So. Here is another chapter of this garbage fanfiction. I bet all of you are tired of me using the word, garbage, now aren't you? Well, I would use other words but I don't know anything better to classify this thing but as garbage. But, it is good garbage if you all are still liking it I suppose. As such, I'll keep writing it. So, go and enjoy the latest chapter as much as you want to. Or not at all. It's up to you really. Anyways, I'll shut up now and let you just read this latest pile of garbage.


Chapter Thirty Eight: The Journey Home - Part Two

At certain times in my life, I am reminded of some sage advice my uncle would tell me occasionally. At this moment in time, my uncle would say "A man could become a master at the sword, but that doesn't stop some retard with an bow from killing the master before he could get out of his house." Why do I remember this phrase you may ask? Well, it pertains very well to the current situation Andy, Ana, and I are in right now. We are currently trapped inside a ruined farmhouse as a band of Bow Knight bandits circle our little bastion of cover. I hate ranged Classes so much!

My hatred for ranged Classes also reminds me of one of my uncle's more… Unhinged moments when he would stare at the wall and shout nonsense. He would say stuff like "Why the fuck does that little girl have homing knives?!" or "It's alright guys! I just banned Cho, you can still play Gall… What do you mean they are two heads on one body?" and his most iconic "The Wolf hunts its prey! AHHHHHH!" Weird stuff like that. It creeped his wife out sometimes when he started talking about how much he loved "Snake Ladies", but he was pretty harmless. I wonder how he is doing now…?

I'm getting off track right now am I? I got a horde of Bow Archers circled around my location and there is no way that Andy, Ana, or I can even reach them before their arrows cut us down. I hate ranged Classes so bloody much…

"Aiden!" I snap out of my thoughts and turn to look at Ana, who is trying to peek over her cover before getting forced back into it with a volley of hostile projectiles. "Stop daydreaming and help us figure a way out of this. I'm not dying here to some fucking Archers with horses!"

"How did we even get into this horrible situation?" Andy askes, curled up as arrows pound his part of the cover. Well, it was a pretty fast blur of events from when we woke up this morning to where we are now. I can understand Andy not knowing what is going on. Alright, where do I begin? I suppose I could start from this morning, when we woke up.

After waking up; Andy, Ana, and I had a quick breakfast and packed up camp. After packing up, we got on back to the road and started our journey to the Shepherds once again. During our travels, I found this weird little toy coffin thing sticking beside the road. Besides the weird smell, I took it because it was free loot that I can sell and we continued on our merry way. Eventually, a band of Bow Knights appeared from the distance and asked us to pay a 'Road Toll.' Somewhere in the conversation, I think Ana and I told them to "Fuck off. We aren't paying your fucking fee." When things started getting heated, I may have punched one of them in the face and cut another's hand off with my sword. Afterwards, we all had to run for our lives as they started shooting arrows at us. After running for thirty minutes, we found this set of ruins and it now brings us to right now.

"Why didn't we pay the toll?" Andy whimpers out as an arrow breaks through his cover and slams into the ground beside his feet.

"Good question, boy." I say, looking at Andy as another arrow slams into the dirt beside him. "Ana, why didn't we shut up and just pay the 'toll'?"

"Because we're cheapskates and we didn't have enough to pay anyway!" Ana answers Andy and I's question, still trying to peek out of cover with only unsuccessful results. "I'm pretty sure these guys are just some Valmese who want to kill someone. Their armor is very similar to the regular Valmese soldiers after all." She brings up a good point. These guys got armor like those in the Valmese army, but it is more furry and looks lighter than the standard issue uniform. I guess it makes sense for Bow Knights seeing how they have to be fast and they got to shoot arrows.

That means we're technically fighting the Valmese army… They are quickly overtaking my hatred for Plegia at this point with how damn persistent they are! Why can't they just accept defeat and let the good guys win for once? They got to figure out that Walhart is just some crazed murderer who is really strong. That's all he is! If he got attacked by an army, he will die. He isn't some god who can destroy entire nations by himself!

