When I take center stage, I usually start at the beginning and work from there. I've found that it can get a little boring, though, so I'll skip right to the good part.

I was halfway through my sparring session with Olivia when, quite unexpectedly, Severa came careening out and tried to whack me on the head.

Maybe I should start from the beginning, huh...

[][][][][][][][]

The Shepherds were leaving.

Inevitable, I know, but it still sat like a hot rock in my stomach. Watching Tiki tidy up her living space- she'd declined my help- added the finality I didn't want... but probably needed.

"So this is it, huh?" I sighed, leaning against the wall, "The end. Well, not the end, you'll be fine, but," I waved vaguely towards Plegia, or what I assumed to be Plegia. Maybe I was waving more towards Ylisse, but I think the point is made. "It'll be a while."

Tiki snorted, setting another folded tunic onto the pile. She'd gotten them from Cordelia, either as tunics or raw fabric, but it felt a bit awkward to ask her which. As Tiki moved to more... unmentionable items... I flushed and looked away. "Humans," Tiki chuckled, "I will not be gone for long, Andrew. I trust you won't find it too hard to keep out of trouble, hm? And we will meet 'on the other side', as they say."

I winced. "That has some implications I don't like," I admitted, looking back towards Tiki. Her hair caught the early morning light, glowing like emerald flame- much like her mother's, now that I thought about it. "I prefer not dying."

Flipping the suitcase closed (they had suitcases here, did I mention that?), Tiki smiled and shook her head. "You know what I mean, Andrew. And it will give you plenty of time," she continued, crossing her arms, "To form an adequate apology. Naga is in your dreams, and you only bothered to mention it last night?"

Oh right. That. I don't know what it was I said (I say a lot of things), but it was enough for Tiki to work out that I had a nighttime visitor.

That sounds wrong.

Point is, we had a long and rather awkward conversation about honesty, and I now owed Tiki several days worth of meals. It could be worse.

"I wouldn't call them dreams," I defended, shrugging. Seeing Tiki's frown, I continued, "She was very vague on the subject! You know how she is. Probably."

"Unfortunately," Tiki drawled, dragging a fanged tooth along her lip. She broke into a gleaming smile, running a hand along the back of her neck. "But I find such matters dull, Andrew. I fully expect to dine with you after the war, hm? Be careful, and try not to let Anna give you too many unsavory ideas."

Have I ever mentioned Tiki is pretty?

I blinked. "Huh? Oh, yeah, of course," I nodded, frowning, "But why are you saying goodbye now? The Shepherds leave at noon."

Tiki raised an eyebrow. "There is a very good chance I will be asleep, Andrew..." She paused, arching her back and stretching. "Ahh. I'm starting to feel my age again. I will need to petition Naga for a touch more power after this war, that much is certain."

Casting my memory back to the faraway land of last week, I stroked my beard contemplatively. "You have been sleeping more often," I agreed, "I'll come along for that trip, if I can. In the g- stories, you did it over in Valm. Maybe Mount Prism, then?"

Dropping into a chair, Tiki hummed in agreement. "In times gone by, I would have gone to Thabes Tower," she began, glancing out the arrow-slit window, "But it is my understanding that the entire structure has sunk into the ground. Yes, I will have to go to Mount Prism," she finished reluctantly.

"How does a tower just sink into the ground?" I said, frowning and stroking my beard more for that coolness factor. Throwing my memory into the depths of 'before Fire Emblem', I did my best to dig out something useful. "Do you know what they call it now? I'm at a loss."

Tiki shrugged languidly. "Ruins of something. To be frank, keeping track makes me feel unpleasantly old, and I would rather avoid that."

I looked at Tiki with a critical eye, doing my best to ignore the downward march of sunlight on her wall. "You've aged fantastically even by normal standards," I said, "You look like you're, what, twenty-five, twenty-four?"

She laughed musically, closing her eyes and leaning back for a moment. "I did not take you for a flirt, Andrew. Not an intentional one, at the very least. If more humans flirted correctly... hm, I'm afraid I don't know what I would do."

