energy. Why wouldn't we bring her?"

"Er… All right, fair enough," I admit, shouldering my heavy backpack as we prepare to head out to attack the Plegian base.

I yawn while rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. I barely got any sleep last night thanks to taking that stupid night shift. I didn't realize that we would be leaving the base this early in the morning… I figured that if that were the case, then Lee would know and warn me about it.

"Right, do we have everyone?" Robin asks, stepping in front of our group. "Let's see…" Robin begins to mutter incoherently to himself as he scans our large crowd, hand on his chin.

I take a look at our group, as well, figuring out who else is joining us. Obviously, I can expect to see Gaius and Lee, and Nowi's right next to me. The first two things that I notice are the two giant winged horses that are accompanied by Cordelia and Sumia. Robin did mention that he was planning to take the Pegasus Knights with us. I look back at Robin, and see Tharja standing directly behind him.

There appears to be a large amount of 'extras' – the generic soldiers that look practically identical. Apparently, they're something of a 'gift' from Basilio and Flavia. There are a few mages, which makes sense, and a couple of huge, buff, axe-wielding knuckleheads.

I see Maribelle tending to her horse, looking rather impatient. Lee's talking with Lon'qu and Olivia about something, while Gaius is talking with the giant blue wizard's hat that represents Ricken. Right next to them is a similarly over-sized hat on the taller mage known as Miriel, who seems to be keeping her nose in her book rather than other people's business.

…Okay, seriously, what is the deal with those hats? Does wearing something that tall and pointy on your head increase your magical power, or something? Does it make you smarter? Or do all mages just have a really weird taste in fashion? Not that I'm really in any position to talk…

"Everything all right, Robin?" Lee asks, appearing to let the other tactician take charge of the situation for now.

"Er… Kind of… Has anyone seen Tharja?"

"…I'm right here."

Robin jumps a little bit, and then puts his hand over his mouth, cursing.

"Damn it, I bit my tongue… Gods, p-please don't do that, Tharja! You're just like Kellam… W-well, all right then. Are we ready to get going?"

I raise my hand. "How 'bout a few more hours to just sleep?"

"No. All right, let's get going!"

The desert is deserted. Nothing new there. Lots of places in this world seem to have places with a whole lot of nothing. Either that or a whole lot of the same thing throughout the entire area. Though, I suppose the occasional gigantic dragon's skeleton at an execution ground more than makes up for it. And the giant fissures filled with lava that sometimes appear. But still, these deserts are surprisingly boring. I guess a small part of me just wanted to a stereotypical oasis?

Actually, finding a good old-fashioned cactus would be pretty cool, too. Cactuses or…cacti, or whatever the hell they're called when pluralised, are pretty awesome. If you so much as touch them, you regret it. Hell, they're even annoying to talk about when there's more than one of them! What's not to like about them?

…I really want to see a desert cactus. Why haven't I seen a cactus? Or any desert plant-life for that matter? It's kind of beginning to bug me. One-decade-ago-me probably would've freaked out by now about not seeing a cactus. But, then again, one-decade-ago-me probably would've freaked out about a lot of things in this world. He also probably would've died a couple of times.

But unfortunately, I never get to see a cactus. Still, I do have a tiny thorn in my side throughout our marching through the sea of sand.

"Yeah, yeah…" I mutter absentmindedly at the hyperactive, possibly caffeine-filled dragon-girl.

"Hey! You're not even listening, are you?!"

"You don't say? Tell me more!"

"Hey!" Nowi shouts, hitting me.

"Hm? Oh, hey, Nowi. How long have you been there?" I ask. At this point, I'm pretty sure that I'm trying to make her angry. It's kind of fun, annoying people who annoy you.

"You weren't listening at all!"

I groan, "Why don't you go play with Ricken?"

Nowi pouts. "You always tell me to do that! What, are you trying to get us married, or something?"

"Uh… Aren't you a little young for… Right, you're centuries old… Then isn't he a little… Look, forget it, okay? Could you please just… Quiet time? Can I have some quiet time? Please? Yes? Thank you."

