Author's Note: Before going into the actual meat of this update, I wanted to provide a brief explanation as to the purpose of this collection, because some readers elsewhere seemed to be under the impression I was revising the actual canonical material of the game.

My answer was as follows:

Short version: This short story collection is meant to be compliant with the canonical game as presented (for the most part).

Long version (spoilers lie ahead for numerous parts of the game, but y'all should know this by now): Basically, every single short story and ficlet I've written for this collection is meant to be as canon-compliant as possible, and are usually done with the intent of explaining something in the story that was otherwise unexplained, or to showcase events that wouldn't break the plot. I try to avoid 'head-canoning' as much as possible.

For example: why did Consul M choose Ghondor of all people to give the Cloudkeep's Key to?

My answer: M chose Ghondor because she was a Vandham, a descendant of her grandson from many generations past; thus, there is a sentimental and familial connection. (Even if it's 'technically' a headcanon, the statue of House Vandham's founder is observed in the game as having physical similarities to Noah; in like manner, the founder of House Doyle is strongly, if not explicitly, implied to have been the Vandham founder's sister. Hence, it's implied that Houses Doyle and Vandham are of a past Noah and Mio's bloodline.)

Another example: why did Ghondor change her mind regarding 'killing the now' between Li Garte Prison and the ending cutscenes of XC3?

My answer: make up a cutscene that would still portray the themes of the story as presented, while still explaining Ghondor's apparent change of heart.

Another example: why are there apparently two Swords of Origin (the one that N has, and the other held by Noah)?

My answer: N's was the original, forged with the assistance of Melia herself. Lucky Seven was forged in secret many generations later, intended to be a replica of that mighty Blade.

Another example: after a certain point, the idea of 'fast travel' just wouldn't make any sense. So given the time constraints Ouroboros is operating under, how would they make it back to the Pentelas, Fornis, and lower Aetia Regions to complete the quests that only become available as of Chapter 5 and onwards?

My answer: have Triton be their means of fast travel, using his ability as a Moebius to warp places.

And so on and so forth.

Some are a bit cracky (like the 28th installment, which was written solely to explain why the obligatory Nopon named Bana was nowhere to be seen in the game; my answer being that generations of Bana Nopon have operated off of the Bionis's horn, controlling the black market far away from the battlefields of Aionios), but each one could feasibly be inserted into the game and nothing would change.

The only exceptions are the bits with Nia and Melia; for gameplay reasons, their quests are post-game only, as the surprise of them fighting alongside you during the final boss would have been spoiled. However, narratively, these quests had to have taken place before Ouroboros defeated Z. Thus, my changes were as follows:

- For Nia: simply have her accompany Ouroboros after she's woken up, as they travel the world to collect the particular Origin shards needed to upgrade Samon's ship. Naturally, they do quests and events along the way, eventually returning Nia to Agnus Castle before commencing their first invasion of Origin.

- For Melia: as portrayed in the 10th installment, instead of instantly teleporting away like she did in the game, she collapses due to ether depletion after her long imprisonment (in an intentional echo to how Shulk and Company found her in the first game). Deprived of any options, Ouroboros decides to retreat aboard a City Levnis (because realistically, Ouroboros wouldn't otherwise be leaving Origin upon entering it; 'fast travel' exists solely for gameplay purposes, because no way they're getting Samon's ship back out of there!) to bring Melia back to Keves Castle. (Origin, naturally, stops attacking, because Z and Moebius are interested in seeing how Melia reacts to the world she's been away from for so long.) From there, they would do Melia's various quests, along with any other final quests left undone; after which, Ouroboros commences the second (and final) assault on Origin, wherein they fight X, Y, and Z sequentially.

As such, the (rough) timeline of events would be as follows:

Given what's implied in the game, there's an unknown period of time where — after Aionios is created, and an indeterminate amount of people are awoken outside of Origin — Nia and Melia are operating against Moebius, after which Melia is captured by Z (thus allowing Moebius to manipulate the world according to their own designs, thanks to the control her Key gives them over Origin). It's implied that Nia is actually awake and operating in some fashion (for how long is unknown, but it was at least long enough for the first City to come into being at Hope's Rest before it was destroyed by N) before going to sleep in the Cloudkeep, because she doesn't do so until Consul M exists as an entity (and we know there are at least some prior instances of Mio that existed before M did). This aggregate amount of time between Z's capture of Melia and the beginning of the game is definitely longer than a thousand years, though; because the false Nia, at the end of chapter 5, remarks about she's had 999 souls sent up to her over the past thousand years by the off-seers. However, we know from details in Noah's Side Story and Ashera's Ascension Quest that the Homecoming event prior to the Off-Seer Ceremony was a simple execution, so the existence of the false queens stems back even further.

