Beginning Commentary: So, I decided to watch gameplay of the SMT x FE crossover and BOY OH BOY am I salty about it. Is it because of how anime/J-Pop it is? Well, yes, but I handled Persona 4 just fine. Heck, I loved Persona Q, which was supposed to be an adorable crossover of Personas 3 and 4! This game, though, hoo boy… The Mirage designs on Virion and Navarre are pretty legit, and I do like Tiki's dragon design, but GAAAH THE PLOT AND CHARACTERS KILL ME. I only like the red dude that's supposed to be Cain and from what I've seen, it lacks the surprisingly dark moments that both game series share. (The choosing of either Lawful or Chaotic in SMT 4 only to realize both sides are twisted, the plot twist in Persona Q, Persona 3 FES: The Answer along with what went on the day of October 4th, and Emmeryn's choice in Awakening to name a few).

That's not to say you can't enjoy it, though. As I said before, I have a heavy amount of salt towards it. If you wanna get the game when it one day gets localized, I won't stop you. If you want to be salty alongside me, you're welcome to join me in my salt escapades. I mean, we all need cheery games that aren't all angst and gloom, right?


Chapter Seventeen: Inexorable Betrayal


The waves rolled up and down along the sand, gently falling on my ears with each movement. The sun began to peak off in the distance, making the once dark blue sky first a lighter purple, and then slowly becoming red and orange. The cold sand bristled through my toes, oozing between each toe gap. The wind brought forth the scent that the ocean provided, as well as a revitalizing cool breeze. The ocean itself remained steady as the waves rolled back and forth.

"This is nice, isn't it?" Henry sighed, appearing to my right. "So relaxing…"

"You can say that again," Tharja nodded, appearing to my left. "It's been so long since we've been in peace."

"Reminds me of the good old days…" I finally spoke.

My heart beat at a smooth pace. I felt calm. I closed my eyes.

"Mom! C'mon, wake up! Let's play together!" Morgan's voice echoed.


When I opened my eyes, I was no longer at the ocean. Instead, I found myself in a familiar field of flowers. Vibrant green stalks lead to various petals of whites, yellows, blues, purples, pinks, and reds that when I lifted myself up barely passed my waist. As I stood up, they went up to my ankles. The sky was now a bright, yet not blinding yellow with a now warm breeze gently passing through.

"Ah, there you are, my sunlight," a familiar voice called out.

Yen'fay, Say'ri, and Morgan all looked upon me as I found myself standing on a sturdy hill. They all came to stand by me.

I couldn't believe it, Morgan had arms!

"Let's play, Mom!" Morgan beamed.

"In a moment, Morgan," I smiled, gently ruffling his hair.

Yen'fay held my right hand and placed both of his hands on it, giving it a small kiss. He had the similar, warm look in his eyes that I had grown comfortable with.

"You must hurry soon, though. The cherry blossom tree is near its period of blooming," Say'ri advised.

"Aye, your mother and father are all too eager to see the petals dance," Yen'fay grinned.

My mother AND father? But how?

The wind began to howl, becoming stronger and stronger with every passing second. The skies turned gray, and even a thunderclap could be heard in the distance. I closed my eyes once more.


Rain fell from the somber heavens, thunder boomed as lightning struck at every opportunity it could. It was far too dark to see, but every time lightning struck, light briefly shone upon the environment.

Oh Gods, there were corpses… All with slash marks across their bodies… Stained with blood… Wait, these look like members of Priam's army…! But…who would do this?

A horse whinnied, revealing a horned shadow riding upon it. The horned shadow seemed godlike with its aura and size, and as it dismounted its impressive steed, it stood with a sense of pride. Its cape flapped along the wind's harsh rhythm. The lightning revealed it to be human, one with red horns upon its brow and bulky red armor to match, nearly similar in Frederick's in terms of design. Its pale eyes and sneer upon its lips could be seen, giving me a sense of hostility from it.

"Fellblood…" The masculine voice boomed.

I stumbled and fell on my bottom, backing away as best as I could. This man drew out his weapon, a red Axe with a black head, stained with red.

"No, please! Have mercy!" I cried out.

My request was unheeded, as this man stepped closer and closer toward me.

"You shall kneel before your new god! One that will only require one sacrifice! YOURS!"

"NO!"

I found myself in the middle of the man and a cliff, leading to sharp rocks lying in the restless ocean. He lifted his Axe, and only gave me a death glare as he struck.

