"That...was torture…"

Morgan slumped forward, sprawling her upper body onto the table that she sat at. She was also very tired.

The person sitting across from her snickered. "Should I even ask what happened, Morgs?"

"Go ahead. Not like I care…"

"What happened?"

"The Manway Method happened."

"Ooooh, the Neithardt special. Yikes."

After the Wind Orchestra concert ended, Rean asked the girls of Class VII to go to the swimming pool as per Instructor Sara's orders. That alone was enough to arouse some suspicion from the female Sevens, and those feelings didn't get any better when they found a very determined Instructor Sara waiting for them at the pool. Today's agenda? An intense training session that first involved a round-robin style race between the students, followed by swimming five thousand arge with only a thirty second break between each lap. This grueling regimen, titled "the Manway Method", was devised by Instructor Neithardt in an attempt to improve the swim times of the male students, and Rean, who had endured it the previous month along with the rest of the guys, was asked by Sara to show the girls how it was done. Well, more like demanded; the purple-haired instructor had caught the major talking about the method when inspecting the students' swim times, and being the competitive woman that she was, she wasted no time in setting plans into motion to beat Neithardt at his own game.

Laura and Fie, due to being athletic by nature, had no trouble keeping up with the pace set by Rean. Millium with her endless reserves of energy also fared well initially, but halfway through her pace started to slow not out of fatigue, but out of boredom. Alisa and Emma were the opposite in that regard, opting to maintain a steady pace that gradually quickened over time, and though they were very winded at the end of it all, they persevered to the end.

And as for Morgan? Well, the good news was that she didn't drown, a testament to how much she had improved since the first time she dove into the pool. However, by the time she finished only her third lap, she was spending less time swimming and more time flailing around trying to stay afloat. Long-distance swimming was the furthest goal from her mind when she first started learning how to swim, and now that she was in the thick of things, it became apparent that she was severely unprepared. It was a miracle that she even survived to the end.

"Instructor Neithardt, I respect you as a person, but everything about that is so stupid!" Morgan whimpered.

Crow helped himself to a fit of laughter. "Well, can't say I blame you! There's a reason Major Hart-ass calls it the Manway Method and not the...Womanway...Way or something. Did your time get better at least?"

"I don't think I even want to know…" Morgan looked up from the table. "So? What about you, Trickster? Did you finish moving everything from your old dorm?"

Crow put his hands behind his head. "Sure did! I got together some of my old buds and we all moved everything out. It's as clean as a whistle now."

"I'm surprised you have other friends outside of Towa, George, and Angelica. I normally don't see you hanging out with anyone else."

"Well, I've been here for two years now, right? That sorta comes with the territory. And from what I hear, you're not doin' too bad yourself in the friend department!" He pointed his thumb at himself. "Keep it up, and one day you might be as famous as ol' Crow here."

"Famous?" Morgan arched an eyebrow. "Don't you mean INfamous?"

"Oi."

Morgan smiled for the first time that entire conversation. "Heh. Still got it…"

"Here's your pizza, Morgan!" The waitress interrupted their conversation by placing a freshly baked pizza with extra meat in front of Morgan. The smell of the dish woke Morgan up and made her lethargy vanish in an instant.

"Yay! Pizza time! Thanks, Dolly!" Morgan didn't waste another moment and started digging in. "Mmm! So happy~"

"Hey. Calories."

"Hey. No one cares." Morgan responded to her upperclassman's smirk by sticking out her tongue.

"How is it that you can eat so much and still look the same?" Crow wondered out loud. "Seriously, you're one hungry carnivore."

"Ignis."

Crow blinked. "Huh?

Morgan swallowed her bite of pizza. "My skill, Ignis."

"The one where you become a human torch?"

"Yeah. It takes a lot of energy to use it; that's why I need to take in lots of sustenance to compensate. And if I eat too much, then I just use Ignis again! And thus, the cycle repeats itself!"

"Guess that's one way to burn calories..." Crow wasn't sure if he was supposed to feel exasperated or impressed. Eventually, he settled with the latter. "You can be a real genius sometimes, you know that?"

Morgan arched an eyebrow in an accusing manner. "And just what do you mean by 'sometimes', Trickster?"

