Morgan was at her desk writing something down.

Operation Match Maker

"Hmmm…how to go about this? What can I do to get them together…?"

She was drawn from her thoughts when she heard rushing footsteps outside. "Huh?" Stepping outside of her room, Morgan saw Elisse running right by her.

"Elisse? What's her hurry!"

She then noticed Sakura was running in the same direction. This time before she could run by Morgan grabbed her arm. "Hey, Sakura what's going on?"

"M-my son Forrest! W-we were visiting him in his Deeprealm and he was kidnapped!"

"What?!"

"Some bandits took over the village and they took him as a hostage!"

"Oh gods! We'd better tell father! He'll think of something!"

"So, first as I'm sure you can tell, the whole village is currently run by these ruffians. To make matters worse we don't know much about this village." Robin said.

Everyone was currently in the meeting room at an abandoned fort in the Deeprealm not far off from the village.

"Yeah." Elisse nodded. "Thanks to somebody not visiting his own son often!"

Leo only looked at a corner. He hadn't said a word since he came back.

"The first thing we need to do is gather as much info as possible." Kris said. "So, we already sent Tom, Asugi, Saizo and Kaze to sneak into the village and investigate."

Tom then fished into his pocket. "And thank goodness fer' Snapshot Tomes! Cuz I was able the get us all some visuals!"

He threw some torn out pages onto the table. Some were of the structures in the village. All of which had guards surrounding them. Then he held up one with a vile looking bald man with an axe. "This ugly fella here'd be the big cheese! Gazak."

"We came back with some details." Saizo replied. "We know all of the houses and the palace at the center of town. That's where Gazak is. But we didn't get to see the interior of the palace. It's too heavily guarded."

"We don't know where they are keeping lady Sakura's son." Kaze said. "But we did overhear something very interesting."

Everyone had their eyes on the scouts. "Go on." Chrom said.

"It appears that Gazak is looking for…entertainment."

"Entertainment?" Takumi asked with an odd look.

"He's sending men to find singers or dancers to perform for him. He's willing to pay a high price for their services."

"We figured there is a singer here that could take the job." Soren said. "She may learn of their captor's whereabouts and other forms of info."

Everyone turned to Azura.

"No way! Absolutely not!" Corrin said. "We're not using Azura as bait!"

"Corrin, she's not bait." Henry said. "She's more like a…undercover agent."

"I don't care!"

"Corrin, it's alright." Azura assured. "I'm willing to take the risk. Besides, it's probably the only way we can save Forrest."

"Unfortunately, as Soren said, having a mole on the inside may be the only way we're going to get more intel at this point." Roy said.

"And if Azura can get all of their attention, it will be the perfect distraction while we make our move." Soren added.

"Luckily I fixed the disguise I made you before you and Corrin were taken to Fort Dragonfall." Camilla said.

"That again?" Tigger Lilly sighed. "Didn't we go over why that makes for a bad disguise?"

"We're short on time unfortunately." Robin replied. "But it doesn't matter. The Deeprealm doesn't know Azura, so they won't suspect a thing."

"I just wish there was a way one of us could go with you." Hinoka sighed.

"Maybe there is." Soleil said.

"How so?" Marc asked.

"Nobody said there had to be one performer! And I just got a dancer costume modeled after one of my grandmother's! Plus, I've been practicing with my father! I can go with her!"

"No way!" Inigo yelled. "It's too dangerous!"

"That's exactly my point!" Corrin replied.

"Guys, we need to save Forrest!" Soleil girl said. "We have to do something!"

"I hate to say it, but she's right." Kris sighed. "Just be carful. Get out of there at the slightest sign of trouble."

"Alright! I'll get changed now!" Soleil ran out of the room. Azura followed.

"I hope this works out." Sakura said.

Leo again didn't reply.

"Leo, you've been awfully quiet." Xander said. "Is there something wrong?"

"Hmm? No, it's nothing."

"He had a fight with Forrest."

"Elisse!"

"What? That's what happened!"

"Wait a minute." Everyone turned to Chrom who was looking around the room. "Where's Lucina?"

Soleil and Azura walked down the path together. Soleil's outfit was as she said, almost exactly like Olivia's dancer costume. Instead of sandals she had tight-fitting shoes that just covered the edges of her feet, like night shoes. Gold bands were around her ankles, wrists and upper arms. Attached to the bands on her wrists, was a long cloth that was black on the outside and gold on the inside, which wound around the back of her body. She also had long black leggings that went just past her knees matching the color of her low-cut top and the sash around her hips. Her father told her that Olivia wore an outfit just like it at a festival they went to once. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that her pink hair wasn't in a pony tail, one would mistake her for Olivia herself.

Azura was back in the black version of her normal attire with the veil.

