Chapter 34

Bathrealm Vacation

The Shepherds continued on their trip to the Outrealm gate, making progress at a much quicker rate than they had anticipated. Most members of the army had begun to relax and did their best to enjoy the few moments they had before facing the Risen infestation that Anna's sisters had written about. In a faraway distance, there was a duo doing their best in order to train their little pupil.

"Just a bit more further Morgan, come on now." Robin said as he ran next to the tactician-in-training.

The young girl swayed in her movements as she struggled to keep up with the two. "Guys! I'm going to pass out I swear!" Morgan said as she ran with multiple deep breaths.

"Remember to only breathe in with your nose." Lucina said, jogging right behind her. "This way, you waste less of your stamina as you continue onward."

"That and you avoid yourself from getting a nasty cramp." Robin added on.

The trio continued at their pace as the young tactician continued her struggle to continue onwards. "Ahhhh! How much more longer?!" The young girl let out, barely being able to stand up, yet still going at it.

"We're nearly there. The camp is right in front of us, so let's get one last sprint in." Lucina said as she quickly sprinted past the two tacticians with ease.

Morgan looked in awe along with her father. "C-can you go that fast too?"

"Not even close. I've tried beating her speed but I haven't had any luck. Just focus on yourself though, and try not wasting your breath on talking. Don't want yourself passing out when you're so close to the end." He replied back.

The girl nodded and continued on to the camp. She didn't have any memories of herself exercising so heavily, but from the way she was feeling, it felt like she may have at one point. There wasn't any reason she should've been able to keep up with her parent's paces, let alone run as long as she did, especially since they weren't slowing down for her sake. She thought nothing of it and continued to finish off her exercise.

"So Morgan finally decided to start training." Chrom said as the trio finally stopped at the camp. The camp was shoddily setup due to the fact that the shepherds had decided to go at a quick pace in order to arrive at the Outrealm gate on time.

"We're making progress. She's surprisingly agile, although only in small bursts." Lucina replied, impressed by the girl's stamina.

"I'm going to assume you're trying to train her endurance then. To make sure she doesn't give in too easily?" Chrom asked.

"Y-yeah... I'll surpass them eventually... I... just need some rest." Morgan said as she collapsed into her mother's arms.

"M-Morgan?!" Lucina yelled out in shock. The teen slowly began to smile as her breathing quickly stabilized. A bit of silence followed, but the young girl began to snore as loud as a wyvern.

"If there's one thing she took from the two of you, it's the awfully loud snoring." Chrom said with a chuckle.

Lucina sighed. "We told her to tell us if our pace was too much for her. I didn't think she'd continue going on with us."

"Yeah, it's strange. You've never seen Morgan actually train since she arrived here, right?" Robin said, bothered by something.

"No, I haven't. Every single time that I've told her to train, she would always tell me that it was too much work and that it was tiring." The princess responded.

"Then something about this doesn't make sense." Chrom said, thinking about Morgan's physical ability.

"Hmm... I think it might have to do with something in her past. I know it sounds real strange, but the fact that she managed to keep up with us in our workout definitely means something. Morgan losing her memories might mean she also lost memories of any training she may have done back then." Robin theorized.

"So her abilities are repressed in a way?" Chrom asked, hesitant about his friend's claim.

"Something like that. It makes sense considering that she quickly manages to learn magic abilities with ease and catch on quickly to Lucina's techniques whereas it took both of you much more time to master them. The reason she underestimates herself so much is probably due to the fact that she's forgotten what she's physically capable of." The tactician continued.

"I see. So what does this mean for her?" Chrom said, unsure of Robin's words.

"If I'm right, then it means that Morgan won't need as much training as we would have thought. We just need to get her to train and hopefully she's able to remember what she had originally learned back then. Morgan should have no issue continuing her training with us despite it being too much for a majority of the shepherds here."

Chrom looked at the snoring tactician. She was showing a smile and was mumbling words happily. "You'll... never catch me... grandpa Chrom..."

Robin and Lucina both looked upwards towards the Exalt, bracing themselves for a rant about how being in his twenties didn't mean he was an old man who meeded proper care from his grandaughter. Chrom opened his mouth preparing to say something, but chuckled instead. "Geez, she's going to continue that 'til the end of time huh?"

The two sighed in relief after Chrom's calm reply. "She does get amused by our reactions a lot. Robin and I were especially victims to Morgan's teasing when she first arrived." Lucina recalled. "It was... certainly strange hearing somebody call me their mother so often." She said as she softly smiled.

"At the very least you know how strange it was for me and Sumia too." Chrom replied with a laugh. "Time travel really made our lives pretty strange huh?"