Everything became white, and all I could hear was the sound of echoing voices… Undistinguishable murmurs…


"OH GODS!" I panted, springing up from my cot. I was in one of my infamous cold sweat states once again.

"Hey, are you alright?!" Nowi called out.

"I…I don't know," I responded.

She immediately burst through the tent flaps.

"Well, at least you're not under attack. You okay?"

"Another bad dream…"

"Hey, what's going on?" Ricken shouted.

"Anne had a bad dream," Nowi replied.

"What, another one? Like the ones from all those years ago?"

Nowi looked to me, and I nodded.

"Yeah!"

"Oh geez, that isn't good."

"Nope!"

Ricken also entered the tent.

"Don't you usually see things with those bad dreams of yours?" He asked.

"Y-yeah… I started with hanging out with Tharja and Henry on the beach, then it turned into a family reunion with Yen'fay, Say'ri, and Morgan, but then it turned into a battlefield where a guy dressed in red tried to kill me!" I explained.

"Yikes, that changed so suddenly!" Nowi gasped.

Oh geez, what bad event's going to happen now...?


"EVERYONE, LET'S MOVE!" Chrom shouted from outside. He then peeked into my tent. "Come on, we have to get out of here!"

"Why, what's going on?" I asked.

"Chon'sin enemy troops are swapping positions with Valmese ones at an important base of theirs. It's close by, so this'll be our chance to strike them where it hurts."

"Wait, really? We're planning an ambush?"

"That we are, and we need everyone we can get our hands on to help us out."

"Oh boy!" Ricken cheered. "This'll be great!"

When I got myself out of my cot, Nowi placed something in my hand. It was a Dragonstone!

"I like holding it when I get scared. It makes me feel strong," she explained.

"But don't you need this to fight?" I asked.

"Nope, I got a spare!"

Well then.


Fort Steiger. The midway point between the northern Valmese Imperial Army and the southern Chon'sin army. The perfect place to ambush so that we could get the upper hand in this war, and finish it before it was too late.

Or so I thought.

"By the Gods, the walls are ginormous!" Flavia exclaimed as we rode up.

They touched the heavens themselves with how tall they were. They could circle the entire planet with how wide they were. Their design could put anyone to sleep with how boring they were.

"And they're heavily guarded, too," the Pirate King grunted, pointing to the several Valmese guards surrounding said ginormous walls.

"All we have to do is take out the commander in charge," Morgan explained. "Once they're gone, we have full control."

"But how will we get in?" Chrom asked.

"A majority will attack from the outside, taking care of the guards and further reinforcements," Laurent carried on with my explanation. "When the time is right, a small assembly shall stampede into the fortress' interior and handle the commander."

"By the looks of it, we're going against a mix of War Monks, Heroes, Valkyries, and Snipers," Priam told us. "So we need a mix of both magic and strength."

"Do we know what the commander is?" I asked.

"A Valkyrie as well."

"In that case, we'll send in mostly strength fighters when we're able to break in."

And so, we charged. Due to the amount of guards pouring out from the fort, I swore we were fighting an ocean of red. And because this was a fortress, we had to immediately take down catapults. Humans, we could deal with. Boulders, not so much. The ex-slave fighters we had obtained not only managed to keep themselves alive, but were actually quite the experienced bunch. I swear they carried most of the matches. (That's not to say that Priam's, the Khans', Say'ri's, or even Chrom's army were weak. In fact, Priam's army was the second strongest. I think we were tired from war while these ex-slaves were fresh out of the villages).

"Okay, we're clear!" The Pirate King shouted.

Of course, the ones that entered the fort were the Shepherds and the Commanders. …Wait.


"Anne, dear, is that you?!" A familiar female voice called out. "And Say'ri, too?!"

Same pale blonde hair with bangs covering the left eye, same pale blue eyes. Same red dress, with a silly red hat to boot. Same soft lips. Oh my Gods, REALLY!?

"Pheros," I nodded.

"Who's this now?" Chrom asked.

"I am the first wife of Lord Yen'fay and General in charge of Fort Steiger, Pheros. You must be Lord Chrom of Ylisse."

"That I am. You know of me?"

"I know of all the Ylissean royal family! In fact, I was a devout believer of your sister Emmeryn before Naga was introduced to my heart. But to show my gratitude, I sent prayers overseas."

"That was you?" The Pirate King asked.

"Indeed! Let me guess, you must be the titular Khan Basilio, correct?"