I really couldn't care less about whether Nowi and Ricken ended up falling in love. Although… That would be much less creepy to look at than say…Gregor and Nowi. Really, it's hard to tell who's the pedo in that situation… So if Nowi and Ricken get together, it at least wouldn't look quite as creepy.

…For a decade or so, anyway. But I'll be gone by that time, hopefully.

Still, am I somehow affecting the relationship of those two?

…Maybe a little. And if that's the case, then I can probably safely assume that I'm affecting the relationships of other people, as well. In that case, I should probably be careful. I really don't enjoy butting into other people's personal love-lives. But am I really affecting anybody that much…?

Okay, I'm obviously putting Gaius and Maribelle through their support conversations. But that's different; I'm just helping a friend earn his forgiveness. 'Sides, just because they go through their C to A support conversations, doesn't mean that they're going to go through their S-rank.

…It feels really weird thinking about this world in video game terms when I'm living inside of it.

Anyway, aside from that, I am not going to meddle in anybody else's personal lives!

Although… Heheh… It would be kind of fun…

No! No! We are not doing this!

Come ooooon, man! It'll be-

No! End of mental conversation! That is it!

"Sorry, Nowi, what did you say?"

"You mean you weren't listening again?!"

"…You don't even remember what you were talking about, do you?"

"W-what?! What on earth would make you think that?!"

"…"

"…"

Is that really all it took to get her to shut up? Huh. I wish I'd known that earlier…

Ahh, the peace. The tranquility… It's really boring. And I could really use some good old boredom in this world.

…I never thought I'd ever say that. Or…think that, rather.

"Whoa… It's really hot here…"

I sigh. "And here I thought you were finally going to be silent – Hey, my coat's not some tool to wipe your sweat off!"

"B-but, the sun's so…"

"Well, maybe you wouldn't be sweating so much if you just took off my freaking coat!"

"But…it's comfy."

"It's way too big for you! Your arms don't even fit through the sleeves!"

"That just makes it even more comfy! I can see why you like this thing so much!"

I groan. "You know what? I'm taking my coat back, now!"

"No! We had a deal!"

"You've had it long enough!"

"You never specified how long I could keep it!"

"I don't think I even said you could keep it! I said you could study it!"

"This is part of my examination!"

"Just wearing my coat?"

Nowi nods her head vigorously.

"…Give me my coat back!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"You don't even need it! It's burning out here! The coat's meant to keep you warm! You should've worn it when we were in Ferox, not here!"

"I wanted to wear it in Ferox, but you wouldn't let me!"

"Look, I don't want you wrecking my coat! We're going to be in battle before too long! I don't want you to turn into a giant dragon while you're wearing my coat! It'll be completely ruined!"

Nowi sighs. "Fine, take your coat back."

She wriggles out of my coat, and hands it to me.

"Thank you," I say, grabbing it, and stuffing it into my backpack.

Now that I think about it… How does the whole "transforming into a giant dragon" thing work, anyway? I mean, I get that they use a dragonstone to transform into a dragon, but how do their clothes not get ripped off? As soon as they turn back into human-ish form again, they look exactly the same.

Eh, forget it. I don't know, and I'm not entirely sure if I want to know. The important thing is that it does happen, and it keeps this game from exceeding its T-rating, thank the gods.

…Also, what would happen if they swallowed a whole human alive without killing them, and then changed back into their regular form? Would that guy shrink? Or would there be a really huge man-shaped bulge in the stomach of the manakete?

Congratulations, Lucas. Maybe after the war, you can become an insane philosopher, asking stupid, weird questions with equally awkward answers that nobody in their right mind would ever care to find out.

…But now I'm really curious. I wonder if any of the few manaketes that will join us would be willing to let Miriel dissect and examine their stomachs… Or, they could eat one of the enemy soldiers alive. That would probably prove to be equally effective.

Brilliant. Now you're questioning the logistics of some weird fantasy world that has people that can shoot fire and lightning out of their fingertips, creatures that can turn into dragons and rabbits at will, time-travelling children, and an unholy gigantic doom-bringing dragon of death.

"Hey, Lucas?" a voice pops up. I turn to it, and see Ricken.