"You could say that again. I'm glad it did happen though. We'll be preventing the destruction of our world's future thanks to it." The tactician said brightly.

"Yeah. Let's deal with Anna's Risen problem first, and we'll make sure to get Validar give us that gemstone later on." Chrom replied.

"Of course. We'll continue to do our best." Robin said.

Lucina looked at the two with a determined expression. "Yes. We will."

A young cleric passed by the group in the distance. She looked around and noticed the group. "Hey there guys! How's it been?" She said as she walked up towards them.

"Oh, good evening Aunt Lissa. We've been doing well. We were just training Morgan's endurance, but she may have overworked herself in the process." Lucina said, showing her the tactician she was carrying.

"Ah that's good. Seems she passed out from the exercise huh?" Lissa said as she examined the young girl.

"I wouldn't say passed out, more like a nap really." Robin said with a grin.

"Eh, they're practically the same thing." Lissa responded back with a grin of her own. "Oh by the way, Chrom? Another tent has gotten burned up. Looks like somebody used an electric tome."

"Again? Whoever has been burning down these tents is really going to have some explaining to do." Chrom said as he showed a bothered expression. He looked at the tactician. "You guys think it was her?"

"Not that we know of. The tent's always been in great shape whenever we've woken up." Robin replied. "I doubt she'd be the one burning down these tents, I mean, she has no reason to do so.

Chrom sighed. "I swear, whoever's been burning up the tents is gonna be on kitchen duty for the rest of the trip."

The group finally arrived at the Outrealm gate with a day to spare. The same trio continued on with their training to ensure the youngest member was fit for battle. They had decided on one last training session before their battle at the resort would finally commence. They worked as fiercely and with all of their might until their workout was complete.

Robin sighed as he stopped in his tracks. "Finally. Ah man that was a heck of a workout." He said as he gasped for air.

"Woo! I'm glad I'm finally catching a break. You guys are insane when it comes to exercise." Morgan complimented.

"Should've seen your mother when she tried to train the shepherds. It gets... scary to say the least." Robin replied with a nervous chuckle.

"Trying to ensure that you can run for an indefinite amount isn't scary." The princess said, bothered by the tactician's words.

"I was crawling on the ground from exhaustion and you went and scolded me since we had only just started." He said.

"Well yes, but you were considerably out of shape when it a came to endurance. Cynthia was doing much better than you were." Lucina replied back.

The tactician opened up his mouth, but no words came out.

Morgan laughed after seeing her father's lack of response. "All this really makes me really wish I had found you guys earlier. Seeing you completely get chewed out by mother would've been SOOO great."

"Morgan, you really don't want to wish that. She made all of the Shepherds suffer. The workout she assigned to you is a heaven compared to what we went through."

"W-was it really that bad?" Both Lucina and Morgan said at the same time. Lucina looked at the tactician with concern while Morgan stared in surprise.

"You made everybody run 20 miles a day and Naga knows how many push-ups, curl-ups, chin-ups, and all that other stuff." He replied.

"Hmm? That's not that bad, I mean, that kinda sounds exactly like what we're doing." Morgan said, looking at her father with a confused glance.

"Now try doing this same thing three times a day, right after every meal." Robin said.

"That... may have been too much. I just felt that perhaps a grueling training regimen may have allowed for us to gain an advantage and get stronger as a result." Lucina said guiltily.

"Hey, come on now. Mother had good intentions." Morgan said as she stood up to her father.

"Right, I'm sorry about that. It still was just incredibly difficult to get through." Robin said, realizing the tone of voice.

"It's fine, Robin. However, I'm still to blame so forgive me as well." She apologized once more. "Still, I just hope that we've struck the right balance this time with you as our trainee." Lucina said as she looked at her daughter.

"I think you did a great job Mother! These past few days, I feel like I've been improving more and more in terms of stamina so quickly. And you guys said that it was gonna be too much for somebody like me to handle." The young girl replied with a smug smile.

"Yeah, it's a bit scary." Robin laughed.

"Just make sure not to overwork yourself. You may want to get stronger more quickly, but overworking yourself is just gonna make it take longer for you to improve." Lucina said, looking at the older tactician with a smile. "Your father was quite guilty of doing that as well."

"Ohhh this sounds like it's going to be another exciting story time with mother and father." Morgan said excitedly. She then began to yawn real loudly. "Actually, maybe in a little while... wake me up when we get there." She said as she closed her eyes. She then threw herself at Robin's arms.

The tactician purposefully missed the catch.

"O-ouchhh! Father! That was your cue!" Morgan said with a pained expression as she landed on her back.