"It's not much further from here." Azura said. "Let's hurry before they-

"Azura! Soleil!"

Both girls turned around to see a familiar girl in an attire they were very unfamiliar seeing her in.

"Lucina?"

"Grandma? Is that…"

The princess covered herself with her arms, blushing. She was wearing a dancer costume of her own. A low cut top with no sleeves that exposed her belly and back that was blue with a small gold mark that matched the brand in her eye. The bottoms were blue with gold beads looping around her hips. She had a gold bracelet around her right wrist and a two gold bands around her left thigh. Then there was the long blue, fingerless gloves. Her feet were in fine blue boots that went halfway up her shins. She also had her hair tied into a ponytail.

Soleil whistled. "Wow! Look at you! That looks great on you!"

"Um…thank you. Oboro made it for me." Lucina replied nervously as she looked at her bare legs. "Though I must say this is my first time wearing something so…revealing. I don't think I have ever felt so exposed…"

"But you look amazing in it! You should totally show grandpa! He'll love it!"

"But why are you here?" Azura asked.

"I though I'd come with you. This will be a dangerous mission."

"Do you know how to dance?"

"A little. I practiced with Olivia once before."

"Good!" Soleil smiled. "Then you learned from the best!"

"Just one thing Soleil." Azura said. "Don't call her grandma, while we're in there. It could create suspicions."

"Okay!"

The three girls walked towards the village together. They stopped in front of the bandit guarding it.

"You girls needing something?"

"We heard that your leader has been seeking to hire performers. We came to take the job."

"Is that so? Wait here."

The bandit left the girls to wait nervously. Fortunately, it only took five minutes for him to return. He was smiling, and none of the girls knew whether or not that was good or bad.

"Go on in. The boss wants to see an addition."

"Very well."

The three entered the village and went towards the palace.

Everyone waited at their makeshift safehouse.

"Still no sign of Lucina?" Robin asked.

"No, and we looked everywhere." Severa sighed. "She must have gone with Princess Azura and Soleil."

Chrom sighed with a hand on his forehead. "Gods damnit. I swear she just can't help it with these reckless acts."

"I can see where she get's it from." Robin replied.

"It's been hours." Corrin said. "How much longer will they be?"

"Maybe they want em for a late show?" Tom suggested.

"Well, I say we check on them just in case." Henry said. "Tom, Asugi, Saizo, Kaze, sorry to send you back out again, but mind investigating?"

"Alright, alright." Asugi sighed. "But someone better bake up some sweets for when we get back!"

"I can go fer some grub." Tom added.

"Let's stay focused." Saizo replied sharply.

The four snuck past the lone guard that night and into the village.

"Something ain't right here…" Tom said.

"You mean the fact that nobody is here when last time the whole village was swarming with punks?" Asugi asked. "Yeah. Something's up."

"Maybe they're all out fer a late-night dinner."

Kaze moved closer. "Let's see if we can get a better look inside the palace."

The small group slowly approached the building. As they got closer they heard cheering and laughter.

"Everyone must be inside." Saizo said. "Explains why it's so quiet out here."

"Let's see if we can get a peek in a window or something." Asugi suggested.

They slowly moved towards the palace and put their backs up against it.

"Get the Snapshot Tome ready Tom." Kaze said. "We'll need all the details we can get Robin and the others."

"Right." Tom got his tome ready and poked his head inside. "Uh, oh."

"What is it?"

"See fer yerself."

The three ninjas took a peek inside, but none of them were expecting what they saw.

"Oh, gods no…"

Inside the ruffians were all eating at a table. And standing on the center of that table were Azura, Lucina and Soleil. All three of theme were gagged and had their wrists tied to the lances thrusted into the table behind them above their heads.

The bandits laughed as they watched the girls. Azura only looked down, too ashamed to show her face. Soleil was struggling to find a way out of her bonds. Lucina only glared at the thieves surrounding them, as she, her friend and her future grandchild were displayed like prizes to gawk at.

"They caught on to them?! How?!" Saizo asked. "They couldn't have known who they were!"

"Somethn' ain't right." Tom said as he took pictures. One of the girls in their predicament, and four to make sure he got all of the enemies in the room. Next, he took some more of the inside of the room itself. "Robin and Corn ain't gonna be happy when they see this."

"Corrin." Saizo glared.

"Let's wait and see if they take them somewhere." Kaze said. "It might lead us to where Prince Forrest is being held."

And so, they waited and watched. One or two of the bandits threw pieced of food at the girls. Some of them whistled whenever they tried to squirm out of their bonds which only got them silence from Azura and glares from the other two.

Eventually the leader stepped up. "That's enough entertainment for tonight boys! Take em to the cells down bellow with our other hostage. But keep em separate!"

