Chapter 35
Old and New
Three groups had set off to eliminate the Risen in which the resort was currently having trouble getting rid of. One of these groups consisted of the Yllisean family that had three generations of family members in it as a result of time travel. They continued onwards as their spirits and morale held up high.
"Alright then, let's get some practice on these fools!" The young tactician said as she unsheathed the Falchion from seemingly nowhere.
"Woah, you had the Falchion this whole time?" Cynthia said, surprised.
"I was hiding it in my tactician robes. To be honest, it's a little bit too big for me since it's basically my dad's, but it's the perfect size to store little Falchy in." She laughed. "Now who do I test this thing on first!?" She said enthusiastically with a pose.
"Let's remain calm for now Morgan. There's no actual threat right now. Let's just scout out our surroundings and see if there's any way for us to gain a tactical advantage." Chrom said as he walked up a hill to observe the perimeter.
"Alrighty then. There really isn't that much of a threat though. A bunch of these Risen aren't really doing anything." She said as she looked at the area and noticed the undead creatures wander around aimlessly.
"Yes, they would've at least tried to attack us by now. Maybe the Risen here can't sense us as well as the ones in our time?" Sumia said, trying to find reason in their strange actions.
"Perhaps. They're acting like those Risen we met at the strange money mansion a while back." Chrom recalled.
"I think I know what you're talking about." Morgan chimed in.
"Huh? You weren't even here yet when that happened." Cynthia said as she looked at the tactician with a confused stare.
"I know, but father told me about how Risen can act differently. These type of Risen don't fight we provoke them first, right?" The young tactician asked.
"Yeah, it's exactly that." Cynthia replied.
Morgan turned to Chrom. "Then can we just leave them be, or..."
"No, they're still Risen. They're calm now, they'll go berserk in an instant." Chrom said with a serious stare. "It'll be best if we can deal with them here and now."
"Alright, then what are we waiting for? Lead the way!" Morgan said as she began to follow Chrom and dramatically aimed her arm towards the Risen in front of them.
Chrom began to walk down the hill, but suddenly gained an idea. From the basic tactics he knew, he could tell that a small skirmish such as this wasn't anything to worry about. Perhaps the young tactician could get some hands-on training and apply some of her knowledge on tactics. It was a small group of only four but regardless, it was still valuable experience. "On second thought, let's have you lead us for today."
"M-me?" Morgan said, surprised by Chrom's words.
"You want to be a tactician just like Robin right? You could use this battle to gain some experiance and improve." Chrom reasoned.
"Yes, you have a point. Are you sure you're alright with me calling the shots? I'm not going to lie, the thought of leading you guys makes me a bit nervous." She said with a weak laugh.
"I'm sure you'll lead us well. You have spent much time studying alongside your father, so I'm sure you're well prepared." Sumia said with a warm smile.
"Yeah, I trust you too! There's no way you'll lead us astray with your crazy knowledge on tactics!" Cynthia added on.
"Alright then. I'll try my best." She said as she took the lead. A small confidence boost from her family is all she needed, but still, she had to be careful in the decisions she made from here on out. She looked at the distance towards the Risen and noticed something strange. A weird array of numbers and strange phrases could be seen around it. This guy is... nothing special from the looks of it...
"Hmm. This is kinda strange... Chrom, Sumia, pair up together and take that Risen down. He's not a huge threat whatsoever, so go do your magic. Me and Cynthia will follow suit." Morgan said as she led the group.
"Understood. Let's go." Chrom said as he followed her orders.
"Right." Sumia replied as she followed behind.
"Let's go Cynthia. The justice cabal will show these monsters that evil can never reign over our righteousness." Morgan said optimistically.
"With you as our tactician, nothing will get in our way!" Cynthia said excitedly.
The group quickly went to the lone wandering Risen and as they reached closer, Morgan could notice more numbers would be seen from the Risen. "Is this... that technique father was talking about? But... when did he ever talk about this? Was it in the past?" She quickly shook her head. This was something she could reflect on afterwards. Right now, she had to be prepared for battle.
