It was a nice day out, and patrolling the village for thieves was easy; such a lifestyle was much preferred considering what she had once experienced. Although she barely spoke to anyone, she knew the villagers well—she knew who was supposed to be where and when they were supposed to be there, when the merchants came in and left, and how most people spent their afternoons. Hired by the patriarch of the village, she received free lodging, food, and meager pay thanks to his family. They were the only ones to whom she spoke—although she hid a fair bit of information from them, only divulging her alias and trivial things about herself.

Plenty of things about her now were multi-purpose, both beneficial and harmful. Her mask—which she never removed under any circumstances—was not only to protect her identity, but it occasionally made her feel out of place. Her armor, made with dragon scales and easily moveable, could protect her from any harm, but made her seem ready for an attack. She could go on almost endlessly…but another prime example was her name.

Her name…it almost felt like she didn't have one. Her given name, Lucina, seemed to belong to another girl—especially now that the young princess was already the conversation topic of most people, her being six years old with plenty of talent. Her go-to alias, Marth, made her feel like she was putting herself in a hero's place—and while some may say she deserved it, she didn't think she could be on equal standing to the Hero-King Marth just yet.

Nonetheless, she was finishing up her work for the afternoon. Just a few more minutes and she can take a short break…

"I'm sorry to interrupt your work, sir, but are you a mercenary?"

She looked at him, replying based on the observation that there was nearly no one around. "I am," she said gruffly. She played the part many people thought her to be; it wasn't hard, really.

The messenger gave her a letter. "This has been issued to all mercenaries in Ylisse, from the Ylissean royal family. If you're not interested in the contents, I can pass it on to someone else."

"No; I'll take the letter," she replied. "Thank you, sir." She took the letter, and the messenger left. She had to admit, however…the fact that the Ylissean royal family was issuing a letter to all mercenaries didn't seem like a good occasion. Opening the letter and reading its contents, her fears were proven true and made worse.

An important figure has gone missing as of one week before the distribution of these letters. He is the tactician's apprentice, leaving Ylisstol during the night. His features and personality is youthful, with short black-blue hair. A reward will be paid to anyone—mercenary or otherwise—who can provide some sort of information of his whereabouts. If you find him and he does not wish to return to Ylisstol, simply alert the following people of where you saw him.

It proceeded to list dozens of people—most of which she had once known personally when she served in the army—and stated the publication date of the original letter. It was passed around rather quickly, to make it this far west in a matter of weeks. She was scared for who the letter suggested went missing, and sure enough there was a well-drawn picture of none other than her younger brother.

"Good gods Morgan, what did you do?" she muttered quietly. Her mind, as silent as her voice, whispered, Don't tell me you left me all alone in this world.

She started making preparations to leave as soon as the village's patriarch gave her permission. Being quite honest, she had no idea how to begin searching—it could very well be fruitless, like her searches for her other friends that had similarly disappeared. But there was something different: he hadn't told her beforehand. This gave her hope, and despite her hidden fears she found him within two months of beginning her search.

He was in Plegia, of all places, and at this point she was just relieved to see him. Waiting until he wasn't talking to anyone, she stood behind him and said, "Can I have a moment of your time, sir?"

"Sure. We can stay here or go…" Morgan trailed off as he looked behind him and saw her. Anyone else would have been thrown off by her disguise, but it seemed it was an easy disguise to see through for some—although it was even more impressive given how long it's been since they last met. "…Lucina? I'm not thinking of someone else, right?"

She nodded wordlessly. "Let's head to my house," Morgan decided after a few seconds of silence. "I have a pretty good idea of what you want to talk about and it's not something I'd like everyone to hear."

Morgan led her to a small house not unlike her own. Once they got inside, he sat down and gestured for her to do the same, although she never did. Instead, she took off her mask—just this once—so she could look at him with nothing hiding between them.

"…Gods damn it, Morgan, never do that again," she said softly but firmly. "This is the first time I've seen you in years and it's to yell at you for being tactless."

"I already heard this from my own thoughts, I don't need to hear it from you," Morgan replied defensively. "I know it's a bad idea, but I'm not going to question where you've been in the past four years, so you can return the favor. It's just me and my mistakes right now and, to you, it probably looks like I majorly screwed up."

"A warning would have been nice, at least," she said, trying to be calmer. She didn't want the conversation to turn into an argument, especially considering the circumstances. They both seemed to have randomly disappeared to the other, after all. "I thought you had left like the others, that you were gone forever. I can't get home without Falchion, but it seems that everyone else has already made their way there. I made a promise to protect you, Morgan—even if I've been doing a lacking job of it since I left the castle. I was beginning to fear it would become another broken promise to a family member."

Morgan stayed silent for a few moments. Genuinely, he said, "I'm sorry I scared you, but I had research I wanted to do; on our missing friends and others. Can you forgive me for that?"

"Yes," she said, sighing slightly. "I will. But after this…well, you gave me quite a scare. It's a selfish thing to ask, but will you let me stay with you from now on? Now that you're outside of the castle, I'll rest easier knowing that you're with me."

"All right," Morgan replied, albeit somewhat reluctantly. "We can travel together for now." He offered a smile, and added, "Nice to see you again, Sis."