I couldn't see myself in the mirror- it would've been too obvious a move- but I must've been cherry red. Was it hot in here? No, that was just my face. In a non-flirtatious way. Yeah. Clearing my throat, I chuckled awkwardly. "Sorry, Tiki. But, huh. Can one flirt incorrectly? Always struck me as more of a spectrum of innuendo and so on."

Tiki's only response was to give me a half-lidded glare before waving her hand. "Sometimes, Andrew..." she sighed, "Ah, this is what I enjoy most about being awake: being amongst humans and the livelier members of my own kind. Perhaps too lively, at times, but it is good to have friends again."

"And I'm glad to be your friend too, Tiki," I replied honestly. I didn't even need to think about it. "I'd probably be dead in a- yeah, I'm going to stop that line of thought."

"Yes, you should," Tiki agreed, humming. "Didn't you have an appointment with Miriel, Andrew? I distinctly recall you arranging that last night-"

The sinking feeling in my stomach arrived only heartbeats before my memory did. "Crud," I hissed, "I did. For about now o'clock. And I had to meet Anna right after, too. I have to- um, right."

Pausing, I looked back towards Tiki. "If I don't see you again before you leave? Goodbye, Tiki. See you on the other side- the living other side." I added emphatically, grinning.

Chuckling again, Tiki rose from her chair. The room wasn't large, so it took her maybe two steps to walk over to me. "Must you be so tall?" Tiki complained, "Bend down. I would like to give you a hug."

Warm, fuzzy feelings all over. I did as she asked, and I received what was probably the most holy hug in my life- not that I had a high bar, I didn't really know any priests that well.

It was a hug from a friend. That's all that really mattered.

[][][][][][][][]

Despite what I'd thought at first, the fort wasn't very big. It just so happened that it was part of a very long wall, which gave it the illusion of big...ness. Size? Volume? Something like that. And given I wasn't a Shepherd- it still twisted my insides a little- I had plenty of time to wander around. In time, the only rooms I hadn't explored were bedrooms for dignitaries (now occupied by higher-ranking members of the armies) and the women's barracks, both for obvious reasons.

I'd also come to the conclusion that it was really hard to get lost around here. Even Anna had found her way the meeting place, and she'd spent less than a day here!

So, it wasn't likely that Miriel was lost. She knew where the healers worked, and there weren't many options for "the side room in the healers' area".

Either Miriel was late, or I'd guessed the time wrong and I was early.

There was an easy way to solve this. I turned to Anna, who had tilted her chair back, propped her boots on the table, and started reading. "Am I-"

"Yup," Anna nodded, popping the p, "Early for Miriel, early for me."

"Huh." Maybe I should have just asked her first? "Why are you here then?"

"Because your quartermaster kept giving me a look, and being arrested doesn't fit in my schedule," she replied casually. Licking two fingers, she flipped the page in the book and kept reading. Her hair was tied back in the usual ponytail, but- huh. It looked shinier than normal, for some reason.

I took a seat sort-of next to her. "I'm sure Cordelia wouldn't have done anything," I said, catching Anna's dubious expression, "No, this isn't me being trusting. I specifically asked her not to do anything, and she's nice, so she won't. Can't much help the glaring, though."

Anna huffed, angling the book slightly away from me. "You're going out of your way to help me... why? I haven't done anything nice yet."

I raised an eyebrow, and didn't bother to restrain a smile. She was taking this seriously... in her own way. "Yet?" I probed, "Maybe I just want to be nice, Anna. You said you wanted..." I coughed into my fist. "Yeah."

Anna gave me a long, searching look, her own expression unreadable. "Yet," she whispered, averting her eyes.

We lapsed into silence, teetering somewhere between tense and awkward. Yesterday's heart-to-heart hung over us like a grey cloud, shapeless so long as we avoided looking at it.

[][][][][][][][]

Thankfully, Miriel arrived to break the silence. At least, thankfully in my books. Anna had to lean forward and put her (actual) book on the table, which she didn't look very happy about.

