I wake up to a steady swaying motion. I hear a slight pounding from above me, and smell something that seems to be a gross combination of the sea and sweat. I open my eyes, and see a blue prince staring directly into my eyes.
...
...
...Why am I opening my eyes while lying in what feels like a bed only to see Marth staring right at me? I... I didn't get drunk again, did I? Dear gods, what did I -
Wait. No. This isn't hangover pain. This is... This is healing staff pain!
I think that it says something about me that I am currently able to distinguish between these two types of pain.
I quickly seat myself up, but a sudden pain in my head immediately makes me regret it.
"Ah... Gods..." I mutter, grabbing my head.
"Oh. You're up."
I turn to my right, and barely make out a blurry form of Alex.
"How are you feeling?"
"It's like there's a party in my head and everybody's throwing things at the wall and playing loud music, even though the neighbour has asked them politely to turn it down, so the cops are now involved, but some idiot decided to throw a beer bottle at them, and things only escalate from there, so now the place has turned into a firefight... Also, my vision's pretty messed up. Other than that, I'm just peachy."
"How many fingers am I holding up?"
I squint.
"...When the hell did you grow twelve fingers?"
"Allow me, please," a voice behind me speaks before I receive a sharp smack to the head.
"Ow!" I cry, turning around to face Marth. "You... have no idea how much that hurts right now, do you?!"
"How many fingers am I holding up, master?" Marth says, waving his hand in front of my face.
Four, I think to myself, and nearly speak before I decide that Marth's question is not worth giving a response. Even if he did clear up my vision.
I turn to Alex, jerking my thumb at Marth, "Why's he still out and about?"
"Well, you passed out. Nobody's able to make him revert to your ace of diamonds except you."
"Oh. Right," I say before turning to Marth and extending my hand. "Back in the card, pal."
I pocket the Marth card, and, still aching, turn to Alex.
"So, I passed out again, huh...The hell happened?"
"Well... Do you remember the Risen attacking the port?"
"...No? Where were we...?"
"We were at the port. A bunch of undead warriors appeared from nowhere, and began to attack everything. We fought them off, until there was just one left. You summoned lightning from your hand, looked at it, grinned, and then ran at the last Risen, screaming, 'Chidori, muthafucka!' You took an axe to the side, we killed the Risen, and I healed you. We're on a ship, now."
...That sounded kind of like the script of an Old Spice commercial.
Not... really.
"Oh... Well, if that didn't work, then I guess I'll have to try-"
"No Rasengan."
"...Fine," I respond. I get halfway through a shrug, but the pain of moving my shoulders makes me stop.
"Tch... I honestly don't get you. Sometimes you act a little bit serious about the situation we're in, but other times you act as if all of this is nothing more than some game!"
"Heh. Come on. You know perfectly well that we're in a game. I just happen to take games very seriously."
Alex frowns at me.
"...Okay, be honest: how long have you be planning to use that line?"
"A couple of months, now. But, you know, nobody ever really said anything that would let that line make any sense. Also, over ninety percent of the population here wouldn't even get it."
"Figures."
"Thank you, by the way, for that almost unnaturally perfect set up."
"Don't mention it. Ever. Please."
I chuckle, despite the pain in my chest that develops from the laughter.
"Jeez, your healing really needs some work. I mean, when Maribelle heals me, it... Wait, you can heal?"
Alex smirks and nods. "Yup."
"So... Sage?"
"Sage."
"...Huh."
"What?"
"Nothing, just... your starting class is a promoted class, you lucky magic woman."
"You... do realize that you're a Dread Fighter, right?"
"Yeah, but does that count? It's not like I promote from anything."
"Just like Conqueror."
"Just like Villager."
"Villagers are cool."
"They wear pots on their head."
"Like I said: cool."
"You think that's cool?"
"Armour made out of stuff you can find just lying around your own home? I think so."
"But... It's just that one piece of... thing. It's a pot. On your head. It can fall off really easily, and-"
"Have you ever seen one fall off?"
"Well, I've fought alongside Donny a few times, and-"
I pause, and try to think about it.
"...No. No, I haven't."
"Exactly."
"But... How does that even...?"
"Don't think too hard about it," Alex says smugly as she stands up. Apparently, she was sitting on some wooden crate.
I take a look around. Alex said we were on a ship, and it appears that we're below deck. If I were fifteen years younger, I'd probably be running around here, swinging a stick that I would picture as a sword and wearing some ridiculous hat while shouting stuff about pirates, trying to leap over the hammocks, and consequently tripping over the beds, crates, and numerous other items that are scattered on the floor.
I probably wouldn't have minded the smell as much back then.
"How long was I out?"
"Well, if what I heard was correct, we shouldn't have to stay on this ship much longer."