"Yep, but the one in charge now is Khan Flavia."

Flavia awkwardly nodded, equally as confused about this as I was.

"Well met, Khans. How about the scruffy fellow here?"

"Descendant of the Radiant Hero Ike and leader of the Garden of Giants," Priam introduced. "Priam."

"Interesting. And Say'ri, goodness! You're alright!"

"Yes, no thanks to you," Say'ri sneered.

"Oh, why must you treat your sister so poorly? Do you treat Anne as terribly?"

"You dare enter a war against a nation you wish to be a part of and believe I will simply comply with it?!"

Pheros' cheerful demeanor vanished.

"So that's how it's going to be," Pheros growled. "You don't understand why Yen'fay agreed to fight with Walhart, do you?"

"Walhart is a savage brute that forced Yen'fay to fight alongside him," Say'ri stated coldly.

"Dear me, you truly are clueless. Wouldn't you agree, Anne?"

"Why are you getting me involved with this?" I sighed.

"Anne, you're Yen'fay's second wife! Surely, you must wish to be close to him once more."

"Well, that's why we're trying to stop Walhart, and by extension, Yen'fay. I want him to stop fighting."

"A noble pursuit, but resisting him won't do it. Nope, he'll only hear you if you join his side."

"Is that why you stand against us now?" Say'ri asked.

"Pretty much," Pheros cheered. "It's not all bad, though. I'm now the head of the Valmese religious services and get to spend as much time with Yen'fay as I please!"

"But aren't the people of Valm dedicated to the Divine Dragon Naga?" Lady Tiki stepped in.

Pheros immediately widened her eyes and bowed before the might that was Lady Tiki.

"Oh, milady Voice! It's an honor to meet you in person like this! Nay, a blessing!" Pheros exclaimed. "But wait…If you're fighting with them, then…Am I doing wrong?"

"Yes. This war will throw the world as we know out of balance. It will be pure chaos if it ensues."

"Truly?"

Lady Tiki nodded. When Pheros looked all around, she noticed that we were all nodding in agreement.

"But…Walhart's pursuit. It's justified!…Isn't it?"

"What is his goal?" Tharja whispered to me.

"My dear, it would ruin the fun to just tell you," a scratchy, male voice cackled.

…WAIT, THIS VOICE WAS FAMILIAR.


Teleporting into the room was a short, pale man with purple hair that…cupped his head. A-and a red Valmese Sage outfit…W-with big…fish lips…AND LONG NAILS.

Oh no. OH NO. OH GODS NO!

"Anne? Are you okay?" Chrom asked.

"G-get him away…" I stuttered.

"Why? Who is he?"

"Ah, Exalt Chrom, is it? A pleasure to meet you! I am the Valmese tactician, Excellus!"

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!" I shrieked.

"Hm? The Fellblood, too? It's been far too long, my dear!"

"B-but how? A-after what happened, I thought you were killed!"

"What do you mean?" Lucina asked me.

"H-he was the one that…that attacked me. B-but, GAH!" Oh Gods, my vision was going red. My head…hurts…

"He was the one who committed that horrible act against you!?" Chrom gasped.

I nodded, eventually falling down to my knees from pure pain.

Chrom immediately pointed Falchion in Excellus' direction.

"BASTARD!" He yelled, immediately running toward the piece of slime.

"CHROM, WAIT!" I shouted out.

It was too late. Excellus cast a small barrier spell, smiling with his horrifying fish lips as he watched Chrom be flung across the room from the knockback.

"Chrom!" Sumia cried out.

"Father, no!" Lucina exclaimed.

"How charming!" Excellus cackled. "You actually think that you can kill me! I am immortal! Now Pheros, you better keep your end of the deal."

"What deal?" Say'ri scowled.

When Tharja and Henry tried striking him with magic, he simply teleported to a new location.

"It's selfish and altruistic all at once! If Pheros fights for Lord Walhart, then she shall be with her beloved husband and villagers will be kept alive under slave labor. No unnecessary deaths!"

"But to have them suffer in that slavery!? To rid them of their own humanity!? It is far from altruistic!" Say'ri yelled.

"Well, your efforts aren't exactly righteous, either. Let's say Lord Walhart DOES lose. What are you going to do about Valm, then? The people will suffer not only from the loss of such a great leader, but they'll also be thrown into fear and chaos from no proper form of government! Plegia would've been exactly like that if not for the great Validar."