"I dunno. You're pretty damn smart, I'll give you that, but you've also got a thing for acting, what's the word… Ditzy?"

"Ditzy… As in personality? Or just lacking in knowledge of social constructs?"

"Uhhh…"

"Cause in case you didn't get the memo…" Morgan pointed a finger at herself. "Fish out of water here."

Crow looked like he was about to say something else, but after thinking about it some more, he abstained. He reached out and grabbed a piece of Morgan's pizza. "You know what? Fair point."

"Give that back."

The silver-haired teen dangled it just out of her reach, a smirk on his face. "No way. You got your own."

Morgan pouted. "Well, I want yours too."

"So by 'yours', it technically belongs to me now? Huh! Thanks for clearing that up!"

"Oh, you…!"

Morgan tried reaching across the table, but her advance was halted by Crow placing his left hand on her forehead. No matter how she struggled, she was powerless to stop her upperclassman from smoothly and smugly sliding her pizza into his mouth. Unbeknownst to the two of them, the scene aroused quite a few chuckles from customers in the surrounding vicinity.

The two of them continued to bicker between themselves like that until all of the pizza was finished. During that time, Crow had taken another piece, because he could.

"Hey, switching the topic back to your friends for a sec…" Morgan said while licking the sauce from her fingers. "Didn't you say that you were going to meet up with some acquaintances last month? How did that go?"

"Oh, that? I'm surprised you remembered that." Crow rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, it went fine."

"Only fine?"

"Well, it would've been better if a certain group of terrorists didn't pop outta the blue like that!"

The mention of the terrorist attack caused a few heads to turn to their table.

"Yeah, that's understandable…" Morgan conceded. "The festival didn't feel the same after everything that went down on the first day."

"Tell me about it. Well, we still managed to get a lot of things done, so it wasn't a total loss. That just means we'll need to plan better next time."

"Why, Trickster! If I didn't know better, I'd say you were all gathering for business instead of pleasure!"

Morgan had deliberately said that in jest, so she was surprised to see a brief look of panic on Crow's face. Then, just as quickly, the panicked look was replaced by an uneasy smirk. "W-Well, yeah! Depends on what you think is business! And in our circle…" He lowered his voice. "The most serious business is the one that involves placing your bets."

Morgan rolled her eyes and groaned. "Why am I NOT surprised…" And just when she felt like she had found a chink in his armor, too…

Her ARCUS began to ring at that moment. She answered the call and was met with Rean's voice.

"Guess it's that time?" Crow asked once Morgan hung up.

"It's that time," she confirmed. "Get your guns ready. We meet at the old schoolhouse in half an hour."

"Crow! Now's your chance!"

"You got it, Rean!"

Crow twirled his guns in his hands before firing several bullets. The investigation team of Rean, Morgan, Crow, Millium, Machias, and Emma had reached the end of the fifth level of the old schoolhouse, and as was the tradition, they were currently engaging with a powerful monster. This time, the creature was a gargantuan quadruped with large wings and a horned head. Its entire body seemed to be covered in ice, giving it a sort of otherworldly feel that literally chilled the air.

The creature shrugged off Crow's bullets and raised its head into the air.

"It's preparing a breath attack!" Emma shouted. "Everyone! Get behind the pillars!"

"Lammy! Help us out with a barrier!"

Airgetlam beeped and held out its appendages, creating a sizable silver barrier that covered the students as they ducked for cover. The monster started breathing ice at Airgetlam, but none of it got past the floating puppet.

"It's able to withstand that?" Rean asked.

"Lammy's got all sorts of cool functions! He can make shields, shoot laser beams, and even turn into a giant hammer!"

"Yeah, but we can't stay on the defensive for long!" Machias briefly turned around the other side of the pillar to fire a shotgun round at the monster. "Didn't go through. We need something with more firepower…"

"Firepower… Something powerful and fiery…"

All the students looked towards Morgan.

"Whoa, whoa! I told you guys before! Ignis doesn't actually create fire! It's just how it looks!"

"That may be true…" said Emma. "That being said, do you know any fire spells?"

"Yeah, I know some…" Morgan looked at the monster. "But I'm not sure it'll be enough to put a dent in that thing."