"Alright, me and Cynthia will weaken him with a magic blast and a javelin, then you two rush in and finish him off." Morgan ordered.
The two in front nodded. "Understood."
"Alright then, here goes nothing! Elthunder!" As the Morgan hit the monster with the attacks, she noticed the numbers show up once more, this time the biggest number floating above the monster's head went from a forty-three, to a twenty-two.
"Take this you monster!" Cynthia said as she threw her javelin.
The number then went from twenty-two to thirteen. I see... Could it be that this number signified the monster's level of well-being?
"Hey, Earth to Morgan? Are you alright?" Cynthia said as she waved a hand in front of the tactician. She was lost in her thoughts and wasn't even aware of it.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I think I might've just discovered some crazy technique though." Morgan grinned. She then stared off to her grandparents who were easily defeating the Risen with ease. That number is about to reach zero, right? She thought. As Chrom landed the final blow, she stared at the number above the Risen go from fourteen, to a zero before it turned into a hunk of dust.
"Alright! That's what I'm talking about!" Cynthia said as she cheered on her father.
Morgan looked around and noticed the Risen turn from passive, to aggressive. "There's a few more around us. Looks like they finally want to get out and play."
"Give us your orders, Morgan." Sumia responded as she readied her lance.
She looked around. The majority of the creatures were all coming in one single direction. Each single Risen had different values above their heads, with the highest belonging to one all the way in the back. As well as this, many had axes as opposed to the lone Risen in the back utilizing a sword. "These guys... they're nothing special, but let's move a bit backwards to avoid being attacked by more than one of these guys. Chrom with me, Cynthia with Sumia. Me and Chrom will remain in front."
The group all nodded in unison and all headed towards their new positions. "Let's see the results of your training." Chrom said as he prepared for battle once more.
"I'll make sure not to disappoint." Morgan said with a smirk.
The Risen quickly approached as they began their assault on the group. The spacing she created between them and the other Risen allowed for only a single monster to attack. Morgan readied up an Elfire tome. "You lead, I'll follow-up."
"Got it." The Exalt replied. As the creature attacked, he stood still before quickly dodged a predictable axe head towards him. From behind the Risen, a swift blow to it's head was quickly executed. "Your end has come!"
Morgan looked as the monster's number quickly went from a forty two, into an instant zero in just one attack. "Geez, could've warned me before doing something cool like that!" She said in awe.
Chrom grinned. "My bad, I just wanted to test something out. Say'ri has some sword techniques me and Lucina had wanted to try ourselves."
"Yeah, no kidding." Morgan said, still impressed. The Risen continued to approach. "Alright, let's focus. Let's move back some more once again."
They repeated the same process two times more, easily defeating the Risen with much ease.
Okay, seems like I'm getting the hang of this. Morgan thought as the strange number began to make more sense. There were still a few other smaller values that still intrigued her though. However, there was a problem. The more that the group headed backwards, the more they reached closer to a hot spring.
Three remaining Risen approached to strike. "Crap, alright then. Cynthia and Sumia, you guys keep right behind Chrom and I as we move forwards a bit. If needed, swap spaces to in case one of us gets injured." Morgan ordered.
"Huh? We could easily just carry you guys above the water and attack from there." Cynthia suggested.
"No, I was planning on doing that already, but just look behind us." Morgan pointed. Some of the resort's clientele were at a nearby hot spring, not far from their location. "If we decide to fly above the hot springs, I have a feeling that the Risen will direct their attention to these these civilians instead."
"I'd prefer that as well. What kind of shepherds would we be if we couldn't protect these people?" Chrom said, supporting Morgan's plan.
"Okay then. You two be careful. We'll support you with the best of our ability." Sumia said as she readied a staff.
"I'll provide some cover fire then." Cynthia said as she brought out a javelin.
"Alright then, let's get a move on, Chrom." Morgan said as she unsheathed the Falchion. It felt strange, finally being able to use the sword that she had spent the past few weeks training for. The same sword that the heroes of the past used. "I won't let you down.'