"Hm? Oh, what is it, Ricken?"

The short mage hold out his hand, showing me the small cyclone that he's holding in his hand.

"Could you spare a little bit of water? I really want to cool down."

"Er… All right. But just a little bit!" I say, pulling out my water. I pour a little bit into Ricken's cyclone, and the water flies into our faces.

"Ahhhh…" Ricken sighs.

"That was…surprisingly refreshing," I admit, inspecting just how much water I have left. It'll do for a little while. "But, really, it's not much different from simply pouring some water on your face."

Ricken shrugs, wiping his face. "I find that this way is easier to get a smaller amount so I don't get totally drenched."

"Fair enough," I say as I wipe my face with the back of my hand.

"Why'd you need to use my water?" I ask. "What happened to yours?"

Ricken chuckles. "Yeah, like I'm going to waste any of my precious water on that!"

"Really? Then why is my precious water able to be sacrificed for that?"

"Well, you, Lee and Raimi already survived a really long time walking in the desert without drinking anything! You know…somehow."

"What?! We nearly died at least a hundred times! The only reason we survived is because we got really, really, really lucky! Insanely lucky! Robin says we shouldn't even be alive!"

"Well, who's to say that your luck's going to run out any time soon?" Nowi butts in.

"I hate dealing with kids…" I mutter.

"I heard that!" Ricken and Nowi shout at me in unison.

"Good," I say, chuckling.

"Hmph!" Nowi huffs, walking away.

Huh. So that's all I needed to do to send her away.

"Uh… Well, thanks for the water!" Ricken says, following Nowi.

"…I'd love to see how you'd handle being a father," a voice that I recognize to be Gaius's speaks.

I scoff. "And I'd like to see you try putting up with that thousand year old little kid bugging you at every moment she can get."

"I believe that I have. She kept on asking me about what kind of woman I like. I had to say something to get her to leave, so I just said some random crap. Fortunately, she left."

"I don't think you quite know my pain. She doesn't leave me alone when I tell her to scram."

Gaius shrugs. "That's your problem; not mine."

I look at him. "Okay, seriously, how can you stand sucking on that lollipop in this desert while managing to not drink for as long as you do?"

"My love of sugar knows no boundaries. It extends so far that it can defy what is perceived as logical."

A small moment of silence.

"…How are you not fat, Gaius?"

"Same answer."

"…Are your teeth all right? They aren't rotten or anything, right?"

"It defies logic!"

"…Right. I… I think I can see that, now."

"Okay!" Robin shouts to us. "We should be near the base by now!"

"About time!" I yell back. "How long has it been?! Three hours, now?!"

Robin frowns at me. "Do you enjoy complaining all the time?"

"Immensely."

The tactician rolls his eyes. "All right, since you enjoy complaining so much, then you can join Ricken, Miriel, and Tharja as they scout ahead to see if they can find any Plegians."

"What?! Why?!"

"Lee, you go with them to; make sure they act smart if they run into any trouble."

"All right!" Ricken says slightly excitedly, breaking into a jog.

"Er… Ricken? Do you think you could take off that hat of yours? It's really tall, and…big, and…blue. I mean, it's really noticeable."

"Hm? Oh, all right…"

Robin takes Ricken's over-sized hat.

"Miriel, I'll take yours as well."

Man, is… Is there a moment in the game where you see Miriel without her hat? Because if there is, I don't remember seeing it. Anyway, it's a really odd sight to see Miriel without it. Really odd. Her hair isn't hideous or anything, but it isn't exactly pleasing to the eye either. I can't put my finger on it, but… It's just kind of weird.

"…May I inquire as to why the majority of you persist in gawking at the sight of me?"

Gaius coughs, and turns his head away, snapping me out of my spell as well.

Well, that was awkward. Now Donnel's the only person that you need to see without headwear.

…And seeing Validar without a beard would be interesting, as well.

"Anyway, we'll be waiting for you three here, but we'll have the Pegasi ready just in case. If you run into trouble, blast a few Elfires directly into the air, and we'll come as quickly as we can to help you," Robin informs us.

"…I didn't see anything yet," Lee whispers to us. "How about the rest of you?"