"Which means we'll need to whittle it down gradually from the outside…"

"Or we could do it from the inside!"

The students looked in surprise at Millium, who looked as if a light bulb had gone off in her head. The blue-haired girl then produced an object from her skirt that was precariously wrapped in plastic sealing wrap. "Da-da-da-DAAA!" she cheered.

Emma squinted her eyes. "Wait, isn't that…?"

"My hamburger?!" Morgan gasped in realization. "You saved my hamburger from yesterday?"

Crow looked like he was trying (and failing) to keep himself from snorting. "THAT'S a hamburger steak?"

"Looks more like a dangerous meatball, if you ask me," Machias agreed.

"I was hoping I could feed some to Jusis," Millium explained, "but he caught me slipping some into his food, so it's been sitting in my room for the entire day yesterday. I brought it with me in case I was hungry."

"So what does a hamburger steak have to do with anything?" Rean questioned.

A realization dawned in Morgan's mind, causing her eyes to widen. "Wait, you're not serious-?!"

The monster stopped spewing its breath. Airgetlam deactivated its barrier and spun around to forcibly remove the icicles from its body.

"Welp! No time like the present! Wish me luck, guys!"

"Wait, Millium-!"

Millium happily hopped onto Airgetlam with food in tow. Together, they flew through the air as one unit until they were within striking distance of the monster.

"Hey! Snowcone!" the blue-haired girl shouted. "Open wide!"

The monster looked up and made the mistake of opening its mouth, hoping to catch Millium and Airgetlam with its breath. However, that was exactly what Millium was looking for. She wound up her arm and threw Morgan's hamburger steak into the monster's mouth with pinpoint accuracy before quickly retreating. The monster gobbled up the meat before it could spew anything out.

At first, nothing seemed to happen. But then, the monster started convulsing uncontrollably. It stomped its hind legs forcefully and flapped its wings in rapid succession. Finally, it opened its mouth towards the ceiling, but instead of an icy breath, it was a loud belch that produced fire.

Millium landed on the ground and raised a fist in triumph. "Aw, yeah! I knew that'd work!"

Airgetlam mimicked her gesture, raising its right appendage.

The rest of the team stood there, baffled by the sight that was unfolding in front of them.

"I suppose that's one way of hitting an elemental weakness…" Emma muttered in acknowledgement.

"You know, I can sort of sympathize with it a little," Machias said, remembering the one time he had a taste of Morgan's breakfast meal. "But only a little."

"Whoo!" Crow whistled loudly. "Glad I wasn't the one who ate that. The hell did you put in that thing, Morgs?"

Morgan, meanwhile, was overcome with mixed feelings. "I don't believe it… My hamburger steak...used as a weapon…"

"Save the grieving for later!" Rean shouted. "Morgan! Start casting fire arts! Everyone else! Attack at will!"

"Right!"

Needless to say, it didn't take long for the once-formidable icy beast to meet its fiery doom at the hands of the investigation team.

That night, there was a sudden downpour. Fortunately, Class VII was prepared, having all been notified by Sharon earlier that morning that there would be a downpour in the evening. Normally, they would have been surprised that the maid was able to predict the weather that far in advance, but now? They shrugged it off as just another thing to check off of Sharon's resume of impressive skills, much to Alisa's chagrin.

Sharon also made plans to make tonight's dinner extra fancy as her way of formally welcoming Crow and Millium into Class VII. Morgan offered to help with dinner preparations, as was usual between the two of them, but following the expedition into the old schoolhouse, several of the students were hesitant to eat anything that was prepared by her hands. So, she was instead placed on grocery shopping duty. While the rain was still pouring, Morgan left the dormitory with a shopping list and some mira in tow to the general store. Becky was working her shift, and for once, Hugo was nowhere in sight. Now in a much better mood than she usually was despite the rain, she and Morgan engaged in some delightful conversation about the upcoming trade conference.

A while later, Morgan emerged from the general store with a bag of groceries to a clear night sky.

"Looks like the rain must've stopped while I was inside," she remarked. "It's gotten pretty dark out, too. I guess the days ARE getting shorter again…"

"Well, I'll be! Is that you, Morgan?"