"That's good..." I say, pulling myself off of the hammock.
"Is the pain going away yet?"
"Kind of. But your healing is still a literal pain in the neck."
"My healing literally saved your neck."
"True... Say, where'd you get your healing staff in the first place?"
"While you were bleeding out, a bunch of people started scrambling for stuff and passing them to me. Somebody handed me a staff, and I just sort of instinctively held it to you, and started making sure you didn't die."
"Huh. Well, thanks for that," I say. My nose twitches. "...Anyway, I really need to get some fresh air and away from this stench."
"Yeah - sorry, but you need to rest, so you're staying down here for a little while longer."
"What? I'm sorry, but when did you become a healing master? Just because you picked up a staff once, and-"
"I read a book," Alex says, holding up a large book. It looks thick enough to be a weapon itself. Alex opens the book, and begins to flip through the pages before placing her finger somewhere. "And, according to this book, a person who suffered an injury such as yourself and bleeding out like that while receiving healing from somebody of my level needs rest." Alex promptly shuts the book, and smirks at me.
"...Where'd you get that book?"
"Mind your own business."
"...Fine. I'll rest. It's not like your healing made me completely eager to go running around, anyway."
"So... Inigo's Paralogue is supposed to be pretty damn close here, right?" I say, looking at the map as Alex and I leave the ship.
"I... think it was somewhere around here," Alex says, poking her finger a tiny bit west off the mainland we just docked at. "It's probably less than an hour's walk away. Are you feeling okay for some more fighting?"
"I should be fine. Besides, we should probably try to get most of the Paralogues on this continent done and over with. My knowledge on this part of the game is rusty, and I kind of forget when exactly things are going to get dangerous with the whole Walhart thing."
"Yeah... Anyway, if we're lucky, we'll probably have recruited Inigo before the day's out. And remember - no more trying to come up with new cool ways to kill the enemy by putting yourself in range of getting your head chopped off."
"Yes, mother."
"Ah! You're up!" I hear Morgan exclaim, as I set foot on real land.
Alex and I had led our little group through the Ruins of Time, under the pretense that we were simply treasure-hunting, saying that we could use the money. Since we had no keys for the chests, I had to repeatedly press my hand against each of the locks, and add a touch of fire and electricity to blow them open. Alex then took it upon herself to point of that we could have opened the chests in Nah's Paralogue. I then told her that it was too bad that she didn't think of this method sooner.
Morgan's situation was pretty difficult to establish. Obviously, she had amnesia, but none of the other kids seemed to remember her, so nobody had any real reason to believe her. However, we also had no real reason not to believe her, and we weren't exactly dangerous, famous, or important enough to make any enemies that would go through the elaborate trouble of trying to infiltrate our group just to kill us.
The tactician went through great detail to describe her one memory - her father. I responded that I thought that her description reminded me of somebody I knew, but added in that he was far too young to be her father, and told her to forget about it.
It wasn't really hard to get her to join our group. She had nowhere to go, and we had just saved her from a swarm of Risen; we probably came across as pretty friendly in her eyes. Kjelle, Nah, and Noire also seemed fine with her joining us, since she displayed exceptional skill in tactics after knowing us for approximately ten seconds.
Alex also made a point of pointing out her hair colour. It was one of the first things I noticed about Morgan, but one of the last things I noticed for any of the other children. I'm still not entirely certain why that was. Alex asked how in the hell I managed to do that, and the best I could come up with was that, while I definitely saw their hair from the corner of my eye, I more or less avoided looking directly at it. Whatever colours I saw, I put in the back of my head.
Anyway, after having that directly pointed out to me by myself, I couldn't really help it anymore. I saw that Noire's hair was white, and felt something like a tiny twinge of relief. I then looked at Kjelle and Nah's brown hair, and felt my stomach tighten up. I'm not sure why.
I'd see a doctor about that, but I kind of just got healed.
Still, I didn't hesitate at all to register Morgan's hair. Maybe it was because I knew that her father was Robin, and that, since we were friends, he probably wouldn't mind that much if I pried into his personal life. Just a little. By finding out who he ends up having babies with.
"Er... Yeah. I'm up," I say, scratching my head. "Still alive."
"Yeah, I knew it wouldn't be anything serious!" Morgan says, a huge smile plastered on her face. "I mean, that guy was a joke! He probably had no idea how to kill, seeing as he tried to put his axe in your stomach, rather than doing something more immediate like chopping off your head! I mean, you were completely vulnerable! He had a huge opening, and he never-"
"Okay, thank you for that, Morgan," I say, instinctively patting her on the head in the way I remember my older brother patting me on the head whenever he wanted me to shut up while still being polite about it.
"Well, if you don't want to get a lecture on ways you might be killed, perhaps you should try harder not to die," Nah says.