The group quickly made their way towards the monsters as the two Falchion wielders aimed towards a single Risen. Morgan began her attack first as she swiftly struck her blade at the undead creature's torso. The monster screamed out, and attempted to land a blow with it's axe. "Missed me there." She taunted. "It's all you Chrom!"
Chrom immediately approached right behind the girl as he struck at the monster with a strike of his own. "Have another one!"
The monster was struck, and Morgan looked right above it. Again, the value above it's head reached zero. "All right. We're almost done guys, just two more to go." Morgan said excitedly. For a first mission, everything was going extraordinarily well. This wasn't a reason to lower her guard though. The battle wasn't over just yet. "Let's hold our ground here. The last two Risen in front of us are set to attacking us." Morgan ordered once more.
The two Risen were headed towards them at the same pace. They were both going to attack at the same time. Morgan looked at them and noticed something off. One of these Risen had a higher health value than the rest of the creatures she had seen, having a value of sixty-seven. It was using a sword as well, and it was headed right towards her.
"Split up! You and Sumia disperse of the one on the right. Me and Cynthia will take care of this one!" Morgan yelled out.
Sumia quickly moved forwards and grouped up with Chrom to handle the weaker Risen. Despite this, the more threatening Risen seemed to not care, and was dead set on attacking the young girl. "He's using a sword, so I'll need to lead with your lance." Morgan said as she moved backwards.
"Got it." Cynthia said as she prepared herself to attack the monster. It continued to run towards the two and it prepared to swing at the Pegasus and it's user. "Here goes nothing!" The young knight said as she prepared to strike at it. The monster's arm was struck, but it didn't attack Cynthia. It moved towards the tactician instead.
Morgan stood in shock as it completely ignored Cynthia's attack. It barely did anything to the monster's value above him. The Risen prepared to strike at the tactician. "Y-you're kidding me..."
"Eyes on me!" Cynthia said as she struck at the creature once more, stabbing through it's back. "Hope you're ready!" She exclaimed as the creature staggered. The Risen began to turn around to focus on it's new target. Another strike hit the creature once more, this time across the monster's neck. "Over here!" Morgan called out as she recovered from her shock. She looked closely at the monster's neck. A cleaner slice would've ended the monster right there and then. Regardless, it couldn't be helped now. She moved backwards with Cynthia.
"Glad I made it to you on time." Cynthia said, relieved.
"Yeah, that was too close. Scared the heck out of me." Morgan said as she recalled the monster's strange action. "It just went for me out of nowhere."
"That surprised me too. I never knew these things could do something like that. We gotta be much more careful from now on."
"Right." Morgan said, preparing a stance to attack once more. The value located above the Risen's head was significantly lower now, going from sixty-seven, to a fifty-one. Morgan moved upwards to take the lead. "It looks like it's interested in me right now, so I'll try handling this."
Cynthia nodded in approval, and moved backwards to support her. Morgan readied herself to face this monster as it relentlessly approached. She took a deep breath, and concentrated on her actions. The Risen swung it's sword towards the tactician as she managed to dodge. The amount of strength that the swing had could be easily heard as a heavy dent was seen on the rocky floor. The Risen quickly brought up it's sword and swung once more with a swift strike. Not having enough time to react to the powerful slash, she was forced to try and clash blades. As the blades collided, Morgan was easily overwhelmed and was fiercely thrown to the floor.
"Morgan!" Cynthia yelled out. The Risen ignored Cynthia and attempted to strike one last time at the tactician. Morgan groaned as she looked upwards. A sword prepared to slice right at her. "Why... why am I not strong enough..." Another clash could be heard. "I'm here for you!" Cynthia said as she blocked the Risen's strike with her lance.
The creature once again briefly turned it's attention towards the knight, and began to attack her. It reached for a strange looking blade on it's back. Cynthia struck at the monster and was quickly countered by the monster's new weapon. Morgan looked at the monster, noticing something extremely strange about the fight going on. That new weapon felt as if it was completely countering the lance, despite being a sword.