I let out a hiss of pain as an arrow rakes the back of my hand that is still holding the mini-coffin, forcing my hand to let it go. The little wooden box clattered onto the ground, and revealed its contents to the world. It's a Risen's hand… Oh… Are they packaging Risen now? Isn't that dandy?! It does explain the smell though. I thought it smelled like flesh… Ew!

"I thought that box looked familiar!" Andy suddenly shouted out, quickly scrambling on over to my location. "It's a Reeking Box! These things can summon a horde of Risen by burning the item inside of it."

"That's disturbing." I say, cringing as Andy picks up the hand without hesitation and uses it to wave Ana over to us.

"Fucking fantastic… Andy, do you realize that we'll have to deal with a horde of bloody Risen AND these Valmese fucks if we use the Box?" Ana states, lightly slapping Andy's shoulder.

"We could run while the Risen and Valmese fight each other." I suggest, earning approving looks from Andy and Ana.

"Good idea." they say in unison, looking back at the Risen hand in Andy's grasp. "But how do we burn this thing?"

"Anyone got a rock I can use?"


I never really thought how difficult it would be to create a fire without breaking out our tools, and while under enemy fire. But, I did it after an hour of trying to make sparks come from my sword and a rock. It was something alright… But now that we have a little fire going, we can activate this weird Reeking Box Andy and Ana seem to know about.

"So… How does that thing work once it gets burned?" I ask, watching Andy simply drop the Risen hand into the flames.

"No idea, Dad. We just know that these things create Risen once they get burned." Andy says, not comforting me at all with his words. So we are basically doing something that they have no real idea doing? Great… Say, that smell is actually starting to get worse.

Andy, Ana, and I begin to cough and gag as the smell coming off of the hand gets worse and worse. Suddenly, several black clouds of smoke shot up into the air and began to form a strange shape in the sky. What on earth…? During all of this, the enemy stops attacking; giving us a momentary respite from the arrows. After a few more moments of shaping, an eye-looking portal of pure darkness appears out of the smoke and stares down at the ground. As it stares, many clouds of purple smoke shoot out of it and fly towards the ground. Once the purple smoke slams onto the ground, the reveal Risen of various classes.

The Risen let out a blood-curdling scream before charging the Valmese Bow Knights, quickly ensuing a battle within a battle. As the sounds of battle echo all around us, I turn to look at my children from the future and give an uneasy smile. The first part of the plan worked; now we got to start on the second part of the plan. Which is much more dangerous than the first part… Well, I've been a part of more dangerous situations before. This will just be another one for the record!

"We should leave now." I say, gesturing Andy and Ana follow me as I start to crawl towards the exit out of this pile of rubble. They follow right behind me, right through the small exit and into the opening of battle. Once outside, I immediately stand up and ready myself for combat; Andy and Ana doing the same with their respective weapons and stances.

"So… Where do we go to get out of this place?" Andy asks, glancing back at Ana and I as we look around to find an opening.

Ana lets out a gasp and says to us while pointing, "Fucking fantastic! I found an exit; right between those two Risen." I turn to look at what Ana is pointing at and see a Berserker Risen and a Soldier Risen finishing off a Bow Knight, completely ignoring a few free horses! I understand what Ana is trying to say. She wants us to fight our way to those horses, and then ride them to safety; leaving this giant mess behind! That's actually a good plan.

"Nice plan, Ana." I say, patting the Fighter on the back as I take a step towards the horses. "Let's hurry up and get some horses!" I begin to weave my way through the battle, followed closely behind by Andy and Ana. As we weave our way through the battle, we see and hear more Risen fall from the sky and appear onto the ground. I admit; those Reeking Boxes are effective, but they might be too effective with how many Risen are still coming... I'm being serious here. This is a bit too many Risen for my liking.

We arrive at the horses, Andy and Ana quickly taking care of the two Risen between to the two while I ready the horses. I am not that good with riding horses, but in times like this; my Uncle's sage wisdom comes to mind. He would say: "In times of great crisis, ask yourself; what would Napoleon do? He would probably dip his coffee into his donut and then go and invade Russia during the winter. Thankfully, you are not Napoleon. So don't do stupid shit like that. Now go get me my cornbread!" I have no idea who Napoleon is nor what is Russia, but I understand the meaning of the message! As such, I will not do stupid shit when it comes to situations like this.