Morgan perked up at the sound of her name. 'I know that voice…!' She turned to her right and locked eyes with a woman wearing a familiar hat and pair of glasses. "It IS! Misty!"

The radio hostess flashed her signature smile. "Long time no see."

"Yeah! Long time no see. How did that side gig go? Good?"

"Oh, did Fred tell you about that? Yeah, it went great! Or at least, about as great as it could get before...you know." Misty began to frown. "The ILF."

Morgan nodded solemnly. "Were you in the capital too?"

"Sure was. But thankfully, I was far away from most of the action. I didn't return to Radio Trista fully until after the Summer Festival ended."

"I see. And I was hoping to ask you if you had any inside scoops you could share…"

"Teehee! Sorry, but we don't know much outside of what we already print in the newspapers. But speaking of inside scoops…" Misty leaned in close to Morgan. The fresh scent of lavender perfume tickled Morgan's nose. "I heard that Class VII had a hand in saving Crown Prince Cedric and Princess Alfin."

Morgan laughed sheepishly. "Uh, gee! Wonder where you heard that one from!"

"Let me guess: your entire class was in Heimdallr for a field study, and that's how you were able to show up in Mater Park and Heimdallr Cathedral at the same time."

"That's right! You're pretty good at guessing. So we're, what, four for four now?"

"Maybe I should just tail you on your next field study and see where that leads me," Misty mumbled out loud. "It'll at least give me something interesting to talk about on Abend Time…"

"Ahaha…" Perhaps the scariest part about Misty's proposition was that Morgan believed the radio hostess could actually do it. However… "Good luck getting that idea past your boss."

Misty groaned. "Ugh, don't remind me… I like Michael, don't get me wrong, but sometimes I feel he has a bit too much fun taunting me while he's watching me record. I'm not allowed to bring drinks into the booth, for one, and it gets really stuffy in there this time of year. Meanwhile, he gets to sit in an air-conditioned space with a drink in his hands."

"Ouch. Sounds rough." Morgan found herself empathizing with Misty's predicament. "He reminds me of a certain trickster that I know who likes messing with my head."

"A trickster?" Misty asked, her curiosity piqued. "That's an interesting name to give your boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend!" Morgan said that louder than she had initially intended to.

"Teehee!" Misty giggled and winked. "Oh, don't worry. This can be our little secret. If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm all ears. I happen to be something of a love guru myself~"

Morgan realized she had just gotten played like a fiddle. Despite only being a radio hostess, Misty was surprisingly clever in grabbing the details that she wanted.

"Say, do you believe in destiny, Morgan?"

"Destiny?" Morgan furrowed her eyebrows. The question had come straight out of left field. "I think I have a...love-hate relationship with destiny."

"Love-hate, you say? Can't say I was expecting that answer…"

"It's complicated. How come you're asking?"

"I was just thinking…" Misty cupped her chin. "Wherever Class VII goes, you guys always seem to end up being in the middle of some incident. Have you noticed that? It's happened four times in a row now, and across the entire empire to boot; at this point, I don't think you can just chalk it up to coincidence. It could be that the terrorists are actually thinking that far ahead, but what if there's some outside force putting everything into motion?"

Morgan began to think. Now that Misty pointed it out, it did seem a bit odd that each of their previous field study locations had also become the setting for suspicious events that occurred not long after they had arrived. Not only that, but the stakes had also been increasing with each trip. They had gone from settling provincial tax disputes back in April to thwarting terrorist operations in the past two months. Time and time again, Class VII had risen to the challenge to resolve matters within the scope of their field study, but when looked at from hindsight, these events were likened more to trials that were increasing in difficulty by the month.

Hm. Trials.

That thought led Morgan to the old schoolhouse. Each month, a new floor was able to be accessed, and each floor featured enemies that were stronger than the floors preceding it. The challenges of the old schoolhouse, and the trials of Class VII's field studies…

'What if… No, there's no way...can it?'

Misty clapped her hands together, snapping Morgan out of her reverie. "Uh, don't think about it too hard! Sorry. That's just the sort of philosophical mood I've been in these days."

"N-No. It's fine…" Morgan replied. "It IS interesting to think about now that you've brought it up."