"I'm not carrying you to the carts, especially with how close we are to the gate already." Robin said as he crossed his arms.

"That, and we've figured out you've been pretending to pass out every single time after our training sessions. It's gotten quite annoying to be completely honest." Lucina said, supporting Robin's act.

"Dang. I did have a good run with it though. How'd you guys figure it out then? I thought I did a pretty good job at pretending I was knocked out." The young girl asked.

"Three words. Risen. Riding. Wolves." Robin replied. "Usually after saying that, you end up going nuts and trying to use any tome nearby. I always made sure to say it after your training sessions and you just remained as calm as a Pegasus being groomed by Sumia." He said with a laugh.

"Ahh, that makes sense. I kinda thought that was just a way of you saying 'dang it not again' or something." She said as she laughed with him. She thought about what he had said though. Risen riding wolves would make her panic and try to reach for a nearby tome... "Wait! So you were the one giving me those nightmares back then?!"

"Huh?! No, I only ever did that after our training sessions!" Robin replied back loudly.

"Now you're just lying! Geez, how immature of you to treat your own daughter like this! Risen riding wolves is no joke and you know that already!" Morgan puffed.

"Look, I can assure you that I never, ever tried to give you those nightmares on purpose! Why would I?"

"Still continuing your charade and lying to your daughter huh? I'm so dissapointed father."

"Seriously?! Morgan I swear that I've never done-"

Lucina lost track of what the two were arguing about and smiled at the sight. The fact that she essentially had a daughter to care for along with a husband that loved her dearly. It all seemed so surreal and strange. Not that there was any reason to complain. It all seemed very joyful. A life that she never thought that she'd ever be able to have. The feeling of uneasiness returned once more as she finally caught on to what was causing her this nervous feeling. Was this really the time to relax? She had a goal to save the world first and foremost, but she had neglected her duties as a result of the joyful life she had began to live. This joyful life was one she appreciated dearly, but her responsibility of preventing Grima's destruction came first... right?

"Hey, are you alright mother?" Morgan asked as she noticed her mother spacing out.

Lucina quickly got back to her senses. "Y-yes, I'm fine, but what I can't believe however, is that both Morgan and you were able to share the same dream." Lucina responded back, trying to get their conversation back to the topic at hand.

"Blame Lissa. Those frogs she uses for pranks are a nightmare." Robin said.

"So they are what causes those dreams you two seem to have?" Lucina asked, surprised by this new fact. "Hmm, perhaps I should ask Aunt Lissa to do me a favor whenever you or Morgan step out of line." She said with a smug grin.

"P-please don't!" Robin and Morgan both said meekly with a stutter. The last thing they needed was for there to be an everlasting anxiety every night for the rest of their lives.

"Relax you two, I was only joking." Lucina laughed once more.

"There's nothing to joke about when it comes to risen riding wolves." Morgan replied in a playful tone. "But it does answer something that I've been wondering about though."

'And that is?" Robin said, wondering about what Morgan may have figured out.

"Y'know how you said that whenever I have that dream, it looks like I'm trying to grab a tome to fight them off in my dream?" Morgan said with a nervous laugh.

Robin began to think about what she had meant. Although she did panic in her sleep, her hand movements heavily resembled that of somebody using a tome. She was even reading off the right incantations for that specific tome. If by chance she had a thunder tome at the time of that dream, then it would definitely be possible for a blast to occur... "You're the one burning up all of those tents?!"

"It was an accident! I wouldn't dare destroy those tents on purpose, it's because of that dumb Risen dream you and Lissa have been pranking me with. And if we're gonna be blaming somebody, it's you and Lissa!" She quickly blamed.

"For the last time Morgan, I've never even pranked you, let alone with Lissa!" The tactician said as he began to grwo visibly annoyed by her allegations.

"Hey everybody! My sisters said everything is already setup, so get ready to go on in!" Anna interrupted. The group had just recently arrived and the trio hadn't even noticed.

"Huh, we'll discuss this stuff later. Let's get ready!" Morgan said as prepared herself.

"I'll be having a talk with Aunt Lissa, Robin. Don't worry too much about it." Lucina responded with a weak smile.

The shepherds all stood in front of the Outrealm gate. They hadn't been here too often besides the one time they were told they could make easy funds by doing a favor for the merchant. Even then, this was only back when the group was still in its infancy. A majority of the members there hadn't even heard of this place to begin with. It was familiar to the future children though, many recalling their entry into it as it took them to the past or rather, the present. The young tactician stared at the gate with great curiosity. Something about it was very familiar to her, yet extremely unnerving at the same time.

"The future we deserved..." She whispered softly.