Three men got up and undid each girl's bindings. Then they turned them around and started tying their hands together with their elbows bent, forming a box like shape. Then they wound more rope around their upper arms, pinning them to their sides. Next, they tied their thighs together, so they could walk, but not run. Finally each had a silk blindfold tied tightly around their eyes.

Up on the roof Tom and the three ninjas watched them force the girls outside. They were taken around the ruined palace and towards what they thought was some kind of shed. But once the guards opened the door, they saw a staircase leading underground.

Tom took a few pictures of the entrance as the three women were brought in. "So that must be where Forrest is held. No wonder we couldn't find him."

"Yes, a prison entrance disguised as a shed." Kaze said. "Well hidden. I'm surprised a village has something like this. We must inform the others immediately."

On the center of the table was the first photo Tom took. The one with Azura, Lucina and Soleil restrained.

Corrin had one of the pictures of the laughing bandits in his trembling hand. He growled as he crushed it in his fist.

"We gotta do something!" John said.

"How did they know of our plan?" Kris asked.

"They're pretty persistent." Gunnter said. "You have to admit that."

"Alright new plan." Robin growled. "No more poking around. These dastards deserve worse. We know where Lucina and the others are held, I saw we launch an all-out attack!"

Morgan was surprised by her father's sudden change in tactics. "F-father? Isn't that a little rash? What if-

"Agreed!" Ryoma yelled drawing his sword. "To battle!"

Everyone charged outside. But before Hinoka and Camilla could leave Robin and Soren grabbed their arms and pulled them back.

"Wait you two." Robin whispered. "I have a special job for you, but it will be risky."

"If it means saving our nephew I'll gladly take the risk." Camilla replied.

"Seconded." Hinoka nodded.

Inside the village one of the bandits ran up to the leader. "Boss! Armed men are storming the village! What do we do?!"

"Send an axman for our hostage."

"Wh-what? Why now?"

"If they have the guts to think they can just attack us we need to show them we mean business. Our "entertainers" hold more value then some snivelling wimp anyway. Besides, some of them might make for even BETTER hostages. Har!"

"True. Some of them look classy."

The leader rose from his chair. "Get 'em all, boys!"

As the axe wielder headed outside eager to bath his weapon in blood he heard someone call out to him.

"Hey, you there!"

He looked behind him to see three men. A Mage with a hood over his head, a Hero with a helmet, and an Adventure with a hood. The Adventurer and Hero were holding Camilla and Hinoka's weapons with them pointed at their owners, who stood in front of them with their hands tied behind their backs and gags in their mouths.

"We got new orders from the boss." The Hero said. "We caught these two snooping around. He want's them brought to the cells immediately."

"Can it wait? I'm about to go chop up our first prisoner into pieces!"

"Our leader's orders." The Mage said. "Unless you want to answer to him, I suggest you follow them."

The axeman shuddered. "O-okay, okay."

He escorted his allies and their prisoners into the shed and down the stairs. Torches lined up the walls, keeping the way forward bright.

The jailer stood in front of them with a lance in hand. Behind him the path branched into five directions. "More prisoners? This has to be the busiest day of my life. Well, let's go. We've got plenty of empty cells we can put em in."

As they were brought down the halls, both Camilla and Hinoka felt something poke them in the backs. They glanced behind them to see the Adventurer and the Mage holding knives pointed at them. But both knew they weren't threatening them. They smirked under their gags as they took the knives into their hands and started sawing them into the ropes around their wrists.

After a very deep hall that was watched by guards who eyed them as they passed by, the jailer brought them to an empty cell. He took out the keys and opened the door. "Red-head can go in here."

He looked behind him as the Mage pushed Hinoka forward. As The axemen and the jailors' eyes were on her as she slowly stepped forward, the Adventurer and the Hero snuck up behind them.

With her hands free, Hinoka stabbed the jailor with the knife as the Hero snatched his keys.

"Agh!"

"Hey, what are you-

Before the axeman could react, the adventurer swiped his axe. Then Camilla, who was also freed from the rope and the mage, pushed the jailor and the axemen into the cell. Once they were in, the Hero closed and locked the door.

"Hey!" The axman rammed his shoulder into the door. On the outside their "friends" took off their headpieces showing that the mage was Robin, the Hero was Ike and the Adventurer was Fox. Hinoka and Camilla untied the knots behind their heads and removed their gags.

"Whew. Even if we were just pretending, being captured is humiliating." Hinoka sighed as she and Camilla took their weapons back.

"Well we got the keys." Ike said holding up what he managed to steal. "What now?"

"Who can get past locks without them?" Robin asked.

"I can." Hinoka said. "Kaze taught me how to pick locks."