"Geez, what's up with this guy." Cynthia said as she struggled to fight off the monster. She struck at the Risen once again as it avoided her attack and prepared to attack her. Cynthia's eyes widened in surprise as the monster swung with great strength at the knight. She barely protected herself with her lance and avoided getting sliced by the blade, but was violently thrown off her Pegasus from the clash of weapons.
"C-Cynthia!" Morgan yelled out. The knight looked like she wasn't moving. Morgan eyes suddenly widened as her head began to hurt once more. "Gods... Please... N-not now!"
A memory came into fruition.
"Morgan, promise me that you'll create a future where we live in peace. Where the heroes win." A faint voice could be heard.
"I promise you, aunt Cynthia. I won't let anything break this promise." Her voice said.
"Good. Now go. Save our world like a true hero would!" The voice said happily.
The Pegasus cried out as it attempted to protect it's rider. The Risen turned it's attention to the Pegasus, preparing to strike at it. "Not happening." Morgan said in a serious tone, slashing at the Risen's neck once again with immense strength. The Risen turned it's attention to the tactician at last. The value located above it's head went from fifty-one to a thirty-nine.
"Come on! I'm right here!" Morgan taunted. She needed the Risen to completely avoid reaching Cynthia at any costs. The monster complied and quickly followed the tactician.
"Morgan!" Chrom said as he arrived with Sumia. "What's happened?" He asked.
"This one's being a tough one. Cynthia and I tried to hold it off, but it's been difficult." Morgan replied. "Cynthia's injured over there with her Pegasus." Morgan pointed as Cynthia slowly began to get up as she shook her head.
"I'll go heal up Cynthia." Sumia said as she quickly flew out to heal her daughter. The Risen once again ignored the Pegasus rider, and attempted to attack Morgan.
"This thing needs to go down, here and now." Morgan said, holding out the Falchion in front of her as it recovered some of her health.
"Right. I'll lead while you stay back,"
"No, I want to lead. This thing is hell-bent on trying to attack me, so I'll give it what it wants, only I'm going to be the one coming out on top." Morgan replied.
Chrom looked at the young girl dumbfounded, but complied. "Okay then. Let's go show this thing who it's messing with."
Morgan quickly ran towards the monster with the same stance that her mother and Chrom used. The monster once again prepared to strike at the girl with all it's might. Morgan, well aware of the monster's pattern knew that it would be completely pointless on trying to clash with it's blade. Instead, she'd rely on dodging the strike and punishing the creature's mistake on missing. The Risen struck, and as it did, Morgan would dodge the blade with much ease. She quickly struck the monster's neck one final time. "This ends here!"
A smooth slice would finally lead to the monster's head coming right off. The body remained still, but it wasn't over just yet. The value was floating above the Risen's headless body now. The thirty-nine had gone down to an eight, meaning the monster still had some fight left in it. The headless body turned around towards the tactician as it quickly brought upon it's blade to her. Morgan prepared to dodge once more, until Chrom ran in and clashed blades with the monster. "Think again!"
Morgan looked at the Exalt with a smile. "Let's finish this." She said as she prepared to strike at this monster one last time. Morgan stepped behind the creature and instantly dashed past the Risen to slice off the Risen's arm. Chrom dashed similarly to the young girl, slicing off the Risen's opposite arm.
The two looked at each other with Morgan being in front of the Risen, while Chrom was behind it. They nodded at one another, realizing that they were both going for the same technique. Morgan held up her blade just like she was taught be her mother. Chrom looked at the young tactician as a sense of familiarity could be sensed from the way she held her sword. A brief smile could be seen from Morgan as she launched herself to finish off the Risen. Chrom followed as the two thrust their swords forwards.
"Aether!"
The pair passed by one another as they sliced right past the Risen completely slashing past its torso. Morgan took one last look at the number above their opponent's head. A red zero slowly fades away.
Morgan tiredly sat down on the rocky floor. "Man... That was close." She looked at Cynthia who had begun to walk alongside Sumia towards them. "Thank goodness she's okay."