She strode into the room stiffly, shuffling a sheaf of papers that put government paperwork to shame. Without looking up, she located the open chair and sat down, laying the stack of papers on the table.

And then there was another drawn-out moment of nothing while Miriel mumbled under her breath.

Miriel glanced up, adjusting her glasses and blinking owlishly. "Ah," she said finally, hat bobbing up and down, "Most unexpected. I was confident in my reading of the Sun's position. Am I late, or-"

"We're early," Anna and I said, not quite in sync.

"You're on time," I added, hiding a smile.

"Actually, you're a bit early too," Anna continued with a huff, eyeing her book.

Glancing between us, Miriel nodded. "I see. Andrew, per your request I have compiled an abridged version of my notes on magical education," she said, pausing only to take a breath, "Miss Anna, I do not recall arranging for your presence. It is, nonetheless, a serendipitous occurrence, as you will no doubt be the one assisting Andrew in his endeavors."

Anna put a finger to her chin, humming. "I don't remember agreeing to that," she said curtly, exhaling through her nose, "But I'll consider it." She glanced at me, raising an eyebrow.

I nodded back, answering the unspoken question- yes, Miriel's always like this. Accepting the sheaf of papers from Miriel, I flipped them around and started reading.

Ah.

"This is, um," I started, setting aside the page titled 'Abridged Theory of Magic', "I don't understand any of this."

Quite surprisingly, Miriel blushed, pursing her lips and looking away. "My deepest apologies, Andrew. I have been seeking... working on that."

Now I just felt bad. Waving my hand, I smiled at her. "And you're heading out later today, I know. Don't worry about it- I can ask Anna if I'm confused," I started, pointedly ignoring Anna's expression, "I really appreciate you doing this for me, especially on such short notice! It's at least a step towards Ice Magic-"

The gleam in Miriel's eyes made me feel a bit nervous. "Ice Magic," she breathed, leaning forward, "A lost art. Are you implying the existence of a lead?"

"Y-" I clamped my jaw shut. Even if Miriel was well-meaning, it would be rude to out Tiki like that. I'd need to ask her first, and letting Miriel harass her felt... well, it felt rude. And the other 'lead', Naga? Something deep in my soul told me there would be a price for such knowledge.

That sent a shiver down my spine.

Anna elbowed me in the ribs, yanking me back to reality. Rubbing the back of my head, I sighed. "Yeah, I have a few. But I'd need to ask them first, so, yeah. We can talk about it after the war, I promise."

Miriel didn't pout, but it was a near thing.

[][][][][][][][]

Right, getting kicked in the head by Severa. We're getting there, I promise.

Did I mention it was a kick? Because it was a pretty nasty roundhouse kick.

(There was a lot of screaming, too, but it was all Severa.)

[][][][][][][][]

The rest of the meeting was pretty dull- dull enough that Anna decided to leave and wait for me outside. Miriel did her best to explain some of the terms, but it wasn't long before she had to leave as well.

So that left me standing around with a confusing stack of papers on casting complicated magic, awkwardly watching Anna finish another chapter.

"You didn't have to agree to that, you know," I said, working my jaw.

Anna jumped a good foot in the air, snapping her book closed and glaring at me halfheartedly. "Don't do that. You're not- you're not even trying to sneak up on me, and yet..." she leaned forward flicking me on the nose hard enough to make me blink. Her glare morphed into a lopsided smirk. "Maybe I should just pay more attention, huh?"

Shifting my papers over to a one-handed grip, I rubbed my nose. The familiarity tingled in my heart, easing the knots in my chest. "Probably," I grinned, "So, what's our plan for the day?"

The previous night, if you hadn't guessed already, involved a lot of plan-making on my part. I'm not great at that sort of thing, but that was why Anna was here! If I wanted to be remotely useful in time for the Valmese War- If I wanted to stand and fight rather than run away- I needed to get started now.

Also, I needed to get into proper shape first.