"HE'S A MONSTER AND YOU KNOW IT!" I yelled, holding myself back from the pain.

"Monster or not, Plegia's not fighting Ylisse anymore. You should be grateful for that."

Not only was my right hand that of a dragon's, but now my left was slowly becoming one as well. All I could do was hide my face in my knees.

"SHEPHERDS, I DON'T CARE WHAT IT TAKES! KILL HIM!" Chrom ordered fiercely.

"Oh, goodness. Looks like it's time for the reinforcements, then!"

"Reinforcements?" Say'ri questioned.

Here, the Chon'sin portion of our army entered the fort.

"Hey, we didn't order you to enter!" The Pirate King yelled.

Soon, they began to charge at us. Yes, right at us. As in they double-crossed us.


"I do not understand! What has caused you to betray us?!" Say'ri shouted to the army in Chon'sin, slashing away any who dared get near her. "Are you all under some Dark spell!?"

"No, my dear," Excellus sighed with happiness. "They simply understand what happens when they oppose the almighty Conqueror himself! Now, they may redeem themselves and become proper Valmese citizens."

"What have you done to them!?"

"Nothing at all…aside from telling the truth, that is."

"LIES!"

"My, you truly are ignorant. Maybe I should knock some damn sense in your head!"

Say'ri was immediately held together in a powerful Fire spell, which was surprisingly more like lava than it was fire.

"And now, Chon'sin can truly become one nation! No more Song dynasts to get in the way of the Tokugawan future!"

"SAY'RI!" I yelled.

I ran over to help, but Pheros managed to outrun me. She…what the hell!? She pushed Say'ri out of the spell and took it in her place! All that could be heard after that was a blood-curdling shriek until Pheros fell flat on her stomach. Everyone paused when the stench of burning flesh entered the area.

"The commander's down!" One of the opposing soldiers cried out.

"Retreat!" Another one yelled.

"You MORONS! I am under control here!" Excellus barked.

The soldiers ignored that, and immediately retreated the premises.


"Damn mongrels…" As soon as he said that, Excellus obtained a look of victory on his crap-eating face. "No matter. I must say, these ex-slaves and future children have done quite the service for you and your army. Lord Walhart will be pleased to have them for his own. Isn't that right…Morgan?"

"What?!" I breathed. My heart beating took over the pain in my head.

Morgan took a few steps back before Gerome blocked his path.

"Morgan, what's he talking about?"

Silence.

"Morgan, answer me."

Silence once more.

"MORGAN!"

Morgan grew a wicked smile on his face, followed by him laughing.

"I can't believe you trusted me after all of this time," he grinned. He walked over to Excellus' side, allowing the foul man to put an arm around his shoulders. "I've been working with him this entire time."

"I KNEW IT!" Severa cried out. "Even when we first recruited you, I knew something was up!"

"But…how!? Why?!" Cynthia panted. "I trusted you!"

"We all did!" Owain exclaimed.

"You don't understand what it's like to be a royal bastard," Morgan began to explain. "Chon'sin refused to accept me as its prince because I was a Fellblood. I was mocked every day by nobles AND peasants alike! And to make matters worse, I was even made fun of for not having any arms. I was seen as weak, helpless… And it's all my mom's fault! If it weren't for that damn potion, I would be normal!"

"Wha-Morgan, I took that potion so I could help fight in this war!" I yelled.

"Oh, so you could make a better future for me? So you could get back together with Dad? HA! Don't make me laugh. If you wanted to be with him so badly, you should've done what Pheros did and joined his side. But no, you're too busy flirting with Ike's bastard descendant!"

"You shut your mouth!"

Priam attempted to fling Ragnell right at Morgan, but he dodged just at the last moment.

"My my, quite the attitude," Excellus cackled. "I can't wait to see it wiped off your face when Lord Walhart arrives here alongside Lord Yen'fay."


THUNK!

All of the doors and windows were immediately boarded up.

"Damn, we're trapped!" Flavia exclaimed, trying to slash away at the door.

"Yes, when Lord Walhart arrives from Valm and Dad arrives from the once Song dynasty, it'll all be over," Morgan grinned.

"Well, this has been fun, but we must report back to our Lords. Come along, Morgan," Excellus said.

Excellus teleported once more with Morgan by his side, but I could still feel their presence linger…


"Gods, what are we going to do?! We can't take on both Yen'fay AND Walhart here!" The Pirate King sneered.