"Morgan?" Robin said, looking at his daughter with a worried glance.

She quickly blinked and shook her head. "What... what just happened?"

"You just spaced out for a minute. Was it a memory?" The tactician asked.

"I think so. Did I say anything just then?" Morgan asked the two.

The Yllisean princess shook her head. "I couldn't quite hear you."

The young girl looked around her surroundings. There was a quick vision in where she saw the exact same area, burning as a hooded figure stood below menacingly below a tree. The sky was dark and a threatening figure was seen in the distance, as if it was merely an observer...

"I... I'm not really feeling too well." Morgan said, closing her eyes and holding her head as she fell on her knees.

Lucina quickly caught her daughter. "Morgan?" The familiar expression of pain could be seen once more. A headache which meant she had remembered something. "It was your memories again, wasn't it?" She asked.

"I think so. I don't really know what happened here in my time, but it feels like it was very important." Morgan said as she opened her eyes. She looked at her mother who was staring at her with a caring and worried expression. An expression that seemed to have been embedded in her memory a long time ago. It all felt too familiar for some strange reason.

She continued to look around the area once more, but the flash of memories refused to show itself a second time. "I think it's passed. These memories really are something huh?" Morgan said, forcing a smile.

The couple looked at her with worried expressions. "Have you discovered anything about your past?" The tactician asked.

"No, it was just a bunch of more instances without context." She said with a sigh. "Let's just keep going. I'm sure I'll remember somehow." She said as she got up from the floor and happily marched forward.

The tactician and princess both looked at her carefully. "You're not hiding anything from us, right?" Robin questioned.

"N-no! Of course not! It's just that... I have a feeling that I'll learn all about my past one of these days, and I'm worried about what I'll learn about myself. When that day comes... you guys will be there for me, right?" She asked nervously.

"Of course. We'll be here with you no matter what." The tactician replied back.

"Whatever the problem you may face, the two of us will always be here to listen." Lucina responded with a smile.

The young girl laughed and smiled brightly. "You're right. Seriously, I love you guys so much." Morgan said as she embraced the two.

"We love you just as much." The princess responded happily.

"Alright everybody! Let's get through the gate!" Anna said as the gate began to emit a mysterious aura from within it.

"Well then, let's get to it." Morgan said as she broke from the embrace. "We've got a heck of a battle ahead of us."

The couple nodded as they followed their young pupil in training. The shepherds were all ready to continue onwards to the gate and go to wherever the place Anna was talking about. Everybody walked towards the gate at the same time. A strange sensation overcame the group as they all walked through the gate together. The future children all recognized this feeling as they entered through, including the young tactician. The same feeling they felt when they left their world in order to go and try to save it in a different time.

The group continued to walk until eventually, the gate was no more, and they were transported to an area resembling hot springs. At a distance, they spotted what seemed to look like a resort. There didnt seem to be any people within the area, so they decided to walk with caution in preperstion of an ambush. Very few of the Risen could be seen in a distance, walking slowly as usual. The steam that came from the hot springs slowly began to become thicker and thicker as the group walked. By the time they had reached the entrance, a fog had completely settled through.

The group continued to walk until they reached a strange looking house. It seemed completely untouched by the Risen, but felt completely empty. "Surprise!" A group of multiple Annas said as the group passed by the house.

"Sisters! I'm glad you're all okay! Wait, what was the meaning of all that buildup?!" The shepherd's Anna asked as the group stared at her family in confusion.

"Welcome to our new and improved hot spring resort. We all hope you enjoy your stay here!" The group of Annas all said in synchronization.

"What happened to that supposed Risen infestation you were talking about?" Chrom asked in confusion.

"Oh, theres still a few left out there. You could chase them out if you'd like." Another sister responded with a bright smile.

"Anna, what happened with this 'dire' emergency?" Robin asked, confused to their situation.

"From what I was told, they wanted us to help since the experienced fighters in our family were all on some break or something. But I forgot to consider the chance that they might have just wanted some free labor from us." Anna said with a sigh.

"Why didn't you say anything then?" The tactician said, annoyed.

"There was also that very small percent that my sisters needed legitimate help. That and well, I was sure that if my sisters did lie to me, we may have been able to have a little vacation before our last battle. It sounds decent enough, right?" She said with a laugh.

The exalt looked at her and sighed. "I guess we can't complain about that." Chrom replied.

"Good! Alright, just help us get rid of these few Risen left over, and then we'll lead you all to your rooms afterwards." Another Anna said as they all headed separate ways, many in strange outfits that seemed to be the norm in the area.