The bespectacled woman smiled. "Once you've opened your eyes to the unknown, you can't look at things the same way ever again. Even now, it's pretty serendipitous how we keep meeting up every other month." She dreamily closed her eyes. "A chance encounter with an old acquaintance, just after the rain's eased up… Ooooh! That sounded nice! Maybe I should mention this on tonight's show."

Morgan laughed. "Haha! Sure! Do whatever you want. It's your show, after all! And just so you know, you've got my informed consent or whatever."

Misty laughed in response. "Duly noted. On that note, I should probably get over to the studio now. I think you must be getting tired lugging those groceries around. Be sure to tune in to tonight's Abend Time!"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world!"

Right as Morgan turned around, Misty then said something else in a much lower volume. "Oh, and give my regards to those two, would you?"

"Those...two?"

Morgan turned right back around to ask if she had heard correctly, but Misty was already out of earshot.

"Hey, Morgan?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever thought about how coffee is just bean soup?"

"..."

"..."

The question came to Morgan from Millium, and while the two of them were showering no less.

"I mean, it's made by letting beans soak in water, right?"

"Yes and no," Morgan finally answered, having gotten over the initial shock of hearing the question. "The process is fundamentally similar, but there's a lot of differences. For starters, coffee beans are technically seeds."

"So it's seed soup?"

"I wasn't done. Soup is what you get when you want liquid food, but coffee is too simple for that. It's more like a stock or a broth, cause there's only one central ingredient, but even that is pushing it. At the end of it all, it's simply a drink, but it's more like juice than a soup. A really hot juice made from seeds."

"Hmm…"

"Did you get all that?"

"I was just thinking…" Millium paused for a moment. "You know a lot about cooking!"

Yet another response from the younger girl that caught her off-guard. Morgan supposed that was to be expected from an Intelligence Division agent; you never knew what sort of secrets they were hiding inside their heads.

"But if that's the case…" Millium continued. "How come you messed up so bad in class yesterday?"

"It's sort of a curse of mine…" Morgan tried to explain. "Everything I try to create with my own hands ends up getting ruined."

"Ohhh… So it's like an 'everything I touch gets destroyed' sort of thing?"

"Well…"

"Yup! I totally know how that feels! Claire used to call me a gorilla!" Millium followed that up by making loud monkey noises.

"A gorilla, huh?" Morgan let out a half-snort. "I thought you were supposed to be a rabbit."

"That too! Ooh, maybe I can be a...gorillabbit!"

"Your codename is White Rabbit, right?" Morgan remembered. "And if gorillas are black, shouldn't you be a Black Rabbit instead?"

"Huh! Never thought about it that way! I oughtta talk to Gramps to see if I can get a name change!"

"G-Gramps?"

"Yuh-huh! Our leader! Chancellor Osborne!"

"Oh." Morgan was briefly taken aback by the casual way Millium referred to the chancellor. But then again, Millium spoke to everyone very casually. "I guess he's old enough to be someone's grandfather…"

"Eh, he's only fifty-three! He's not that old yet!" Millium started bobbing up and down in her shower stall. "Gramps may look like a grumpy old lion, but he's actually super nice! He pats me on the head like a good girl whenever I get back from a mission, and if I did really well, he gets me a plushie!"

"So that's where all the stuffed animals in your room came from…" Even while she was in the shower, Morgan managed to sweatdrop. Bit by bit, she could feel her image of the chancellor dismantling with each passing second.

"Can't say I interacted much with the emperor, though…" Millium continued. "What about you, Morgan? What's he like?"

"His Majesty?" Morgan thought about that for a moment. "Well, he's every bit as patient and understanding as the press makes him out to be, if not more so. He knows when to be authoritative, but he's also open-minded and reasonable, like when he took me in…"

Morgan stopped. "Wait, why am I telling you this? Shouldn't you have files on him?"

"Course we do!" Millium confirmed, not at all trying to hide it. "We've got all sorts of intel on every important person ever! I was just wondering how things sounded from a firsthand account."