It goes without saying that a lot of the installments released have flashbacks which cover events that occurred during this nebulous period prior to the main plot.

Chapters 1 through 5 more or less occur as normal, with the exception being that Ouroboros can't really leave Cadensia Region during Chapter 5 due to the time limit Mio has with her impending Homecoming; as such, any side quests and Ascension Quests in prior regions that only become available as of Chapter 5 are left untouched for the time being. Certain installments occur in this period without much in the way of interrupting the plot, since they occur in the gaps between quests and plot events.

After Chapter 6 begins, some quests local to Agnus Castle and Cadensia are completed prior to Ouroboros heading to Colony Omega, where they free Miyabi, Mwamba, Hackt, Cammuravi, and the other soldiers resurrected by Moebius Y. Since they accompany Cammuravi back to the City (wherein smol!Ethel wakes up), the reality of having so many calls for assistance weighs on them; as such, the events of the 21st installment occur, where Triton is chosen as the means by which Ouroboros can fast travel. They complete lots of side quests over a few weeks before returning to Colony Omega...wherein, before heading to the Cloudkeep, they get ambushed by Segiri. Cue more quests (including the final scene from the 27th installment, wherein I used the four 'Unique Monster' Agnian assassins that show up where Colony 15's Ferronis is as an actual bit of a drama bait for Triton, since it's implied those four killed two of Triton's crew) before they finally get to the Cloudkeep, where the ending of Chapter 6 proceeds as normal.

With the beginning of Chapter 7, and the realization that Ouroboros needs to locate specific Origin shards to complete the ship upgrades they need to breach the Ocean Vortex, Nia accompanies them on their 'world tour' instead of hanging back at the Cloudkeep. Numerous quests occur during this timeframe (like Ghondor's Ascension Quest, Sena's Side Story, and some of the other quests that only become available as of chapter 7), along with some events I've conjured up in the interim (like the most recent installment). Ouroboros invades Origin, rescues Melia, completes the remainder of the quests (complete with other events I've made up, like the final scene of the 9th installment, where Eunie gifts Taion a kit to clean his glasses with), then finally invades Origin a second time to complete the main story.

(Naturally, there's more to come that will be interspersed all over the place.)

And voila!

Hope this explained things. :)

Now...back to the main story. This snippet came to me after reading "Scion" by SuperNerd92 on Archive of Our Own.

xxxx

/Time: Chapter 5, after Gray's Ascension Quest, but before Ouroboros sneaks into Li Garte Prison/

/The City, Atop the Great Sword, Cadensia Region/

Rozana, for such a gregarious woman, was a strangely private individual.

As such, Monica couldn't quite fault herself for not realizing that Rozana was married; she had no familial connection to the Six Houses, so her love life (and likewise Gray's) would have lacked the public notoriety of someone's from Rhodes, Ortiz, Vandham, and so forth.

Still...Monica couldn't help but feel a bit hurt, that Rozana hadn't talked to her about it.

As such — with Broo, Yarmil, and the other hardliners having been temporarily incarcerated until their punishment could be determined by the Senate (because not even Garrett was going to defend someone who had conspired to steal the City's entire stock of Levnises as part of a military coup...well, maybe he might have, had they not been caught beforehand. The leader of House Doyle was a stubborn yet complex individual) — Monica decided to satisfy her own curiosity.

Rozana was outside the War Room, staring out at the great expanse around the Great Sword's hilt; her focus seemed to be on the old husks lying below: corpses from a battle that had occurred long before they were born. "You sure like to surprise people, Rozana."

The redhead turned her crimson gaze towards Monica, her eyes giving off a twinkle of amusement. "You knew I'd been working to stop the hardliners by getting within their circle. You were there when your father signed off on this secret mission, after all."

"Not what I was talking about," retorted Monica, crossing her arms.

Rozana's smile turned into a small frown. "...this is about Gray, isn't it?"

"The fact you got married was...surprising."

Rozana huffed, resting her right elbow in her left palm so she could rest her chin on her right hand. "It's not like we kept it a secret. Some of my neighbors knew, if only because they asked about why Gray came to my place every so often."

Monica huffed right back at her. "It's the fact you didn't tellme that's the issue."

"You never asked," she glibly replied. "I suppose it just...never came up."

