"Gotta admit - I didn't expect rock climbing to be part of my vacation," Chrom grunted as he pulled his way up the cliff. The sands and swells were beneath them and shrinking as they scaled the modest cliffs. The girl next to him fared much worse, but she had kept her lips sealed and her head pointed skyward.

"Is...this...this route too tricky?" Ophelia mused as she struggled to grab the rock above her. Chrom noticed her plight and shifted down to hold her palm flat against the hold.

"It's not...tricky...just...not Oof! Not equipped for it," he explained as he shifted down and remained mostly level with the exuberant mage. Ready to catch her in case she took a fall.

Ophelia bristled at his touch. Not repulsed by his brash-yet-helpful action - far from it in fact. Thanks to his aid she could finally hoist her foot up and get a firmer hold. But his touch - his firm, warm grasp on her hand, was making her feel things. Things she didn't quite know how to describe.

Things she didn't want to dwell upon now.

"Ah, fair! I suppose...I suppose I did abscond with you in the midsts of leisure," she admitted with an apologetic smile. Her fingers curled beneath his as if she was trying to resist his touch. Or perhaps trying to resist the sting of the metal band on his finger.

Chrom merely shook his head and consoled her. "It's fine - nearly there now," he stressed before he hoisted himself back up and left her behind.

The dark mage winced and already missed his touch. His warm, almost nostalgic touch. 'Is this what it means to feel the blood of Heroes? I never felt this way with father,' she pondered with a frown.

"Hey, you okay?"

Ophelia snapped out of her thoughts at his call from above. "Y-yes, coming!" she insisted as she made her next reach up and tried to focus on the peril before her.

It took some time, but the duo managed to reach the top just as the first flickers of gold started to stretch over the sky. Ophelia collapsed on the hard, yet mercifully flat ground. Labored wheezes and gasps poured down her throat as she sucked in deep, hearty gulps of air. "T-That was an ordeal."

Chrom nodded, down on one knee as he collected himself. He was in a much more stable state than her, and could at least speak clear and plain. "Yep. You're not looking so good, Ophelia," he said.

"I...I am well enough, thank you," she grunted. Ophelia struggled onto her side before propping herself up on her elbow. "Just ca- hah hah hoh !...Merely catching my breath."

He chuckled but didn't press her. The two let a brief, comfortable silence pass as he waited on her to compose herself. She felt the sun on her nape as it crested closer and closer to the horizon. Finally, she managed to get herself up on shaky, yet standing feet.

Chrom was already back up as she started to walk towards him. she swiped some errant hair out of her eyes as she explained their next action. "Regardless, we've arrived at the cliffs proper - now we simply must look fo-Whooh!"

"Ophelia!"

Chrom dived forward and grabbed her before she went over the edge. The slick rock made him grunt and slide from the impact, but he focused and pulled the dark mage back up onto the safety of the cliff. "I've got you!"

"Oof!"

Ophelia said nothing as she stared wide-eyed into the clear skies above. Each breath she took was a stark reminder of the brief terror that had welled in her chest, and how merciful it was she even could still breathe at all. Her mind was too chaotic to really focus on the means of what had just made her fall. She didn't know what she'd even slipped on -the rock, her sarong. Though perhaps it simply didn't matter

"Hey, you alright?"

The dark mage's eye flicked up to Chrom's concerned face as he loomed over her. "I...I believe so," she croaked. "Um, S-Sir?"

He shook his head and helped her sit up. "Just Chrom, Ophelia - I'm not your lord," he said.

Ophelia winced at his touch - both the icy sting of his wedding band and the blistering heat from his hand. The former certainly struck her, but the latter rapidly took over until it left her own body in shakes and spasms. Chrom noticed her shivers and asked, "Ophelia, are you okay?"

She glanced at him and tried to explain, "Well I...Ahh!"

A merciful distraction of her own state came forth in the form of the red stain on his arm. "You are wounded!" She declared with perhaps a little too much flair.