"Alright, you guys ready?" I say as I get settled onto my horse, looking back to see Andy and Ana also settling into their own steeds.

Let's get out of here!


Well, we made it to safety! We made it to this little walled village that is essentially the halfway point to our destination. Andy, Ana, and I drove our horses hard; so hard that I'm pretty sure they will never be able to be used in war again. As such, we traded them to the village's innkeeper to stay at her inn. That's a good trade seeing how she gets three free horses to help the farmers just to allow three people a room to stay.

Anyway; we are all in our inn room, taking off our gear as we get ready to relax and to finally sleep on beds again. As we get undressed, Andy says "I'm going to go on a stroll. I'll be back later tonight."

"Alright." I say while I unhook my shoulder pad off of my shoulder. "Be safe while you walk. Don't break an ankle or something." After Andy left the room, I finish up getting my armor off of me and let out a sigh of relief. Everything actually turned out alright! We're not dead, and those Valmese bastards got killed. Everything is fine with the world for now.

"Aiden. Let me look at your hand." Ana suddenly asks, holding a vulnerary and a swab of bandages in her hands. "I saw your hand get cut. Better dress the wound so it doesn't bite you in the ass later." Good point once again. I guess Ana's just a ball of common sense, which is good when you have to deal with people like Henry. I do not understand that man at all...

Anyway, we sit down on one of the beds and Ana begins to clean and bandage the cut on my hand. As she does that, she says to me "Say, Aiden… Mind if I ask you a question?"

"Sure!" I answer back, looking at her as she works on my hand. "What's the question?"

"How do you think Mom is going to react to me and Andy?" Oh… Now that is a good question.

"No clue. I'm not the mind reader like your mother is." I answer back, cringing a bit when Ana sprinkled a bit of the vulnerary onto the wound.

"Yeah, she is a mind reader. Always knew what Andy and I planned on doing; especially when it came to any of our pranks and scams."

"You scammed people?"

"You could say that. Whenever we would try to scam someone, Mom would join us and we would rake in a nice profit." I let out a chuckle at Ana's words. Man, that is something Ana would totally do! Like with what she is doing with that little business venture she started when we rescued Tiki. Something about t-shirts and little dolls? I didn't get much of it before I went on the mission.

"That's your mother for you! Always ready and eager to make a profit in everything… Say Ana, why do you call me by my name while you call Anna 'Mom'?"

Ana lets out a sigh, turning her head away to say "We weren't on the best of terms during our final years together…"

"Really? How did we start to hate each other?" I ask, pulling my hand away once Ana finishes bandaging it.

"It started when Andy and I wanted to join you and the remaining Shepherds fighting the Risen. You were really strict and angry whenever we brought up the topic. When the issue was forced after losing even more Shepherds, you yelled at us about how you didn't like us and it was your duty to make sure we survived for the future of humanity." I said that? That doesn't sound like me at all! I wonder what happened to make me into such a grumpy old man…

"What happened to make me such an asshole?"

"Mom died." Oh… So that's what happened.

"How did she die?" I hestiently ask, looking at Ana in hope that she would tell me.

"She died while fighting one of Grima's Risen warlords, a creature that calls itself 'Rekar the Killer'."

"Risen have names?"

"Most don't, but some of the more intelligent ones do seem to have some kind of name associated with them. Rekar was one of them." Rekar… The name of the Risen that slayed my wife… I wonder…

"Do you think that he followed you from the future, or is he stuck there?" I say, narrowing my eyes as I hope for the possibility of killing this creature.

"I have no idea. I'm still surprised that we were able to come back anyway! But if Grima were to appear, I'm sure Rekar would be at his side."

"And that is what you are trying to stop, right? By stopping Grima you stop Rekar, saving Anna in the process."

