January: The Ruins of Time

Owain stretched. "That ball soothed the wounds of my inner labyrinth."

Caspar blinked. "Uh . . . what?"

Camilla translated, "He was tired from all the fighting and needed the break. In fact, I think we all deserved some rest after traveling so far, rescuing Ferdinand, and reclaiming Gristonne."

Cynthia randomly twirled. "Sothis said we need to go to Ylisse, right? Let's go once everyone's recuperated!"

After a week of relaxation, the army did exactly as Cynthia suggested, with Rhea, Cichol, Cethleann staying behind to protect the students and staff at the monastery. When they made it to Ylisse, they were impressed by the positive energy circulating in Ylisstol.

Gerome surmised, "Is there a festival?"

As they entered the town, they were besieged by shopkeepers screaming, "Get your collectible Ylissean gear! Exalt Lucina figurines! Traditional dresses!"

Owain went up to a rather energized shopkeeper. "Excuse me, but can you tell me what's going on?"

Subaki gasped, "He can speak normally!"

The shopkeeper replied, "The King and Queen of Plegia are visiting to discuss recent events. Everyone's trying to sell their baubles to the royal entourage."

Cynthia squealed and rushed over to the castle. When the group caught up to Cynthia, Chrom warmly hugged his daughter. "Cynthia! I've missed you, my Pega-Pony Princess."

A charming man with light-colored hair and a very unique robe greeted them. "Ah! If it isn't the heroes from the other worlds! Although, there are quite a few new faces. My name is Robin. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Lucina smiled. "Welcome back. For those of you just joining the adventure, this is my Uncle Robin, the King of Plegia," she pointed to a beautiful woman in a resplendent green dress and dazzling crown, "and this is my Aunt Emmeryn, the Queen of Plegia."

Emmeryn held out her hand. "It is . . . a pleasure to . . . meet you."

Lucina elaborated, "Aunt Emmeryn fell from a great height some years back, and suffered from severe brain damage. She can speak in complete sentences, but it takes a bit."

A girl Lucina's age waved. "Hey! I'm Morgan, their daughter, and the Princess of Plegia."

Sophie hugged Robin and Emmeryn. "Thanks for your advice! I feel so much better now!"

Emmeryn smiled at the young girl. "I am so glad."

Linhardt yawned. "Nice to meet you. Where are the guestroom beds? I need a nap after all that interworld travel."

Gustave observed, "You went through a single portal. It took us a total of five seconds to get from Garreg Mach to Ylisse. And after the five seconds, about ten minutes to get to Ylisstol and the castle."

Linhardt nodded solemnly. "Oh, I know. We deserve a nap."

Nowi gasped. "Hey! I have a great idea for driving sleepiness away!" She transformed into a dragon. "This game always gets the blood pumpin'!" She exhaled fire that singed a nearby tree. Linhardt shrieked and ran inside as Nowi chased him around the castle grounds.

Emmeryn spoke, "We came . . . to talk about . . . helping people."

Robin supplied, "Thanks for bringing that up, dear. Ever since Ashunera appeared when we all met for the party, there have reported apparitions of a woman matching her description all across Plegia, with the same message she gave us. Many have already converted to this new religion."

Laurent added, "On top of that, we also received reports of suspicious activity in the Ruins of Time, and suspect that our enemies are up to something."

Dimitri gripped his sword handle. "Let's go make them regret crossing us."

Felix raised an eyebrow. "That sounds like a good training area. Let's go right away."

Shigure pointed out, "We should probably get Linhardt and Nowi back."

Sylvain sighed and trekked inside to get the wayward dragon and the fleeing crest scholar.

As the group marched to Regna Ferox, Shiro said, "Tell me more about this country. What's it like?"

Severa rolled her eyes. "Read a book and learn about it yourself! But since you're Caeldori's boyfriend, I guess I can save you some time. Regna Ferox is where my father grew up. It's a country that idolizes strength and combat. It's ruled by either the West Khan or the East Khan. They have a tournament to decide who will rule every few years. But now that the Khans Flavia and Basilio are engaged, the fate of the tournaments is up in the air."

The group trudged onward for a day before approaching the ruins. Once the building was in sight, they hid to spy on whatever was going on. Long shadows wearing black robes and long raven-shaped masks chanted around the perimeter while casting some sort of spell.

Owain warned, "Hark! This magic is fashioned from the bowels of darkness itself-a place where no Dark Mage dare tread!"

Ricken cautioned, "Yeah, be careful, everyone! It's probably going to seal off the ruins from everyone else."

Constance looked up at the sky. "I regret being the one to point this out, but must we stop them at once before they succeed? Why are we waiting here when we must strike?"

Ricken sprinted toward the foul mages. "This is gonna hurt!" He flung powerful Arcfire magic at them. Camilla soared ahead on her wyvern, swooping down to send her axe into the enemy. Inigo leapt into the fray, dueling anyone in his path.

Once the battle was over, Bernadetta looked at the carnage. "Let's get this over with. The sooner we deal with these evil people, the sooner I can go back to my room." Everyone cautiously entered.

Soleil squealed, "Oh, it's made of ice! It's so cute, like an igloo!"

A warlock heard her and whirled around. "Intruders! Seize them!"

Shigure reprimanded, "When we're sneaking, don't talk!"

Soleil defended, "It's not my fault, bro! If the Ruins of Time wanted to be ugly, we wouldn't have a problem."

Nah demanded, "What're you doing here? What's your end game?"

A berserker lunged at Ingrid, but Dedue pushed her out of the way and took the hit for her. Dedue slashed at the berserker and with a swift motion, kicked him in the chest and threw him to the ground.

The warlock snapped, "I don't have to answer to the likes of you!"

Byleth stabbed a mortal savant and leapt out of a trail of lightning bolts. Khalid shot his wife's attacker and smugly smiled as she collapsed to the ground.

Constance outstretched her arms, letting her raw power unleash. Deadly flames licked the air and burned the enemies faces. "It was a mistake thinking you could outwit House Nuvelle!"

Dimitri fended off a trickster's attack, and cut him down with his lance while Gustave protected Annette and Ophelia. Dorothea blasted ice at any hostile person she saw, and after about ten minutes, they all successfully defeated the enemy.

Azura said, "We should have a look around to see if there are any clues about their plans."

Ricken announced, "From these burn marks, it's safe to say that they were desecrating the ruins. This place was important to Naga, right? They were definitely defiling it to make it a safe place for their evil plots."

Silas scowled. "What really frustrates me is that we don't know. So they worship Belerager and oppose Sothis, Ashunera, and Yudu, and want to cause harm, but that's all we know. We don't have enough to go on here."

Cynthia proposed, "I have an idea."