The tactician took a quick look around the area. There weren't too many threats in the area whatsoever, and it looked like a majority of the Risen weren't even within the hot spring resort. There were also many civilians relaxing within the resort, strangely enough. It was a bit odd to see a few people relaxing in a hot spring, while a few undead creatures existed right outside the resort. Then again, most of the Risen looked as if they were harmless. He shook his head and quickly decided on a plan. "Alright then. This shouldn't be anything too difficult. Morgan, go with Chrom, Sumia and Cynthia. You guys can take the Risen west of the resort."

"Alrighty then. Let's get this show on the road, grandpa Chrom!" Morgan said as she saluted him.

Sumia grinned at seeing the young tactician, while Chrom gave a usual annoyed look. "Morgan I already... ah forget it. It doesn't bother me."

"Aww, you already know thats a big fat lie." Morgan teased.

"Anna, you're familiar with the resort, right?" Robin asked.

"Of course, I practically come here every year." The redhead merchant responded.

"Then I want you to guide another group through the area. We can be more efficient in hunting these creatures down if we seperate our forces."

"Gotcha. Who's in my group then?" She asked.

"Lucina, Lissa and Gaius will go with you." He said, giving a nod towards the princess.

"Oh! One last thing. If you can just have some of your members help out in cleaning the resort and setting up the carts somewhere else, we would greatly appreciate it." Another Anna said as she appeared from within the strange house.

"We're in the middle of planning a battle and you want us to work as janitors?" Lissa asked confused.

"There aren't many risen left, so everybody just stay calm and relax yourselves. Also, you do want that little vacation, don't you?" The Anna said with a teasing grin.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Robin said in disbelief. "Alright alright, guess I'll lead one more group and that will be it. Inigo, Owain and Severa, you're with me."

"Wait, you're serious? Robin come on! Everybody else is practically just going to do nothing out there while we do all the dirty work!" Severa said with an annoyed expression.

"Cheer up! Now we can show these monsters the power of our bond!" Owain said as he tried to cheer her up. "With our strength combined, no foe can stand in our wa-"

The blonde boy was quickly elbowed in his stomach by the red-haired girl. "N-not too loud!"

The tactician looked towards the resort once more. One more vacation before their inevitable battle with Validar... It seemed like it was a good idea. Still though, it seemed a bit too much. Regardless, they were there anyways, so what was the worse that could happen? He then looked towards his fiancée. She seemed troubled by something, but there wasn't really anything clear about her expression. It was like she seemed out of it lately.

"Hey, come on snowhead! Don't we have a job to do?!" Severa yelled out in the distance.

Inigo sighed. "Let's get a move on before she actually tries to hurt us."

"Right." He said as he walked towards the other groups first. "Lucina, Morgan, promise me to stay safe out there."

"Yeah, I'll be careful. This is my first true mission as a Shepherd, so I need to give these guys a good first impression. But you two stay safe out there too, kay?" Morgan responded.

"I'm sure we won't be in much trouble, but yes. You two should stay safe, as well as everybody else." Lucina said.

The exalt stepped up to his tactician. "I'll keep an eye on Morgan with Sumia. You can count on it."

"Good to know you're on board with babysitting." Robin laughed.

"Hey, I'm gonna be babysitting him, just watch." Morgan said with a wink.

Robin shook his head and smiled hearing her remark, however it was time to get the job done. "Everybody, stay safe out there." He said as he waved to the groups.

The three groups set off in their separate directions to eliminate the threat of the Risen in the hot springs. Each group headed on to their respective areas that they were in charge in. The young tactician walked along her family. "Alright, I'll show you guys the results of my training!"

A/N: And it's about time I upload something! Decent length chapter this time just to have the last few hurrahs of fluff that I wanted to throw in before the final few events end up happening. Last third of the Awakening story about to start, so expect the story to actual begin, for real this time.

Kind of crazy that I've been going at it with this story for this long though. Honestly thought that I'd be finished a lot earlier, but life does like throwing curveballs all the time. If I'd predict a date when I'll finish this thing up, I'd say maybe December. It'd be perfect to end up finishing at the four year mark.

And there's also that second fic I've been working on too which slowed down progress on this some. I recently finished up getting a 100% on Persona 5 so I decided on writing a fic with the Ren and Makoto ship, so check that out if you want to see what I've been working on recently. And I think that's that. Summer vacation is at it's half point and I've been doing decent progress in terms of writing (for me at least haha). As for balancing these two fics though, I'll update this fic one week, and then the other the next week. Worst case scenario, I post two chapters of one fic and leave the other to wait a bit longer. Anyways, I'll see you guys around next time when the plot resumes at last. Til' next time, have a good one!