So I changed Robin's gender to male. Why?

Well, I do the cover art for most of my stories, since I accidentally drew Robin as a guy, I just decided to change the one reference to Robin since it was easier. It wasn't like I had plans for female Robin anyway.


"You should get this one! Or maybe this one!"

Lucina couldn't help but chuckle as she watched Lissa inspect each and every weapon on the rack by the side of the room. Off to the side, the fire spilling out from the furnace cast the room in an orange light, and, in a way, set a nostalgic sort of atmosphere for the scene. Seeing Lissa act so eager about the weapons, it reminded Lucina of her younger years.

Of course, she wasn't just here out of a sense of sentimentalism.

Lucina turned her attention back to the shop countertop, and the man standing behind it. The shopkeeper was a rugged man with broad shoulders and a russet mane running down his neck. His arms, heavily muscled from all the smithwork he did, were surprisingly tender as they handled her blade. The man himself seemed lost in thought as he ran his fingers up the flat side of the blade, so Lucina cleared her throat to bring his attention back to her.

"Oh yes, what is it you want?" the blacksmith said, putting her sword back on the counter.

"Another sword. Exactly like this one," she replied, getting straight to the point.

The blacksmith laughed. "You would not like to make repairs on this one?"

"I need a new one."

"Oi. Perhaps you should show a little more respect to your weapon. It has carried you through many battles, no? It has many scars, it has seen much. Do you truly wish to toss away such a faithful tool?"

Lucina pinched the bridge of her nose. "Yes. I am sure," she replied.

The blacksmith gave her a look. She ignored it. She wasn't here to take opinions from strangers, after all, and after a moment, he broke his stare.

"There is one like this one at end of rack on left side," he said, pointing over her shoulder. "Perhaps you should tell your daughter to retrieve one, since she is so entranced by it."

"My daughter?" Lucina followed his gaze back to Lissa, who was staring down a sword almost identical to the one in the blacksmith's hands. For a moment, she was confused. "That's not–"

The man frowned. "Is she not your daughter? I should hope so, or I will be calling the guards."

That wouldn't be good. She wouldn't be able to change the tide of the Plegia-Ylisse war if she was spending her time rotting away in a dungeon cell.

"She's a daughter of a friend," she said, trying to salvage the situation.

Almost instantly, the blacksmith's face lit up. "Oh. That is understandable. Is much more easier than having child of your own, do you think so?"

"I wouldn't know."

"When you are grown, you will," the blacksmith said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "But enough idle chatter. We are still doing business, are we not?"

"Of course." Lucina turned around, when she almost tripped on the sword laid flat in front of her. She glanced down, and who else would she happen upon except Lissa, holding a sword up for her with a proud smile on her face.

"Is this the sword you wanted?" she asked, pushing it toward her.

"Yes," Lucina said, a little taken aback. Careful not to accidentally cut the girl, she plucked the sword from Lissa's hands and placed it on the countertop.

Side by side with her old sword, Lucina really noticed how old and battered it was compared to the new one. The scratches and purple stains over it stood out next to the sharp glint the new one gave off, untouched by the horrors wrought upon in her future. This new sword would serve her well.

The blacksmith must have noticed the sharp contrast, only his reaction was much more different than hers. "Are you sure you want to replace old weapon? Sword is like good friend, you know. The scars it bears are memory of battles you have survived, and it is not good idea to throw away memory."

"I'm sure," Lucina replied, trying to hide the growing irritation in her voice. "How much for it?"

"A sword is worth eighty-four in gold, but the cherished memory of battle is worth–"

Lucina dropped a bunch of gold coins in front of him before he could finish, not even bothering to count. "Keep the change," she said when he opened his mouth to say something again.

She grabbed the new sword without a second thought, and she turned away to head out the door. Hopefully counting the gold would keep him busy long enough for her to get out the door.

She hadn't even gotten halfway across the room when he called out, "Oi! What do you want with old sword then? Do you want me to keep it?"

Lucina was about to say yes, when Lissa said, "Can I have it?"

The sudden interruption startled Lucina. She had completely forgotten she was there.

"I think you should listen to daughter of friend," the blacksmith said. "From what it looks like, sword is still in very good shape. Is good idea to let little one learn sword early, so she can be staying safe."

A sigh passed through Lucina's lips, before she said, "I wouldn't be a very responsible guardian if I let her cut her arm off with a sword, would I?"

Lissa deflated. Strange considering that she never showed any interest in swords in the future, but Lucina supposed it might just be that she liked to be enthusiastic about everything, something that her son reminded her of by his presence alone.

Seeing her defeated, Lucina felt a little sorry for it. "You know, you live in a castle; you should have no short a supply of them. If you asked Frederick, I bet he'd even teach you how to wield one."

At her suggestion, Lissa's face twisted into a grimace. "Freddy? You mean Captain Maddie's son? All he ever talks about is how good he is at fighting. He's so annoying. I think I'll pass."

Captain Maddie? Oh. Right.