Chrom looked at his arm and shrugged. "It's fine, just a scratch," he mused.

She shook her head and snapped at him. "Silence! I will handle this."

"Uh, alright then."

He humored her and squatted down before offering her his arm. Ophelia took off her sarong and wrapped it around his arm -the whole thing. Chrom winced at how tight she pulled, but said nothing until she was done. "There, how's that?" she asked.

He lifted his arm and tested his range of motion. "...well, you've got it wound tight, I can say that much. Guess the day is saved now, huh," he chuckled.

"Do not mock me, Sir. Chrom!" she huffed and crossed her arms. her reaction merited some fealty from the man as he tried to walk things back.

"Ophelia, relax. Thank you for this, really," he insisted before he stood up as she remained on her knees. "Well, are you going to lay there and take a nap? There are probably better places for that," he told her as he held out his hand to help her up.

The dark mage blushed but took his hand. The same clash of sensations ravaged her body as she rose to her feet. Her fingers squeezed against his palm before she quickly pulled away and muttered, "Y-You are most fortunate I was here. Regardless, I'm ready to continue if you are."

Chrom nodded but didn't move until she had already stepped away from the cliff's edge. He only passed her when they were near the rock walls. She lingered behind and watched her sheer sarong flutter off his shoulder like a cape. Ophelia stopped and hugged her suddenly warm body as she trembled in the shade.

"Gods, what is happening to me?" she wondered to herself...

"Sigh."

"I know that sigh - what's got a lovely lady down?"

Soleil glanced at the man who sat next to her, or more specifically, the two empty bottles he had as he downed a third. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and tried to be at least somewhat cordial. "The same thing that's got a dandy down it seems," she fired back.

The rosette should've felt bad, but the setting didn't exactly help foster worthwhile memories. Different bar, same type of guy. She'd tried that once...didn't really endear her to the concept. Yet despite that, she still at least tried to play nice with the stranger. It was hard to make him out in the dim light, especially as people crowded into the open bar for a drink before the beach bonfires started up. But she could barely hear him over the bustle, and especially hear his sardonic, entirely lucid chuckle. "Well, I don't think my trouble involves love...it does involve a girl though," he admitted.

The sword girl tilted her brow up as a fresh bottle was placed in front of her by the ever-attentive barman. She took a swill before she pressed him further. "Oh, who?"

He took his own sip before he answered. "My sister. We're supposed to be relaxing but...I take objection with how she's choosing to 'relax' if that makes sense," he sighed.

"Not really, but I don't need to know everything," she admitted with a shrug and a smile. Somehow, that combination got a chuckle out of the man and set herself a little more at ease. He at least seemed less interested in her and more interested in just having someone to talk to. She could respect that.

It's what she wanted as well.

"Fair enough. So what's your ail?" he asked as he sipped more of his drink.

Soleil sighed again, head down and hair over her eyes. "I'm looking for someone - someone unlike anyone I've ever seen before," she explained with a somewhat dreamy tone.

"He must be quite fetching, then," the man mused. Soleil scoffed at his assumption and corrected him, though not as harshly as she could've before.

"She. And yes as a matter of fact," the rosette nodded. It was utterly true, and she'd be only a fool to think otherwise. There were few other words of how to describe her ever-elusive Siren. She was fetching, even from a distance. Perhaps that's where it was best left off - just the chase and the theatrics. What happened after that hadn't usually left a fond impact, male or female, and had left Soleil with an appreciation for setup, not so much payoff.

The man mused about what she said before he asked her plain. "Alright - so what's stopping you?"

She blinked at how utterly blunt it was. No questions of who, or why - just right back on her. "I guess...She's just so hard to find! I've seen her, and tried to reach out. But when I get to where she was she's just gone. Vanished."

The man mulled this information before he responded with some trepidation, "Could be a hallucination - it gets very hot out there after all. You're here with other people and not yourself right?" he asked as he eyed her drinks with concerns.