Anna's smirk turned predatory. "Our plan, huh?" she hummed, putting a finger to her chin and glancing towards the ceiling, "Well, my plan is to watch you move crates all day. Your plan is to-"

Oh, Anna. "Move crates all day?" I guessed, nodding as Anna turned around. She was shorter, yeah, but I still had to hurry to catch up once she started moving. "That'll help me get in shape, for sure. But, um, why and where?"

Putting up a hand, Anna curled her fingers into a fist and stuck out her thumb, jerking it at something around the corner. If my memory was right (and it was, I'd been there maybe ten minutes ago), that was the landing for the second floor. "Your tactician is busy and the bigwigs are all preparing to move out, so it looks like you've got a Plegian General handling logistics. Does weird stuff just happen around you all the time?"

"Another topic for Miriel to study after the war," I shot back, digesting Anna's words, "Wait, Mufa- Musafta? Mufasta? Bleh." Rounding the corner, I blinked, narrowing my eyes to try and see through the streams of soldiers and stuff moving in orbit of the General."So he is."

Chuckling, Anna turned her thumb-point into a finger-point and zeroed in on the General. "Yup. General Mustafa, by the way," she added slyly, glancing over her shoulder, "Not much of a tongue twister, if you ask me. Why the weird look?"

I'd met him before, if only briefly, when he let us through rather than fighting us like in the game. He was... an enigma, to put it lightly. Drych's interference must have been the deciding factor, but for him to march this far and fight his countrymen? Maybe I was changing things for the better.

"It's the bone pauldrons," I said, making outward gestures after tapping my shoulders, "And..." I hesitated. It'd be so easy to say nothing. "Some future stuff. I'll tell you later, if you want."

Future stuff, Anna mouthed, looking vaguely in my direction. She took a deep breath and let out a pained sigh, shaking her head. "Ugh. I've got some stuff too. But not now, okay? Let's get you moving some crates first."

I shrugged, rubbing my arms. "I still don't get why we- I am moving crates," I said, "But- let me guess- I can ask him about that?"

"You can," Anna agreed readily, stepping to the side and nudging me forward, "Absolutely."

I appreciated Anna's nudge, but when a soldier rushed past I had to take a step back. That, in turn, made my arm collide with Anna (Her shoulder, I think?). "Oops, sorry," I whispered, "Didn't mean to."

She leaned forward, rolling her eyes. Jerking her chin at Mustafa, she said, "Just go, alright? I want to get a move-on, here."

And now she was impatient, figures. Handing Anna my notes (which she accepted, immediately leafing through them), I zeroed in on Mustafa and started to weave through the traffic. Slipping through the crowd with what grace I could manage, I collided with maybe three or four soldiers before Mustafa spotted me.

Mustafa is tall. Really, really tall, and wide as well. A huge, shirtless man with tan skin, bulging muscles that put Vaike to shame, and a fiery gleam in his eyes that made his presence warm rather than imposing. As he approached, I was able to see a whitish, vertical scar over his left eye- was that in his game portrait? Probably.

"Andrew!" he called, his deep voice carrying roughly across the bustle. "Right on time. Early, even. I would like nothing more than to stay and chat, but there is work to be done. Given your injuries, are you prepared to do some heavy lifting?"

The scar on my side throbbed sympathetically, and I barely resisted the urge to put a hand to it. Squaring my shoulders and standing tall, I nodded. "Yeah. I'm not very good at it, but I'll try- um, Anna said something about moving crates?"

Mustafa furrowed his brow, putting one hand on a hip and rubbing his (quite shiny) bald head with the other. "Yes. I haven't caught her name, but your quartermaster is hoping to keep the marches quick. Lots of crates left behind by the consolidation, and I don't want to rush my men by getting all the cleaning done in so short a time. That leaves it to you and the vanguard."

I hadn't really expected him to be so to-the-point, and so thorough to boot. Then again, I chuckled, he's a general. That's all about getting things done, or something. I opened my mouth to ask a question, then shut it when I realized I had none at all. "Oh. Alright, makes sense," I nodded, "Our quartermaster's name is Cordelia, by the way, if we're talking about the same person. About this tall, red hair past the hips?" I confirmed, putting a hand out at Cordelia's rough height.