"I'm making sure to watch my mouth whenever I'm around you…"

Morgan stopped for a moment, realizing just how smoothly the statement had flowed from her mouth. It was strange, and not in a good way. Morgan was nothing but open to the rest of her classmates' circumstances, but when it came to Millium, she didn't hesitate to make an exception. Was it because they had aligned themselves with different people? Did she do it unconsciously to keep her secrets from getting out? The thought almost disturbed her, especially since both of their personalities meshed rather well together…

"Hey, Morgan?"

"Yeah?"

"Remember what you said about coffee? Does that mean tea is just leaf juice?"

"..."

"..."

Morgan turned off the shower. "We're done talking about this."

"Kay, kay! I'll go ask Emma later."

"...In some news closer to home, you all have probably noticed the summer showers we're getting in Trista. The rain's let up for now, but it's managed to push that nighttime humidity right off the charts. It's nights like these I wish I could smuggle an ice-cold beer into the studio…"

Morgan snickered to herself. An ice-cold, non-alcoholic beverage courtesy of Sharon was currently in her hand as she listened to Misty's voice over the radio. Misty would probably grill Morgan for betraying her if she saw her now…

"Anyway, for all you students out there, your summer vacation's probably wrapping up, so I hope you made the most of it. Oh, wait! I forgot that summer vacation at the military academy has already come and gone. Whoops! Still, it's never too late to do something bold that'll keep you memories of this summer burning bright."

Morgan thought about the events that had transpired over the past month. Her summer was considerably more action-packed than she would have liked, but like how Crow had described his time with his friends, there were still some salvageable positives. She was able to see Alfin, Cedric, and Olivert again. She reunited with the Vanders and even learned some new techniques to better her performance in combat. She checked in with her old connections in Heimdallr. She worked together with her classmates to save the city she now viewed as her home.

Home. Even though she had grown accustomed to life in Zemuria, there was almost never a moment where a part of her didn't yearn for Ylisse. She relived most of her childhood through her dreams, but there were still some missing parts, like a jigsaw puzzle that was several key pieces away from painting the whole picture. It was Morgan's current hope that confronting her fear of swords would lead her to become more attuned to her previous fighting style, and in turn lead to more of her memories returning.

"Hmm… 'And what about YOU, Miss Misty?' you're probably asking yourselves. Well, these past few days, I've been exploring the great chasm of mental complexity that some typically refer to as 'philosophy.' Yeah, betcha you weren't expecting that from someone like me, right? Well, that's the strange part about life: you never know when something comes out of the blue and strikes your fancy. In the case of philosophy, it makes you think twice about how you perceive the world. It can be something as simple as why you'd want to order tea over coffee to something as profound as the belief in destiny. Like, there's this acquaintance I meet up with at least once every month. I just ran into them on the way to the studio today. Have you ever thought about how, just maybe, that chance encounter was preordained? If either of us were early or late by even a minute, we wouldn't have crossed paths. What if our meeting was the work of some outside force deliberately aligning things so that we would meet just as the rain eased up? How many times could a single outcome occur before it grows beyond a coincidence?"

It was at that moment that Morgan realized that the acquaintance Misty was referring to was her. It was hard for Morgan to believe that they had only seen each other just a couple hours ago; with how fluently Misty told her story, one would think that she had been rehearsing this topic for the entire day!

"And so, as I'm sitting here in the booth, watching the director chilling in the other room and mocking me with a drink in his hands, I have arrived at a conclusion. And that is… Philosophy is definitely not for someone like me!"

That subversion of expectations admittedly caused Morgan to let out a hearty chortle.

"My deepest apologies to all the philosophy majors whose hopes I just dashed, but as interesting as theorizing about the secrets of the world is, there's only so much critical thinking a girl like me can take! But hey, I wanted to try something different over the summer, and I succeeded on that front. Sure, it didn't work out as well as I had hoped, but at least I could walk away from it knowing that I gave my best effort!

"So my advice to all you listeners? If you ever find yourself in a slump, clear your head by trying something new! You never know if the inspiration you need is just right around the corner!"

Morgan smiled fondly. "Inspiration…"

She set her drink on her desk and walked to the center of the room. As Misty began reading through this week's assortment of fan mail, Morgan assumed that old starting position. Her right arm raised, her legs poised for a twirl.