Soleil rolled her eyes and answered tersely. "Well, yea - Ophelia and Nina. they're my friends."

The words passed her lips easily, but they carried more weight than she expected. She called them friends easily enough, but how she'd been acting the past few days made her doubt herself. "Although...I guess I haven't been really paying attention to that fact."

The sword girl looked down in her bottle and mused aloud, "It'd be kinda nice to have a beach day with each other, yeah. Maybe that's what Ophelia was talking about with her 'ritual of bonds' or such."

"I see," he nodded in agreement, even if he lacked the context of her plight. Still, it was said with sufficent conviction as he finished his drink and turned to her. the dim lights around them still hid most of his face, but she could at least make out the sort of smile he had. Cocky, flirtatious, but with just that tiny hint of a shine that went unseen at a glance.

Exactly like her reflection in the mirror.

"Trust me, I feel the same way. I just wish my sister would come to that realization as well, ya know?" he admitted with a sigh.

"Yeah. Hey, thanks for the advice," she smiled - fully. He smiled back, though again it was hard to really make out his face above his teeth. Before she could lean in for a better look, a glint from the bar caught her attention instead. "Wait...that key!" she gasped.

The barman perked up behind the counter. "Oh, you know who's this is, lass? It was found on the floor by me bar. It ain't one of ours though I can say that much," he grunted.

Soleil nodded vigorously "Yeah, That's Nina's! She's my friend! Do you know where she is? Silver hair, long pigtails?"

"Oh her? She took off for the north stretch a few hours back. Could've been to go to the grottos, or maybe she went to find that 'Northern Eye' business at the cliffs." The Barman chuckled as he handed the girl Nina's key.

Soleil took the key and vigorously nodded. She stood up and left her drink behind. "Sounds like you're going to find your friend. Want a hand?" her barmate asked.

Soleil shook her head with a wide smile. "No thanks, but I appreciate the talk. Farewell, friend!"

"See you around," he waved her away.

She stepped outside and spared a glance back. For just a brief moment she got a good, clear look of the man she'd been sitting beside...and blinked in shock. "Strange, he kinda looks like da...no, that's just silly," she laughed before running off.

"Hmm, here as well," Nina bit her lip as she wrote down the scene. The sun crested over the horizon and left her only the last light to investigate her surroundings at this lonely, disused gazebo on the far end of the beach. some ways off from the main resort, but still within the confines of the grounds. A perfect little rendevous point.

And she had the evidence to prove it.

"Let's see, a discarded cup, some more used ones nearby, half-empty water jug, and a lot of displaced sand across the raised platform," she counted off. Sadly, no signs in the sand, but being this close to the shore would have the wind wipe it over in short order. Still, it was more than what she'd hoped to find, and left her with a triumphant grin as she finished her notes.

The outlaw snapped her journal shut and made the long trudge back to the resort proper. She could make out the lights from the bungalows, the fire pits, and even a few torches that flickered from the elevated platforms facing the water. All those pretty little lights that grew brighter as the sky darkened above.

Nina wasn't focused on admiring her gorgeous surroundings as much as mulling on the fruits of her research. She'd found some leads - three in particular now. Whispered mentions of a weak lounge chair down by the beaches, or a shattered practice sword in the sand. And finally the isolated gazebo with a discarded cup.

All these things are innocuous in nature and shouldn't invite suspicion. But Nina could surmise these were not mere examples of beach hooliganism due to two key factors - time and location. They all happened fairly quickly, one after the other over the course of days.

The outlaw slowed as she neared the main resort beach, and tried to catch her breath. She found a nearby set of chairs around a nice torch for her to sit in. Once settled, she opted to take out her journal. Under the flames flicker and the sunset's light, she thumbed past the pages and pages of fantasy and returned to her investigations. "Now let's see here," she bit her tongue in concentration.