"Yes, that would be her," Mustafa stroked his beard, lips curling into a frown. "Are they all so busy? I expected nothing less of such impressive warriors, but they must be wearing themselves to the bone... pardon this old man's musings, Andrew. Anna already knows the way, and I must return to my work."

I blinked. "Oh, yeah. Well, it was nice to meet you, General Mustafa." Yes. Nailed it!

Patting me on the shoulder, Mustafa lumbered away. "I would get started now, if I were you. It will take days, at the least!"

"Eh, it won't be that bad," I murmured, glancing towards Anna. "Will it?"

[][][][][][][][]

It was that bad.

No, I'm lying. It was far, far worse.

"Anna, I'm dying," I told her, leaning against the wall as I dragged myself up the stairs. Putting a hand to my forehead, I bemoaned my fate. "Go on without me. Paint me a painting of their departure."

Anna looked back at me, eyes lidded and a scoff on her lips. "You'll be fine, Andrew. Don't be so dramatic about it."

Maybe I was being a bit dramatic. But only a bit! Those crates, bags, and other assorted storage containers? They were everywhere. And they were heavy.

It was taking all I had to lurch up the stairs on legs made of jelly, with arms... also made of jelly, I guess. Maybe more like the desert gelatins, but as an engineer I'd confirmed they had zero structural integrity.

"Andrew? You there?"

I shook my head, rattling myself back into reality. "Mostly," I coughed, looking away, "I'll live, probably."

Anna laughed, tossing her hair over one shoulder. "Come on, then. You're the one that wanted to see them go, right?"

The Shepherds were leaving, once and for all. When they returned, the war would be over, and we could focus on the future.

Why did it hurt so much, then?

Deep breaths, Andrew. In, and out. Let it all fall away, and focus on what I could change. Take a step forward. "Yeah," I said, not bothering to keep the exhaustion from my voice, "I did."

That's about when my legs gave out, and it took all I had to keep from sliding down the stairs. I couldn't help but laugh, even as my body ached. "I might need a hand, though."

[][][][][][][][]

In the cavernous and partially organized space, there was naught but the echoing sound of wood rolled against wood.

"You know," I said finally, looking at the two wooden cubes, "Monopoly was first invented to show how horrible capitalism was in the long run. How all the wealth flows to the top, leaving the vast majority impoverished at best and starving at worst. No better than slavery."

Anna crossed her arms. "Uh-huh. Sounds like you're a sore loser, Andrew. Stop stalling."

I'd rolled a seven. Which moved me squarely from Atlantic Avenue to Park Place, and Anna had already placed two houses on it. Worse, I wasn't even sure I'd named that green property correctly.

Luckily for the game- not for me- I was a serial loser at Monopoly, and knew the rent costs quite well. Grumbling as I counted out five hundred 'dollars' (paper with numbers on it), I handed them over to an extremely smug Anna.

Palming the dice off the board, she rolled her own dice.

Anna cursed unprintably, grumbling in a language I didn't recognize. "Ugh. Again? Free Parking, really. What even is parking in this context, Andrew, and why is it free?"

"Sometimes things actually are free, Anna," I replied smoothly, "Maybe someone's just trying to be nice."

I scooped up the wooden dice, watching as Anna moved her little block from St. Charles Place to Free Parking. "As if," Anna bit out, "It's pointless! Why is there a tile on the board that does nothing? Are you sure you're remembering this game right?"

No, not at all. But to show Anna weakness now would mean changing the rules on our first play, and then I'd never get them back. "I'm absolutely certain," I said, "And don't complain, Anna. You're winning."

Double ones, onto Boardwalk- no houses, she hadn't landed on it since she bought it. I handed her fifty more dollars without a word. Rolling again, I landed on income tax, which meant no money for passing go. Lovely game, really.

"What can I say?" Anna hummed, counting her rather thick stack of 'money', "The Anna family has a thing for money. And this Monopoly game? All money."

"A thing for money, you say," I sighed, handing the dice back over, "Rolling both blue properties on the first round isn't a thing, Anna. That's just raw luck."