"Nothing," we say asynchronously.

"So can we head back now?" Tharja asks monotonously.

"No, let's just move a bit closer."

We do as the tactician says, and make our way over a large dune.

"So, Lucas," a creepy voice directly behind me says.

"Can I help you?" I say, refusing to look back into the face of the creepy dark mage that is Tharja.

"You're friends with Robin, right?"

"Okay, I already know where this is going, so I'm going to spare you the trouble of asking; I am not going to give you some of Robin's hair."

I can picture Tharja's face going dark and evil. "You do realize what I can do, right? If you don't do what I demand of you, I will-"

"What, curse me? No, you won't, and let me tell you why," I say. I've prepared much too hard for this situation to just screw it up. "In your short time with the Shepherds so far, you've probably threatened to curse, what, half of the army? Anyway, if you do go ahead and curse me with something dark and gloomy, if won't really take long before Robin figures out that you cursed a fellow Shepherd; he might be bright enough to figure it out on his own, or maybe word will just spread around the Shepherds until it reaches him – we do have a few witnesses right here. Anyway, the thing is, Robin's really into the whole 'together-ness' of our little army, and he will not be impressed by the notion of you hexing your own allies. So, you can go ahead and place a little curse on me if you want, but it'll just sabotage your chances with Robin."

Tharja makes a noise, and then becomes silent.

Huh… I can't believe that worked. I guess I don't need to keep a bucket of holy water in my tent, tonight.

"There! Do you guys see that?" Lee says, pointing in the distance.

I squint, and see a few dots on the horizon.

"Now we know that we're getting close. Now we can go back."

"So, do you have any plans on how to get past the Plegians that are patrolling around their base?" Lee asks Robin as we continue to walk through the desert.

"To be honest, not really. Are you sure you didn't see anything that we could use as cover?"

"We didn't really stick around that long to find out."

"Hmm… Well, until I get an actual view of the area, I don't think I can say anything. How about you?"

"Me? I haven't thought of anything yet." Lee then looks into the distance. "I think we're pretty close, now."

Just then, the dots appear on the horizon.

"So," Lee says, turning to Robin as we continue to move forward, "do you have any ideas?"

"Well… We can't just walk up there, and there's no cover for us to hide behind…" He sighs. "We should've brought Kellam with us…" Robin puts his hand on his chin, and then looks up to Tharja. "Say, Tharja, do you think the Plegians would let you into their base even after your betrayal?"

Tharja shrugs. "Who knows? I wasn't exactly very well known outside of my own group, and you lot slaughtered all of them. There's a slim chance that someone might be able to recognize me, but I wouldn't count on it. Why?"

"Well, if we were able to sneak you into their base, nobody would think of you turning on them, right?"

"Well, if they're as trusting as all of you, then no. I was on the side trying to kill you people, and you still let me into your little group. And I'm fairly sure that these people are even more idiots than all of you put together. So, what exactly do you have planned?"

"Well, we could put off on the attack until tomorrow morning. Until then, we'll have you infiltrate the base, and have you hex the living hell out of them."

"…You're giving me permission to hex people?"

"Well, how many hexes can you do without bringing any creepy materials?"

"…I can't bring my ingredients?"

"Well, we can't just have you walk into their base, let alone with all of your dark lizard's eyes, or frog's legs."

"If I can't just walk in, how am I going to get in?"

Robin then turns to me and Lee. "Lee and Lucas will pretend to try and hunt you down. With their spell, they'll be able to survive any arrows that might get shot at them."

I raise my hand. "Yeah, but what if we get fireballs shot at us?"

"You're a dread fighter. You have high resistance; you can take a couple of hits from whatever stray fireball you wouldn't be able to dodge."

…Wait, resistance is a thing here? So just setting people on fire doesn't work one hundred percent of the time?

…How?

…

…Does that mean that defense is a thing? We're able to physically survive taking an axe to the face without healing?

"You expect me to just let these two hooligans chase me through a desert?" Tharja asks dryly.

"Come on, Tharja; we need you to this," Robin says.

Tharja pauses and holds her gaze at Robin. "All right, fine."