First was the chair found one morning and had to be roped off. However, it was perfectly fine the night before. According to her investigation overheard from the resort staff, she'd learned there were footsteps and certain 'stains' that had to be swiftly cleaned up before the first guests had come down to the beach as well.

So one case of fornication - risky given the setting, but hardly unsubstantiated. A mere coincidence.

Nina turned to the next page and her next investigation at the sparring grotto. Broken training sword that was fine the night before. There was also a dirty, used rag in the sand, right next to a very defined outline of a female body that had been dusted over slightly by the night breeze. No blood thankfully, but some other bodily fluids were found again and had to be promptly washed away on the hush-hush.

Two cases, on different nights and different locales. A pattern.

And now came the gazebo. Admittedly, there was very little to go on since the location was so far out of the resort grounds. Still, there were discarded resort property and some sand patches on the deck itself. Given the other circumstances, the investigative outlaw felt safe enough to make note of it.

Three cases, rapidly different times, days, and locations.

An agenda.

Nina shut her journal and blinked in shock. She didn't realize how much time had just passed on her, as the sun had completely set now. In fact, it had clearly gone down some time ago and left her with only the torch to have guided her eyes. She stood up and scrambled the rest of the way back to the resort grounds.

Thunk thunk.

The outlaw froze near the platforms - someone was coming. Instinctively she shifted into the alley as if she were back in Nohr - in the war and danger that had molded her in lieu of her father's guiding hand. From this vantage point, she could just make out two figures as they quickly yet quietly moved in the shadows. One taller, broader man carrying one smaller woman. It was too dark to make out features, but she could at least hear voices, like elated giggles and hushed, teasing words.

Labored, broken words, with a thick accent.

'The Mercenary.' Nina narrowed her eyes. Slowly, she slipped out of the alley and turned towards where he'd gone. Him and his mysterious squeeze.

They had obviously left - somewhere northbound into the cluster of bungalows, no doubt. It'd be tricky to track them down in the maze of quarters and living spaces, but she had another option to go on for leads instead. Perhaps up on the platforms that they'd just come from.

The ones with no other way up or down but this stairwell.

Nina smirked and pulled out her quill. "Let's see what Incident Number Four has for us…."

She followed the wet steps up to the topmost platform - the one with a single hot tub that overlooked the beach below. And not even a minute had passed before she already found some damning, incriminating evidence as she fished two garments out of the water.

Swimtrunks -the same one the Mercenary had earlier today. That, and both parts of a bikini. Unfamiliar in design, but had a very, very distinct blue, gold trim, and a red insignia in the center of the top. the same insignia she'd seen earlier as well.

"...I think it's time to get dear old daddy involved with this," Nina grinned.

"Achoo!"

"You are blessed, good Sir. Chrom," Ophelia chimed from behind him after she'd nearly crashed into his broad back.

The lord wiped his nose and flicked his hand at the spray that crashed beneath their precarious path. "Thanks...guess I caught what you had."

"I told you, I am well!" she huffed with a pout on her face. "I merely...it is simply people speaking of me, no more," she insisted.

Chrom chuckled at her indigent response and tried to pacify her. "Nothing wrong with that, really. Now hang on, we're nearly at the end," he informed her over the roars below.

Ophelia nodded and went silent. He resumed his slow, careful trek against the wall as the far edge of the lower cliff reached closer and closer. His companion was close behind. So close that he could feel her breath, in fact. Briefly, he felt her skin brush against his and bristled at her touch. Not the cool, clammy, and wet skin, but the sparks her mere caress sent through his tense body.

the Exalt finally reached the edge and quickened his pace to let her join him on sturdy ground. Once away from the danger they both took a deep sigh of relief. He massaged the bridge of his nose as the waves roared behind them and still pounded in his ear. "Well, we've looked around the edges, and I don't see any caves so far," he grunted out loud.

His younger companion reluctantly nodded. "Nor I...Damnations, I was sure they'd be here," she lamented and slumped her arms down.