"Luck is a thing, Andrew, and we have loads of it sometimes," Anna said lazily, rolling double fours, "And that puts me on the Aqueduct, which you own. Add that to Customs, and I owe you... ten times eight, so eighty," she hummed, handing me eighty dollars back, "And I roll again." I couldn't just copy the utilities, given electricity and water works weren't really a thing, so I had to change them up a bit.

Five and six, an eleven- right onto Boardwalk. And, I should add, right over all the green properties, which I owned. "I like this game, Andrew," she continued, leaning back on her makeshift chair. "I'd like to buy two houses."

"I was the one to suggest taking a break, wasn't I..." I ran a hand through my hair, handing Anna two more houses.

The things I do out of boredom.

"I don't blame you. Three days in, and we've done," Anna said, gesturing broadly to the storage room, "Maybe two of these."

"And you were very helpful, Anna," I added drily.

Staring at the dice, Anna frowned.

I waited patiently. It was my turn, but I was in no rush to lose faster. The silence dragged on, but not uncomfortably. My thoughts drifted off, turning Miriel's notes over and over, puzzling them apart. I'd read them every night, but I felt no closer to understanding any of it.

"Tell me about the future that you saw, Andrew."

I jumped in my seat, yanked out of Miriel's tangent on air excitation. My heart sank with it, grasped in the knotted roots of things best left unthought and unsaid. Anna's eyes burned into my own, ruby flames that tugged at something I couldn't describe.

"A-are you sure?" I said quietly, struggling to meet her gaze, "It's not very happy. And, um, so much has changed that-"

"I met one of them. The time travellers, that is," Anna cut in. "Laurent. He didn't seem like a good enough liar to hide his name," her expression shifted, lips curling downward. "They're children, Andrew."

Lucina's sobs echoed in my memory, snuffed out by the hoarse, sandy laugh of Drych. My mood plummeted further, suspended above tarlike anxiety by a frayed thread. Looking away, I bit my lip. This was going to hurt. "I've already told you the basics. The- the Shepherds lost, Anna, and Grima returned. But their kids... well, they survived, and Naga sent them back. Have I said that already? They're not just kids, Anna. They're all the kids of the Shepherds, and-" my breath caught. "I was in that world too, or some version of me. I couldn't stop it."

Anna looked down at the board, hands resting on her knees. "Do you have one, then?" she said quietly, "Is that why you care so much?"

Oh.

Grima had been evasive, but I knew the truth the moment I asked him. "No," I shook my head, "No, I don't. But, Laurent- is he okay? He's in Ferox somewhere, I assume."

Shrugging, Anna fidgeted in place. "He'll be fine. I pointed that merchant girl and Lucina in that direction- Lucina's one of them too, I can tell."

"The brand in her eye is kind of obvious," I agreed, forcing a smile.

"And she acts just like Pr- Exalt Chrom, and I've only spoken to him once!" Anna nodded, her chuckle equally forced. "They didn't like me very much."

Of course they wouldn't. I didn't say that, and I didn't need to.

"But you're trying to be better," I said instead, "We can change our futures, I'm sure of it."

Anna didn't respond. I didn't blame her, really.

Clearing my throat, I called upon my well of discussion topics and furrowed my brow. "It has to be close to dinner, doesn't it?"

She brightened instantly. "Not too close, but if we're planning on making a decent stew, we'd need to get going soon."

Oh, excuse me? Not on my watch. "We had stew yesterday, Anna, for lunch and dinner. The sandwiches we had for lunch today were, well," I paused, meeting her gaze with a wavering smile, "They were acceptable. But we were in a rush, so that's okay."

"The point, Andrew," Anna giggled, "You've gotten lost."

Coughing to hide my blush, I waved her words aside. "It's my turn, Anna, and I'm whipping up a stir fry. After the pepper incident with yesterday's stew, you clearly can't be trusted to handle our meals."