Lee sighs, and pulls out his sword. "All right, Tharja, let's do this."

"You know," I say, "it's going to be kind of hard to pass off that you're running away from something dangerous if you're completely un-wounded. Do you have a hex or something that could make you look more beaten up?"

"No," Tharja deadpans. "Let's just do this, already."

"All right, Tharja," Lee begins to speak, "remember to try and earn their trust, and be sure to hex the people patrolling to the north of the base. Or, you know, just straight-up kill them. That'd work, too. We'll launch the attack when you blast two Elfires into the air followed by an Arcfire."

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

"Just checking."

"Do try to be friendly, all right?" I add in.

"Don't test me."

I roll my eyes.

There's no way this will work…

"Ah, well. Shall we get this over with, then?" I say, whipping out my axe.

"Please."

Lee and I proceed to chase Tharja through the desert, weapons in the air.

"…So, should we shout a battle-cry, or something?" I ask Lee.

"Well, we're supposed to be trying to hunt her down, so…maybe we should just scream some threats at her?"

I frown. "Er… Get back here, you nuisance of a witch!"

This seems to capture the attention of a few of the Plegians. Multiple figures begin to sprint towards us.

"Tharja!" Lee whispers loudly at the back of the dark mage. "Try screaming for help!"

Tharja groans. "Do I have to? I'm more used to making other people beg for mercy."

"Just do it!" I shout at her.

"Grr… Oh, help! Help! Fellow Plegians! Please!"

Well, at least I can safely say that I don't have the absolute worst acting abilities among the Shepherds.

"Lucas! Archers!" Lee yells, summoning an Elwind shield.

"Got it!" I yell back, doing the same, holding the twister in the direction of the figures of archers that are coming closer and closer.

"…Tharja!" Lee whispers again. "They're getting closer! When they get close enough, pretend to collapse from exhaustion so one of them will stop and help you!"

"Grr… Fine!" Tharja barks. Clearly, she's not enjoying this in the slightest.

She does as Lee ordered her to do, and a barbarian rushes over to help her up.

"Hey, Lee? Isn't this close enough?" I ask as I narrowly dodge a ball of lightning that was directed at my head.

"Yeah. Let's pull back!"

I blast my vortex at an archer, and place my axe back onto my back.

"So, we can kill a few of them, right?" I ask hopefully.

"I don't see why not."

"Perfect," I say, summoning two more Elwind shields in both of my hands before an arrow can fly into my face, while beginning to run backwards.

I let my right hand's vortex loose at an incoming fighter, and then fill it with a regular fire spell, which I immediately blast at an archer. Then, all of a sudden, I get hit by a ball of lightning.

Damn it!

Huh… So that's what it feels like.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine!" I say, getting up after realizing that I'd been knocked down. Dodging a fireball, I summon a regular wind spell.

"Hey, Lee! Sand-screen?"

"Sure thing!"

We blast our wind at the sand, and turn around and sprint away.

"Think we can lose 'em?" I ask.

"After outrunning hundreds of zombie archers? No sweat!"

I nod, and continue to sprint, blasting a few fireballs behind me in case any of the Plegians are still chasing us.

"Here, let's just do another sand-screen," Lee says.

"…All right, I think we lost them," I say, slowing my pace down into a steady walk, wiping sweat off of my brow.

"Good…" Lee says, also slowing down.

"So, now we just keep walking until we find Cordelia and Sumia who are waiting to pick us up?"

"Yeah, that's… That's the plan."

"…How far away are they, again?"

Lee shrugs, keeping his eyes straight ahead.

The idea was that the Plegians would probably send a few people to look for me and Lee after we ran away, so our plan is to lead them as far away from the location where we're setting up camp as possible. Thus, Lee and I are walking in the exact opposite direction from the rest of the Shepherds, and then flying back with Cordelia and Sumia so our footprints don't lead them right to us.

"Do you think we can trust Tharja to do it?" I ask.

"Robin asked her to do it. I think we can trust her to do what he tells her to do."

"Yeah, but do you really think those guys are stupid enough to just believe that she's on their side?"