"Tell you what, I'll have a lengthy discussion with myself about that and then proceed to ignore myself and give me the silent treatment later. Until then, how about we head out? The day's not over yet, and there's supposed to be a village that's not too far from here, near some place called the Great Gate."
"Why don't we just stay here?" Kjelle speaks up. "You lot don't seem to have any plan in mind for where you're headed, anyway - why not just stay at some nearby inn while we gather our bearings?"
Alex and I proceed to let loose with a volley of excuses we had rehearsed should a similar question arise.
"We don't like staying in one place for too long."
"This place is far too crowded."
"Really noisy. I like my sleep."
"You don't make money by staying in one place all the time - you lose money that way."
"I get bored easily."
"I don't like sea air."
"There's no fun in staying here."
"But it's fun to run into bandits."
"We really like traveling lengthy distances with absolutely no specific destination in mind."
Kjelle frowns, and darts her eyes between the two of us.
"...Whatever. Let's just get going, then. I honestly don't know why I'm traveling with you people..."
"And yet you still want to come with us?" I say. "Yeah, we have that kind of effect on people."
Nah just stares at the scene.
In the distance, a lone mercenary is standing in front of a giant fort. From both sides, we can see numerous fliers coming from around the fort.
"...Why?" the manakete speaks. "Why is it that, no matter where you two go, you always end up getting involved in some huge fight?"
"We are both completely incapable of keeping our huge noses out of other people's business," Alex says, adjusting the healing staff held in the strap of her backpack.
"Okay," Morgan speaks, "Kjelle and Nah, I want both of you to go and help that man with the men coming from inside the fort. Noire and I will take the fliers coming from the south with arrows and wind magic. Alex and Lucas, you two will do the same for the fliers from the north. And, Lucas, if you could tell Mr. Marth to help Kjelle and Nah, that would be great. Okay, go!"
I quickly relay Marth's instructions to him, and we all sprint to our designated positions. Well, all of us except Nah, who can fly...
"How old do you think Morgan is...?" I shout at Alex as we run. "Honestly, it's like... taking orders from a ten year old..."
"However old she is... she is Robin's daughter! So I don't really think that it matters!"
"I know, but... still! She has amnesia! She could be eight years old for all we know!"
"She doesn't look eight. And anyway, we kind of have bigger issues to tackle at the moment!"
We finally catch up with the fliers. The entire group appears to have turned its focus from Inigo to us, as they're charging right at us. Alex and I stop in our tracks and ready our spells.
Two dark fliers lead the group flying towards us. One heads for Alex, the other heads straight for me. I begin to chant the Rexcalibur spell, and let it erupt. The razor-sharp wind causes the horse-bird and its rider fall to the ground, causing the griffon rider flying right behind them to hesitate in order to give his friend room to crash onto the ground. While the poor sap's distracted, I blast a quick Elwind at him, knocking him out of his beast.
I remind myself to keep an eye on him; a scary guy with an axe who lost his mount is still a scary guy with an axe. But until then, I merely blast a quick Thunder spell at the berserk griffon, killing it before can crash itself into me.
Yikes...That was brutal. I really hope that there isn't some fantasy version of PETA in this world.
I... I think Anna once mentioned something about some group for wyverns?
Really? Well, that one was a griffon, so I guess I'm okay. You know, disregarding the numerous other wyverns I may or may not have killed.
Alex seems to be holding her own pretty well. For starters, she isn't dead. She hasn't mastered any seriously powerful wind spells, so she's resorted to blasting a barrage of standard Wind spells at the enemy. That being said, it's still effective enough to take down her half of the fliers.
"...Is that all of 'em?"
"I... think... so..." Alex gasps.
Heh... Sounds like she got the Wind knocked out of her.
I immediately smack myself in the head.
"...Why'd you do that?"
"No reason. Come on, let's go help the philandering-dancer-fighter!"
We run towards the mercenary, the knight, and the giant dragon.
"Ah! More pretty faces have arrived to help us, I see!" Inigo shouts, glancing at Alex before swinging his Killing Edge at an Assassin.
"Inigo!" Kjelle shouts. "Now is really not the time for any of us to have to put if with your flirting!"
"Are you telling me that you know this guy as well?!" I feign shock, summoning an Elfire at a General, and narrowly dodging his Spear. "How many friends do you people have?!"
"Friend is such a strong word..." Kjelle says, slamming her lance through the head of an Assassin. "We just know a lot of people."
"Are you saying that there are others with you?" Inigo asks.
"That's... right!" Nah answers in between breaths of pure awesomeness. "We ran into Noire a while ago!"
"Ah! Wonderful! Is that all then? None of the others?"
"That's it!"
Why is it that everybody except the bad guys seems to have a talent for being able to hold a conversation with their friends whilst in the middle of slaughtering people?