Anna narrowed her eyes, standing up and waving her arms. "The pepper inci- that wasn't my fault, Andrew!" she protested, pointing vaguely towards the kitchen, "The pepper shouldn't be stored that high up, and how was I supposed to know the shelves were that flimsy?"

"You could have just asked me, you know," I smiled back, standing up as well, "But no. I'm cooking tonight. Plus, Stir Fry is better, no doubts about it. Can you sort out the money? We should pack up this board."

Bending down, Anna started shuffling the money into piles like only a merchant could. "Are you dense? It's not better. Can you store and preserve the base ingredient for Stir Fry for months at a time? No, don't answer that, you'll say something clever. Can you check your side for any dropped paper? I think I saw a few fall down while we were setting up the bank."

It didn't take long to spot them. "Yup. Good eye. Look, maybe I want a bit more garlic in my life, Anna. You can't live on stews and soups al-"

Anna bolted upright, grasping me by the collar and pulling me down to her height. "You take that back, Andrew," she hissed, eyes sparkling, "I can't believe you'd say that."

I put my hands up in surrender. "That was a step too far, I'm sorry. But is it wrong to want a little variety, Anna?"

"Maybe," she sulked, letting me go, "The houses and hotels need organizing- by the way, you'll have to tell me more about hotels. Big inns run by a single guild, right? Sounds profitable."

"Very profitable," I said, signing my metaphorical deal with the devil, "Tell you what. Let me cook stir fry tonight, and I'll sweeten the deal."

With the board all packed, we started to walk towards the kitchen. "You have my attention," Anna said smoothly, "But I'm hard to impress."

"Fudge."

"It's a deal," Anna said instantly, breaking eye contact to look down the hall. "Who's that?"

"And here I thought- what?" I followed her gaze, landing on a pink-haired woman in a giant brown coat. She was doing her best to take up as little space as possible, eyes looking everywhere but at us. "Oh, huh. Basilio mentioned she'd come. Would you be Olivia?"

Olivia nodded, her delicate features just barely visible as she hid inside her coat. "Um, h-hello," she said quietly, "Am I interrupting something? Because I can go if you want."

Exchanging glances with Anna, I nodded. "It's fine," I waved off, "We just got finished with, um, cleaning up some stuff. You're passing through on your way to the Shepherds and the Feroxi, right?"

By now, we'd stopped walking- giving Olivia plenty of space, though.

"No, actually," she replied, managing to shrink further into her coat. She mumbled something I didn't quite catch. Was Olivia really this shy?

Anna cleared her throat. "Miss Olivia," she said, putting on her merchant-voice and sticking out her hand, "I'm Anna. Nice to meet you! What brings you here, if I might ask?"

Olivia popped out of her coat a bit, grasping Anna's hand gently and shaking it. "Khan Basilio, he- well he said he wanted me to help train someone for a bit. You're Andrew, right?" she continued, looking at me.

I blinked, thoughts grinding to a bit of a halt.

"Yeah, I'm Andrew- Pardon?"

Olivia looked away, her long pink hair practically glittering in the light. "If you don't want to, that's okay. I don't like fighting much either."

She was sharp, which didn't surprise me. Not sure how she picked that up, but- well. The scar on my side throbbed, and when I thought about it that way, there wasn't much of a choice, was there?

"I don't," I admitted, "But I'd like to learn anyways."

[][][][][][][][]

So that's how I ended up in sparring with Olivia before lunch every day, with Anna providing 'helpful' insight while doing strange gymnastics and/or reading a book. Olivia was a completely different person while teaching- confident, graceful, and entirely capable of kicking my butt in less than a minute. She'd always apologise afterwards, though.

I didn't get assaulted by a time traveller until maybe two weeks later- I'm bad about keeping things brief.

[][][][][][][][]

Author's Note:

This chapter is late again. Sorry about that! I wasn't happy with it when it came time to publish, so I did some more revision. It also might be a bit rough, given I didn't subject the revision to the usual proofing process- so let me know if you spot anything!

As always, let me know what you thought! Drop a review, PM me, or come by the discord:

9XG3U7a

Cheers,

Narwhal Lord