Internally, Lucina hit her forehead at the little slip-up. It was easy to forget she was in the past, where the people she had known had yet to rise to where they had been by the time the Plegia-Ylisse war rolled around. Of course, Lissa wouldn't recognize Frederick as one of the finest warriors in Ylisse. She was lucky Lissa didn't find it strange how she knew of the son of this Captain Maddie either.

"Well, we should get going anyway," Lucina said, grabbing onto Lissa's arm. "We wouldn't want your siblings to wonder where you've run off to, would we?"

Lissa puffed her cheeks in a pout. "Do we have to?"

"Yes. Do you not remember how worried your sister was when she found you?"

"Oh, fine," Lissa said, and she let Lucina guide her out the door.

As they left, the blacksmith piped up, "Wherever you go to, be sure to tell friends and family good things of Gregor's Smithing. I have need of the business."

Lissa waved back to him. "We will!"

"We'll have to see," Lucina added.

As the door closed behind them, a thought struck Lucina.

Gregor? That couldn't have been a coincidence. Could it?

It wasn't long before Lucina found herself and Lissa sitting side by side on the edge of a public fountain. She had convinced Lissa to sit still while they waited for Emmeryn to return, but she had gotten bored incredibly fast. From all the jumping around the girl was doing, Lucina was starting to think that she should tie her up with her belt if only to make sure she didn't get lost again.

She'd never been great with little kids. From what little she could remember from her childhood years, Lucina had never understood what the fuss was about with babies, and had stayed as far away from them as she could. She didn't have much experience either since small children were few and far between in the future, so if Lissa ever decided to run off, she wouldn't know what to do aside from... well, tying her up with her belt.

"Hey, Lucina!"

Lissa's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. When Lucina looked over, she found that, while Lissa was standing still now, her attention was entirely focused on her.

"What is it?" Lucina said, raising an eyebrow.

"What's being a mercenary like?"

Oh yes, she was supposed to be a mercenary. The only problem was, she didn't exactly know what life as a mercenary was supposed to be like. She was a princess. She wasn't used to selling her services as a warrior. If she didn't come up with something soon, her cover story would fall apart.

"I'm afraid I cannot tell such information to someone who isn't a mercenary. I have to keep it secret, otherwise, people might steal my job," she said.

Unfortunately for her, Lissa wasn't swayed that easily. "I promise I won't tell!" she said, grabbing onto Lucina's scarf. "Please please please please!"

In the future, Lissa had been known to be a stubborn soul. Lucina saw a bit of that here, and although she had for the longest time looked up to her aunt for that, this time she wished she was a little less stubborn. She couldn't come up with a cover story on the spot; she needed time to think.

So she distracted Lissa.

"I'll tell," Lucina said, "if you tell me something in return."

"Okay," Lissa said without hesitation.

Lucina wasn't surprised. Lissa was as trusting as she was stubborn. It was another thing she'd heard of and seen from the future. Many people had seen her trust as a weakness, but right now, it was giving Lucina an opportunity to stall for time, an opportunity she wouldn't let slip past her.

She asked the first thing that came to her mind. "Your brother, Chrom. Why is he acting the way he is right now?"

Lissa shrugged. "I don't know."

"Oh." Lucina's shoulders fell in disappointment.

"He wasn't always like this though."

"Oh?" This time, Lucina's voice rose, intrigued.

"Yeah. He used to be more fun. Then mom and dad died, and suddenly he and Em are too busy to play with me! I mean, I don't see what's so bad. They were never around anyway, and..." Lissa trailed off. "Hey. Are you okay? Your face looks kinda funny."

"It's nothing," Lucina said, trying to keep her face as neutral as possible.

Lissa said something else, but Lucina didn't hear it. Panic overtook her mind, as a sudden realization hit her like the Fell Dragon's breath. Grief. That was why Chrom was acting up. It wasn't because of some change to the past. Chrom was acting normal. No one else had changed anything.

The only person who had changed things was her. Who knows how much she had changed already by interacting with the Exalted family? If she changed the mind of a mere peasant girl, it probably wouldn't change all that much, but the Exalted family had an important part to play in the events to come, and any change she made there could have drastic results.

Already, she had given Lissa an interest in swords. She wasn't interested in swords in the future. She had already messed things up, and there was only one way she could avoid doing any more damage.

I've got to leave, she thought. Maybe Emmeryn can still convince her to be a cleric. Maybe the timeline will set itself back onto the correct path, but as long as I'm here, the future might as well be uncertain.


So I decided to update my other Fire Emblem fic on Saturday instead of every other Monday, which means I can now start updating this weekly. On one hand, that means I can speed up the story, but on the other hand, it's going to mean that my schedule is going to be a lot less flexible. So yay, but also not yay for me.

Anyway, we're back to where we were before I decided to start re-writing things. What a weird place to be, especially considering how different the two versions of Chapter 2 and 3 ended up, huh.

Next update will be January 27th. If I don't burn out, that is.