"I see. You know, I did almost mistake that blue fellow there, for-"
"Yeah, we all did."
"So... you guys are acting like there are other people out there that you're hoping you'll just suddenly bump into?" Alex asks.
"Like I said," Kjelle shouts, "we know a lot of people."
When the sword gets shoved through the last assassin, I turn Marth into card form, and put him in my pocket.
"Lord Grima... rain down... retribution..."
Inigo pulls his Killing Edge out of the leader Assassin. He tilts his head to the sky. "...Nope. Sorry, but it doesn't look like it's going to be raining anything, today."
I see a small, shiny thing fall out of the Assassin's pocket. I walk over and pick it up.
It's a Master Seal...
I look at the dead guy.
You definitely won't be needing this anymore...
I pocket the seal, and we begin to walk through the fort and to the other side.
"So," Inigo chirps, "what brings all of you over here?"
"Ask them," Kjelle says, jerking her thumb at me and Alex. "We're just following these two. They're the leaders with the plan. Or... without the plan."
Inigo turns to us.
"...Random traveling," Alex explains.
The mercenary looks around. "...Where's that blue fellow go? He was here a second ago."
"Don't ask," Nah says. "We'll explain later, but it's far too much of a headache to explain right now."
"Ah! That's... interesting. Anyway, it was a pleasure meeting up with all of you, and I'd love to stay and chat, but I have an appointed tea time with a lovely farm girl! I-"
"Oh no you don't!" Nah shouts. "You're not ditching us so you can go fail at wooing some lady! You're taking us with you!"
"I am quite confident that I will not fail at... Wait... What? Why would you people be coming...?"
"Because, all of us need a place to stay the night, and, knowing your record, you're going to get tossed out with no place to stay within fifteen minutes of having started a conversation with this lady you're meeting."
"Well... I mean... If you guys need a place to stay, I could ask her if she had any friends you could stay with..."
"Inigo," Kjelle says, "if you want to actually have a roof over your head tonight, you had better listen to our advice so you, for once in your life, don't immediately chase away a girl you think is cute. You can do whatever you want tomorrow, but I really don't want to hear any screaming tonight while I'm trying to sleep."
"Er... Well... What kind of dashing-"
"Don't start now. Save it for tomorrow."
We finally make our way out of the fort, and nearly bump into Morgan and Noire.
"Ah! There you are!" Morgan chirps.
"A-a few more fliers came to this side, so we had to take care of them," Noire mutters, clutching her bow. She looks at Inigo. "Oh. H-hello there, Inigo."
If Inigo notices Noire, he doesn't show it. He's too busy staring at Morgan.
Allegra and I exchange a glance
Here it comes...
"Er... Who's this?" he asks, pointing at Morgan.
"Oh, this is Morgan," Noire says, frowning a little bit at Inigo.
"M-Morgan?!"
"Hello, stranger!" Morgan says gleefully.
"Why... didn't you tell me about her earlier when I asked who else was with you?"
Nah sighs. "What, and have you start hitting on another girl you just met while in the field of battle? No thanks."
"...I feel as if we missed the part where people introduce each other," Morgan states. "Who's this? Do you people know him? And... why is he staring at me?"
"Don't worry, kid," Kjelle says. "It's probably just the opening to some cheesy pick-up line."
"What now? Is this a custom for people that live over here?"
Nah hits Inigo on the arm. "Come on, stop that! She has amnesia - you might make her begin to think that your odd behaviour is proper."
"W-wait, amnesia? S-so," he says, turning to Morgan, "you... don't remember anything?"
"Nope!" Morgan answers, still cheerful. "Just my father!"
"Father? W-what does he look like?"
"Uh... Let's see... White hair... Awesome purple robes..." Morgan looks down at her own similar robes. "Kind of tall... He - whoa!"
Inigo hugs Morgan, and hoists her into the air, shaking her while laughing his ass off and muttering something that I think I make out to be, "I knew it". It's hard to tell, though. It sounds as if he's choking.
"...What in gods' names is he doing?" Kjelle asks, dumbfounded.
"W-w-what is h-he d-doing to m-me?" Morgan asks while still being shook.
"Er... I-Inigo," Noire says. "This... isn't how you pick up girls. I-I mean, it is, but... it isn't."
Morgan begins to laugh. "Th-this is actual-ly k-kind of f-fun!"
"...Okay, he's officially hit a new level of weird..." Nah mutters.
Inigo laughs once more, and puts Morgan down.
"Sorry, if that was weird, it's just... I've missed you, sis."
AN: About 90% of the time it took me to write this was spent trying to figure out what the hell to do with Morgan. There's probably some stuff in the game that contradicts what I've done with her that I missed, since I've put exactly 0 effort into actually researching her situation.