"...he was probably my father's closest friend, growing up." Even though Gray hadn't been a member of that generation's Ouroboros candidates (for whatever that had been worth; the City had been going on a dry spell of decades since the last Stone had been found, until her father had discovered the most recent one), the lone gunman had somehow established a connection with her old man that Guernica hadn't had with his fellow candidates. Hell, there had been a brief stretch where she had called the man 'Uncle Gray' growing up. "It's a little strange to see him in a relationship with one of my friends."

Rozana seemed amused. "Oh? Are you a fuddy-duddy in matters of romance? Perhaps you and the conservatives have more in common than I thought."

Monica blew off the riff with a scoff. "You can't exactly blame me, can you? He's got...what, three decades on you?"

"That'd be right." Rozana turned away, looking back at the ancient battlefield with a stoic expression. "If it helps, I'm the one who pursued him; he's a rather hard nut to crack. But...in the end, we're rather similar on the most important thing."

"And that would be?"

"A sense of purpose: to know what has to be done, no matter what it costs you as an individual...and commit to it. It's why he can stomach being by himself, even for months at a time."

And why you could calmly betray those you spent five years getting to know, it went unsaid.

(On that day, over five years ago, when the matter of the hardliners' increasing aggression had become too pressing to ignore, Guernica had wondered as to why Rozana volunteered to undertake a secret mission to infiltrate them...especially in light of her many friends amongst the conservatives' ranks. Her answer had engraved itself in Monica's memory: "I'm an engineer. I hate seeing things go to waste, whether it be materials...or people. Those hotheads have passion, and are driven to do what they think is right...even if it tears the City in two. It's just so...inefficient.")

It was strange, realizing in retrospect, that — in spite of her relative youth — Rozana could be just as ruthless as Gray...albeit in different ways. "...it's still odd, thinking of Gray as being romantically involved with anyone."

Rozana honestly seemed shocked. "Really? I'm surprised you never noticed; he's been a friend of your family for long enough."

"He certainly never indicated it one way or the other," she replied with a half shrug.

"...well, I guess that's just one other area where he and I are alike," murmured Rozana with a fond smile.

"That being?"

"Saying a lot without speaking anything at all."

Monica wondered at just what it was that Gray said without speaking; was it Rozana's insight as an engineer that allowed her to decipher him? Or was it something simpler than that? Maybe I'm just too focused on the big picture to see what's right in front of me...

xxxx

The very next day, when Gray was debriefing with Monica in the War Room about another matter...she decided to ask him. "So. You and Rozana, hm?"

"Hmm," Gray affirmed with a grunt.

"...you never told me."

"You never asked," he blithely replied.

"I bet you told my father, though."

Gray crossed his arms before calmly replying, "Guernica was my witness."

Monica threw up her hands. "Glad to know that my father didn't tell me about one of my friends getting married to the man I called 'Uncle' as a little girl."

Gray huffed, his eyes staring intently at her; a sign that he was gathering his words. "Guernica...was never one to engage in gossip himself. 'Plenty enough to go around as is without me adding to it,' he'd say."

"...true enough," relented Monica. "...well, even if I'm apparently years late to finding out...congratulations."

Gray looked at her as though she were being an idiot. "Our...relationship...is plain as day."

"Your definition of 'plain as day' is very different from mine."

"Hrmm...no wonder you haven't seen how he looks at you," he murmured.

xxxx

Meanwhile, aboard the Boundary — churning onward through Erythia Sea, carrying Ouroboros and Ghondor's fellow Candidates — Jansen suddenly sneezed.

"Ugh, you got your mess on my wings!" cried Eunie with dismay.

"Sorry," he sincerely apologized, gratefully accepting a tissue from Taion.

xxxx

"What was that?" asked Monica, not catching his words.

Gray simply grunted. "Just remember to keep your eyes open. Otherwise, you'll get caught off guard by something you should've seen coming."

"...I'll keep that in mind," said Monica with a curious expression.

xxxx

(Weeks later, as Monica received Jansen's incredibly unexpected confession of love whilst on Corne Island, the image of Rozana chuckling and Gray shaking his head inexplicably came to mind.)

xxxx

Author's Notes: Given how Monica was gobsmacked by Jansen's declaration of love to her at the end of Monica's Ascension Quest, I'm going with the idea the Monica — Elder of the City, too busy with conducting military and governmental affairs — is just blind when it comes to romantic affections within her immediate circle.

Eunie: "You know, for all your wisdom when it comes to explainin' human nature to us, you're kind of clueless yourself on some things!"

Ghondor: "Hah! She's got you there."

Eunie: "It ain't a bad thing! It makes you...relatable, I guess is the word?"

Monica: *refuses to dignify the point with a response*