"We don't even know how close they are to us! They could be outside, slaughtering whatever troops we spent so much time on recruiting!" Frederick muttered.

"We must escape!" Laurent exclaimed.

"But how?!" Say'ri asked.

"It is highly risky, and there is a slight probability that this will run efficiently."

"Enough with the formalities," Chrom responded. "What is it?"

"We bury underground and divide our army into two. One will head southward so that they may encounter Yen'fay and his Chon'sin troops. The other will head northward and face Walhart."

"That's suicide!" Flavia gasped.

"No, he's onto something," Beatrice said. "Of course, there's no way be able to take down Walhart completely. So, we simply need a team to buy the other time to properly escape!"

"Yes! Then that team shall not decimate Yen'fay, but instead weaken him to the point where resistance is futile."

"That's when we'll make him fight for us, right?" Chrom asked.

"Exactly."

"Alright, then let's divide the teams."


"Now, due to the fact that the Conqueror is a force of nature, we shall need our strongest units to go against him," Laurent stated.

"Oh geez, enough with the flattery!" The Pirate King groaned. "Alright, I'll send my Feroxi troops with me."

Lucina immediately jumped into the quick planning.

"I forbid it!" She exclaimed.

"Lucina, what is the meaning of this?!" Chrom shouted.

"Father, this is a certainty! Khan Basilio WILL die against Walhart!"

"Lucina…" Laurent muttered under his breath.

"Are you sure?" Flavia asked.

"Yes, when I was but a humble lad underneath your careful guidance," Owain began. "You always spoke about how brave and gallant Khan Basilio truly was, defending you from the hazard that is Lord Walhart!"

"This is one of the many events in the timeline I refuse to happen," Lucina huffed. "It's bad enough I couldn't save Lady Emmeryn, but I also couldn't save Inigo's parents nor could I save Laurent's mother. I…I won't allow Khan Basilio to throw his life away alongside theirs!"

The Pirate King walked up to her and patted her on the shoulder.

"Lass, thank you for telling me that I'll die in style," he bellowed. "But I'd never forgive myself if I let you or your parents go up against Walhart instead. Your whole purpose of coming back to our time was so that you could see them again and make sure they continue breathing, wasn't it? Well, that'll be hard to do when you're not around!"

"Khan Basilio…" Lucina said.

"Well, I'm not letting you go by yourself, oaf," Flavia stated. "I'm coming along with you."

"Like hell you are!" The Pirate King exclaimed. "You're the current reigning Khan! Regna Ferox needs you now more than ever!"

"Didn't you say you were bringing the entire Feroxi army with you? I'm a part of that, reigning Khan or not. We Feroxi stay together, you hear that?!"

"Then I'm going, too," Lon'qu stepped up. "Khan Basilio, as your Champion, I will make you proud."

"Father…" Gerome said coldly.

"I'm going, too," Inigo stepped up. "For my parents' sake."

"Well, since we tied during the recruitment match, my army and I are going, too," Priam stated bluntly. "I'm technically Feroxi, after all."

"With you by our side, I'm sure our chance of death will plummet to forty percent!" The Pirate King joked, slapping Priam on the back.

Cherche, Gerome, and Inigo agreed to go along with the Pirate King. Kjelle and Sully begged to be a part, but we needed them for our encounter against Yen'fay. Lance users and all.

"That leaves Say'ri, the rest of the future children, whatever recruitments we have left, and the Shepherds for Yen'fay," I breathed.

"You going to be okay?" Priam asked me.

"I'll try. I'm…shaken up, is all."

Priam held me close. I was still shaking…


"A-Anne…" Pheros weakly gasped. The Fire spell didn't kill her! "Say…ri…"

Say'ri and I immediately went to her aid, with the healing team trying their best to heal her.

"I'm…sorry…It's all my fault…"

"No, it is not," Say'ri sighed. "It is that dastard Excellus. You simply wished to be with Yen'fay along with the safety of your people."

"Still…"

"We're gonna make him pay, Pheros," Chrom stated. "I promise you that. And we'll make sure Valm and Chon'sin are even better friends than Eliwood and Hector."

Pheros smiled.

"There's…a secret tunnel underneath…the treasure room…Use it and tell Yen'fay that I love him…"

She closed her eyes, becoming immobile in the process.

"She's gone," Libra spoke quietly.

Both he and Brady offered her a prayer so that she would be guided into the heavens.