Chrom put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. Just a brief, fleeting touch before he pulled back and tried to fill the void of awkward silence that had suddenly opened between them. "...Well, at least no one else has to make a risky trip like this now, right?" he said.

Ophelia nodded with a small smile. Chrom returned it before he looked up at the dark sky and groaned, "Gods, it's gotten late. Olivia will be worried sick."

"Pray, who is Olivia?" His companion asked with a curious cock of her head. that name sounded unfamiliar to her, yet she felt some sense of emotion at the mere word. something of potetnial comfort...and an ever-looming dread.

Chrom answered with a tone that was equal parts reverent yet remorseful. "My wife - she...she was resting today, said the beach had overwhelmed her."

Ophelia absorbed this before realization struck her numb. like a bolt of lightning that crashed from the heavens and struck her where she stood. This whole day she'd just gods know how long in the company of an older, married man. Her - a young, and admittedly attractive young unmarried woman.

"!"

The Nohrian swiftly bowed at her waist and prattled off, "This humble mage begs your forgiveness at absconding with you, Sir. Chrom!"

The man blinked in shock before he birst into laughter. Ophelia huffed, indigent at his levity in the face of her hasty remorse. But before she could lash back, a split in the rock captured her focus. "Chrom, look!" she pointed.

Chrom turned to the direction she gestured to and quickly noticed what had grabbed her attention. "A passage...hmm, well better than nothing, right?"

"Are you certain? I would not wish to keep you from your destined mate any longer," Ophelia insisted. A part of her already protested her altruism and forced her to lightly rub her thighs together to quell the yearnings below. Mercifully for her, Chrom didn't notice her actions in the moonlight as she prayed for his acceptance to turn back and part ways.

Unfortunately for her, the opposite happened.

"Ophelia, I appreciate that. But we may as well take a look. Odds are it turns out to be nothing, but why leave that to chance?" he mused without a hint of worry or concern. It was as if the notions that had plagued her simply didn't matter to the man. Something that only made it all the more of an issue for her as she struggled with her own demons.

"...A-Agreed. Lead the way, Sir. Chrom," she reluctantly relented.

"Okay - stay close to me. We don't want another slip," he warned her. She was about to protest when a particularly loud roar from the nearby waves made her flinch and shift towards him.

"A-A sound deduction. Very well - As you will, then," she quickly waved him forward.

Chrom nodded and walked slowly through the gap from against the thin wall. He kept his back to the smoother stone despite the path being wide enough for them to walk normally with relative ease. Ophelia kept her hand on her sarong wrapped around his arm, though occasionally her hand grazed too close and brushed his bare skin. Chrom winced at her close proximity but said nothing as they delved further into the inky darkness before them.

And he, further towards an unpleasant, familiar torment that left his skin almost broiling to the touch. 'Not now, damn you,' he admonished himself, and specifically the blood that slowly pumped between his legs.

He knew the feeling that stirred in his loins, and this was not the time to have it. Not while he was isolated and alone with a strange, though nice young girl who wasn't his wife. A girl that he should've absolved from further contact with rather than humored her eccentric, erratic designs. ' Gods...this was a mistake,' he admitted as he tried to gain distance between her.

Ophelia felt him shift forward and sped up on impulse. her knuckle neared his skin again and almost reached forward to make intentional contact. 'N-No! I shouldn't keep doing this,' she argued with her treacherous body. Yet any attempt to pull back simply propelled her forward, and not simply by merit of his hastened pace. She was drawn to him on a level that went beyond her whims or wishes. and was well outside of her means to control.

Their private war of lost restraints continued until the pathway slowly widened around them. It got to the point that Chrom shifted back to a straightforward walk as he led them both deeper inside. Ophelia's hands stayed on her sarong as she stumbled right behind him. His broad, shirt-clad back blocked her view of what was coming ahead until a sudden burst of light poured around his figure. "W-What is it?" she asked as she tried to glance around his body.