"I guess you could look at it like that…" Ana replies back, nodding at my assumption. "But we also came back to… Well…"

"To save me?" I venture, placing a hand on Ana's shoulder. "Ana, how did I die in your time?"

Ana hesitates at my words, opening her mouth to say something but no noise comes out. She eventually lets out a sigh before saying "I'll tell you later. I just need some time alone to prepare myself."

"Alright. I'll be waiting then. Take your time, Ana."

Aiden and Ana have attained Support Level B


I decided to leave the inn in order to give Ana some space, and I now find myself walking around town; my mind whirling with thoughts of my other self. Did Anna's death really affect me that much? I can imagine the death of someone close to me like Donny changing who I am a bit, but for me to turn into a grumpy old man is a really strange thing. Was it due to me losing multiple friends over time, or was it only Ann's death that changed me? I have so many questions yet I don't think I can get them answered… Gods, Andy and Ana's future is so messed up!

"Oh! Hey Dad. What are you doing out here?" I snap out of my thoughts to see Andy, sitting on a tree branch that overlooks the outside.

"Giving your sister space, and thinking about myself from your time." I answer back, deciding to join my son. After few moments of climbing, I make it to Andy's branch and sit right beside him.

Andy nods at me and says "Yeah, you were something back in our time. A mean old man with a cane and a mouth full of vile."

"Naga! You make me sound like an asshole! I couldn't have been that bad… Right?"

"Well… You were very mature when you weren't angry at us for doing something stupid or trying to join the war effort. You acted a lot like Frederick, especially when he died in combat." I was the second Frederick? Oh Gods! That's terrible! I continue to listen to Andy speak, the young boy saying "Despite your limp, you were pretty active when it came time to pick up the sword. You could cut down entire hordes of Risen like they were nothing, and always came back with very little wounds at first. But when the Shepherd's numbers began to drift into the single digits, you started pushing yourself too much in order to make up for the dead; like the other Shepherds did.

"What happened once all of the old-timers finally bit the dust?" I ask, looking at Andy with a concerned gaze.

"Well we did what we could do. Lucina became Marth and we became Shepherds to fight the Risen. But by that time, there were simply too many for us to fight; especially with Grima now starting to join into the fray with Falchion and Marth coming back."

"Well, if you get essentially killed by Marth who used Falchion; then I suppose that you would be eager to kill the next person who takes up his mantle. I mean I would be pretty mad if someone bad-mannered me like that."

"Good point Dad. I'm pretty sure I would do the same thing!" We share a laugh at that; Andy throwing his arm around my shoulders while I slap my knee in delight.

"Say Andy…" I say; smiling at him, my son. "Mind if I ask you a question?"

"Sure Dad. What is it?"

"Did Ana get anything when we died?" With those words, Andy's expresion switched into a confused one.

"What do you mean Dad?" He asks, looking at me with that same confused expression.

"I noticed you got Anna's cloak and my sword. Did Ana get anything like that?"

"N-No… She didn't…"

"Why is that?" I ask, watching Andy as he plays with the tip of his cloak in nervousness.

"She didn't want any… She said she was fine without some little trinket." Oh… I think I understand now…

"Well, thanks for letting me know Andy. I'm glad you're my son." I say, smiling as Andy's face switched from nervousness to shock, and then to tearful happiness.

"T-Thanks D-D-Dad… I try my b-best…" He stutters out, rubbing his eyes so he doesn't start crying.

"Don't mention it, son. Don't mention it…"

Aiden and Andy have attained Support Level B

After sitting in silence for a while, Andy suddenly says to me "Say Dad, do you see that in the distance?"

"See what Andy?" I ask, now worrying at the tone in Andy's voice. Andy points out to the object he sees and I follow his finger, making me gasp at the sight of what Andy and now I see.

That is a lot of Risen!


So. I hope you enjoyed this current chapter. It took a while to make due to the weather being insane with the rain. And the tornados. God, I am lucky to be alive right now… But you all only care about this story so I'll shut up about my troubles. I'll get to work on the next chapter, so go ready something better in the meantime. Goodbye.