"This Risen seemed like a handful. Sorry we weren't able to help sooner. The Risen we fought just didn't want to go down." Chrom replied, a hint of guilt heard through his voice.
"No, it's alright. It's my responsibility as a tactician to ensure that our battles run by smoothly. I underestimated our opponents which is why we got into this predicament in the first place." Morgan said in a serious tone.
"Hey lighten up a bit! Even if all didn't go well, it still was a great learning experience, right?" Cynthia said as she arrived with her mother.
"Yeah, but still. I shouldn't have made such careless mistakes."
Sumia brought up the girl from the ground. "You take much from your parents, you know that?"
"Huh?" Morgan said in confusion.
"Your sense of leadership. You always feel responsible for actions that were out of your control. I believe it's a very important trait for all leaders to have, but you shouldn't be so hard on yourself." Sumia said as she tried to console her granddaughter.
"Yeah! Much of what happened is a one time thing. I guarantee that the next time we face a Risen just like that, I'll slice him up no problemo!" Cynthia said happily. The tone of voice was similar...
"It's an experience that you'll learn from. Robin had a much more difficult time than you did in the first few battles he led." Chrom said.
Morgan looked at the three family members trying to cheer her up. It felt... warm. A family bond that could be felt even through time. "You guys are right. I'll try not to be so hard on myself. Not only that, but I'll continue learning so that in the future, I'll rival my father's leadership and tactics." She said as she smiled brightly.
"That's great to hear." Sumia said as she smiled back.
"Now can we talk about Morgan going nuts on that Risen?! Seriously, I didn't expect you to be so good!" Cynthia complimented.
"Yeah, I was impressed too. There's a few things you could work on, but overall it was pretty good. Did Lucina teach you some techniques?" Chrom asked.
"Uhh, not exactly. My parents told me to work on my physical health and practice basic swordsmanship before I bother learning how to use the Falchion. This is actually my first time in a serious fight with Falchy." Morgan laughed.
"That was your first fight using the Falchion?! That was some serious beat down right there! You struck that guy with such a cool synchronized attack!" Cynthia said excitedly as she recalled their final strike.
"I-I'm not that good." Morgan said with an embarrassed laugh. "Um, I'm gonna trust you guys on this, so don't tell my parents. I kinda took the Falchion every other day and practiced using it late at night." She said, still embarrassed.
"That's some dedication. I like that." Chrom replied back with a smile.
"Still blows that your parents didn't try to let you use the Falchion beforehand though." Cynthia said, surprised.
"No, I think they were completely in the right. I made some dumb mistakes that I'm sure they would've made me perfect before trying to get some firsthand experience. I'm sure that if they saw me in the first half of that fight, they'd completely scold me for the amount of careless mistakes I made." Morgan imagined.
"I wouldn't worry about that. I didn't see most of the fight take place, but what I did see looked formidable. I won't tell your parents about what happened, but in return, you're going to practice using the Falchion with me." Chrom offered.
Morgan's eyes brightened up as she heard Chrom's offer. "Really?! Thank you so much Grandpa-" Her voice cutoff. Right now especially wouldn't be the right time to call him a grandfather, especially with how much he despised being called that. He might even retract his offer!
"I-I mean, just Chrom." Morgan stuttered as she corrected herself.
Chrom looked at the girl with a confused stare, but he quickly understood why she corrected herself. He grinned. "Hey, what's the deal, grandaughter Morgan."
Morgan smiled brightly. "I knew you secretly liked being called gramps." Morgan said as she embraced her future grandfather.
The group began walking back to the main hotel of the resort. The day had finally began to end, and it seemed as if everybody else had finished their battles as well. Morgan remembered her memory during that fight. It was them bidding farewell... Could it have meant something? The entire situation in that memory felt strange. The rest of the people from her time were alive, right? Then why would Cynthia make such a promise? Was it just a false memory that her mind made due to the stress of the situation she was in?
"I-I'm sorry. I couldn't stop him..."
"HURRY! He's... HE'S TAKING CONTROL!
"I promise you... A future where we succeed."