"...Huh...would you look at that," Chrom grunted. Ophelia shook off the latest unwanted and unwarranted lascivious fancy as she peeked around his shoulder at what they'd stumbled into.

"My word."

The duo found themselves in a cave - a rather spacious one covered in sand. The far wall had broken away and offered a truly captivating view of the black waves and where the sun or moons would crest beneath the horizon. Yet what struck most was a pair of boulders perched around a small, shallow spring. One that seemed to glow in the darkness.

"Didn't expect to see sand up here...what do you think, Ophelia?" he asked as he turned back to face her.

The dark mage bristled and tried to fumble together an explanation or excuse. Her nails dug into her sarong as she mumbled, "S...S-Sir Chrom I-"

"Wait a second., this pond - do you think this is the 'Northern Eye' you were looking for?" He asked. Her usual ire at being cut off simply failed to manifest as she fought down the urges that bubbled in her being.

"I...I-I can scarcely sp-speculate," Ophelia said with a forced smile. She wrenched her hands behind her back to keep herself from grabbing Chrom. bare, luscious thighs rubbed together as she bit back frustrated moans.

Chrom spared a glance back before he approached the glowing pond himself. The source of the illumination soon became clear as he looked into the shallow pool and found luminous stones that winked back at him beneath the surface. "Man, Miriel would be working herself into a fit on this," he chuckled.

"Ophelia?" The lord called back to her and asked, "Why were you looking for this again?"

Ophelia perked up and mustered out her response with as much calm and flair as she could manage. "B-Bonds, ties of the hero-ooh."

"Oh, that's right - you wanted to see about the Brand, right?" he asked. When she didn't answer, he looked back and saw the state she was in. "Ophelia, are you well?" he asked her with a frown.

"Y-Yes. I am fine," she promised him. He didn't look convinced in the slightest, and she was struggling with an excuse to turn his attention away. Luckily for her, a distraction manifested within the very pond itself. Ophelia let out a loud, genuine gasp as she pointed at what she saw. "Sir Chrom, your arm - in the water!"

His gaze lingered on her despite her insistence to check the pool. Perhaps it was out of concern. Or perhaps it was...something less pure. Still, he found the fortitude to shake his thoughts clear and do as she suggested. He took one look at his own reflection and specifically what his arm was doing.

"...Huh, never seen it glow before," Chrom blinked at the reflection and how the Exalted Brand seemed to glisten on his skin. But when he looked at his own shoulder, it was totally normal. He checked back in the water and confirmed the reflection was still awash with light. "...But only in the water...that's odd," he mused.

Ophelia slowly, carefully limped up behind him and peeked into the water herself. His reflection was crystal clear and illuminated by the luminous, lustrous stones embedded in the shallow bed of the pond. Chrom noticed her presence through the unbroken reflection of the water and quietly shifted aside to let her see. his gaze found itself captivated by the woman that peered back from the pond. Back at him.

There was something...odd, about her reflection. There was no such light on Ophelia, but he could swear he saw something. Something that peeked out from beneath her elbow-length cover over her right arm. Though his interest swiftly changed to concern at the clear distress on the girl's face as she struggled to stay upright. a struggle he himself had while he mustered the fortitude to keep his feet planted below. "...Let's do what you came for and head back. You need to get back and rest," he insisted.

Ophelia winced and tried to rebuff him. "I, I assure yo-oooh-u I am q-q-q-u-aah?!"

Chrom cut her off by pushing his hand against her forehead. His fingers curled at the sheer heat that wafted from her body. He shook his head with a from and told her again, "No - you're burning up. We'll finish our business here and then you should get in bed," he insisted.

Bed - bed actually sounded good to her. Not sleeping, but laying in bed - atop the bed. Writhing against the sheets as her supple body was ravaged and taken by the man before her utnil dawn's amber light washe dover her ravished-

'Enough!'

