Temporal King: Thank you for the compliments. I will say that, while I overlooked having Henry be referred to as a prince, I think I came up with an interesting storyline to explain it. Hope that doesn't end up being a failure. I have some clue as to what I want to do in regards to Morgan's love life, I just haven't settled on anything yet. And as for Plegia, the theocratic government that ran it is definitely not in a good place currently, and what they have planned is going to try and fix that.
—-
The two warriors faced off against one another, hands ready to draw their blades. One was wearing a bright outfit, bearing the color associated with his mother. The other wore a dark cloak inherited from her father. The two were waiting for the opportune moment to strike.
Soon, both drew their blades and clashed, a myriad of slashes in a series of five strikes each causing a nearby observer's outfit and hair to blow in the wind. Each duelist''s blows were barely trackable, only being seen after they clashed and caused sparks to fly.
Something was odd about the cloaked fighter though. While the yellow-clad fighter held onto the blade with both hands, the cloaked one used only one hand, resulting in merely deflecting the blows rather than being able to overpower them. The reasoning was soon revealed when a bolt of lightning flew past the yellow fighter's head, as the cloaked individual held a tome in her other hand.
"Finally using your spells, oh fated partner," "I felt as though there was no need until now, but now you have annoyed me. And you have no chance of being bailed out by that other Justice Cabal member." "Heh, her power still stands by me, as the power of friendship is…"
With her new tome, the cloaked figure decided to back off, firing off a few lightning bolts to keep the yellow fighter busy, and also interrupting his friendship speech. The yellow fighter continued to dodge and even block a few of the magical blows, but while blocking one of these strikes, the cloaked fighter bounced, seizing her opportunity, landing a blow on one of the man's… coattails?
The fighter in yellow was confused, but decided to use his other technique, and soon a purple aura flared to life around him. The cloaked figure responded in kind with her own purple aura. The next clash was not between blades, but instead between blade and magic, as the yellow fighter launched into his strike, his sword hit another lightning bolt instead of a blade. A few more spells had continued to come his way, but while dodging one of them, he noticed he had not moved as far as he should have.
This line of thought was soon cut short as he saw pink petals, as if they were from a cherry blossom tree, falling in front of him. There was only one reason for this, and it was soon even clearer when a voice rang out behind him, "Checkmate".
—-
The very overdramatic spar had ended with Morgan holding her hand behind Owain's head with a thunder spell crackling within her hands. "I concede, you have bested me," Owain said.
"Whew, good fight Owain," Morgan said as she dissipated the thunder spell. The onlooker, Ka'me, held the colored rag that signified Morgan won the spar. They decided to have someone officiate the match in order to clear up who won, as well as a spectator for helping to dramatize the fight, as no good dramatic duels lack spectators.
Owain turned around and the two shook hands, before asking, "Wait, what happened with your sword?" as Morgan currently was only holding her tome. She then pointed to his coattails, where it had been pinned to the ground with her sword. "But why?"
"It helped to limit your movement, assuming you didn't notice, which is why I flung spells at you to keep you distracted until I found an opening to close in and get the finishing blow."
Owain mentally noted this, but was curious about something, "While this was a minor example, there is something I tend to notice about how you fight."
"Do you mean the whole merger of the royal Plegian fighting style and the Chon'sinese sword fighting style?"
"No, but I am interested in that now."
"It's not too complicated," Morgan said, looking like she was ready to use a chalkboard, "The Chon'sinese style of fighting has two major schools, one dedicated to dual-wielding and the other to the use of a single blade."
"That is true, and while I always wanted to dual wield, it wasn't really practical in a straightforward fight," Owain said somewhat dejectedly due to not being able to use two legendary blades at once.
"And that's where the royal Plegian style comes in. It emphasizes dual wielding innately, but instead of a second blade, it uses a tome in the non-dominant hand."
Owain pondered this for a moment, and asked, "So you learned this from your father, right, this merger of techniques?"
Morgan thought about her response, had her mind wander for a moment, before getting back on track and responding, "In some sense, yes. He already began merging other styles of fighting into his own, but it was more a series of moves borrowed from others that complimented his fighting style rather than an outright combination of styles. Mother is a master of the Chon'sinese style, and so presumably taught it to me at some point, and so I began to merge the two styles into one."
"Ah, the merger of two familial strategies into one, even more powerful together than separate. Though given this power, why must you fight with dishonorable techniques at times?" Owain asked in a dramatic manner, having regained it after a bit of rest.
"Whatever could you mean by that?" Morgan said.
"While today was a more mild example, there are plenty. For example, that time you threw dirt into Kjelle's face during a duel, or when you interrupted Cynthia's intro before a duel, or most notably, when dueling Lucina in what was supposed to be a sword only bout, during a blade clash, you hit her with an Elthunder to stomach."
"Oh that kind of stuff. Well, tactician's code and all that," Morgan said as though that was the most obvious thing ever.
"What tactician's code?" Owain said, fully knowing many (particularly dramatic) codes, oaths, and pledges off the top of his head.
"Honestly, I believe it was something my father made up after a battle, most likely the naval battle on the way to Valm."
"What would such a hero as Robin, a man who is basically a brother to Chrom, an uncle to Lucina, and is like a father to all of his men, or in your case, actually is, could say that would justify the use of such underhanded strategies?" Owain said dramatically, though a current of curiosity laid underneath.