"Now how did those steps go again…"

It was that time of the week again. Morgan held her wooden sword close to her body, waiting for her instructor to make a move.

"You're letting me make a move? Very well!"

Chrom stepped forward and prepared to swing, only to suddenly change his momentum midway through to strike from the opposite direction. A classic feint maneuver that Morgan had come to expect after sparring with Chrom for a while. She held her sword in a lateral position to block the incoming attack. Here is where she would typically take a step back to reassess the situation, but instead she followed through with the momentum and twirled to the side, taking care to extend her focus through her fingertips.

"Oh?"

Morgan ended her twirl in her starting position, poised to strike. "My turn!" She dashed forward while beginning to count. "One, two, three, four!"

A count to four equated to four sword swings, each attack flowing seamlessly into the next courtesy of Morgan's newfound footwork. Failing to anticipate the continuous assault, Chrom guessed wrong on the final hit and was struck on his left arm.

Her efforts had finally paid off.

…

"That was a marvelous combination of sword swings back there," Chrom remarked as he handed Morgan some water.

"Heehee! Thanks! I think I'm finally getting the hang of this thanks to Miss Olivia."

"Olivia?" Chrom thought of the pink-haired dancer and smiled. "Ah, now I understand why I felt like I've seen those moves before. So you've incorporated her twirls into your swordplay, just as she adopted some of my defensive maneuvers into her dance. I have to say, it suits you."

Morgan bashfully looked away. She wasn't used to hearing such praise.

"But you need to be careful," Chrom advised. "I may be a musclehead when it comes to things like dancing, but even I know that the way you use your muscles when you dance is different from when you use a sword. If you're using half your concentration on something other than the fight at hand, then you're only half paying attention to whatever else you're doing." The Exalt laughed softly. "That piece of advice from your father saved my life on more than one occasion."

Morgan also laughed. "Teehee! That does sound like something Father would say. But don't worry, Uncle Chrom! I'll just keep working hard until it becomes second nature!"

"Then there's nothing else I will say." Chrom ruffled Morgan's hair. "Tell me, Morgan: do you understand why I gave you this assignment?"

"It's because Father started it, right? Way back in the day?"

"It's more than that. Objectively speaking, limiting yourself to only one track would limit your growth as a fighter. Even during peacetime, it was important that one's skills never dulled. And if there weren't opportunities to hone your existing skills, then the only other option is to experiment with new ones. I was just beginning my reign as Exalt during that time, and I was worried about living up to Emm's legacy. That was when your father came forward with his suggestion. I could never hope to be someone like my older sister, so instead I needed to change my course so I could be my own leader."

He knelt down to Morgan's level. "Do you want to know what it is that he said?"

Morgan nodded her head eagerly.

"Change only comes about when you're ready to take the first step forward. If you keep holding on to what you know, you won't change."

"If you keep holding on to what you know, you won't change…" Morgan repeated that phrase over and over to herself. "Alright! I won't forget that!"

'Just you wait, world!' Morgan proclaimed in her head. 'This is going to be the start of a brand new Morgan! It'll be like spreading my wings and finding my own path!'

Hm. Wings.

Author's note: And that'll do it for the second part of the free day! Thank you once again for waiting.

A few things to note about this one. The first is the changes that were made to the swimming event, which was only mentioned in passing by Morgan. It's only a small part, but in the original game the girls engaged in pool games instead of the standard training session. I decided to change that since the thought of Morgan attempting to swim the entire regimen was too good to pass up. In fact, most of this chapter served to paint Morgan in a more humorous light. Guess being a budding tactical genius doesn't exempt you from a few laughs at your own expense.
The monster fight in the old schoolhouse mainly served as a reference to how certain "unique" food items in the Cold Steel games can actually be used as attacking items with varying effects. Considering the affliction that Morgan has when it comes to cooking, I figured there was no better person to introduce that mechanic.
Finally, there is the scene with Misty at the end. This is actually somewhat of an important story event as it's where Rean figures out that Misty is actually Vita Clotilde. It's a small detail that doesn't hold much significance until later in the game, though, so I felt comfortable switching Rean out for Morgan to give them a chance to catch up.

Next chapter, we have the return of the practical exam! Until then, stay safe and stay healthy.