"So, can I." Fox added.

"And I can as well. I learned from a friend who's a experienced thief." Robin concluded. "Alright. The pathway branches into four other directions, Lucina and the others must be there. Once we get back at the branch we'll split up. Hinoka and Camilla don't have disguises, so they'll go together.

Ike pocketed the keys. "Alright. Then let's-

"What's going on over there?"

They saw the men guarding the hall approach. They drew their weapons when they saw them. "Intruders!"

"Blast! We can't let them rise the alarm, take them down!" Robin said.

Everyone prepared their weapons.

Back in her mostly empty room, Lucina was still gagged and blindfolded and now seated in a chair. And of course, she was heavily bond with rope. Her wrists were tied behind her back, her feet were tied together with more rope tied to the front legs of the chair, fastened to the ankle bonds. Her thighs were still tied together as well as her calves. More rope trussed her upper arms to her body and both to the back of the chair and to top it off, they wrapped more rope around her waist pinning her to the chair even further. Overall it was impossible for any part of her body besides her head to move or even twitch. Her chair was on top of a high pedestal, which she believed in her case was to present her like a trophy and humiliate her. It made her wonder what it was originally used for to the villagers.

Once she was left alone, she continued her attempts to break free. Before it only seemed to humor her captors, but now she had no distractions. She still blushed deep from this humiliating situation and her attire didn't help much.

She froze when the door banged open. A lone guard who looked like he had been drinking too much came in. "Huh. Yer' one of the lasses that fell for our trap? I wonder if yer' the one we were told ta look out for." He hiccupped as he closed the door and walked closer. "That guy…he said something about a blue haired princess. Something about a "Invisible Kingdome?"

That thought made something clear to Lucina. "Someone told these madmen about Azura! But who?"

The man walked up the steps of the pedestal. Lucina braced herself for whatever the drunk was going to do to her, but to her surprise he took out her gag and removed her blindfold. "Well you're pretty enough to be a princess. But what make's ya invisible? I can clearly see ya."

It became clear to Lucina that this one wasn't very smart. Or just drunk out of his mind. Maybe she could use that to her advantage.

"Well? I'm waiting! Turn invisible!"

"I cannot show you while I'm restrained like this. Untie me and I will be able to."

"*Hic* Ya think I'm stupid princess?"

Lucina slightly scowled. So much for that.

"Tell ya what: counter proposal. I undo three of those knots. Any three you want. Then ya show me how ya turn invisible."

Lucina thought carefully. She looked behind her. The pedestal was high up. Higher then she though. Not high enough to do any serious harm if she fell. But maybe…Just maybe…

"Well?" the drunk asked. "What do ya say?"

"Very well."

"Good. Now which of these do I undo?"

Lucina though carefully. She needed to pick three knots that would get in the way even if her plan works. "Start with the knot for the bindings around my shins."

"Yer' what?"

Lucina sighed. Communicating with a drunk made her even more grateful that neither she or her husband were drinkers. "The ropes around my legs under my knees but above my ankles."

"Oh. Why didn't ya say so?"

It took the drunken man longer then it should for anyone, but slowly he undid the knot and let the ropes drop from her calves.

"*Hic* Two more."

"Next untie my upper legs."

"Right."

Lucina watched as he undid the knot and untied her thighs. Her legs were almost free. She considered having him untie her arms, but she wouldn't be able to reach him with her hips still tied to the chair.

"Alright. Last one."

"Remove the restraints on my ankles."

The man slowly undid the knots around her ankles. "There. That's three. Now how do ya-

Without warning, Lucina used her now free legs to kick the man in the face with both feet. The impact sent him down the steps and as she hoped, Lucina herself managed to tip the chair over and her along with it. She just prayed to the gods that she landed on the chair and not her head.

A laud smash was heard, and a there was an impact on her back. When she opened her eyes and looked at the ceiling she tried to get up.

Her plan worked. The chair she was tied to had been smashed to pieces. Her wrists were still bound, but the rest of the rope slid off her as she stood up. Sighing in relief Lucina got up and walked over to the drunk who was unconscious. Maybe he had something she could use.

It was hard having to face her back against him and feeling with her hands. But she did find a rusty knife. She maneuvered it between the ropes and after a few seconds of sawing, it cut through. She rubbed her sore wrists a bit before she got up. She checked the door. The brute forgot to lock it after coming in. Taking the opportunity, she ran out.

At first the point was just to have Lucina bond with Soleil a bit, then I planned on this chapter, where we get a clue to something going on behind the scenes. As you can see I learned my leason from The Plegian Prince and decided to have Lucina save herself right away, rather then be a damsel in distress for a good chunk of the story. And yes, the Forrest level is going to be a two parter.