"There are three rules. One: a tactician must keep casualties as low as possible. Two: one must emphasize victory against the enemy, regardless of strategy, unless it conflicts with the first rule. Three, one must win, no matter what, unless it conflicts with the first two rules."
Owain was shocked by this reveal, mostly in that he could see how it could be used to justify some particularly horrible tactics, "Would that not mean you would be willing to strike down civilians or send assassins after the leaders of an opposing nation?"
"Targeting civilians conflicts with the first rule, as that is more casualties, which we are trying to prevent. We are willing to assassinate enemy leaders if it were to prove effective, and we have used similar ideas in past battles," Morgan said.
Owain responded with, "Since when have the Shepherds, the heroes of light, used such tactics that only a shadow dragon would use?"
"Most notably, the final battles with Walhart and Grima. In the former, Mother and I were sent ahead to finish Excellus and then Walhart while a majority of the enemy forces were occupied, with Maribelle and Ricken being sent forward as well to Rescue us closer. And in the latter, Miriel, Laurent, Ricken, and Maribelle were sent ahead to Rescue Lucina, Inigo, Chrom, and Father close enough to Grima to cut through a guard and take him on directly."
Owain continued to be shocked "Why do all of that, such tactics are incredibly-"
"Dishonor is nothing compared to losing a loved one," Morgan said with surprising solemnity and severity, "Every life lost is a friend, a parent, a child, a lover, or any number of people lost. In fighting, you risk destroying all of that with a swing of the sword. Every strike delivered between two people is another chance that is all gone. Tactics can be fun and games, but when lives are on the line, you must be willing to do what is needed to make sure as many go home as you can."
Owain was somewhat taken aback, and took a moment to collect himself to say, "I guess that is fair. In the end, while it may look the least heroic, it might be the most heroic thing one can do."
"Thank you for understanding where I stand."
"Still, could you not do that during duels between friends?"
"If you guys aren't willing to use these tactics, then you should at least learn to defend against them," Morgan said defensively while trying to sound sagely, "Plus, how else am I going to test or practice them?"
As Owain began to try and come up with a rebuttal, the two plus Ka'me heard a loud sound reverberate through the palace. "[I think that was in the kitchen, stay put]" Ka'me said, before running off. Morgan made a quick translation, and then the two followed after her.
—-
As the three entered the kitchen, with Ka'me looking ready to try and lecture them on something, they noticed a familiar person lying face down in the middle of the floor.
"Hello Sumia, why are you in the palace's kitchen?" Morgan said cheerfully due to being fully aware of who was on the floor.
After getting up a bit, Sumia responded with, "Uhh, nothing particularly suspicious if that's what you're thinking."
Before the conversation could continue further, Robin, Say'ri, and Gen'an also arrived, and were confused to see Sumia in their kitchen, with Robin giving a quick yell back at the five guests following them that it was all good.
"Wait, if Lady Sumia is here, then…" Say'ri said before looking around a bit and quickly drawing her sword and pointing it at the top of a cabinet where we see another familiar face.
"Sir Gaius, why are you here?" Say'ri combatively said, some concern evident.
"Just taking in the sights, nothing too serious," Gaius said.
"If you wanted some Chon'sinese sweets or pastries, you could have either asked or bought them yourself," Robin said somewhat flabbergasted at the thief's actions.
"While that is somewhat the case, there are other things at play that I am not liable to speak on." "Olivia sent us to spy on the palace." "Stumbles, why did you tell them the confidential information?" "They're our friends and deserve to know about what we're doing. Also, Queen Olivia wanted us to tell them at some point." "When did Queenie say this?" "Right after you left to charter a vessel."
Robin and Say'ri observed the two's light bickering before Say'ri asked, "So, Queen Olivia has no faith in us upholding our alliance?"
"No, she just wants updates on some confidential information that might affect Ylisse and also to be aware of any potential enemies to the Chon'sinese throne, in part to inform you if need be," Sumia said, willing to provide details.
"It's just as Stumbles says, Empress," Gaius said to Say'ri, "My family is here to help you guys find traitors and keep Ylisse up to date."
Say'ri, while annoyed, and Robin, confused, were both willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, caught something, and Robin said, "Wait, does that mean that-"
He never finished his sentence as Cynthia shouted, "Here I am!" which startled the tactician, as well as the empress, who both quickly turned to her.
"Why is she so stealthy?" Robin said, "Also, how did she get her pegasus in here?"
These thoughts were drowned out as the Justice Cabal began to hold a reunion.
—-
A/N: I think this is the longest chapter in the story so far, so I hoped you enjoyed it. I will admit that the first part with Morgan and Owain talking with one another feels a bit like empty exposition, most notably the discussion on Morgan's sword techniques, but I just felt writing that for some reason. I am also trying to show how skills are somewhat present in the story, as Morgan and Owain used Astra and Vengeance in the initial fight, along with Ignis for Morgan. Similarly, the reason Cynthia was so stealthy was due to the Pass skill, which I had Gaius pass (heh) down to her in a recent playthrough. Also, the Grima and Walhart battles are referencing the idea of the player one-turn clearing chapters, which is very easy if you have enough units with Galeforce and some high magic staff users with Rescue, which a lot of children have the former because I prioritized passing down that skill in many playthroughs. One-turn clearing a chapter is fun. I currently have a list of potential nicknames for Gaius and Tiki to potentially use. I am definitely using the Gaius ones, not so sure on using Tiki's. Let me know if you want to see me use the latter. This is a long author's note, but it explains what I am doing, so I like it.