Morgan continued the day as per usual, spending the afternoon with Malin in the library and going to bed a bit early.
Waking up the next morning, it took him a few moments before he remembered that he had to leave before it got too late. This didn't stop him from trying to get a bit more sleep, however.
After spending about ten minutes laying in bed after he initially woke up, he decided to actually start the day. Morgan got dressed and tried his best to gather up his things.
He didn't think he needed to pack much; just spare clothes, a few snacks that he had in his room for various reasons, and a book or three for him to read so he wasn't doing absolutely nothing when he inevitably had trouble sleeping.
Once he was pretty confident that he had everything, Morgan headed down for breakfast. Once that was done, Robin made it very clear that they should leave as soon as possible. Therefore, once both Morgan and Lucina double-checked their things, they left.
It only took them about a week and a half to find Loralis.
The day in question was partly cloudy, a bit windy but nothing too much. Morgan wouldn't be surprised if it started raining in another hour or two.
They found Loralis closer to midday. Lucina noticed her first; it took Morgan a few moments to recognize her.
Granted, Morgan had never seen Loralis particularly up close and he never looked at her for a long amount of time, but she seemed…different. For one thing, her eye color seemed to be red. He didn't think that was natural (or, at the very least, he didn't think that it was a good thing). He had noticed, during the Grimleal War, that Loralis barely spoke. However, Loralis was currently muttering under her breath.
Lucina held Morgan back for a few moments. Loralis hadn't noticed them yet, but it wouldn't take too long if they waited.
"She's different," Lucina said quietly. "I can barely tell that she's the same person."
"Maybe something happened in Plegia?" Morgan guessed, also using a hushed tone. "I mean, you saw her more than I did…"
"Which is why I offered to find her," Lucina replied. "But now we know where she is and we can safely assume she's heading towards Ylisstol. We can warn the surrounding towns like we were told to and go home."
"I wouldn't be quite so sure."
Morgan wasn't sure what concerned him more, the fact that Loralis was much closer to them than she was a few minutes ago, or the fact that her voice seemed to be a stronger voice and a quieter, more emotionless voice speaking in unison.
It wasn't really surprising that Lucina was the first to react. She made sure there was distance between Morgan and Loralis. "Stay behind me," Lucina said.
"O-okay," Morgan replied, a bit rushed. He wasn't even completely sure what was happening, regrettably. Apart of him was still trying to figure out how Loralis got so close to them so fast…
Lucina pulled out Parallel Falchion—the only weapon they had aside from Morgan's own sword (which he decided to bring as opposed to a tome, which probably would have been the smarter choice)—and tried her best to move Loralis to a more open area. Morgan trailed behind her, making sure to stay out of her way, but holding on to his sword just in case.
Loralis was just dodging; she seemed to lack her own weapons, which was bad for her, but good for Lucina and Morgan. Lucina was trying her best to temporarily disable Loralis, and Morgan could tell that she was, at the very least, tiring Loralis a bit.
"Fools…" Loralis hissed. "I was starting to think I would have to find you. I guess that damn tactician of yours is getting rusty."
Lucina nor Morgan replied. Loralis continued, however.
"You see yourselves as special because you defeated a group of cowards disguising themselves as Grimleal. There's little truth to that self image…"
"You're making it very hard not to kill you," Lucina replied half-bitterly.
"That's a good thing, isn't it? Killing me?"
"Not today."
Lucina took advantage of Loralis' brief distraction, and did as she constantly did during the Grimleal War; cut Loralis' legs so she fell down, then held Parallel Falchion slightly above her heart. It was enough to make most people think she genuinely intended to kill them and they accept it.
Loralis, however, just laughed. "Do what you wish. I'd prefer if this goes by rather quickly, myself."
Lucina turned towards Morgan, but didn't directly look at him. "Let's go before this gets worse. We can tell everyone to stay safe on our way back to the castle."
Morgan nodded, coming a bit closer. He didn't think he was too close…but he was apparently close enough that Loralis was able to lunge towards him. Her chest met Parallel Falchion's blade as she tried to grab him. Lucina tried to pull Parallel Falchion back at the same time Morgan was trying to back away, and Loralis took the momentary chaos as an opportunity to take out a crudely fashioned knife.
Before Lucina or Morgan could quickly react to it, Loralis practically dragged Morgan towards the ground, and his vision went black.
"Finally…a place where I can stay… I do not intend to thank you, but I will say that you have done me a great deed."
(A/N: I feel obligated to say this because there is going to be a character death in this story: Morgan isn't dead! Just in case you had any doubts or anything. I'm not entirely heartless. Emphasis on 'entirely' XP
Nonetheless, this is the end of the first part! I hope you enjoyed it so far and that you will continue reading as the story progresses. The next chapter will start the next part.)