"She's Plegian. Why wouldn't they? Besides, I've kind of come to the conclusion that all bad guys in this video game world are idiots unless they're major characters and it's required for them to be intelligent."

"All right, fair enough… You know, we probably would've been able to take on those guys. If you ask me, we were winning that fight."

"We don't want to push our luck. One small mistake, and we could end up dead. You had already been hit by a thunder bolt; who knows what else could have happened? ...How did that feel, anyway?"

"Getting struck by a ball of lightning? Well… Not as shocking as I thought it would be. But I suppose I'd be dead if that weren't the case."

"Yeah."

"…"

"…"

"So… Just save one life, and then you'd be happy?"

Lee groans. "Could we not talk about this?"

"Well, I'm just saying that you are one of the tacticians of this mission, and if it succeeds, which it almost definitely will, you will have saved plenty of lives."

"Well, Robin really did most of the work…"

I laugh dryly. "Are you kidding me?! Honestly, is there no pleasing-"

Lee cuts me off, smiling. "Calm down, calm down! It… It does feel good, okay?"

"It better… So, are you still going to stay here when the time comes? Or are you going to come with me back to our own world?"

Lee stays silent, and looks at the ground.

"I mean, you'll probably have plenty of time to think about it, but I'm just wondering if you've changed your mind."

Lee sighs. "Well, after this war, I'm probably going to lose my job, no matter what Basilio tries to do. And… I…suppose that I'd really deserve whatever happens to me when I go back. So…"

"Uh… Look, I don't want you to think that you have to go back just because I said you were being selfish. When I said that, I didn't really know…"

"It's fine. I mean, after thinking about it… We don't belong here, do we?"

"…No. We don't."

"Yeah. That's what I thought."

"…So, just wondering, have you ever accidentally called Basilio something you shouldn't have?" I ask, changing the subject.

"Um… What do you mean, exactly?"

"Well, have you thought about how much he looks like Nick Fury while talking to him, and then you just accidentally said something like, 'Yes, Mr. Fury!'?"

"…Nick Fury?"

"Yeah! I mean, they kind of look alike, and…and… They even have the eye patch!"

Lee chuckles. "Um… No. No, I haven't."

"Ah… So, how much longer do you think we'll be walking? I mean, I get that Cordelia and Sumia didn't want their Pegasi to be seen by the Plegians, but did they really need to stop so far away?!"

"Well, what's done is done."

"Yeah, but I've spent the entire day walking through a desert, underneath a blazing hot sun! I need to get indoors and under some shade; I don't exactly have any sunscreen on!" I exclaim. "…Also, I'm pretty hungry. And thirsty. And just tired, altogether. I need shade from this treacherous sun..." A lightbulb then goes off in my head. "So THAT'S why they have such huge hats!" I blurt out.

"Huh?"

"Hm? Oh, I'll tell you later. Anyway, I just hope we meet up with the Pegasus Knights soon..."

"It shouldn't be much farther…"

"If I had a nickel for every time I heard someone tell me that today… I'd have around three coins that technically don't exist in this world."

"Well, I'm fairly sure that it's true."

I groan. "Walking through this sand is becoming quite a nuisance. After this war, I don't want to set foot in this stupid desert again."

"I feel the same way…"

Lee suddenly turns his head to the left.

"Ah, here they are."

I look up, and see two Pegasi flying towards us. Lee and I stop in our tracks.

"Weren't they supposed to be waiting for us somewhere?" I ask, knowing entirely well that I won't be getting an answer.

"Well, let's see what excuse they'll give us."

The flying horses eventually land a few feet in front of us.

"Sorry we're late," Cordelia says from atop her Pegasus. "Our Pegasi were getting thirsty waiting for you two, so we had to fly back to the camp and get them so water."

"They were thirsty? Do you have any idea how thirsty we are?! You mean to tell me that you couldn't just wait a little bit longer for us so to save us a long-ass walk through the-"

"You know, these are the things that you'll be riding on to get back to camp. It won't do to neglect what even the slightest thing that they need."

I sigh. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let's just get going, already."

AN: Lately I've been pretty busy, so this took longer than I thought it would to get done. It might also take a bit long to get the next chapter done.