Morgan quickly grabbed ahold of her head as her scattered memories continued to come and go. It didn't make any sense. What... what the hell does any of this mean? Her headache came at an abrupt halt. She did her best to try and recall the memories that she may have just discovered, but there was nothing. It didn't make any sense. Who had said any of those phrases? There was no context, no rhyme or reason. Nothing.
"Hey, Morgan." Cynthia said as she caught the girl from her thoughts.
"Oh, what's up?" Morgan said as she tried to act composed.
"Nothing really. What about you?"
Morgan looked at her Aunt and recalled their battle. "I was just thinking back to our battle."
"Ah, you've got an urge to fight those things again?" Cynthia joked.
"No, it's not that. Back there, during our battle... I wanted to apologize for what happened. I'm sorry for letting you down. You had your trust in me, and I couldn't even hold my own ground."
"What are you talking about? You didn't let anybody down. We made it through that battle flawlessly." Cynthia replied.
"Well yes but, I just want to say sorry for making you take that hit instead of me. You protected me both times, and you nearly ended up getting hurt by that stupid monster. What a tactician I am for getting somebody important to me hurt." She said in a guilty tone.
Cynthia smiled. "You're acting like you didn't try protecting me as soon as I was knocked out. I couldn't have taken that guy out on my own, but with our combined forces, we managed to defeat that monster. You might doubt yourself and wonder if you're truly fit to be a tactician, but I'm telling you, you have what it takes to surpass your father."
Morgan looked at the Pegasus Knight with a smile. "You're right. Thank you Cynthia."
"Not a problem. We all get a bit stuck in the mud every once in a while, and as comrades, we must support one another to the best of our ability! Let's get ourselves ready and train to become heroes to save this world!"
Similar memories arose once again. Memories where a much older Cynthia had placed her trust in the young tactician. A promise where she set out to save the future like a true hero would. "Yeah. You're right... I'll make sure to keep your promise."
Cynthia gave a confused glance. "Promise?"
Morgan tried to think of an excuse. "Erm, promise in having a fun vacation!" She said, not doing a well job at acting natural.
Cynthia stared at the youngster. "You're not hiding something from me, are you?" Cynthia asked.
The tactician looked at her with a surprised expression. She could obviously try keeping up the charade, but this was something she wanted to speak to somebody about, especially the person who it involved.
Morgan moved close towards the young Pegasus Knight. "Back when we were fighting that Risen, one of my memories had shown itself. It was one where I made a promise to you. I... I was going to save this world, like a true hero. It was our promise, and for some reason, it felt like it was our final farewell. I thought that maybe the rest of the shepherds from my time would show up like you guys did, but maybe... maybe it's because... they're actually all-"
Cynthia embraced the girl. Morgan's words were interrupted as she held on to her aunt. "Morgan, I don't know what might have happened to them, but I do know what the future me wanted. We're going to make that promise you made with her a reality. I made a similar promise. It was to my mother... I don't want our group to fail after everything we've been through. I promise that you that we're going to both make sure our promises aren't broken, alright?"
"A promise for our promises." Morgan said softly. The young girl looked at her aunt with a determined smile. "Right. We'll succeed at whatever cost."
A/N: Back at it again! School really ain't treating me well and like every year, I can't really manage my time well at all. Maybe this year I'll fix that...
Anyways, this is part 2 of 3. Next part will be that convo that happens in the DLC and hopefully it doesn't take me as long to finish. I really want to finish this fic up but I don't want to rush it either. Just know that I have some wacky plans for a sequel whenever that time comes. Morgan finally bonding with family members she never interacted with in game. Just wanted to have some fun this time around and be a bit meta with the weird number things which you can easily guess are just enemy stats. Tacticians sure are weird huh, being able to see all this weird data and stuff.
As for Persona 5, I think I'll keep that on hold after I upload one more chapter. I'm going to commit mainly to Hopes and Memories just so I can finish, and because doing two projects in one time is too much, especially if they're both going to be ongoing.
That's that I guess. Hoping next chapter is up by the end of the month hopefully, but I got no promises on that. Til' next time, have a good one!