Her words made the perverse ponderings shimmer, but they didn't falter or shatter. it only slipped into the shadows, as if the unseen torches had burned out after hours and hours of vigorous sin. 'I-I said cease!' she demanded to herself.

"-ia?"

'Halt.'

"-eli-"

'D-Desist!'

"Ophe-

'Stop...p-please!'

Try as she might, no evocation would halt her treacherous mind. She was captive and captivated as she watched the unmistakable form of Chrom tower over her, ready to split her loins. Her eyes darted to the brand that glowed on his shoulder as her right wrist practically burned. She needed to douse it - to submerge it in whatever cool relief could possibly quench the fire in her blood.

She needed relief. Desperately.

"Ophelia!"

Her eyes blinked as she snapped out of her delusion and back to the face of... him.

She needed Chrom .

"Ophelia, are you alright?" he asked her, clearly concerned. He let go of her shoulders and took a step back.

She stepped forward.

Chrom eyed her warily as he repeated his step back. She moved forward again with the same far-off look in her eye. The lord's back bumped against a nearby rock and cut off his escape. 'Damnit, this can't be good,' he mused before asking her again, "Ophelia, What are you-?!"

She attacked - leaped at him like a wild animal. Chrom managed to catch her by her hip and arm before she slammed into his body. He grabbed her just below her elbow but she pulled her arm back before he locked it down and he ended up pushing her longer arm cover-up to her wrist. Ophelia paid it no heed as she struggled to pull herself against him, grunting and groaning as he fought her off. "Sir Chrom- I cannot contain it any longer," she whined.

Chrom bit back a growl and the growth in his swim trunks as he tried to force her back. "Ophelia, I don't know what's gotten into you, but now's not the ti…t-time?!"

His words died as he got a glint of something - something on her now-exposed wrist. He shifted his grip and tilted her arm towards the glow of the pool for a better look. What he found left him numb on his feet as it glowed just over his fingertips on her wrist.

"The Brand?!"

It was unmistakable - as sure as the sign on his shoulder or in his daughter's eye. Swiftly his body stiffened as he kept trying to fend off the relative trying to leap his bones. 'What the hell? Is she, did Lissa have a daughter as well?! But Owain never mentioned a sister!' Chrom mused.

His distraction cost him dearly as Ophelia managed to break through his formidable grasp and quickly latched her body, arms, and leg around him. The Exalt stumbled back against the rock as he tried to avoid her dangerous mouth.' Damnit, she must...oh no, her blood is reacting to mine!' He quietly groaned in aggravation and concern.

The blood -the Exalted lineage. It offered little in ways beyond superficial pride, but it did have its merits such as increased stamina or virility. But it also had a drawback - a pretty nasty one at that.

An overcharged libido.

He knew well the way to handle it after he'd scoured the back of the private archives of the Exalted line. What he'd found presented a simple solution that was very well documented, much to his utter disgust. But it was logical, for what else could match the urges stirred by exalted blood, but exalted blood itself. He took the book - a tome many many years old that dated back nigh of a thousand years...and promptly burned it to ashes. The sordid secrets would die with him

Yet despite that - despite his attempts to restrain himself and rein in his impulses for the physical and emotional sake of his dear Olivia...here he was. He didn't know what shared tie Ophelia had with him, only that it must come from Lissa's side of the family, or perhaps even before them. Whatever strange forces were at play in the Outrealm had awakened the demon he'd attempted to quash.

And it would not be silent anymore.

Ophelia's whimpers oozed in his ears, drawing him into the dark embrace of her arms. He felt her hot breath on his neck and cheek as she mewled, "S-Sir Chrom, I need...I-I-I neeeed~"

Chrom gripped her arms and pulled her back. The lust-driven mage gasped and shivered in his grip as they locked gazes. Her ragged pants filled his ears as drool leaked down from her open mouth.

' Olivia…'

'Gods, forgive me.'

He captured her lips.

She went numb in his arms...and then melted.

'Mmmmmmmm~'